The Haas School of Business has welcomed Scott Kupor, managing partner and chief operating officer at Andreessen Horowitz, as an executive-in-residence. Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm that has invested in social media successes such as Twitter and Facebook. In his position as an executive-in-residence, Kupor teaches the spring Entrepreneurship class with Lecturer Carl Nichols.
Kupor joined Andreessen Horowitz at its founding in 2009 after serving two years as a vice president and general manager in HP’s software division. In his position at the firm, he manages investing activities, operations and post-investment services.
Andreessen Horowitz was ranked as the no. 1 venture capital firm by Investor Rank, based on the firm’s networks and level of syndication with other venture firms and while was also ranked no. 6 on Vanity Fair’s 2011 New Establishment List and no.1 on CNET’s 2011 most influential investors list. Andreessen Horowitz has raised more than $4.5 billion from institutional investors and invests in both enterprise and consumer IT-related companies.
Kupor was invited to teach by Prof. Toby Stuart, faculty director for the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at Haas. Kupor hopes that he can help Haas students to understand the challenges that are involved with starting a company and decisions that must be made to be successful.
“He has been a vital contributor to building the most innovative and successful new venture firm in decades, and his knowledge of entrepreneurship and investing is as deep as anyone in Silicon Valley,” said Prof. Stuart. “He’s an amazing addition to the Lester Center teaching faculty.”