Ben Horowitz Says VC Teams Shouldn't Be 'Too Much Bigger Than A Basketball Team'

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) cofounder Ben Horowitz says small, focused teams are crucial for effective decision-making in venture capital and are shaping the future of AI-powered startups.

Horowitz Champions Small VC Teams

On the Tuesday episode of the A16z podcast, Horowitz shared his philosophy on team size, saying, "An investing team shouldn’t be too much bigger than a basketball team," a principle he learned from legendary investor David Swensen in 2009.

He explained, "A basketball team is five people who start, and the reason for that is the conversation around the investments really needs to be a conversation."

Horowitz emphasized that while A16z has grown into one of the world's largest venture firms, it maintains small, specialized investment verticals to preserve close communication.

Staff often attend other teams' meetings when themes overlap, and the firm holds two to three-day off-sites twice a year, "with not much agenda," fostering collaboration and reducing politics.

"People who come from other firms is we have less politics," he added, noting that politicking is actively disincentivized.

AI Boom Creates Billionaires As OpenAI Acquires Torch

On Monday, OpenAI acquired health-care startup Torch shortly after it launched ChatGPT Health, a platform for helping patients and doctors navigate medical information.

Reports valued the deal between $60 million and $100 million, with Torch's four-person team joining OpenAI.

Torch was designed as a unified medical memory, consolidating data from hospitals, labs, wearables, and testing companies.

CEO Ilya Abyzov praised OpenAI's focus on privacy, safety, and collaboration with physicians.

Last year, the acquisition came amid a surge in AI investment, with $202.3 billion poured into startups in 2025, creating over 50 new billionaires. Chinese startup DeepSeek and Anthropic were among the most notable.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) subsidiary Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis warned that many early-stage AI startups were overvalued, calling short-term hype an "overreaction to the underreaction," while noting AI's long-term potential remains strong.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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