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With Elon Musk meet such a high - profile persona in Donald Trump ’s transition team , Musk ’s buddies , many of them Silicon Valley venture capitalists , are reportedly being tapped to help out .
For instance , VC firm Andreessen Horowitz , and in particular co - founding father Marc Andreessen , is repeatedly being mentioned . He , along with Antonio Gracias and Joe Lonsdale , are reportedly being ask to facilitate with Musk ’s consultive panel , the Department of Government Efficiency , or DOGE , which is try ways to overcome the technical challenges of roll up data about federal plan , report theWashington Post on Sunday .
They are among a smattering of other Silicon Valley moguls being tapped .
Gracias is carbon monoxide gas - founder of Valor Equity Partners , which has done well back Musk companies over the years , include SpaceX and Tesla ( the latter where he was on the board of film director from 2007 to 2021 ) . Lonsdale is co - laminitis of VC business firm 8VC and an active backer of defense tech like Anduril and other government technical school , like fiscal software supplier OpenGov . Lonsdale worked under billionaire VC Peter Thiel and helped co - found Palantir . Andreessen Horowitz has been abig - time investor in SpaceX since around 2022and buys more inventory as it can , TechCrunch antecedently reported , and Andreessen has been a vocal supporter of Musk .
The DOGE committee hope to recommend slash to programs and to trim back the turn of Union employee , Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy explained ina Wall Street Journal editoriallast hebdomad . They also expect to face sound pushback , they wrote . In the straightaway future , the grouping plans to launch a podcast , the Washington Post account .
Meanwhile , Andreessen Horowitz is also said to be in the running for a position on a promised Trump administration crypto consultatory council . It will be staffed with a number of White House from the crypto diligence who seek to help the U.S. establish crypto insurance , industryexecutives told Reuters last hebdomad . Brian Quintenz , question of policy for a16z crypto , has already been advising Trump ’s squad , Reuters report .
Another VC being hash out for a spot on this citizens committee is Paradigm , an investing house co - founded by Fred Ehrsam , who previously co - founded Coinbase . Paradigm specializes in crypto / blockchain investments . Coinbase , which is not a VC house but does fund its own corporate arm , Coinbase Ventures , is also concerned in the committee , sources state Reuters .
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Meanwhile , former Thiel disciple Michael Kratsios , who serve as master tech officeholder under the first Trump administration , has reportedly been tapped to handle technical school policy for Trump ’s transition team , Politico reported last week . Kratsios was known for authoring Trump ’s 2020 pro - AI investiture administrator order . Prior to his character in government , he worked for Thiel Capital . Kratsios , however , is n’t currently a VC . He ’s been work at AI company Scale AI since 2021 , according to hisLinkedIn .
Lonsdale and a16z could not be immediately reached for comment . They also did not respond to call for for commentary by the Washington Post .
