Chamath argues a16z's heavy political donations reflect a deliberate strategy to build the relationships needed to scale toward $1T AUM, positioning themselves as the next Blackstone — a sound business decision for a firm that must invest in geopolitically sensitive parts of the economy.
They're in the AUM business, right? They can't stop at $100 billion of AUM. They're marching towards a trillion. They're going to be the next Blackstone, which I think is an incredible feat, and they're building a juggernaut of a business.”16:11