a16z Crypto Research Summer Intern

Founded in Silicon Valley in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz (known as “a16z”) is a venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. We are stage agnostic: We invest in seed to venture to late-stage technology companies, across bio + healthcare, consumer, crypto, enterprise, fintech, games, and companies building toward American dynamism. a16z has $35B in assets under management across multiple funds.

We’ve established a team that is defined by respect for the entrepreneur and the company-building process; we know what it’s like to be in the founder’s shoes. Our team is at the forefront of new technology, helping founders and their companies impact and change the world.

The Role

a16z Crypto Research is a new kind of multidisciplinary lab that bridges the worlds of academic theory and industry practice to advance the science and technology of the next generation of the internet.  In addition to fundamental research, we collaborate with portfolio companies to solve hard technical and conceptual problems. Research interns will have the opportunity to learn from the firm’s investment and engineering teams, although this is a research role with no responsibility for investment decisions. We are seeking students with a strong research background and an interest in blockchains and web3 to join the group for the summer.  Specific research areas of interest include cryptography, security, distributed computing, economics, incentives, finance, governance, market and mechanism design.  This list is not exhaustive and we encourage applicants with different backgrounds who may have unique perspectives on the space to apply.

Responsibilities

• Pursue fundamental research on topics relevant to the firm
• Work with portfolio companies on technical research problems
• Contribute to blog posts, white papers, and other public expository content
• Meet with visitors from academia and industry and attend seminars

A typical schedule will have an intern spending ⅓ of their time working with the portfolio, ⅓ of the time pursuing personal research interests, and ⅓ of their time meeting with visitors/attending seminars, etc.

• In-person residency required in New York, NY
• Duration of internship May 30–August 18, 2023 (minimum residency 10 weeks, maximum 12 weeks)

Preferred Qualifications

A typical successful candidate is:

• Enrolled in a quantitative PhD program such as computer science, mathematics, economics, etc. (Exceptional masters and undergraduate students will also be considered.)
• Passionate and knowledgeable about blockchains/Web3 and their underlying technologies.
• Familiar with fundamental research and publishing in peer-reviewed conferences and journals

Letters of recommendation (1-2 letters, optional): recommenders should email their letters of support to [email protected], with the name of the applicant in the subject line.

For full consideration, please apply by November 15, 2022.

The anticipated weekly rate for this role is $4,500 per week, actual starting pay may vary based on a range of factors which can include experience, skills, and scope.

a16z culture 

• We do only first class business and only in a first class way
• We take a long view of relationships, because we are in the relationship business
• We believe in the future and bet the firm that way
• We are all different, we recognize that, and we win
• We celebrate the good times
• We do it for the team
• We play to win

At a16z we are always looking to hire the absolute best talent and recognize that diversity in our experiences and backgrounds is what makes us stronger. We hire candidates of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, Veteran status, and any other status. These differences are what enables us to work towards the future we envision for ourselves, our portfolio companies, and the World.

Andreessen Horowitz hereby reserves the right to make use of any unsolicited resumes received from outside recruiting agencies and / or individual recruiters without being responsible for payment of any fees asserted from the use of unsolicited resumes.