Andreessen Horowitz Defends Hiring Daniel Penny
Mr. Penny, who was acquitted after choking a mentally ill subway passenger who died, was hired to join the firm’s American Dynamism investment team.
Mr. Penny, who was acquitted after choking a mentally ill subway passenger who died, was hired to join the firm’s American Dynamism investment team.
Partners at Andreessen Horowitz, the blue-chip venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, defended to investors their decision to hire Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide last year, according to an internal memo viewed by The New York Times.
Andreessen Horowitz, the memo said, is most likely the largest investor of public safety and defense venture capital in the country, and “as result, we spend a lot of time with active-duty military, veterans, chiefs of police, sheriffs; these relationships are critical to the success of our companies.”
Mr. Penny’s “military veteran experience can be helpful in continuing to build these relationships, and many of our public safety and defense founders and partners have shared a similar sentiment,” said the memo, which was sent on Wednesday by Jen Kha, the firm’s head of investor relations.
The firm told employees on Tuesday morning that it had hired Mr. Penny. David Ulevitch, an investment partner, said in a separate memo that he had been introduced to Mr. Penny last year and that the veteran had acted with “courage in a tough situation.”
Mr. Ulevitch asked Mr. Penny to join the firm’s American Dynamism investment team, which focuses on the aerospace, defense and manufacturing sectors.
Mr. Ulevitch added that he had conducted “investigations and interviews” with Mr. Penny and believed that Mr. Penny had behaved “honorably and appropriately given the chaotic and dangerous circumstances” on the subway, the memo said.
