如果手头上并没有一家专营宠物食品速递的初创企业需要推介，这时想看看一位风险投资人不屑地翻翻眼睛该怎么做？不妨谈谈你对安德森-霍罗维茨风险投资公司（Andreessen Horowitz）的仰慕之情吧。

    以前从来没有哪家新的风投公司能发展如此之快，成立刚刚三年就已经募集了近25亿美元的资金。也没有哪家风投公司连第一支基金的初始投资都还没有返还，就已经成为了业内无可争议的媒体宠儿。因此，难怪其他风投公司有点恼火。

    “要论给投资者赚的钱多少，有几百家风投都比这些家伙赚的多多了，”近日一位竞争对手告诉我。“如果它只是泡沫，最终破裂了，他们会怎么样？他们还会那么不可一世吗？”

    听起来有点酸溜溜。当然，这些都只是私下里说说，不会当着安德森-霍罗维茨公司员工的面说。但在业内，在背后，这种嫉妒正在四处蔓延。

    我明白了。融资原本被认为是件艰苦的事。一蹴而就为长期投资资产所不齿。而且，很多人认为，事实上就是安德森-霍罗维茨公司造就了科技泡沫。它总是支付高价，助长了整个行业的价格水涨船高。

    但针对安德森-霍罗维茨更多的、或者至少说更普遍的抱怨是，媒体对安德森-霍罗维茨公司众口一词的赞誉。

    我无力反驳这一点。因为安德森-霍罗维茨公司已登上无数杂志的封面【包括《财富》杂志（Fortune）】，被众多博客文章和会议主题演讲所称道，公司创始人马克•安德森（Marc Andreessen）也入选了《时代》杂志（Time）百位最具影响力的人物之一。但我至少可以试着做一些解释。不妨把我当成是电影《好人寥寥》（A Few Good Men）中的黛米•摩尔。凯文•波拉克在电影里问她：“你为什么这么喜欢他们？”。

    1. 安德森-霍罗维茨公司的媒体管理优于其他任何风险投资公司。或许还优于任何时期的其他任何一家金融公司。

    我们主要说的是与媒体的接触。如果安德森-霍罗维茨公司进行了一项投资，记者们很有可能能得到机会、电话采访马克•安德森、本•霍洛维茨、杰夫•乔丹或其他任何最合适的人员。同样，当安德森-霍罗维茨公司发行了一支新基金、选择将一半利润捐赠给慈善事业等其它事项时，也会有这样的机会。这一点听上去或许显而易见，但要知道很多“知名”风险投资人进行交易时通常都不会接受采访。说实话，你常看到约翰•多尔或迈克•莫瑞茨讨论Series A融资或者某支基金的关闭吗？

    我并不是要说，记者们因此心存感激才写下溢美之词。我要说的是这家公司在传播自己的信息方面做出了相当的努力，而其他公司则让我们自己想办法（结果通常导致质疑疑态度）。风投热情可以持续很长时间，因为投资者对被投资公司的了解几乎总是会比记者多。

    Want to get a venture capitalist to roll his eyes dismissively, but don't have a pet food delivery start-up to pitch? Then just mention how much you admire Andreessen Horowitz.

    Never before has a new VC group grown so quickly, raising nearly $2.5 billion in its first three years of existence. Nor has another VC firm become the industry's undisputed media darling, before having even returned the initial investment on its first fund. No wonder other VCs are a bit miffed.

    "There are hundreds of other VCs who have made more money for their investors than either of those guys," one rival recently told me. "What happens to them if this is a bubble, and it pops? How smart are they going to look?"

    Bitter, party of everyone. Not on the record, of course, or to the faces of Andreessen Horowitz staffers. But on background and behind their backs, the envy is epidemic.

    Look, I get it. Fundraising is supposed to be hard. Overnight success is anathema to a long-term asset class. And many actually blame Andreessen Horowitz for the tech bubble itself, arguing that the firm's penchant for paying high prices has fomented industry-wide inflation.

    But all of that is secondary to a larger, or at least more prevalent, complaint: Media complicity in the Andreessen Horowitz canonization.

    I can't argue the point. Andreessen Horowitz have been featured on countless magazine covers (including by Fortune), fawning blog posts, conference keynote slots and Marc Andreessen getting named one of Time's 100 most influential people. But I can, at least, try to explain it. Consider me like Demi Moore in A Few Good Men, when Kevin Pollack asks "Why do you like them so much?"

    1. Andreessen Horowitz is better at media management than any other venture capital firm out there. Maybe better than any other financial firm, period.

    The primary attribute here is access. If Andreessen Horowitz makes an investment, there is a very good chance that reporters will get phone time with Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Jeff Jordan or whoever else is most appropriate. Same thing if the firm raises a new fund, chooses to give away half its earnings to charity, etc. That may sound obvious, but you'd be amazed how many "brand-name" venture capitalists don't usually give interviews when they do deals. Seriously, how often do you see John Doerr or Mike Moritz quoted about a Series A round? Or even about a fund close?

    I'm not trying to say that we're grateful, and thus write nice things. I'm saying that they make a significant effort to disseminate their message, whereas others leave us to our own (often cynical) devices. VC enthusiasm can go a long way, since the investor almost always knows more about the new portfolio company than does the reporter.

    同样重要的是：安德森-霍罗维茨公司似乎对媒体并不偏心。可以肯定，马克、本与某些记者的关系会更密切一些，但这家公司在发布新闻时似乎总是一碗水端平。每年，它还会举行几次非正式的宴会，邀请一些记者与公司高管共同进餐。

    批评人士或许会说，这样的宴会无异于操纵媒体。但这些举动反映的只是安德森-霍罗维茨公司对与媒体接触的重视。不仅是有好消息时如此，情况令人不快之时也同样如此。如果一位记者觉得一家公司对自己不错，至少他们会在落笔前给公司一个公平的辩解机会。

    2. 投资很少失手。没错，安德森-霍罗维茨公司成立的时间太短，还没有很多重大的成功案例，但也没有很多重大的失败案例。换言之，没有一系列的坏交易可供人批评。事实上，迄今为止，它最大的失败或许是选择投资社交图片分享网站PicPlz，从而丧失了追加投资图片分享服务Instagram的能力。这个错误意味着安德森-霍罗维茨公司只能净赚7,800万美元，而不是数亿美元。

    3. 公司不存在腐败现象，公司高管也没有难以让人忍受的个人缺点。听到过有人说安德森让哪位创业家抓狂吗？或者，霍维茨对某位记者大发雷霆？没错，我也没有听说过。不是说这种事从未发生过——每个人都有失控的时候——但这两位冠名合伙人名声都不错。这一点在采写其它新闻的时候也很重要。

    因此，说到底，其他风险投资人对安德森-霍罗维茨公司的嫉妒完全可以理解。万一哪一天安德森-霍罗维茨公司一步走错，今天把马克和本送上神坛的媒体又亲自把他们拉下神坛的话，这些嫉妒的人或许有些幸灾乐祸。但目前，安德森-霍罗维茨公司成为媒体宠儿理所应当，其他人只能对不起了。

    译者：老榆木

    Equally important: Andreessen Horowitz doesn't seem to play favorites. I'm sure that Marc and Ben have closer relationships to certain scribes than to others, but the firm seems to offer up its own news on an even playing field. It also hosts several off-the-record dinners each year, at which groups of reporters are invited to break bread with firm execs.

    Critics might argue that such meals amount to media manipulation, but they simply reflect how Andreessen Horowitz recognizes the value of access. Not only when it comes to good news, but also when it comes to less flattering situations. If a reporter feels he or she has been treated well by a firm in the past, they will at least give the firm a legitimate chance to plead its case before laying down the written hammer.

    2. Few failures. While it is true that Andreessen Horowitz is too green to have had many major successes, it also hasn't had many major failures. In other words, there isn't a series of bad deals for us to criticize. In fact, it's biggest mistake so far might have been choosing to invest in PicPlz at the expense of losing its ability to re-up with Instagram. And that mistake simply meant that Andreessen Horowitz will net around $78 million in profit instead of a couple hundred million.

    3. No corruption or other personal foibles. Ever heard ther one about how Andreessen screwed over that entrepreneur. Or how Horowitz dressed down that reporter? Yeah, me neither. Not saying it hasn't happened -- everyone has their moments -- but neither name partner has developed a nasty reputation. That matters when developing other narratives.

    Again, the envy felt by other VCs toward Andreessen Horowitz is completely understandable. And, someday, they might get some schadenfreude if Andreessen Horowitz missteps cause us reporters to tear Marc and Ben down from the pedestal that we built for them. But, for now, the adoration is deserved. Sorry.