Ivan Makarov

So many parallels to life and startup journey (or “torture” as Ben Horowitz calls it) it’s amazing.

@willahmed @WHOOP Big congrats, Will! Very happy early customer here.

BREAKING: WHOOP RAISES $575M AT $10.1B VALUATION  I am pleased to announce that we’ve raised $575M at a $10.1B valuation to accelerate our mission of unlocking human performance and healthspan globally. This round was led by Collaborative Fund with participation from 2PointZero Group, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Mubadala Investment Company, Abbott, Mayo Clinic, Macquarie Capital, Glade Brook, B-Flexion, IVP, Foundry, Accomplice, Affinity Partners, Promus Ventures, and Bullhound Capital alongside a group of individual investors including Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Rory McIlroy, Virgil van Dijk, and Mathieu van der Poel. This investor group and this moment reflect a powerful evolution underway for Whoop and the broader healthcare market. Whoop was born in performance - trusted by the best athletes in the world to train, recover, and compete at the highest level. That foundation remains core to who we are. You see that in the iconic athlete investors joining this round.  But it also represents our push into broader health.  In the past 12 months, WHOOP has received medical clearances, launched blood testing, and created a platform that has saved lives. Abbott and Mayo Clinic - two of the most respected and influential institutions in global healthcare - are now investors in Whoop. These are organizations that have shaped modern medicine. Their decision to partner with us is a clear validation of where our technology is headed. Healthcare systems around the world are reactive. For too long, they have waited for people to get sick, then intervene. Chronic disease is rising and costs continue to climb. At Whoop, we believe the future looks fundamentally different. We are building the most powerful, personal, preventive health platform in the world - powered by continuous biometric data, advanced analytics, and AI to help people understand their bodies and improve their health in real time. I am grateful to our team, our members, and our partners for believing in this vision. I’ve been building this company for 14 years and I’ve never been more excited for the future.

Underrated way to go fast is to be ok with saying the perceived dumb thing that is blocking you from an outcome. One of the things that our team is proudest of is cultivating humility/approachability. To be on a team that is entirely focused on the goal and not defending ego it is liberating. Thanks for having me @TheFP + @SulkinMaya !

@netcapgirl @eriktorenberg @a16z Hi and welcome!!

i’ve spent enough time on the internet to know it’s the most important place in the world. it’s not separate from real life anymore. it is real life. i’m joining @eriktorenberg on the @a16z new media team to help shape the narrative arc of the future

@SebJohnsonUK @a16z @GEVS94 Simple answer. Gabe is everywhere.

How does @a16z have the geographical reach that it does? Gabriel Vasquez (@GEVS94), a partner at @a16z, has just invested in a $2m pre-seed in Stockholm (Dentio). It's founded by high school friends building AI in dentistry. The same fund that just raised $15bn is investing $2m into a tiny startup in Stockholm. The closest @a16z office to Stockholm is literally 4,000 miles away. They invested alongside local @OliverMolander and his @inceptionfundvc. But there are literally HUNDREDS of other closer VCs with stronger ties to the region. Would love to know the origination story behind this

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@Chen @speedrun Wow.

a place to rest your headphones - coming soon (limited edition for @speedrun)

Interesting that while everyone’s talking about ChatGPT potential ads while Gemini ads are already quietly showing up. Jersey on sale while I’m researching a player.

@stuffyokodraws @tkexpress11 Great call. And next level- firm wide Tetris Olympics

@tkexpress11 Should we get an arcade and put it in our sf office :D

Dropping a new AI benchmark: TetrisBench and a human vs AI Tetris arena 🕹️ See how you rank against the frontier models. Only 1 human has beaten a model so far, so try it out be the 2nd! Stats so far: Opus 4.5 > GPT5.2 > Sonnet > Grok > most humans 🧵

A bunch of Russians spent months building the original classic. Great to see even AI is playing it now.

@ryanwhitney6 It’s also wild you can expect Celebrini to pull this every night as well

The fact we are becoming accustomed to seeing things like this from McDavid and think it’s normal is bananas

Chatting to Gemini and being able to tap into Gmail to search order history for a specific product for extra insight or even just to remember what it’s called is a super power.

"a16z is doing something different, bigger, less… understated. It doesn’t feel like venture capital is supposed to, in part, I think, because I don’t think a16z cares if it’s doing “venture capital.” It just wants to BUILD the future and eat the world." My favorite part of the piece is the interviews with our founders and that the idea that providing as much innovative and impactful value for your portfolio is an a16z fingerprint. With AI enabling teams to do more while often staying leaner than ever, this operating model has only become more important. Thought @packyM nailed it. Full piece below: notboring.co/p/a16z-the-pow…

@willsmithhockey Welcome back to the 2010s era.

the cheapest tickets for the sharks game on saturday being over $100… who are you and what are you doing in my house what happened to the $40 tickets

@Camp4 Totally agree. Minor caveat: takes two to execute this though in a relationship the right way. Great when both parents have a me time and that’s a dance.

"The greatest burden a child must bear is the unlived life of the parents." —Carl Jung Here’s a piece of contrarian parenting advice: Be a little selfish. After having kids, a lot of people surrender their life as an individual. They stop pursuing their passions, don’t travel, give up their me-time, and get out of shape. The intent is positive, but what message are you sending? If there’s one thing I’ve learned about parenting, it’s this: Kids ignore most of what we say, but they see *everything* we do. They tend to adopt our behaviors, both good and bad. 👉 Your kids don’t need a martyr, they need a model. I don’t know about you, but I want my kids to see me *living*—partly because *I* want to live and partly because I want *them* to do the same. On airplanes, they warn us: “Put on your oxygen mask before helping others.” It seems selfish, but it’s better for everyone. The same applies to parenting. Give your kids the gift of front-row seats… to a life well lived.

@peggymangot There’s a long standing rumor in the Valley is that the reason for this logic is because it’s built into G-Maps by Google engineers themselves so they can take 280 more easily on the way home to SF after work.

Google wants you to take the 101. You should always take 280

@sarahdingwang Legend.

Our head of RevOps Mark Regan is the top of the a16z Cursor user leaderboard. He told me: “Engineering is eating RevOps.” He’s been building sales comp calc agents, forecasting tools and pipeline apps for our portcos. Amazing example of AI custom apps & we’re just beginning

@zachcoelius True in life too.

The secret to success in Silicon Valley is crazy simple. Do a lot of favors. Help people. Be useful. It will all come back to you 10x. Repeat.