Arianna Simpson

Arianna Simpson is a San Francisco-based investor with a focus on cryptocurrencies. She holds a bachelor's in International Politics and Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania Schreyer Honors College. She worked as an advisor and board member and became a partner at Andreessen Horowitz in 2020.

After graduating from the Pennsylvania State University, where she studied international politics and Spanish, Arianna Simpson worked at Shoptiques.com where her position was Head of Boutique Operations from 2012 to 2013. In 2013, Arianna Simpson began a position in Global Marketing Solutions for Facebook.

While at Facebook, Simpson had two experiences she has attributed to growing her interest in cryptocurrencies. One was on a trip she took to Zimbabwe, where she witnessed the effects of hyperinflation. This led to to her research into cryptocurrency, during which she read Bitcoin's white paper. Arianna Simpson tried to convince Facebook to launch a crypto project before the company's foray into cryptocurrencies.

Given her interest in cryptocurrency, in 2014 Arianna Simpson left her job at Facebook for a role as one of the earliest employees of BitGo, a multi-signature cryptocurrency wallet maker.

In 2015, after working at BitGo for a year, Arianna Simpson left to launch early-stage venture capital fund Crystal Tower Capital with her partner, where she remains an active angel investor and venture partner.

In 2017, Arianna Simpson founded and acted as managing partner for cryptocurrency and digital asset-focused hedge fund Autonomous Partners. At this time, it was considered a risky move to raise a cryptocurrency fund, especially when doing it alone as Arianna Simpson was doing in founding Autonomous Partners.

The fund raised capital in what Simpson called the lower eight digits from an investor base, which included Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Union Square Ventures, Craft Ventures, and Cohen Private Ventures. Investments made with Autonomous Partners have included Dapper Labs, Maker, and Celo. Investments overlapped with some of Andreessen Horowitz's early cryptocurrency investments.

And these investments brought Simpson and Andreessen Horowitz closer together, where Andreessen Horowitz found Simpson's drive and interest and the feedback about Simpson from founders and what she was able to provide them, which set Andreessen Horowitz about to recruiting Arianna Simpson for the firm's cryptocurrency interests.

The recruitment efforts on the part of Andreessen Horowitz worked, as the addition of Arianna Simpson was seen by both parties as a chance to grow. For Andreessen Horowitz, the firmed gained Simpson's experience and drive. And for Simpson, she was able to reach a broader group of founders in the cryptocurrency community. Arianna Simpson's first days at Andreessen Horowitz coincided with the firm shutting down their offices. During this time, Simpson sourced and supported investments in Eco, Optimism, and Talos Trading.

After a year at Andreessen Horowitz, the firm promoted Arianna Simpson to general partner, where she is responsible for deploying the firm's $2.2 billion cryptocurrency fund. Part of this fund has stakes in NFT companies like OpenSea and Dapper Labs and has had a further focus on decentralized finance, infrastructure, and gaming in the cryptocurrency industry.

When taking on the role, Arianna Simpson has said the firm has taken a long view and focus on the technology in cryptocurrency, as the investments are expected to be a multi-decade endeavor. She also identified gaming as a critical market for the future of the cryptocurrency industry, as they have significant alignment, which Simpson has suggested makes gaming the next logical step for development within the industry. This could be, as Simpson has noted, for games to grant users ownership within the products, or to offer an easier way to make a living as a professional gamer.