Informational News

💡 Andreessen Horowitz’s $250K Bet on Instagram

In 2010, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) invested just $250,000 in a small startup called Burbn. Soon after, Burbn pivoted into something new — an app we now know as Instagram.

📸 By 2012, Instagram had exploded in popularity, and Facebook acquired it for $1 billion. That tiny $250K investment turned into an incredible $78 million return for a16z. 🚀

But here’s the twist:
a16z chose not to invest further in Instagram’s later funding rounds because they had already backed another photo-sharing app, PicPlz, and wanted to avoid a conflict of interest. While this decision showed integrity, it also meant they missed out on an additional $100M+ in upside when Instagram grew even bigger.

⚖ The Lesson?
• Even small early-stage bets can become life-changing wins.
• But sometimes, ethical decisions in venture capital can limit profits — and that’s a trade-off investors must live with.

👉 What do you think: should they have doubled down on Instagram, or did they do the right thing by staying loyal to their other investment?