Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape, and venture capitalist, has long been a voice of innovation and controversy. Known for shaping the Internet as we know it, Andreessen also has a flair for bold declarations. Recently, his comments in a piece published by The Fringe Press caught my eye. In the article, Andreessen called for a return to merit-based hiring practices, a stance that seems overdue but also deeply personal for him—and for me, too.
For those who may not recall, Marc Andreessen was not only a pioneer of the early web but also something of a cultural icon in the 1990s. His appearance on the cover of Time magazine (not unlike his favorite soon-to-be-president) embodied the spirit of the era. (By the way, what happened to your shoes and socks?) As the father of Netscape Navigator, Andreessen helped lead the charge into the modern Internet era. Along the way, his experiences in building teams—both the triumphs and missteps—offer lessons that remain relevant today.
Netscape’s Wild Days of Hiring
Andreessen’s recent call for merit in hiring likely hails from the heady days of Netscape in the 1990s. My company Netcode had just been acquired by Netscape. We had built a Java toolkit that later became the industry-standard Swing toolkit.
The four of us, seasoned engineers from NeXT (a company that prided itself on hiring the very best), were asked to interview an engineering candidate. After the interview, we unanimously agreed the candidate didn’t meet the bar. Even if you weren’t aiming to hire top-tier engineers, you wouldn’t have hired this guy. He was clearly not competent.
Imagine our shock when, just a week later, that same individual walked into the office as a newly hired member of Netscape’s engineering team. This baffling decision was certainly not an isolated incident. Netscape’s hiring practices in those days emphasized speed over quality, driven by a relentless mandate to “get big fast.” The logic—or lack thereof—was that rapid scaling mattered more than ensuring top-tier talent.
The Mythical Man-Month and the Hiring Fiasco
The pressure to grow at all costs came from venture capitalists and industry advisors who should have known better. It’s easy to imagine Andreessen reflecting on these days as he advocates for a more meritocratic hiring process. After all, Netscape’s push to rapidly expand its workforce led to plenty of “butts in seats,” but not necessarily the kind of talent that drives long-term success.
As an amusing footnote, Santa Claus reportedly delivered copies of Fred Brooks’s classic The Mythical Man-Month to members of Netscape’s management team that Christmas. A pointed reminder that throwing more bodies at a problem doesn’t necessarily solve it.
Merit, Momentum, and the Future
Marc Andreessen’s critique of hiring practices is a long-overdue acknowledgment of mistakes made during Netscape’s chaotic growth. His advocacy for hiring based on talent and fit stands in sharp contrast to the “get big fast” mentality. This mentality once defined Netscape, where rapid scaling often took precedence over careful evaluation of candidates.
At its core, hiring for merit isn’t just about avoiding bad hires—it’s about assembling teams capable of driving innovation and long-term success. Netscape’s frenzied approach to staffing showed the dangers of prioritizing speed over quality. This is a lesson that Andreessen, with the benefit of hindsight, appears eager to emphasize. His call is a timely reminder to prioritize excellence over sheer headcount.
For those of us who lived through the wild days of Netscape, this feels like a long-overdue lesson. Here’s hoping VCs and the rest of the industry listen.
Jayson Adams is a technology entrepreneur, artist, and the award-winning and best-selling author of two science fiction thrillers, Ares and Infernum. You can see more at www.jaysonadams.com.