Jason Rosenthal

Rosenthal is a graduate of Pomona College, where he serves on the Board of Trustees, and holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.⁠[1]

In the 1990s Rosenthal was trained as a project manager by Ben HorowitzBen HorowitzBen Horowitz is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and business author who co-founded Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with Marc Andreessen in 2009. He previously led Loudcloud’s transition into Opsware and its 2007 sale to Hewlett-Packard. His writing and investing address startup management, organizational culture and the relationship between technology and cultural industries.Open the full entry at Netscape; Horowitz and Marc AndreessenMarc AndreessenMarc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, a co-founder and general partner of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). While in college he helped develop the graphical web browser Mosaic, then co-founded Netscape and Loudcloud (later renamed Opsware), and has long served as a director of Meta; he has also published essays such as “Why Software Is Eating the World.”Open the full entry later hired him as the first employee of Loudcloud.⁠[2]

He held senior positions at Opsware, Loudcloud and AOLAOLAOL is an American internet brand offering a news portal, email, and membership services. Its history dates to an online-services company founded in 1985.Open the full entry. Before Ning, he was vice president of the Business Service Automation product line at HP Software.⁠[1]

On September 20, 2011, the social networking platform Ning announced that it had agreed to merge into Glam Media, with the deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011. In the announcement, Ning’s chairman and co-founder wrote that Rosenthal had run Ning for the previous two years and that he and his team had carried out a transformation of the company.⁠[3]

As Ning’s chief executive, Rosenthal led its shift from a free, ad-supported model to paid subscriptions; paying subscribers grew from 17,000 to 100,000 in 18 months, and the company had 60 million monthly active users. After the merger he became executive vice president of products at Glam Media.⁠[4][1]

On May 31, 2012, the private equity firm Silver Lake announced the appointment of Rosenthal to its Value Creation Team as a part-time senior advisor. After leaving Ning that autumn, he served as an operating executive at Silver Lake.⁠[1][4]

On March 19, 2013, the light-field camera company Lytro announced that Rosenthal would become chief executive, effective April 15; founder and former chief executive Ren Ng became executive chairman. Rosenthal said at the time: “Lytro has already made tremendous strides towards its vision of revolutionizing photography as we know it.”⁠[4]

In a 2023 interview with MercuryMercury (fintech company)Mercury is an American fintech company founded in 2017 by Immad Akhund, Jason Zhang and Max Tagher; it launched account services for businesses in 2019. Its platform combines financial services provided by partner banks with software for bills, invoices and expense management. Mercury itself remains a fintech company; the proposed Mercury Bank, N.A. should be distinguished from the current partner-bank model.Open the full entry founder Immad Akhund he recalled: “In 2013, I took over from the founder and CEO, who went back to academia.”⁠[5]

In February 2017 Rosenthal, as Lytro’s former chief executive, joined Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz on an a16z podcast to share stories of keeping companies alive in hard times, including major pivots, selling products before they were ready and financing against market and industry headwinds.⁠[6]

On March 27, 2018, Lytro, which had turned to virtual reality, announced that it would begin winding down and would not take on new productions or provide new services. Google confirmed that it was not acquiring the company but that some Lytro team members were joining Google.⁠[7]

In the 2023 interview Rosenthal recalled that Lytro had received an acquisition offer from a large company in 2018, and said: “I sold it to Google.”⁠[5]

On April 3, 2023, a16z crypto named Rosenthal an operating partner to provide leadership guidance across its portfolio. He had most recently run most of Google’s consumer-facing subscription services; an a16z podcast page published in 2022 listed him as Vice President, Subscription Services, at Google.⁠[2][6]

a16z crypto managing partner Chris DixonChris DixonChris Dixon is a programmer, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist, and the founder and managing partner of a16z crypto. He co-founded SiteAdvisor and Hunch, helped create Founder Collective, and later joined Andreessen Horowitz, investing in technology companies such as Coinbase. He is also the author of Read Write Own and has long written about blockchains, network ownership, the open internet, and the combination of AI and crypto.Open the full entry said Rosenthal had spent more than 25 years as an entrepreneur and executive. In August 2023 Rosenthal said in an interview: “I’m in crypto these days, and there aren’t even a million active crypto users yet.”⁠[2][5]

In October 2026 a16z crypto was renamed a16z Frontier. Rosenthal serves as an operating partner at a16z Frontier, advising CEOs and founders in its crypto portfolio on leadership, planning and navigating fast-changing markets.⁠[8][9]

a16z Frontier: Official website: https://a16zfrontier.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[9]

X: Public account: https://x.com/jasonrosenthal (opens in a new window).⁠[9]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonprosenthal/ (opens in a new window).⁠[9]