Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) says the AI boom is levelling the playing field for founders outside the United States, giving international entrepreneurs a genuine edge over their American counterparts rather than merely accepting them as a matter of course. Partner Gabriel Vasquez, who works on the firm's Apps Fund and global strategy alongside general partner Angela Strange, leads a16z's Borderless Founder network supporting immigrant and international entrepreneurs, and argues that keeping "one foot" in a home country while maintaining ties to Silicon Valley is now advantageous rather than a compromise.

According to Vasquez, 44% of a16z's investments in its Apps Fund One and Two backed founders with international roots, and the firm has reportedly logged over a million air miles chasing dealflow abroad rather than insisting teams relocate to the US. He attributes the shift to changing corporate buying habits worldwide: over the past three to five years, companies outside the US, including in regions such as Latin America where cheap labour previously limited software adoption, have become far readier to pay for AI tools, even from early-stage startups. This is opening space for local founders to sell AI solutions in their own markets while splitting time with the US, a trend Vasquez says is even reflected in government behaviour, citing Poland's recent stake in a16z-backed voice AI firm ElevenLabs.