Andreessen Horowitz GP Connie Chan used her expertise to get Chance the Rapper into China. a16z; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Venture capitalist Connie Chan is known in Silicon Valley for her expertise on the Chinese tech market. But it turns out she also knows a thing or two about the international rap scene.
That factoid was revealed Tuesday by her boss, Andreessen Horowitz cofounder Ben Horowitz, in a blog post announcing her promotion to general partner of the firm. Chan, who focuses on consumer startups, joined the firm in 2011 as an analyst before getting an unprecedented promotion to a top spot this week.
"Through the course of her work, everyone whom we ever connected with Connie â from Ben Keighran, founder/CEO of Caffeine, to Chance the Rapper â came back with the same feedback: 'Connie is the best.' Yes, we know," Horowitz wrote.
Chance the Rapper isn't a tech founder. But Chan did give him some critical business advice as a favor, Horowitz explained to Business Insider:
"I am friends with Chance's father Ken [Williams-Bennett]. They had a plan for Chance to enter the Chinese market, but it wasn't great," Horowitz said in an email, explaining that since Chance is an independent artist, he didn't have a label to support the effort.
"I asked Connie to help out and she made the whole thing a giant success. She has some great photos," he continued.
Chance isn't the only rapper with close ties to the VC firm. The rapper Divine even dedicated a song to its firm's cofounder, aptly entitled "Venture Capitalist (Like Ben Horowitz)."