A16z Programming Test

Is a16z building an engineering team to be shared by their early stage startups? If hiring early developers is one if the tougher challenges, this team may be their answer.

Private Equity firms started getting much more hands-on operationally with their portfolio when some balance sheet trimming was no longer sufficient for a quick flip. Though most of that involvement is straight out of the 1990s management consulting playbook. It's mostly vendor management and leveraged procurement. The purchasing arm for Blackrock and TPG companies is (was?) Staples largest customer. [0]

[0] http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/24/news/companies/buyouts_priva...