【AI前沿】General Catalyst posted VC rage bait and it worked, especially on a16z

One of the most entertaining moments in VC this week was a piece of rage-bait marketing from General Catalyst.In a now-viral post on X that parodies the old Mac vs. PC commercials, the venture firm — better known as GC — posted a “VC vs GC” video on Wednesday. The VC was played by a tall actor in a baggy shirt and vest with a distinctly large, bald head — an apparent dig at Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen. (But the real Andreessen never looks that disheveled).Meet GCpic.twitter.com/q4HxQjFkUZ— General Catalyst (@generalcatalyst)May 13, 2026The GC character was played by a man with a thick head of dark hair, white kicks, and a tendency to stare deeply into the camera. He was clearly supposed to represent actor Justin Long’s cooler, “hipper” Mac character from the original commercials, in contrast to John Hodgman’s straight-laced “square” PC persona.GC asks VC about his robotic dog.VC explains, “This is Woof AI” and then extols the virtues of the artificial companion (you don’t need to walk it or break the news to the kids when it dies!) and declares, “You’ll never want a real dog after this.” VC mentions that his firm is leading the seed round and pitches GC to join the cap table.GC explains how people like real dogs and remarks, “I’d love to hear more, but we actually have a really high bar around responsibility for these things.”Then VC kicks the AI dog and the dog chases him off the screen. The post has now been viewed 2.4 million times with hundreds of shares and comments, and thousands of likes.I’d have to read so far between the lines that I’d be off the page and peering into another book to unpack this, but I’ll try anyway. The message, roughly: Other VCs, and a16z in particular, will fund anything. GC won’t. (I asked about this. GC hasn’t responded.)It’s a pointed argument if so, and not entirely without basis. Andreessen’s firm frequently invests in companies that are considered controversial, like the surveillance startupFlock Safety, AI notetakerCluely,andAdam Neumann’s Flow. But the same measure could just as easily be applied to General Catalyst. GC’s portfolio includesAnduril,Percepta, andPolymarket.My takeaway is that GC wanted to show an a16z-type character kicking a dog, without anyone actually kicking an actual dog because that would be a major problem.Many of the comments on the video seemed to find the video, and the choice to post it, cringe. Plenty liked and loved it, too.Compulsive X user Andreessen himself couldn’t resist responding, many, many times. He said it made GC look “smarmy” and said, “Stay tuned for our upcoming ad campaign, ‘We’re the VC who doesn’tsneer at your idea.’” He kept going from there. My personal favorite was: “The thing they got right is the relative heights.“As others noted, you know you’ve hit the right rage bait when the target takes it.There wereplentyof a16z partners and staffers who came to Andreessen’s defense, too. So much so that their reactions drewlots of comments. My personal favorite in this category was from VSC Ventures VC Jay Kapoor: “GC vs. A16Z beef is like Kendrick vs. Drake for people who know what a 409A valuation is.“GC vs. A16Z beef is like Kendrick vs. Drake for people who know what a 409A valuation ishttps://t.co/MxLXIAVlHx— Jay Kapoor (@JayKapoorNYC)May 14, 2026Topicsa16z,General Catalyst,Marc Andreessen,VentureWhen you purchase through links in our articles,we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.Julie BortVenture EditorJulie Bort is the Startups/Venture Desk editor for TechCrunch.You can contact or verify outreach from Julie by [email protected] via@Julie188on X.View BioMay 27Athens, GreeceStrictlyVC Athens is up next. Hear unfiltered insights straight from Europe’s tech leaders and connect with the people shaping what’s ahead. Lock in your spot before it’s gone.REGISTER NOWMost PopularOpenAI is reportedly preparing legal action against Apple; it wouldn’t be the first partner to feel burnedConnie LoizosHow to turn off Instagram’s new Instants feature and retract photos you accidentally sharedAisha MalikMusk’s xAI is running nearly 50 gas turbines unchecked at its Mississippi data centerTim De ChantSpotify launches a Wrapped-style recap of your entire listening historyIvan MehtaAI voice startup Vapi hits $500M valuation after winning Amazon Ring over 40 rivalsJagmeet SinghAmazon launches 30-minute delivery across the USSarah PerezFintech startup Parker files for bankruptcyAnthony Ha