Academy founder puts shipped products ahead of grades in a16z-backed college alternative

Young applicants to the Horowitz Andreessen Academy will be judged more heavily on products they have built than on academic scores. In an October 10 FOX Business interview, founder and CEO Gagan Biyani explained the admissions bet behind the a16z-backed college alternative: evidence of making something useful should carry more weight than conventional credentials.

The San Francisco academy launched on September 22 with $42 million in funding, according to its announcement. It is recruiting about 50 students for a tuition-free, one-year Founding Class Fellowship starting in fall 2027. A separate two-year program is targeted for fall 2028, subject to regulatory approval; it is not currently offered or enrolling students.

An admissions file built around finished work

Biyani calls the key admissions signal “proof of work”—not a technical credential, but evidence that an applicant has built and released something. His examples include an app attracting hundreds of thousands or millions of users, a business earning revenue, or a solution to a difficult technical problem. High school transcripts and SAT or ACT scores will still count, he said, but receive less emphasis.

His argument is about what employers need as AI changes work. Biyani said companies increasingly value whether applicants can build products, collaborate and deliver results. The academy will pair AI-assisted product building with selling, public speaking, ambition and what he calls “high agency”: an emphasis on students taking ownership of their goals and outcomes.

That does not amount to rejecting universities for everyone. Biyani praised their role in research and human development, while arguing that their structure can be a poor fit for the students he wants to recruit. Asked to compare the academy with Stanford, he favored Stanford for someone pursuing academia and his own program for someone seeking a job or starting a company.

The academy is only built for a small, small segment of students. It is not designed to replace the entire system, right?

Gagan Biyani, founder and CEO, speaking to FOX Business

Projects, short courses and time inside companies

The academy’s September launch announcement describes a program without traditional grades, tests or homework. Instead, students would spend much of their time on projects and work experiences, supported by brief classes taught by company founders and operators. Its teaching model has three parts:

• Pursuits: Student-chosen projects, startup ideas and investigations. Students decide what to build and take responsibility for the result.
• Courses: Classes lasting two days to four weeks, taught by tech founders and operators. Planned subjects include AI systems, sales, storytelling and startup mechanics.
• Co-ops: Work experiences inside companies, intended to let students explore roles and learn by doing rather than only through classroom instruction.

The founding partners include Anthropic, Google, Meta, Nvidia and OpenAI, alongside Anduril, Coinbase, Palantir, Replit and Stripe. Depending on the partner, support includes computing resources, hardware, curriculum advice and hands-on opportunities. The academy also says more than 40 additional companies have joined as hiring partners, including Databricks, Notion and Shopify.

In the new interview, Biyani said more than 50 companies had agreed before launch that they would hire academy graduates. The launch announcement uses narrower language: hiring partners will consider students for work placements and full-time opportunities. That distinction separates employer interest in the program from a promised job for each student.

A free first year, a separate paid proposal

For the founding fellowship, the academy promises access to more than $50,000 in computing credits, a $5,000 travel and research budget, and a16z’s investor network. It accepts applications from current university students and international applicants, with priority for graduating high school seniors. The academy explicitly says some participants may use the fellowship as a gap year or defer college admission.

The institution is a for-profit company separate from Andreessen Horowitz, according to its launch release. Biyani, a co-founder of Udemy and Maven, leads it; Marc Andreessen and Erik Torenberg are joining its board. The academy says its $42 million came from a16z and individual investors, distinguishing those financial backers from the companies providing educational resources and hiring connections.

The proposed two-year program has different financial terms. If approved, the academy expects annual tuition comparable to an elite private university, without publishing a specific price. For applicants weighing the offer now, the concrete choice is the free 2027 fellowship—not enrollment in an already available two-year replacement for college.