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TheHonorableTomWheeler,Chairman

FederalCommunicationsCommission
44512
th
Street,SW
WashingtonD.C.20554

May8,2014

DearChairmanWheeler:

WewritetoexpressoursupportforafreeandopenInternet.

Weinvestinentrepreneurs,investingourownfundsandthoseofourinvestors(whoare
individuals,pensionfunds,endowments,andfinancialinstitutions).Weofteninvestatthe
earlieststages,whencompaniesincludejustahandfuloffounderswithlargelyunproven
ideas.But,withoutlawyers,largeteamsormajorrevenues,thesesmallstartupshavehad
theopportunitytoexperiment,adapt,andgrow,thankstoequalaccesstotheglobal
market.Asaresult,someofthestartupswehaveinvestedinhavemanagedtobecome
amongthemostadmired,successful,andinfluentialcompaniesintheworld.

Wehavemadeourinvestmentdecisionsbasedonthecertaintyofalevelplayingfieldand
ofassurancesagainstdiscriminationandaccessfeesfromInternetaccessproviders.
Indeed,ourinvestmentdecisionsinInternetcompaniesaredependentuponthecertaintyof
anequalopportunitymarketplace.

Basedonnewsreportsandyourownstatements,weareworriedthatyourproposedrules
willnotprovidethenecessarycertaintythatweneedtomakeinvestmentdecisionsandthat
theseruleswillstifleinnovationintheInternetsector.

Ifestablishedcompaniesareabletopayforbetteraccessspeedsorlowerlatency,the
Internetwillnolongerbealevelplayingfield.Startupswithapplicationsthatare
advantagedbyspeed(suchasgames,video,orpaymentsystems)willbeunlikelyto
overcomethatdeficitnomatterhowinnovativetheirservice.Entrepreneurswillneedto
raisemoneytobuyfastlaneservicesbeforetheyhaveproventhatconsumerswanttheir
product.Investorswillextractmoreequityfromentrepreneurstocompensatefortherisk.
Internetapplicationswillnotbeabletoaffordtocreatearelationshipwithmillionsof
consumersbymakingtheirservicefreelyavailableandthenbuildabusinessovertimeas
theybetterunderstandthevalueconsumersfindintheirservice(whichiswhatFacebook,
Twitter,Tumblr,Pinterest,Reddit,DropboxandvirtuallyotherconsumerInternetservicedid
toachievescale).

Instead,creatorswillhavetoaskpermissionofaninvestororcorporatehierarchybefore
theycanlaunch.Ideaswillbevettedbycommitteesandquirkypassionprojectswillnotget
achance.Anindividualindormroomoradesignstudiowillnotbeabletoexperimentout
loudontheInternet.Theresultwillbegreaterconformity,fewersurprises,andless
innovation.

Further,investorslikeuswillbewaryofinvestinginanythingthataccessprovidersmight
considerpartoftheirfutureproductplansforfeartheywillusethesametechnical
infrastructuretoadvantagetheirownservicesorusenetworkmanagementasanexcuseto
disadvantagecompetitiveofferings.Policingthiswillbealmostimpossible(evenusinga
standardofcommercialreasonableness)andaccessprovidersdonotneedto
successfullydisadvantagetheircompetitiontheyjustneedtocreateacrediblethreatso
thatinvestorslikeuswillbelessinclinedtobackthosecompanies.

Weneedsimple,strong,enforceablerulesagainstdiscriminationandaccessfees,not
merelyagainstblocking.

WeencouragetheCommissiontoconsiderallavailablejurisdictionaltoolsatitsdisposal
inensuringafreeandopenInternetthatrewards,notdisadvantages,investmentand
entrepreneurship.

Sincerely,

PuneetAgarwal,TrueVentures
SamAltman,YCombinator
KristianAndersen,GravityVentures
ShermanAtkinson,MiramarDigitalVentures
PhineasBarnes,FirstRoundCapital
PhilBlack,TrueVentures
BradyBohrmann,AvalonVentures
MikeBrown,Jr.,BoweryCapital
DouglasW.Burke,AngelInvestor
BradBurnham,UnionSquareVentures
JeffreyBussgang,FlybridgeCapitalPartners
JohnButtrick,UnionSquareVentures
JonCallaghan,TrueVentures
JeffCarter,HydeParkAngels
JoeChung,RedstarVentures
MichaelCollett,PromusVentures
TonyConrad,TrueVentures
RonConway,SVAngel
FredCoulson,FiveElmsCapital
OwenDavis,NYCSeed
TejDhawan,NestmintandPlainsAngels
GilDibner,DFJEsprit
RogerDickey,RocketStreetVentures
ChrisDixon,AndreessenHorowitz
LiamDonohue,.406Ventures
BobDorf,InvestorandEntrepreneurialEducator
BillDraper,DraperRichards
NicholasEisenberger,PureEnergyPartners
RogerEhrenberg,IAVentures
BradFeld,FoundryGroup
StephenFindlay,AngelInvestor
RyanFloyd,StormVentures
ChrisFralic,FirstRoundCapital
ChristopherForbes,AngelInvestor
DavidFrankel,FounderCollective
ChristieGeorge,NewMediaVentures
RobGo,NextViewVentures
MattGolden,GoldenVenturePartners
MatthewGreenfield,RethinkEducation
NickGrossman,UnionSquareVentures
BruceHallett,MiramarDigitalVentures
RickHeitzmann,FirstMarkCapital
TroyHenikoff,TechStars
EricHippeau,LererVentures
BobHolmen,MiramarVenturePartners
RobHutter,LearnCapital
NabeelA.Hyatt,SparkCapital
MarkJacobsen,OATV
DeborahJackson,AngelInvestor
JodiShermanJahic,AlignedPartners
NikhilKalghatgi,VastVentures
MitchKapor,KaporCapital
JonKarlen,AtlasVenture
JoshKopelman,FirstRoundCapital
ManuKumar,K9Ventures
DavidLee,SVAngel
KennethLerer,LererVentures
RobertLevitan,AngelInvestor
AdamLilling,PlusCapital
JohnLilly,GreylockPartners
HowardLindzon,SocialLeverage
TrevorLoy,FlywheelVentures
OmMalik,TrueVentures
KanyiMaqubela,CollaborativeFund
JasonMendelson,FoundryGroup
JoshMendelsohn,Hattery
AaronMerriman,EurovestechPLC
AnnMiuraKo,Floodgate
HowardMorgan,FirstRoundCapital
DaveMorin,SlowVentures
DaveMoylan,YenniCapital
KevinMurphy,AngelInvestor
DavidJ.Namdar,SolidXPartners
Farzad(Zod)Nazem,AngelInvestor
JasonNeal,JumpstartCapital
JerryNeumann,Neu.vc
TimO'Reilly,OATV
AlexisOhanian,InitializedCapital
DavidPakman,Venrock
EricPaley,FounderCollective
AndrewParker,SparkCapital
MassimilianoPellegrini,AngelInvestor
WilliamPeng,RedSwanVentures
MattPenneycard,PCBCapital
PerryRahbar,RahbarAngel
SameerRashid,PureEnergyPartners
NavalRavikant,AngelList
EricRies,AngelInvestor&Author
NeilRimer,IndexVentures
DavidRistow,EurovestechPLC
BryceRoberts,OATV
JamesRobinson,RREVentures
JohnRuffolo,OMERSVentures
ChrisSacca,LowercaseCapital
AhsunSaleem,ClippershipInternational
TedSapountzis,AngelInvestor
EricSatz,TNCVFund
ToniSchneider,TrueVentures
AndrewSchoen,NewEnterpriseAssociates
JasonSchoettler,SheaVentures
ChristopherM.Schroeder,VentureInvestor
JonathanSeelig,GlobespanCapitalPartners
RishiShah,JumpstartVentures
KJSingh,Techstars
JimStewart,TrueVentures
TimStreit,HuronRiverVentures
MikeStubler,DraperTriangleVentures
BradSvrluga,HighPeaksVenturePartners
MarkE.Swanson,LaneFiveVentures
BrettTopche,MentorTechVentures
BrentS.Traidman,FenoxVentureCapital
HunterWalk,Homebrew
MattWalters,ArdentCapital
DanWeisman,AdvancePublications
AndrewWeissman,UnionSquareVentures
AlbertWenger,UnionSquareVentures
BorisWertz,VersionOneVentures
AndyWhite,VegasTechFund
FredWilson,UnionSquareVentures
JoshWray,AngelInvestor
SamYagan,CorazonCapitalLLC
NamekZu'bi,SiliconBadia

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