The real queen of Silicon Valley - Oct. 2, 2014

Just four years old, Andreessen Horowitz is already one of Silicon Valley's sexiest, most desirable technology venture capital firms, with a whopping $2.5 billion that it has invested in high-profile companies like Pinterest, Jawbone and Fab.com, along with a host of others. And it might all be because of dinner parties.

The dinner parties are the brainchild of Margit Wennmachers, an operating partner who could fairly be called the VC firm's secret weapon. The German immigrant, 48, invites reporters, investors and entrepreneurs to her San Francisco home to talk, drink and sup, all off the record. It may be the softest, smoothest marketing pitch in the Bay Area. Or maybe it's not a pitch at all. Reporters love discovering, says Wennmachers. "And discovery is best done breaking bread."

The real queen of Silicon Valley - Oct. 2, 2014