a16z · Oct 31, 2026 · 25m · 19m saved
With David Booth, a16z New Media · Dhruv Gupta, a16z New Media
Cosign, a reputation network built by a16z's New Media team, has scaffolded profiles for 40,000 to 50,000 people in tech. David Booth and Dhruv Gupta, both on that team, told MTS in an episode a16z published on its own feed that the next step is letting AI agents search who vouches for whom.
Professional networks treat every message the same, whoever sends it. Cosign is built on explicit, public vouching, so a recommendation from someone who knows the work counts for more than a cold application.
"On networks right now, the inbox works the same way for Sam Altman as it does for me as for my 14-year-old little sister. And it probably shouldn't." — David Booth
David and Dhruv built and launched the Cosign Awards, which opened for nominations with this episode. Dhruv got his own start in Silicon Valley through exactly the kind of vouching Cosign records.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 25 minutes of audio, 6 minutes of reading.
Here are the 6 takeaways that matter.
Key Takeaways
The Cosign Awards honor the operators inside companies, not only founders and chief executives
The rising-stars category already had 135 nominees
Cosign has three layers: profiles of 40,000 to 50,000 people, curated lists, and the cosign itself
A cosign is a public statement that you would work with someone anywhere
Dhruv says LinkedIn will never let agents search its network, and Cosign is built for that
David expects a job seeker's agent to screen a company's agent before any person is involved
Winners get the chance to meet each other, which David says is the real prize
1. Awards for Unsung Operators
The Cosign Awards are community-nominated honors for the people, companies and products that had the most impact in 2026. David's starting point was who usually gets the credit: public recognition goes to founders and chief executives, while one or two little-known operators in each function often do the most.
The Cosign Awards let anyone honor the colleagues they think deserve it
"Our main goal is to give people the chance to celebrate everyone at their company that they think deserves it." — Dhruv Gupta
The awards come in three groups. People are judged by role, in categories such as engineering, AI research and growth, plus looser ones such as public intellectual and podcaster of the year. Companies are judged partly on how much talent they hold, and current employees are encouraged to vote for their own employer. Products make up the third group.
David said the rising-stars category already had 135 nominees, from well-known founders to people nobody had heard of.
