Company fines workers $10 for each late minute

Showing up late for meetings can be a sign of disrespect, disorganization or even a strategy to prove your time is more valuable than others. 

Ben Horowitz, a co-founder of venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz, says showing up late for meetings is a problem that plagues his industry -- and it demonstrates a "lack of respect" that he wanted to root out of his own office, he tells Fortune in a video interview.

Entrepreneurs, Horowitz explained, are under tremendous strain, working around the clock, and show up to venture capital companies in the hope of getting funding. What happens next isn't pretty, he added. "The first thing you get is you go to meet with them and you sit in the lobby for 45 minutes. . . because they are very important people," he said.

Horowitz Andreessen invests in technology companies and startups, ranging from Groupon (GRPN) to Pinterest, according to its website. Co-founder Marc Andreessen is an entrepreneur himself, having co-founded Netscape, which helped commercialize the Internet in the 1990s with an early Web browser. Horowitz was one of Netscape's first product managers. 

"We said, 'Look, we want to make sure everyone in this firm respects the entrepreneur and respects that they are the ones that are going to make us the money," Horowitz added. With the fine, "we tend to be on time."

Asked about the biggest fines he's collected, Horowitz said he once nabbed Andreessen for $180. "When someone has to pay $80 for being eight minutes late, they say, 'Why? Why are you charging me so much money? I had to go to the bathroom," he said. 

One top technology executive would likely be racking up huge fines, based on a recent report from Business Insider. Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer is "late all the time," according to the story. She can be at least an hour tardy for meetings with her employees, the piece says.

While Horowitz points to venture capital as a place where tardiness is common, it's not unknown to other industries, ranging from health care to cable providers. 

One cable company has taken a similar tactic to winning over its customers. Comcast (CMCSA) has a guarantee that seeks to battle that image. If they're late or don't show up for an appointment, they give those customers a $20 credit. 

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