Shows
The a16z ShowThe Inside Story of Growth Investing at a16zThis episode is a special replay of David George’s conversation with Harry Stebbings on 20VC. David is a General Partner on a16z’s growth team, and in this discussion he breaks down how he thinks about breakout growth investing: why great business models are now table stakes, where real edge comes from non-consensus views on TAM, and how to underwrite upside in a world of higher prices and increasing competition.They also dig into the mechanics behind the scenes: unit economics at growth, “pull vs push” products, winner-take-most market structures, and how David decides when to doubl...
2025-12-3128 minThe a16z ShowWhy a16z's Martin Casado Believes the AI Boom Still Has Years to RunThis episode is a special replay from The Generalist Podcast, featuring a conversation with a16z General Partner Martin Casado. Martin has lived through multiple tech waves as a founder, researcher, and investor, and in this discussion he shares how he thinks about the AI boom, why he believes we’re still early in the cycle, and how a market-first lens shapes his approach to investing.They also dig into the mechanics behind the scenes: why AI coding could become a multi-trillion-dollar market, how a16z evolved from a small generalist firm into a specialized organization, the gr...
2025-12-301h 22The a16z ShowThe Secret Marketing Strategy That Built a16z: From Zero to Legendary VC FirmMarc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz sit down with Margit Wennmachers—the woman who turned two unknown entrepreneurs with $300 million and zero investing track record into the most talked-about firm in venture capital. She unpacks how they weaponized transparency in an industry built on secrecy, why Fortune's cover story triggered a cartel meltdown, and the exact moment a casual lunch conversation became "Software Is Eating the World." This is the origin story of how A16Z broke every unwritten rule, made enemies of every top-tier firm, and permanently rewired what it means to build companies in public. R...
2025-11-2659 minThe a16z Showa16z's State of Crypto: The $4 Trillion Milestone and What's Next'The regulatory environment has completely inverted. Stablecoins are now a top 20 holder of US treasuries. Every major bank wants in. In a16z Crypto's 2025 State of Crypto report, Daren Matsuoka (Head of Data) and Eddy Lazzarin (CTO) reveal how crypto hit $4 trillion market cap while fundamentally reshaping how institutions think about payments, with surprising data on why developers aren't following prices this cycle and what privacy's inevitable rise means for mainstream adoption. Resources: Follow Eddy on X: https://x.com/eddylazzarinFollow Daren on X: https://x.com/DarenMatsuokaFo...
2025-11-091h 38The a16z ShowBuilding the Real-World Infrastructure for AI, with Google, Cisco & a16zAI isn’t just changing software, it’s causing the biggest buildout of physical infrastructure in modern history.In this episode, Raghu Raghuram (a16z) speaks with Amin Vahdat, VP and GM of AI and Infrastructure at Google, and Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco, about the unprecedented scale of what’s being built — from chips to power grids to global data centers.They discuss the new “AI industrial revolution,” where power, compute, and network are the new scarce resources; how geopolitical competition is shaping chip design and data center placement; and why the next...
2025-10-2932 minThe a16z ShowBen Horowitz on How a16z Was BuiltErik Torenberg sits down with Ben Horowitz, Cofounder of a16z, for a candid conversation on venture capital, leadership, and the future of innovation. Recorded live at a16z’s Menlo Park offices in 2023, Ben shares practical wisdom and hard-earned lessons on navigating market cycles, building resilient companies, and why culture is a lasting competitive edge.Timecodes: 0:00 Introduction 0:49 Building a Lasting Venture Firm1:57 Product vs. Investor-Driven Firms5:17 Evolution of Andreessen Horowitz8:43 Fund Sizing & Market Opportunity11:38 Recruiting & Culture at a16z13:58 Supporting Founders & Firm Miss...
2025-08-2343 minThe a16z ShowMarc Andreessen: Deep Vs. Broad Founders, AI in America, & the New Face of a16zToday on the a16z Podcast, we’re sharing Marc Andreessen’s recent appearance on TBPN.Marc—cofounder and general partner at a16z—joins hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays for a wide-ranging conversation, recorded live at the a16z’s 2025 LP Conference in Las Vegas.They cover the rise of AI, the future of open source models, and how tech is transforming every corner of the economy—from education and defense to healthcare and housing.Marc also shares his thoughts on the evolution of venture capital, the firm’s new branding, and what it ta...
2025-05-1628 min
The a16z ShowWho Will Own the Internet? a16z’s Chris Dixon on AI and CryptoTechnology doesn’t grow in isolation—it evolves in waves. Just as mobile, cloud, and SaaS shaped the internet of the past 20 years, so too could crypto, AI, and new hardware usher in an era of the internet that’s pro-innovation, pro-startup, and pro-creator. Speaking with a16z Growth General Partner David George, a16z crypto Founder and Managing Partner Chris Dixon breaks down his vision for a new internet, from using crypto to decentralize AI infrastructure and kickstart network effects, to why AI will be this era’s native form of media just as film was in the 19...
2025-02-2032 min
Raising HealthAI + a16z with Vijay PandeVijay Pande, PhD, founding partner of a16z Bio + Health, joins Derrick Harris, host of the AI + a16z podcast. Together, they discuss how computer science has subsumed biotech. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
2024-09-1048 minThe a16z ShowFrom Promise to Reality: Inside a16z's Data and AI ForumNvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang declared in a recent keynote, “we are in the iPhone moment of AI.”This special episode will give you an inside look into a16z’s Data and AI Forum, hosted the day GPT-4 came out, featuring many of the most influential builders in the space – from the companies building foundational models like OpenAI to those building the underlying infrastructure like AWS. Resources:Check out CoactiveAI: https://coactive.ai/Check out CharacterAI: http://character.ai/Check out Hex: https://hex.tech/Follow Co...
2023-05-0227 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Software has eaten the world...and healthcare is nextBack in 2011, a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen first made the bold claim that software would eat the world. In this episode (originally recorded as part of an event at a16z), Andreesseen and a16z general partner on the bio fund Jorge Conde (@JorgeCondeBio) take a look back at that thesis, and think about where we are now, nearly a decade later—how software has delivered on that promise… and most of all, where it is yet to come.
In the wide-ranging conversation, the two partners discuss everything from the translatable learnings of software’s transformation of the mu...
2019-08-1546 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: How To Get The Most From Your BoardIn this final of a 3-part series (which originally aired as YouTube videos) on working with venture investors, a16z Managing Partner Scott Kupor shares best practices for working with your board as it grows from just you, your co-founders and first investor all the way through the time when you are recruiting independent board members in preparation for going public.
Want to learn more? Read Scott's book "Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It" (https://a16z.com/book/secrets-of-sand-hill-road/).
The views expressed here are those of the individual...
2019-07-1921 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: How To Raise Money From A Venture InvestorSo you've decided raising venture capital is the best fundraising strategy for your startup. Now what?
In this second of a 3-part series, a16z Managing Partner Scott Kupor shares actionable fundraising advice based on his experience of seeing thousands of startup pitches and working on all of a16z's investments.
Want to learn more? Read Scott's book "Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It" (https://a16z.com/book/secrets-of-sand-hill-road/).
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) pers...
2019-07-1833 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: How To Understand And Choose A Venture InvestorIncentives matter. So understanding the incentives of venture capitalists will help you decide if raising money from a venture investor makes sense for your business.
In this first of a 3-part series, which originally aired as YouTube videos, a16z Managing Partner Scott Kupor talks with Frank Chen about how venture capital works: how the money flows, what Limited Partners (the organizations that invest in venture capitalists) are looking for, what differentiates the top investors, and what all of this means for an entrepreneur raising money.
Want to learn more? Read Scott's book "Secrets of...
2019-07-1726 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Entrepreneurs, Then and Nowwith Marc Andreessen (@pmarca), Ben Horowitz (@bhorowitz), and Stewart Butterfield (@stewart)
A lot in technology -- and venture -- happens in decades. New cycles of technology come and go, including some secular shifts; a new generation of founders matures; and so much more changes. So when Andreessen Horowitz (dubbed with the numeronym "a16z") was founded a decade ago as of this month, the tech landscape looked very different between then and now: Not only had the global economy just seen a recession, but trends like mobile and cloud and even social were just taking off.
2019-06-2844 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: What’s Next for Marketplace Startups (Hint: Services)The past and future of marketplace startups -- where are we? Ever since eBay popularized an internet meeting place for buyers and sellers of, well, just about everything, we’ve been waiting for 100 other at-scale marketplaces for everything else, including services.
So in this hallway-style episode of the a16z Podcast (originally recorded as a video) Li Jin -- co-author with Andrew Chen of this post -- chats with a16z Deal & Research team operating partner about why there aren’t 100 thriving marketplaces for services yet... And what’s changing to make this next wave of marketplace startu...
2019-01-0941 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Infrastructure of Total Healthwith Bernard J. Tyson (@bernardjtyson) and Ben Horowitz (@bhorowitz)
Bernard J. Tyson is the chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, a $73 billion non-profit health organization that provides healthcare and coverage with more than 22,000 physicians caring for more than 12.2 million members across 9 states.
In this conversion with a16z co-founder and general partner Ben Horowitz -- which originally took place at a16z's annual innovation summit, which focuses on building the future and included an entire theme focused on bio and healthcare -- Tyson shares his thoughts on the state of healthcare today and where it m...
2018-12-2148 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The IQ and EQ of Robotswith Boris Sofman (@bsofman), Dave Touretzky (@DaveTouretzky), and Hanne Tidnam (@omnivorousread)
We're just now beginning to truly see the the first 'real' robots in the home, from Roombas to toys to companions to... well, much more. How are humans beginning to forge relationships with these robotic devices (/entities!) -- and how will those relationships develop? What do we learn as we begin to forge relationships and interact with robotic toys like Cosmo and Vector -- about robots, and about ourselves? And what do these learnings teach us about the possibility of adding a "personality wrapper" to new t...
2018-11-2135 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Basics of Growth 2 -- Engagement & Retentionwith Andrew Chen (@andrewchen), Jeff Jordan (@jeff_jordan), and Sonal Chokshi (@smc90)
Once you have users, how do you keep them engaged, retain them, and even "resurrect" or re-engage them? That's the focus of this episode of the a16z Podcast, which continues our series on the basics of growth from user acquisition to engagement and retention -- covering, as always, key metrics and how to think about them. Especially as many products and platforms evolve over time, so do the users, some of whom may even use the product in different ways... so what does that...
2018-08-0932 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Basics of Growth 1 -- User Acquisitionwith Andrew Chen (@andrewchen), Jeff Jordan (@jeff_jordan), and Sonal Chokshi (@smc90)
Growth is one of the most top of mind questions for entrepreneurs building startups of all kinds (and especially consumer ones) -- but how does one go beyond a mindset of "growth hacking" to thinking about growth more systemically and holistically? What are the key metrics to know; why; and how?
This episode of the a16z Podcast -- one of two in a series -- focuses on the user acquisition aspect of growth, followed by engagement and retention in the next episode...
2018-08-0920 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Earned Secretswith Ben Horowitz (@bhorowitz) and Sharon Chang (@sychang)
What does it really take to start a startup (or work at one)? In this episode of the a16z Podcast -- based on a Q&A with Ben Horowitz as part of an event hosted by a16z's Technical Talent and People Practices team for a16z portfolio company summer interns 2018 -- Ben shares quick thoughts and advice geared towards those early in their tech careers.
The conversation covers everything from how to know what kind of company to join early (or when to strike out...
2018-08-0316 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Building Companies in Crypto, from People to Codewith Tina Bhatnagar (@tinab), Preethi Kasireddy (@iam_preethi), Lily Liu (@calilyliu), and Kim Milosevich (@kimbatronic)
Whether it’s sharing the decision-making behind joining a crypto company to the perspectives of a passionate early adopter (or relative latecomer), this episode of the a16z Podcast -- based on a panel from the “Intro to Crypto” event that Andreessen Horowitz and #Angels put on in April 2018 -- covers what it takes to build companies in crypto, from people to code. You can find other sessions from the event, covering the building blocks of crypto to decentralization to the regulatory landscape...
2018-07-1727 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Construction Under Tech -- The Buildwith Martin Fischer (@fischermartin), Saurabh Ladha (@ladhasaurabh), Chris Rippingham, and Hanne Tidnam (@omnivorousread)
Continuing our series on how tech is changing construction -- one of the industries most resistant to change (and facing declining productivity) -- this episode of the a16z Podcast looks at what happens when you go from planning to actually putting boots on the ground. How can tech translate rich data sets into the just-right types, amounts, and levels of information for each different piece of the incredibly complex, dynamic, time-and-space problem that is a building site?
Martin Fischer, professor of c...
2018-06-1436 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The End (and Beginning) of ProgrammingThere are over 20 million programmers out there -- and double that, if you count everyone else coding in other ways -- but where are the next 100 million developers? How do we get to a billion developers? The answer, observes a16z general partner Peter Levine in conversation with GitHub co-founder and former CEO Chris Wanstrath (based on a Q&A recorded at our last a16z Summit event) lies in changing the very definition of a "programmer" and "programming".
It might even mean the end of code, argues Levine (who apparently loves arguing the end of things!), a...
2018-06-0919 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Oral History Of TrialPay — Obstacles and Opportunities in PaymentsIn this hallway-style conversation (originally recorded as a video), a16z general partner Alex Rampell and Terry Angelos, SVP of Commerce Solutions at Visa, discuss the trials and tribulations of their time as co-founders of TrialPay, an e-commerce payment and promotions platform. The story begins with their serendipitous initial meeting twelve years ago; tracks the obstacles overcome, rise, and eventual acquisition of TrialPay (by Visa in 2015); and ends with reflections on the future landscape and potential of payments. How can a third party increase profits for all parties involved? And how can a payments startup make a splash in an...
2018-05-1046 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Breaking Into Biowith Atul Butte (@atulbutte), Daphne Koller (@daphnekoller), and Vijay Pande (@vijaypande)
Whether you’re an academic seeking to move out of research and into industry, or simply interested in working at a bio startup, this episode of the a16z Podcast is for you. It covers everything from how to build a brand in the space when you don’t have one to how the bio and how the healthcare startup ecosystem is different from traditional tech (or traditional pharma), to how to choose the right co-founder -- or even identify what problems to solve and build a co...
2018-05-0241 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: How to Live Longer and Betterwith Kristen Fortney (@kpfortney), Jeff Kaditz (@jeffkaditz), David Sinclair (@davidasinclair), and Hanne Tidnam (@omnivorousread)
Even without a mythical fountain of youth, scientific advances have already dramatically increased how long humans live. But those advances to date have also largely been due to lower mortality rates, less infectious disease, and better nutrition. So when will modern medicine increase not just our healthspan, but our lifespan -- slowing down and possibly even reversing aging? What tools will it take? And what else, beyond the biology and technology involved, would change -- in our healthcare system and society as a...
2018-03-1617 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Containing the Monolith -- From Microservices to DevOpsWhat happens when monolithic architectures are broken down into containers and microservices (or when things are broken down into smaller units, not just in infrastructure but perhaps even in company structure too)? From building more dynamic websites to monitoring the enterprise cloud to elastically scaling applications, where are developers in the enterprise going now and next?
This episode of the a16z Podcast, based on a panel by and for developers recorded at the a16z Summit in November 2017 and moderated by general partner Martin Casado, features Matt Billmann, CEO and co-founder of Netlify; Florian Leibert, CEO...
2018-03-0818 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Space -- the Near FrontierWhen most people think of space, they think of outer space: Mars, billionaires with rockets, and the “final frontier”. But space innovation is actually playing out right now -- in an immediate and more accessible way, thanks to techonologies getting smaller, faster, and cheaper -- through micro satellites that do everything from map terrain, to telecommunications that can provide connectivity even in remote areas.
This episode of the a16z Podcast -- based on an November 2017 a16z Summit conversation moderated by general partner Martin Casado with Dan Berkenstock, founding CEO of Skybox Imaging; John Gedmark, CEO and...
2018-03-0514 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The State of Securitywith Joel de la Garza, Stina Ehrensvärd, Niels Provos, and Martin Casado
Given the heated discussions around security and the c-word (“cyber”), it’s hard to figure out what the actual state of the industry is. And clearly it’s not just an academic exercise — it is a matter of both business survival and personal safety.
As cyber, physical, and national security become one and the same, how does that make us rethink how businesses address the problem, from software to hardware? And where do consumers come in? This episode of the a16z Podcast — b...
2018-02-2817 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Self-Flying Camerawith Adam Bry (@adampbry), Chris Dixon (@cdixon), and Hanne Tidnam (@omnivorousread)
Now that we've finally reached the age of the truly autonomous commercial small drone -- and in this case, a self-flying camera -- what happens when you take the pilot out of the loop? And what becomes possible that wasn't possible before? That's what this episode of the a16z Podcast covers, with Adam Bry, co-founder and CEO of Skydio, and a16z general partner Chris Dixon, in conversation with Hanne Tidnam.
Beginning with the evolution of the technology that got us here and...
2018-02-2223 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: How Technology Is Changing InvestingAs people begin to gain access to information that was previously left to only trained specialists, a new set of asset classes are being created -- and they are changing the way we think about everything from banking to customizing portfolios and more. But if investing (and most decision making, in fact) is about navigating uncertainty, what can new tools and models do -- and not do -- for investors both big and small?
Recorded at a16z's Summit event in November 2017, John Fawcett, CEO of Quantopian and Joshua Levin, co-founder and chief strategy officer of OpenInvest...
2018-02-1716 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Data, Insight, and the Customer ExperienceIn 2017 The Economist declared data to be the world's most valuable resource. And yet “data insight” is one of those phrases that, while important, is now so ubiquitous it’s been numbed of meaning. So how do you actually get the most meaningful insights from your data, and what does that look like as you also think about crafting the best customer experience? When and what is the best way to use this information... without getting to the dystopian future depicted in, for instance, Minority Report?
This episode of the a16z Podcast (based on a discussion that to...
2018-02-1316 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: When Is VR's iPhone Moment?There was a lot of hype about VR ad then it seemed to go pretty quiet. So where are we right now? Bigscreen founder Darshan Shankar and a16z general partner Chris Dixon take the pulse on VR, AR, and mixed reality -- especially where it's going the next 24 months -- in this episode of the a16z Podcast.
The conversation surveys some of the key platforms and devices -- from ARKit to the various headsets from various players -- to where we are in hardware, software, functionality, immersive experience, and perhaps most importantly, content. Are these d...
2018-02-0623 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: All about Bike Sharingwith Lee Kleinman (@LeeForDallas), Joshua Schank (@joshuaschank), Andrew Savage, and Hanne Tidnam (@omnivorousread)
There's a new wave of bike-sharing in town. But this wave looks a little different than previous waves -- from docked rows of government-funded bikes to dockless fleets of bicycles where users can find and unlock bikes through GPS from anywhere, with an app. What can we learn from previous (unsuccessful and successful) waves, what are the challenges in making bike sharing a real, viable transport option? What does bike sharing data reveal about human travel patterns? And how might dockless bike-sharing change, maybe...
2018-02-0330 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Self-Driving Cars — Where Are We, Really?As cars become more like iPhones and less like just, well, cars — everything changes, from data to mapping to interfaces to security and more. How so? Where are we anyway, given all the hype around when self-driving cars will appear everywhere? And where are new opportunities in the space?
This episode of the a16z Podcast, based on a panel discussion from the most recent a16z Summit, features a16z research and deal team head Frank Chen in conversation with various companies doing different things in the autonomous space. Guests include: Taggart Matthiesen, head of product at...
2018-01-3117 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Mental Models for Understanding Crypto TokensThis episode of the a16z Podcast goes deep on various trends in cryptocurrencies -- from mental models for understanding tokens and what may give them long-term value; to the role of stablecoins in the ecosystem; to scaling, on-chain and off-chain protocols, forks, and more.
The discussion features general partner Chris Dixon in conversation with Nick Tomaino, the founder of early-stage crypto venture fund 1confirmation, editor of The Control, and former business development at Coinbase. (He is also an investor in Basecoin, Cosmos, Ethereum, and MakerDAO.) You can also check out past episodes in this series, covering eve...
2018-01-2234 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Reinventing FoodIt's surprising that how (and what) we eat has actually changed very little over the ages, despite how much we’ve advanced as a species. Now, however -- driven by globalization, environmental factors, and other considerations -- the way we move, taste, and make our food is moving forward too.
From countering the limits of seasonality and global transport to re-thinking our species’ dependence on meat to optimizing nutrition to distilling the essence of taste, this discussion with Bryan Crowley, President of Soylent;
Ooshma Garg, founder and CEO of Gobble;
David Lee, COO and CFO of Impossible Foods
; a...
2018-01-1319 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Revisiting the GeneThe complete sequencing of the human genome is one of the most powerful examples of technology and science in action: We've gone from needing $3 billion and over 13 years to read a single human genome to today, to where we can do that same amount of work for about $1,000 in roughly 2 days -- and the price will only continue to drop. But beyond pricing, what does understanding the gene -- and moving from the sequencing layer to the applications layer -- mean to us; what new questions arise now that we can sequence DNA quickly, reliably, and cheaply?
...
2018-01-1015 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Community and Culture, OnlineWe’re so used to thinking of “community” as our friends, families, and neighbors. But what a community is, and who it is made of, has changed thanks to the internet, and without our noticing it. What happens when online communities -- really, new subcultures -- form primarily around interests, not just personal relationships?
Featuring VP of Product at Reddit Alex Le, CEO of Rabbit Michael Temkin, and CEO and co-founder of HVMN Geoffrey Woo -- in conversation with a16z general partner Chris Dixon -- this episode of the a16z Podcast is based on a discus...
2018-01-0620 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Fintech for the PeopleNew fintech companies are democratizing access to financial services in different ways, whether it's making food stamps more efficient, no longer waiting two weeks for a paycheck, or enabling anyone with a smartphone in developing countries to create small businesses. But what these all have in common -- besides a more inclusive approach to finance -- is also changing, in some way, the fundamental way our financial system works.
Featuring CEO of Propel Jimmy Chen, CEO of Branch Matt Flannery, and CEO of Earnin Ram Palaniappan, in conversation with a16z partner Angela Strange, this episode of...
2017-12-1918 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Trends in CryptocurrenciesThe internet, believe it or not, was just the beginning. Yes, it spawned an incredible number of uses (some unexpected), from marketplaces and commerce to publishing and social networks... but that’s all been built with old models of funding and coordination. Now, as we enter a new phase of blockchain-enabled innovation -- decentralized, distributed, crowdfunded -- we’re finally bringing capitalism to open source: Smart people can come together in new ways, to build new things.
In this brief discussion from a16z Summit November 2017, founder and CEO at Protocol Labs Juan Benet and founder and CEO...
2017-12-1922 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Scaling HealthcareNo matter how grand a vision for a particular industry, disruption in practice is hard. This is especially true in industries like healthcare, which have long been resistant to software-driven change. But sometimes you can innovate within the bounds of the industry, using those very constraints to move it forward -- whether it’s understanding and working with the early adopters in healthcare to focusing on the bottomline.
This conversation -- recorded at our recent a16z Summit in November 2017 -- between co-founder and CEO of Omada Health, Sean Duffy and CEO of Accolade, Rajeev Singh (moderated by...
2017-12-1319 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: A New Lab Riseswith Ion Stoica, Peter Levine, and Sonal Chokshi
We’ve already talked quite a bit about the Algorithms, Machines, and People lab at U.C. Berkeley (AMPLab) — all about making sense of big data — so what happens when the entire world moves towards artificial intelligence — and the need to make intelligent decisions on that data? That’s where the new RISElab (Real-time Intelligence Secure Execution) comes in.
But what is a good “decision”, exactly? Beyond the existential question of that, what specific attributes make a “good” decision, both computationally and humanly? In this episode of the a16z Podcast...
2017-10-1229 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: A Society Under Construction - Modernizing InfrastructureWhat is "infrastructure" actually? In the 19th and 20th century, that usually meant the transportation systems supporting roadways, airports, trains... but we don't even really know yet what it might potentially mean in the age of rapidly changing technology, autonomous vehicles, drones, and self-driving cars. In this episode, a16z's Matthew Colford discusses the infrastructure of the future with Anthony Foxx, former secretary of transportation under the Obama administration and former mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina; Keller Rinaudo, CEO of Zipline; and Jase Wilson, CEO of Neighborly.
The truth of the matter, says Secretary Foxx, is that w...
2017-08-2522 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Strategies and Tactics of BigWhat happens when companies grow exponentially in a short amount of time -- to their organization, their product planning, their behavior towards change itself? In this "hallway conversation", a16z partners Steven Sinofsky and Benedict Evans discuss the business tactics and strategies behind four of the largest tech companies -- Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon -- and how they work from an org perspective.
From the outside, these giants can seem composed of disparate entities literally strewn around the globe; it can be hard (sometimes purposefully so) to understand or detect the strategy that knits them all t...
2017-08-0729 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster CareWhen people think of modernizing government, they tend to think of new IT, of improved procurement, of new infrastructure ... rather than social services like foster care or food stamps. But how can we actually help improve daily lives -- less in the abstract and more concretely -- by applying tools and lessons from consumer tech to help put food on the table, or to find a safe foster home for children?
In this episode of the a16z Podcast, recorded from Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. as part of our D.C. podcast roadshow, Propel CEO...
2017-06-0719 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: QR. AR. VR.In this hallway-style episode of the podcast, a16z partners Connie Chan and Kyle Russell discuss recent announcements at Facebook's annual developer conference, F8, in the context of trends such as: messaging and QR codes; brain computer interfaces; augmented reality and social VR; and, bots (again). As online platforms built on "real" identity and brands bring more of the real world into the digital realm, will we experience filter fatigue... or will the mundane become more profound?
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are...
2017-04-2528 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Business of HealthcareStarbucks supposedly spends more on healthcare than it does on coffee beans. And 20 years ago, says Rajeev Singh, CEO of Accolade, healthcare was 10% of GDP; today it’s 19% -- that's nearly one-fifths of our gross domestic product. So what tools do we have to address the high costs of health care, especially as stakeholders increasingly look for value-based care?
This episode, recorded at our a16z inaugural Summit and moderated by Vijay Pande (a16z general partner on the bio fund) discusses approaches that combine new tech + people + data to address and improve healthcare. What are the ma...
2017-03-1017 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Genetics Of Drug DeliveryIn this episode of the a16z Podcast introduced by Vijay Pande (based on a presentation at our summit event), Russ Altman, Stanford professor of bioengineering -- and former chairman of their Bioengineering Department -- takes us on a short but deep tour of the possibilities of genomics in drug discovery. Including how building a large bank of human genetic variations will change our understanding and optimization of drug response.
Altman (who also hosts his own radio show, "The Future of Everything" on SiriusXM and Stanford radio) describes how in much the same way we inherit our...
2017-03-0714 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Future of... YouHumans have always wanted to enhance themselves -- from getting nutrition just-right to optimizing their performance, whether in sports or health or work. And food is a big part of all that.
But our current systems of food production (and consumption) are far from efficient and sustainable let alone optimizable. That's where a whole new generation of wearable/ bio-feedback, food and nutrition, food production, and performance enhancement/ "nootropics" companies come in. How do these approaches move from the internet and online communities into the mainstream? Or from the university lab to the field? Or, put yet another...
2017-02-2819 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: VR, AR, and Beyond: The New Medium of Human ExperienceThe building blocks for VR and AR are finally here -- but the content is just beginning. So everything you'll actually experience and consume in these new mediums over the next few years is being built right now. Formats aren't yet defined or locked down, and the field is bubbling up with experiments in forms, formats and genres, from narrative to games to live events. As we begin to have real time rendered characters and AI-driven environments that you can interact with, the storytelling structure will also need to completely change.
Are these mediums inherently social...
2017-01-2426 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Realities of Aging / When Healthcare Is LocalAs people live longer, aging is more top of mind than ever. This is especially true for the "sandwich generation" wedged between caring for aging parents as well as young children at the same time.
The fact is, the 65+ year old population (but don't you dare homogenize a multi-decade age group!) will double over just the next 15-20 years. So how does this fit into our current healthcare system? How does it fit current retail experiences, like for buying adult diapers? What are the design challenges when you're optimizing for screen-less interaction and data collection in a...
2016-12-2731 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Produce or Perish! (What We Eat)Nature is the ultimate complex system, of course — but with today’s technology, it’s now provided us with an “incredible toolkit” of different molecules that material scientists can treat like Legos to make some really interesting products. One of those is a protective layer for fruits and vegetables that extends shelf life and freshness. Because all produce is seasonal, it’s perishable — so there’s a limited geographical radius around which it can travel… whether by land, sea, or air.
How does this change what food we sell, buy, eat… taste? How does it affect smallholder farmers both in the...
2016-12-1435 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Internet Is Your MovementClearly disruption plays out not just in business but also in politics. Whether it was the Scottish national party, recent election campaigns, or local school boards, people grew and organized communities online all last year through NationBuilder -- which provided a software platform for those otherwise underserved from an established technology perspective (hence the disruption theory reference).
Harnessing the energy of communities goes beyond politics though, to all kinds of movements. But what happens when people remain in filter bubbles on the internet -- the very internet that NationBuilder CEO Jim Gilliam famously called his "religion"? What...
2016-12-0922 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Health Data -- A Feedback Loop for Humanity"We live in a world where we use millions of variables to predict which ad you're going to click on. Whether or not you deserve to get a loan. What movie you might watch next. But when it comes to our bodies and even serious diseases, we want to reduce things down to just one or two variables." It's insane that we actually collect so little data about our bodies. The modern day physical is downright spartan in what it captures, not to mention that we're using 200-year old tools to capture that very limited data.
Which...
2016-12-0630 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Finally a Tablet that Replaces Your LaptopWhen the iPad first came out in 2010 there was chatter that went in two directions:
It’s just a big iPhone
I’ll never carry a laptop again
Both were wrong. The big iPhone comment was quickly dispelled as people (and their kids) fell under the consumption thrall of iPads. But iPads never could meet the needs of most laptop users –- until now. Benedict Evans and Steven Sinofsky offer their reasons why the iPad Pro hits the mark as a machine for all kinds of things, and why it may have shoved their own laptops aside for al...
2016-04-2827 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Why, How, and When of SalesThe hallmark of many great technical founder/CEOs is that they envision a better way of doing things, and that's why they're building a company that delivers on that better way, often disrupting the way things have always been done before. But this very mindset can backfire when it comes to sales. Why shouldn't they reinvent the sales process??
On this episode of the a16z Podcast -- with a16z's Mark Cranney (head of our sales and market development team), Lars Dalgaard, and Ben Horowitz -- we cover the why, how, and when of sales: why...
2016-04-0940 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: When Banking Works Like My SmartphoneThere are fewer and fewer parts of our lives that don't feel like an extension of our smartphones. Any song you might want to hear. Any place you might want to go. And a ride to get there. All served up simply, quickly, at the right price, and with an experience that is actually enjoyable.
And then there is the world of banking.
Taavet Hinrikus, CEO and co-founder of money transfer company TransferWise, and a16z's Angela Strange discuss why and how banking and finance -- from paying back a friend to refinancing a mortgage...
2016-01-2927 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Making the Most of the Data That MattersEvery organization these days is clear about the need to get its data act together. But that doesn’t mean the path toward data bliss is clear. Data has gravity. It resides in different places at different organizations -- on premise, in the cloud, and flowing from external sources. And the rate of change within organizations is always different. So an approach towards handling data that works for one company may be the exact wrong thing for yours.
Steven Sinofsky leads a conversation with three founders -- Prat Moghe, from Cazena; Gaurav Dhillon from SnapLogic, and Roman St...
2016-01-0731 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Writing a New Language of Storytelling with Virtual RealityChris Milk calls virtual reality the “ultimate empathy machine.” The filmmaker and founder of VR shop Vrse talks with a16z’s Chris Dixon about how virtual reality can connect with people in ways no other medium can. Milk describes the ways virtual reality production veers from the traditional techniques of filmmaking, and why the results can transport people to places and feelings that we’ve never experienced -- except in the real world. The discussion happened as part of a16z’s 2015 Academic Roundtable.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a...
2015-12-1828 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Andre Iguodala Knows Tech -- And Why the Warriors Won't Be StoppedYou know how talented Andre Iguodala is as a basketball player. You may not know that he signed with the Warriors in part to be near Silicon Valley and the tech scene. Iguodala knows tech, and in a conversation with a16z's Jeff Jordan at the 2015 Tech Summit he talks about his relationship with tech as a professional athlete and as a businessman.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here...
2015-12-1827 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Year Mobile Began to Truly Dominate TechBenedict Evans highlights the past year in mobile. From Apple's ongoing rule of the high-end, to Android's spread farther down the price curve. Without a clear and massive shift on the horizon in mobile tech, Evans outlines the trends in mobile that will matter and that possess opportunity for the right companies and emerging technologies. For a complete rundown of the year's trends check out Evans' 16 Mobile Theses: http://a16z.com/2015/12/18/16-mobile-theses/
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a...
2015-12-1822 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Scaling Ideas and Startups in the U.K. and EuropeOur final segment from the road in the U.K. features two well-known investors and entrepreneurs in the London tech world: Seedcamp co-founder Reshma Sahoni and Shakil Khan (known to all simply as Shak), the founder of CoinDesk and an early investor in Spotify where he also headed up special projects.
Reshma and Shak break down the venture scene in London, and describe the particular way the best companies scale in Europe ... it's not what you are probably thinking. Finally, they brag about some European startups we should all be paying attention to.
The views...
2015-12-0534 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Data Science of Food and TasteThe best cooks know cooking a meal is all about having a plan (and a back-up plan if things go south); get the cooking out of the way, and then you can enjoy your family and friends -- the most important part. But now try doing it for thousands.
How can one company be the de facto sous chef for so many? Turns out there's a lot of data science behind it, in everything from procurement to forecasts to logistics: what to cook, what people will like, what ingredients are required, what to produce at scale. In...
2015-11-2519 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Dell + EMC -- Why the Python Just Ate the CowWe just witnessed the largest acquisition in tech history, and before Dell made it happen, it would have been hard to imagine. Not so much that the two companies would come together, but that the much smaller Dell would be buying its larger peer EMC. If he imagined anyone doing the acquisition it would have been EMC, says a16z’s Peter Levine, but the realities of being a public company and the pressure of activist shareholders are what made this an “upside down acquisition.”
“Dell was able to do this deal because they were a private company...
2015-10-1636 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: AMPLab, the Power of Open Source, and the Future of Systems SoftwareThe place where Apache Spark was born, UC Berkeley’s AMPLab has not just created a major open source software platform, it’s spun out more than its share of ground-breaking companies (full disclosure: a16z has invested in three of them).
So how did they get there? How has open source and the AMPLab approach reduced the friction between student and faculty ideas and launching them into the real world?
Co-founder and director of the AMPLab, Michael Franklin, joins a16z’s Peter Levine to discuss the AMPLab model, and their own relationship as an aca...
2015-10-1542 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: How Big Companies Can Get the Most From Silicon ValleyThere is a stream of the world's largest companies coming to Silicon Valley looking for innovation. But how do they find it, and then, how do they bring it back home? a16z's Elizabeth Weil joins this segment of the pod to lay out what the Fortune 500 and Global 2000 are looking for in Silicon Valley's startup landscape, and how both sides -- big companies and small -- can initiate and nurture profitable relationships.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a...
2015-10-0916 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: A Podcast about PodcastsPodcasts and podcasting have been around a while, but seem to be going through a renaissance of sorts -- partly enabled by connected cars and other technologies. But how do we discover podcasts; is the ideal atomic unit the show, or an individual episode/topic? What makes a good podcast? And given their intimacy, how can brands and communities engage with podcasts?
We discuss this and more in this oh-so-meta episode of the a16z Podcast-about-podcasts. And to help us do that, we invited longtime podcaster and radio host Roman Mars -- of the highly regarded design...
2015-10-0433 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Hard Forks, Hard Choices for Bitcoina16z’s Chris Dixon and Mike Hearn talked about all things bitcoin on the a16z Podcast a couple months ago, including an issue that has bitcoin developers on edge these days: the question of how best to scale the bitcoin blockchain before capacity runs out. Hearn and others offered a solution (Bitcoin XT) -- in the parlance, a “hard fork” -- and quite frankly, not everyone in the bitcoin community is in favor of this approach yet. Which we heard about from various online quarters!
So in the interest of airing diverse opinions and other option...
2015-09-0327 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Connecting People with Digital Work, the Gig Economy, and MoreCan digital work fight poverty? Can companies be profitable and also do social good -- especially in a society where the proxy for value is capital and much of that value accrues to platforms? And finally, what's the difference between a mission-driven and 'social' entrepreneur?
Samasource, a nonprofit that uses technology to connect marginalized people around the world to digital work, is one attempt at answering those questions. In this segment of the a16z Podcast, we talk with founder and CEO Leila Janah about employment of all kinds -- from sweatshop work to the gig economy...
2015-08-3137 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: When Software Eats CarsAfter the smartphone, what business has the global scale (in terms of people and profits) that make it attractive for tech companies to turn their attention and capital towards? The answer, argues a16z’s Benedict Evans, is the automotive industry. Sure, cars are mobile -- but what do our smartphones have to do with our rides? More than we might expect.
Evans offers his vision of the future of cars, and perhaps the future of today’s biggest technology companies. Who will build these cars, who will own them, and who (or what) will drive them? We d...
2015-08-2627 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Establishing Online Identity is Hard -- It Shouldn't BeAs more and more of what we do for fun and work- happens online, establishing identity becomes ever more critical. Whether it’s for dating or sending money, you want to trust that not only are you interacting with the person you think you are, but that your messages (or money) are in fact reaching the right person -- and only them.
Sounds simple, but with an internet and computers in between, a lot can go wrong -- whether by accident or malicious design. A16z’s Chris Dixon, and Max Krohn, co-founder of the encryption startup Keyb...
2015-08-1721 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Is It Possible to Achieve Equitable Equity for Startup Employees?There's been a lot of activity lately around trying to improve equity compensation (for example, by removing tax liabilities that handcuff them). Or by making equity more equitable in other ways; as former Groupon CEO Andrew Mason observed, "When startups grow into unicorns, the distribution of employee earnings follows a common pattern: the founders make more money than they could spend in infinite lifetimes, a handful of early folks achieve financial independence, and everyone else gets a nice bonus, but nothing life changing."
It's admittedly a very rarefied problem yet one that plagues a number of startup...
2015-08-0823 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Bitcoin, Greece, and What’s Next for CryptocurrencyThere are few things as old as financial catastrophe, except maybe finance. But in the latest fiscal meltdown in Greece, people started asking questions about whether newer technology -- bitcoin and the underlying blockchain -- could help. One of those was Wall Street Journal columnist Christopher Mims.
In this episode of the pod, Mims and Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong talk about the current state and future possibility of bitcoin and the bitcoin blockchain. When it comes to Greece -- or the next financial snafu -- Armstrong and Mims think there is potential for bitcoin to...
2015-08-0734 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Bitcoin's Growing Pains -- and PossibilitiesBitcoin has had more than its share of drama. There is, of course, the mystery surrounding its anonymous founder (or perhaps, founders) Satoshi Nakamoto. More recently, there's been a battle over whether the size of blocks need to grow to account for more capacity -- especially since there isn’t much time left to make changes before blockchain capacity runs out, says core bitcoin developer Mike Hearn.
Hearn joins a16z’s Chris Dixon on this segment of the a16z Podcast to discuss the current state of bitcoin development; Hearn’s own Lighthouse creation, which is a bitc...
2015-07-1121 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Rise of the Quasi-IPO"This time is different." But it's always different! So what's going on now in the public markets? Why does this even matter? For one thing, tech markets have grown significantly. And one big reason is internet and mobile. It's like a multiplier for the market size and opportunity.
In this episode of the a16z Podcast, Andreessen Horowitz managing partner Scott Kupor, mobile analyst Benedict Evans, and corp dev research partner Morgan Bender break down a slide deck we recently shared, including answers to what all these so-called “unicorns” are, how it affects venture capital and the fundi...
2015-06-1729 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Why SaaS Revenue is Worth More Than Traditional Software SalesAndreessen Horowitz Managing Partner Scott Kupor and NetSuite CFO Ron Gill get into the weeds on SaaS valuations, and how public and private SaaS companies think differently about the recurring revenue model. Gill and Kupor break down their financial analysis of these kinds of companies -- what metrics matter -- and correct some of the misconceptions about the SaaS business model that even sophisticated investors tend to latch onto. Finally, Kupor offers his advice to private company entrepreneurs who are wondering why, in a public market environment that puts everyone under a microscope, would you ever want to go...
2015-05-1626 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Verizon Plus AOL -- Why? -- The Short Answer is MobileThe battle of the pipes has shifted to mobile. Verizon caught plenty of people by surprise when it announced it was buying AOL for $4.4 billion in cash (the cash part deserves a short moment to sink in). The question plenty of people are asking is, why? “Mobile,” says a16z General Partner Chris Dixon on this segment of the pod. “Increasingly it’s probably also mobile video.” a16z’s Frank Chen joins Dixon to discuss the Verizon acquisition, and what might be the start of a fresh wave of buying as network providers like Verizon look to wedge their way fu...
2015-05-1312 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Barbarians at the Gate -- How to Think About Enterprise Security TodayEnterprises large and small run their applications and infrastructure at a whole new level of agility and speed. But unfortunately, security doesn’t like speed. “The faster you go, the harder it is to understand what is happening and to protect your infrastructure,” says Andrew Rubin, CEO and co-founder of cloud security startup Illumio. So then how do we rethink the architecture of the past to acknowledge the way business happens today? If you want to start tackling the shifting landscape of business and security today, “Go become a student of the economics of war and crime,” suggests Gaurav Banga, CEO...
2015-05-0725 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Messaging is the MediumThe potential to turn messaging into a platform is driving much of the excitement in mobile, says a16z’s Benedict Evans. It's a platform through which other apps flow (and where all the users get aggregated).
Take for example Facebook's recent announcements, which put it right where it wants to be on the mobile phone -- in control. So what’s next in messaging? And what will Apple, Google, and other players like WeChat have to say about it?
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”...
2015-04-0325 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Tools for How We Work TodayYou've heard the story: Slack began as a game. But almost exactly 1 year ago today, the internal tool the team built for its own use became a team communication app that anyone (and especially enterprises) can use -- and is now one of the fastest growing ones at that.
It seems like collaboration is "something software should be helping us with” Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield observes, yet it typically isn't. So what can an app like Slack tell us about how we work today, and how the nature of work will change (fewer meetings? less emails)?
...
2015-02-1138 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Searching for Mobile's Third OSConsumers seem content with the mobile duopoly we currently have. So what can be gained from a third mobile operating system? If it's an open computing platform, argues Cyanogen CEO and co-founder Kirt McMaster (in discussion with a16z's Zal Bilimoria), one big win for developers and device makers is access to the guts of an operating system -- and the opportunity to exist as core services rather than simple apps riding on top of an OS. For consumers this means potentially new and unique software for smartphones, tablets, and wearables that take advantage of that tight integration. How...
2015-02-0722 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Virtual Reality v Augmented Reality, and What's NextVirtual reality (VR) -- and augmented reality (AR) -- seem to be everywhere these days, showing up in demos and offerings from the world's biggest gadget makers to the Hollywood, gaming, and media crowds. But what's the difference between VR and AR? Is one better suited for work vs. play? What happens when you are building experiences -- and an entirely new visual grammar -- from scratch ... will we actually need standards next? a16z's Chris Dixon and Wired Entertainment's Peter Rubin discuss all this and more on this episode of the a16z Podcast.
The views...
2015-01-2730 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Coding as LiteracyTracy Chou from Pinterest, and Chris Granger and Jamie Brandon from Eve, discuss whether coding is a literacy (or as Granger puts it, a "superpower" ). But as software infuses every industry and much of our lives, do we all really need to start writing code? Or is a less hands-on approach -- educating ourselves about what software can (and can't) do, and the basic architecture behind its creation -- the most useful way to gain software literacy for most people?
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) perso...
2015-01-1924 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Technology is Ready, So Where is the Internet of Things?Does your burglar alarm need to speak to your thermostat? What about your lighting system? And if all those things need to interoperate, how does that happen -- and what does that look like on the shelf at Home Depot? These are just some of the questions facing the Internet of Things. It was one of the highest-profile collections of gadgets and ideas at this year’s International CES, but is also a tech trend that has lots of consumers scratching their heads. a16z's Benedict (just back from the Vegas melee that is CES), Preethi, and Zal discuss th...
2015-01-0918 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Dumb Storage Gets SmartStorage as a set of technologies in the datacenter has a conservative reputation when it comes to innovation. Reliability, capacity, speed, and cost -- those have long been the only levers to pull in storage technology. Until Paula Long had the idea to add intelligence to enterprise-grade storage. Long, the CEO and founder of DataGravity joins a16z's Peter Levine for a discussion about storage. Why (and how) intelligence is a fit for storage technology, and how this smarter approach to handling data fits in with the datacenter of the future.
The views expressed here are those...
2014-12-1921 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Why the Datacenter Needs an Operating SystemWhat does an operating system for today's datacenter look like? Why do we even need one, and how does it function? Mesosphere's Benjamin Hindman, the co-creator of Apache Mesos, joins Steven Sinofsky for an all-OS discussion.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has...
2014-12-1831 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Enough with the Old Stuff -- Time for New Questions in MobileIt's been a long and (at times) interesting battle pitching iOS vs. Android. It's time to let it go, says a16z's Benedict Evans. It's time to move on to a new set of questions -- and ideas -- in mobile.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to b...
2014-12-1736 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Gateway Gadgets to the Internet of ThingsThe Internet of Things puts intelligence into all kinds of things -- especially in the home, from appliances to light bulbs and door locks. But we still have a ways to go. “We need to be very patient in this category,” says Quirky CEO Ben Kaufman in a conversation with a16z General Partner Scott Weiss. The technology is available, Kaufman adds, we just need our things -- and habits -- to be ready too. So when does this technology go mainstream? What gadget do they think will push it over the edge ... and what might hold it back even...
2014-12-1315 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Ecommerce and the Holiday Shopping CollisionHow can ecommerce companies deal with the conflicting expectations of consumers and logistics realities of an on-demand economy? How can they compete with ecommerce giant Amazon, which just gets bigger every year? And given all this, how is physical retail faring?
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to b...
2014-11-2122 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Where's My Stuff? -- The Lowdown on Logistics and OpsThe ease with which we can order anything online masks the tremendous complexity of getting that item to your door in a day or two (or less). Andreessen Horowitz's Jeff Jordan leads a discussion with four experts in ecommerce logistics and operations -- the tough business of getting things from one place to another.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from port...
2014-11-2157 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The Next Phase of 3D PrintingIn this wide-ranging discussion about the latest and next consumer and industrial applications for 3D printing, we examine (with Shapeway's Carine Carmy and a16z's Tom Rikert): how the software-driven ideal of product-market-fit may be achieved in physical products, too -- with rapid prototyping through 3D printing; how the ability to manufacture on-demand changes traditional notions of seasonality and inventory management in product cycles and development; and how the long tail of 3-D printing means being able to have a market of 1.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a1...
2014-11-1927 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: The End of OwnershipWhat happens when the importance of access to things trumps the value of owning those same things? The end of ownership. From computer hardware, to houses, trucks, cars, and more, the notion of ownership is changing as software enables the matching of people and organizations that have things and those that need them. Joining a16z’s Balaji Srinivasan to pick apart this trend are Joe Gebbia, Airbnb co-founder and chief product officer; John Stanfield co-founder and CEO of Local Motion; and Ben Uretsky, co-founder and CEO of DigitalOcean.
The views expressed here are those of the in...
2014-11-1738 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: When Fantasy Football and Crowdfunding CollideWith 15 million fantasy football players angling for the win in thousands of fantasy leagues, ESPN joined Tilt.com for a discussion about how crowdfunding provides a platform for an obsessed community.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such info...
2014-11-1325 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Selling Tech to Everyone -- Changes EverythingIt’s always hard to predict how a generational shift in technology will impact the wider world, especially when you are in the trenches building that new technology. It happened with the mainframe computer, mini-computer, and the PC. These were all technologies that fundamentally changed how industries functioned and culture evolved (especially the PC plus internet), and in ways that were hard to predict. With mobile and the smartphone, a16z’s Benedict Evans argues, the impact will be even greater. a16z Board Partner Steven Sinofsky joins Evans in a conversation examining the massive scale and monstrous leverage of m...
2014-10-3122 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Beyond Bitcoin -- The BlockchainIt’s well understood that bitcoin can be used to buy and sell things/services, and the ecosystem of people accepting the cryptocurrency as payment is expanding. But what else can we use the underlying protocol for? How can we expand the same system that enables bitcoin-the-currency to flow and transactions to be recorded? This discussion (from the a16z Academic Roundtable 2014) examines that question, and answers why the currency is just the beginning of the story when it comes to this technology. You can watch video of the entire discussion here: http://a16z.com/2014/10/24/the-bitcoin-network-effect/
Th...
2014-10-2529 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Trigger, Action, Reward, Investment -- Four Steps for Habit-Forming ProductsNir Eyal and Product Hunt's Ryan Hoover, the authors of "Hooked, How to Build Habit-Forming Products," discuss the theory and practice of the book as the publish date of a new edition approaches. Nir lays out the four steps integral to any habit-forming product -- trigger, action, reward, investment -- and Ryan describes how those same steps apply to the fast-growing Product Hunt.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here...
2014-09-1520 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Building Brands and Running Retail -- Ron Johnson and Tristan Walker Break It DownGiven that physical retail is expensive, what’s the right distribution mix for startups? In this podcast with Tristan Walker (who is building health and beauty brand Walker & Company from scratch), we hear Ron Johnson's lessons learned from arguably the world’s most successful physical retail outlet: the Apple Store -- as well as a discussion of the challenges of brand and retail in a multichannel world.
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain...
2014-09-0427 minThe a16z Showa16z Podcast: Three Kids, One App, One Love -- The Five-O StoryTeenage siblings Ima, Asha and Caleb Christian from Atlanta, Georgia join Ben Horowitz for a discussion about the motivation and origins of their new app, Five-O. In the aftermath of the tragedy in Ferguson, Missouri, the young developers built Five-O as a tool to rate and document interactions -- good and bad -- with the police. Ben and the Five-O team discuss the origins and technical underpinnings of the app. Rapper Nas makes an appearance, offering his own experience with the police, and why efforts like Five-O work towards a solution that both citizens and police should get behind.
2014-08-2813 min