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Conversations on Clubhouse and beyond -- to capture and share many of the live discussions and events featuring, hosted, or co-hosted by a16z partners (with outside voices too). Many of these different discussions and events take place on the social audio/ drop-in chat app Clubhouse; to attend those in real time or sign up for the app please visit joinclubhouse.com. As a reminder, all content posted here is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Views expressed are those of the individuals and not the views of Andreessen Horowitz, please see a16z.com/disclosures for more. To learn more about the broader a16z Podcast network and shows, please visit a16z.com/podnetwork.

Andreessen Horowitz


    • Sep 27, 2023 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 52m AVG DURATION
    • 115 EPISODES

    5 from 18 ratings Listeners of a16z Live that love the show mention: speed, also i prefer.



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    Latest episodes from a16z Live

    AI Revolution: Copilots and the Future of Knowledge Work with Microsoft's Kevin Scott

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 23:44


    [0:59] Microsoft's approach to AI[6:15] The next Industrial Revolution[10:47] Developer productivity & flow state[15:46] Reprogramming the American Dream[20:08] Advice to buildersThis conversation is part of our AI Revolution series, recorded August 2023 at a live event in San Francisco. The series features some of the most impactful builders in the field of AI discussing and debating where we are, where we're going, and the big open questions in AI. Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution.

    AI Revolution: Where We Go From Here with OpenAI's Mira Murati

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 26:18


    [0:59] Mira's background[4:55] Math, physics, and AI[7:31] Natural language interfaces[10:51] OpenAI Roadmap[17:47] Scaling Laws[20:48] One model to rule them all?[23:34] The next 5-10 yearsThis conversation is part of our AI Revolution series, recorded August 2023 at a live event in San Francisco. The series features some of the most impactful builders in the field of AI discussing and debating where we are, where we're going, and the big open questions in AI. Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution.

    AI Revolution: Democratizing Design with Figma's Dylan Field

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 18:03


    [0:58] Will AI replace designers?[4:13] Human vs. AI creativity[8:38] Applying AI to design[11:35] Startups vs. incumbentsThis conversation is part of our AI Revolution series, recorded August 2023 at a live event in San Francisco. The series features some of the most impactful builders in the field of AI discussing and debating where we are, where we're going, and the big open questions in AI. Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution.

    AI Revolution: Improving AI with Anthropic's Dario Amodei

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 21:11


    [0:59] Dario's background[2:45] GPT-2's emergent capabilities[5:16] Scaling laws[8:55] Why are there so many physicists in AI?[11:58] Constitutional AI[18:29] Anthropic's RoadmapThis conversation is part of our AI Revolution series, recorded August 2023 at a live event in San Francisco. The series features some of the most impactful builders in the field of AI discussing and debating where we are, where we're going, and the big open questions in AI. Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution.

    AI Revolution: Universally Accessible Intelligence with Character.ai's Noam Shazeer

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 18:35


    [0:59] Real Noam vs. AI Noam[6:14] Next unlocks[8:11] First use case for AGI[11:06] Building a full-stack LLM[13:33] Noam calculates global compute capacity[15:24] Universally accessible intelligenceThis conversation is part of our AI Revolution series, recorded August 2023 at a live event in San Francisco. The series features some of the most impactful builders in the field of AI discussing and debating where we are, where we're going, and the big open questions in AI. Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution.

    AI Revolution: Food Fights in the Enterprise with Databricks' Ali Ghodsi

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 25:00


    [0:59] Why is it so hard for enterprises to adopt AI?[3:29] Data wars [4:49] Big vs. small LLMs[8:35] Finetuning[14:14] Open source AI[18:13] Benchmarks[19:51] Why Ali isn't afraid of AIThis conversation is part of our AI Revolution series, recorded August 2023 at a live event in San Francisco. The series features some of the most impactful builders in the field of AI discussing and debating where we are, where we're going, and the big open questions in AI. Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution.

    AI Revolution: Digital Biology with insitro's Daphne Koller

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 22:28


    [0:59] Why life sciences?[3:42] AI in the life sciences[7:20] LLM for cells[11:55] Engineering disease and drug discovery[13:51] Bits vs. atoms[17:55] The opportunity aheadThis conversation is part of our AI Revolution series, recorded August 2023 at a live event in San Francisco. The series features some of the most impactful builders in the field of AI discussing and debating where we are, where we're going, and the big open questions in AI. Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution.

    AI Revolution: Leveling Up with Roblox's David Baszucki

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2023 23:42


    [1:00] Generative AI in games[4:56] Fully personalized playthroughs[7:50] Roblox's generative model[11:28] Future of interfaces[13:25] impact on creators[16:36] NPCs as copilots[18:49] VR & spatial computingThis conversation is part of our AI Revolution series, recorded August 2023 at a live event in San Francisco. The series features some of the most impactful builders in the field of AI discussing and debating where we are, where we're going, and the big open questions in AI. Find more content from our AI Revolution series on www.a16z.com/AIRevolution.

    LATW 2022: Art of the Deal

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2022 37:05


    a16z Cofounder and General Partner Marc Andreessen and Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel are interviewed by a16z General Partner Sriram Krishnan at the “Time to Build: LA” event during LA Week. The trio chat about the future of content distribution, the bull case for VR over AR, the end of corporate brands, and why there is (or isn't) ever anything good to watch on TV.

    LATW 2022: Building the Future of Games

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2022 19:19


    In this episode of a16z Live, David Banks, a former Riot Games executive who's now the co-founder and CEO of Elodie Games, and Timmu Tõke, the co-founder and CEO of Ready Player Me, a leading platform for cross game avatars, join a16z General Partner and games investor Jon Lai for a conversation about where they think the metaverse is going, and the future of building games

    LATW 2022: Building Better Marketplaces

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2022 16:47


    In this episode of a16z Live, Grant LaFontaine, the co-founder and CEO of the livestream shopping platform Whatnot, talks with a16z General Partner Connie Chan about building the company, his experience as the site's first person to go live, and why he prefers Los Angeles over San Francisco. What follows is a slightly edited version of that conversation.

    LATW 2022: Building Better Factories

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2022 12:37


    In this episode of a16z Live, Chris Power, the Founder and CEO of the precision parts manufacturing company, Hadrian, talks with a16z American Dynamism Partner Oliver Hsu, about why he decided to build his factories in LA, why software engineers shouldn't be afraid of manufacturing company jobs, and how a single mom and pop machinist shop can affect the national supply chain. What follows is a slightly edited version of that conversation.

    Investing in Los Angeles

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2022 30:09


    To celebrate the L.A. community and the city's growth, a16z recently hosted, "Time to Build Los Angeles," an event where we invited L.A.-based investors, founders, and operators from across a diverse range of industries to talk about company building in L.A. In the first in our series of interviews, we invited Andrew Chen from a16z, Minnie Ingersoll from TenOneTen, and Turner Novak from Banana Capital to talk about why L.A. is at an inflection point, misperceptions about the region, and what makes a great meme. But first, we opened our panel discussion with a presentation from a16z consumer partner, Katia Ameri, on what you need to know about the L.A. scene and why we think it's worth paying attention to in the years to come. What follows is a slightly edited version of that conversation.

    Titan's Clayton Gardner on How the Fintech Market is Changing

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2022 38:23


    In this episode of a16z Live, we are joined by Titan Invest co-founder and co-CEO Clayton Gardner; a16z General Partner Anish Acharya; and a16z growth partner, Alex Immerman. The trio starts their conversation by diving into the difference between active and passive investment management and where Titan fits into that matrix. Building upon that foundation, they discuss how the fintech market is changing, why historically the best fund managers have not taken retail money, and whether that's changing the importance of curation in UX on competitive platforms, and of course the role of regulation.

    Ben Horowitz on How the Best Leaders Build Culture

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2022 21:49


    Ben Horowitz discusses the leadership styles of Intel's Andy Grove and Apple's Bill Campbell, how Okta won its market with culture, and how to look for and hire the talent you don't have in an interview with David Weiden, founding partner at Khosla Ventures, at the Khosla Ventures CEO Summit. Read a transcript of the conversation here. 0:40: The management legacy of Intel's Andy Grove4:26: Why everyone remembers Bill Campbell7:35: How culture gave Okta the competitive edge12:15: Finding the talent you don't have16:07: Building a resilient company cultureRead a transcript of this conversation here. 

    The Importance of Partnerships in the Great Unbundling

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2022 19:46


    The API economy and a Cambrian explosion of apps are transforming best-in-class tech from monolithic tools to a stack of 20 applications that work together. Amid this unbundling, partnerships have become a critical part of early go-to-market strategy that can lead to higher quality pipeline and accelerated sales. In this fireside chat, recorded at the 2022 Crossbeam Supernode conference, a16z General Partner Sarah Wang and Bob Moore, Cofounder and CEO of Crossbeam, discuss how partnerships have changed and why the best startups invest early in building a partnership program.   You can read a transcript of this podcast here. 

    Goldman Sachs' Stephanie Cohen on How the Firm's Approach to Technology Has Evolved

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2022 23:58


    a16z General Partner David Haber chats with his former colleague Stephanie Cohen, Goldman Sachs' Global Co-Head of Consumer and Wealth Management, about her journey from being an investment banker to running a global division, how Goldman Sachs stays relevant to different client audiences, and how fintech entrepreneurs can think about partnering with the financial services giant.

    CISA Deputy Director Nitin Natarajan on What Cybersecurity Threats Keep Him Up At Night

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2022 30:13


    As the deputy director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Nitin Natarajan spends most of his days worrying about everything from risk identification and mitigation, to educating young people and small businesses on their potential to be victims. In this fireside chat with Joel de la Garza, a16z operating partner for security, the two men discuss what keeps the CISA official up at night, his view of the situation in Ukraine and Russia, and how being tech savvy doesn't translate into being cyber savvy (especially for kids).

    Building Towards American Dynamism with Chris Power, CEO of Hadrian

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2022 54:50


    Katherine Boyle, General Partner at a16z is joined by Hadrian founder and CEO Chris Power, Packy McCormick, founder of Not Boring, and a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen to discuss the opportunity to automate and upskill in the precision parts industry and shore up U.S. manufacturing with new technology.

    Ken Griffin on Unfettered Conversations with A and Z

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2021 19:50


    An excerpt from a Clubhouse conversation, where Marc interviews Ken Griffin, CEO and founder of Citadel, on GameStop one year later and why the stock price hasn't crashed, as well as about his winning bid for the Constitution in the auction against ConstitutionDAO.

    a16z Bio #20: How useful is real world data in medicine?

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2021 39:03


    What are you doing with real world data? [1:39]How valuable is real world data? [7:24]How and where do we need shared data infrastructure? [16:37]Can real world data be used for clinical decision support? [20:40]Are diagnostic companies becoming the data aggregator layer? [26:52]What will define the core competency of academic medical centers (AMCs)? [30:35] How could drug manufacturers use real world data?  [33:58]For more on the digital health, visit a16z.com/digital-health-builders. And for more great a16z Bio shows on Clubhouse, follow the a16z bio club.

    a16z Bio #19: Going B2C2B in Digital Health

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2021 54:22


    Who is your "B" and who is your "C"? [2:02]Why did they choose B2C2B? [6:36]How did they craft their enterprise story? [11:42]Does going B2C2B increase CAC (customer acquisition costs)? [16:56]Three things to build an enterprise story around [22:26]How did their choice of B2C2B impact investor conversations? [34:23]What mix of consumer vs. healthcare talent did they need? [40:42] For more on the new digital health go-to-market, visit a16z.com/digital-health-builders. And for more great a16z Bio shows on Clubhouse, follow the a16z bio club.

    One on One with A and Z #12: What is the most misunderstood area of markets?

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2021 19:24


    This is an excerpt from the a16z Clubhouse show One on One with A and Z, where a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz answer questions on tech trends, company building, and more. To catch full live episodes of the show, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse. 

    Good Time Show: Performance with Purpose with Indra Nooyi

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2021 38:17


    Indra didn't plan her career -- and that was a good thing [2:15]The personal tradeoffs of professional success [4:24]Deciding between a job at GE and PepsiCo [7:27]Rising up the ranks of PepsiCo [12:13]Transitioning PepsiCo to healthier foods... and doing well by doing good [16:34]Management hack: writing letters to parents [19:04] "Performance with Purpose" -- what is it and why does it matter? [22:15]Work-life balance requires tradeoffs [23:24]Meeting Steve Jobs and learning the power of design [31:02]The loneliness of leadership [33:15]This is an excerpt from the Good Time Show on  Clubhouse. To catch full live episodes of the show, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse. 

    One on One with A and Z #11: How much rare knowledge is there?

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2021 14:23


    This is an excerpt from the a16z Clubhouse show One on One with A and Z, where a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz answer questions on tech trends, company building, and more. To catch full live episodes of the show, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse. 

    Good Time Show: What It Takes to Survive with Lyft Founder John Zimmer

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2021 51:38


    The early days of Zimrides [2:08]Driving early virality [7:56]Competing with Uber [15:47]Why they took political stances [27:03]Managing through the pandemic [38:09]The future focus for Lyft -- autonomous vehicles and the end of car ownership [42:50]Follow the a16z Club to join conversations with tech founders, builders, and leaders live and in-full.

    a16z Bio #18: What will it take to cure diabetes?

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2021 52:07


    An overview of diabetes Type 1 and Type 2 [2:58]Thinking beyond Type 1 and Type 2 [6:58]New treatment options: stem cells, continuous glucose monitoring [14:19]What's the timeline on stem cell therapies? [17:15]Therapies for controlling, rather than curing, diabetes [23:52]The current technology challenges to treating diabetes [29:52]The challenges in education and access [35:41]This is an excerpt from the a16z Bio show on Clubhouse, where we explore all the ways that biology is technology. To catch full episodes of the show, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse.

    a16z Bio #17: Proteomics and Product around a Technological Breakthrough

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2021 43:50


    Founding story of Nautilus [1:43]Why was the Nautilus approach to proteomics a breakthrough? [6:12]Why a startup instead of academic research? [9:57]How to pick a good cofounder (it's not that different from choosing a spouse) [15:32]Advice for academic founders: how to work with VCs  [21:14]The tipping points of scale & the challenges of finding good talent  [25:17]Is proteomics really a gamechanger? [30:49]How is Nautilus bringing it to market? [34:17]What Nautilus can learn from Illumina and genomics [37:32]Looking ahead to the next 10 years [41:26]This is an excerpt from the a16z Bio show on Clubhouse, where we explore all the ways that biology is technology. To catch full episodes of the show, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse.

    One on One with A and Z #10: The Impact of System Design on Culture

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2021 18:37


    This is an excerpt from the a16z Clubhouse show One on One with A and Z, where a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz answer questions on tech trends, company building, and more live . To catch full episodes of the show, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse.  

    Capital Markets #1 with MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez: What goes into an index?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2021 56:55


    The MSCI origin story [1:07]How does an index get constructed? [6:51]How do you keep an index accurate? [11:42]MSCI business model... how do they get paid? [16:27]MSCI, competition, and why not an open source index? [23:14]ESG and investment objectives [27:00]ESG disclosure frameworks and the role of government in ESG [32:50]Defining ESG [34:44]MSCI, crypto, and other asset classes [42:55]Why an index business instead of principal investing? [51:09]Follow the a16z Club to join conversations with tech founders, builders, and leaders live and in-full.

    Good Time Show: Metaverse + Crypto

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2021 59:54


    SPEAKERS:Aarthi Ramamurthy, international, ClubhouseDonnie Dinch, founder and CEO, BitskiGabby Dizon, cofounder, Yield Guild GamesJarrod Dicker, operating partner, TCGJesse Walden, founder, Variant FundJon Lai, principal, a16zPacky McCormick, founder, Not BoringSriram Krishnan, general partner, a16zTwobadour, founder, MetapurseJustin “3LAU” Blau, producer and musicianoriginally aired on Clubhouse  https://twitter.com/sriramk/status/1422987628958208007

    a16z Infra #6: The Cost of Cloud vs. Repatriation

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2021 58:32


    This conversation centers on the arguments and findings of the a16z piece The Cost of Cloud, a Trillion Dollar Paradox. The Core Findings of The Cost of Cloud piece [5:22]Cloud is a significant part of COGS for public SaaS companies [8:38]Should you allocate engineers to reduce cloud cost or just focus on growth? [12:06]How much of a problem is not knowing cloud spend? [15:56]The tradeoff between focusing cost and engineering resources [19:33]Should large public SaaS companies repatriate? [23:41]Performance  matters -- it's not all about cost [31:55]Is all the talent for running data centers at the Google, AWS, and Azure? [37:46]Will the cloud feature set become commoditized? [44:57]Cloud oligopoly and market dynamics [50:39]Follow the a16z Club to join conversations with tech founders, builders, and leaders live and in-full.

    Good Time Show: a16z's Journey with Crypto and Crypto Investing

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2021 51:31


    This podcast is an excerpt. Follow the a16z Club to join conversations with tech founders, builders, and leaders live and in-full.Early days of a16z crypto [2:38]New crypto governance capabilities [16:34]How is the VC model different when investing in crypto? [22:24]Crypto regulation and the recent attempt at holiday rulemaking [29:49]Is anyone effectively regulating crypto? [34:15]How do you start working in crypto? [36:58]What problems should crypto founders work on? [43:51]Identity, crypto, and the future of social networks [45:15]Centralized vs. decentralized: the battle for the internet [48:17]

    a16z Infra #5: Category Creation with Armon Dadger (HashiCorp) and Stephen Mullaney (Aviatrix)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2021 49:50


    What makes a category? [0:37]The leading indicator? Everyone thinks you're crazy. [5:36]Can you create a category whole cloth? [7:02]How to create a category [12:05]The best category creation CEOs are product marketers [15:55]Category creation tactics: certification programs [18:54]Category creation tactics: persona-based storytelling [22:17]Is there a repeatable way to make a category? [25:35]The role of the CTO and product teams in creating the message [29:22]How do you structure product marketing? [45:16]This is an excerpt from the a16z Clubhouse show a16z Infra. To catch full episodes of the show, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse. 

    People Behind the Product #3: What's Next in Retail?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2021 19:03


    SPEAKERS (in order they are heard in the episode):Shannon Kelly, a16zConnie Chan, a16zBrandon Chu, VP Product and GM  of Platform, ShopifyD'Arcy Coolican, a16zNait Jones, a16zJess Lee, Cofounder and CEO, Modern CitizenImran Khan, Co-founder and CEO, VerishopThis is an excerpt from the a16z Clubhouse show People Behind the Product. To catch full episodes of the show, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse. 

    4B with Margit #9: What Exactly Is Growth Hacking?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2021 65:04


    The origins of growth hacking [1:20]Brand building vs. growth hacking? [13:58]Where does growth fit into the organization?  [31:06]The cold start problem: growth hacking from 0 to 1 [36:47]What can't be measured? [47:53]How do you test and validate new channels? [51:38] Do growth hacks always work, or at some point does it come down to product? [54:55]How do you allocate budget? [1:00:27]For the latest a16z conversations on Clubhouse, follow the a16z Club. 

    Future.com: The Why, The What, and The Who

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2021 79:13


    Why  Future with Marc Andreessen, Margit Wennmachers, and Sonal Chokshi [2:20]The New Creator Economy with Joost van Dreunen, Wes Kao, Cuy Sheffield, Chris Lyons, Lauren Murrow, and Zoran Basich [17:58]Bubbles, Speculation, and Innovation with Byrne Hobart, Jamie Catherwood, and Zoran Basich [35:38]Work Models & Measures for the Information Age with  Rajiv Ayyangar, Nicole Forsgren, and Das Rush [51:20]The Power of Subtracting, Adding, and AI in Bio with Leidy Klotz, Vijay Pande, and Lauren Richardson [1:05:11]***Visit future.a16z.com for additional content on these topics and more. Follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse to join conversations with tech founders, builders, and leaders live and in-full.  

    One on One with A and Z #9: The Big Questions around Remote Work

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2021 64:03


    What was the biggest surprise from the past 15 months of remote work? [5:24]How do you handle conflict and build trust? [10:09]What's the role of offsites? [15:45]Should you adjust compensation for different geographies? [24:02]How do you measure productivity? [34:10]What is the impact of remote work on retention and turnover? [49:17]How do startups built on decentralized  platforms (e.g., Ethereum) function? [53:36]Is this the beginning of the end for Silicon Valley? [56:07]For the latest a16z conversations on Clubhouse, follow the a16z Club. 

    Good Time Show with Plaid CEO Zach Perret

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2021 40:17


    This podcast is an excerpt. Follow the a16z Club to join conversations with tech founders, builders, and leaders live and in-full.In this episode: The abandoned M&A with Visa [3:47]Communicating to employees around the M&A [8:29]Plaid's near death experiences in the early days [12:41]The fintech trends that made Plaid possible [17:29]What is a bank now? [26:54]Fintech and new revenue models [29:20]Plaid's role in the creator economy [35:21]What is a neobank? [37:30] 

    It's Time to Heal #15: Digital Health for Complex Care

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2021 69:19


    In what ways is digital health for complex care under or overrated? [4:04]Are digital health solutions better suited to tackling clinical or non-clinical needs for complex care? [17:32]The challenge of the physician's inbox [27:55]Have we meaningfully moved the needle on complex digital care? If so, where? [32:08]Should we focus on applying basic tech to easy optimization and automation problems or advanced tech to more complex problems? [41:48] It's Time to Heal, Mondays at 5pm PT on Clubhouse. Join the a16z bio team — Jorge Conde, Vineeta Agarwala, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande — plus special guests as they explore all the ways that biology is technology.

    time heal clubhouse digital health complex care julie yoo vijay pande
    Good Time Show: DAO Primer

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2021 94:14


    Decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, are one of the hottest topics in crypto and tech right now. But what exactly are they? Why do they matter? And what new modes of governance, ownership, and creation do they make possible?

    It's Time to Heal #14: The mRNA Revolution with Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2021 67:51


    mRNA research before COVID and how "mRNA is code" [3:21]The early days of COVID: designing a vaccine in 48 hours [5:44]The software behind the vaccine: getting mRNA researchers out of Excel and into a drug design studio [9:11]The first draft of the vaccine was the final draft [11:10]How the government sped up vaccine development for COVID [12:18]What other new vaccines will come from mRNA?  [15:34]How far are we from these mRNA vaccines? What do we need for them to be widely available? [25:31]Open sourcing Moderna  [27:53]When will COVID vaccines be available for a five year old? [29:47]The three factors that matter when dealing with COVID variants [30:46]How might open source shake up biotech [36:41]The moonshot applications for mRNA therapeutics  [39:43]Advice for building a new category in a regulated environment [46:49]The clinical or regulatory advances needed to speed drug time to market [51:08]Challenge trials for vaccines: good or bad idea? [59:11]It's Time to Heal, Mondays at 5pm PT on Clubhouse. Join the a16z bio team — Jorge Conde, Vineeta Agarwala, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande — plus special guests as they explore all the ways that biology is technology.

    Boss Talk #15: Copycats, Inventors vs. Operators. Hiring SDRs, and more

    Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2021 60:13


    Fab 5 Freddy on New York in the 70s, Warhol, Blondie, Basquiat, and Yo! MTV Raps [1:40]Contrarian strategy and challenging assumptions [5:12]Boring AI and solving meaningful problems [8:42]Drop-in audio copycats [14:39]How is copying software different from remixing hip hop? [21:07]Do you want a CEO as an inventor or an operator? [24:12]Recruiting sales development reps [30:34]Being a boss and having a personal life [36:56]How do you tell the story of letting someone go? [42:47]Best practices for delegating responsibility [49:46]Worst boss advice Ben and Ali have received [57:15]Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff. Live every Tuesday 5-6pm on Clubhouse. For more a16z Clubhouse shows, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse or visit www.a16z.com/clubhouse. 

    GTM #2: Product-led Marketing

    Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2021 59:18


    The six functions in an enterprise marketing org [2:54]Why product marketing is the killer function [6:52]How do you hire a world class product marketer? [11:16]Is community or developer evangelists its own function or part of product marketing? [17:46]How does community tie into the marketing funnel? [22:56]Is community top of funnel, an accelerant for the whole funnel, or something else entirely? [29:39]If the product you're selling becomes someone's job, then your community marketing is working. [32:40]Plugging the community into sales... is there a tool for that? [34:29]How do all the different marketing tools come together? Do you need engineers in marketing? [39:24]How do you make marketing data-driven? [41:56]Building marketing in the early stages [50:06]Inside sales, field sales, product-led, channel sales, marketing, post-sales… On a16z GTM, David Ulevitch talks to builders about what it takes to go to market, and the evolving strategies and lessons learned from enterprise companies past and present. Every other Thursday 4-5pm.For more a16z Clubhouse shows, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse or visit www.a16z.com/clubhouse. 

    Boss Talk #14: New Media Models with Substack

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2021 58:31


    What did Substack think about the NYTimes article "Why We’re Freaking Out About Substack" [1:01]What is Substack? [4:40]The issues with social media content models and how Substack is different [5:54]What about the echo chamber? [8:54]Turning cultural principles (e.g., freedom of the press) into actual culture [12:00]Will Substack replace traditional media? [14:01]Would Donald Trump be welcome on Substack? [20:35]Why do they pay writers advances? And why is that controversial? [23:33]The origins of American journalism aren't what most people think [27:20]Non-fungible writers and the Substack model [31:45]Ad-supported media predates the internet  [39:21]How do I price my Substack? [43:39]Substack, political topics, and culture wars: "We knew we were running towards the fire." [45:01]How do you prevent algorithms from slanting the platform [51:06]Substack's vision for the future of media [55:27]Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff. Live every Tuesday 5-6pm on Clubhouse. For more a16z Clubhouse shows, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse or visit www.a16z.com/clubhouse.  

    People Behind the Product #2: Collectibles Comeback

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2021 53:40


    eBay to today, a brief history of collectibles and tech [1:03]Are collectibles about sentiment or investment? [5:13]How do you bring the excitement of a collection to digital goods? [13:34]Is the future of all collectibles digital? [20:20]The role of blockchain and NFTs [26:39]Are collectible marketplaces different from other marketplaces? [32:19]Importance of live video [38:28]Celebrity interest in NFTs: will it last? [40:46]Are collectibles a bubble? [43:13]Listen live to the a16z show People Behind the Product Wednesdays noon-1pm PT with the a16z consumer team.

    NFT Virtual Summit (full audio)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2021 121:11


    For videos of the NFT Virtual Summit, visit a16z.com. Session 1: The Future of the Digital Ownership Economy with Dan Boneh (Stanford University) and Chris Dixon (a16z)What is an NFT? [3:01]Why are NFTs  so big right now? [7:04]The most exciting programmable ownership structures  [11:36]NFTs and composability: what can  you do with NFTs? [15:16]How would quantum impact the immutability of the blockchain ledger? [18:40]How important is decentralized permanent storage for NFTs... and when will we get there? [20:54]Session 2: The New Creative Economy with Kayvon Tehranian (Foundation Labs)How Foundation Labs works with creatives [24:54]Digital Art NFTs: Nyan Cat, Ethiopian Artists Collective, Rafael Rozendaal, Aphex Twin, and Reuben Wu [28:08]The Edward Snowden NFT [33:45]Why is tracking provenance powerful for creatives? [36:34]Creators becoming collectors and crypto investors [39:00]Can you buy an NFT on one platform and sell on another and still track provenance? [41:31]Session 3: NBA Top Shot and Other NFTs on the Flow Blockchain with Dan Boney (Stanford University) and Dieter Shirley (Dapper Labs)The Flow Blockchain from CryptoKitties to NBA Top Shot [45:18]What is NBA Top Shot, and what was the hardest part of building it [50:34]Building a successful user experience [52:55]Negotiating with the NBA [54:32]The biggest challenges for NFTs going mainstream [56:55]Why did they build their own blockchain? [1:01:23]Building ERC-721 and lessons learned on crypto standards [1:04:00]Session 4: Going Beyond Collectibles and The Future of Tokens for Creators with Kevin Chou (Rally) and Chris Dixon (a16z)What are social tokens? (and how is Portugal. The Man. using them) [1:05:51]What are the roles of fungible and non-fungible tokens? [1:08:30]NFTs in gaming now and what's next [1:14:35]Pricing and price discovery for NFTs [1:17:39]Tips for launching a social token [1:19:06]How does Rally make money? [1:22:08]Session 5: NFT Use Cases Today and Tomorrow with Devin Finzer (OpenSea) and Katie Haun (a16z)What does OpenSea do? [1:26:14]Why the sudden interest in NFTs? [1:28:35]What can and can't be turned into an NFT [1:30:13]How NFTs can interact with the physical world [1:32:33]Virtual lands and the metaverse economy [1:35:14]Virtual concerts and NFT tickets [1:40:44]Mixing and remixing NFTs [1:43:04]Session 6: The Accidental Art DAO with pplpleasr (digital artist)pplpleasr's NFT "Apes Together Strong" that was auctioned as part of The NFT Summit serves as the artwork for this podcast.    

    It's Time to Heal #13: How do we safely deliver more gene therapies?

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2021 74:52


    What inspired Eric and Sam to start Dyno [4:09]How does the use of ML impact Dyno's GTM [10:40]The current challenges of gene therapy [21:43]Why Dyno wants to be a horizontal platform for gene therapy [30:56]How does Dyno think about competition [44:23]After party and audience Q&A [52:01]It's Time to Heal, Mondays at 5pm PT on Clubhouse. Join the a16z bio team — Jorge Conde, Vineeta Argawala, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande — plus special guests every week as they explore all the ways that biology is technology.

    Boss Talk #13: Book Club for Bosses

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2021 59:09


    Note: the recording of this episode starts a minute or two into the show.Ali recommends: The Hard Thing about Hard Things  by Ben Horowitz [0:18]Ben recommends: High Output Management by Andy Grove [4:36]Marc recommends: Who Really Matters: The Core Group Theory of Power, Privilege, and Success by Art Kleiner [10:48]Best read for enterprise sales: Power Base Selling by Jim Holden, et al [13:06]Microsoft, Google, government contracts, and politicized workplaces [16:28]Marc recommends: The Tyranny of Structurelessness by Jo Freeman [29:32]Ali recommends: Radical Candor by Kim Scott [33:19]Ben recommends: No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention  by Erin Meyer and Reed Hastings [44:19]Ben recommends: Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon by Colin Bryar [50:28]How they are approaching the return to work and remote work [53:00]Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff. Live every Tuesday 5-6pm on Clubhouse. For more a16z Clubhouse shows, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse or visit www.a16z.com/clubhouse. 

    Ben Feder of Tencent America on Games Club

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2021 72:29


    How Ben took over Take Two [1:42]How digital distribution and publishing changed gaming [8:36]What is a next generation publisher? [13:51]Can publishers add value as tastemakers? [17:36]How do you make sure studios ship on time? And in the era of persistent game worlds, does it matter? [22:01]Lessons learned from Take Two [27:27]Taking the long view of the creative process — "Every overnight success was ten years in the making." [30:53]Is there a successful game that surprised Ben? [37:08]What's the next big gaming platform? [46:07]Where will subscription models lead? [52:06]Sabbaticals and life advice [56:50]Join a16z partners and special guests from the gaming industry for discussions on games, game development, online communities, esports, AR/VR, and everything in between. Wednesdays at 5pm PT. For more a16z Clubhouse shows, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse or visit www.a16z.com/clubhouse. 

    Robert Smith on Unfettered Conversations with A and Z

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2021 67:05


    Robert's foundational experiences growing up [3:03]His introduction to computers, how he got an internship at Bell Labs, and what he learned there [6:38]Why he studied chemical engineering [13:15]Working at Kraft and engineering macaroni and cheese [15:08]Why he moved to investing [18:12]How he realized that it made sense to do buyouts in enterprise software [23:19]Creating a common playbook for running enterprise software companies [30:45]How does he think about retaining vs replacing founders [34:54]Vista's approach to evaluating talent and getting people in the right roles [37:02]Robert's next ambition [46:10]His philosophy of philanthropy [49:15]Why he paid off the student debt for Morehouse College Class of 2019 [1:00]For our upcoming schedule of Clubhouse conversations, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse or visit a16z.com/clubhouse. 

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