web3 with a16z

In this special episode from TED Tech, hear from GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke on how AI is breaking the barrier to entry for coding. Who could a coder look like if you could code just by talking out loud? Learn how, thanks to AI, creating software is becoming as simple (and joyful) as building LEGO. In a live demo, he introduces Copilot Workspace: an AI assistant that helps you create code when you speak to it, in any language.Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(0:28) Personal Journey into Coding(2:31) The Evolution of Programming Languages(4:02) The Birth of GitHub Copilot(6:14) Live Demo: Building with Copilot(9:58) The Future of Software Development(13:04) Q&A: The Role of Humans in AI-Driven Development(14:32) ConclusionAbout TED Tech:From the construction of virtual realities to the internet of things — technology is changing our world every day. But how can we make sure that the quickly-evolving role that tech plays in our lives is one that builds, empowers, and connects us? Host Sherrell Dorsey guides you through the latest ideas from TED Speakers, uncovering the riveting questions that sit at the intersection of technology, society, science, design, business, and innovation. Listen in every Friday.As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments. 

with @eddylazzarin @adrian_ludwig @remco @smc90Hi everyone, welcome to this week's episode of web3 with a16z podcast, I'm Sonal, and today we're talking about a hot topic which is also very evergreen because we're entering a world where AI – including AI agents, bots, deep fakes, and so on -- are changing the internet, very drastically. And so we will need proof of who's human, or not, online – aka “proof of human” (as Tools for Humanity and World app call it). The theme is actually represented on the latest cover of Time magazine, which features the Tools for Humanity orb: a ball-like hardware device that maps your eye's iris code to an app on your phone to verify you're human. (It's actually only the fifth time in the past decade that hardware tech's been on the cover; the other times are the iphone, Oculus, consumer drones, and SpaceX.) Since the technology -- and network -- story here draws on both existing and new tech to help solve what's actually a *very* difficult problem -- and in a way where privacy is by default -- we begin with the why it matters, then go into some common questions, and finally how it all works under the hood. Our expert guests are: Eddy Lazzarin, CTO at a16zcrypto;Adrian Ludwig, Chief Architect and CISO at Tools for Humanity; andRemco Bloemen, Head of Protocol at World.As a reminder: None of the following is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information including link to a list of our investments. 

with @kimbatronic @amandatylerj @clairekartWelcome to web3 with a16z. Since our show covers both tech trends and company building, today's topic is all about marketing — including differences between marketing in crypto and traditional tech.The conversation shares a candid look at what works — and what doesn't — when it comes to building reputation and community, attracting developers, hiring teams and agencies, launching tokens, raising founder profiles, and more.Our experts are:... Amanda Tyler, who was most recently Head of Marketing at the Optimism Foundation (and was formerly at Polygon, Coinbase, and Google);... Claire Kart, Chief Marketing Officer at Aztec (who previously was at Risc Zero and SoFi);... in conversation with Kim Milosevich, CMO at a16z crypto (who was formerly VP of Comms at Coinbase, and who has spent decades in tech at a16z, Skype, Yahoo, and elsewhere).Timestamps(0:00) Introduction(1:41) The Role of Marketers(4:52) Tech Marketing vs. Crypto Marketing(6:34) Understanding the Core Audience(10:56) Marketing for Ethereum and Layer 2 Projects(16:09) The Role of Community Managers and Developer Relations(25:21) Token Launch Strategies(34:42) Building Founders' Profiles (Without Being Cringe)(38:53) How to Support Founders(40:55) When to Hire (43:05) Consultants vs. Agencies(46:08) Structuring a Marketing Team(48:27) Finding and Hiring Talent(50:36) Building an Editorial Content Operation(53:39) International Marketing Strategies(56:41) The Role of Events(1:01:48) Memes and Crypto Culture (1:04:57) ConclusionAs a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @cdixon @SamBroner @rhhackettStablecoins are quietly transforming how money moves — faster, cheaper, and more globally than ever before. In this episode, we take a deep look at why stablecoins have emerged as one of the most promising applications in crypto today — and how they could reshape global payments.I'm joined by Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z crypto and author of the New York Times-bestselling book Read Write Own, and Sam Broner, a deal partner at a16z crypto who focuses on stablecoins. Together, we unpack the technical and regulatory foundations of stablecoins, explore the cracks in the current payments system, and look ahead to what becomes possible once digital dollars go mainstream. We also dig into the current state of regulation — and why the future of money might end up looking a lot more like email or the web than a bank.Check out the show notes for links and resources that we reference throughout this episode. Also be sure to listen to the episode we dropped just before this one where we analyze all the recent stablecoin news.Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(1:45) Payments, Finance, and the Internet(4:03) The Promise and Potential of Stablecoins(9:02) Global Financial System and Its Shortcomings(11:29) The WhatsApp Analogy(15:38) The Read Write Own Thesis(19:15) The Power of Blockchains(21:06) Venmo's Business Model(23:17) Stripe's Opportunity(25:11) Backwards Compatibility (Like Skype)(28:13) The Role of Stablecoin Regulation(34:36) Political Realities (vs. Big Banks)(38:11) The Business Implications of Stablecoins(40:31) The Stablecoin Investment Paradox(47:07) Why Blockchains?(51:11) Tech Marketing: Words vs. Products(54:28) What Happens Next(57:26) Global Demand for Stablecoins(59:37) Learning from the Past(1:05:06) ConclusionLinks to related resources:A guide to stablecoins: What, why, and how by a16z crypto editorial (a16z crypto, April 2025)Stablecoins: Payments without intermediaries by Chris Dixon (a16z crypto, April 2025)The month fintechs embraced stablecoins by Sam Broner (a16z crypto, May 2025)What Stripe's acquisition of Bridge means for fintech and stablecoins by James da Costa and Sam Broner (a16z crypto, April 2025)How stablecoins will eat payments, and what happens next by Sam Broner (a16z crypto, December 2024)A useful framework for understanding stablecoins: Banking history by Sam Broner (a16z crypto, November 2024)Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet by Chris Dixon (Random House, January 2024)A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class by Joe Nocera (Simon & Schuster, October 1994)All about airdrops [podcast] by Eddy Lazzarin, Daren Matsuoka, Andrew Hall, and Robert Hackett (a16z crypto, April 2025)As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @rhhackett @smc90 @DarenMatsuoka @SamBronerWelcome to web3 with a16z, a show about the next generation of the internet. I'm Robert Hackett.There has been a flurry of stablecoin news lately, so we're doing a special bonus episode to cover everything that's been going on. Sonal and I are joined by a16z crypto's Data Science lead Daren Matsuoka who shares the actual data behind the stablecoin trend. Then we have Sam Broner — who is a Deal Partner here and our frequent author on stablecoins — to analyze the news, and help highlight the signal versus the noise.Here's a selection of the news:USDC issuer Circle filed to go public on the New York Stock ExchangeCoinbase released an agentic payments standard with support for stablecoin paymentsVisa and Mastercard enhanced stablecoin supportStripe announced stablecoin financial account balances, a programmable stablecoin (via Bridge), a stablecoin-backed card, and moreMeta is reportedly in talks to introduce stablecoins as a means for payoutsAnd much moreWe also have one of our regular episodes covering the broader stablecoins trend and big picture, dropping separately in the feed, also with Sam and a16z crypto Founder Chris Dixon, so be sure to check that out next.Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(1:30) Stablecoin Data Overview(3:55) Stablecoin Adoption and Infrastructure(4:24) Market Share of Issuers and Blockchains(6:10) Stablecoin Growth vs. Crypto Market Cycles(7:45) Stablecoin News and Developments(9:44) Fintech Embraces Stablecoins(12:44) Legacy Payment Systems vs. Stablecoins(17:04) The Future of Stablecoins and Open Networks(22:11) ConclusionLinks to related resources:Everything stablecoins: Big picture, deep dive with Chris Dixon, Sam Broner, and Robert Hackett (a16z crypto, May 2025)A chart of stablecoin usage growth vs. crypto market cyclicality (@DarenMatsuoka on X)The month fintechs embraced stablecoins by Sam Broner (a16z crypto, May 2025)What Stripe's acquisition of Bridge means for fintech and stablecoins by James da Costa and Sam Broner (a16z crypto, April 2025)A guide to stablecoins: What, why, and how by a16z crypto editorial (a16z crypto, April 2025)As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @danboneh @succinctJT @smc90This episode is all about quantum computing -- explaining what it is, how it works, what's hype vs. reality, and how to prepare for it/ what builders should do. Specifically, we cover: What quantum computing is and isn't, and what people are really talking about when they worry about a quantum computer that can break classic computing-based cryptography systems -- a cryptographically relevant post-quantum computer.When is it happening/ what are the "timelines" for quantum computing becoming a reality -- how many years away are we? -- and when are the U.S. government's deadlines/ NIST standards for post-quantum cryptography?How will different types of cryptography be affected, or not? What are different approaches and tradeoffs?Where does quantum computing and post-quantum crypto apply to blockchains -- which are not only more easily upgradable, but also by and large rely on signatures, not encryption, so may be more quantum-resistant in many ways (and not in others).As always, we tease apart the signal vs. the noise in recent "science-by-press release" corporate quantum-computing milestone announcements. We also help answer questions on when do builders need to plan their switch to a post-quantum crypto world, what pitfalls to avoid there (hint: bugs! software upgrades!). Finally, we briefly cover different approaches to post-quantum crypto; and also dig deeper on zero-knowledge/ succinct-proof systems and how they relate to post-quantum crypto. Our expert guests are: Dan Boneh, Stanford University professor and applied cryptography expert and pioneer; also Senior Research Advisor to a16z crypto;Justin Thaler, research partner at a16z, professor at Georgetown, and longtime expert and pioneer in interactive and ZK proof systems.SEE ALSO: Post-quantum blockchains by Valeria Nikolaenkomore resources + papers on topics mentioned:A Graduate Course in Applied Cryptography by Dan Boneh and Victor Shoup [see also]Proofs, Arguments, and Zero-Knowledge by Justin ThalerLatticeFold+: Faster, Simpler, Shorter Lattice-Based Folding for Succinct Proof Systems by Dan Boneh and Binyi ChenNeo: Lattice-based folding scheme for CCS over small fields and pay-per-bit commitments by Wilson Nguyen and Srinath Setty"Q-Day Clock" from Project Eleven -- public dashboard to visually track timeline for quantum computing to reach cryptographically relevant capabilities and break widely used encryption algorithmson hard forks for quantum emergenciesQuantum analysis of AES, Kyungbae Jang, Anubhab Baksi, Hyunji Kim, Gyeongju Song, Hwajeong Seo, Anupam ChattopadhyayThe Google Willow Thing by Scott AaronsonFAQs on Microsoft's topological qubit thing by Scott AaronsonMicrosoft's claim of a topological qubit faces tough questions, American Physical SocietyAs a reminder, none of this is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information including a link to our investments.

with @eddylazzarin @skominers @milesjennings @rhhackettToday we're diving deep into *the* defining concept in crypto: tokens. We're moving beyond conventional categories — like “governance tokens” or “utility tokens” or even “memecoins” — to present a full taxonomy that details what tokens are, what they aren't, and what they're capable of becoming.Questions we'll explore include: What is a token? Is it a form of money? A piece of data? Something else? How many types of tokens are there — and who is in control of each? And how should we think about their actual economic, legal, and technical characteristics? We'll also dig into different token designs and their uses; where tokens derive value from; how they jibe with securities laws; and much more.In this conversation, you'll hear from several experts on the a16z crypto team who have developed a new 7-part framework for classifying tokens, which you can find linked below. Joining us are the coauthors: Chief Technology Officer Eddy Lazzarin, General Counsel and Head of Policy Miles Jennings, and Research Partner Scott Kominers, who is also a Professor at Harvard Business School where he teaches courses on market design and entrepreneurship. Check out the resources below for a flowchart that we'll also be referencing throughout this episode and that will be helpful as we wend our way through the token idea maze.Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(3:28) The Evolution of Token Terminology(6:19) Classifying Tokens: Economic, Legal, and Technical Dimensions(8:37) Moving Beyond “Governance Tokens”(12:05) Inherent Value: The Memecoin Debate(15:35) Company-Controlled Tokens: Risks and Realities(31:33) Arcade Tokens: Stability and Utility(46:00) The Power of Blockchain Interoperability(49:34) Shared Rewards and Loyalty Programs(59:19) Asset-Backed Tokens and Their Mechanisms(1:08:23) Collectible Tokens and Their Uniqueness(1:14:31) Network Tokens: The Future of Decentralized Marketplaces(1:31:03) Regulatory Challenges and "Lawyer Tokens" (1:36:57) Final Thoughts and Future ProspectsResources referenced in this episode:7 canonical tokens, defined [see flowchart] by Miles Jennings, Scott Duke Kominers, and Eddy Lazzarin (a16z crypto newsletter, March 2025)Defining tokens by Miles Jennings, Scott Duke Kominers, and Eddy Lazzarin (a16z crypto, March 2025)Network tokens vs. company-backed tokens by Miles Jennings, Scott Duke Kominers, and Eddy Lazzarin (a16z crypto, March 2025)Defining decentralization: It comes down to control by Miles Jennings (a16z crypto, February 2025)Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet by Chris Dixon (Penguin Random House, January 2024)The Everything Token: How NFTs and Web3 Will Transform the Way We Buy, Sell, and Create by Steve Kaczynski and Scott Duke Kominers (Penguin Random House, January 2024)As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @ilblackdragon @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. I'm your host, Robert Hackett.In this episode, we're diving deep into one of the most intriguing intersections in tech today: AI and crypto.To help us unpack it, we're joined by Illia Polosukhin — co-founder of the crypto protocol NEAR and co-author of the groundbreaking 2017 "transformers" paper that kicked off the current AI boom. Ilia has been early to some of the biggest recent tech trends, and today he brings us a rare, panoramic view of the tech industry's cutting edge.Together we explore what the phrase “user-owned AI” really means; why the so-called agentic internet — that is, a world where your AI assistant talks directly to services on your behalf — might replace the very notion of websites and apps as we know them; and much more.Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(3:40) Centralization and Challenges of AI(6:17) "User-Owned" AI(12:14) Confidential Computing and AI(17:51) The Birth of Transformers(22:33) NEAR AI and Crowdsourcing(27:56) AI Agents and Future Applications(31:04) The End of Websites and Applications(34:08) Dead Internet Theory & Distinguishing Humans(41:49) Open Source vs. Open Weight Models(43:48) Geopolitical Implications of AI(46:55) NEAR Protocol and Blockchain Scaling(59:29) The Role of Humans in an AI WorldResources:Attention is all you need by Vaswani et al. (Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems 2017)As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @eddylazzarin @DarenMatsuoka @ahall_research @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. I'm Robert Hackett.Today we're talking about one of the most familiar — and most misunderstood — mechanics in crypto: the airdrop.We'll explore the history of airdrops in and outside crypto, the challenges of incentive design, and learnings from airdrops to date. We'll also answer questions like how do you avoid Sybil attacks and professional airdrop farming? Should your drop be big or small, one-time or ongoing? And what happens when AI agents enter the mix? To break it all down, we're joined by:a16z crypto's Chief Technology Officer Eddy Lazzarin;a16z crypto Data Science Partner Daren Matsuoka; anda16z crypto Research Consultant Andrew Hall, who is also a Professor of Political Economics at Stanford's Graduate School of Business.Whether you're planning a token launch, looking for token rewards, or just curious why airdrops have become such a powerful mechanism in crypto — this episode is for you. Timestamps:(0:00) introduction(1:42) what is an airdrop?(6:27) tokens vs traditional equity(8:49) incentive design challenges(15:18) origins from credit cards to crypto(17:14) Optimism airdrop case study(23:09) NFT market learnings(28:32) Sybil resistance and verifying humanity(33:04) Uniswap airdrop and beyond(36:35) AI agents and the future of airdrops(40:33) connection to performance reviews(45:30) token vesting and volatility(49:08) experimentation vs. best practices(59:20) Batesian mimicryResources:Research into how airdrops can increase user retention [Optimism Collective forum; January 2025]Effects of Optimism airdrop 2 on governance participation [a16z crypto; June 2024]One From Many: Visa and the Rise of Chaordic Organization by Dee Hock [Berrett-Koehler Publishers; October 2005]How the '9-Box' talent review system can make or break your career [Forbes; March 2024]Batesian mimicry [American Museum of Natural History; July 2023]As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @mostrovs @skominers @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. I'm your host Robert Hackett, and today we're talking about congestion pricing — an area of mechanism design that's aimed at alleviating something everyone hates: traffic.Now you may have heard this term recently since New York adopted its own version of congestion pricing at the beginning of the year. This is the first program of its kind in the U.S. — and it's got supporters and detractors. We'll talk about that, and we're also going to talk about much more. In the first part of today's episode we'll trace the history of the economic ideas that got us here. In the middle, we'll dig deeper into the details of putting congestion pricing into practice, plus technological alternatives. And in the final part, we'll explore parallels to — and implications for — crypto networks.Our guests are Michael Ostrovsky, a Stanford Economics Professor who specializes in this area and who has done research on congestion pricing in New York. We're also joined by a16z crypto Research Partner Scott Kominers, who is a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School where he teaches market design and entrepreneurship.Resources:Michael Ostrovsky's paper on congestion pricing in New York City (from before the launch, foreseeing its issues): https://web.stanford.edu/~ost/papers/nyc.pdfMichael Ostrovsky's thread that went viral on X shortly after the debut of congestion pricing in New York, discussing the post-launch evidence, his team's data collection efforts, and the link between observed data and predictions in the above paper: https://x.com/mostrovs/status/1876798157595476420Two of Ostrovsky's earlier theoretical papers on the topic: (1) https://web.stanford.edu/~ost/papers/complementarity.pdf, (2) https://web.stanford.edu/~ost/papers/sdc.pdfEconomist William Vickrey's influential paper on congestion pricing: Vickrey, W. S. (1969). Congestion theory and transport investment. American Economic Review 59 (2), 251–260. https://matthewturner.org/ec2410/readings/Vickrey_AER_1969.pdfAs a reminder, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we're talking about a founder's journey from academia to the tech startup world — and the many lessons he's learned along the way. We dig into big ideas, like what people mean when they call blockchains "truth machines." We also share practical advice and insights, like how to go about deciding on your life's work; what you can do to keep increasing — and compounding — your leverage; plus, how a bungled interview question can change your life.Today's episode features a conversation between Eigen Labs Founder Sreeram Kannan, formerly an associate professor at the University of Washington where he led its Blockchain Lab, and a16z crypto General Partner Ali Yahya. This conversation originally took place in the fall at our CSX crypto startup accelerator in New York. If you like what you hear, subscribe to the a16z crypto YouTube channel for this video and many others like it.Timestamps:(0:00) introduction(1:25) open innovation(4:08) evolution of blockchain technologies(12:34) journey from academia(16:00) one of the best life lessons(19:40) impact of network information theory(24:31) activation energy and moving earth(29:13) building a trust network(36:20) blockchains as commitment engines(45:17) Q&A(45:57) the power of narrative(52:19) restaking and the memetic sphere(56:01) two approaches to problem solving(59:53) startup focus and exponential games(1:04:56) professor coins(1:09:03) win-win or no deal(01:13:59) conclusionAs a reminder, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @SashaSpiegelman @Tim_Roughgarden @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. Today we're talking about the ins and outs of blockchain performance. How does the “speed” of one chain compare to another? What are the tricky ways that people talk about important metrics like throughput and latency? And how do design choices across things like consensus and execution result in performance tradeoffs? Our guest today is Aptos Labs' Head of Research Sasha Spiegelman, who is helping build out and develop technologies he originally co-created at Meta. We're also joined by a16z crypto Head of Research and Columbia University professor Tim Roughgarden, who specializes in the intersection of computer science and economics, which is fitting as we dig into technical details throughout.Timestamps:00:00 introduction02:48 understanding blockchain metrics07:59 consensus protocols: PBFT and beyond14:56 innovations from Meta's Novi to Aptos20:51 optimizing blockchain execution (with BlockSTM)25:23 tech debate: dynamic vs. static parallelism27:55 open source and the prisoner's dilemma29:15 conclusion***As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @mg_486662 and @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. I'm Robert Hackett and today we're talking about what is potentially the biggest heist of all time — a hack of the Dubai-based crypto exchange ByBit which took place last month for a total of $1.5 billion and which the Federal Bureau of Investigation has attributed to a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group.In this episode, we cover details of how the attack went down, the state of crypto security across different types of wallets and organizations, and what you can do to help protect yourself from similar attacks.We're joined by Matt Gleason, a security expert at a16z crypto, whose excellent write-up of the incident you can find below. We've also included an FBI PSA about the hack and other useful links as well.Resources:Breaking down the ByBit hack: Lessons to learn from crypto's largest heist [a16z crypto; March 2025]North Korea responsible for $1.5 billion ByBit hack [FBI; February 2025]Learn THIS so you don't lose $50M | Multi-sig (Safe) Hardware Wallet Verification [Patrick Collins on YouTube; January 2025]As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @haydenzadams @kidsuper @smc90This episode involves a special mix of guests:Hayden Adams, founder and CEO of Uniswap Labs, and inventor of the Uniswap Protocol a leader in decentralized finance (DeFi); they recently announced Unichain; andColm Dillane, the multimedia artist behind fashion brand KidSuper, CFDA award winner who has his own Warhol Factory-like creative studio and space; Dillane started out selling t-shirts in his highschool cafeteria, and then went on to present his collection at Paris Fashion week — and has also done creative campaigns for iconic brands from Louis Vuitton and Mercedes Benz to Puma and Converse...in conversation with editor in chief Sonal Chokshi. The conversation originally took place at our Founder Summit (October 2024) but is more relevant than ever as the crypto industry focuses on mainstream applications and users. It covers:industry jargon, to making technology not just more broadly available but more culturally and socially understoodthe power of naming, including the origin story behind the unicorn and Unisocks and morethe difference between marketing vs. spectaclethe power of early community and what it means to expand to new users vs "sell out”drops -- “airdrops” in crypto; drops in fashion (a la Supreme), and just product launches in generalWe also touch on some questions and issues around open source, including forking and copying -- good or bad? -- and whether a collective can actually do good design. The theme throughout is about innovating vs. stagnating -- learning from different industries and places; trying (unexpected) new things, even when there may not be a clear business case up front, and much more. As a reminder: None of the following should be taken as business, investment, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information.

Welcome to web3 with a16z, today we're running a special episode about the intersection of AI and crypto.Our guests are a16z crypto Founder and Managing Partner Chris Dixon & a16z Growth General Partner David George. They discuss the broken economics of the internet, new models for creative people, how to think through the first-, second- and third-order effects of big platform shifts, and more. Today's episode is a crossover from a16z's AI Revolution conversation series — and it's especially timely as the paperback edition of Chris Dixon's bestselling book Read Write Own goes to print. Check out the show notes for links to those and more.Watch the video hereRead the transcript hereSee more from the AI Revolution conversation series hereCheck out Chris Dixon's book Read Write Own hereAs a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @1HowardWu @SuccinctJT @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. Today's show is all about privacy, why it matters, and how to achieve it technically onchain.It's fair to say that many blockchains today are quite… revealing. But that openness and transparency doesn't work for everything — who would want anyone to have full-on X-Ray vision into your finances? That's one reason why there's been a growing appreciation for — and trend toward — more blockchain privacy. Our guest today argues that there are many other reasons you might want some secrecy too, including a whole host of onchain applications and uses that only become feasible when you have a notion of privacy. That guest is Provable Cofounder and CEO Howard Wu who helped invent the protocols behind and build Aleo, a privacy-focused blockchain network. Wu joins a16z crypto Research Partner Justin Thaler, who is also a computer scientist at Georgetown University (as well as the brains behind the cutting-edge, open source zkVM Jolt), plus me, your host, Robert Hackett.The first voice you'll hear is mine, then Howard's, then Justin's. As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @benleventhal @AriannaSimpsonWelcome to web3 with a16z. How many of you are regulars at a favorite cafe, bar, or dinner spot? Probably a lot of you — but if you're not, well, our guest today aims to make you one. This episode features Ben Leventhal — the founder and CEO of BlackBird, and formerly the founder of Resy and Eater. In it, he shares his journey as a serial entrepreneur in conversation with a16z crypto General Partner Arianna Simpson.Ben shares hard-won lessons learned in company-building, including navigating in wartime; the difference between measuring vs feeling when it comes to defining success; and more. Today's conversation originally took place in the fall at our CSX Crypto Startup Accelerator in New York. We're currently accepting applications for our next cohort in the spring in San Francisco. Visit a16zcrypto.com/csx for more information and to apply.As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @0xgaut @ishverduzco @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. Today we're talking about how to make social media work for you, rather than overwhelming you.Whether you're a startup founder, creator, avid doomscroller, or longtime lurker, this show has tips and tactics you can use to attract attention, build a following, and level up your online presence.In this episode, we cover what to do and what not to do, how much of your authentic self to bring to the table vs. merely playing to the algorithms, turning your interests and obsessions into viral hits, and what standup comedy has to do with the art of posting.Our guest today is Gauthier Le Meur, aka Gaut, a meme-maker with a cult following who also happens to be the cofounder and chief operating officer of Alongside, a DeFi project that creates investible crypto market indices. Joining him is the man behind our handles, a16z crypto Social Lead Ish Verduzco, as well as me, your host, Robert Hackett.ResourcesSocial for startup founders: A practical guide to building an online presence by Ish Verduzco [a16z crypto, August 2024]How to build a social presence in web3 and beyond  [video]How to 10x on Twitter (without getting lucky) [@ishverduzco on X, March 2021]24 Prompts to Get Over Writer's Block in 2024 by Ish Verduzco [The Creator Blueprint, January 2024]As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today's episode is all about design, creativity, and taste-making. Our special guest is Jason Mayden, the chief design officer of Jordan Brand at Nike — that's Jordan as in former NBA superstar Michael Jordan. In his role, Mayden is responsible for the look and feel of iconic products, like Air Jordan sneakers and related apparel. In this episode, Mayden speaks with Chris Lyons, a16z crypto's president of web3 media, about the interdisciplinary nature of industrial design, the role of humans in an AI world, what makes fashion and food alike, and how to build a brand, whether you're in crypto, sportswear, or another field.This conversation originally took place at a16z crypto's Founders Summit in the fall of 2024. Be sure to subscribe to the a16z crypto Youtube channel where you can listen to more from that event, plus many more thought-provoking talks and other resources. As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @carrawu @eddylazzarin @0xkarmacoma and @smc90 @rhhackettWelcome to our special end-of-year episodes -- which also look ahead to 2025 --  covering our annual Big Ideas lists, where various a16z crypto team members share what they are personally excited about. (You can see the firmwide list, also including all the trends of the crypto team,  here.)This episode is part 2 of 2 -- but you don't have to listen to them in any particular order -- covering the intersection of crypto & AI:agents that have their own crypto wallets -- and also AI agents in games; DePin/ decentralized physical infrastructure, like energy grids; and more;proof of personhood, and why having a unique ID matters in a world of deepfakes, bots, scams and more is needed with proliferating AI;decentralized, truly autonomous, chatbots (using TEEs or trusted execution environment). Covering each of these -- and coming from the investing, engineering, and other teams -- are:  Carra Wu, Eddy Lazzarin, and Karma (aka Daniel Reynaud); in conversation with hosts Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett, who also share some commentary at the top.These are just a few of the 14 trends we shared; you can check out the full list at a16zcrypto.com/bigideas. Also be sure to check out part 1, which covers the trends of stablecoins, app stores, infrastructure, and user experience. As a reminder, none of the content is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.

with @sambroner @meigga @darenmatsuoka @jneu_net @chrislyons and @rhhackett @smc90Welcome to our special end-of-year episodes -- which also look ahead to 2025 --  covering our annual Big Ideas lists, where various a16z crypto team members share what they are personally excited about. (You can see the firmwide list, also including all the trends of the crypto team,  here.)This episode is part 1 of 2 -- but you don't have to listen to them in any particular order -- covering the trends and themes of:stablecoins, payments, and where the early adopters will come from;app store distribution, curation, and discovery;where the next crypto users will come from, turning passive holders into active users;how builders improve, and better choose, infrastructure; andsimplifying user experience. Covering each of these -- and coming from the investing, go-to-market, data science, research, and media teams are:  Sam Broner, Maggie Hsu, Daren Matsuoka, Joachim Neu, and Chris Lyons; in conversation with hosts Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett. (Stay tuned until the end for some of our meta-commentary.) These are just 5 of the 14 trends we shared; you can check out the full list at a16zcrypto.com/bigideas.Also be sure to check out part 2, which covers all the trends at the intersection of crypto and AI. As a reminder, none of the content is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.

with @atabarrok @skominers @smc90We've heard a lot about the premise and the promise of prediction markets for a long time, but they finally hit the main stage with the most recent election. So what worked (and didn't) this time? Are they better than pollsters, journalists, domain experts, superforecasters?So in this conversation, we tease apart the hype from the reality of prediction markets, from the recent election to market foundations... going more deeply into the how, why, and where these markets work. We also discuss the design challenges and opportunities, including implications for builders throughout. And we also cover other information aggregation mechanisms -- from peer prediction to others -- given that prediction markets are part of a broader category of information-elicitation and information-aggregation mechanisms.Where do (and don't) blockchain and crypto technologies come in -- and what specific features (decentralization, transparency, real-time, open source, etc.) matter most, and in what contexts? Finally, we discuss applications for prediction and decision markets -- things we could do right away to in the near-to distant future -- touching on everything from corporate decisions and scientific replication to trends like AI, DeSci, futarchy/ governance, and more?Our special expert guests are Alex Tabarrok, professor of economics at George Mason University and Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center; and Scott Duke Kominers, research partner at a16z crypto, and professor at Harvard Business School  -- both in conversation with Sonal Chokshi.RESOURCES(from links to research mentioned to more on the topics discussed)The Use of Knowledge in Society by Friedrich Hayek (American Economic Review, 1945)Everything is priced in by rsd99 (r/wallstreetbets, 2019)Idea Futures (aka prediction markets, information markets) by Robin Hanson (1996)Auctions: The Social Construction of Value  by Charles SmithSocial value of public information by Stephen Morris and Hyun Song Shin (American Economic Review, December 2002)Using prediction markets to estimate the reproducibility of scientific research by Anna Dreber, Thomas Pfeiffer, Johan Almenberg, Siri Isaksson, Brad Wilson, Yiling Chen, Brian Nosek, and Magnus Johannesson (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (November 2015)A solution to the single-question crowd wisdom problem by Dražen Prelec, Sebastian Seung, and John McCoy (Nature, January 2017)Targeting high ability entrepreneurs using community information: Mechanism design in the field by Reshmaan Hussam, Natalia Rigol, and Benjamin Roth (American Economic Review, March 2022)Information aggregation mechanisms: concept, design, and implementation for a sales forecasting problem by Charles Plott and Kay-Yut Chen, Hewlett Packard Laboratories (March 2002)If I had a million [on deciding to dump the CEO or not] by Robin Hanson (2008)Futarchy: Vote values, but bet beliefs by Robin Hanson (2013)From prediction markets to info finance by Vitalik Buterin (November 2024)Composability is innovation by Linda Xie (June 2021)Composability is to software as compounding interest is to finance by Chris Dixon (October 2021)resources & research on DAOs, a16z crypto  

with @baileyflan @ahall_research @rhhackettToday we're dusting off an ancient practice that has become trendy once again: the old-but-new idea of “sortition,” or selecting representatives by lottery.Sortition was used in ancient Athenian democracy to elect public officials. It's also been lately revived by tech companies like Meta and AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic to tackle some of their thorniest policymaking challenges.Our guests today are experts on sortition, including Bailey Flanigan, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard who is joining MIT as an assistant professor next year, and who has helped develop selection algorithms for sortition that are in use today. Also joining is Andrew Hall, Stanford University poli sci professor, advisor to Meta, and consultant to a16z crypto research.In this episode, we discuss why not to rely exclusively on expert authority, how the process of deliberation changes people's minds, and how sortition can apply everywhere from the governance of countries to the governance of crypto projects, and more.Related resources:Algorithms for fair, manipulation-robust, and transparent sortition with Bailey FlaniganAs a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @pmarca @bhorowitzToday we're running a special episode featuring a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talking about AI bots and crypto. They discuss what happens when you mix postmodern theories and internet memes in an LLM. They also get into the sudden rise of a strange memecoin, the state of crypto regulation in the U.S., and more.This episode is a crossover from the Ben & Marc Show, which you can follow on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.See the original episode:How An AI Bot Became a Crypto Millionaire As always, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal or investment advice. See a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @DarenMatsuoka @eddylazzarin @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. Today we're taking you behind the scenes of our newly released, annual State of Crypto Report — a16z crypto's analysis of the latest data and trends that have defined the industry in 2024.This year's report features some brand new insights, from estimating the number of real crypto users globally, to understanding how much interest in crypto swing states may have ahead of the U.S. election. We also dig into infrastructure improvements to blockchains and key applications — including stablecoins, AI, and so-called DePIN. Be sure to visit a16zcrypto.com for all this and more including a new “Builder Energy” dashboard, which we'll discuss on the show.Joining me to talk about the findings are lead data scientist and report author Daren Matsuoka and CTO Eddy Lazzarin. The first voice you'll hear after mine is Daren's, then Eddy's.a16z crypto resources:State of Crypto Report 2024 Builder Energy dashboardEstimating the number of real crypto users by Daren Matsuoka and Eddy LazzarinAs always, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal or investment advice. See a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we explore the messy secrets of blockchain bridges. These cross-chain connectors are the go-betweens in today's multichain world, but their short history has been a checkered one, with prominent projects succumbing to major hacks and other hijinks.So we've brought on one of the builders who knows this world best to help disentangle the messiness. That's Bryan Pellegrino, cofounder and CEO of LayerZero Labs, maker of a popular blockchain interoperability protocol. In this episode, Bryan delivers a crash course on the evolution of bridges, including the ups and downs of various approaches. You'll also learn about the technology's inner workings, its applications, and how it fits in with ongoing efforts to scale blockchains.Joining is a16z crypto general partner Ali Yahya, who is also an expert in this area; plus me, your cohost, Robert Hackett. The first voice you'll hear after mine is Bryan's, then Ali's. As always, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal or investment advice. See a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @HilmarVeigar @eddylazzarinOur featured guest today is Hilmar Pétursson, the CEO of CCP Games, maker of EVE Online, a massive multiplayer online role playing game. In this episode, Pétursson shares his unique world view and game-making philosophy, as well as a deep dive into the technology and economic design of his sci-fi simulation. He also touches on how niche cults can break into mainstream culture, how slow databases can make for fun gameplay, and what to expect from EVE Frontier, a new blockchain-based overhaul of the space survival game that is now inviting people to apply as playtesters.The other voice you'll hear is that of Eddy Lazzarin, a16z crypto's Chief Technology Officer and an avid gamer himself. This conversation originally took place earlier this year at a16z crypto's CSX startup accelerator program in London, videos of which are posted on the a16z crypto YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe for more thought-provoking conversations and other insightful content.Related links:"Crafting Virtual Worlds with Hilmar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games" (a16z crypto Youtube)Eve Online (eveonline.com)Eve Frontier (evefrontier.com / projectawakening.io)Playtest signupAs a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with Dan Boneh @tim_roughgarden @smc90In this special 50th episode of the web3 with a16z podcast, we discuss how work in the blockchains/ crypto space has led to advances in several important technologies — which can be (and are being) used by many other industries beyond crypto.Tim Roughgarden (a16z crypto Head of Research and professor at Columbia University) and Dan Boneh (a16z crypto Senior Research Advisor and professor at Stanford University) discuss these advances in conversation with Sonal Chokshi. Topics covered include automated market makers; credible auctions, collusion, and mechanism design not possible before; as well as zero knowledge; trusted execution environments (TEEs) and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE); and much more. We also discuss the recurring theme of how web3 provides a laboratory not only for experiments in governance, but for macroeconomics and more. The two also offer many useful explanations for anyone new to these technologies or seeking to understand why they matter in the big picture. It's an innovation story we've seen over and over again, from the space program to other massive invention efforts: Technologies developed for one purpose often lead to benefits for humanity overall.Pieces mentioned in this episode and other resources:On some results  and challenges in cryptoeconomics  -- Tim Roughgarden, CESC 20228 reasons why blockchain mechanism design is hard -- Tim Roughgarden, a16zcrypto.com, 2024The computer in the sky (short version) -- Tim Roughgarden,  2024Zero knowledge canon -- with Justin Thaler's annotated bibliography, a16zcrypto,com 2022Using zero-knowledge proofs to fight disinformation -- Trisha Datta and Dan Boneh, IACR 2023VerITAS: Verifying Image Transformations at Scale -- Trisha Datta, Binyi Chen, Dan Boneh, 2024Achieving crypto privacy and regulatory compliance [+pdf of full paper]-- Joseph Burleson, Michele Korver, Dan Boneh, 2022Credible auctions: A trilemma -- Mohammad Akbarpour, Shengwu Li, Econometrica, 2020Auction design for web3 [episode 3 of this podcast] -- Scott Duke Kominers, Tim Roughgarden, Sonal Chokshi, 2022Building Cicada: Private on-chain voting using time-lock puzzles -- Michael Zhu, 2023Transaction fee mechanism design for the Ethereum blockchain: An economic analysis of EIP-1559 -- Tim Roughgarden, 2020Collusion-resilience in transaction fee mechanism design -- Hao Chung, Tim Roughgarden, Elaine Shi, 2024Transaction fee mechanism design in a Post-MEV world -- Maryam Bahrani, Pranav Garimidi,Tim Roughgarden, 2024Notes on Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) -- Barnabé Monnot, 2022Complexity-approximation trade-offs in exchange mechanisms: AMMs vs. LOBs -- Jason Milionis, Ciamac Moallemi, Tim Roughgarden, 2023Trusted execution environments (TEEs) for blockchain applications -- Ari Juels, a16zcrypto.com, 2023 As a reminder, none of the following is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information including a link to a list of our investments.  

with @ahall_research @eddylazzarin @0xShuel  @smc90In this episode, we cover both recent events + evergreen governance questions in political systems: Specifically, we breakdown the recent Compound “governance attack”... as well as the broader topic of DAO governance and voting in general. We also discuss how to avoid, prevent, and respond to such governance attacks -- highlighting key differences between on-chain/ token-based/ digital voting systems vs. physical-world political systems around the world. What happens when you have activity from actors that the majority doesn't necessarily agree with? How do you distinguish between good-faith and bad-faith activity, especially on-chain? And other such tricky questions?? Our experts answering these questions (in conversation with Sonal Chokshi) include: - a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazzarin;- head of network operations Ross Shuel;- and a16z crypto research collaborator, and Stanford professor of political science, Andrew Hall.The episode begins by quickly recapping the exact sequence of a recent Compound governance “attack” event a few weeks ago -- including discussing whether “governance attack” is the right label for it or not; how it's different from other attacks; and the broader trend of online vs offline governance attacks in general -- before then going into specific solutions. The team also shares some behind-scenes tick tock on what happened, how people figure out motives behind actions on-chain (especially given the "indistinguishability problem"), and much more. Pieces mentioned in this episode and other resources:DAO governance attacks, and how to avoid them by Pranav Garimidi, Scott Duke Kominers, Tim RoughgardenThe DUNA: An Oasis For DAOs by Miles Jennings and David KerrGovernance FAQs by Andrew HallA new financial model for app tokens: How to generate cash flows by Mason Hall, Porter Smith, Miles Jennings, and Ross Shuelall things DAOs on a16zcrypto.comall things decentralization on a16zcrypto.comVoting, Security, and Governance in Blockchains (a16z Podcast, 2019) with Phil Daian and Ali Yahya (see also "On-Chain Vote Buying and the Rise of Dark DAOs" by Phil Daian, Tyler Kell, Ian Miers, and Ari Juels)PoS Blockchains - Designs, Consensus, Attacks (web3 with a16z Podcast, 2022) with Valeria Nikolaenko, Tim Roughgarden, Sonal ChokshiLightspeed Democracy: What web3 organizations can learn from the history of governance by Andrew Hall and Porter SmithGoverning democracy, the internet, and boardrooms (web3 with a16z Podcast, 2024) with Noah Feldman, Andrew Hall, Robert HackettAs a reminder: None of this should be taken as business, investment, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments. 

with @eddylazzarin @milesjennings @rhhackettToday's episode covers all things tokens — that includes what tokens have to do with decentralized protocols, understanding the different types of tokens, and, of course, the Do's and Don'ts of designing and launching a token.Our guests are a16z crypto chief technology officer Eddy Lazzarin, as well as a16z crypto general counsel and head of decentralization Miles Jennings, the two of whom have advised many scores of projects on protocol design and tokencraft. They discuss what sets web3 apart from earlier technology eras; avoiding common pitfalls in the search for product market fit; how to reason about various designs and strategies, as well as their risk and reward tradeoffs; and more. Related resources:The token launch playbook (part 1)"Operational guidelines for token launches, from creation to custody" by Adina Fischer, Matt Gleason, and Justin Simcock"5 rules for token launches" by Miles Jennings"Getting ready to launch a token: What you need to know" by Miles Jennings and Jason Rosenthal"How to navigate token launch risks" by Miles Jennings"Launching compliant tokens" by Miles JenningsThe token launch playbook (part 2)"Tokencraft" with Eddy Lazzarin [Youtube, August 2024]"Planning for token launches" with Miles Jennings [Youtube, August 2024]As a reminder: None of the content should be taken as investment, legal, business, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments. 

with @matthewclifford @smc90This special episode is all about regional innovation — at both a systems and people level.We cover what does and doesn't work in making certain places become hubs of innovation and economic growth (aka “innovation ecosystems”). But we also discuss — going back and forth between the structural and individual — when to intervene for entrepreneurial talent; the nature of ambition, yearning, and finding one's path; and more broadly, mindsets for navigating risk/reward and dynamism in different regions including London and Europe. We also discuss new ways of funding breakthrough R&D at a national level, tech trends of interest including crypto, and much more.Our special guest — in conversation with editor in chief Sonal Chokshi, who also brought him to the a16z Podcast over 8 years ago in its first-ever UK roadshow in December 2015 — is Matt Clifford, who's played an important role in the London entrepreneurial and tech ecosystem since 2011. Matt is the Chair of Entrepreneur First (which he co-founded with Alice Bentinck over a decade ago); and is also the Chair of the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA). [Before this episode was recorded, Matt was also the Prime Minister's representative for the AI Safety Summit — which he helped organize at Bletchley Park (the historic home of computing in the UK); after this episode was recorded, Matt was appointed by the UK secretary of science to deliver an “AI Opportunities Action Plan” to the UK government, which was just announced last week.]Fittingly, this episode was recorded live from Andreessen Horowitz's first international office, in London; for more on our efforts there, and other content from there, please visit a16zcrypto.com/uk.As a reminder: None of the following should be taken as investment, legal, business, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments. 

with @rhhackett @smc90 @stephbzinn @tim_orgIn this fun hallway-style conversation, a16z crypto's Sonal Chokshi, Robert Hackett, Tim Sullivan, and Stephanie Zinn discusses picks from our latest annual summer reading list, as well as evergreen/ Lindy picks that show up on our what-we're-reading lists again and again. We also share our top picks of all time. Throughout, we also discuss HOW we read — whether audiobooks count as reading or listening, graphic novels, read-alouds; on multiple modes of reading; and technologies for reading and how they have changed us over time. Which books are better as movies and TV shows, and games too? Also, are collaboratively-filtered recommendations via family or friends really that great? What other heuristics — and anti-heuristics! — do we use to read? Finally, WHY do we read?? Is mythology and fantasy filling a hole left by religion? Wherefore nonfiction vs. fiction... or seemingly new genres such as "infotainment," "romantasy," and others?  From Shakespeare to Prince Harry to erstwhile seafarers to modern mermaids, this episode is a rollicking ride — and love letter — to all things books, and reading, from the a16z crypto editorial team and Andreessen Horowitz.  Curiosity is magic, after all!

with @jasonrosenthal @benrbnWelcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next generation of the internet.Our featured guest today is serial entrepreneur Ben Rubin, who previously built the viral livestreaming app Meerkat, and then the group video chat app Houseparty — acquired by Epic Games in 2019 — and who is now CEO and cofounder of Here Not There Labs, which is building a decentralized messaging protocol.Rubin spoke with Jason Rosenthal, head of a16z crypto's CSX startup accelerator program, about paths to product market fit, given his journey in building breakout apps; they also discuss his unique perspective on creating company culture and more.This conversation first took place at our recent CSX program, which just concluded in London. (Watch the video interview on Youtube here.)As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @NoahRFeldman, @ahall_research, @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z. I'm Robert Hackett and today we have a special episode about governance in many forms — from nation states to corporate boards to internet services and beyond.Our special guests are Noah Feldman, constitutional law scholar at Harvard who also architected the Meta oversight board (among many other things); he is also the author of several books. And our other special guest is Andy Hall, professor of political science at Stanford who is an advisor of a16z crypto research — and who also co-authored several papers and posts about web3 as a laboratory for designing and testing new political systems, including new work we'll link to in the shownotes.Our hallway style conversation covers technologies and approaches to governance, from constitutions to crypto/ blockchains and DAOs. As such we also discuss content moderation and community standards; best practices for citizens assemblies; courts vs. legislatures; and much more where governance comes up. Throughout, we reference the history and evolution of democracy — from Ancient Greece to the present day — as well as examples of governance from big companies like Meta, to startups like Anthropic.Resources for references in this episode:On the U.S. Supreme Court case NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton (Scotusblog)On Meta's oversight board (Oversightboard.com)On Anthropic's long term benefit trust (Anthropic, September 2023)On "Boaty McBoatface" winning a boat-naming poll (Guardian, April 2016)On Athenian democracy (World History Encyclopedia, April 2018)The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President by Noah Feldman (Random House, October 2017)A selection of recent posts and papers by Andrew Hall:The web3 governance lab: Using DAOs to study political institutions and behavior at scale by Andrew Hall and Eliza Oak (a16z crypto, June 2024)DAO research: A roadmap for experimenting with governance by Andrew Hall and Eliza Oak (a16z crypto, June 2024)The effects of retroactive rewards on participating in online governance by Andrew Hall and Eliza Oak (a16z crypto, June 2024)Lightspeed Democracy: What web3 organizations can learn from the history of governance by Andrew Hall and Porter Smith (a16z crypto, June 2023)What Kinds of Incentives Encourage Participation in Democracy? Evidence from a Massive Online Governance Experiment by Andrew Hall and Eliza Oak (working paper, November 2023)Bringing decentralized governance to tech platforms with Andrew Hall (a16z crypto Youtube, July 2022)The evolution of decentralized governance with Andrew Hall (a16z crypto Youtube, July 2022)Toppling the Internet's Accidental Monarchs: How to Design web3 Platform Governance by Porter Smith and Andrew Hall (a16z crypto, October 2022)Paying People to Participate in Governance by Ethan Bueno de Mesquita and Andrew Hall (a16z crypto, November 2022)As a reminder: none of the following should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. See a16zcrypto.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @jasonrosenthal @skominers @meigga @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z, I'm Robert Hackett and today, we discuss pricing strategy for startups — from traditional businesses to web2 to web3.Topics we cover include:unit economicsunderstanding consumer psychologyusing onchain data to inform pricing decisionsCommon mistakes and how to avoid themHow to navigate a pricing pivotAnd lessons from real world pricing case studies, including Tesla, Nvidia, and othersOur experts include a16z crypto's Maggie Hsu, head of our go-to-market team; research partner and Harvard Business School professor of economics Scott Kominers; and head of our CSX startup accelerator Jason Rosenthal, who is a tech veteran having spent the last 25 years at various internet companies — the three combine all their different expertise around the theme of this episode.Resources for references in this episode:When is decentralizing on a blockchain valuable? by Marco Reuter (a16z crypto, January 2023)The Value of Decentralization Using the Blockchain: An Economic Analysis by Marco Reuter (a16z crypto, January 2023)"The single most important decision in evaluating a business is pricing power..." — Warren Buffett (Bloomberg, February 2011)Network Effects, Moats, & the Business of Web3 (Episode 25) (web3 with a16z podcast, May 2023)6 questions every founder should ask about pricing by Jason Rosenthal and Maggie Hsu (a16z crypto, May 2023)Zipcar: Refining the business model by Myra M. Hart, Michael J. Roberts and Julia Stevens (Harvard Business School Case Collection, May 2005)Ning CEO: Building a Better Website by Adam Lashinsky (Fortune, September 2010)On the best business advice Disney CEO Bob Iger ever received by Jeff Haden (Inc., December 2020)Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely (HarperCollins, February 2008)On the Bored Ape Kennel Club donating secondary sale proceeds to charity (Twitter, June 2021)Chief's Silicon Valley Stardom Quickly Clashed at J.C. Penney by Stephanie Clifford (New York Times, April 2013)Tesla turns up heat on rivals with global price cuts by (Reuters, January 2023)As a reminder none of the following should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. See a16zcrypto.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @jinglejamOP @eddylazzarin @rhhackettHello and welcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next era of the internet by the team at a16z crypto, that includes me, host Robert Hackett.Today's episode features Jing Wang, CEO and executive director of the Optimism Foundation, along with a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazzarin. We discuss the peculiarities of open source software — including the incentives that bind contributors together, tradeoffs between the freedom to customize versus sticking to standards, and the challenges in setting up and running a foundationWe also cover the nuances of governance and accountability, the importance of vibes, the indispensability of shipping products (versus debating roadmaps), and, the vision behind the so-called “superchain”.As head of the Optimism Foundation, Wang helps stewards the Optimism collective — a band of decentralized companies, communities, contributors, and others who are using a suite of open source software – called the OP Stack — to scale the Ethereum blockchain network. The OP Stack also powers a number of popular "layer two" rollups — including Base, which we covered in last week's episode with its creator and lead, Coinbase's head of protocols Jesse Pollak.Be sure also to check out the a16z crypto YouTube channel for video podcast episodes, as well as talks from our recent startup accelerator programs CSX featuring Jing, Optimism co-founder Karl Floersch, and more.Resources for references in this episode:More on Optimism: open source code software licensesthe OP StackMore on the Optimism superchain collective, including:Coinbase's BaseRedstoneWorldcoin"Understanding Dencun, the biggest upgrade to Ethereum since The Merge" by Noah Citron and Valeria Nikolaenko (a16z crypto, March 2024)More on Ethereum upgrade EIP-4844 (Github)"Layer 2, rollups, and building onchain (with Base)" by Jesse Pollak, Eddy Lazzarin, and Robert Hackett (a16z crypto, May 2024)"Composability is to software as compound interest is to finance" by Chris Dixon (a16z crypto, October 2021)"The Nature of the Firm" by Ronald Coase (Economica, November 1937)"Weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation" [Intro 6.2 footnote] (Congress.gov)As a reminder none of the following should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. See a16zcrypto.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @jessepollak @NoahCitron @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next era of the internet by the team at a16z crypto, that includes me, host Robert Hackett. Today's episode covers the bustling area of “layer 2” rollups, a technology for scaling “layer 1” blockchains such as Ethereum. Joining us is Jesse Pollak, who previously led engineering for Coinbase's retail side and who now is the company's head of protocols where he founded and leads the popular layer 2 rollup Base.We're also joined by Noah Citron, an engineer at a16z crypto who works on many open source projects and protocols, and who closely tracks developments in this area.Our conversation digs into the shifting history and future of Ethereum, the arrival of upgrades like EIP-4844, experiments in futarchy, and the difference between leading — and innovating — inside companies versus within decentralized communities. We also discuss the challenges of winning developer mindshare, how to refine business metrics and measures, understanding the tangled interactions between rollups and bridges, and whether you should ever hyphenate the word “onchain.”Resources for references in this episode:jessepollak.com — Jesse Pollak's personal website"A rollup-centric Ethereum roadmap" by Vitalik Buterin (Fellowship of Ethereum Magicians, October 2020)"The Coinbase Secret Master Plan" by Brian Armstrong (Coinbase, September 2016)"Proposed milestones for rollups taking off training wheels" by VItalik Buterin (Fellowship of Ethereum Magicians, November 2022)L2Beat — dashboard of the state of the layer 2sDefiLlama — dashboard of the state of DeFiRelevant Dune dashboards relating to layer 2sEthereum blobsEthereum blob fee marketDEX cross-chain metricsFarcasters users transactions by chain"How rollups *actually* work" by Kelvin Fichter (ETHGlobal Scaling Ethereum Summit, March 2023)"Rollups are L1s (& L2s) a.k.a. how rollups *actually actually actually* work" by Jon Charbonneau (Mirror.xyz, May 2023)"Rollups, Rigor, and Reality" by Kevlin Fichter (kelvinfichter.com)"Futarchy: Vote Values, But Bet Beliefs" by Robin Hanson (George Mason University, August 2000)"Ethereum Rollup Improvement Proposals (RIP)" (Github)Ethereum EIP-4844 (Github, March 2023)As a reminder none of the following should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. See a16zcrypto.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @SuccinctJT @samrags_ @moodlezoup @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next era of the internet by the team at a16z crypto. That includes me, host Robert Hackett.  Today's all new episode covers a very important and now fast developing area of technology that can help scale blockchains, but that also has many uses beyond blockchains as well.That category of technology is verifiable computing, and specifically, SNARKs.  So today we dig into zkVMs, or "zero knowledge virtual machines," which use SNARKs, and we discuss a new design for them that the guests on this episode helped develop — work that resulted in Jolt, the most performant, easy-for-developers-to-use zkVM to date.The conversation that follows covers the history and evolution of the field, the surprising similarities between SNARK design and computer chip architecture,  the tensions between general purpose versus application specific programming, and the challenges of turning abstract research theory into concrete engineering practice.Our guests include Justin Thaler, research partner at a16z crypto and associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University, who came up with the insights underpinning Jolt, along with collaborators from Microsoft Research, Carnegie Mellon, and New York Universities.  His is the first voice you'll hear after mine,  followed by Sam Ragsdale, investment engineer at a16z crypto, and Michael Zhu, research engineer at a16Z crypto, both of whom brought Jolt from concept  to code.Resources for references in this episode:"Jolt: SNARKs for Virtual Machines via Lookups" by Arasu Arun, Srinath Setty & Justin Thaler  (Cryptology ePrint Archive, 2023)the Jolt Github pageMichael Zhu and Sam Ragsdale's post on the open source implementationJustin Thaler's post on the ideas behind Joltan FAQ untangling this new SNARK design paradigmour Lasso + Jolt archives▶️

with @creeefs @blauyourmind @rhhackettWelcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next generation of the internet from the team at a16z crypto — that includes me, Robert Hackett, your cohost and an editor here. Today's episode explores the merging of the physical and digital worlds, as well as what that means for the future of our interactions and identities.Our guests today are Chris Lee, cofounder of IYK, a startup that's bringing the physical closer together to the digital through NFC chips, and joining us is Michael Blau, a deal partner at a16z crypto who creates generative art in his spare time.In the conversation ahead, we cover new consumer experiences in everything from concert-going to commerce, the intersection of high tech and high fashion, and differences between building in web2 versus web3. We also dig into the power of open standards, the challenges of posed by bots and counterfeiting, and debates over terminology, including whether 'phygital' should be a thing.Resources for references in this episode:"After Taylor Swift Ticket Chaos, Senators Question FTC Over Bot Law Enforcement" (Rolling Stone, November 2022)"Pearl Jam: Taking on Ticketmaster" (Rolling Stone, December 1995)IYK FAQ (Notion)"Tap to pay your fare with OMNY" (MTA)"Introducing Stories Highlights and Stories Archive" (Instagram, December 2017)Taylor Swift | The Eras TourQueen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Live Aid 1985) (Youtube)"Queen win greatest live gig poll" (BBC News, November 2005)"The tech behind Taylor Swift concert wristbands" (Wired, June 2023)"Finally, The P.J. Tucker x D&G Collab is Here" (GQ, July 2021)On different models for linking NFTs to physical items (Mirror.xyz, February 2023)"Lessons from 2023's fashion and beauty NFTs" (Vogue Business, December 2023)"Singer Vérité's fan-first approach to Web3, music NFTs and community building" (Cointelegraph, October 2023)"How to Spot a Real Moncler Jacket" (TheRealReal, November 2019)"Why Knockoffs Can Help Build a Strong Brand" (Freakonomics, September 2012)On the verification process at StockX (StockX)"I Returned to Webkinz So You Wouldn't Have To" (Yale News, January 2019)"A Wine-Soaked True Crime Doc with ‘Fraud, Deception and Intrigue'" (Wine Enthusiast, May 2023)Sour Grapes (2016) documentary (Amazon Prime)"I Love the Blockchain, Just Not Bitcoin" (Coindesk, November 2014)"Timeline: Causes of the global semiconductor chip shortage" (Supply Chain Digital, January 2023)"ERC-721 Non-fungible Token Standard" (Ethereum Foundation, November 2023)Read Write Own by Chris Dixon book, bookmark, and NFT (Random House, January 2024)On Duolingo outfits (Duolingo Wiki)Ready Player One (Netflix, 2018)On "phygital" (Collectid, March 2023)As a reminder none of the following should be taken as business, legal, tax, or investment advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information including a link to a list of our investments.

with @dennnnnnnnny @smc90We know that technology has changed art, and that artists have evolved with every new technology — it's a tale as old as humanity, moving from cave paintings to computers. Underlying these movements are endless debates around inventing versus remixing; between commercialism and art; between mainstream canon and fringe art; whether we're living in an artistic monoculture now (the answer may surprise you); and much much more. So in this new episode featuring Berlin-based contemporary artist Simon Denny -- in conversation with a16z crypto editor in chief Sonal Chokshi -- we discuss all of the above debates. We also cover how artists experimented with the emergence of new technology platforms like the web browser, the iPhone, Instagram and social media; to how generative art found its “native” medium on blockchains, why NFTs; and other art movements. Denny also thinks of entrepreneurial ideas -- from Peter Thiel's to Chris Dixon's Read Write Own -- as an "aesthetic"; and thinks of technology artifacts (like NSA sketches!) as art -- reflecting all of these in his works across various mediums and contexts. How has technology changed art, and more importantly, how have artists changed with technology? How does art change our place in the world, or span beyond space? It's about optimism, and seeing things anew... all this and more in this episode.As a reminder: none of this is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments. SHOW NOTES: 

with @brian_armstrong @cdixonWelcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next generation of the internet from the team at a16z crypto. This episode features Brian Armstrong, CEO and cofounder of Coinbase, in conversation with a16z crypto founder and managing partner Chris Dixon.The conversation was originally recorded at our Founders Summit in November. It covers the aftermath of FTX and the rise of crypto in politics — but it also goes into company building at scale, lessons for directing product development, how to balance core business with disruptive innovation, and more.As a reminder none of the following should be taken as business, legal, tax, or investment advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information including a link to a list of our investments.

with @tobi  @bhorowitzWelcome to the web3 with a16z podcast. Today's episode features a conversation between Tobias Lütke, CEO and cofounder of the ecommerce platform Shopify, and Ben Horowitz, cofounder of a16z, which took place at our second annual Founders Summit in November. They discuss what it takes to build a breakout startup in a crowded category; the changing face of retail; how to effect change in the workplace; and how to handle individual emotions and corporate culture — including dealing with calls for activism as well as the value of embracing negativity. They also touch on the moral imperative behind creating quality software, the symbiosis between AI and crypto, and more.As a reminder, none of the following should be taken as business, legal, tax, or investment advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @cdixon @pmarca @bhorowitz @rhhackettWelcome to the web3 with a16z podcast. Today's episode is the final installment in our limited series on Read Write Own, the new book by a16z crypto founding partner Chris Dixon. Today's episode features Dixon in conversation with a16z cofounders Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen. Their discussion covers the internet's corporate takeover and how that affects startups, creativity, and innovation; blockchains as inheritors of the open source ethos; where AI comes in; and the next battleground in global politics. This episode is a crossover from the Ben & Marc Show, which you can find and follow on the a16z YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcasts.Resources for references in this episode:"How an economic moat provides a competitive advantage" by Chris Gallant (Investopedia, August 2023)"The dynamics of network effects" by D'Arcy Coolican and Li Jin (a16z, December 2018)"Skeuomorphism" (Interaction Design Foundation)"How to rebuild social media on top of RSS" (Hacker News, December 2022)"Cardinal conversations: Reid Hoffman and Peter Thiel on 'technology and politics'" (Hoover Institute, January 2018) [see @ 29:00]"Peter Thiel: AI is communist" by Dan Primack (Axios, February 2018)"Sam Altman seeks trillions of dollars to reshape business of chips and AI" by Keach Hagey and Asa Fitch (Wall Street Journal, February 2024)"Join a union—but also join a DAO" by Daisy Alioto (The Nation, December 2021)Fully Automated Luxury Communism: A Manifesto by Aaron Bastani (Verso, June 2019)"Friedrich Hayek and the price system" by Randal K. Quarles ("The Road to Serfdom at 75" conference, November 2019)Pandora's Box: A Fable from the Age of Science "Part 1. The Engineers' Plot" by Adam Curtis (BBC, June 1992) [see @ 25:00]"Going from web2 to web3: 'Your take rate is my opportunity'" by Chris Dixon (a16z crypto, August 2021)"Blockchain & internet glossary (A–Z): Key terms from Read Write Own" by Chris Dixon and Robert Hackett (a16z crypto, February 2024)"Why decentralization matters" by Chris Dixon (a16z crypto, February 2018)"The Vision Pro needs apps. Now is not a good time for Apple to be at odds with developers" by Hasan Chowdhury (Business Insider, January 2024)"Upgrading Ethereum | 4.2.5 Deneb" by Ben Edgington (Eth2book, September 2023)"What to expect from Ethereum's Cancun-Deneb Upgrade" by Wilfred Daye (Coindesk, February 2024)"Bitcoin Obituaries" (99 Bitcoins)"An Overview of H.R. 4766, Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act" by Paul Tierno and Andrew P. Scott (Congressional Research Service, September 2023)"The Rings of Power" (The Lord of the Rings Wiki)"There's no downplaying the impact of Operation Choke Point" by Dennis Shaul (American Banker, November 2018)"Operation Choke Point 2.0: The Federal Bank Regulators Come for Crypto" by David H. Thompson, et al. (Cooper & Kirk Lawyers, March 2023)"Google Chatbot's A.I. Images Put People of Color in Nazi-Era Uniforms" by Nico Grant (New York Times, February 2024)"This is Worldcoin: Humanness in the age of AI" (Worldcoin, February 2024)The Blocksize War: The Battle for Control Over Bitcoin's Protocol Rules by Jonathan Bier (Amazon, March 2021)"Balaji Srinivasan: The Bitcoin Network State" (Bitcoin Magazine, October 2023)

with @stevenbjohnson @cdixon @rhhackettWelcome to the web3 with a16z crypto podcast. Today's episode features a conversation between Steven Johnson, a prolific author of books about technology and innovation who is also, as editorial director at Google Labs, helping to develop AI writing tools such as NotebookLM, and Chris Dixon, founding partner of a16z crypto and author of the new book Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet. The two discuss the history of their shared interests, they explore the emergent properties of decentralized networks, and they dig into the past, present, and future of the internet.Resources for references in this episode:Author page for Steven JohnsonGoogle Labs's personalized AI writing tool NotebookLM"Beyond the Bitcoin Bubble" by Steven Johnson (New York Times Magazine, January 2018)How We Got To Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson (Riverhead Books: 2015)Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, And History's First Global Manhunt by Steven Johnson (Riverhead Books: 2021)Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software by Steven Johnson (Sribner: 2002)Chris Dixon's blog at cdixon.orgThe Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs (Random House: 1961)The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro (Vintage: 1975)The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual (Basic Books: 2000)"A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" by John Perry Barlow"1000 True Fans" by Kevin KellyIndex, a History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan (W.W. Norton: 2022)ReadWriteWeb blog (ca. 2003)"Airbnb Proposes Giving Hosts a Stake in the Company" by Aisha Al-Muslim and Maureen Farrell (Wall Street Journal, September 2018)"Lyft Unlikely to Get SEC Pushback on Plan for Two Share Classes" by Nabila Ahmed and Ben Bain (Bloomberg, March 2019)"OpenAI Says New York Times Lawsuit Against It Is Without Merit" by Cade Metz (New York Times, January 2024)

with @cdixon @rhhackettWelcome to the web3 with a16z crypto podcast. I'm Robert Hackett, an editor here at a16z crypto, and I'm here with Chris Dixon, founding partner of a16z crypto and author of the new book Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet.  I had the privilege of editing Chris throughout the book writing process, and I'm thrilled now to talk to you about what went on behind the scenes, the big themes of the book, the challenges, and also about the crypto industry at large as well as what we can expect from it in the future.Learn more at https://readwriteown.com/.Resources for references in this episode:Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas TalebThe Tipping Point by Malcolm GladwellSpider-Man: Across the Spider-verse"'It's a canon event' TikTok trend, explained"Chris Dixon's blog at cdixon.org"Come for the tool, stay for the network""The next big thing starts out looking like a toy""Can't be evil"The Cold Start Problem by Andrew ChenOn Andrew Chen's writing habitsOn investing in Coinbase in 2013Guidance from the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission in 2019: "Framework for 'Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets"On blockchains as "a programmable computer that lives in the sky" via a16z crypto head of research Tim RoughgardenGödel Escher Bach by Douglas Hofstader"How Aristotle Created the Computer" by Chris Dixon for The Atlantic"A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits" by Claude ShannonPrincipia Mathematica by Bertrand Russell and Alfred North WhiteheadAn Investigation of the Laws of Thought by George BooleThe End of Education by Neil Postman"Inside out vs. outside in: The adoption of new technologies" by Chris Dixon"The Inevitable Showdown Between Twitter and Twitter Apps" by Chris Dixon"Elon Musk says X is discouraging links in posts" by Sara Fischer"Make Ethereum Cypherpunk Again" by Vitalik Buterin"What Will Happen in 2024" by Fred Wilson"A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity" by McCullough and PittsCrossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. MooreOn "thesis, antithesis, and synthesis" and Hegel's DialecticsAs a reminder, none of the following should be taken as business, legal, tax, or investment advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Welcome back to web3 with a16z -- a show about building the next generation of the internet, from the team at a16z crypto. This show is for anyone -- whether company leader or other entrepreneur, creator or developer, media or policymaker -- seeking to understand, and go deeper on all things blockchains, crypto, and web3. We're back with all new episodes this season, beginning with some conversations that took place at our recent Founders Summit. Today's guest is Jonathan Dotan, tech founder, Emmy-nominated producer, and writer who spent six seasons on HBO's show Silicon Valley. He is also the founding director of The Starling Lab for Data Integrity at Stanford & USC -- which prototypes tools and principles to bring historians, legal experts, and journalists into the new era of web3 -- and where he leads applied research on the decentralized web and human rights.  This episode is based on a conversation that took place at our recent second annual Founders Summit -- with a16z crypto's Robert Hackett (also former senior writer at Fortune) -- in which they discuss how cryptographic technologies can help establish "ground truth" in conflict zones; the history of open source regulation; and more. Dotan is also a fellow at Stanford's Center for Blockchain Research and a lecturer at Stanford's Department of Electrical Engineering and Graduate School of Business. This talk was preceded by a short presentation from Dotan on the "enduring promise of web3" delivered at our second annual a16z crypto Founder Summit in November 2023, which you can watch on YouTube.  As a reminder, none of the following should be taken as business, legal, tax, or investment advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @smc90 @stanfordgsb How does one *communicate* well -- especially in crypto, but also in other technical industries or open source communities? Or in distributed, decentralized organizations, where you may have participants that are both remote and in person, or a mix of regulars and newcomers/ strangers.  (Take for instance a community call to discuss technical or governance changes.) How do you present information to different types of stakeholders; speak spontaneously; or resolve and recover from conflicts on the spot? So in this special book-launch episode of web3 with a16z, we invited  Matt Abrahams -- author of the new, just-released book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot (he also hosts a popular podcast by a similar name, “Think Fast Talk Smart”, which you should also subscribe to!). Matt is not only a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, but he works with lots of companies and leaders on strategic communication, persuasive communication, interpersonal communication, and much more.In this episode, Matt covers --  in conversation with host Sonal Chokshi -- specific templates, tactics, and tools that anyone can use; but we begin the first 15 minutes setting some foundational context, including the difference between informal vs. formal communication; why structure matters and how it relates to "spontaneity";  the art of listening with pace, space, and grace (for listening to oneself, too). We then cover several types of structures that anyone -- whether leader or individual contributor, engineer, marketing, sales -- can use in many types of communication. Ultimately, crypto isn't just about technology and code -- but about open source, decentralization, collaboration -- people coordinating with each other at unprecedented scale: a very human thing. That's why finding the "common" in communication is essential, and represents the future of work, now. resources referenced in this episode:How to Moderate Talks, Panels, Meetings, and More (Virtual and Beyond!), a16z Podcast, November 2020 -- with Matt Abrahams and Sonal ChokshiEthereum, Merge and Beyond, web3 with a16z podcast, September 2022 -- with Tim Beiko et alNone of the following should be taken as investment, legal, business, or tax advice. Please also see a16z.com/disclosures for important information -- including a link to a list of our investments -- since we are investors in some of the companies mentioned in this episode. 

with @guywuolletjr @eddylazzarin @smc90"Which blockchain should I build in?" Is a very top of mind question for builders in web3, including  for people coming into the space for the first time -- but also relevant to anyone interested in tech innovation, tech stacks, and the evolution of infrastructure. So how does one decide among all the chain choices out there, particularly given how fast-moving the crypto and web3 space is? Things are constantly changing, things are still being built, and there's no one size fits all answer...So in this episode, we -- a16z crypto's Guy Wuollet, and CTO Eddy Lazzarin, in conversation with host Sonal Chokshi -- tease apart all the tangled threads and nuances of the topic. In the first third of the discussion, we sketch out the overall landscape, why it matters, quick definitions. Then, we focus on common/ frequently asked questions, specific tradeoffs, and a framework for deciding which chain -- including discussing different technical specs, as well as other dimensions such as: community, marketing & ecosystem support, security, custody, programming languages, and much, much more. resources related to or mentioned in this episode:Programming Languages & Crypto (2023) with Sam Blackshear, Eddy Lazzarin, Noah Citron, Sonal ChokshiThe Four Horsemen of Centralization (2018) by Ali YahyaDecentralization for web3 Builders: Principles, Models, How (2022) by Miles JenningsNetwork Effects, Origin Stories, and the Evolution of Tech (2018), with Brian Arthur, Marc Andreessen, and Sonal Chokshi  [see also this paper referenced]None of the following should be taken as investment, legal, business, or tax advice. Please also see a16z.com/disclosures for important information -- including a link to a list of our investments -- since we are investors in some of the companies mentioned in this episode. 

with @aeyakovenko @alive_eth @guywuolletjr @smc90This all-new deep-dive, hallway-style chat features a16z crypto general partner Ali Yahya and deal team partner Guy Wuollet, in conversation with Solana co-founder and Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko --  who also worked at Qualcomm for over a decade, where he was a senior engineer and engineering manager among other things. The first half of the episode is a discussion/ debate blockchain architectures -- including of course Solana & Ethereum, the themes of monolithic vs. modular, et cetera -- but really is about what are the tradeoffs, and what should one optimize for (or not!), depending on what you're building, and to make crypto happen at scale (now and in the future). The second half of the episode covers company-, community-, and ecosystem-building -- including discussing the nuances of leadership in open source; and wherefore messiahs/ prophets?! -- as well as touching on engineering hiring, devrel (developer relations), governance; the Solana phone, and some of the Solana backstory as well. What are the differences between hardware and software innovation? And how does innovation play out, in theory versus practice? These are the throughlines of this episode... For more on some of the topics discussed, see also: a high-level overview of topics including VDFs, defined (with Joe Bonneau)resources on all things VDFs /verifiable delay functions on a16zcrypto.com, including:an introduction to verifiable delay functions (from a16z crypto research partner Joe Bonneau)our episode on AI & crypto (with Ali Yahya)our discussion on the evolution of programming languages & crypto (including Move's Sam Blackshear)As a reminder: none of this should be taken as investment, legal, business, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.

with @davidmarcus @smc90This wide-ranging conversation covers company building, big to small -- including what cadence and when is the right "time" to ship; the relationship between centralization, decentralization, platforms, and financial freedom; moving from web2 to web3 in both crypto AND payments... as well as why bitcoin, views on remote work, and much much more. Our guest is David Marcus, CEO and co-founder of Lightspark; Marcus was also a co-creator of Diem (aka Libra and Novi, the cryptocurrency project initiated by Facebook). Before that, he was vice president of messaging products there, where he ran the Facebook Messenger unit; and prior to joining Facebook, Marcus was the former president of PayPal (which had acquired his previous startup).  This episode begins with an interview just to help kick things off and then features a rich set of questions from the audience -- as this originally took place live on stage at our Crypto Startup School 2023. As a reminder: none of this should be taken as investment, legal, business, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.related readings:Regulate apps, not protocols series (2022-2023) - Miles Jennings et al, a16z crypto)What it will take to create the next great Silicon Valleys (2014) - Marc Andreessen (Politico, a16z)Why bitcoin matters (2014) - Marc Andreeessen (NYT, a16z) When one app rules them all: The case of WeChat and Mobile in China (2015) - Connie Chan (a16z)  

with @alive_eth @danboneh @smc90This week's all-new episode covers the convergence of two important, very top-of-mind trends: AI (artificial intelligence) & blockchains/ crypto. These domains together have major implications for how we all live our lives everyday; so this episode is for anyone just curious about, or already building in the space. The conversation covers topics ranging from deep fakes, bots, and the need for proof-of-humanity in a world of AI; to big data, large language models like ChatGPT, user control, governance, privacy and security, zero knowledge and zkML; to MEV, media, art, and much more. Our expert guests (in conversation with host Sonal Chokshi) include: Dan Boneh, Stanford Professor (and Senior Research Advisor at a16z crypto), a cryptographer who's been working on blockchains for over a decade and who specializes in cryptography, computer security, and machine learning -- all of which intersect in this episode;Ali Yahya, general partner at a16z crypto, who also previously worked at Google -- where he not only worked on a distributed system for a fleet of robots (a sort of "collective reinforcement learning") but also worked on Google Brain, where he was one of the core contributors to the machine learning library TensorFlow built at Google.The first half of the hallway-style conversation between Ali & Dan (who go back together as student and professor at Stanford) is all about how AI could benefit from crypto, and the second half on how crypto could benefit from AI... the thread throughout is the tension between centralization vs. decentralization.  So we also discuss where the intersection of crypto and AI can bring about things that aren't possible by either one of them alone...pieces referenced in this episode/ related reading:The Next Cyber Reasoning System for Cyber Security (2023) by Mohamed Ferrag, Ammar Battah, Norbert Tihanyi, Merouane Debbah, Thierry Lestable, Lucas CordeiroA New Era in Software Security: Towards Self-Healing Software via Large Language Models and Formal Verification (2023) by  Yiannis Charalambous, Norbert Tihanyi, Ridhi Jain, Youcheng Sun, Mohamed Ferrag, Lucas CordeiroFixing Hardware Security Bugs with Large Language Models (2023) by Baleegh Ahmad, Shailja Thakur, Benjamin Tan, Ramesh Karri, Hammond PearceDo Users Write More Insecure Code with AI Assistants? (2022) by Neil Perry, Megha Srivastava, Deepak Kumar, Dan BonehAsleep at the Keyboard? Assessing the Security of GitHub Copilot's Code Contributions (2021) by Hammond Pearce, Baleegh Ahmad, Benjamin Tan, Brendan Dolan-Gavitt, Ramesh KarriVoting, Security, and Governance in Blockchains (2019) with Ali Yahya and Phil Daian    As a reminder: none of the following should be taken as investment, legal, business, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including to a link to a list of our investments – especially since we are investors in companies mentioned in this episode.