SPEAKERS: Aarthi Ramamurthy, international, Clubhouse Donnie Dinch, founder and CEO, Bitski Gabby Dizon, cofounder, Yield Guild Games Jarrod Dicker, operating partner, TCG Jesse Walden, founder, Variant Fund Jon Lai, principal, a16z Packy McCormick, founder, Not Boring Sriram Krishnan, general partner, a16z Twobadour, founder, Metapurse Justin “3LAU” Blau, producer and musician originally aired on Clubhouse https://twitter.com/sriramk/status/1422987628958208007...
Aug 18, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 84
This conversation centers on the arguments and findings of the a16z piece The Cost of Cloud, a Trillion Dollar Paradox . The Core Findings of The Cost of Cloud piece [5:22] Cloud is a significant part of COGS for public SaaS companies [8:38] Should you allocate engineers to reduce cloud cost or just focus on growth? [12:06] How much of a problem is not knowing cloud spend? [15:56] The tradeoff between focusing cost and engineering resources [19:33] Should large public SaaS companies repatriate? ...
Jul 27, 2021•59 min•Ep. 83
This podcast is an excerpt. Follow the a16z Club to join conversations with tech founders, builders, and leaders live and in-full. Early days of a16z crypto [2:38] New crypto governance capabilities [16:34] How is the VC model different when investing in crypto? [22:24] Crypto regulation and the recent attempt at holiday rulemaking [29:49] Is anyone effectively regulating crypto? [34:15] How do you start working in crypto? [36:58] What problems should crypto founders work on? [43:51] Identity, c...
Jul 19, 2021•52 min•Ep. 82
What makes a category? [0:37] The leading indicator? Everyone thinks you're crazy. [5:36] Can you create a category whole cloth? [7:02] How to create a category [12:05] The best category creation CEOs are product marketers [15:55] Category creation tactics: certification programs [18:54] Category creation tactics: persona-based storytelling [22:17] Is there a repeatable way to make a category? [25:35] The role of the CTO and product teams in creating the message [29:22] How do you structure prod...
Jul 16, 2021•50 min•Ep. 81
SPEAKERS (in order they are heard in the episode): Shannon Kelly, a16z Connie Chan, a16z Brandon Chu, VP Product and GM of Platform, Shopify D'Arcy Coolican, a16z Nait Jones, a16z Jess Lee, Cofounder and CEO, Modern Citizen Imran Khan, Co-founder and CEO, Verishop This is an excerpt from the a16z Clubhouse show People Behind the Product. To catch full episodes of the show, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse....
Jul 14, 2021•19 min•Ep. 80
The origins of growth hacking [1:20] Brand building vs. growth hacking? [13:58] Where does growth fit into the organization? [31:06] The cold start problem: growth hacking from 0 to 1 [36:47] What can't be measured? [47:53] How do you test and validate new channels? [51:38] Do growth hacks always work, or at some point does it come down to product? [54:55] How do you allocate budget? [1:00:27] For the latest a16z conversations on Clubhouse, follow the a16z Club ....
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 79
Why Future with Marc Andreessen, Margit Wennmachers, and Sonal Chokshi [2:20] The New Creator Economy with Joost van Dreunen, Wes Kao, Cuy Sheffield, Chris Lyons, Lauren Murrow, and Zoran Basich [17:58] Bubbles, Speculation, and Innovation with Byrne Hobart, Jamie Catherwood, and Zoran Basich [35:38] Work Models & Measures for the Information Age with Rajiv Ayyangar, Nicole Forsgren, and Das Rush [51:20] The Power of Subtracting, Adding, and AI in Bio with Leidy Klotz, Vijay Pande, and Lauren Ri...
Jun 22, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 78
What was the biggest surprise from the past 15 months of remote work? [5:24] How do you handle conflict and build trust? [10:09] What's the role of offsites? [15:45] Should you adjust compensation for different geographies? [24:02] How do you measure productivity? [34:10] What is the impact of remote work on retention and turnover? [49:17] How do startups built on decentralized platforms (e.g., Ethereum) function? [53:36] Is this the beginning of the end for Silicon Valley? [56:07] For the lates...
Jun 18, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 77
This podcast is an excerpt. Follow the a16z Club to join conversations with tech founders, builders, and leaders live and in-full. In this episode: The abandoned M&A with Visa [3:47] Communicating to employees around the M&A [8:29] Plaid's near death experiences in the early days [12:41] The fintech trends that made Plaid possible [17:29] What is a bank now? [26:54] Fintech and new revenue models [29:20] Plaid's role in the creator economy [35:21] What is a neobank? [37:30]...
Jun 18, 2021•40 min•Ep. 76
In what ways is digital health for complex care under or overrated? [4:04] Are digital health solutions better suited to tackling clinical or non-clinical needs for complex care? [17:32] The challenge of the physician's inbox [27:55] Have we meaningfully moved the needle on complex digital care? If so, where? [32:08] Should we focus on applying basic tech to easy optimization and automation problems or advanced tech to more complex problems? [41:48] It's Time to Heal, Mondays at 5pm PT on Clubho...
Jun 17, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 75
Decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, are one of the hottest topics in crypto and tech right now. But what exactly are they? Why do they matter? And what new modes of governance, ownership, and creation do they make possible?
Jun 15, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 74
mRNA research before COVID and how "mRNA is code" [3:21] The early days of COVID: designing a vaccine in 48 hours [5:44] The software behind the vaccine: getting mRNA researchers out of Excel and into a drug design studio [9:11] The first draft of the vaccine was the final draft [11:10] How the government sped up vaccine development for COVID [12:18] What other new vaccines will come from mRNA? [15:34] How far are we from these mRNA vaccines? What do we need for them to be widely available? [25:...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 73
Fab 5 Freddy on New York in the 70s, Warhol, Blondie, Basquiat, and Yo! MTV Raps [1:40] Contrarian strategy and challenging assumptions [5:12] Boring AI and solving meaningful problems [8:42] Drop-in audio copycats [14:39] How is copying software different from remixing hip hop? [21:07] Do you want a CEO as an inventor or an operator? [24:12] Recruiting sales development reps [30:34] Being a boss and having a personal life [36:56] How do you tell the story of letting someone go? [42:47] Best pra...
May 28, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 72
The six functions in an enterprise marketing org [2:54] Why product marketing is the killer function [6:52] How do you hire a world class product marketer? [11:16] Is community or developer evangelists its own function or part of product marketing? [17:46] How does community tie into the marketing funnel? [22:56] Is community top of funnel, an accelerant for the whole funnel, or something else entirely? [29:39] If the product you're selling becomes someone's job, then your community marketing is...
May 24, 2021•59 min•Ep. 71
What did Substack think about the NYTimes article " Why We’re Freaking Out About Substack " [1:01] What is Substack? [4:40] The issues with social media content models and how Substack is different [5:54] What about the echo chamber? [8:54] Turning cultural principles (e.g., freedom of the press) into actual culture [12:00] Will Substack replace traditional media? [14:01] Would Donald Trump be welcome on Substack? [20:35] Why do they pay writers advances? And why is that controversial? [23:33] T...
May 21, 2021•59 min•Ep. 70
eBay to today, a brief history of collectibles and tech [1:03] Are collectibles about sentiment or investment? [5:13] How do you bring the excitement of a collection to digital goods? [13:34] Is the future of all collectibles digital? [20:20] The role of blockchain and NFTs [26:39] Are collectible marketplaces different from other marketplaces? [32:19] Importance of live video [38:28] Celebrity interest in NFTs: will it last? [40:46] Are collectibles a bubble? [43:13] Listen live to the a16z sho...
May 20, 2021•54 min•Ep. 69
For videos of the NFT Virtual Summit, visit a16z.com . Session 1: The Future of the Digital Ownership Economy with Dan Boneh (Stanford University) and Chris Dixon (a16z) What is an NFT? [3:01] Why are NFTs so big right now? [7:04] The most exciting programmable ownership structures [11:36] NFTs and composability: what can you do with NFTs? [15:16] How would quantum impact the immutability of the blockchain ledger? [18:40] How important is decentralized permanent storage for NFTs... and when will...
May 19, 2021•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 68
What inspired Eric and Sam to start Dyno [4:09] How does the use of ML impact Dyno's GTM [10:40] The current challenges of gene therapy [21:43] Why Dyno wants to be a horizontal platform for gene therapy [30:56] How does Dyno think about competition [44:23] After party and audience Q&A [52:01] It's Time to Heal, Mondays at 5pm PT on Clubhouse. Join the a16z bio team — Jorge Conde, Vineeta Argawala, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande — plus special guests every week as they explore all the ways that biol...
May 18, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 67
Note: the recording of this episode starts a minute or two into the show. Ali recommends: The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz [0:18] Ben recommends: High Output Management by Andy Grove [4:36] Marc recommends: Who Really Matters: The Core Group Theory of Power, Privilege, and Success by Art Kleiner [10:48] Best read for enterprise sales: Power Base Selling by Jim Holden, et al [13:06] Microsoft, Google, government contracts, and politicized workplaces [16:28] Marc recommends: The Ty...
May 14, 2021•59 min•Ep. 66
How Ben took over Take Two [1:42] How digital distribution and publishing changed gaming [8:36] What is a next generation publisher? [13:51] Can publishers add value as tastemakers? [17:36] How do you make sure studios ship on time? And in the era of persistent game worlds, does it matter? [22:01] Lessons learned from Take Two [27:27] Taking the long view of the creative process — "Every overnight success was ten years in the making." [30:53] Is there a successful game that surprised Ben? [37:08...
May 14, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 65
Robert's foundational experiences growing up [3:03] His introduction to computers, how he got an internship at Bell Labs, and what he learned there [6:38] Why he studied chemical engineering [13:15] Working at Kraft and engineering macaroni and cheese [15:08] Why he moved to investing [18:12] How he realized that it made sense to do buyouts in enterprise software [23:19] Creating a common playbook for running enterprise software companies [30:45] How does he think about retaining vs replacing fo...
May 13, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 64
What happened at Basecamp and could it have gone differently? [3:51] When did Basecamp turn into a 4B? [7:45] Why were buyouts a good policy for Basecamp and Coinbase? [10:26] Why not have a more moderate policy? [11:56] What makes something "political"? [14:45] What about when political issues have a personal impact on employees? [19:18] What happened at Peloton and why they apologized [22:53] When should you issue an apology? [26:12] How do you rebuild trust after you apologize? [28:32] Audien...
May 13, 2021•58 min•Ep. 63
What are red teams and blue teams? [2:03] How Cedric cracked Mac Gatekeeper [6:55] Apple's response [15:22] Cedric's craziest hack [19:24] Red team advice for the blue team [22:02] Audience Q&A [26:31] 🔐Breach of the Week 🔐looks at who got hacked, how it happened, and what it means for the industry. 🎙With hosts Joel de la Garza (a16z Security Operating Partner) and Geoff Belknap (CISO LinkedIn) on Clubhouse every Thursday 5-5:30pm....
May 11, 2021•50 min•Ep. 62
On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show, a16z general partners Vineeta Agarwala, Julie Yoo, Vijay Pande, and Jorge Conde talk to guest Shantanu Nundy, the Chief Medical Officer of Accolade. The conversation covers Dr. Nundy's new book, " Care After Covid: What the Pandemic Revealed Is Broken in Healthcare and How to Reinvent It ", the next steps in the evolution of hospitals, interoperability (or lack thereof), and more....
May 11, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 61
Why does it feel like there's a database for everything? [4:46] What is the actual use case and market for streaming? [9:34] How real is real time? [20:12] Can you do everything in SQL? [25:08] Is the future SQL extensions or does SQL become embedded in data frames? [40:19] Is database consolidation coming? How many different systems will we have? (SPOILER: 3... maybe) [49:41] a16z Infra is the Clubhouse Show where the a16z enterprise team and guests discuss the foundational technology and produ...
May 07, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 60
What is AI? [2:27] AI is statistics, not consciousness [7:05] Why then so much talk about the singularity? [12:12] AI breakthroughs and FAANGs [17:21] Building the AI toolchain [26:07] AI applications in bio and medicine [30:19] Ali's favorite AI use cases [34:35] What will AI do to jobs? [39:27] AI in 10 years [46:09] Snowflake, Databricks, data Lake, data warehouse, and how it all fits together [48:16] Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founde...
May 07, 2021•59 min•Ep. 59
In this episode: Melody McCloskey - CEO of StyleSeat, a booking platform that connects stylists and beauty professionals with clients. Since its founding in 2011, StyleSeat has powered 150 million beauty appointments and generated over $6.5 billion in revenue for beauty professionals. The company has created a loyal community of the country’s leading hair, makeup and nail stylists. Camille Ricketts - Head of Marketing at Notion, a popular workspace collaboration and productivity tool that has de...
May 06, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 58
On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show, a16z general partners Julie Yoo and Jorge Conde, managing partner Scott Kupor, and market development partner Venkat Mocherla talk to guest Florian Otto, cofounder and CEO of Cedar. The conversation covers how to improve two of the trickiest aspect of healthcare: price transparency and patient engagement.
May 05, 2021•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 57
Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff. Live every Tuesday 5-6pm on Clubhouse.
May 04, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 56
Inside sales, field sales, product-led, channel sales, marketing, post-sales… a16z GTM is our clubhouse show for enterprise founders and builders about what it takes to go to market and the evolving strategies and lessons learned from enterprise companies past and present. Every other Thursday 4-5pm with David Ulevitch. For our upcoming schedule of Clubhouse conversations, visit a16z.com/clubhouse.
Apr 30, 2021•58 min•Ep. 55
