with @ahall_research @eddylazzarin @0xShuel @smc90 In 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 t...
Aug 15, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 49
with @eddylazzarin @milesjennings @rhhackett Today’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 t...
Aug 08, 2024•57 min•Ep. 48
with @matthewclifford @smc90 This 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...
Jul 31, 2024•45 min•Ep. 47
with @rhhackett @smc90 @stephbzinn @tim_org In 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 o...
Jul 21, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 46
with @jasonrosenthal @benrbn Welcome 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 accelera...
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 45
with @NoahRFeldman , @ahall_research , @rhhackett Welcome 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 a...
Jun 18, 2024•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 44
with @jasonrosenthal @skominers @meigga @rhhackett Welcome 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 economics understanding consumer psychology using onchain data to inform pricing decisions Common mistakes and how to avoid them How to navigate a pricing pivot And lessons from real world pricing case studies, including Tesla, Nvidia, and others Our experts include a16z c...
Jun 01, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 43
with @jinglejamOP @eddylazzarin @rhhackett Hello 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 stic...
May 23, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 42
with @jessepollak @NoahCitron @rhhackett 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 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 rol...
May 11, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 41
with @SuccinctJT @samrags_ @moodlezoup @rhhackett 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 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 knowle...
May 01, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 40
with @creeefs @blauyourmind @rhhackett Welcome 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 throug...
Apr 13, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 39
with @dennnnnnnnny @smc90 We 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 ...
Apr 02, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 38
with @brian_armstrong @cdixon Welcome 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 dire...
Mar 28, 2024•37 min•Ep. 37
with @tobi @bhorowitz Welcome 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 de...
Mar 28, 2024•44 min•Ep. 36
with @cdixon @pmarca @bhorowitz @rhhackett Welcome 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 ...
Mar 02, 2024•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 35
with @stevenbjohnson @cdixon @rhhackett Welcome 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 interest...
Feb 11, 2024•51 min•Ep. 34
with @cdixon @rhhackett Welcome 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 lar...
Jan 30, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 33
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, Em...
Dec 23, 2023•15 min•Ep. 32
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 reco...
Oct 07, 2023•59 min•Ep. 31
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 th...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 30
with @aeyakovenko @alive_eth @guywuolletjr @smc90 This 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...
Sep 05, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 29
with @davidmarcus @smc90 This 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 cry...
Aug 22, 2023•46 min•Ep. 28
with @alive_eth @danboneh @smc90 This 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 mod...
Aug 12, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 27
with @mclader @smc90 In this wide-ranging conversation, Uniswap Labs COO Mary Catherine (aka MC) Lader discusses the challenges -- and opportunities -- of decentralized finance (DeFi); business strategy (& competition) in a world of open source; product vs. protocol innovation... as well as organizational structure & collaboration, hiring, metrics, community engagement, app store policies, decentralization, and much, much more. The conversation -- based on an interview with host Sonal Ch...
Jul 31, 2023•57 min•Ep. 26
with @skominers @smc90 In this deep dive and tour through key business concepts, from theory to practice, we cover the topics of strategy, competitive advantage, network effects, moats, and more -- covering both both basic foundations, as well as the tricky nuances in a new world of open source, including web3. In the first half of this discussion, we cover foundational business concepts and questions -- such as the nature of competition, and how it *really* changes in web3; as well as how netwo...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 25
with @lera_banda @danboneh @rhhackett This episode introduces concepts behind -- and applications of -- data availability sampling (DAS), a key piece of the puzzle that could help blockchains like Ethereum achieve full scaling. A low-overhead technique that uses random sampling of data to ensure that all necessary blockchain data has been made available to nodes without straining the network, DAS features heavily in a series of planned Ethereum upgrades called " Danksharding " [named to referenc...
May 05, 2023•40 min•Ep. 24
with @cdixon @eddylazzarin @DarenMatsuoka @rhhackett An in-depth overview of web3 trends and tech progress toward building the next internet, this conversation covers themes from the 2023 State of Crypto Report. The first half of the discussion (from our recent Twitter Spaces), delves into data points and analyses: what’s behind the recent uptick in NFT activity and experimentation; the curious relationship between gaming (including on-chain gaming) and innovation; as well as challenges, and opp...
Apr 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 23
with @amandacassatt @kimbatronic @smc90 All about marketing, and web3 -- not just for marketers already in or seeking to enter web3, but also anyone doing community marketing/ community management, devrel (developer relations); or simply doing marketing in web2 or classic growth marketing, seeking to understand the latest trends and tactics. With the author of the new book, Web3 Marketing: A Handbook for the Next Internet Revolution , Amanda Cassatt (who was also the first CMO at ConsenSys, help...
Apr 06, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 22
with @ariannasimpson @eddylazzarin @smc90 This episode provides an overview of web3 gaming, as enabled by crypto & blockchains -- including what ownership and decentralization really means for gamers and others; degrees of on-chain games; and a pulse-check on what’s working so far, what's more or less ready, and where the most exciting design spaces are for all kinds of builders. The conversation -- between a16z crypto general partner Arianna Simpson and CTO Eddy Lazzarin, in discussion with...
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 21
with @milesjennings @brianquintenz @colinmccune @smc90 We provide an overview of policy and regulation in the crypto industry right now -- from a lay of the land to pulse checks on sentiment -- as well as share helpful frameworks for policymakers, and quick guidance on how things work (and how to navigate and participate) for builders. We also dig into the mindsets, myths, debates, nuances; and quickly discuss what to expect for regulation in a few specific domains -- from DeFi to DAOs, to brief...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 20
