For over a century, the United States has been the birthplace of world-changing innovation – from the Wright brothers’ first flight to the invention of the transistor, the moon landing, and the birth of the internet. But in recent years, belief in American progress has wavered. Three years ago, a16z General Partner Katherine Boyle wrote a bold thesis called Building American Dynamism , challenging this apathy and calling for startups to tackle the country’s biggest problems. The idea spread fast...
Mar 11, 2025•43 min•Ep 847•Transcript available on Metacast Henry Ward, cofounder and CEO of Carta, has spent over a decade scaling his company from an early-stage startup to a 2,000-person industry leader. In this a16z Speedrun conversation with Games partner Josh Lu, Henry shares hard-earned lessons on: Hiring missionaries vs. mercenaries — and how to keep company culture intact as you scale The reality of product-market fit and why many founders try to sell too soon The evolution of a CEO — from building a product to building a system around you Input...
Mar 07, 2025•41 min•Ep 846•Transcript available on Metacast Being a creator in 2025 is tough—but building for creators is even harder. Perhaps no one understands this conundrum better than Scott Belsky. As the founder of Behance, a longtime executive at Adobe, and an advisor to companies like Pinterest and Atlassian, Scott has spent his career at the intersection of technology, design, and creativity. In this speedrun episode, recorded live in San Francisco during the fourth iteration of our a16z Games Speedrun program, we dive into: How AI can actually ...
Feb 25, 2025•42 min•Ep 844•Transcript available on Metacast Technology doesn’t grow in isolation—it evolves in waves. Just as mobile, cloud, and SaaS shaped the internet of the past 20 years, so too could crypto, AI, and new hardware usher in an era of the internet that’s pro-innovation, pro-startup, and pro-creator. Speaking with a16z Growth General Partner David George, a16z crypto Founder and Managing Partner Chris Dixon breaks down his vision for a new internet, from using crypto to decentralize AI infrastructure and kickstart network effects, to why...
Feb 20, 2025•33 min•Ep 843•Transcript available on Metacast Critical materials like copper, lithium, and gallium have been mined for decades, but their role in core technologies, geopolitics, and the energy transition have come to a height in recent years. In this episode, a16z partner Connie Chan discusses how technology is changing the game of identification and exploration, together with leading company KoBold and their VP of Geoscience, VP of Technology, and CEO of Africa. Resources: Learn more about KoBold Metals: https://www.koboldmetals.com/ Stay ...
Feb 11, 2025•43 min•Ep 842•Transcript available on Metacast Two words have caught the Internet by storm. DeepSeek. The Chinese reasoning model r1 is rivaling others at the frontier with an open-source MIT license, methods that some claim may be 45x more efficient, an alleged $5.6m cost, the release of reasoning traces, a follow-on image model, and the fact that all of this was released by a hedge fund China. Many are already referring to this as a Sputnik moment. If that’s true, how should we – whether founder, researcher, policy maker – not just react, ...
Feb 06, 2025•43 min•Ep 841•Transcript available on Metacast This week, a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz had a rare and invaluable conversation with Dr. Clarence B. Jones, a pivotal figure in American history. Dr. Jones, who served as speechwriter, attorney, and advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shared his personal insights on race, inclusion, and the lasting legacy of the civil rights movement in 2025. In their wide-ranging discussion, Dr. Jones reflected on the timeless wisdom of Dr. King, quoting one of the most enduring lines from the "I Have a Dream"...
Feb 01, 2025•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast How is AI reshaping modern warfare? Speaking with a16z Growth General Partner David George, Anduril cofounder and CEO Brian Schimpf discusses how AI helps humans make better strategic decisions by sorting through the enormous amount of data collected from modern battlefields. Schimpf also discusses navigating the US government’s complex procurement processes, using commercial technologies to kickstart their own product development, and the growing opportunities for startups in defense. Throughou...
Jan 28, 2025•35 min•Ep 840•Transcript available on Metacast Intelligent automation is transforming industries by tackling messy, unstructured workflows that traditional Robotic Process Automation (RPA) couldn’t handle. In this episode, a16z partner Kimberly Tan discusses the shift from rigid RPA systems to AI-powered agents and why this evolution unlocks massive opportunities in legacy markets. Drawing on her article "RIP to RPA: The Rise of Intelligent Automation," Kimberly shares real-world examples of companies revolutionizing referral management, and...
Jan 22, 2025•17 min•Ep 839•Transcript available on Metacast Healthcare is a $4 trillion industry, making up nearly a fifth of the U.S. economy—but despite having some of the best doctors and advanced technology, the system often delivers poor outcomes at skyrocketing costs. Why is this the case, and what will it take to fix it? In this episode, a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen and General Partners Vijay Pande and Julie Yoo tackle some of the biggest questions shaping the future of healthcare: Is the solution to our healthcare crisis a policy, technology, o...
Jan 15, 2025•33 min•Ep 838•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, Substack cofounder and CEO Chris Best joins a16z General Partner Andrew Chen to discuss the origins and evolution of Substack, a platform redefining media and empowering creators to connect directly with their audiences. They dive into how Substack’s early days led to over 3 million paid subscribers, why creators are moving away from traditional platforms to establish direct connections with their audiences, and how the future of media in the AI era is reshaping opportunities fo...
Jan 09, 2025•37 min•Ep 837•Transcript available on Metacast with @sambroner @meigga @darenmatsuoka @jneu_net @chrislyons and @rhhackett @smc90 Welcome 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 theme...
Jan 03, 2025•35 min•Ep 836•Transcript available on Metacast As we prepare to step into 2025, the possibilities for applied AI are reshaping industries in profound ways. In this episode, a16z General Partners Julie Yoo and Angela Strange, and Partner Joe Schmidt, dive into the transformative power of AI across healthcare, fintech, and traditional service sectors. We explore: Super Staffing for Healthcare: How AI can address critical clinical labor shortages and augment care delivery at scale. Regulation Becomes Code: The potential for AI to simplify and s...
Dec 30, 2024•52 min•Ep 835•Transcript available on Metacast The AI race is on, and 2025 could be its most transformative year yet. In this episode, a16z General Partners Anjney Midha and Jennifer Li, and Partner Alex Immerman dive into the trends reshaping AI and its impact on search, infrastructure, and devices. We explore: How AI-native tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are challenging Google’s search dominance. The rise of infrastructure independence as governments prioritize compute, energy, and data. The future of smaller, on-device AI models drivin...
Dec 25, 2024•43 min•Ep 834•Transcript available on Metacast As 2025 begins, industries are evolving at unprecedented speed: robots are revolutionizing manufacturing, terabytes of earth observation data are driving new possibilities, and gaming technology is transforming how we design, train, and innovate across sectors. In this episode, a16z General Partner Erin Price-Wright, Engineering Fellow Millen Anand, and Partner Troy Kirwin discuss the trends reshaping the future of hardware, software, and beyond. We explore: How robots and full-stack engineers a...
Dec 20, 2024•42 min•Ep 833•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of Web3 with a16z, Shopify CEO and cofounder Tobias Lütke joins a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz for a conversation recorded live at the a16z crypto Founders Summit. Together, they explore what it takes to build a breakout startup in a competitive market, the changing landscape of retail, and how to drive workplace change while navigating corporate culture and calls for activism. Tobias shares the story behind Shopify's growth from a snowboarding store to a global ecommerce platform s...
Dec 16, 2024•45 min•Ep 832•Transcript available on Metacast Did you know the U.S. nurse labor market is over $600 billion annually, but the dedicated software market for nurses is almost zero? In this episode General Partners Alex Rampell, David Haber, and Angela Strange discuss how AI is revolutionizing labor by automating tasks traditionally done by humans. They’ll trace the evolution of cloud eras — from the original to financial services-enabled to the current AI-enabled outcomes era — showcasing how AI is creating unprecedented opportunities, allowi...
Dec 11, 2024•45 min•Ep 831•Transcript available on Metacast Over half of Americans live in childcare deserts, while 90% of brain development happens before the age of five. All the while, education and childcare remain among the most resistant sectors to technological change. Billions of dollars have been spent, but outcomes continue to lag. Why? In this episode, we dive into the systemic issues—misaligned incentives, political resistance, and the lack of a shared vision around the purchase of an education. We also explore how technology and entrepreneur...
Dec 06, 2024•39 min•Ep 830•Transcript available on Metacast This episode was originally published on our sister podcast, web3 with a16z. If you’re excited about the next generation of the internet, check out the show: https://link.chtbl.com/hrr_h-XC We'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 really better than pollsters, is polling dead? So in this conversation, we tease apart the hype from the...
Dec 02, 2024•2 hr 50 min•Ep 829•Transcript available on Metacast Sales is evolving. AI-native systems are replacing traditional CRM tools, capturing unstructured insights from emails, Slack, surveys, and more in real time. These systems automate early-stage tasks like prospecting and qualification, enabling sales teams to focus on high-value work—while AI provides live coaching and drives decisions across sales, marketing, and product teams. In this episode, a16z partners Joe Schmidt and Marc Andrusko explore the evolution of sales tools and strategies, shari...
Nov 25, 2024•17 min•Ep 828•Transcript available on Metacast What if the biggest challenge of our time isn’t living longer, but living better? In this episode, we’re tackling one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments—and perhaps its most overlooked challenge: longevity. As more people live past 100, our systems—healthcare, finance, career planning, and even our cultural perceptions of aging—need a fundamental overhaul. We’re joined by Dr. Andrew Scott, author of The Longevity Imperative, and Vijay Pande a16z’s Bio & Health general partner, to explore how...
Nov 18, 2024•41 min•Ep 827•Transcript available on Metacast America is a country of immense wealth, but our manufacturing infrastructure is struggling to keep pace. In this episode, we discuss the overlooked crisis of American manufacturing and what it means for our national resilience. a16z’s Oliver Hsu hosts a conversation with founders Jordan Black (Senra Systems), Chris Power (Hadrian), and Bryon Hargis (Castelion) on why we need to revive our industrial base — and fast. From outdated regulations to the adoption of automation, they break down the “de...
Nov 11, 2024•33 min•Ep 826•Transcript available on Metacast 2024 has been a milestone year for autonomous tech. Waymo’s fully autonomous driver has surpassed 20 million miles, while FAA approvals now allow commercial drones to fly without visual observers, advancing air autonomy in unprecedented ways. In this special live recording from SF Tech Week, a16z partner Erin Price-Wright moderates a panel of experts from three key domains—air, land, and sea—to explore the latest real-world deployments of autonomous systems, the impact of new chips on cost and e...
Nov 04, 2024•48 min•Ep 825•Transcript available on Metacast We take 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...
Oct 29, 2024•54 min•Ep 824•Transcript available on Metacast What does Rich Sutton’s "Bitter Lesson" reveal about the decisions Tesla is making in its pursuit of autonomy? In this episode, we dive into Tesla’s recent "We, Robot" event, where they unveiled bold plans for the unsupervised full-self-driving Cybercab, Robovan, and Optimus—their humanoid robot, which Elon Musk predicts could become “the biggest product ever.” Joined by a16z partners Anjney Midha and Erin Price-Wright, we explore how these announcements reflect the evolving intersection of hard...
Oct 24, 2024•37 min•Ep 823•Transcript available on Metacast In 2024, marking 10 years since its launch, Apple Pay now boasts hundreds of millions of consumers in 78 markets, at checkout on millions of websites and apps, in tens of millions of stores worldwide, and is supported by more than 11,000 bank and network partners. In this episode, a16z General Partner Alex Rampell sits down with Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, to explore how Apple has transformed digital payments. Jennifer reveals how Apple Pay and Apple Wallet have grown beyo...
Oct 22, 2024•32 min•Ep 822•Transcript available on Metacast Lisa Su has transformed AMD into a global leader in AI and high-performance computing. In this episode of the AI Revolution (AIR) series , Bob Swan, a16z Operating Partner and former CEO of Intel, sits down with Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, to discuss how her leadership has propelled AMD’s growth and positioned the company at the forefront of AI innovation. They explore AMD’s pivotal role in democratizing the benefits of gen AI, the evolution of AI computing, and the importance of open ecosystems and pa...
Oct 17, 2024•31 min•Ep 821•Transcript available on Metacast Deepfakes—AI-generated fake videos and voices—have become a widespread concern across politics, social media, and more. As they become easier to create, the threat grows. But so do the tools to detect them. In this episode, Vijay Balasubramaniyan, cofounder and CEO of Pindrop, joins a16z’s Martin Casado to discuss how deepfakes work, how easily they can be made, and what defenses we have. They’ll also explore the role of policy and regulation in this rapidly changing space. Have we lost control ...
Oct 11, 2024•35 min•Ep 819•Transcript available on Metacast Last week was another big week in technology. Google’s NotebookLM introduced its Audio Overview feature, enabling users to create customizable podcasts in over 35 languages. OpenAI followed with their real-time speech-to-speech API, making voice integration easier for developers, while Pika’s 1.5 model made waves in the AI world. In this episode, we chat with the a16z Consumer team—Anish Acharya, Olivia Moore, and Bryan Kim—about the rise of voice technology, the latest AI breakthroughs, and wha...
Oct 08, 2024•32 min•Ep 818•Transcript available on Metacast In 1995, just 2% of couples met online. Today, that number has surged to over 50%, making online dating the top way couples connect. In this episode, a16z General Partner Andrew Chen chats with Tinder founder Sean Rad about how he built an app that changed culture. Sean shares why seamless experiences matter, how startups often get marketing wrong, and how Tinder became the catalyst for online dating's explosive growth. This conversation was recorded live in LA at a16z’s Games third Speedrun pro...
Oct 03, 2024•29 min•Ep 817•Transcript available on Metacast 
