In this episode from September 2020, originally recorded for the Commonwealth Club of California, Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hasting talks about his new book "No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention" with a16z co-founder and fellow author Ben Horowitz, who also wrote a bestselling book about culture in 2019. During the conversation, Reed tells the story of Netflix's evolution and his management philosophy, including the hard lesson he learned about what happens when you optim...
Apr 14, 2022•44 min•Ep 654•Transcript available on Metacast After achieving product-market fit and starting to gain users, how do startups then avoid the "leaky bucket" problem of losing users as quickly as they gained them? By focusing on user engagement and retention, startups can not only keep their hard-won customers but also ensure that each new cohort of users gets more and more value out of their product. This episode is part two in a two-part series on the basics of growth. Featuring a16z general partners Andrew Chen (formerly of Uber and author ...
Apr 06, 2022•34 min•Ep 653•Transcript available on Metacast Once known as growth hacking, the concept of Growth has now evolved into an entire discipline that spans marketing, product management, user experience, and more. Why? After achieving product-market fit, startups need to capitalize quickly on that initial traction to capture and retain more users and market share before the competition does, and building an efficient and resilient growth strategy is a critical component. This episode -- one of two in a series -- focuses on the user acquisition a...
Mar 30, 2022•22 min•Ep 652•Transcript available on Metacast Over a decade after the idea of big data'' was first born, data has become the central nervous system for decision-making in organizations of all sizes. But the modern data stack is evolving and which infrastructure trends and technologies will ultimately win out remains to be decided. In this podcast, originally recorded as part of Fivetran's Modern Data Stack conference, five leaders in data infrastructure debate that question: a16z general partner and pioneer of software defined networking Ma...
Mar 24, 2022•28 min•Ep 651•Transcript available on Metacast In the face of great uncertainty, how do you make decisions? Can you really apply the lessons of the past to the present and the future, to navigate seemingly new situations and get what you want out of business and life? By deeply understanding cause-effect relationships -- clearly expressed, shared with others, overlaid with data, back-tested, modified -- you can build a set of principles for dealing with the realities of whatever situation you're in, observes Ray Dalio, in this episode from 2...
Mar 16, 2022•50 min•Ep 650•Transcript available on Metacast In his book (and podcast), Brian McCullough chronicles the history and evolution of the internet -- from college kids in a basement and the dot-com boom, to the applications built on top of it and the entrepreneurs behind them. General partner Chris Dixon chats with McCullough about How the Internet Happened -- and more broadly, about how tech adoption and innovation happens. They discuss lessons learned, how innovation doesnt happen in a straight line, and what the past can tell us about the ne...
Mar 10, 2022•47 min•Ep 649•Transcript available on Metacast original episode notes and transcript here: https://future.a16z.com/podcasts/textiles-technology-science-math-cultures-civilization/ Longtime podcast showrunner (2014-2022), primary host, and editor Sonal Chokshi shares three best-of episodes as she shifts gears and the show goes on hiatus until relaunched with a new host. The third of these three special rerun episodes is a conversation that originally took place in October 2020, in the midst of the pandemic and perfectly captures the signature...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep 648•Transcript available on Metacast original episode notes and transcript here: https://future.a16z.com/podcasts/innovating-in-bets/ Longtime podcast showrunner (2014-2022), primary host, and editor Sonal Chokshi shares three best-of episodes as she shifts gears and the show goes on hiatus until relaunched with a new host. The second of these three special rerun episodes is a conversation that originally took place spring/summer 2019, pre-pandemic (ah, that we could remember that time!) between a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen and ...
Feb 20, 2022•48 min•Ep 647•Transcript available on Metacast original episode notes and transcript here: https://future.a16z.com/podcasts/pleistocenepark-geoengineering-iceagebiome/ Longtime podcast showrunner (2014-2022), primary host, and editor Sonal Chokshi shares three best-of episodes as she shifts gears and the show goes on hiatus until relaunched with a new host. The first of these three special rerun episodes is a conversation that originally took place in summer 2017, but both the work discussed in here on making a really wild (quite literally w...
Feb 19, 2022•32 min•Ep 646•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to the a16z podcast. Today were talking about the mindsets and frameworks founders should know about when navigating the mergers and acquisitions or M&A process, both before and after including how to think about the pricing dynamics, factors that go into the decision-making process, and what to expect from the integration once the deal is done. A16z editorial partner Zoran Basich recently talked to two a16z experts here to give us their big-picture view of the most important things to k...
Jan 26, 2022•26 min•Ep 645•Transcript available on Metacast Innovation in the data center has been constrained by the traditional model of suppliers providing fixed-function chips that limit how much the biggest data center operators can differentiate. But programmable chips have emerged that allow these companies to not only increase performance, but innovate throughout the pipeline, from operating system to networking interface to user application. This is a major trend among "hyperscalers," which are some of the worlds most well known companies runnin...
Dec 10, 2021•25 min•Ep 644•Transcript available on Metacast What are network effects? [1:32] How do you cold start and get your first users? [2:33] Atomic networks and why minimum viable community is more important than minimum viable product [6:36] How do you curate your network and set norms? [8:42] Faking users: good idea, bad idea? [13:13] What is flintstoning? [14:26] How does the relationship to creators change as you scale? [17:07] Building for the professional creator class [22:52] How is web3 changing incentives? [25:12]...
Dec 06, 2021•32 min•Ep 643•Transcript available on Metacast Given all the activity and interest recently around crypto and web3, as well as in upcoming holidays and art events, were re-running our episode all about NFTs (from March 2021) -- where we covered everything you need or want to know about NFTs. You can also find a curated list of resources to learn all about NFTs at future.com/nftcanon. That list, and this episode, has something for everyone -- from artists and creators and other builders to big companies and institutions or just anyone seeking...
Nov 25, 2021•56 min•Ep 642•Transcript available on Metacast In today's episode were talking about an emerging model of gaming called play to earn, in which players can make actual money based on how much time and effort they put into a game. Play to earn is also part of broader trends the changing relationship between players and platforms, new incentives for participants in blockchain-based networks, and the new internet era that is coming to be known as a web3. The top play-to-earn game is called Axie Infinity, operated by a Vietnam-based company calle...
Nov 11, 2021•23 min•Ep 641•Transcript available on Metacast "Beyond the Meme: Ever Given, Supply Chains, and the Physical World" -- by Ryan Petersen (June 2021). Bio + essay details/ originally appeared at: https://future.a16z.com/beyond-the-meme-ever-given-supply-chains-and-the-physical-world/ More read-alouds at: https://a16z.com/tag/read-alouds/
Nov 02, 2021•16 min•Ep 640•Transcript available on Metacast Todays episode is all about crypto security that is, the new mindsets and the new strategies for storing crypto assets safely while also allowing holders control and access. As a reminder, none of the following should be taken as investment advice, please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information. Weve covered security trends more broadly a ton in our content, which you can find at a16z.com/security, as well as crypto-related trends including NFTs, and the creator and ownership eco...
Oct 15, 2021•31 min•Ep 639•Transcript available on Metacast There are lots of challenges in being public while trying to innovate, and limits to being a private company as well; but it's rare to see a company go public then private then back to public again.As is the case with Dell Technologies, one of the largest tech companies -- which went private 2012-2013 and then also pulled off one of the most epic mergers of all time with Dell + EMC + VMWare 2015-2016 (and which we wrote about here at the time). Is there a method to the madness? How does one not ...
Oct 02, 2021•53 min•Ep 638•Transcript available on Metacast There's no question technology played a huge role in the recent/current pandemic, including especially in the plug-and-play engineering and incredibly fast development behind the mRNA vaccines... But is there an even bigger role for the private sector, not just government, to play (and partner) when it comes to key infrastructure for future such emergencies, and even beyond? Especially given how faulty the translation of institutional science to policy and public health measures turned out to be...
Sep 20, 2021•56 min•Ep 637•Transcript available on Metacast There's been a false dichotomy in technology and management lore over the past decade, between "brain" and "brawn", digital and physical, independence and interdependence, software culture versus industrial culture or so observes Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer, former big-company executive, and startup founder Robert Siegel in his new book , The Brains and Brawn Company: How leading organizations blend the best of digital and physical. Whether you're an early startup or a Fortune ...
Jul 24, 2021•48 min•Ep 636•Transcript available on Metacast Recently, a16z and the Stanford Center for Blockchain Research hosted the NFT Virtual Summit, which brought together leading thinkers and builders on the topic of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens these tokens are enabling new creator and ownership economies to emerge. Weve covered NFTs in other podcasts and articles , including a curated list of reading resources, and you can watch all the videos from the summit. Today were sharing one of the discussions from that virtual summit (all of which were a...
May 19, 2021•19 min•Ep 635•Transcript available on Metacast Playing out against the backdrop of a global pandemic (including recent massive surges in regions around the world) is the news that came out a week ago that a candidate "malaria vaccine becomes first to achieve WHO-specified 75% efficacy goal. While the findings are still in preprint with The Lancet , the resulting buzz and phrases quoted included everything from unprecedented, groundbreaking work, and very exciting to high expectations, highly effective, and a hugely significant extra weapon.....
May 02, 2021•36 min•Ep 634•Transcript available on Metacast This is a special episode of the a16z podcast it's an audio history, told through the voices of the a16z crypto team, about what crypto is, how it really works, and why it matters. This "innovation overview" is meant as a resource, and it featureshallway-style conversations with the a16z team as well as outside experts. In brief segments, well take you from the ground up from the basics, to the most current developments, and beyond that to a look at what we might see in the future. Here are the ...
Apr 17, 2021•39 min•Ep 633•Transcript available on Metacast It's clear from the growth of Patreon, Substack, TikTok, Clubhouse and many more that the power of the Creator Economy continues to build. These platforms share one thing in common: Theyall enable independent creators to monetize their skills and products like never before. It's a trend thats become increasingly relevant as the demand for virtual work grows. In this episode, first published a year ago, Patreon cofounder Sam Yam, Atelier Ventures' Li Jin (formerly a16z), and host Lauren Murrow di...
Apr 08, 2021•26 min•Ep 632•Transcript available on Metacast In todays episode of the a16z Podcast, were talking about the Creator Economy, and how NFTs (but not just NFTS!) are making it possible for artists, musicians, videogamers, game developers, and writers to create entirely new markets to make money from their work and engage with their fans. Part of this emerging picture is social tokens, which share a crypto foundation with NFTs, but unlike NFTs (which are non-fungible tokens, in which each token is unique), social tokens are typically fungible ,...
Apr 03, 2021•34 min•Ep 631•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is all about NFTs. It seems like nothing has caught on and spread into mainstream interest like NFTs, where one hears everything from "I've never seen anything like this before" to "is this like ICOs all over again" to "it's just a jpg I don't get it" to "but what about the energy use!" So, in this special deep-dive episode from the a16z Podcast network, we break down everything you need or want to know about NFTs -- while cutting through the noise for whats hype/ whats real, as wel...
Mar 28, 2021•56 min•Ep 630•Transcript available on Metacast In the tech world, marketplaces are a hot topic. That termmarketplaceencompasses a huge swath of services we use every day, from grocery delivery to online shopping to remote learning. How have marketplace dynamics changed since pre-pandemic, and what COVID-propelled consumer behaviors will persist into 2021 and beyond? In this episode, we discuss the most promising marketplace companies and categories on the rise, based on data from the Marketplace 100 , a ranking of the largest and fastest-gro...
Mar 24, 2021•27 min•Ep 629•Transcript available on Metacast https://a16z.com/2021/03/15/16-minutes-58-the-johnson-johnson-vaccine-and-covid-efficacy-rates/
Mar 18, 2021•13 min•Ep 628•Transcript available on Metacast This podcast -- which was recorded at the Computer History Museum in a live event, before the pandemic (first published in December 2019) is all about how companies create culture: A lot's changed... and a lot hasn't. a16z editor in chief Sonal Chokshi interviews a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz -- author of the book What You Do Is Who You Are -- on whether companies and people can change; how the very thing that is your strength can also be your weakness; how startups evolve from pirates to the nav...
Mar 09, 2021•1 hr•Ep 627•Transcript available on Metacast Boss Talk is a weekly live show on Clubhouse, where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff you know, boss stuff. Here we share the second installment; in it, they explain Conways Law and shipping your org chart; how to transition from a boss to a boss of bosses; and their predictions for Silicon Valley post-pandemic. For more episodes of Boss Talk and other conversations from a16z, check out our separate feed, a16z Live....
Feb 28, 2021•1 hr•Ep 626•Transcript available on Metacast In just the last couple years, ransomware has grown into a multibillion dollar industry. It has evolved from taking systems and servers hostage to stealing data, and it has proven capable of shutting down global organizations. In recent months, ransomware groups directly shut down Kia Motors North American IT systems; indirectly may have contributed to the death of a patient due to hospital ransomware; and allegedly stole sensitive files from a law firm whose clients include former President Tru...
Feb 25, 2021•36 min•Ep 625•Transcript available on Metacast 
