Episode description

With much coverage of technology lined with pessimism, the a16z Podcast returns to highlight the bright side of technology, alongside the founders building it. But before featuring the solutions in progress, we wanted to explore why building the future is still so important.

And who better to traverse this ground than a16z’s own cofounder Marc Andreessen, who has built and invested in the future time and time again, especially when it wasn't the obvious thing to do.

Together with Marc, this episode explores technology through the lens of history – including the three stages of human psychology as we encounter new technologies, how that process often manifests in regulation, when to change your mind, the Cambrian explosion of opportunity coming from distributed work, the importance of founder-led companies, and perhaps most importantly, we examine why there's still much reason for optimism.

Timestamps: 

00:00 - Welcome back!

02:19 - The importance of tech today

05:25 - Historical negativity toward technology

9:40 - The invention of the bicycle

13:16 - Innovation vs status in society

20:45 - Automobile moral panic and red flag laws

24:52 - Balaji’s arc on social networking

27:44 - Surfacing signal from noise

34:06 - The role of timing in innovation

37:39 - Today’s major unlocks

44:59 - Remote work and society reshuffling

49:49 - Changing your mind

54:06 - Retaining a lens of optimism

1:04:25 - What Marc’s excited about

1:08:41 - Bourgeois vs managerial capitalism

1:17:32 - Reform vs starting anew

Resources:

Marc on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmarca

Pessimist’s Archive: https://pessimistsarchive.org/

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Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.