The a16z Show

Grant Lee was told Gamma was "the worst idea ever heard" by an investor who hung up mid-Zoom—yet he built it to 100 million users and $100M ARR without spending a dollar on advertising.

While competitors hired aggressively, Grant's team of seven refused to grow, dedicating 25% of their tiny team to design and personally onboarding every influencer themselves. 

They reveal how ignoring AI for their first two years, then orchestrating multiple models in ways the frontier labs can't replicate, let them steal the presentation market from Microsoft and Google—going from 60,000 signups in eight months to 50,000 per day.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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When four MIT grads decided to build a code editor while everyone else was building AI agents, they created the fastest-growing developer tool ever built. 

Cursor CEO Michael Truell joins a16z’s Martin Casado to discuss the deliberate constraints that led to breakthroughs: why they rejected the "democratization" narrative to focus on power users, how their 2-day work trials test for agency over credentials, and the strategic decision to own the editor when conventional wisdom said it was impossible.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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The regulatory environment has completely inverted. Stablecoins are now a top 20 holder of US treasuries. Every major bank wants in. In a16z Crypto's 2025 State of Crypto report, Daren Matsuoka (Head of Data) and Eddy Lazzarin (CTO) reveal how crypto hit $4 trillion market cap while fundamentally reshaping how institutions think about payments, with surprising data on why developers aren't following prices this cycle and what privacy's inevitable rise means for mainstream adoption.

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Adam D’Angelo (Quora/Poe) thinks we're 5 years from automating remote work. Amjad Masad (Replit) thinks we're brute-forcing intelligence without understanding it.

In this conversation, two technical founders who are building the AI future disagree on almost everything: whether LLMs are hitting limits, if we're anywhere close to AGI, and what happens when entry-level jobs disappear but experts remain irreplaceable. They dig into the uncomfortable reality that AI might create a "missing middle" in the job market, why everyone in SF is suddenly too focused on getting rich to do weird experiments, and whether consciousness research has been abandoned for prompt engineering.

Plus: Why coding agents can now run for 20+ hours straight, the return of the "sovereign individual" thesis, and the surprising sophistication of everyday users juggling multiple AIs.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg join a16z’s Ben Horowitz, Erik Torenberg, and Vineeta Agarwala to share how the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is building the computational tools that will accelerate the cure, prevention, and management of all disease by century's end. They explain why basic science needs $100 million-scale projects that traditional NIH grants can't fund, how their Cell Atlas became biology's missing periodic table with millions of cells catalogued in open-source format, and why their new virtual cell models will let scientists test high-risk hypotheses in silico before investing in expensive wet lab work. Plus: the organizational shift unifying the Biohub under AI leadership, what happens when biologists and engineers sit side-by-side, and why modern biology labs are expanding compute instead of square footage.

Timestamps:

4:17 - Building tools to accelerate scientific discovery

5:47 - The credible path to funding basic science

7:21 - Biohub = Frontier Biology + Frontier AI

9:05 - Challenges building on a 10-15 year timeline

9:43 - How CZI chooses what to work on

11:15 - Making sense of science with LLMs

11:31 - Measuring success in the therapeutic realm

13:32 - “Most diseases should be thought of as rare diseases”

15:39 - Inspiration: building a periodic table for biology

19:27 - Why virtual cells?

21:17 - The Biohub Master Plan

21:51 - How virtual cell models allow more risk taking

28:15 - Bringing CZI & Biohub together

30:32 - Why Biohub matters

33:36 - The importance of interface design in democratizing scientific discovery

35:34 - How Biohub encourages cross-functional collaboration
40:38 - Looking ahead: the broader impact of AI on biotech

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Eugenia Kuyda, CEO of Wabi and AI pioneer behind Replika, joins Erik, Anish, and Justine to reveal how personal software will transform from a developer monopoly to a creative medium for all. She exposes why command-line AI interfaces are the new MS-DOS, explains how mini-apps will become as shareable as TikToks, and details her decade-long journey from training language models in 2012 to building the platform where your mom can create custom apps in minutes. Plus: untold stories from OpenAI's apartment days and why voice-only devices completely miss the point.

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ElevenLabs CEO and co‑founder Mati Staniszewski joins Jennifer Li to explain how the team ships research‑grade AI at lightning speed—from text‑to‑speech and fully licensed AI music to real‑time voice agents—and why voice is the next interface for human‑computer interaction. He shares the small, autonomous team model, global hiring approach, and how the Voice Marketplace has paid creators over $10M while evolving into an enterprise platform.

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David Sacks, White House AI and Crypto Czar, joins Marc, Ben, and Erik to explore what's really happening inside the Trump administration's AI and crypto strategy. They expose the regulatory capture playbook being pushed by certain AI companies, explain why open source is America's secret weapon, and detail the infrastructure crisis that could determine who wins the global AI race.

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As global tensions rise, AI and autonomy are transforming how nations prepare for conflict.

In this episode, Horacio Rozanski, CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton and Gary Steele, CEO of Shield AI join Erik Torenberg to discuss how technology, speed, and public–private partnerships are reshaping America’s defense strategy.

They cover lessons from Ukraine and Taiwan, the rise of autonomous systems, and why the future of warfare will be defined by software, agility, and innovation.

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In this closing keynote from a16z’s Runtime conference, General Partner Erik Torenberg speaks with our firm’s cofounders, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz on highlights from throughout the conference, the current state of LLM capabilities, and why despite huge capex, AI is not a bubble.

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In this conversation from a16z’s Runtime conference, Gavin Baker, Managing Partner and CIO of Atreides Management, joins David George, General Partner at a16z, to unpack the macro view of AI: the trillion-dollar data center buildout, the new economics of GPUs, and what this boom means for investors, founders, and the global economy.

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AI isn’t just changing software, it’s causing the biggest buildout of physical infrastructure in modern history.

In this episode, Raghu Raghuram (a16z) speaks with Amin Vahdat, VP and GM of AI and Infrastructure at Google, and Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco, about the unprecedented scale of what’s being built — from chips to power grids to global data centers.

They discuss the new “AI industrial revolution,” where power, compute, and network are the new scarce resources; how geopolitical competition is shaping chip design and data center placement; and why the next generation of AI infrastructure will demand co-design across hardware, software, and networking.

The conversation also covers how enterprises will adapt, why we’re still in the earliest phase of this CapEx supercycle, and how AI inference, reinforcement learning, and multi-site computing will transform how systems are built and run.

Resources:

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Google DeepMind’s new image model Nano Banana took the internet by storm.

In this episode, we sit down with Principal Scientist Oliver Wang and Group Product Manager Nicole Brichtova to discuss how Nano Banana was created, why it’s so viral, and the future of image and video editing.

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From Netscape to VMware, Raghu Raghuram has been at the center of nearly every major inflection point in enterprise technology.

In this episode, Raghu joins Ben Horowitz, Martin Casado and David George to reflect on the early internet wars with Microsoft, how Netscape’s browser battles shaped a generation of founders, and the inside story of one of the most successful tech acquisitions in history, VMware’s $1.3B purchase of Nicira, which redefined modern networking and grew into a multi-billion-dollar business.

They discuss how VMware scaled from tens of millions to over $13 billion in revenue, what it took to outlast the cloud revolution, and why AI is now triggering the biggest infrastructure reset since virtualization. Raghu shares his vision for the next decade — from data-center robotics and energy-aware compute to how AI is reshaping both startups and giants alike.

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In this episode of Monitoring the Situation, Marc Andreessen, Katherine Boyle, and Erik Torenberg dive into the movies that best explain America, from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to Tropic Thunder to Fight Club.

They explore how Tarantino’s revisionist masterpiece reimagines 1969 and the end of America’s cultural innocence, why Tropic Thunder was the last truly un-cancellable comedy, and how Fight Club evolved from a left-wing critique of capitalism to a right-wing prophecy about alienation and identity.

Along the way, they trace the parallels between the counterculture of the 1960s and the internet culture wars of the 2010s, and debate whether we’re living through another great American cultural reset.

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Amjad Masad, founder and CEO of Replit, joins a16z’s Marc Andreessen and Erik Torenberg to discuss the new world of AI agents, the future of programming, and how software itself is beginning to build software.

They trace the history of computing to the rise of AI agents that can now plan, reason, and code for hours without breaking, and explore how Replit is making it possible for anyone to create complex applications in natural language. Amjad explains how RL unlocked reasoning for modern models, why verification loops changed everything, whether LLMs are hitting diminishing returns — and if “good enough” AI might actually block progress toward true general intelligence.

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In this episode, a16z's Anish Acharya joins Kevin Rose for an in-depth, fast-paced conversation on the rebirth of consumer technology, and how AI is reshaping what it means to build, invest, and create.

They talk about why AI has reignited the consumer renaissance, what it means to build “weird and working” products, and how the next wave of apps will blend emotion, utility, and creativity in entirely new ways. From AI companions and “emotional interfaces” to the tools making it possible to build entire startups solo, Kevin and Anish explore what’s emerging at the edge of culture and code.

This is a conversation about the future of creation, where consumer tech meets human feeling, and why the next big ideas will come from people bold enough to be weird.

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Augusto Marietti, CEO and cofounder of Kong, has one of the most remarkable founder stories in Silicon Valley history.

In this conversation with Martin Casado, Aghi shares how he went from a garage in Milan to building one of the world’s leading API infrastructure companies, surviving years of rejection, living in the U.S. on $1,000 a month, and raising his first $50K while sleeping on Travis Kalanick’s couch. 

They talk about the near-death moments that defined Kong’s journey, the seven-year grind before breakout success, and how APIs became the “assembly line of software.” Aghi also explains how Kong evolved into the backbone of modern API and AI connectivity, and why the coming wave of AI agents will make APIs more essential than ever.

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Reid Hoffman has been at the center of every major tech shift, from co-founding LinkedIn and helping build PayPal to investing early in OpenAI. In this conversation, he looks ahead to the next transformation: how artificial intelligence will reshape work, science, and what it means to be human.

In this episode, Reid joins Erik Torenberg and Alex Rampell to talk about what AI means for human progress, where Silicon Valley’s blind spots lie, and why the biggest breakthroughs will come from outside the obvious productivity apps. They discuss why reasoning still limits today’s AI, whether consciousness is required for true intelligence, and how to design systems that augment, not replace, people.

Reid also reflects on LinkedIn’s durability, the next generation of AI-native companies, and what friendship and purpose mean in an era where machines can simulate almost anything. This is a sweeping, high-level conversation at the intersection of technology, philosophy, and humanity.

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Hollywood is going through a major cultural and creative reset, and Marc Andreessen thinks it’s long overdue.

In this episode of Monitoring the Situation, Marc joins Erik Torenberg and Katherine Boyle to dissect the past decade of filmmaking, from the rise of “the message” in every movie to the return of genuine comedy and art. They cover the post-woke shift in Hollywood, the financial collapse of the streaming era, and why AI could spark a renaissance for a new generation of independent filmmakers.

Marc also shares his favorite recent films (and the ones he thinks aged terribly), why Edington might be the first true “Capital-A Art” film in years, and how AI could democratize storytelling the way digital cameras did in the 1990s.

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From politics to technology to real estate, Keith Rabois has bold predictions for America’s next decade.

In this conversation with Erik Torenberg, Keith breaks down why he believes the U.S. is entering a new economic expansion driven by AI, productivity, and sovereign technology. They discuss how AI could lift GDP growth to 5%, why sovereign AI projects are inevitable, and why America can “grow its way out” of debt.

Keith also shares his takes on Trump’s second term, the decline of legacy institutions, OpenAI’s dominance, the future of Google and Microsoft, and how startups like Ramp and Opendoor are rewriting the rules of fintech and housing.

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Ben Horowitz founded Loudcloud in the middle of the dot-com bust and sold it for $1.6 billion, then led Andreessen Horowitz from its founding to $46 billion in committed capital. Ali Ghodsi co-founded Databricks, stepped in as CEO during a crisis, and led it to a valuation of over $100 billion.

In this episode of “Boss Talk”, Ben and Ali join a16z General Partners Sarah Wang and Erik Torenberg to share founder war stories, how to hire and make deals, how to keep culture intense without burning employees out, and why founders should raise their ambitions even higher.

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Learn more about Databricks: https://www.databricks.com/

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Nathan Labenz is one of the clearest voices analyzing where AI is headed, pairing sharp technical analysis with his years of work on The Cognitive Revolution.

In this episode, Nathan joins a16z’s Erik Torenberg to ask a pressing question: is AI progress actually slowing down, or are we just getting used to the breakthroughs? They discuss the debate over GPT-5, the state of reasoning and automation, the future of agents and engineering work, and how we can build a positive vision for where AI goes next.

Resources:

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From GPT-1 to GPT-5, LLMs have made tremendous progress in modeling human language. But can they go beyond that to make new discoveries and move the needle on scientific progress?

We sat down with distinguished Columbia CS professor Vishal Misra to discuss this, plus why chain-of-thought reasoning works so well, what real AGI would look like, and what actually causes hallucinations.

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Zach Dell is founder and CEO of Base Power, an energy tech company that builds affordable, reliable power via home batteries.

In this episode of Monitoring the Situation, a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg, Katherine Boyle, and Erin Price-Wright sit down with Zach to discuss the current state of home power generation, what’s misunderstood about the data center buildout, and how to fix the US electricity grid. Plus, Erik and Katherine talk with a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazzarin about Silicon Valley’s favorite Dark Enlightenment philosopher, Nick Land.

Resources:

Follow Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle

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Follow Zach on X: https://x.com/ZachBDell

Learn more about Base Power: https://www.basepowercompany.com/

Learn more about Nick Land: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/who-is-nick-land

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Sam Altman has led OpenAI from its founding as a research nonprofit in 2015 to becoming the most valuable startup in the world ten years later.

In this episode, a16z Cofounder Ben Horowitz and General Partner Erik Torenberg sit down with Sam to discuss the core thesis behind OpenAI’s disparate bets, why they released Sora, how they use models internally, the best AI evals, and where we’re going from here.

Resources:

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Learn more about OpenAI: https://openai.com/

Try Sora: https://sora.com/

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Opendoor is trying to make it easier to buy a home. Kaz Nejatian just joined as CEO to help them succeed.

In this episode, a16z General Partners Alex Rampell and Erik Torenberg sit down with Kaz to cover all things real estate and marketplaces. They cover Kaz’s vision for Opendoor, the problem with copying the hedge fund model, how to build through economic downturns, and the importance of ambition and long-term thinking.

Resources:

Follow Kaz on X: https://x.com/CanadaKaz

Follow Alex on X: https://x.com/arampell

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Resources:

Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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From high-speed rail to electric cars to batteries to AI, it’s clear that China can operate with incredible speed at massive scale. Can the US still compete?

We sat down with Dan Wang, a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author of “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future” to discuss.

Timecodes: 

0:00  Introduction

1:36   Lawyers vs. Engineers: Cultural and Economic Differences

4:06  Urban and Rural Life: Comparing Infrastructure

7:20  Barriers to Progress: Regulation and Governance

11:00  Industrial Policy and Public-Private Partnerships

14:20  The Double-Edged Sword of Legal and Engineering Mindsets

16:50  Social Engineering and Policy in China

23:00  Competition, Intellectual Property, and Business Culture

27:10  Manufacturing, Scale, and Global Supply Chains

36:00  Lessons from Japan and Korea

41:30  Complacency, Quality, and the Future of Competition

48:45  Strategic Resources and Industrial Policy

54:00  Foreign Policy: Engineering Diplomacy vs. Alliances

59:00  Taiwan, Demographics, and the Future of US-China Relations

Resources:

Follow Dan on X: https://x.com/danwwang

Read Dan’s blog: https://danwang.co/

Buy Breakneck on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1324106034/

Follow Steven on X: 

https://x.com/stevesi

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Two trends in media have been abundantly clear since 2020: legacy media is dying, and independent media is rising.

a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg and Katherine Boyle sit down with Tablet founder and editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse to discuss the great media realignment, why real institutions will outlast the new “internet pirates", Alana’s deeply personal case for gene editing, and how faith, science, and community can coexist without giving in to government referees.

Resources:

Read Tablet magazine: https://www.tabletmag.com/
Follow Alana on X: https://x.com/alananewhouse

Follow Tablet on X: https://x.com/tabletmag

Follow Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Software has fundamentally changed the way we record, store, and share information. Its next act is to fundamentally change the nature of our economy, capturing trillions of dollars of value in the process.

In this talk from the 2025 a16z LP Summit, a16z General Partner Alex Rampell discusses the history of filing cabinets and databases, how SaaS pricing moved from seats to outcomes, and how AI agents will accelerate the trend of the last 70 years of software progress.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction

0:58 The Scale of the Labor Market vs. SaaS  

1:41 Capital, Labor, and Automation: A Historical Perspective  

3:32 The Filing Cabinet Metaphor: Digitizing Work  

3:50 Case Studies: From Airlines to Accounting  

8:42 The Limits of Efficiency: Humans Still in the Loop  

9:02 Rethinking SaaS Pricing Models  

10:21 The Impact of AI on Labor and Software  

11:41 Outcome-Based Software: Moving Beyond the Filing Cabinet  

17:41 Real-World Examples: AI in Action  

22:05 The Expanding Market: New Opportunities with AI  

25:44 Conclusion and Takeaways  

25:48 Podcast Outro and Disclaimers 

Resources: 

Follow Alex on X: https://x.com/arampell

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Ben, Marc, and Erik Torenberg are joined by Brian Schimpf, Co-Founder & CEO of Anduril, and Chris Power, Founder & CEO of Hadrian. Together, they dig into America’s defense production gap: why the U.S. can out-innovate but not out-produce—and what it will take to turn that around.

They discuss why U.S. war games show we run out of munitions in a week, the myth of “exquisite-only” systems, how to rebuild industrial capacity with software-led automation, financing factories like data centers, and what it takes to create real deterrence in a Taiwan scenario.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction

0:27 Technical Superiority vs. Industrial Scale  

3:59 The Decline of US Manufacturing  

7:23 Challenges in Onshoring & Skilled Labor  

13:27 Supply Chains & Rare Earths  

15:34 Automation, Software, and Catching Up  

17:15 Complexity of Modern Production  

23:34 Strategic Policy & Industrial Planning  

26:37 Regulatory Barriers & State vs. Federal Roles  

35:27 Talent, Data Centers, and Financial Engineering  

38:33 China’s Industrial Policy & US Response  

46:07 US Manufacturing, National Security, and the China Challenge  

52:00 Demographics, Long-Term Outlook, and Closing Thoughts  

Resources: 

Find Chris on X: https://x.com/chris_power

Find Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bschimpf/

Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca

Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/

Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz

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The views expressed here are those of the individual personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any a16z funds. PLEASE SEE MORE HERE: https://a16z.com/disclosures/

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Today we’re sharing a feed drop from Cheeky Pint, where Stripe cofounder and president John Collison chats with legends in technology over a pint of Guinness.

In this episode, John is joined by a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen and tech investor Charlie Songhurst for a candid conversation about bubbles, downturns, and the psychology of markets. They discuss what makes Silicon Valley so hard to replace, the deep history of the Valley’s ecosystem, and the future of media. From the lessons of the dot-com crash to the future of venture capital and startups, this is an inside look at how big cycles shape innovation and what it takes to build on the frontier.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction 

1:56 Marc Andreessen’s early internet stories

3:10 Silicon Valley, risk, and downturns

8:30 Marc Andreessen’s early internet days

11:52 Investing across cycles

16:30 Can you tell when you’re in a bubble?

19:10 Trust, high-status VCs & preferential attachment

27:00 Venture capital, startups, and investment cycles

33:34  East Coast vs. West Coast: risk and culture

44:00 High trust culture in Silicon Valley

50:00 Why Silicon Valley, not Boston or Europe?

55:00  Company tragedies and missed opportunities

1:00:00 The internet boom, bubbles, and AI parallels

1:15:00 AI’s impact: productivity, jobs, and society

1:35:00 Crypto, stablecoins, and fintech

1:50:00 Public vs. private markets & venture strategy

2:00:00 Big companies, competition, and bureaucracy

2:05:00 Boards, governance, and the Elon Musk method

Resources: 

Watch more episodes from Cheeky Pint: https://www.youtube.com/@stripe

Listen to Cheeky Pint on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cheeky-pint/id1821055332

Find John on X: https://x.com/collision

Find Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlessonghurst/

Follow Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca

Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/ 

Stay Updated: 

Find us on X: https://x.com/a16z

Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

This information is for general educational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any investment or financial product. Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described in this podcast are not representative of all a16z investments and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by a16z is available at https://a16z.com/investment-list/. All investments involve risk, including the possible loss of capital.  Past performance is no guarantee of future results and the opinions presented cannot be viewed as an indicator of future performance. Before making decisions with legal, tax, or accounting effects, you should consult appropriate professionals. Information is from sources deemed reliable on the date of publication, but a16z does not guarantee its accuracy.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Scaling laws took us from GPT-1 to GPT-5 Pro. But in order to crack physics, we’ll need a different approach. 

In this episode, a16z General Partner Anjney Midha talks to Liam Fedus, former VP of post-training research and co-creator of ChatGPT at OpenAI, and Ekin Dogus Cubuk, former head of materials science and chemistry research at Google DeepMind, on their new startup Periodic Labs and their plan to automate discovery in the hard sciences.

Follow Liam on X: https://x.com/LiamFedus

Follow Dogus on X: https://x.com/ekindogus

Learn more about Periodic: https://periodic.com/

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Ads pay for the internet—and they’re about to change again. a16z General Partner Erik Torenberg, entrepreneur and author Antonio García Martínez, and Meta CMO Alex Schultz dive into growth and performance marketing, privacy myths, retail media, and the AI future of “audience-of-one” advertising—plus Instagram what-ifs, WhatsApp as a super-app, and how Meta’s feed shifted from social graphs to AI-ranked content.

Timecodes:

0:00 Introduction 
0:38 Book Inspiration & Positive Perspective on Advertising
4:43 Critiques of Online Advertising & Data Privacy
7:34 The Evolution of Media Business Models
10:12 Content Moderation and Platform Shifts
11:43 Connected vs. Unconnected Content & The Rise of AI
13:34 The Future of AI, Personalization, and Advertising
28:18 Retail Media Networks & First-Party Data
38:18 Alternative Histories: Instagram, Libra, and Industry What-Ifs
46:31 The Impact of AI on Jobs and Company Structure
55:00 The Metaverse, VR, and Future Platforms

Resources:

Make sure to get Alex’s book here!

Follow Alex on X: https://x.com/alexschultz

Follow Alex on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexschultz

Follow Alex on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@alexorig

Follow Antonio on X: https://x.com/antoniogm

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Announcing our new show, Monitoring the Situation, hosted by a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg and Katherine Boyle, with guest Eddie Lazzarin, CTO of a16z crypto. 

In this first episode, we ask how American Dynamism, consumer, games, and crypto all fit together, from Palmer/Oculus to Marc Andreessen’s Techno-Optimist Manifesto, while also exploring crypto × AD values, parenting in the AI era, and how internet subcultures shape the news.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction

1:25  Tech Coherence: American Dynamism & Consumer Crypto

4:55 The Hero’s Journey in Tech

5:59 Games, Toys, and Defense Innovation

6:38 Crypto & American Values

11:25 Decentralization, Federalism, and Tech

13:08 AI, China, and Competing Values

14:18 Medicine, Parenting, and the Wisdom of Crowds

20:47 ADHD, Diagnosis Incentives, and Education

27:31 Alternative Schooling & AI Tutors

35:46 Parenting, Family, and Modern Support Systems

42:24 Zoomer Culture, Internet Fragmentation, and X

54:38 Media, Social Networks, and Cultural Shifts

Resources: 

Find Eddy on X: https://x.com/eddylazzarin

Find Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle

Find Erik on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Stay Updated: 

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Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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What comes after vibe coding? Maybe vibe researching.

OpenAI’s Chief Scientist, Jakub Pachocki, and Chief Research Officer, Mark Chen, join a16z general partners Anjney Midha and Sarah Wang to go deep on GPT-5—how they fused fast replies with long-horizon reasoning, how they measure progress once benchmarks saturate, and why reinforcement learning keeps surprising skeptics.

They explore agentic systems (and their stability tradeoffs), coding models that change how software gets made, and the bigger bet: an automated researcher that can generate new ideas with real economic impact. Plus: how they prioritize compute, hire “cave-dweller” talent, protect fundamental research inside a product company, and keep pace without chasing every shiny demo.

Timecodes: 

0:00  Introduction & Goals of Automated Researcher

0:43  The Evolution of Reasoning in AI

1:46  Evaluations: From Benchmarks to Real-World Impact

5:15  Surprising Capabilities of GPT-5

6:56  The Research Roadmap: Next 1, 2, 5 Years

7:46  Long-Horizon Agency & Model Memory

9:44  Reasoning in Open-Ended Domains

11:18  The Role and Progress of Reinforcement Learning

13:14  Reward Modeling & Best Practices

14:21  The New Codex: Real-World Coding

16:20  AI vs. Human Coding: The New Default

20:07  What Makes a Great Researcher?

21:14  Persistence, Conviction, and Problem Selection

26:00  Building and Sustaining a Winning Research Culture

31:45  Balancing Product and Fundamental Research

39:00  The Importance of Compute and Physical Constraints

45:50  Maintaining Speed and Learning at Scale

47:18  Trust and Collaboration at OpenAI

Resources: 

Find Jakub on X: https://x.com/merettm

Find Mark on X: https://x.com/markchen90

Find Sarah on X: https://x.com/sarahdingwang

Find Anjney on X: https://x.com/AnjneyMidha

Stay Updated: 

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Should the US put a price on H-1B visas, or would that block the flow of new talent? Are AI coding agents actually making teams way more productive, or is it just hype? And in the AI platform shift, will the big winners be incumbents or new AI-native startups?

Erik Torenberg is joined by Box co-founder and CEO Aaron Levie, a16z board partner Steven Sinofsky, and a16z general partner Martin Casado to debate the biggest questions in tech. They unpack pricing vs lottery for H-1Bs and what we’re actually optimizing for, why Box now ships a third of its code from AI, the shift from writing to reviewing code, and why bottom-up personal AI tools succeed where top-down “AI pilots” struggle.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction

1:07  Latest immigration policy and who benefits

1:39  Debating the Price on H-1B Visas

2:11  Startups vs. Big Tech: Who Benefits from Policy?

2:31  Market Dynamics and Wage Impacts

3:44  The Lottery System and Startup Challenges

12:25  Labor Markets to Labor Productivity with AIs

14:47  Startups Achieving 10x Productivity with AI

16:43  Early Adopters, Hype, and Measuring Productivity

33:50  AI’s Impact on Professional and Creative Work

37:56  The Rise of AI-Native Startups

40:58  Platform Shifts: Startups vs. Incumbents

42:12  Disruption, Incumbents, and New Opportunities

53:00  The Future of Work and AI Adoption

54:38  Brand Effects and Early Leaders in AI

55:22  Will Incumbents or Newcomers Win the AI Race?

Resources:

Find Aaron on X: https://x.com/levie

Find Steven on X: https://x.com/stevesi

Find Martin on X: https://x.com/martin_casado

Find Erik on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Stay Updated: 

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!

Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z

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Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is one of the country’s top medical experts and a 24-year professor of medicine at Stanford. After being censored and deplatformed during COVID for his role in opposing harsh lockdowns, he was appointed Director of the National Institutes of Health by President Trump in 2025.

a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg, Vineeta Agarwala, and Jorge Conde join Dr. Bhattacharya to discuss the administration’s role in tackling the autism crisis, how to restore public trust in health authorities, how to make the NIH more dynamic and efficient, and how to streamline publishing and restore academic freedom.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction
1:30 Autism Initiative & New Research
2:45 Drug Discoveries: Leucovorin & Tylenol Caution
4:35 Preterm Birth & Broader Health Initiatives
5:45 The Replication Crisis in Science
8:50 Reforming NIH Funding & Scientific Culture
14:00 Allocation vs. Execution at NIH
17:30 Political & Scientific Decision-Making
22:30 Addressing Life Expectancy & Chronic Disease
27:00 Supporting Early Career Investigators
34:50 Academic Freedom & Open Science
37:30 Rebuilding Public Trust in Public Health
41:00 Communicating Science Amid Uncertainty
47:50 NIH Priorities: Nutrition, Chronic Disease, AI
50:00 The Future of AI in Science & Medicine
53:30 Advice for Rising Scientists
55:00 The Role and Limits of AI in Science

Resources:

Find Dr. Bhattacharya on X: https://x.com/DrJBhattacharya and https://x.com/NIHDirector_Jay

Find Erik on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Find Jorge on X: https://x.com/JorgeCondeBio

Find Vineeta on X: https://x.com/vintweeta

Learn more about the NIH: https://www.nih.gov/

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Nvidia’s $5 billion investment in Intel is one of the biggest surprises in semiconductors in years. Two longtime rivals are now teaming up, and the ripple effects could reshape AI, cloud, and the global chip race.

To make sense of it all, Erik Torenberg is joined by Dylan Patel, chief analyst at SemiAnalysis, joins Sarah Wang, general partner at a16z, and Guido Appenzeller, a16z partner and former CTO of Intel’s Data Center and AI business unit. Together, they dig into what the deal means for Nvidia, Intel, AMD, ARM, and Huawei; the state of US-China tech bans; Nvidia’s moat and Jensen Huang’s leadership; and the future of GPUs, mega data centers, and AI infrastructure.

Resources: 

Find Dylan on X: https://x.com/dylan522p

Find Sarah on X: https://x.com/sarahdingwang

Find Guido on X: https://x.com/appenz

Learn more about SemiAnalysis: https://semianalysis.com/dylan-patel/

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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In this episode of Honestly with Bari Weiss, we share a special conversation featuring a16z general partner Katherine Boyle in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s shocking assassination.

Katherine reflects on what courage means in a culture where words and debate are increasingly met with violence. Drawing on faith, history, and her own response to recent tragedies, she discusses the idea of martyrdom, not only in its most extreme sense, but also in the small, everyday choices to speak the truth despite risk.

Timecodes: 

0:00  Introduction 

0:49  Remembering Charlie Kirk

2:46  The Meaning of Martyrdom

4:49  Courage and the Choice We Face

9:16  Returning to Normalcy

10:35  The Age of Extremes

12:15 Words, Violence, and the Next Generation

14:10  Reclaiming the Center

18:18  The Power and Danger of Rhetoric

21:55  The Call to Speak Up

Resources: 

Listen to more from Honestly: https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/honestly-with-bari-weiss/id1570872415

Find Bari on X: https://x.com/bariweiss

Find Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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The web is unhealthy, and AI agents are about to rewrite how we shop.

In this episode, a16z General Partner Alex Rampell and Partner Justine Moore explore how AI agents will change commerce and the implications for Google’s business model, affiliate marketing, online shopping, and more.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction 

0:12 The Role of AI Agents in Commerce

1:28 Affiliate Marketing & Impulse Buys

4:02 Observing Consumer Behavior & AI

6:08 Dynamic Pricing & E-commerce Trends

7:20 Online vs. Offline Shopping Behaviors

10:09 The Challenge of Attribution in Commerce

12:19 Aggregators, Brands, and Business Models

15:24 Trend Cycles & Single SKU Retailers

17:49 Google, Search, and the Freemium Model

22:41 The Unhealthy Web & Commercialization

26:04 Video Reviews & Trust in Commerce

29:10 The Costco Model & Consumer Trust

33:15 AI’s Impact on Different Types of Purchases

39:56 The Future: Specialized Shopping Agents

40:16 Opportunities for New Durable Companies

44:18 The Merchant Side: Infrastructure for AI Agents

Resources: 

Read the article: http://a16z.com/ai-x-commerce/

Find Alex on X: https://x.com/arampell

Find Justine on X: https://x.com/venturetwins

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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OpenAI’s Codex has already shipped hundreds of thousands of pull requests in its first month. But what is it really, and how will coding agents change the future of software?

In this episode, General Partner Anjney Midha goes behind the scenes with one of Codex’s product leads- Alexander Embiricos - to unpack its origin story, why its PR success rate is so high, the safety challenges of autonomous agents, and what this all means for developers, students, and the future of coding.

Timecodes:

0:00 Intro: The Vision for AI Agents

1:25 Codex’s Origin and Naming

3:20 Early Prototypes and Agent Form Factors

6:00 Cloud Agents: Safety and Security

9:40 Prompt Injection and Attack Vectors

12:00 PR Merging: Metrics and Transparency

17:00 The Future of Code Review and Automation

20:00 User Adoption: Internal vs. External Surprises

22:00 Multi-Turn Interactions and Product Learnings

29:30 Best-of-N, Slot Machine Analogy, and Creativity

33:00 Human Taste, Iteration, and Collaboration

40:00 AI’s Impact on Software Engineering Careers

45:00 Education, CS Degrees, and AI Integration

49:00 Prototyping, Hackathons, and Speed to Magic

55:00 Legacy Code, Modernization, and Global Adoption

1:00:00 Enterprise, Security, and Air-Gapped Environments

1:05:00 Product Roadmap and Future of Codex

1:10:00 Advice for Founders and Startups

1:15:00 Education Reform and Project-Based Learning

1:20:00 Hiring, Building, and New Grad Advice

Resources: 

Find Alex on X: https://x.com/embirico

Find Anjney on X: https://twitter.com/AnjneyMidha

Stay Updated: 

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!

Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Can we make science as fast as software? 

In this episode, Erik Torenberg talks with Patrick Hsu (cofounder of Arc Institute) and a16z general partner Jorge Conde about Arc’s “virtual cells” moonshot, which uses foundation models to simulate biology and guide experiments. 

They discuss why research is slow, what an AlphaFold-style moment for cell biology could look like, and how AI might improve drug discovery. The conversation also covers hype versus substance in AI for biology, clinical bottlenecks, capital intensity, and how breakthroughs like GLP-1s show the path from science to major business and health impact.

Resources:

Find Patrick on X: https://x.com/pdhsu

Find Jorge on X: https://x.com/JorgeCondeBio

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In this conversation from Lenny’s Podcast, Ben Horowitz joins Lenny to discuss the psychological muscle every founder needs, why hesitation can be fatal for CEOs, when it’s time to replace a founder, and how to normalize failure while building confidence. They also explore the Databricks founding story, investing in Adam Neumann after WeWork, whether AI is in a bubble, where the real opportunities lie, and Ben’s work with the Paid in Full Foundation supporting hip-hop pioneers. The result is a candid look at leadership, product management, and what it takes to build enduring companies.

Timecodes: 

00:00 Introduction 

00:22 The Psychology of Leadership & Decision-Making

02:41 Leadership lessons from Shaka Senghor

07.56 Struggle, Pain, and Growth as a CEO 

10:15 Running toward fear and why hesitation kills companies

19:35 Who shouldn’t start a company

22:36 The Databricks story: thinking bigger

24:54 Managerial leverage and CEO psychology

28:06 When founders should be replaced as CEOs

31:20 Normalizing failure for CEOs

37:57 Counterintuitive lessons about building companies

42:31 “Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager”

48:21 Product managers as leaders

51:16 Why a16z invested in Adam Neumann after WeWork

56:23 Is AI in a bubble?

01:02:43 The biggest opportunities in AI

01:12:51 Why U.S. leadership in AI matters

01:18:53 The Paid in Full Foundation for hip-hop pioneers

01:23:18 Lightning round: book recommendations, products, and life mottos

Resources: 

Find Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz

Find Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/behorowitz/

Watch more of Lenny’s Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@LennysPodcast

Check out Lenny’s newsletter here: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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The $13T U.S. mortgage market serves 50M homeowners but still runs on decades-old software. 

In this episode, a16z GP Angela Strange hosts Tim Mayopoulos (ex-CEO of Fannie Mae and ex-president of Blend), Mike Yu (co-founder and CEO of Vesta), and Andrew Wang (co-founder and CEO of Valon) to unpack why standardization and regulation slow change, and how modern loan-origination and servicing platforms, cleaner data, and AI can cut costs, boost transparency, and reduce errors. They also discuss policy levers that could speed innovation and what a true one-tap mortgage could look like.

Timecodes: 

00:00 Introduction 

00:59 The Scale and Structure of the US Mortgage Market

01:33 Why Mortgage Tech is Slow to Change

02:00 Challenges of Standardization and Regulation

03:41 The Human Side of Home Buying

07:43 Old Software and Its Impact on Homeowners

11:16 Data Transparency and Capital Markets

13:17 Building New Mortgage Infrastructure: LOS and Servicing

16:22 Operational Challenges and Opportunities in Servicing

22:04 Driving Digital Adoption at Fannie Mae

25:15 Modernizing Data and Appraisals

28:27 Core Replacement vs. Wrappers: Tech Strategies

35:29 AI in Mortgage: Today and Tomorrow

40:42 AI, Regulation, and the Future of Compliance

43:54 Advice for Lenders Preparing for an AI Future

47:49 Visions for the Future of Mortgages

Resources: 

Find Angela on X: https://x.com/astrange

Find Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-j-mayopoulos-56972a45/

Find Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wangandrewd/

Find Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeyu1/

Stay Updated: 

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Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z 

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX?si=3E8B3qT9TyiwAHJ7JnaKbg

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Why do some consumer products explode into networks that reshape the internet, while others fade away?

Today on the podcast, a16z general partners Anish Acharya and Chris Dixon take on that question. Anish invests in AI-native consumer products and the next wave of consumer tech. Chris is best known for his work in Web3 and network economies, and he’s also led some of a16z’s biggest consumer bets.

Together, they cover the history and power of consumer networks, the exponential forces that shape how they grow, and what it all means for founders building in the age of AI.

Timecodes:

00:00 Introduction 

00:43 The Power of Networks in Tech

02:19 Moore’s Law, Composability, and Network Effects

06:39 Building Networks: Tools vs. Networks

10:49 Brand, Pricing, and Consumer Software Trends

14:33 Movements, Communities, and Niche Markets

20:02 Decentralization, AI, and the Open Web

24:45 Platform Shifts and the Idea Maze

29:55 Native vs. Skeuomorphic Technologies

36:14 Open Source, Policy, and the Future of AI

42:03 Closing Thoughts & Outro

Resources: 
Find Chris on X: https://x.com/cdixon

Find Anish on X: https://x.com/illscience

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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What happens when AI collides with salesmanship, streaming-era sports, and healthcare?

In this episode, Erik Torenberg is joined by Mark Cuban, entrepreneur, Dallas Mavericks co-owner, and founder of Cost Plus Drugs.

Topics include fiery group chats and how dissent sharpens thinking, the sales playbook of modern politics, and concrete fixes for U.S. healthcare like ending PBM opacity, publishing real prices, and government-backed patient financing. Mark also explains how AI is pushing media from “social” to algorithmic, why he expects millions of models, and why ESOPs are an underrated wealth engine. He shares what he’d build today and weighs in on NBA economics under the new collective bargaining agreement.

Timecodes: 

00:00 Introduction 

00:47 Salesmanship, Politics, and Social Media

04:05 AI, Algorithms, and the Future of Media

06:29 Fragmentation of Social Platforms

09:04 Political Messaging & Economic Populism

12:05 Wealth, Equity, and Employee Ownership

16:39 AI’s Impact on Education and Healthcare

21:32 Fixing the US Healthcare System

29:39 Entrepreneurship in the Age of AI

33:38 Business Success, Sports, and Investments

35:32 NBA Economics and Team Building

50:44 Personal Priorities & Closing Thoughts

Resources: 

Find Mark on X: https://x.com/mcuban

Stay Updated: 

Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16z

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Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Who’s speaking up for startups in Washington, D.C.?

In this episode, Matt Perault (Head of AI Policy, a16z) and Collin McCune (Head of Government Affairs, a16z) unpack the “Little Tech Agenda” for AI- why AI rules should regulate harmful use, not model development; how to keep open source open; the roles of the federal government vs states in regulating AI; and how the U.S. can compete globally without shutting out new founders.

Timecodes: 

0:00 – Introduction 

1:12 – Defining the Little Tech Agenda

4:40 – Challenges for Startups vs. Big Tech

6:37 – Principles of Smart AI Regulation

9:55 – History of AI Policy & Regulatory Fears

19:26 – The Role of Open Source and Global Competition

23:45 – Motivations Behind Policy Approaches

26:40 – Debates on Regulating Use vs. Development

35:15 – Federal vs. State Roles in AI Policy

39:24 – AI Policy and U.S.–China Competition

40:45 – Current Policy Landscape & Action Plans

42:47 – Moratoriums, Preemption, and Political Dynamics

50:00 – Looking Forward: The Future of AI Policy

56:16 – Conclusion & Disclaimers

Resources: 

Read the Little Tech Agenda: https://a16z.com/the-little-tech-agenda/

Read ‘Regulate AI Use, Not AI Development : https://a16z.com/regulate-ai-use-not-ai-development/

Read Martin’s article ‘Base AI Policy on Evidence, Not Existential Angst: https://a16z.com/base-ai-policy-on-evidence-not-existential-angst/

Read ‘Setting the Agenda for Global AI Leadership’:

https://a16z.com/setting-the-agenda-for-global-ai-leadership-assessing-the-roles-of-congress-and-the-states/

Read ‘The Commerce Clause in the Age of AI”: 

https://a16z.com/the-commerce-clause-in-the-age-of-ai-guardrails-and-opportunities-for-state-legislatures/

Find Matt on X: https://x.com/MattPerault

Find Collin on X: https://x.com/Collin_McCune

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Stainless founder Alex Rattray joins a16z partner Jennifer Li to talk about the future of APIs, SDKs, and the rise of MCP (Model Context Protocol). Drawing on his experience at Stripe—where he helped redesign API docs and built code-generation systems—Alex explains why the SDK is the API for most developers, and why high-quality, idiomatic libraries are essential not just for humans, but now for AI agents as well.

They dive into:

• The evolution of SDK generation and lessons from building at scale inside Stripe.
• Why MCP reframes APIs as interfaces for large language models.
• The challenges of designing tools and docs for both developers and AI agents.
• How context limits, dynamic tool generation, and documentation shape agent usability.
• The future of developer platforms in an era where “every company is an API company.”

Timecodes: 

0:00 – Introduction: APIs as the Dendrites of the Internet

1:49 – Building API Platforms: Lessons from Stripe

3:03 – SDKs: The Developer’s Interface

6:16 – The MCP Model: APIs for AI Agents

9:23 – Designing for LLMs and AI Users

13:08 – Solving Context Window Challenges

16:57 – The Importance of Strongly Typed SDKs

21:07 – The Future of API and Agent Experience

24:45 – Lessons from Leading API Companies

26:14 – Outro and Disclaimers

Resources: 

Find Alex on X: https://x.com/rattrayalex

Find Jennifer on X: https://x.com/JenniferHli

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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

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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Taken from The Oprah Podcast, this special episode brings together Shaka Senghor, a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz, and Oprah Winfrey for a powerful conversation on resilience and transformation.

Shaka, a resilience expert, motivational speaker, and bestselling author of Writing My Wrongs, shares his journey from incarceration to redemption along with insights from his new book, How to Be Free. Full of hard-earned wisdom and practical tools, it’s a guide for anyone seeking freedom in their own life.

Timecodes: 

0:00 Introduction 
1:30 Shaka’s Journey: From Prison to Freedom
4:10 The Power of Narrative and Mindset
6:10 Active Journaling & Writing My Wrongs
8:45 Escaping Life’s Hidden Prisons
10:00 The Role of Forgiveness
16:40 Healing Family Relationships
21:00 Unconditional Forgiveness & True Freedom
22:40 Resilience as a Spiritual Principle
24:15 Mentorship & Meeting Ben Horowitz
28:55 Lessons on Success and Failure
30:20 The Meaning of a Pardon
31:50 Life After Prison: Finding Joy in Freedom
32:30 Advice for Listeners: How to Begin Your Own Journey
35:15 Closing Thoughts 

Resources: 

Find Shaka on X: https://x.com/ShakaSengho

Find Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz

Find Oprah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/

Listen to the full podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381

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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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify

Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts

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

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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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