a16z Podcast

By Andreessen Horowitz

Technology Business

What's a16z Podcast about?

The a16z Podcast discusses tech and culture trends, news, and the future – especially as ‘software eats the world’. It features industry experts, business leaders, and other interesting thinkers and voices from around the world. This podcast is produced by Andreessen Horowitz (aka “a16z”), a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. Multiple episodes are released every week; visit a16z.com for more details and to sign up for our newsletters and other content as well!

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On Mentorship and Leadership

09.28.2022

Behind many great leaders, you’ll usually find a great mentor. a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz discusses mentorship and leadership with his mentor, Silicon Valley legend Ken Coleman, and his mentee, Michel Feaster, founder of Usermind and Chief Product Officer of Qualtrics.

a16z Podcast episodes:

09.28.2022 On Mentorship and Leadership Behind many great leaders, you’ll usually find a great mentor. a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz discusses mentorship and leadership with his mentor, Silicon Valley legend Ken Coleman, and his mentee, Michel Feaster, founder of Usermind and Chief Product Officer of Qualtrics.
09.07.2022 Cloud Wars, Company Wars, and Innovating Through Change How do you transform and innovate as your company grows and matures, even as the underlying technology platforms shift? Michael Dell of Dell Technologies joins a16z's Martin Casado, Marc Andreessen, and Sonal Choksi to discuss.
09.03.2022 How to Find Product-Market-Sales Fit Getting to “product-market fit” is one of the key milestones for any startup. But for enterprise and B2B founders, product-market fit often requires a strong strategy around how you sell that product.
08.26.2022 The Fintech Opportunity for Students and Gen Z It’s back to school season, and student loans and education funding are top of mind. Beyond the policy debates, though, what is the opportunity for fintech to help students and other young people navigate their first big financial decisions? Mos ...
08.19.2022 How to Make Better Decisions How do you make a smart and logical decision when you don’t have all the facts – and probably never will? When and how do you decide to go against consensus opinion? Decision strategist and professional poker player Annie Duke ...
08.11.2022 Learning from Open Source Communities While “community” is a common buzzword in everything from web3 to SaaS, community has long played a key role in the modern open source movement. Author Nadia Asparouhova joins to talk about her book, Working in Public: The Making and ...
08.04.2022 The Art and Science of Moderating Discussions Effectively moderating live discussions is for more than just podcasters and event hosts -- anyone who runs important meetings or communicates with large groups can benefit from the expert best practices of great moderation. This episode shares battle-tested frameworks, concrete ...
07.27.2022 Tiktok's Algorithm and Creativity Network Effects "The algorithm" is a common buzzword in discussions about social media -- but how do algorithms actually drive product design today? In this deep dive episode from 2020 on the algorithm that powers TikTok, Eugene Wei discusses the "creativity network ...
07.21.2022 From Research to Startup, There and Back Again From 2000 to 2016, it was the best of times and the worst of times for Silicon Valley -- and John Hennessy, as president of Stanford University during that time, was a key player in the Valley's ecosystem. Hennessy is ...
07.13.2022 Crisis Communications 101 Managing a crisis is more than a communications challenge -- it's a business challenge and an opportunity to change your culture. a16z's Margit Wennmachers and Kim Milosevich discuss crisis communications 101.
07.06.2022 All About Synthetic Biology With the field of synthetic biology -- which involves designing and engineering organisms to specific purposes -- exploding and driving both innovation and real-world impact from drug development to manufacturing and more, how did we get here? This episode digs ...
06.29.2022 Mining the Data for Cobalt With increased demand for better batteries, cobalt has become one of the most important metals on the planet. Kobold Metals co-founder and CEO Kurt House, John Thompson of Cornell, and a16z general partner Connie Chan join Hanne Winarsky in discussing ...
06.23.2022 Applying AI in B2B While new generative AI models like DALL-E 2 and Imagen have recently brought broader awareness and excitement to the space, AI is already changing how we work and the software we use across the enterprise. People.AI founder and CEO Oleg ...
06.15.2022 More from Less: The Environment, Capitalism, and Technology In times of great uncertainty, it can help to examine the longer arc of innovation and where we are headed. MIT economist and best-selling author Andrew McAfee joins Marc Andreessen and Sonal Choksi to discuss the case for why human ...
06.08.2022 Blockchains, crypto, & web3: Connections, models, more In this crossover episode from new show "web3 with a16z", a16z general partners Chris Dixon and Ali Yahya and a16z crypto head of research Tim Roughgarden, with host Sonal Choksi, set context and discuss the connections between blockchain, crypto, and ...
06.02.2022 Crypto, an Oral Essay In this special “innovation overview” episode from April 2021, the a16z crypto team and other experts give a primer on crypto and web3, starting from the basics of crypto and how it works to more recent innovations and beyond -- ...
05.26.2022 Stories of Startup Survival Mode The story of startups is often a story of survival. What do you do when the markets go down? When your biggest customer churns? When your big product launch falls flat? Ben Horowitz and Jason Rosenthal share stories and lessons ...
05.18.2022 Innovating While Scaling: Lessons from Amazon What can today’s startups learn from Amazon’s so-called “invention machine” and a culture of growth and innovation that led to several successful and diverse lines of products? As it scaled, how did Amazon define and adapt its culture and practices ...
05.11.2022 When Gross Margins Matter In turbulent times, it's critical to to understand the fundamental finances that drive the business. One of the key metrics both investors and founders look at is gross margins. This conversation digs into the what, when, and why gross margins ...
05.04.2022 The Founder to Investor Journey Every founder's journey is unique, and a16z general partner David Ulevitch's is no exception. From working in tech during the Dot Com boom to founding and guiding his own startups to successful exits to becoming an investor, he shares his ...
04.28.2022 Inside Apple Software Design What was it like to build and demo new things for Steve Jobs? How did Apple develop the software components of iconic hardware products iPhone, iPad, and more? Longtime Apple software engineer and designer Ken Kocienda shares stories and lessons ...
04.21.2022 Tesla and the Nature of Disruption “Disruption” is a word often used in the tech -- and yet, spotting and harnessing truly disruptive technology is much trickier than it looks. Benedict Evans and Steven Sinofsky use the example of Tesla and electric vehicles to dig into ...
04.14.2022 Designing a Culture of Reinvention Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings talks with a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz about his management philosophies and learnings from managing Netflix through multiple pivots. Because as companies grow and their technologies and customers rapidly evolve, building a resilient culture that ...
04.06.2022 The Basics of Growth Marketing: Engagement & Retention So, you’ve found product market fit and you’re starting to acquire users. But it’s not enough to just have users – you need to make sure they’re sticking around and keep finding value in your product. How do you measure ...
03.30.2022 The Basics of Growth Marketing: User Acquisition Growth is one of the most top of mind questions for entrepreneurs building startups of all kinds -- but how does one go beyond a mindset of "growth hacking" to thinking about growth more systemically and holistically? a16z general partners ...
03.24.2022 The Great Data Debate 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 ...
03.16.2022 Principles for Work and Life 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 ...
03.10.2022 How the Internet Happened With Web3 gathering more momentum than ever before across the tech ecosystem, what can we learn from the recent past of tech adoption? In this episode from December 2018, author and podcaster Brian McCullough talks with a16z general partner Chris ...
02.21.2022 Technologies & Threads Through the Fabric of Our Lives with @vpostrel @smc90 In this deep dive conversation about The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World, we cover everything from science and math across several fields; to commerce to management & measurement; to the always-meta narrative of HOW ...
02.20.2022 Innovating and Deciding, for Companies and People with @annieduke @pmarca @smc90 Marc Andreessen and Sonal interview author, consultant/advisor, and former pro poker player Annie Duke, in one of her first few appearances with us, and in a conversation quite unlike her other conversations. We cover a broad ...
02.19.2022 Geo-engineering and the Power of Narrative with @andersen @omnivorousread @smc90 On making a really wild (quite literally wild;) geo-engineering idea at massive scale real – specifically, bringing back lab-grown woolly mammoths, which was discussed in a 2017 feature by Andersen in The Atlantic (and also discussed ...
01.26.2022 M&A, Before and After: What Founders Need to Know Welcome to the a16z podcast. Today we’re 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 ...
12.10.2021 How 'Hyperscalers' are Innovating — and Competing — in the Data Center 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 ...
12.06.2021 Kickstarting Network Effects Network effects can be found powering almost every major technology company, from messaging apps and workplace collaboration tools, like Slack and Zoom, to marketplaces, like Airbnb and Instacart to even the internet itself. In this podcast, we look at the ...
11.25.2021 NFTs, Explained with @jessewldn @ljxie @smc90 Everything you need or want to know about NFTs (or to help others understand NFTs.) Cuts through the noise to share the signal: covering what NFTs are, the underlying crypto big picture, and then specifically what ...
11.11.2021 Play-to-Earn Gaming and How Work is Evolving in Web3 In today's episode we’re 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 ...
11.02.2021 On container ships, supply chains, and the physical world @smc90 reads out loud @typesfast essay on container ships, supply chains, standardization, and a software layer over the physical world
10.15.2021 Crypto Security and the New Web3 Mindsets for Users Today’s 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 ...
10.02.2021 Cloud Wars and Company Wars: Play Nice But Win with @michaeldell @martin_casado @pmarca @smc90 It's rare to see a company go public then private then back to public again, as Dell Technologies did -- and which also pulled off one of the most epic mergers of all time with ...
09.20.2021 Uncontrolled Spread: Science, Policy, Institutions, Infrastructure with @ScottGottliebMD @pmarca @vintweeta @vijaypande @smc90 We were at an inflection point with the COVID pandemic, between old and new tech, science institutions, public health policy, more. So what can we learn from the past for the future? Former head ...
07.24.2021 Systems Leadership for Disruptors and Incumbents with @robsiegel @jeffimmelt @jeff_jordan @smc90 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… Whether you're an early startup or ...
05.19.2021 NFT Use Cases, Today and Tomorrow 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 ...
05.02.2021 Man, Mosquito, Malaria Vaccine with @jorgecondebio @rvenkayya @smc90 We dig into what's hype/ what's real about news of a breakthrough malaria vaccine candidate, beyond the headlines and beyond the buzz: data, science, tech, and the long arc of innovation. Because this is an innovation ...
04.17.2021 Crypto, an Oral Essay 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 ...
04.08.2021 On Monetizing Community with Patreon Cofounder Sam Yam with @samyamiam @ljin18 @laurenmurrow It's clear from the growth of Patreon, Substack, TikTok, Clubhouse and many more that the power of the Creator Economy continues to build. In this episode, first published a year ago, Patreon cofounder Sam Yam, Atelier ...
04.03.2021 The Creator Economy: NFTs and Beyond In today’s episode of the a16z Podcast, we’re 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 ...
03.28.2021 All about NFTs with @ljxie @jessewldn @smc90 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!" -- this special deep-dive ...
03.24.2021 The Next Wave of Marketplace Startups with @conniechan @DCoolican @jeff_jordan @laurenmurrow and @sriramk Marketplaces encompass a huge swath of services we use every day, from grocery delivery to online shopping to remote learning. Which marketplace companies are on a tear and which are locked in close ...
03.18.2021 The Third Vaccine, and Vaccine Choice Understanding J&J vaccine efficacy and more.
03.09.2021 Companies & Culture: What You Do Is Who You Are with @bhorowitz @smc90 This podcast (which was recorded at the Computer History Museum before the pandemic) is all about how companies create culture beyond their values and mission statements: A lot's changed... and a lot hasn't. Based on the book ...

Older episodes

a16z Podcast

What's a16z Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

a16z Podcast episodes:

On Mentorship and Leadership

Cloud Wars, Company Wars, and Innovating Through Change

How to Find Product-Market-Sales Fit

The Fintech Opportunity for Students and Gen Z

How to Make Better Decisions

Learning from Open Source Communities

The Art and Science of Moderating Discussions

Tiktok's Algorithm and Creativity Network Effects

From Research to Startup, There and Back Again

Crisis Communications 101

All About Synthetic Biology

Mining the Data for Cobalt

Applying AI in B2B

More from Less: The Environment, Capitalism, and Technology

Blockchains, crypto, & web3: Connections, models, more

Crypto, an Oral Essay

Stories of Startup Survival Mode

Innovating While Scaling: Lessons from Amazon

When Gross Margins Matter

The Founder to Investor Journey

Inside Apple Software Design

Tesla and the Nature of Disruption

Designing a Culture of Reinvention

The Basics of Growth Marketing: Engagement & Retention

The Basics of Growth Marketing: User Acquisition

The Great Data Debate

Principles for Work and Life

How the Internet Happened

Technologies & Threads Through the Fabric of Our Lives

Innovating and Deciding, for Companies and People

Geo-engineering and the Power of Narrative

M&A, Before and After: What Founders Need to Know

How 'Hyperscalers' are Innovating — and Competing — in the Data Center

Kickstarting Network Effects

NFTs, Explained

Play-to-Earn Gaming and How Work is Evolving in Web3

On container ships, supply chains, and the physical world

Crypto Security and the New Web3 Mindsets for Users

Cloud Wars and Company Wars: Play Nice But Win

Uncontrolled Spread: Science, Policy, Institutions, Infrastructure

Systems Leadership for Disruptors and Incumbents

NFT Use Cases, Today and Tomorrow

Man, Mosquito, Malaria Vaccine

Crypto, an Oral Essay

On Monetizing Community with Patreon Cofounder Sam Yam

The Creator Economy: NFTs and Beyond

All about NFTs

The Next Wave of Marketplace Startups

The Third Vaccine, and Vaccine Choice

Companies & Culture: What You Do Is Who You Are

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