a16z Podcast

Cloud Wars and Company Wars: Play Nice But Win


Listen Later

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 just start, but keep, and transform, their company and business? Especially as it adapts to broader, underlying tech platform shifts. Michael Dell shares all this in his upcoming new book, Play Nice to Win: A CEO's Journey from Founder to Leader... he also, tellingly, may be one of the longest-standing founder-CEOs (37 years so far).

Because this is really a story about innovation, who decides, who judges, who does it, and where: In the markets, in public, in private; in the both the big picture and the inner detailed workings of a business beyond "cells in a spreadsheet"; and even in fighting -- or harnessing! -- narratives, whether it's the demise-of-PC or cloud wars 1.0 /2.0... And where trends like the cost paradox of cloud, and "end of cloud" edge computing, among others like AI & ML, also come in. In this special book-launch episode of the a16z Podcast with Marc Andreessen, Martin Casado, and Sonal Chokshi debate the Cloud Wars to the Company Wars (along with some behind-scenes stories and even some star wars) with Michael Dell... and whether you can really play nice to win.

 

image: Dell EMC World 2016/ © Dell Inc.

 

The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.

This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. 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 fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, 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 funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

a16z PodcastBy Andreessen Horowitz

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

951 ratings


More shows like a16z Podcast

View all
This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

This Week in Startups

1,278 Listeners

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

522 Listeners

Acquired by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Acquired

4,226 Listeners

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy by Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

2,289 Listeners

Equity by TechCrunch, Rebecca Bellan, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, Max Zeff, Theresa Loconsolo

Equity

339 Listeners

Masters of Scale by WaitWhat

Masters of Scale

3,990 Listeners

Y Combinator Startup Podcast by Y Combinator

Y Combinator Startup Podcast

227 Listeners

16 Minutes News by a16z by Andreessen Horowitz

16 Minutes News by a16z

105 Listeners

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

9,254 Listeners

Raising Health by Andreessen Horowitz, a16z Bio + Health

Raising Health

144 Listeners

a16z Live by Andreessen Horowitz

a16z Live

25 Listeners

ACQ2 by Acquired by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

ACQ2 by Acquired

242 Listeners

web3 with a16z crypto by a16z crypto, Robert Hackett, Sonal Chokshi

web3 with a16z crypto

62 Listeners

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups by Conviction

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

127 Listeners

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley by BG2Pod

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley

466 Listeners

AI + a16z by a16z

AI + a16z

32 Listeners

Lightcone Podcast by Y Combinator

Lightcone Podcast

20 Listeners

Training Data by Sequoia Capital

Training Data

43 Listeners