The a16z Show

The last few decades have been a period of transition for defense. An increasing number of startups have begun to rival large defense primes, the industry has gradually become a calculus of both hardware and software, and exponential technologies have forced the DoD to rethink how it has  traditionally done business.

These changing conditions were some of the inputs to resulting in the DIU – Defense Innovation Unit – starting in 2015 within the Department of Defense, focused on accelerating the adoption of technology.

In this episode recorded at a16z’s American Dynamism Summit in January, a16z General Partner Katherine Boyle is joined by the Director of the DIU, Doug Beck, plus two critical founders ushering in this new era of defense: Brian Schimpf, cofounder and CEO of Anduril and Brandon Tseng, cofounder of Shield AI.

So what does the next wave of defense innovation really look like? Let’s find out.

00:00 - The Future of Defense Innovation 

03:30 - The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)

05:45 - Adoption of Startup tech by the DoD

07:42 - Acquisition, Budgeting, and Contracting

13:17 - Traditional Primes vs Startups

14:25 - Cost-Plus Fixed Fee Contracts

20:11 - The Replicator Program

22:26 - The New Threat Environment

27:11 - Scale and Readiness for Modern Warfare

32:15 - Procurement Reform and Feasibility

39:30 - Success Metrics for Defense

Resources:

Learn more about AD Summit 2024: www.a16z.com/adsummit

Watch Brian’s stage talk at AD Summit 2024: https://a16z.com/securing-americas-future-how-technology-companies-and-washington-are-building-a-safer-world/

Watch all of the stage talks at AD Summit 2024: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM4u6XbiXf5pAKmk1AeZ9964KGScf4lHM

Find Katherine on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KTmBoyle

Find Brandon and Shield AI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/shieldaitech

Find Brian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/schimpfbrian

Find Doug and the DIU on Twitter: https://twitter.com/diu_x

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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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American Dynamism. A term coined by a16z General Partner, Katherine Boyle, two years ago, when she and David Ulevitch founded the firm's American Dynamism investing practice.

Beyond a sector or movement, American Dynamism embodies innovation, community, and a unique philosophy touching every facet of American life.

In this episode, we hear from 10 voices, including policymakers, founders, and funders, as they share what American Dynamism means to them. They discuss the critical technologies shaping the future and the challenges on the path to the next decade of dynamism. 

Stay tuned for more exclusive conversations from a16z's second annual American Dynamism Summit in Washington, D.C.

Resources: 

Find Dr. Kathryn Huff on Twitter: https://twitter.com/katyhuff

Find Nand Mulchandani on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nandmulchandani

Find Doug Beck and the DIU on Twitter: https://twitter.com/diu_x

Find Mitch Lee on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dontmitch

Find Ian Cinnamon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IanCinnamon

Find Doug Bernauer and Radiant on Twitter: https://twitter.com/radiantnuclear

Find Chris Bennett on Twitter: https://twitter.com/8ennett

Find Mike Slagh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeSlagh

Find Rahul Sidhu on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rahoolsidoo

Find Wyatt Smith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wyatt_h_smith

Learn more about American Dynamism: https://a16z.com/american-dynamism

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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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You might recognize the name Mark Pincus but we almost guarantee you recognize the game Farmville. 

Mark Pincus is the founder and longtime CEO of Zynga, known for its massive global franchise of games, including those household names like Farmville and Words with Friends. Zynga was also at the forefront of the transition to mobile and the use of large platforms like Facebook for distribution.

In this episode Mark joins Josh Lu from the a16z Games team for a fireside chat. They discuss navigating major tech waves and recognizing "true signal" opportunities, and explore a wide range of topics, from the strategic insights that propelled Zynga to success, the future of the Metaverse, and the philosophy behind minimum viable products. 

This conversation offers invaluable insights for both gaming industry insiders and enthusiasts looking to understand the dynamics of tech innovation and entrepreneurship.

Topics Covered:

00:00 - How Zynga Spotted the Mobile Wave

02:47 - Challenges of Starting Zynga

05:24 - Zynga's Early Workforce and Learning HTML

07:40 - Preparing for Tech Waves

11:29 - The Importance of Being Too Early

15:42 - The attribute of great founders

18:33 - Hiring Philosophy 

22:02 - ‘Everyone is  a CEO’

24:20 - Fast Iteration and Learning from Failures

31:06 - Personal Gaming Preferences

32:52 - Advice on Reevaluating Projects and True Signal

35:50 - AI's Role in Consumer Adoption and Gaming

40:17 - Community as a Core Element

43:31 - UGC Gaming Space and Future Computing Paradigms

Resources: 

Find Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/markpinc

Find Josh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshlu

Learn more about SPEEDRUN 3.0: https://a16z.com/speedrun3

Learn more about SPEEDRUN: ttps://a16z.com/speedrun-your-gaming-startup

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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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In early 2024, the notion of high fidelity, believable AI-generated video seemed a distant future to many. Yet, a mere few weeks into the year, OpenAI unveiled Sora, its new state of the art text-to-video model producing videos of up to 60 seconds. The output shattered expectations – even for other builders and researchers within generative AI – sparking widespread speculation and awe.

How does Sora achieve such realism? And are explicit 3D modeling techniques or game engines at play?

In this episode of the a16z Podcast, a16z General Partner Anjney Midha connects with Stefano Ermon, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford and key figure at the lab behind the diffusion models now used in Sora, ChatGPT, and Midjourney. Together, they delve into the challenges of video generation, the cutting-edge mechanics of Sora, and what this all could mean for the road ahead.

Resources: 

Find Stefano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/stefanoermon

Find Anjney on Twitter: https://twitter.com/anjneymidha

Learn more about Stefano’s Deep Generative Models course: :

https://deepgenerativemodels.github.io

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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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The electric grid needs an update. 

In this explainer, a16z Partner Ryan McEntush discusses the escalating complexity of the grid, unveils its vulnerabilities, and traces the evolutionary path that has led us to this point. From the surging demands of AI to outdated infrastructure, we delve into the potential roles of cutting-edge technologies such as solar batteries, natural gas, and nuclear power in shaping the grid's future.

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Introduction

(02:28) - The Need for Grid Modernization

(04:43) - Understanding the Grid's Operation and Challenges

(06:47) - The Complexity of Grid Management

(08:31) - Increasing Outages and Volatility

(11:49) - The Role of New Technologies

(17:53) - The Potential and Limitations of Renewable Energy Sources

(19:08) - Energy Storage Solutions

(24:57) - The Future of Natural Gas and Nuclear Power

(29:46) - The Impact of Policy on the Grid

(31:47) - The Concept of a Smart Grid

(34:04) - Decentralization of the Grid

(36:57) - The Role of the Free Market in Grid Reliability

Resources: 

Find Ryan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmcentush

Read Ryan’s latest articles: https://a16z.com/author/ryan-mcentush

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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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"The Ben & Marc Show" features a16z's co-founders Ben Horowitz & Marc Andreessen. In this episode, Marc and Ben continue their in-depth exploration of the current education system. While Part I of their discussion unpacked the crisis facing higher education, Part II presents solutions to overhaul the modern university.

In this one-on-one conversation, Ben and Marc delve into actions that existing institutions can take to improve their current and future situations. This includes exploring new methods for talent recruitment, providing a more individualized education experience for students, and reducing administrative bloat. They also apply an entrepreneurial lens to each university function, revealing startup opportunities poised to emerge – including the building of brand new institutions, nonprofits, and research entities. Enjoy!

Resources:
*Watch Part I: https://youtu.be/7J2_G4oHRQ0
*Watch Part II: https://youtu.be/EeIdalo2huI

Marc on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca
Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/
Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz
“South Park” episode mentioned in this discussion: – Eps 1505 (stream on Max): https://bit.ly/3HrZQg0

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Find us 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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with @cdixon @rhhackett

Welcome to the web3 with a16z crypto podcast. I'm Robert Hackett, an editor here at a16z crypto, and I'm here with Chris Dixon, founding partner of a16z crypto and author of the new book Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet.  I had the privilege of editing Chris throughout the book writing process, and I'm thrilled now to talk to you about what went on behind the scenes, the big themes of the book, the challenges, and also about the crypto industry at large as well as what we can expect from it in the future.

Learn more at https://readwriteown.com/.

Resources for references in this episode:

• Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse
• "'It's a canon event' TikTok trend, explained"
• Chris Dixon's blog at cdixon.org
  • "Come for the tool, stay for the network"
  • "The next big thing starts out looking like a toy"
  • "Can't be evil"
• The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen
  • On Andrew Chen's writing habits
• On investing in Coinbase in 2013
• Guidance from the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission in 2019: "Framework for 'Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets"
• On blockchains as "a programmable computer that lives in the sky" via a16z crypto head of research Tim Roughgarden
• Gödel Escher Bach by Douglas Hofstader
• "How Aristotle Created the Computer" by Chris Dixon for The Atlantic
• "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits" by Claude Shannon
• Principia Mathematica by Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead
• An Investigation of the Laws of Thought by George Boole
• The End of Education by Neil Postman
• "Inside out vs. outside in: The adoption of new technologies" by Chris Dixon
• "The Inevitable Showdown Between Twitter and Twitter Apps" by Chris Dixon
• "Elon Musk says X is discouraging links in posts" by Sara Fischer
• "Make Ethereum Cypherpunk Again" by Vitalik Buterin
• "What Will Happen in 2024" by Fred Wilson
• "A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity" by McCullough and Pitts
• Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
• On "thesis, antithesis, and synthesis" and Hegel's Dialectics

As a reminder, none of the following should be taken as business, legal, tax, or investment advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

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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 2022 and 2023, US IPOs hit decade lows after the record high of 2021. Now, in 2024, will the IPO window reopen?

In this episode, we revisit a conversation with Jeff Jordan, former CEO of OpenTable, and J.D. Moriarty, the former Head Managing Director and Head of Equity Capital Markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Joined by Sonal Choksi, the pair takes you behind the scenes to unravel the complexities surrounding IPOs, including pricing, allocations, and the elusive "pop." They also discuss OpenTable’s IPO, which occurred immediately following the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and weigh in on the question: Can you time an IPO in an unpredictable year?

Resources:

Find Jeff on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeff_jordan

Find J.D on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdmoriarty

Find Sonal on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smc90

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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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(00:00) - The Future of Jobs

(03:15) - Job growth over the last 80 years

(05:06) - The shelf-life of jobs

(09:11) - Education trends

(12:25) - The importance of learning the foundations

(17:18) - Regional access to education

(20:19) - How companies are hiring and looking at strategic priorities

(22:58) - The economic mobility and economic stability of degrees 

(25:59) - Job and training trends at Grow with Google

(28:11) - Do companies train or hire for skills?

(29:23) - The future of the traditional degree

(31:10) - The employer and educator ecosystem 

(35:36) - How to approach upskilling 

In a world where technology is moving at an unprecedented pace, what will the jobs of the future look like?

Kai Roemmelt, CEO of the online learning platform Udacity, and Lisa Gevelber, a key figure at Google responsible for building the Grow with Google program, unpack the seismic changes reshaping the tech and education realms.

From disrupting hiring norms to redefining how we acquire degrees and engage globally, this episode poses the question: How can you skillfully navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities awaiting in this evolving landscape?

Resources: 

Find Kai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-roemmelt

Find Lisa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisagevelber

Learn more about Udacity: https://www.udacity.com

Learn more about Grow with Google: https://grow.google

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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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Big news from a16z: Bio Eats World, our sibling show from a16z Bio+Health, is now Raising Health!

We’re excited to share Raising Health’s first episode here where Sean Duffy, cofounder and CEO of Omada Health, joins Vijay Pande, founding general partner of Bio + Health.

Sean and Vijay discuss the building and growth of Omada, from the early days to now. As the cofounder of one of the original digital health companies, Sean has unique insight into the growth of both the digital health field and the changing venture capital environment. They also talk about the future of AI, how Omada is leveraging AI, and the challenges that might arise with using a technology in a caregiving environment.

You can listen to more episodes of Raising Health here: https://link.chtbl.com/IqBoJ2By?sid=a16z11824

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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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