Conversations on Clubhouse and beyond -- to capture and share many of the live discussions and events featuring, hosted, or co-hosted by a16z partners (with outside voices too). Many of these different discussions and events take place on the social audio/ drop-in chat app Clubhouse; to attend those in real time or sign up for the app please visit joinclubhouse.com. As a reminder, all content posted here is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, busi...more
Anduril founders and team members Joe Chen, Matt Grimm, Palmer Luckey, Brian Schimpf, and Trae Stevens in conversation with Big Ideas show on Clubhouse co-host Katherine Boyle (along with Antonio Garcia-Martinez, Erik Torenberg, and Marc Andreessen).
On this episode of Boss Talk: How do the best product marketers see and explain a trend?How much is the best marketing truth vs. spin?Does the marketing function create the strategy or execute on it?What are the core skills and competencies of a great product marketer — and how do you find, or train, product marketers?Should you create a category, or try to capture an existing category?What is the minimum viable audience ?What's the role of open source in getting a minimum viable audience?How s...more
From first discovering the bitcoin white paper through the crypto winters to taking the company public... Coinbase founders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam tell their story, with Good Time Show hosts Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan, plus early investors, employees, and board members — Garry Tan, Marc Andreessen, Dan Romero, Balaji Srinivasan, and Katie Haun.
Zynga cofounder and SVP of Product Justin Waldron discusses his early iteration process, reimagining the game industry's business model, and important game metrics with a16z partner Jonathan Lai, Stillfront SVP Andrew Green, Presence Capital managing partner Amitt Mahajan, and Indie MEGABOOTH founder Kelly Wallick on Games Club.
In January, device maker Ubiquiti disclosed a breach and urged customers to change passwords. Then in late March, a whisteblower alleged that Ubiquiti had massively downplayed the severity and extent of the breach to preserve the stock price. So, how bad was the breach? What do we, and don't we, know? What does this tell us about best practices for disclosures in the aftermath of a breach? And what is the role of whistleblowers? 🔐Breach of the Week 🔐looks at who got hacked, how it happened, an...more
In this occasional Clubhouse series, a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talk with Steve Stoute, the founder and CEO of UnitedMasters and a former executive at Interscope and Sony Music, about the changing music business, the role of technology, how Steve started UnitedMasters, and more. Special guests MC Hammer and Fab 5 Freddy also joined.
Every year, Edelman publishes a trust barometer. This year, trust in most of our social institutions — and especially in media — was down. Margit asks Richard Edelman (CEO of Edelman), Emily Chang (Executive Producer at Bloomberg), and Helena Maus (CEO of Archetype) how real is the crisis of trust in media and beyond; what’s behind it; how does it relate to the perceived friction between tech and the media… and what will it take to (re)build trust."4B with Margit" is a Clubhouse show for raw and...more
When Ben and Marc started a16z, CAA and its founder Michael Ovitz served as inspiration for how to break into an industry dominated by a few large incumbents. In 1975, a few large talent agencies dominated the entertainment industry. To break into the industry, Michael and CAA came up with a new playbook — rather than a single agent representing an actor or actress, he turned the entire agency into a network. In this special edition of Boss Talk, Michael joins Ben, Marc, and Ali to talk about ho...more
On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show, a16z general partners Vineeta Agarwala and Vijay Pande talk to guest Ben Oakes, cofounder, President and CEO of Scribe Therapeutics. The conversation covers the the power of engineering gene editors, the transition from academia to a startup, and how to select the first indication to target with a novel bio platform.
What is the future of open source in the age of SaaS? Has it become more, or less, relevant with the rise of cloud-based services? What is the connection between open source and open standards? And what does this mean for startups building SaaS apps today? Those questions and more with Nick Schrock (Elementl, GraphQL), Christian Kleinerman (Snowflake), Andrew Shafer (RedHat), and a16z general partners Martin Casado and Peter Levine. a16z Infra is the Clubhouse Show where the a16z enterprise tea...more
The CEOs of GOAT, StyleSeat, Cameo, Faire, Whatnot, and Neighbor join a16z partners Andrew Chen, Connie Chan, D'Arcy Coolican, Jeff Jordan, Katie Baynes, and Anne Lee Skates to talk about the cold start problem, 2020 metrics, growth, and the tricky business of scaling a marketplace company.See more marketplace analysis, including a ranking of the 100 largest marketplace startups & private companies, in the Marketplace 100.
This week on Boss Talk: Why aren't there more academic CEOs? Should early stage companies hire junior or senior engineers? What are the common mistakes high growth companies make, especially when expanding into new markets? Plus: balancing pay equity with retainment, CEO legal risk and protection, and growing through acquisition. Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff....more
On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show, a16z general partners Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande talk to guest Jay Bradner, President of the Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research (NIBR). The conversation covers the challenges of translating basic research into a clinical application, the state of innovation in therapeutics, and the transition from drug hunting to drug farming.
a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talk tech trends, company building, and more live on Clubhouse every Monday, 7pm PT. In this conversation:What does return to work look like for a16z portfolio companies (including exclusive survey data)How the re-distribution of the workforce might affect rural AmericaThe potential for social networks to replace networking in cities Generalists vs specialists in a startupHow to think about celebrity investors and executives (like Prince Harry)Th...more
What do Ben Horowitz and former President Obama have in common? They both had their twitter accounts taken over to send cryptocurrency spam.With our office now our home, all security has become personal. This week on Breach of the Week, Ben explains how his Twitter got hacked, and Geoff and Joel break down the personal threat landscape, the security measures that best protect you, and where the security industry needs to evolve to better protect individuals. 🔐Breach of the Week 🔐looks at who ...more
Supercell CEO and co-founder Ilkka Paananen discusses collaborative decision-making on game teams, learning from failure, product design, building company culture, and more with a16z partner Jonathan Lai, Stillfront SVP Andrew Green, Proletariat CEO Seth Sivak, and Indie MEGABOOTH founder Kelly Wallick on Games Club.
On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show, a16z general partners Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande, along with a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen, talk to guest Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23andme. The conversation covers the shifting trends and perceptions at the intersection of bio and tech, the power of patient data and importance of giving people access to their own health data, and advice to founders on when to lead and when to listen.
OpenSea founders Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah join Katie Haun as well as Marc Andreessen and Chris Lyons to talk about the emergence of NFTs, what it means for crypto marketplaces, and how the creator economy will continue to evolve.
Speaking coach extraordinaire Matt Abrahams, cofounder of Bold Echo LLC and Lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business; Zūm CEO Ritu Narayan; and Mixpanel CEO Amir Movafaghi talk with Margit about how to master the art of public speaking, communicating in a virtual world, tailoring and testing the message with different audiences, and more. "4B with Margit" is a Clubhouse show for raw and unfiltered advice from comms and marketing experts who have seen it all, as well as insider stories fr...more
Ben and Ali are joined by guest Shaka Senghor, who after 20 years in prison, became an author and activist for prison reform, an entrepreneur, and most recently, head of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Tripactions. Shaka shares what prison taught him about building trust in a team, as well as what he sees as the path — and the obstacles— to meaningful diversity in the workplace. Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databri...more
a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talk tech trends, company building, and more live on Clubhouse every Monday, 7pm PT. In this conversation:How can VCs be both investors and marketing/growth engines for companies they invest in? How has a16z approached this and curating talent on Clubhouse?Are SPACs the new IPO? What would you say to a founder who pitched you a plan to grow as fast as they can with the goal of selling to a SPAC in 3-5 years?If a startup is profitably bootstrapp...more
🔐Welcome to Breach of the Week 🔐– the show that looks at who got hacked, how it happened, and what it means for the industry. 🎙With hosts Joel de la Garza (a16z Security Operating Partner) and Geoff Belknap (CISO LinkedIn)👉 On the first episode: the Verkada hack and the Cloudflare response with Joe Sullivan (CSO Cloudflare)$16 SMS hacks, how is it possible and what does it mean for SMS? distracted guard allows intruder into Andrews Air Force BaseCapcom had a breach and made everyone return t...more
Welcome to a16z Infra, the Clubhouse Show where the a16z enterprise team discusses the foundational technology and products that underpin all of tech. We dig deep into data, AI/ML, security, developer tools, compute, network, storage, hardware, and anything else found below the surface of modern stacks.On our first show, a16z general partners Ben Horowitz, Martin Casado, and David Ulevitch talk about their journeys as infrastructure founders-turned-investors; what exactly infrastructure is; h...more
Amanda Atkins, who leads Internal Communications & Culture at Slack, and Shannon Schiltz, who heads up HR & People Practices at a16z, talk internal comms with Margit. They break down the basics — When do you need an internal comms function? Where should it report? Is it actually different from external comms — and share advice for the toughest parts of the job, including how to handle layoffs, divisive political issues, negative employee reviews on Glassdoor, and leaks. 4B with Margit is a Clubh...more
King.com cofounder Riccardo Zacconi (developer of Candy Crush Saga) and Glu/Playfish cofounder Kristian Segerstrale (now the CEO of Super Evil Megacorp) discuss trends in the games industry, failing fast, and building enduring startups with a16z partner Jonathan Lai, Indie MEGABOOTH founder Kelly Wallick, and Stillfront SVP Andrew Green on Games Club.
In this occasional Clubhouse series, a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talk with Greg Reyes, the former CEO of Brocade Communications who was recently pardoned after being convicted of and serving time for the fraudulent backdating of corporate stock options. Greg talks about his career before his conviction, his case and the SEC, his time in prison and what life was like after, the presidential pardon process, his advice for leaders today, and more. Catch Ben and Marc's Clubhous...more
Pricing has huge implications for market size. How do you know if the price isn't right? And when a customer says something is too expensive, what are they really telling you? Also on Boss Talk #6: creating a new category, how Ali learned to handle racism, and when to bet on your next product. Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff. Live every Tuesday 5-6p...more
On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show "It's Time to Heal", a16z general partners Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande talk to guests Peyton Greenside and Mark DePristo of BigHat Biosciences. The conversation covers the growing role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in drug development and specifically in biologics and protein therapeutics.
Topics covered this week include:How to tell if a startup has entered "purgatory", where they're getting by each year but no longer has a chance to be a multi-billion dollar companyCommon mistakes founders make when pitching VCsWhen do the biggest disagreements happen over possible investmentsWhat happens when an idea is great, but one of the founders is toxicIs there anyone now like Silicon Valley coaching legend, Coach Bill Campbell?What kinds of large companies are easiest to compete with?R...more
On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show "It's Time to Heal", a16z general partners Julie Yoo, Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, and Vijay Pande, along with market development partner Venkat Mocherla, talk to guest Dr. Stephen Klasko, the president of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health about transforming the US healthcare system.
What are the different types of failure? Which can (and can’t) we come back from? And what does it take to turn failure into a comeback story?The second episode of “4B with Margit” explores failure and comebacks with Suneel Gupta, once a poster child for failure, featured in the New York Times and on the keynote stage of FailCon, whose new book Backable is a study in turning failure into success. Also joining the conversation is Eugene Soltes, Harvard Business School professor and author of Why ...more
For some cloud software companies, they don't just build on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, they compete with them. So, how do you stay ahead when competing in the cloud? a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, cover that, as well as getting product-market fit on your second product, why it's difficult to do both on-prem and cloud software, the importance of making the right unpopular decision, and how to know if a potential exec hire is a cultural fit on this ep...more
On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show "It's Time to Heal", a16z general partners Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande, along with a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen, talk to guest Dr. George Church of Harvard University about past, future, and power of genome engineering.
On this episode of the new a16z Bio Clubhouse Show "It's Time to Heal", a16z general partners Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, Jeff Jordan, and Vijay Pande, talk to guest Dr. Casey Means, co-founder of Levels Health, about metabolism and metabolic health.
Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan welcome Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, and other experts and early adopters to discuss all things NFT (non-fungible tokens) on the Good Time Show. Guests include Mike Winkelmann (aka Beeple), the digital artist whose work is currently being auctioned at Christie's, and founders of some of the leading digital creative marketplaces including Roham Gharegozlou of Dapper Labs and Kayvon Tehranian of Foundation.
Marc Andreessen joins a16z's Head of Marketing Margit Wennmachers for the first episode of "4B with Margit" — a Clubhouse show for raw and unfiltered advice from comms and marketing experts who have seen it all, as well as insider stories from the builders and pioneers who were in the trenches. Think “Scandal” meets “Halt and Catch Fire.” Catch it live Wednesdays 4-5 PST. In this episode: What is a 4B? What is the playbook for dealing with a crisis? And has it changed with the rise of social m...more
How do you keep internal politics in check? How do you know when an employee is not working? And how do you maintain culture as you grow? Those questions and more on the fourth episode of Boss Talk, the Clubhouse show where Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff.
a16z general partner Alex Rampell and Post House Capital CEO Jackie Reses (formerly of Square Capital) discuss COVID shutdowns and their impact on small business owners.
On this episode of the new a16z Bio Clubhouse Show "It's Time to Heal", a16z general partners Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, Vijay Pande, talk to guest Dr. Gaurav Singal about the future of digital diagnostics: what are they, who stands to benefit from them, and critically, who pays.
Ali shares his early experiences as an Iranian refugee growing up in Sweden and what he learned about leadership. Plus, how technical founders can support and understand sales leaders, striking the balance between sales and marketing, and more on the third episode of Boss Talk – the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff.
Topics covered this week include:How to handle politics in the workplaceHow to avoid hiring talent just like your ownHow to have a prepared mind and the "why now" question for startupsNuclear power and the future of energyTech literacy and elected officialsHow has their definition of success changed over timeThe lessons marriage has taught them about partnerships and vice versaScience fiction and other book recommendations
Conway’s Law, how to be a boss of bosses, Silicon Valley post-pandemic, and more on the second episode of Boss Talk. The Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff.
a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talk about tech trends, company-building, and more in the second episode of their new Clubhouse show, One on One with A and Z. Catch their show live at 7pm PT every Monday.
The first episode of the new a16z Bio Clubhouse Show "It's Time to Heal" on a16z Live. a16z General Partners Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, Vijay Pande, Julie Yoo, and a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen talk to guest Nihkil Krishnan about healthcare—the stuff we're all thinking but don't talk about.
The first episode of the new Clubhouse show Boss Talk, where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff.
a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talk about tech trends, company-building, and more in the first episode of their new Clubhouse show, One on One with A and Z.
Guests Elon Musk and Vlad Tenev (of Robinhood) join hosts of The Good Time Show on Clubhouse Sriram Krishnan & Aarthi Ramamurthy, Marc Andreessen, Steven Sinofsky, Garry Tan, and others.
We’re announcing and launching this new feed -- simply called “a16z LIVE” -- for conversations on Clubhouse and beyond. Our goal is to capture and share many of the live discussions and events featuring, hosted, or co-hosted by a16z partners (with outside voices too); many (though not all) of these different live events take place on the social audio/ drop-in chat app Clubhouse -- to attend those in real time or sign up, please visit joinclubhouse.com.As a reminder, all the content posted here i...more