Good podcast

Top 100 most popular podcasts

The a16z Show

The a16z Show

The a16z Show 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 show 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!

Subscribe

iTunes / Overcast / RSS

Website

a16z.simplecast.com

Episodes

How Magic Johnson Built a Billion-Dollar Portfolio in 30 Years

a16z?s Chris Lyons speaks with Earvin "Magic" Johnson about his 30-year journey from athlete to billionaire businessman. They cover the art of deal-making, lessons from mentors Michael Ovitz and Dr. Jerry Buss, why boring businesses often make the best investments, and Magic's sports ownership portfolio, from the Dodgers to the Commanders to the Sparks. They also discuss what the next generation of athletes and entertainers should know about equity, building teams, and taking risks.

 

Resources:

Follow Magic Johnson on X:  https://twitter.com/MagicJohnson

Follow Chris Lyons on X: https://twitter.com/chrislyons

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-02-11
Link to episode

Marc Andreessen: Who Runs the World?s AI?

Cisco president and CPO Jeetu Patel speaks with a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen about why AI may finally break a 50-year productivity slump?and what's at stake if America doesn't win the race. They discuss where value will accrue in the AI stack, why open source complicates the US-China competition, and what's blowing Andreessen's mind right now.

 

Resources:

Follow Marc Andreessen on X:  https://twitter.com/pmarca

Follow Jeetu Patel on X: https://twitter.com/jpatel41

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

 

 

 

 

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-02-10
Link to episode

The State of Markets

a16z Head of Investor Relations Jen Kha speaks with general partner David George about the state of AI and private technology markets. David shares data on why AI companies are growing 2.5x faster than traditional software while spending significantly less on sales and marketing, driven by massive market pull and record-breaking ARR per employee. They discuss the rise of Model Busters, which are companies that grow faster and longer than anyone would have modeled, like the iPhone. They also highlight real-world adoption at Chime and Rocket Mortgage alongside portfolio breakouts like Harvey, Abridge, and ElevenLabs.

 

Resources:

Follow David on X: https://x.com/DavidGeorge83

Follow Jen on X: https://x.com/jkhamehl

Read The State of Markets - https://a16z.com/state-of-markets/

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-02-09
Link to episode

Balaji & Benedict Evans: When Tech Breaks Industries

This episode originally appeared on the Network State Podcast. Balaji Srinivasan and Benedict Evans sit down in Singapore for a wide-ranging conversation on the mechanics of disruption. Evans, a former Andreessen Horowitz partner who now writes one of tech's most-read newsletters, argues that the conversation about any technology peaks during the transition?not at 0% or 100% adoption. They cover AI's real capabilities and limits, the politics of technological disruption, why crypto's killer metric is block space, and what smart glasses, elevator attendants, and the elephant graph reveal about how change works. 

 

Resources:

Follow Benedict Evans on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benedictevans/

Check out Benedict?s Newsletter: https://www.ben-evans.com/newsletter

Follow Balaji Srinivasan on X: https://x.com/balajis

Check out Network State Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@nspodcast

High Output Management: https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove-ebook/dp/B015VACHOK/

eHang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUTu4_8QznE

The Deep Research Problem: https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2025/2/17/the-deep-research-problem

ARC AGI: https://arcprize.org/arc-agi

Uber and Airbnb didn't sell software: https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2025/3/14/what-kind-of-disruption

AI Use cases: https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2024/4/19/looking-for-ai-use-cases

Stablecoin surpasses Visa & Mastercard: https://crypto.news/ark-invest-stablecoin-transaction-value-in-2024-surpasses-visa-and-mastercard/

Senate passes stablecoin bill: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-senate-passes-stablecoin-bill-milestone-crypto-industry-2025-06-17/

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 

http://a16z.com/disclosures

.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-02-07
Link to episode

Why This Isn't the Dot-Com Bubble | Martin Casado on WSJ's BOLD NAMES

Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins of the Wall Street Journal sit down with a16z General Partner Martin Casado on WSJ?s Bold Names to ask whether the AI spending boom is a bubble waiting to burst. Martin explains why the fundamentals differ dramatically from the dot-com era?when WorldCom had $40 billion in debt versus today's tech giants with hundreds of billions on their balance sheets?and why a speculative valuation correction shouldn't be confused with systemic collapse. They also discuss where a16z sees opportunity in the "long tail" of AI companies beyond the state-of-the-art large language models.

Follow Martin Casado on X: https://twitter.com/martin_casado

Follow Christopher Mims on X: https://twitter.com/mims

Follow Tim Higgins on X:  https://twitter.com/timkhiggins

Check out WSJ?s Bold Names: https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/wsj-the-future-of-everything

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-02-05
Link to episode

Why America?s Health Crisis Is an Incentive Problem

a16z general partner Erik Torenberg speaks with Justin Mares, founder and CEO of Truemed. They discuss why American health outcomes are so poor compared to the rest of the developed world, how crop subsidies created a food system that "systematically outputs unhealthy people," and what it would take to treat the chronic disease crisis as a national security issue. Mares explains how TrueMed allows people to spend tax-free HSA and FSA dollars on lifestyle interventions like gym memberships, sleep aids, and healthier food?and why he believes this could redirect hundreds of billions of dollars toward prevention. They also explore the case for psychedelics as mental health therapy and why peptides could disrupt the pharmaceutical industry.

 

Resources:

Follow Justin Mares on X: https://x.com/jwmares

Follow TrueMed on X: https://x.com/truemed

 

Timestamps:

00:00 ? Introduction

0:44 ? The Environment That Makes Us Sick 

04:19 ? What Went Wrong in the 1970s

6:10 ? The Subsidy Problem 

8:49 ? Universal Ozempic Won't Save Us

12:21 ? Building Truemed

15:59 ? The Zoo Animal Theory of Human Health

18:33 ? The Chronic Disease Crisis as National Security

27:52 ? Psychedelics as Mental Health Therapy

35:49 ? Why Peptides Will Disrupt Pharma

35:27 ? Why Peptides Will Disrupt Pharma

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-02-04
Link to episode

Palmer Luckey on Hardware, Building, and the Next Frontiers of Innovation

Recorded live at our Founders Summit, a16z general partner Chris Dixon speaks with Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril and Oculus VR. They talk about what it takes to build hardware at scale, where the biggest technological bottlenecks are today, and why optimism is still warranted despite geopolitical turmoil and regulatory constraints. They also cover crypto, stablecoins, modern warfare, the U.S.?China technology race, AI and manufacturing, and frontiers like fusion and quantum computing?plus lessons from Oculus, the founding of Anduril, and how to build mission-driven teams.

 

Resources:

Follow Palmer Luckey on X: https://twitter.com/PalmerLuckey

Follow Chris Dixon on X: https://twitter.com/cdixon

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-02-03
Link to episode

David Solomon & Ben Horowitz on Building Organizational Resilience & Navigating Macro Uncertainty

a16z general partner David Haber spoke with Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz on the current macro environment, enterprise AI adoption, and crypto and AI policy. Solomon describes what he calls the "sweetest spot" he's seen in 40 years and explains Goldman's "One GS 3.0" initiative to reimagine core processes with AI. Horowitz discusses why "leads aren't what they once were" in AI and how a16z grew from a startup VC to capturing 18% of all US venture capital.

 

Resources: 

Follow David Solomon on X: https://twitter.com/DavidSolomon

Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz

Follow David Haber on X: https://twitter.com/dhaber

 

Timestamps: 

00:00 ? Introduction

02:09 ? Goldman's Evolution from Partnership to Public Company

08:54 ? How a16z Went from Top Tier to 18% of All US Venture Capital

15:33 ? "As Sweet a Spot" as Solomon Has Seen in 40 Years

19:00 ? M&A Outlook: "Whatever the Question Is, the Answer Is Maybe"

21:33 ? Why Leads Aren't What They Once Were in AI

23:03 ? Crypto Policy: The Genius Act and Clarity Act

25:24 ? AI Policy: "Don't Regulate Math"

28:03 ? One GS 3.0: Reimagining Processes with AI

32:54 ? Will AI Agents Change Investing?

34:00 ? Favorite DJ

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-02-02
Link to episode

?Anyone Can Code Now? - Netlify CEO Talks AI Agents

Netlify's CEO, Matt Biilmann, reveals a seismic shift nobody saw coming: 16,000 daily signups?five times last year's rate?and 96% aren't coming from AI coding tools. They're everyday people accidentally building React apps through ChatGPT, then discovering they need somewhere to deploy them. The addressable market for developer tools just exploded from 17 million JavaScript developers to 3 billion spreadsheet users, but only if your product speaks fluent AI?which is why Netlify's founder now submits pull requests he built entirely through prompting, never touching code himself, and why 25% of users immediately copy error messages to LLMs instead of debugging manually. The web isn't dying to agents; it's being reborn by them, with CEOs coding again and non-developers shipping production apps while the entire economics of software?from perpetual licenses to subscriptions to pure usage?gets rewritten in real-time.

 

Resources:

Follow Matt Biilmann on X: https://x.com/biilmann

Follow Martin Casado on X: https://x.com/martin_casado

Follow Erik Torenberg 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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-30
Link to episode

Marc Andreessen on Why This Is the Most Important Moment in Tech History

Recently, Marc Andreessen joined Lenny Rachitsky on Lenny's Podcast. They talked about why 2025 may be the most significant year in tech history, how AI is reshaping the future of product managers, designers, and engineers, and what founders need to understand about building in this moment?from where moats actually exist in AI to what the most AI-native companies are doing differently to the skills Marc is teaching his own kids to thrive in what comes next.

 

Resources:

Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca

Follow Lenny Rachitsky on X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

Check out Lenny?s Podcast: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/podcast

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-29
Link to episode

Ben Horowitz and Balaji Srinivasan on Netscape and Network States

Can a country be built from the internet up? Not as a metaphor or an online community, but as a system that replaces institutions we usually think of as fixed, money, law, and governance.

In this conversation taken from The Network State Podcast, a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz joins Balaji Srinivasan to explore how internet native institutions are beginning to mirror and challenge traditional state structures. Drawing parallels to China?s early special economic zones, they discuss how constrained experiments like Shenzhen tested new rules without rewriting the entire system, and why similar experimentation is now happening online.

The discussion examines crypto, digital identity, and network states as attempts to turn code into coordination and coordination into legitimacy, while grappling with a core tension. Code is deterministic, but societies are not. Ben and Balaji explore where these systems work, where they break, and whether network states are a curiosity or the next phase of governance.

 

Resources:

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

Follow Balaji on X: https://x.com/balajis

Listen to more from The Network State: https://ns.com/podcast

 

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

Find a16z on LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg](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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

 

 

 

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-28
Link to episode

Healthcare 2026: AI Doctors, GLP-1s, and Insurance Defection

Out-of-Pocket is a healthcare education company founded by Nikhil Krishnan that helps people understand how healthcare works and how to navigate it in practice. In this episode, a16z investing partner Jay Rughani and Nikhil discuss why health insurance is losing its role as the default way people access care. They explain how rising costs are pushing more consumers to pay out of pocket for diagnostics, preventive care, and navigation. The conversation also looks at what this shift means for startups, AI-powered tools, regulation, and access as healthcare continues to move beyond insurance.

Resources:

Follow Jay Rughani on X:  https://twitter.com/JayRughani

Follow Nikhil Krishnan on X: https://twitter.com/nikillinit

Read Out of Pocket?s 2026 Predictions: https://www.outofpocket.health/p/out-of-pockets-2026-predictions

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify

Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts

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 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.


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

2026-01-27
Link to episode

The Hidden Economics Powering AI

In this episode, Jen Kha, Head of Investor Relations, and David George, General Partner, discuss how late-stage private markets are evolving as AI reshapes scale, capital intensity, and growth timelines. They explain why AI-driven companies are staying private longer, how infrastructure spending is changing return profiles, and what this moment means for durability, value creation, and long-term outcomes in private markets.

Timecodes:

0:00 ? Introduction

04:21 ? The Market Opportunity for AI

26:48 ? Pricing, Monetization, and Cash Burn

43:15 ? Companies Staying Private Longer

51:30 ? Portfolio Composition and Construction

57:18 ? Team Culture and Collaboration
 

Resources:

Follow Jen Kha on X: https://x.com/jkhamehl

Follow David George on X: https://x.com/DavidGeorge83

 

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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

Not an offer or solicitation. None of the information herein should be taken as investment advice; Some of the companies mentioned are portfolio companies of a16z. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures/ for more information.  A list of investments made by a16z is available at https://a16z.com/portfolio.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-26
Link to episode

How Mintlify Is Rebuilding Documentation for Coding Agents

Mintlify is a documentation platform built by cofounders Han Wang and Hahnbee Lee to help teams create and maintain developer docs. In this episode, Andreessen Horowitz general partners Jennifer Li and Yoko Li speak with Han and Hahnbee about how coding agents are changing what ?good docs? mean, shifting documentation from a human-only resource into infrastructure that powers AI tools, support agents, and internal knowledge workflows. They share Mintlify?s early journey, including eight pivots, the two-day prototype that landed their first customer, and the ?do things that don?t scale? sales motion that helped them win early traction. The conversation also covers why docs go out of date, what ?self-healing? documentation requires to actually work, and how serving fast-moving customers has shaped both their product priorities and their pace.

Follow Jennifer Li on X: https://twitter.com/JenniferHli

Follow Yoko Li on X: https://twitter.com/stuffyokodraws

Follow Han Wang on X: https://twitter.com/handotdev

Follow Hahnbee Lee on X: https://twitter.com/hahnbeelee

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-23
Link to episode

Inferact: Building the Infrastructure That Runs Modern AI

Inferact is a new AI infrastructure company founded by the creators and core maintainers of vLLM. Its mission is to build a universal, open-source inference layer that makes large AI models faster, cheaper, and more reliable to run across any hardware, model architecture, or deployment environment. Together, they broke down how modern AI models are actually run in production, why ?inference? has quietly become one of the hardest problems in AI infrastructure, and how the open-source project vLLM emerged to solve it. The conversation also looked at why the vLLM team started Inferact and their vision for a universal inference layer that can run any model, on any chip, efficiently.

Follow Matt Bornstein on X: https://twitter.com/BornsteinMatt

Follow Simon Mo on X: https://twitter.com/simon_mo_

Follow Woosuk Kwon on X: https://twitter.com/woosuk_k

Follow vLLM on X: https://twitter.com/vllm_project

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-22
Link to episode

Martin Casado on the Demand Forces Behind AI

In this feed drop from The Six Five Pod, a16z General Partner Martin Casado discusses how AI is changing infrastructure, software, and enterprise purchasing. He explains why current constraints are driven less by technical limits and more by regulation, particularly around power, data centers, and compute expansion.

The episode also covers how AI is affecting software development, lowering the barrier to coding without eliminating the need for experienced engineers, and how agent-driven tools may shift infrastructure decision-making away from humans.

Watch more from Six Five Media: https://www.youtube.com/@SixFiveMedia

 

Resources:

Follow Martin Casado on X: https://twitter.com/martin_casado  

Follow Patrick Moorhead on X:  https://twitter.com/PatrickMoorhead

Follow Daniel Newman on X: https://twitter.com/danielnewmanUV

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-21
Link to episode

From Code Search to AI Agents: Inside Sourcegraph's Transformation with CTO Beyang Liu

Sourcegraph's CTO just revealed why 90% of his code now comes from agents?and why the Chinese models powering America's AI future should terrify Washington. While Silicon Valley obsesses over AGI apocalypse scenarios, Beyang Liu's team discovered something darker: every competitive open-source coding model they tested traces back to Chinese labs, and US companies have gone silent after releasing Llama 3. The regulatory fear that killed American open-source development isn't hypothetical anymore?it's already handed the infrastructure layer of the AI revolution to Beijing, one fine-tuned model at a time.

 

Resources:

Follow Beyang Liu on X: https://x.com/beyang

Follow Martin Casado on X: https://x.com/martin_casado

Follow Guido Appenzeller on X: https://x.com/appenz

 

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-20
Link to episode

The AI Opportunity That Goes Beyond Models

The a16z AI Apps team outlines how they are thinking about the AI application cycle and why they believe it represents the largest and fastest product shift in software to date. The conversation places AI in the context of prior platform waves, from PCs to cloud to mobile, and examines where adoption is already translating into real enterprise usage and revenue. They walk through three core investment themes: existing software categories becoming AI-native, new categories where software directly replaces labor, and applications built around proprietary data and closed-loop workflows. Using portfolio examples, the discussion shows how these models play out in practice and why defensibility, workflow ownership, and data moats matter more than novelty as AI applications scale.

 

Resources:

Follow ?Alex Rampell on X: https://twitter.com/arampell

Follow Jen Kha on X: https://twitter.com/jkhamehl

Follow David Haber on X: https://twitter.com/dhaber

Follow Anish Acharya on X: https://twitter.com/illscience

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

Not an offer or solicitation. None of the information herein should be taken as investment advice; Some of the companies mentioned are portfolio companies of a16z. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures/ for more information.  A list of investments made by a16z is available at https://a16z.com/portfolio

.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-19
Link to episode

How Foundation Models Evolved: A PhD Journey Through AI's Breakthrough Era

The Stanford PhD who built DSPy thought he was just creating better prompts?until he realized he'd accidentally invented a new paradigm that makes LLMs actually programmable. 

While everyone obsesses over whether LLMs will get us to AGI, Omar Khattab is solving a more urgent problem: the gap between what you want AI to do and your ability to tell it, the absence of a real programming language for intent. He argues the entire field has been approaching this backwards, treating natural language prompts as the interface when we actually need something between imperative code and pure English, and the implications could determine whether AI systems remain unpredictable black boxes or become the reliable infrastructure layer everyone's betting on.

 

Follow Omar Khattab on X: https://x.com/lateinteraction

Follow Martin Casado on X: https://x.com/martin_casado

Check out everything a16z is doing with artificial intelligence here, including articles, projects, and more podcasts.

 

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 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.


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

2026-01-16
Link to episode

Ben & Marc: Why Everything Is About to Get 10x Bigger

a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz join a16z general partner Erik Torenberg and Not Boring founder Packy McCormick for a conversation on how the media and information ecosystem has changed over the past decade. The discussion breaks down the shift toward a more open and decentralized speech environment, the rise of writer- and creator-led platforms like Substack, and the erosion of centralized media gatekeepers. Marc and Ben also tie these dynamics to their investing worldview, outlining how supply-driven markets, major technological step changes, and reputation-driven venture platforms shape outcomes in the AI era.

Timecodes: 

00:00  Introduction
00:46  How the media ecosystem is changing
4:20  Why a16z invested in Substack
6:28  Supply-driven markets and new content creation
8:07  Why writers felt trapped by media companies
10:09  Databricks and the 10x cloud multiplier
13:58  Long-form podcasting proves demand
15:40  What the new fund signals about the future
16:24  AI as a universal problem solver
18:49  Why market sizing is broken
20:45  Go-to-market, policy, and platform power
22:37  Turning inventors into confident CEOs
25:58  Borrowing power to scale faster
27:29  Building dreamers, not killing dreams
30:46  Reputation as a core competitive advantage
35:57  Taking arrows in public
38:56  Avoiding big company failure modes
40:39  Autonomous teams inside a16z
41:54  Venture capital as the last job
46:01  Why intangibles matter more than ever
48:17  Original thinkers with charisma
50:06  Why Zoomers are different

Resources: 

https://www.notboring.co/p/a16z-the-power-brokers

https://www.a16z.news/p/firm-fund

Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca

Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz

Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg

Follow Packy McCormick on X: https://twitter.com/packyM

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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

 

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-15
Link to episode

Alex Rampell on TBPN: Revenge, Redemption, and Founder Drive

a16z General Partner Alex Rampell joined the Technology Brothers Podcast Network following the announcement of Andreessen Horowitz?s new fund to discuss what drives founders to build enduring companies. Drawing on his journey from early software entrepreneur to leading a16z?s apps fund, Alex shared how high agency, deep historical understanding, and the ability to attract talent, capital, and customers separate great founders from the rest. He reflected on motivation beyond money, explaining why ?revenge or redemption? often fuels the resilience required to push through the hardest moments of company building.

 

Resources:

Follow Alex Rampell on X: https://twitter.com/arampell 
Follow John Coogan on X: https://twitter.com/johncoogan 
Follow Jordi Hays on X: https://twitter.com/jordihays

Listen to more from TBPN: https://www.tbpn.com/

 

Stay Updated: 

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

 

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-14
Link to episode

Ben Horowitz on Investing in AI: AI Bubbles, Economic Impact, and VC Acceleration

AI is changing how companies are built and how venture firms operate, forcing faster decisions, clearer judgment, and new ways of working.

In this exclusive conversation, Ben Horowitz shares how Andreessen Horowitz adapts to that shift. He explains why managing GPs is different from running a company, how investors are evaluated at the moment of decision rather than years later, and why verticalized teams help the firm scale without internal politics.

Ben also breaks down the current AI cycle, from treating AI as a new computing platform to why application design and model orchestration matter more than raw model size. He discusses the return of M&A and why today?s AI market reflects real demand, not just inflated valuations.

 

Resources:

Follow Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz

Follow Jen on X: https://twitter.com/jkhamehl  

Read Justine?s piece ?There is No God Tier Video Model?: https://a16z.com/there-is-no-god-tier-video-model-but-there-is-something-better/

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 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.


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

2026-01-13
Link to episode

Alex Rampell on Venture at Scale and Founder Incentives

This episode is a special feed drop from The Twenty Minute VC, featuring a conversation between Harry Stebbings and a16z General Partner Alex Rampell.

Alex shares how he thinks about investing at scale, including why ownership and incentives matter, how venture changes as funds get larger, and what it really takes to win the best deals. He walks through his core founder framework of backing people who can materialize talent, capital, and customers, and explains why the strongest companies often have ?hostages,? not just customers.

The discussion also covers pricing risk, secondaries, moral hazard in private markets, and how AI is reshaping software, labor, and company formation. Together, Harry and Alex unpack what it takes to build durable, category-defining companies in an era where technology is moving faster than ever.

 

Resources:

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

Find Harry on X: https://x.com/HarryStebbings

Listen to more from 20VC: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com

 

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-12
Link to episode

Ben Horowitz on TBPN: Three Decades with Marc and Building for the Long Game

Following the announcement of a16z?s new fund, Andreessen Horowitz cofounder and general partner Ben Horowitz joined TBPN to discuss how Andreessen Horowitz has evolved its firm structure as technology becomes embedded across every sector of the economy. Ben reflects on which lessons from The Hard Thing About Hard Things still apply to founders, why entrepreneurship remains difficult at any scale, and how long-term partnerships shape decision-making inside the firm. He explains the move toward specialized, independent investment teams, how a16z evaluates new markets, and why AI represents a generational technology shift that changes how companies are built and how investors operate. The conversation also lessons from prior technology cycles and bubbles, the role of public policy in sustaining innovation ecosystems, and how founders can navigate modern media attention and public discourse while building durable, long-term companies.

 

Resources:

Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz
Follow John Coogan on X: https://twitter.com/johncoogan 
Follow Jordi Hays on X: https://twitter.com/jordihays

 

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](https://x.com/a16z

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg](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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

 

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-11
Link to episode

Ben Horowitz on Raising a New Fund and How Venture Firms Scale

In this feed drop from Uncapped, Jack Altman sits down with a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz to unpack the founding bet behind Andreessen Horowitz. VC should be a better product for entrepreneurs, built on real operating experience, real networks, and real support.

Ben shares how he and Marc Andreessen have worked together for 30 years, how they make decisions, and what it takes to scale a venture firm without losing the edge that actually helps founders. They also dig into why boards matter, how platform teams can change what partners do day-to-day, and the difference between ?heat-seeking? investing and conviction-driven company building, especially in sectors like AI and crypto.

Timecodes:

00:00 Introduction 

01:05 Ben Horowitz & Marc Andreessen?s Partnership  

04:05 Building & Leading a16z  

07:16 Managing High-Powered VCs  

11:01 Boards, Governance & Founder Support  

15:36 Platform Services & Recruiting  

17:43 Scale vs. Concentration in Venture  

20:57 Why Venture Can Scale  

24:27 Platform Services: What Works and What Doesn?t  

27:50 The Real Value of Board Membership  

35:38 Media, Brand & Marketing Evolution  

41:32 The Future of Media & Journalism  

45:30 Limits on Venture Firm Size  

49:13 Winning vs. Picking Deals  

53:16 The Case Against Venture Scale  

55:49 Hiring Operators & Rethinking the VC Product


Resources:

Follow Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz

Follow Jack on X: https://twitter.com/jaltma

Watch more from Uncapped: https://www.altcap.com/

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 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.


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

2026-01-09
Link to episode

Keycard: 2026 is the Year of Agents

In 2025, we saw the first glimpses of true AI agents. In 2026, every company will be rushing to get them into production, and they?ll need companies like Keycard to manage fleets of agents.

In this conversation, a16z Partner Joel de la Garza sits down with Keycard Cofounder and CEO Ian Livingstone to discuss the continuum from copilots to agents, the security realities of tool-calling, why enterprises will adopt before consumers, and how to control your agents.

Follow Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/3448827723723234/

Follow Ian on X: https://x.com/ianlivingstone

Follow Keycard on X: https://x.com/keycardlabs

Learn more about Keycard: https://www.keycard.sh/

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-08
Link to episode

Marc Andreessen's 2026 Outlook: AI Timelines, US vs. China, and The Price of AI

a16z co-founder and General Partner Marc Andreessen joins an AMA-style conversation to explain why AI is the largest technology shift he has experienced, how the cost of intelligence is collapsing, and why the market still feels early despite rapid adoption. The discussion covers how falling model costs and fast capability gains are reshaping pricing, distribution, and competition across the AI stack, why usage-based and value-based pricing are becoming standard, and how startups and incumbents are navigating big versus small models and open versus closed systems. Marc also addresses China?s progress, regulatory fragmentation, lessons from Europe, and why venture portfolios are designed to back multiple, conflicting outcomes at once.

 

Resources:

Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca

Follow Jen Kha on X: https://twitter.com/jkhamehl

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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.

 

 

 

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2026-01-07
Link to episode

Figma?s Dylan Field on the Future of Design

Dylan Field is the co-founder and CEO of Figma, a design software company that went public in July 2025. Founded in 2012, Figma transformed how people design, prototype, and build products together. After a $20 billion acquisition attempt by Adobe collapsed in 2022 because of regulators, Dylan helped Figma rebound stronger than ever. Just three years later, Figma listed its shares at nearly $20 billion and its stock price more than tripled on its first trading day.

A few highlights:

Expanding a sleepy market

Merging of designers and product roles

Counter-narrative to polarizing CEOs

If models get better, we have to

Remembering Brat Summer

 

Resources:

More on Dylan:

https://www.figma.com/

https://X.com/zoink

More on Jack:

https://www.altcap.com/

https://x.com/jaltma

https://linktr.ee/uncappedpod

Email: [email protected]

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 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.


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

2026-01-06
Link to episode

AI Will Save The World with Marc Andreessen and Martin Casado

Originally published in June 2023, this conversation features a16z cofounder Marc Andreessen following the release of his nearly 7,000-word essay arguing that AI does not threaten our humanity. In a wide-ranging discussion with a16z General Partner Martin Casado, Andreessen expands on why he believes AI can dramatically amplify human potential, why its future should be shaped by open markets rather than regulation, and why fears of existential catastrophe are misplaced. Rather than destroying the world, he argues, AI may help save it.

Read ?Why AI Will Save the World?: https://a16z.com/2023/06/06/ai-will-save-the-world/ 

 

Resources:

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

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

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 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.


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

2026-01-05
Link to episode

Wartime vs Peacetime: Ben Horowitz on Leadership

In this exclusive conversation from a16z?s Bio and Health BUILD Summit, founding partner Ben Horowitz sits down with general partner Jorge Conde. Originally released in August 2023, the episode covers everything from the inspiration behind Ben?s book The Hard Thing About Hard Things and how the open internet was secured, to the difference between wartime and peacetime CEOs, what it really means to scale culture, and how bio and healthcare innovation differs from other forms of technology.

Ben?s Book: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205

 

Resources:

Follow Ben on Twitter: https://x.com/bhorowitz

Follow Jorge on Twitter: https://x.com/jorgecondebio

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 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.


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

2026-01-02
Link to episode

The Techno-Optimist Manifesto with Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz

Originally aired in October 2023, this episode centers on Marc Andreessen?s essay The Techno-Optimist Manifesto, which lays out his vision for the future of technology. The piece sparked widespread discussion across traditional and social media by challenging the prevailing pessimistic narrative around technology and arguing instead that it can be a force for growth, progress, and abundance.

In this one-on-one conversation, based on listener questions from X (formerly Twitter), a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Marc discuss how technological advances can improve quality of life, support marginalized communities, and shape how we think about humanity?s long-term future.

Read the full manifesto: https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/

 

Resources:

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

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

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 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.


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

2026-01-01
Link to episode

The Inside Story of Growth Investing at a16z

This episode is a special replay of David George?s conversation with Harry Stebbings on 20VC. David is a General Partner on a16z?s growth team, and in this discussion he breaks down how he thinks about breakout growth investing: why great business models are now table stakes, where real edge comes from non-consensus views on TAM, and how to underwrite upside in a world of higher prices and increasing competition.

They also dig into the mechanics behind the scenes: unit economics at growth, ?pull vs push? products, winner-take-most market structures, and how David decides when to double or triple down on a company. Along the way, they touch on SPACs, the rise of crossover funds, single-trigger decision making, and how David manages fear, pressure, and performance over the long arc of an investing career.

 

Resources:

Learn more about 20VC: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@20VC

Follow Harry on X: https://x.com/HarryStebbings

Follow David on X: https://x.com/DavidGeorge83

 

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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](http://a16z.com/disclosures.

 

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-31
Link to episode

Why a16z's Martin Casado Believes the AI Boom Still Has Years to Run

This episode is a special replay from The Generalist Podcast, featuring a conversation with a16z General Partner Martin Casado. Martin has lived through multiple tech waves as a founder, researcher, and investor, and in this discussion he shares how he thinks about the AI boom, why he believes we?re still early in the cycle, and how a market-first lens shapes his approach to investing.

They also dig into the mechanics behind the scenes: why AI coding could become a multi-trillion-dollar market, how a16z evolved from a small generalist firm into a specialized organization, the growing role of open-source models, and why Martin believes AGI debates often obscure more meaningful questions about how technology actually creates value.

 

Resources:

Follow Mario Gabriele

X: https://x.com/mariogabriele

https://www.generalist.com/

Follow Martin Casado:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martincasado/

X: https://x.com/martin_casado

The Generalist Substack: https://www.generalist.com/

The Generalist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistPodcast

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6mHuHe0Tj6XVxpgaw4WsJV

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-generalist/id1805868710

 

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 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.


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

2025-12-30
Link to episode

Where Does Consumer AI Stand at the End of 2025?

As 2025 comes to a close, consumer AI is entering a new phase. A small number of products now dominate everyday use, multimodal models have unlocked entirely new creative workflows, and the big labs have pushed aggressively into consumer experiences. At the same time, it is becoming clearer which ideas actually changed user behavior and which ones did not.

In this episode, a16z consumer investors Anish Acharya, Olivia Moore, Justine Moore, and Bryan Kim look back at the biggest product and model shifts of 2025 and then look ahead to what 2026 may bring. They discuss why consumer AI appears to be trending toward winner-take-most, how subtle product design choices can matter more than raw model quality, and why templates, multimodality, and distribution are shaping the next wave of consumer products.

Where do startups still have room to win? How will the role of the big labs continue to change? And what will it actually take for consumer AI apps to break out at scale in 2026?

 

Resources:

Follow Anish: https://x.com/illscience

Follow Olivia: https://x.com/omooretweets

Follow Justine: https://x.com/venturetwins

Follow Bryan: https://x.com/kirbyman01

 

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-29
Link to episode

Big Ideas 2026: New Infrastructure Primitives

New infrastructure primitives are creating entirely new rails for building.

In this episode of Big Ideas 2026, we explore three foundational shifts that unlock new markets and workflows, not through incremental upgrades, but through primitives that compound over time.

First, programmable money evolves beyond stablecoins into on-chain credit origination and synthetic financial products, offering lower operational costs and greater composability than traditional finance. Second, autonomy begins entering scientific research through collaborative labs, where AI reasoning models work alongside automation and robotics, and interpretability becomes essential for progress. Third, distribution itself becomes a primitive, as AI-native startups win early by selling to other startups at formation, then scale alongside the next generation of companies.

You will hear from Guy Willette on the next phase of on-chain finance, Oliver Shu on autonomous labs and AI-assisted discovery, and James da Costa on the greenfield go-to-market strategy.

Together, these ideas define what new infrastructure primitives really mean: the rails that enable entirely new systems to emerge, compound, and scale.

 

Resources:

Read more all of our 2026 Big Ideas

Part 1: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-1

Part 2: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-2/

Part 3: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-3/

Crypto Big Ideas: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/big-ideas-things-excited-about-crypto-2026/

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-26
Link to episode

Big Ideas 2026: Physical AI and the Industrial Stack

AI is moving into the physical economy.

In this episode of Big Ideas 2026, we explore what changes when AI leaves the screen and becomes part of factories, construction sites, supply chains, and critical infrastructure. When the product is physical, reliability matters, real-world constraints appear quickly, and the advantage shifts from standalone software to end-to-end systems.

You will hear from Erin Price-Wright on factory-first principles, Ryan McEntush on the electro-industrial stack, Zabie Elmgren on physical observability, and Will Bitsky on why data, not compute, determines who wins.

Together, these ideas define what physical AI really means: not smarter chat, but deployable systems built for the real world, grounded in new operating models, industrial infrastructure, and defensible data collection.

 

Resources:

Follow Ryan McEntush on X: https://x.com/rmcentush

Follow Erin Price-Wright on X: https://x.com/espricewright

Follow Zabie Elmgren on X: https://x.com/zabie_e

Follow Will Bitsky on X: https://x.com/willbitsky

Read more all of our 2026 Big Ideas

Part 1: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-1

Part 2: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-2/

Part 3: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-3/

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-25
Link to episode

Big Ideas 2026: Voice Agents and High-Stakes Trust

Voice is becoming one of the fastest paths for AI to do real work, especially in regulated environments where accuracy and compliance matter. In this episode, we look at voice agents replacing and augmenting phone-based workflows, what trust and measurement look like when AI runs sensitive interactions, and how healthcare and consumer products shift toward continuous monitoring and deeper connection. The throughline is simple: as AI enters higher-stakes moments, the winners will be the systems people can trust and actually rely on.

 

Resources:

Follow Olivia Moore on X: https://x.com/omooretweets

Follow Bryan Kim on X: https://x.com/kirbyman01

Follow Julie Yoo on X: https://x.com/julesyoo

Read more all of our 2026 Big Ideas

Part 1: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-1

Part 2: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-2/

Part 3: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-3/

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-24
Link to episode

Big Ideas 2026: The Enterprise Orchestration Layer

AI is becoming the orchestration layer inside the enterprise.

In this episode of Big Ideas 2026, we explore the shift from isolated AI copilots to coordinated multi-agent systems that plan, analyze, and execute work across teams and tools. This is not a new feature, but a new way workflows run inside large organizations.

You will hear from Seema Amble on context extraction and coordinated agent teams, Angela Strange on why unified data and parallel workflows accelerate core replacement, Alex Immerman on multiplayer AI and execution boundaries, and David Haber on what makes these systems commercially defensible.

Together, these perspectives define the enterprise orchestration layer: not a chatbot and not a standalone tool, but a coordinated system of agents that runs the workflow and delivers real outcomes across the business.

 

Resources:

Follow Angela Strange on X: https://x.com/astrange

Follow David Haber on X: https://x.com/dhaber

Follow Alex Immerman on X: https://x.com/aleximm

Follow Seema Amble on X: https://x.com/seema_amble

Read more all of our 2026 Big Ideas

Part 1: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-1

Part 2: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-2/

Part 3: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-3/

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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.

 

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-23
Link to episode

Big Ideas 2026: The Agentic Interface

AI is moving from chat to action.

In this episode of Big Ideas 2026, we unpack three shifts shaping what comes next for AI products. The change is not just smarter models, but software itself taking on a new form.

You will hear from Marc Andrusko on the move from prompting to execution, Stephanie Zhang on building machine-legible systems, and Sarah Wang on agent layers that turn intent into outcomes.

Together, these ideas tell a single story. Interfaces shift from chat to action, design shifts from human-first to agent-readable, and work shifts to agentic execution. AI stops being something you ask, and becomes something that does.

 

Resources:

Follow Marc Andrusko on X: https://x.com/mandrusko1

Follow Stephanie Zhang on X: https://x.com/steph_zhang  

Follow Sarah Wang on X: https://x.com/sarahdingwang

Read more all of our 2026 Big Ideas

Part 1: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-1

Part 2: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-2/

Part 3: https://a16z.com/newsletter/big-ideas-2026-part-3/

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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.

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-22
Link to episode

The Rise, Fall & Reset of The Fintech Industry

Fintech went from a full-blown surge to a near standstill in just two years. At its peak, about 25 percent of all venture dollars were pouring into the category. By late 2022, that number had collapsed to almost zero. In this conversation, a16z General Partner David Haber and Plaid cofounder and CEO Zach Perret unpack what actually happened during that cycle and why the market is heating up again.

We explore how the industry moved from the explosive growth of 2020 and 2021 into a deep freeze, and why we are now seeing real momentum return. We also dig into the forces reshaping fintech today: AI?s outsized impact on fraud and underwriting, incumbents finally embracing external software, the renewed importance of deposits, and the rise of embedded finance across entirely new categories.

Zach shares how Plaid has navigated these shifts, what the company is building now, and how he sees the next phase of fintech taking shape.

 

Resources:

Find Zach on X: https://x.com/zachperret

Find David on X: https://x.com/dhaber

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures

.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-19
Link to episode

Do Revenue and Margins Still Matter in AI?

In this episode, we?re sharing a conversation with David George, General Partner at a16z on the firm?s growth investing team. David has been involved in backing many of the defining companies of this era and is now investing behind a new wave of AI startups.

This discussion goes deep into how the a16z growth practice operates: how the team hires and develops a ?Yankees-level? culture, how investment decisions get made without traditional committees, and how they build long-term relationships with founders years before investing.

A major focus is AI. David talks through how the team is investing across the stack and why he believes this period could create some of the largest companies ever built.

He also walks through the models that guide his thinking: why markets often misprice consistent growth, what makes ?pull? businesses so durable, why many important markets become winner-take-all, and what he?s learned from studying exceptional founders ? especially the ?technical terminators? he?s drawn to.

 

Resources:

Follow Harry Stebbings on X: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings

Follow David George on X: https://twitter.com/DavidGeorge83

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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](http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-18
Link to episode

The Crime Crisis In America and How Technology Fixes It

What if America tried to eliminate crime instead of just reacting to it? Not with slogans, but with staffing, technology, and strategy scaled to the problem. 

In this episode, Erik Torenberg speaks with Garrett Langley, founder and CEO of Flock Safety, and Ben Horowitz, cofounder of a16z, about what is happening in the cities that are trying. Flock now works with over 5,000 communities to detect crime, recover missing children, and close cases faster than ever. Ben has been closely involved in Las Vegas, where Flock technology, drones, and community policing have raised clearance rates while reducing use of force. 

They outline what a real national crime-reduction strategy could look like: solving the police staffing crisis, using intelligence to make policing safer, understanding why clearance rates have collapsed, and how public?private partnerships are filling gaps cities cannot. They also tackle the hard questions around privacy, criminal justice failures, and the hidden role of organized crime in everyday offenses. 

Timecodes: 

0:00 ? Introduction and the Cost of Crime

1:09 ? Technology, Privacy, and Trust in Policing

1:22 ? Eliminating Crime: A National Strategy

2:54 ? People: Staffing, Culture, and Recruitment

8:45 ? Products: Technology in Modern Policing

9:41 ? Policy: Accountability and Prosecution

20:11 ? Community Policing and Clearance Rates

25:16 ? Case Study: Las Vegas and Public-Private Partnerships

32:00 ? Criticisms, Privacy, and Trust

35:23 ? Economic Mobility, Safety, and Social Impact

36:44 ? Reform, Recidivism, and Alternative Approaches

52:14 ? Organized Crime and Policy Challenges

54:32 ? The Future of Policing: Intelligence and Precision

57:24 ? Success Stories and Conclusion


Resources: 

Follow Garrett on X: https://twitter.com/glangley 

Follow Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz 

Stay Updated: 

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 

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.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-17
Link to episode

Ryo Lu (Cursor): AI Turns Designers to Developers

Ryo Lu spent years watching his designs die in meetings. Then he discovered the tool that lets designers ship code at the speed of thought: Cursor, the company where Ryo is now Head of Design. In this episode, a16z General Partner Jennifer Li sits down with Ryo to discuss why "taste" is the wrong framework for understanding the future, why purposeful apps are "selfish," how System 7 holds secrets about AI interfaces, and the radical bet that one codebase can serve everyone if you design the concepts right instead of the buttons.

 

Timecodes:

00:01:45 - Design Becomes Approachable to Everyone

00:02:36 - From Years to Minutes: Product Feedback Loops Collapse

00:07:54 - "Each role used their own tool...their own lingo"

00:13:15 - "If you don't have an opinion, you?ll get AI slop"

00:17:18 - The Lost Art of Being a Complete Builder

00:21:42 - Design Is Not About Aesthetics

00:28:57 - User-Centric vs System-Centric Philosophy

00:34:00 - AI as Universal Interface, Not Chat Box

00:38:42 - "Simplicity is the Biggest Constraint"

00:43:42 - "I Don't Sit in Figma All Day Making Mocks"

00:46:33 - RyoOS: Building A Personal Operating System

00:48:45 - "We've been doing the same thing since 1984"

 

Resources:

Follow Ryo Lu on X: https://x.com/ryolu_

Follow Jennifer Li on X: https://x.com/JenniferHli

Follow Erik Torenberg 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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-16
Link to episode

AI Eats the World: Benedict Evans on the Next Platform Shift

AI is reshaping the tech landscape, but a big question remains: is this just another platform shift, or something closer to electricity or computing in scale and impact? Some industries may be transformed. Others may barely feel it. Tech giants are racing to reorient their strategies, yet most people still struggle to find an everyday use case. That tension tells us something important about where we actually are.

In this episode, technology analyst and former a16z partner Benedict Evans joins General Partner Erik Torenberg to break down what is real, what is hype, and how much history can guide us. They explore bottlenecks in compute, the surprising products that still do not exist, and how companies like Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon, and OpenAI are positioning themselves.

Finally, they look ahead at what would need to happen for AI to one day be considered even more transformative than the internet.

Timestamps: 

0:00 ? Introduction 
0:17 ? Defining AI and Platform Shifts
1:50 ? Patterns in Technology Adoption
6:04 ? AI: Hype, Bubbles, and Uncertainty
13:25 ? Winners, Losers, and Industry Impact
19:00 ? AI Adoption: Use Cases and Bottlenecks
24:00 ? Comparisons to Past Tech Waves
32:00 ? The Role of Products and Workflows
40:00 ? Consumer vs. Enterprise AI
46:00 ? Competitive Landscape: Tech Giants & Startups
51:00 ? Open Questions & The Future of AI

Resources:

Follow Benedict on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benedictevans/

 

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-12
Link to episode

How the Best CEOs Delegate

Jonathan Swanson has built two rare successes: Thumbtack, the home-services marketplace, and Athena, the fast-growing platform that pairs ambitious people with world-class personal assistants. Today he runs a 4,000-person company, invests on the side, and raises four kids ? all by designing his life around leverage.

a16z General Partner, Erik Torenberg, sits down with Jonathan to unpack what that actually looks like. They discuss how elite assistant culture shaped his philosophy, why delegation is a skill most founders never truly learn, and how the combination of humans and AI is redefining personal productivity. Jonathan explains why he believes ambition grows with leverage, not the other way around, and breaks down how he delegates everything from scheduling to search processes to entire life systems.

They also get into the future of work, the rise of machine-generated delegation, the expanding role of chiefs of staff, and how founders can design their time around the few things that matter most. It?s a conversation about work, life, and the systems that allow people to operate at scale.

Timecodes

0:00 ? Introduction

1:52 ? The power of delegation: from the White House to Thumbtack

03:13 ? Human vs. AI assistants: the future of delegation

05:30 ? Levels of delegation: from tasks to algorithms

07:31 ? Principles of effective delegation

08:50 ? Delegation & productivity hacks

10:46 ? The future: machine-generated delegation

12:36 ? Global talent & leveraging international teams

13:33 ? Assistants and financial leverage

14:45 ? Company culture across borders

16:18 ? Assistants as accountability partners

17:52 ? Coaching, feedback, and the human element

19:30 ? Goal setting, time management, and prioritization

23:07 ? Frameworks for founders: time, energy, and meetings

26:06 ? The efficient path vs. the effect path

28:19 ? Executive hiring: principles and pitfalls

30:19 ? Reference check signals 

33:09 ? Principles for company transparency

36:55 ? Cofounder relationships & company building

39:19 ? Chief of staff vs. executive assistant

40:06 ? Learning from high-performers: Lonsdale, Elon, Thiel, etc.

47:10 ? Building your universe: org structures and talent networks

52:33 ? Managing founder psychology & staying in the game

Resources:

Follow Jonathan on X: https://x.com/swaaanson

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

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures

.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-10
Link to episode

The $3 Trillion AI Coding Opportunity

Originally published on the a16z Infra podcast. We're resurfacing it here for our main feed audience.

AI coding is already actively changing how software gets built.

a16z Infra Partners Yoko Li and Guido Appenzeller break down how "agents with environments" are changing the dev loop; why repos and PRs may need new abstractions; and where ROI is showing up first. We also cover token economics for engineering teams, the emerging agent toolbox, and founder opportunities when you treat agents as users, not just tools.

 

Resources:

Follow Yoko on X: https://x.com/stuffyokodraws

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

 

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-09
Link to episode

The 80-Year Bet: Why Naveen Rao Is Rebuilding the Computer from Scratch

Naveen Rao is cofounder and CEO of Unconventional AI, an AI chip startup building analog computing systems designed specifically for intelligence. Previously, Naveen led AI at Databricks and founded two successful companies: Mosaic (cloud computing) and Nervana (AI accelerators, acquired by Intel). 

In this episode, a16z?s Matt Bornstein sits down with Naveen at NeurIPS to discuss why 80 years of digital computing may be the wrong substrate for AI, how the brain runs on 20 watts while data centers consume 4% of the US energy grid, the physics of causality and what it might mean for AGI, and why now is the moment to take this unconventional bet.

 

Stay Updated:

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

Follow Naveen on X: https://x.com/NaveenGRao

Follow Matt on X: https://x.com/BornsteinMatt

Follow a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z

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

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

Follow the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-08
Link to episode

What Comes After ChatGPT? The Mother of ImageNet Predicts The Future

Fei-Fei Li is a Stanford professor, co-director of Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, and co-founder of World Labs. She created ImageNet, the dataset that sparked the deep learning revolution. 

Justin Johnson is her former PhD student, ex-professor at Michigan, ex-Meta researcher, and now co-founder of World Labs.

Together, they just launched Marble?the first model that generates explorable 3D worlds from text or images.

In this episode Fei-Fei and Justin explore why spatial intelligence is fundamentally different from language, what's missing from current world models (hint: physics), and the architectural insight that transformers are actually set models, not sequence models.

 

Resources:

Follow Fei-Fei on X: https://x.com/drfeifei

Follow Justin on X: https://x.com/jcjohnss

Follow Shawn on X: https://x.com/swyx

Follow Alessio on X: https://x.com/fanahova

 

Stay Updated:

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

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

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

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

Follow the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-05
Link to episode

How AI Created the Fastest Product Cycle in History

Recently, a16z General Partner Anish Acharya joined Ollie Forsyth on NEW ECONOMIES. They talked about why consumer tech is surging again, how AI is enabling 100M-user products at unprecedented speed, and what founders need to understand heading into 2026 ? from distribution shifts to founder mindset to the mechanics behind the fastest product cycle in tech history.

 

Resources:

Follow Ollie: https://x.com/ollieforsyth
Follow Anish: https://x.com/illscience

 

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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-04
Link to episode

Why AI Moats Still Matter (And How They've Changed)

a16z General Partners David Haber, Alex Rampell, and Erik Torenberg discuss why 19 out of 20 AI startups building the same thing will die - and why the survivor might charge $20,000 for what used to cost $20.

They expose the "janitorial services paradox" (why the most boring software is most defensible), explain why OpenAI won't compete with your orthodontic clinic software despite having 800 million weekly users, and reveal how non-lawyers are building the most successful legal AI companies. Plus: the brutal truth about why momentum isn't a moat, but without it, you're already dead.

 

Resources:

Follow David on X: https://x.com/dhaber

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

Follow 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

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

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

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

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 http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

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.


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

2025-12-03
Link to episode
A tiny webapp by I'm With Friends.
Updated daily with data from the Apple Podcasts.