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Author: a16z Podcast

  • From Big Bang to James Webb: Exploring Space with Nobel Laureate John Mather

    From artificial limbs to memory foam, many inventions have emerged from our quest to understand the cosmos. 

    In this episode we explore cosmic history, space’s impact on technology, and the enduring human fascination with space exploration. To take us on this journey is astrophysicist John Mather, a Nobel Prize winner for his work on the COBE satellite and a key figure in the James Webb Space Telescope project.

    Prepare to be intrigued and left with a sense of wonder about the universe’s influence on our world.

     

    Topics Covered:

    00:00 –  Innovations through the pursuit of space

    03:52– John’s early life 

    06:44 – Proving The Big Bang Theory 

    13:30 – The mysteries of quantum mechanics

    15:10 –  Leading the James Webb Telescope

    17:12 – Images from James Webb

    20:32 – Are we alone? 

    24:20 – New telescopes

    25:18 – Engineering in space for earth

    29:31 –  What would you like to see solved in your lifetime?

    32:24 – What came before The Big Bang? 

    25:04 – Misconceptions about space

    37:17 – Can humans be a multiplanetary species?

    38:20 – Private vs public spending in space

    40:24 – What’s the future of space exploration?

     

    Resources:

     

    Stay Updated: 

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

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

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

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

    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

  • Classroom 2050: Unleashing AI, XR, Gaming

    With students learning in more places and different ways than we have ever seen, the pace of change in education is dizzying. Can this progress narrow learning gaps exacerbated by COVID-19 or will it fuel divides? How can we make the most of this once-in-a-generation opportunity?

    Join our panelists from Khan Academy, PrismsVR, and Minecraft Education as we discuss the classroom of the future, and how important technologies including AI, XR, and gaming should play a role in it.

     

    Topics Covered:

    00:00 – The classroom of 2023

    04:30 – Data on the current classroom

    05:40– Developing the next gen of STEM talent

    08:00 –  AI in the classroom 

    13:10 – The role of gaming in the classroom

    16:00 – Misconceptions of technology in classroom

    17:51 – The ways teachers and students use AI

    21:15 – The future role of a teacher

    24:25 – Personalization and ownership in education

    27:11 – Getting hardware into the classroom

    29:54 – Misconceptions of teacher’s abilities and appetite for tech

    31:25 – Why implement these changes now?

    36:05 – Call to action for the classroom of 2050

     

    Resources:

     

    Stay Updated: 

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

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

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

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

    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.

     

  • The True Cost of Compute

    With software becoming more important than ever, hardware is following suit.

    As the world generates more data, unlocking the full potential of AI means a constant need for faster and more resilient hardware. 

    But how much does this all really cost? In this final segment of our AI hardware series, we tackle that question head on. 

    Be sure to check part 1 and 2, where we explore the emerging architectures and the momentous competition for AI hardware.

     

    Topics Covered:

    00:00 – The cost of compute

    02:20 – Is this sustainable?

    03:23 – The cost to train a model

    05:39 – Computation requirements

    09:05  – The relationship between compute, capital, and technology

    11:15 – GPT4 commenting on the technology with help from ElevenLabs

     

    Resources: 

     

    Stay Updated: 

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

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

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

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

    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.

  • Chasing Silicon: The Race for GPUs

    With the world constantly generating more data, unlocking the full potential of AI means a constant need for faster and more resilient hardware.

    In this episode – the second in our three-part series – we explore the challenges for founders trying to build AI companies. We dive into the delta between supply and demand, whether to own or rent, where moats can be found, and even where open source comes into play.

    Look out for the rest of our series, where we dive into terminology and technology that is the backbone of the AI, how much the cost of compute truly costs!

     

    Topics Covered:

    00:00 – Supply and demand

    02:44 –  Competition for AI hardware

    04:32– Who gets access to the supply available

    06:16– How to select which hardware to use

    08:39– Cloud versus bringing infrastructure in house

    12:43– What role does open source play? 

    15:47– Cheaper and decentralized compute

    19:04– Rebuilding the stack

    20:29– Upcoming episodes on cost of compute

     

    Resources: 

     

    Stay Updated: 

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

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

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

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

    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.

  • AI Hardware, Explained

    In 2011, Marc Andreessen said, “software is eating the world.” And in the last year, we’ve seen a new wave of generative AI, with some apps becoming some of the most swiftly adopted software products of all time.

    So if software is becoming more important than ever, hardware is following suit. In this episode – the first in our three-part series – we explore the terminology and technology that is now the backbone of the AI models taking the world by storm. We’ll explore what GPUs are, how they work, the key players like Nvidia competing for chip dominance, and also… whether Moore’s Law is dead?

    Look out for the rest of our series, where we dive even deeper; covering supply and demand mechanics, including why we can’t just “print” our way out of a shortage, how founders get access to inventory, whether they should own or rent, where open source plays a role, and of course… how much all of this truly costs!

     

    Topics Covered:

    00:00 – AI terminology and technology

    03:44 – Chips, semiconductors, servers, and compute

    04:48 – CPUs and GPUs

    06:07 – Future architecture and performance

    07:01 – The hardware ecosystem

    09:05 – Software optimizations

    12:23 – What do we expect for the future?

    14:35 – Upcoming episodes on market  and cost

     

    Resources: 

    • Find Guido on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/appenz/
    • Find Guido on Twitter: https://twitter.com/appenz

     

    Stay Updated: 

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

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

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

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

    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.

  • Growth vs Efficiency: Can You Have Both?

    Despite the ease of product building, sustainable growth has become increasingly challenging as many traditional channels no longer deliver the same results.

    In these challenging times, we explore the remaining growth opportunities. How can we achieve a balance between efficiency, profitability, and growth? Which channels are still relevant and how can they be effectively mastered in 2023?

    Join us as we discuss these questions with three seasoned experts who have successfully navigated similar confusing times in the past: Gina Gotthilf, leading Latitud and renowned for her impressive tenure as the VP of Growth at Duolingo; Kieran Flanagan, a long-time SVP of Marketing at HubSpot; and Bryan Kim, Consumer Partner at a16z, who held various leadership roles during Snap’s hypergrowth phase up to its IPO.

     

    Topics Covered:

    00:00 – What growth opportunities exist in 2023?

    03:00 – What still works in growth?

    05:02 – The fundamentals and framework of growth

    07:02 – Assessing growth potential and product lead growth

    09:33 – Distribution

    11:15 – Your moat and growth

    14:00 – Integrating AI for product lead growth

    16:23 –Trust as a moat

    17:23 – B2C growth – discovery and breaking through

    18:51 – Can you get ahead of the incumbents?

    22:03 – Examples of companies and products

    24:59 – How do you foster a growth culture?

    28:38 – Experimentation  

    34:20 – How companies using AI in distribution

    44:43 – Growth challenge: What would you do with $10K?

     

    Resources:

     

    Stay Updated: 

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

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

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

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

    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.

  • Curing the Trust Problem with Mark Cuban

    Today’s episode is with Mark Cuban, founder of multiple businesses, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, one of the sharks on Shark Tank, and cofounder of the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. He is joined by Vijay Pande, founding partner of a16z Bio + Health. 

    Together, they talk market forces in healthcare, the importance of trust to patients, and Mark’s ideas to tackle the Gordian knot that is American healthcare.

     

    Listen to our last two episodes on Healthcare x Fintech:

     

    Stay Updated: 

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

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

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

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

    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.

  • Inside the 2023 Talent Tsunami: Layoffs, Remote Work & More

    Remote work is a big, divisive topic right now. Some think it’s the future, while others think it was an experiment gone wrong.

    But it’s also not the only way to attract top talent. And the equation for doing so has only gotten more confusion as a myriad of trends intersect, from layoffs to emerging technologies like AI.

    So how can companies navigate this storm and truly attract the talent that matters? Listen in to find out.

    Topics Covered:

    • 00:00 – Introduction
    • 03:26 – What it takes to attract top talent in 2023
    • 06:36 – What employees really care about
    • 14:13 – Positives and negatives of benefits
    • 17:32 – Generational differences
    • 27:44 – Will the return to office work?
    • 34:35 – Differentiating through benefits
    • 38:35 – Advice to attract top talent
    • 44:16 – Closing thoughts

    Resources:

  • The Road to Autonomous Vehicles: Are We There Yet?

    Self-driving cars have been on the horizon for quite some time. But, they might actually be here.

    We got to ride around in one all over San Francisco with Waymo’s Chief Product Officer, Saswat Panigrahi.

    We discussed so much, including the five levels of autonomy, the infamous LIDAR vs video debate, regulation, UX, and the role of AI in fine-tuning these models. But most importantly, if autonomy is here… now what?!

    Topics Covered:

    • 00:00 – Introduction
    • 03:20 – A first look at Waymo
    • 05:21 – 5 levels of autonomy
    • 09:45 – Technology challenges
    • 14:32 – LiDAR vs video debate
    • 18:19 – How Waymo differentiates
    • 19:01 – Technological unlocks on the horizon
    • 20:39 – The role of AI in autonomous vehicles
    • 25:37 – How Waymo views safety
    • 32:05 – Collaborating with regulators
    • 37:26 – Learnings from the first 2m miles
    • 39:45 – Driving user retention
    • 43:47 – Waymo’s expansion strategy
    • 47:00 – Changing regulation
    • 47:41 – Societal unlocks enabled by autonomy
    • 52:21 – Will self-driving cars replace humans?
    • 52:58 – Closing thoughts

    Resources:

    Check out Waymo: https://waymo.com/

    Check out Waymo’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Waymo

    Find Saswat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/saswat101

    Check out a16z’s 8-part series on the autonomous vehicle ecosystem: https://a16z.com/2018/02/03/autonomy-ecosystem-frank-chen-summit/

    Stay Updated: 

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

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

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

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

    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.

  • Network Effects, Moats, & the Business of web3

    with @skominers @smc90

    In this deep dive and tour through key business concepts, from theory to practice, we cover the topics of strategy, competitive advantage,  network effects, moats, and more — covering both both basic foundations, as well as the tricky nuances in a new world of open source, including web3.  In the first half of this discussion, we cover foundational business concepts and questions — such as the nature of competition, and how it *really* changes in web3; as well as how network effects really work — and then, in the second half (in case you want to skip ahead), we cover mindsets and general guidance for builders…

    Our expert guest — in conversation with editor in chief and host Sonal Chokshi — is a16z crypto research partner Scott Duke Kominers, who is also a professor at Harvard Business School; a faculty affiliate in Harvard’s Department of Economics; and advises several companies on marketplace development, incentive design, and more; as well as advises, and is directly involved, in several NFT communities. 

    Scott also teaches on these topics — both at Harvard and also recently at our Crypto Startup School — so be sure to subscribe to our playlist for those talks on the a16z crypto YouTube channel to get the latest updates as we release more videos from the 2023 cohort.  

    Listen to web3 with a16z: https://web3-with-a16z.simplecast.com/

    related links // see also:

     

    Stay Updated: 

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

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

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/

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

    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.