a16z Podcast a16z

While “community” is a common buzzword in everything from web3 to SaaS, community has long played a key role in the modern open source movement. Author Nadia Asparouhova joins to talk about her book, Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software, from Stripe Press.

Effectively moderating live discussions is for more than just podcasters and event hosts -- anyone who runs important meetings or communicates with large groups can benefit from the expert best practices of great moderation. This episode shares battle-tested frameworks, concrete tips, and more.

"The algorithm" is a common buzzword in discussions about social media -- but how do algorithms actually drive product design today? In this deep dive episode from 2020 on the algorithm that powers TikTok, Eugene Wei discusses the "creativity network effects" behind TikTok, product design, the future of video, and more.

From 2000 to 2016, it was the best of times and the worst of times for Silicon Valley -- and John Hennessy, as president of Stanford University during that time, was a key player in the Valley's ecosystem. Hennessy is joined by a16z's Marc Andreessen and Martin Casado to discuss going from academia to startups, leadership, and more.

Managing a crisis is more than a communications challenge -- it's a business challenge and an opportunity to change your culture. a16z's Margit Wennmachers and Kim Milosevich discuss crisis communications 101.

With the field of synthetic biology -- which involves designing and engineering organisms to specific purposes -- exploding and driving both innovation and real-world impact from drug development to manufacturing and more, how did we get here? This episode digs deep with one of the pioneers of the synbio field.