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!

  1. 14h ago

    From the Telephone to Modern Computing | James Gleick

    James Gleick — acclaimed science writer and bestselling author of Chaos: Making a New Science as well as biographies on polymaths Isaac Newton and Richard Feynman — joins Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett to discuss his new book, The Telephone: A New History. It is a story of a device — who really invented it, how? — of a network, of a lab, and of how innovation happens. The telephone was dismissed as a toy or a frivolity — at best, something people could use to listen to concerts or sermons from home. Even with a working invention, everyone was still trying to figure out what a telephone was for, using the framework of what they already knew. Then its users started finding their own answers. Farmers built their own decentralized networks using barbed-wire fences — the “devil’s rope” — and, over time, research at a company built around phone calls helped lay the foundations of modern computing. This conversation explores the nuances of building at the frontier: competing inventors, the experiments, the “scenius of genius.” Why did established businesses underestimate it? Did the telephone network have to become a monopoly? What made Bell Labs so productive?  And how a single invention could set off a technology revolution? Resources: Originally published by the a16z Frontier Show. Read The Telephone: A New History: https://us.macmillan.com/books/978037... Subscribe on YouTube:  @a16zfrontier   Subscribe to our Substack: https://a16zfrontier.substack.com/ Visit our website: https://a16zfrontier.com/ Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube 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.

  2. 1d ago

    Every Day Is Zero Day | Wiz CTO Ami Luttwak

    AI isn’t just helping defenders find vulnerabilities. It’s giving attackers the speed and expertise to exploit them faster than many companies can respond. Wiz co-founder and CTO Ami Luttwak joins a16z General Partners Zane Lackey and Sarah Wang to unpack what he calls “Black October,” a wave of vulnerabilities and agentic attacks that he believes marks a turning point for cybersecurity. They break down PHP2Shell, why AI is collapsing the time between vulnerability discovery and exploitation, and what happens when open-source models put increasingly sophisticated offensive capabilities in more hands. Ami explains why startups are becoming attractive targets, particularly when they hold valuable AI credentials, and why yesterday’s secure architecture may no longer be secure as models improve. The conversation then turns to defense. Ami argues that companies need to continuously attack their own systems, automate investigation and patching wherever possible, design infrastructure assuming sophisticated attackers will get in, and rethink security stacks built for a slower era. His warning is simple: if attackers can move in minutes, defenders can no longer operate on human timelines. Resources: Follow Ami Luttwak on X: https://x.com/amiluttwak  Follow Sarah Wang on X: https://x.com/sarahdingwang Follow Zane Lackey on X: https://x.com/zanelackey  Learn more about Wiz: https://www.wiz.io/ Read ‘The Rise of Agentic Attacks: What They Look Like, and Where They're Headed’: https://www.wiz.io/blog/the-rise-of-agentic-attacks Read more from Wiz’s blogs: https://www.wiz.io/blog Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube 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.

  3. 2d ago

    The Next Era of Games: Mods, Agents, and Infinite Worlds

    AI is collapsing the distance between an idea and a playable game. What happens when almost anyone can build one? In this episode, a16z General Partners Anish Acharya and Jonathan Lai discuss how AI is changing game development, from generating art and code to operating tools like Blender and game engines directly. They explain why cheaper development could let studios take more creative risks while opening game creation to people without traditional coding or design skills. They also explore modding, remixing existing games, and the emergence of AI-native experiences that generate characters, abilities, and storylines on the fly, potentially creating games that never really end. Resources: Follow Anish Acharya on X: https://x.com/illscience Follow Jonathan Lai on X: https://x.com/Tocelot Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube 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.

  4. 3d ago

    What the Internet Boom Teaches Us About the AI Buildout | Mike Volpi

    The internet boom built bandwidth. The AI boom is building intelligence. Mike Volpi, who helped shape Cisco’s strategy during the internet buildout, asks what that era can teach us about this one. Mike joins a16z’s Raghu Raghuram and Guido Appenzeller to compare today’s investment in GPUs, data centers, and power with the fiber boom of the late 1990s, and explain why the infrastructure could prove valuable even if the market corrects. They also discuss NVIDIA, custom silicon, networking, and the changing economics of GPUs, plus lessons from Cisco’s acquisition machine. And Mike explains why he thinks this technology cycle could be even more consequential than the last. Resources: Follow Mike Volpi on X: https://x.com/mavolpi Follow Raghu Raghuram on X: https://x.com/RaghuRaghuram Follow Guido Appenzeller on X: https://x.com/appenz Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube 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.

  5. 4d ago

    HubSpot’s Co-Founder on Finding Your Next Startup Idea

    As frontier AI labs expand into applications, where should startups build? a16z Partner Joe Schmidt joins HubSpot co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah to explore why the software opportunity is growing, and how founders can stay off the “Yellow Brick Road” the labs are racing down. Drawing on HubSpot’s evolution, Dharmesh explains why founders should start with a narrow market, learn quickly, and solve the whole customer problem. They discuss where application companies can build lasting value as models become infrastructure: workflows, customer context, and the systems where work happens. They also explore HubSpot’s AI experiments, the rise of one-person businesses, and why cheaper software creation could unlock markets that previously couldn’t support a software company. Resources: Follow Dharmesh Shah on X: https://x.com/dharmesh Follow Joe Schmidt on X: https://x.com/joeschmidtiv Read Joe’s essay, “Avoiding Death on the Yellow Brick Road”:https://a16z.com/avoiding-death-on-the-yellow-brick-road/ Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube 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.

  6. 5d ago

    Scott Kupor on Building a16z and Rebuilding the Federal Workforce

    Scott Kupor helped build a16z from three people into a firm with hundreds of employees. Now, as Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, he’s applying some of the same lessons about talent, incentives, and organizational design to a workforce of roughly two million federal employees. Scott joins Founders host David Senra to tell the story of a16z’s earliest days, from joining Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz during the 2008 financial crisis to borrowing Michael Ovitz’s CAA model to build a venture firm around specialized networks and services for founders. He explains why a16z chose to market itself when venture firms traditionally didn’t, how early wins like Skype accelerated the firm’s growth, and why it eventually reorganized around specialized investing teams. Then they turn to Scott’s move into government. He lays out his effort to build a more merit-based federal workforce, attract younger technical talent, and create what he calls “permissioned risk” so government employees can actually try new things. That includes everything from changing how performance and promotions work to replacing a retirement process that still relied on hundreds of millions of pieces of paper stored in an underground Pennsylvania mine. Resources: U.S. Office of Personnel Management: https://www.opm.gov/ Federal early-career opportunities: https://earlycareers.gov/ Follow Scott Kupor on X: https://x.com/skupor Follow David Senra on X: https://x.com/davidsenra  Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube 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.

  7. 6d ago

    The Health Interventions Actually Worth Your Time | Justin Mares

    Health advice has become an endless stream of supplements, diets, wearables, and biohacks. Which interventions are actually worth your time? Truemed CEO Justin Mares argues that most people should ignore the extremes and focus on a few fundamentals: better food, movement, sleep, and reducing harmful exposures. Justin joins a16z General Partner Daisy Wolf to walk through his own approach to health, from what he eats and how he exercises to supplements, blood tests, sauna, sleep, and the changes he’s made to his home. They also discuss the larger problem behind Truemed: while chronic disease drives the vast majority of U.S. healthcare spending, relatively little goes toward prevention. Justin explains how Truemed is trying to change that by making it easier for eligible consumers to use tax-free HSA and FSA dollars on qualified lifestyle interventions.  Resources: Follow Justin Mares on X: https://x.com/jwmares  Follow Daisy Wolf on X: https://x.com/daisydwolf  Learn more about TrueMed: https://www.truemed.com/  Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube 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.

  8. Nov 7

    Mark Hyman’s Guide to Living Longer and Staying Strong

    What actually matters if you want to stay healthy as you age? Dr. Mark Hyman argues it isn’t the most extreme longevity intervention. It’s the small investments you make every day in strength, nutrition, sleep, and stress. Mark joins a16z Partner Daisy Wolf to walk through what he actually does, from meditation and strength training to protein, supplements, sleep, sauna, cold plunges, and the occasional ice cream. He explains why preserving muscle becomes increasingly important with age and how he uses testing to understand what’s happening inside his body. They also discuss the idea behind Function Health: combining blood tests, imaging, wearables, medical records, and eventually AI to move healthcare from treating disease toward understanding and preventing it earlier.  Resources: Follow Mark Hyman: https://x.com/drmarkhyman Learn more about Function Health: https://www.functionhealth.com Follow Daisy Wolf on X: https://x.com/daisydwolf Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube 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.

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About

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!

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