Why Creativity Will Matter More Than Code
In this episode, a16z partner Anish Acharya and host Kevin Rose discuss how AI is sparking a new consumer technology renaissance, emphasizing that the next wave of products will blend emotion, utility, and creativity rather than just code. They explore concepts like "weird and working" apps, AI companions, and emotional interfaces, and note how solo‑founder tools are enabling creators to launch startups alone. Acharya argues that bold, unconventional creators who prioritize human feeling will drive the most impactful innovations. The conversation highlights the shift from purely technical execution to a focus on creative, human‑centric experiences in the AI era.
#171 Doctours: VC Funded Hair Transplants?!
Doctours founder Girum shares his personal experience with medical tourism that saved his brother, launching a marketplace that matches U.S. patients to vetted overseas clinics, starting with elective hair‑transplant procedures in Turkey. The platform handles patient intake, clinic verification, reviews,...
Temperate: The Tech Beaming Heat Into Space to Disrupt the Trillion-Dollar Cooling Market | Angel Insights
The episode spotlights several deep‑tech and angel‑investment stories, beginning with Charlie of Temperate who converts heat to light and beams it into space, offering a refrigerant‑free cooling system up to 20× more efficient for data‑centers and HVAC markets. It then...
Founder10x - Are AI Agents The Future of Doctor's Office? - Ganesh Padmanabhan, Founder, Autonomize AI
In this episode, host Prashant Choubey talks with Ganesh Padmanabhan, founder of Autonomize AI, about the emerging role of AI agents in medical practices. They explore how autonomous AI assistants can handle patient triage, appointment scheduling, and routine follow‑ups, potentially...
How Kong Was Born: APIs, Hustle, and the Future of AI Infrastructure
In this episode, a16z host Martin Casado interviews Kong co‑founder and CEO Augusto "Aghi" Marietti about his journey from a Milan garage to building a leading API infrastructure firm, highlighting the relentless grind, near‑death moments, and the bootstrap funding that...
Reid Hoffman on AI, Consciousness, and the Future of Humanity
Reid Hoffman, alongside Erik Torenberg and Alex Rampell, explores how AI will transform work, science, and humanity, emphasizing that the most impactful breakthroughs will arise beyond obvious productivity tools. They discuss current AI’s reasoning limits, debate whether consciousness is required...
95% Faster Video Production with Synthesia | Victor Riparbelli
In this episode, Victor Riparbelli, co‑founder and CEO of Synthesia, explains how his AI‑driven platform lets anyone create video without cameras, cutting production time by up to 95% and opening new possibilities for content creators. He and Kleiner Perkins partner...
20VC: The Startup Adding $1M ARR Every Week | Competing Against OpenAI's Codex and Claude Code: Who Wins | Why...
In this episode, host Harry Stebbings talks with Zach Lloyd, founder and CEO of Warp, about the startup’s rapid growth—adding $1M ARR each week—and its battle against AI coding assistants like OpenAI's Codex, Anthropic's Claude, and Google's Gemini. Lloyd explains...
Keith Rabois: Israel, OpenAI, Opendoor, and DOGE
Keith Rabois argues that the U.S. is on the cusp of a new AI‑driven economic expansion that could boost GDP growth to around 5%, emphasizing the rise of sovereign AI projects and the nation’s ability to grow out of debt....
Brené Brown & Reid Hoffman on the Skills Every Leader Needs Now
In this 23‑minute conversation, Brené Brown and Reid Hoffman explore the essential, often overlooked skills leaders need today, emphasizing courageous vulnerability, active listening, and the power of compassion. Brown argues that true leadership thrives on empathy and psychological safety, while...
20VC: $3.5BN - The Price Zuck Paid for Thinking Machines Co-Founder | Goldman Sachs Acquires Industry Ventures for $665M |...
The episode dissects three headline‑making deals: Goldman Sachs’ $665 million acquisition of Industry Ventures, the former Thinking Machines co‑founder’s $2 billion raise and subsequent move to Meta, and SoftBank’s $5 billion ARM‑backed loan to double‑down on OpenAI. Harry and guests analyze what these...
Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi: How to Run a Billion-Dollar Business
In this "Boss Talk" episode, Ben Horowitz and Databricks co‑founder Ali Ghodsi recount their founder war stories, from building Loudcloud during the dot‑com bust to steering Databricks through a crisis and scaling it to a $100 billion valuation. They discuss practical...
#170 Original Sunshine: The Best Bagel You've Never Heard Of
Original Sunshine’s founders Brad and David used a covert blind‑taste test of their gluten‑free‑but‑tasting‑like‑wheat bagels to win over the investors on The Pitch, highlighting a novel flour technology that replicates gluten’s texture. They traced rapid traction from early adopters like...
VC10X - Top Decile Fund in Emerging-Tech - Jatin Desai, Managing Partner, Inflexor Ventures
In this episode, Jatin Desai, Managing Partner at Inflexor Ventures, explains why profitable giants like Meta and Amazon are executing "quiet layoffs" despite record earnings, attributing the trend to the Great AI Re‑allocation, a permanent Year of Efficiency, and lingering...
Is AI Slowing Down? Nathan Labenz Says We're Asking the Wrong Question
In this episode, Nathan Labenz and a16z host Erik Torenberg examine whether AI progress is truly slowing or simply becoming less sensational, questioning the hype around a potential GPT‑5. They explore the current state of AI reasoning, automation, and the...
Columbia CS Professor: Why LLMs Can’t Discover New Science
In this episode, Columbia computer‑science professor Vishal Misra explains why large language models, despite their rapid progress, are unlikely to generate truly novel scientific breakthroughs because they lack causal understanding and grounding in real‑world experimentation. He delves into why chain‑of‑thought...
From Idea To Impact: How Gamma Is Redefining Presentations | Grant Lee
In this episode, Grant Lee, co‑founder and CEO of Gamma, explains how his AI‑driven design platform replaces traditional PowerPoint with an "anti‑PowerPoint" approach that makes product presentations irresistible and drives user adoption. He discusses the importance of building enduring businesses...
20VC: Atlassian CEO on Why Everything Is Overvalued & Are We in an AI Bubble | Do Margins Matter &...
In this episode, Atlassian co‑CEO Mike Cannon‑Brookes argues that tech valuations are broadly inflated and questions whether we are in an AI bubble, while also examining how AI impacts margins, defensibility, and pricing models such as per‑seat licensing. He highlights...
Monitoring the Situation #3: Who Is Nick Land?
In this episode, a16z partners Erik Torenberg, Katherine Boyle, and Erin Price‑Wright interview Zach Dell, founder and CEO of Base Power, about the challenges and opportunities in home power generation, misconceptions around data‑center energy use, and strategies to modernize the...
20Sales: Scaling Snowflake From $0-$3BN in ARR | Snowflake vs Databricks: My Biggest Lessons | Why Customer Success Is BS...
In this episode, former Snowflake CRO Chris Degnan walks through how he built the company’s sales organization from the ground up, detailing hiring strategies for sales leaders and the rapid scaling of a global team to over 6,000 reps. He...
Replay: How Daymond John Built FUBU
In this archival Masters of Scale episode, Reid Hoffman and Shark Tank star Daymond John dissect how John grew FUBU from a modest start into a global streetwear brand by forging authentic, community‑driven partnerships and leveraging cultural relevance. John highlights...
20VC: OpenAI's Multi $BN Deal with AMD | Polymarket, Vercel and Supabase Raise Mega Rounds | Does King Making Really...
The episode opens with a deep dive into OpenAI’s multi‑billion‑dollar partnership with AMD, a critique of Microsoft’s handling of the OpenAI relationship, and the headline announcements from OpenAI’s Developer Day. Harry then broadens the conversation, arguing that venture capital remains...