Raghu Raghuram: AI, Robotics, and the Rebirth of Infrastructure
•October 27, 2025
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Original Description
From Netscape to VMware, Raghu Raghuram has been at the center of nearly every major inflection point in enterprise technology.
In this episode, Raghu joins Ben Horowitz, Martin Casado and David George to reflect on the early internet wars with Microsoft, how Netscape’s browser battles shaped a generation of founders, and the inside story of one of the most successful tech acquisitions in history, VMware’s $1.3B purchase of Nicira, which redefined modern networking and grew into a multi-billion-dollar business.
They discuss how VMware scaled from tens of millions to over $13 billion in revenue, what it took to outlast the cloud revolution, and why AI is now triggering the biggest infrastructure reset since virtualization. Raghu shares his vision for the next decade, from data-center robotics and energy-aware compute to how AI is reshaping both startups and giants alike.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:42 Meeting Ben & Marc at Netscape
02:11 The Browser Wars and Microsoft’s Dirty Tricks
04:18 Replacing Browser Revenue with Servers
06:07 The Birth of “Good PM / Bad PM”
07:56 Martine, Ben, and Raghu: The Nicira Triangle
09:21 The Cisco Offer That Would’ve Killed Nicira
10:38 VMware’s Weekend Sprint to Close the Deal
12:14 How Raghu Integrated Two World-Class Teams
13:57 Keeping the Sales Team and Building Momentum
15:46 The $2B Business That Cost $1.3B
17:12 Beating Microsoft (Again) with Hyper-V
18:39 Scaling VMware to $13B Revenue
20:25 From Virtualization to Hybrid Cloud
22:03 Acquiring Pivotal and Expanding the Platform
23:45 Joining a16z: Why Infrastructure Is Exciting Again
24:58 The AI Compute Explosion
26:44 Robotics and Automating Data Centers
28:27 The Vertical Future of Robotics
29:54 Startups Now Face “Big Company” Problems
31:22 Early Stage Companies Moving at Enterprise Speed
32:48 Founders, Fit, and the Future of AI Infrastructure
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Resources:
Follow Raghu on X: https://x.com/RaghuRaghuram
Follow Ben on X: https://x.com/bhorowitz
Follow David on X: https://x.com/DavidGeorge83
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.
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