The Challenge of Replicating Reality

a16z Journal Club (part of the a16z Podcast), curates and covers recent advances from the scientific literature -- what papers we’re reading, and why they matter from our perspective at the intersection of biology & technology (for bio journal club). This inaugural episode covers 2 different topics, in discussion with Lauren Richardson:0:26 #1 identifying new antibiotics through a novel machine-learning based approach -- a16z general partner Vijay Pande and bio deal partner Andy Tran discuss the business of pharma; the specific methods/  how it works; and other applications for deep learning in drug discovery and development based on this paper:"A Deep Learning Approach to Antibiotic Discovery" in Cell (February 2020), by Jonathan Stokes, Kevin Yang, Kyle Swanson, Wengong Jin, Andres Cubillos-Ruiz, Nina Donghia, Craig MacNair, Shawn French, Lindsey Carfrae, Zohar Bloom-Ackermann, Victoria Tran, Anush Chiappino-Pepe, Ahmed Badran, Ian Andrews, Emma Chory, George Church, Eric Brown, Tommi Jaakkola, Regina Barzilay, James Collins11:43 #2 characterizing the novel coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic -- a16z bio deal partner Judy Savitskaya shares what we can learn from the protein structures; the relationship to the 2002-2004 SARS epidemic; and more based on these two research articles: "Structure, Function, and Antigenicity of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein" in Cell (April 2020), by Alexandra Walls, Young-Jun Park, M. Tortorici, Abigail Wall, Andrew McGuire, David Veesler"Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation" in Science (March 2020), by Daniel Wrapp, Nianshuang Wang, Kizzmekia Corbett, Jory Goldsmith, Ching-Lin Hsieh, Olubukola Abiona, Barney Graham, Jason McLellanYou can find these episodes at a16z.com/journalclub.

26 Apr 202024min

Announcing a16z Journal Club, a new show where we curate and discuss recent research papers with a16z experts and others. This new show continues the a16z Podcast mission of not just bringing you conversations about the future (as well as about building companies for this), but of also putting specific trends in context -- whether through news (as with our other show 16 Minutes), or, through journal articles (as with this new show -- which will soon have its own feed as well). The first episode, of bio journal club, focuses on why specific scientific advances matter from our perspective at the intersection of biology & technology. It is hosted by one of our a16z bio editors, Lauren Richardson, a former senior editor of open-access journal PLOS Biology with a background in cell and molecular biology and genetics (and with a Ph.D. from the University of Washington and a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley).You will hear it next in this feed, and can also find new episodes here as they come out every few weeks and at a16z.com/journalclub. ~sonal

26 Apr 20201min

Here is Ali's tweetstorm on the Narrow Waist of Blockchain Computing

24 Apr 202040min

“It's Time to Build” by Marc Andreessen. You can also find and share this essay at a16z.com/build

21 Apr 202012min

We wanted to let you know about a special new series of posts occasionally read out loud from us  (you can learn more about the why and why now in episode #500 on how we podcast); we may release these in a separate feed in future, for now, the first episode is next in this feed. Thank you for listening!You can also check out our other shows and series:16 MinutesHustlin' Tech

21 Apr 202033s

This episode of the a16z Podcast covers the the rise of online platforms that enable people to make a living off their unique interests and skills. It's a trend that's become increasingly relevant as the demand for virtual work grows. The discussion -- with Patreon cofounder and CTO Sam Yam and a16z consumer tech partner Li Jin in conversation with Lauren Murrow -- covers the new forms of work made possible by these online platforms, why creators today are effectively making more money off fewer fans, and what all of this means for the future of entrepreneurship.See more on the Passion Economy, metrics for it, 100 True Fans, and more at a16z.com/creatoreconomies.

18 Apr 202026min

with @JorgeCondeBio, @julesyoo, and @omnivorousreadIn some ways, the coronavirus feels like it came out of nowhere—a kind of Black Swan event. But at the same time, it's been exposing a lot of the fundamental flaws in our healthcare system that now feel like a perfect storm coming together... and have hurt our ability to address the problem that we should really have seen coming.In this episode, a16z General Partners Jorge Conde and Julie Yoo talk with Hanne Tidnam about some of those big forces and dynamics in the healthcare system, at the intersection of business, policy, and public health: how in healthcare like perhaps nowhere else, broken policy can lead to broken business models that, in the wrong circumstances, can then lead major failures in public health like the one we’re seeing today; where we’ve seen this before, in the markets of vaccines, antibiotics, and diagnostics; and what should be different next time, so that when a new pandemic hits we aren’t facing another perfect storm.

16 Apr 202024min

From agile project management to asynchronous collaboration, development teams have pioneered many of the tools and best practices for remote work. However, new shelter-in-place orders have more organizations moving to remote development -- and remote work -- often quickly and without a lot of time to plan.Will remote work be our new reality, even after the current pandemic? And if so, what are the current technologIes and practices that support organizational communication and alignment for distributed teams, development and otherwise? In this hallway-style podcast, Jason Warner, the CTO of GitHub, and a16z General Partner David Ulevitch cover how working from home is evolving our software as well as how we use it -- from communication tools and best practices to interviewing and hiring when you can’t see someone face to face.

15 Apr 202021min