2024 Big Ideas: Voice-First Apps, AI Moats, Never-Ending Games, and Anime Takes Off

Virtual reality is coming fast, and everyone seems to assume that it will be gamers who get to have all the fun first. But there are other applications for VR that could also bring it into the mainstream. “It could very well be business users,” says 16z’s Chris Dixon. “It’s anything where you would want time travel or teleportation.” Dixon is joined on this segment of the podcast by Saku Panditharatne and Kyle Russell, both on the firm’s deal team, to offer their perspective on how virtual reality is likely to enter all of our lives. This year promises to be the moment when more than a very small number of people will get their first taste of VR. What that looks and feels like, and what that shared experience sets in motion on this segment of the a16z podcast. Chris Dixon starts the conversation. The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

26 Feb 201638min

Infrastructure. It powers everything from cities to computing, yet is sometimes considered "boring" because it is so invisible to so many of us. But as software continues to eat the world, infrastructure has come to the forefront. And some of the most exciting technology innovations are now happening at the infrastructure level: It's changing everything, observes a16z's newest general partner Martin Casado -- from how new tech is created to how new tech is sold. Casado -- one of the pioneers of "software-defined networking" -- joins this episode of the a16z Podcast with Sonal Chokshi and Michael Copeland to share his journey from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to Stanford to Nicira Networks to VMware to a16z. He also discusses the tradeoffs in theoretical v. applied computer "science", including lessons learned as a PhD and technologist who then had to run a startup through hard times. Finally, Casado shares what he thinks are the key vectors and trends in networking, what's coming next, how the "as-a-service"(ification) of infrastructure is creating entirely new patterns of buying tech, and how selling to developers is so different (hint: open source is a lot more important than you might think!).

24 Feb 201637min

The principal political binary of the past century was the political 'left versus right'. But in the 21st century the binary has shifted -- the battleground now is 'open versus closed'. Those states and societies that embrace economic, political, and cultural openness will have a better shot at competing in the software and technology-driven future, argues Alec Ross, author of the new book The Industries of the Future. Ross, who worked on the first Obama presidential campaign and was the advisor on innovation to Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State, joins the a16z Podcast to discuss his views on the industries (and cities) of the future, how they are playing out across a 196-country chessboard, and what we all can do to prepare ourselves and our children for what is to come.

19 Feb 201632min

No matter how one views Xiaomi -- and there are many ways to view it, for better or worse -- one thing is clear: It, and other such companies (like WeChat and Alibaba), indicate a broader trend around innovation coming from China. Companies and countries that were once positioned as copycats or followers are becoming leaders, and in unexpected, non-obvious ways. For example, through scale, distribution, logistics, infrastructure, O2O, a different kind of ecommerce, mobile marketing, even design... But of a very different kind than iconic examples like, say, SpaceX. Or Apple, which arguably could damage the U.S. if single-mindedly regarded as "our official most innovative company". Or so argue the guests on this podcast, which include a16z partner Connie Chan and author/long-time observer of internet and social media culture Clay Shirky, who is currently based at NYU Shanghai, wrote the popular book Here Comes Everybody, and most recently authored Little Rice on "smartphones, Xiaomi, and the Chinese Dream".

18 Feb 201631min

During his “Stratos” jump Felix Baumgartner fell faster than the speed of sound, reaching an estimated speed of 833.9 mph plummeting from the edge of space. Baumgartner’s return trip to earth lasted just over nine minutes, but there was seven years of preparation that came before the record-setting mission. Equipment had to be tested and pushed beyond its limit, and so did Baumgartner. It was the task of Red Bull’s director of high performance Andy Walshe to help train Baumgartner physically and psychologically to do what had never been done before. That’s Walshe’s job -- to work with Red Bull’s athletes and artists to get them to places they’ve never been before. Walshe joins the pod, along with a16z’s Jordan Stankowski, to discuss the methods, technologies, and tools he uses to help get people past seemingly unbreakable barriers. The good news is it isn’t just world-class athletes or your favorite pop-star that can benefit from Walshe’s research and work -- it’s all of us.

6 Feb 201641min

The NFL has descended upon Silicon Valley for Superbowl 50, and a16z was fortunate to have 30 of the world’s best football players post-up at the firm to talk about the intersection between the world of professional sports and venture capital. Joe Montana -- yes, the Hall of Fame 49ers quarterback – joins a discussion with a16z’s Jeff Jordan and Ben Horowitz about their approaches to tech investing and the startup ecosystem, how they manage the risk involved (there’s plenty), and whether athletes and other high-profile folks can -- and indeed should – get involved. Here’s one piece of common ground: The hardest thing for NFL legends and VC’s alike? Losing.

5 Feb 201625min

Max Levchin helped build PayPal. Then he went onto tackle gaming at Slide. Now he’s back in the world of payments and finance with his latest startup Affirm. a16z’s Angela Strange talks with Levchin about Affirm’s opportunity in the world of finance, and how it aims to build trust among a customer base that doesn’t trust banks. Why building models around loans requires making bad loans, and finally, why everyone should start watching Kurosawa’s "Seven Samurai" -- over and over.

5 Feb 201635min

Technology companies are running hard at almost every part of the traditional banking business -- from raising funds to moving money from one person to another. And as you would expect, that has meant change, both in terms of the banking services that are available to all of us, and the pricing of those services. It begs the question of what role banks play going forward, and whether tech companies are partners or competitors (or some combination) to the players in the traditional banking business? And finally, if banking gets unbundled by tech –- if there is a choice of services -- what fees, and at what price will consumers be willing to pay? a16z’s Alex Rampell leads a discussion with TransferWise Executive Founder Kristo Käärmann and Tilt founder and CEO James Beshara on the future of money and monetization. The discussion occurred as part of the firm’s U.K. Tech Summit. The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

3 Feb 201621min