a16z Podcast: Datacenter of the Future

What began as a scientific approach to creating and managing startups has now become a worldwide movement for companies of all sizes -- and for creating (or rather rediscovering) entrepreneurs in all places. Not just inside startups, not just for software, and not just inside Silicon Valley. It's about unlocking human creativity everywhere. Perhaps even reinventing the firm. As utopian as that sounds, Eric Ries -- who pioneered the lean startup movement and wrote the definitive book on it -- argues the case in this episode of the a16z Podcast. But has it become too much of a religion? One where people apply the letter of, but not the spirit, behind lean startup principles? Ries, who recently crowdsourced a leader's guide for practitioners to test and evolve the very concepts he first published 5 years ago, shares lessons learned -- as well as the true meaning of overused terms like 'MVP' and 'pivot'. Ultimately, lean startups are about how to make decisions and build new products under conditions of high uncertainty. Without having to chisel the principles into stone tablets.

7 Nov 201550min

There's a "game" being played right now among lawmakers and tech companies around policy issues, and as tech touches everything, everyone has to play some version of it. Even if the game keeps changing. Even if they don't want to. Or do they? What if the game could be reinvented in a way that respects, but doesn't reinforce, an entrenched system -- especially given newer ways of engaging? Part of the problem is that only big companies can afford to play the game, argues Julie Samuels, executive director at Engine (which does research, analysis, and advocacy for tech entrepreneurship): "Bad policy is bad policy because it's bad policy. But the big companies can afford bad policy." Joining Samuels in this a16z Podcast discussion about the evolution of policy and tech is Techdirt's Mike Masnick (who also founded the "digital-native think tank" The Copia Institute). They end by giving us a whirlwind tour of current policy issues in tech -- from patents and IP in China to cybersecurity, privacy, and Safe Harbor in Europe ... And the gig economy, talent, and immigration. All in just under 60 minutes.

3 Nov 201551min

Telepresence. It's an ugly, outdated word for an attractive and current/ emerging phenomenon where people can work from anywhere, anytime. It's technology for the way we work today. But is it as easy as adding good tech to a constantly evolving problem? What about etiquette? And design uber alles? And finally ... why does telepresence even matter? Well, if you can't hire talent locally, you can hire them remotely. That constraint is the easier of all the other requirements to relax. Or so argue the guests on this episode of the a16z Podcast: Scott Hassan, president and CEO of Suitable Technologies, maker of the popular Beam robots and formerly founder of Willow Garage and eGroups (now Yahoo Groups) as well as key software architect and developer of Google, Alexa Internet, and the Stanford Digital Library; Shan Sinha, formerly of DocVerse (acquired by Google) and co-founder and CEO of Highfive, video and web conferencing for everyone; and Craig Walker, formerly of Google and Yahoo Voice, now co-founder and CEO of Switch -- makers of Uberconference and other products for cloud-based enterprises looking to update their communications.

3 Nov 201538min

"The most boring yet valuable podcast in a16z history" -- he (our guest Joe Grundfest) said it, not we! That’s because in this episode of the a16z Podcast, Stanford law professor and former SEC commissioner Grundfest -- and securities litigation lawyer Nicki Locker of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati -- discuss not just the importance, but the almost literary balance ("somewhere between haiku and Tolstoy") behind doing board meeting minutes just right. Yes, that's right: this is a podcast all about board minutes. But it is arguably the most "valuable litigation insurance you can buy for free” ... especially if you learn to create a record that can survive an attack by a conspiracy theorist.

3 Nov 201521min

It's easy to argue for "choosing possibility" when it comes to addressing diversity and inclusion in tech when certain people have access to networks and others don't. BoardList -- more of a talent marketplace than a "list" per se -- is an effort to address part of that issue, bringing more qualified women onto the boards of tech companies. But isn't it risky for startup CEOs to add unknowns onto their boards (and what's the purpose of those boards, anyway?) Does it take away seats from others including the company's investors? In this segment of the a16z Podcast, serial entrepreneur and BoardList founder Sukhinder Singh Cassidy and Silicon Valley Bank's John China discuss these issues and more -- including how boards (and especially common stock in startup boards) are one way to immediately start changing things.

29 Okt 201522min

Disruption is such an overused buzzword. But the word itself does have meaning: As defined by the Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionaries, it is a "disturbance...that interrupts an event, activity, or process" and that causes something "to be unable to continue in the normal way". It's also the name for an influential theory about innovation first coined by Clayton Christensen in a 1995 article and later publicized through his 1997 book, The Innovator's Dilemma. But that was nearly two decades ago! Not only has the concept been much misunderstood and mangled since then, surely it's changed given the advent of new tech and business models today? Is it still relevant, given cases that seemingly defy the theory and its application? Are we at risk of overfitting this "verbally inflated" term to everything, and in doing so, are we missing what disruption theory really says -- and doesn't? Michael Raynor, co-author of the followup book on disruptive innovation with Christensen -- and author of another book that later tested the predictive power of the theory -- joins this episode of the a16z Podcast to answer these questions and more. He also hints at some nuggets from an upcoming article in Harvard Business Review with Christensen and others that addresses the latest formulations of this theory of innovation.

24 Okt 201536min

Technology is a progression of new ideas and new platforms gobbling up the one that came before. In the world of computers we went from mainframes to mini computers to PCs. And then came the mobile phone, which, in the form of the smartphone, has dwarfed them all. But what does that to mobile? When you have already gotten to everybody on earth, what comes along that is 10X the size? a16z’s Benedict Evans and Steven Sinofsky offer their thoughts on where technology is today, why the perfection of the current crop of PCs signals the category’s collapse, and what happens after the smartphone.

22 Okt 201522min

This special episode of the a16z Podcast is based on a Q&A from an early screening we hosted of OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network)'s "Belief", which just premiered and airs over seven consecutive nights. This week-long documentary series depicts how people -- with a wide range of faiths and spiritual practices around the world -- search for deeper meaning and connection with the world around them. But ultimately, it's about the rituals, stories, and relationships that bind us all together as human beings. The Q&A features Oprah Winfrey interviewed by Ben -- or being interviewed by Oprah, depending on how you look at it (and getting schooled in how to do so!) -- as well as one of the series guests, Resham Thakkar, joining them onstage from the audience.

16 Okt 201528min