Why Productivity Growth Has Been So Low

Marc Andreessen is a founder, investor, and co-founder of Netscape, as well as co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). In this conversation, we dig into why we’re living through a unique and one of the most incredible times in history, and what comes next.

We discuss:

1. Why AI is arriving at the perfect moment to counter demographic collapse and declining productivity

2. How Marc has raised his 10-year-old kid to thrive in an AI-driven world

3. What’s actually going to happen with AI and jobs (spoiler: he thinks the panic is “totally off base”)

4. The “Mexican standoff” that’s happening between product managers, designers, and engineers

5. Why you should still learn to code (even with AI)

6. How to develop an “E-shaped” career that combines multiple skills, with AI as a force multiplier

7. The career advice he keeps coming back to (“Don’t be fungible”)

8. How AI can democratize one-on-one tutoring, potentially transforming education

9. His media diet: X and old books, nothing in between

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Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom

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Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0

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Where to find Marc Andreessen:

• X: https://x.com/pmarca

• Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com

• Andreessen Horowitz’s website: https://a16z.com

• Andreessen Horowitz’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@a16z

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Marc Andreessen

(04:27) The historic moment we’re living in

(06:52) The impact of AI on society

(11:14) AI’s role in education and parenting

(22:15) The future of jobs in an AI-driven world

(30:15) Marc's past predictions

(35:35) The Mexican standoff of tech roles

(39:28) Adapting to changing job tasks

(42:15) The shift to scripting languages

(44:50) The importance of understanding code

(51:37) The value of design in the AI era

(53:30) The T-shaped skill strategy

(01:02:05) AI’s impact on founders and companies

(01:05:58) The concept of one-person billion-dollar companies

(01:08:33) Debating AI moats and market dynamics

(01:14:39) The rapid evolution of AI models

(01:18:05) Indeterminate optimism in venture capital

(01:22:17) The concept of AGI and its implications

(01:30:00) Marc's media diet

(01:36:18) Favorite movies and AI voice technology

(01:39:24) Marc's product diet

(01:43:16) Closing thoughts and recommendations

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Referenced:

• Linus Torvalds on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linustorvalds

• The philosopher’s stone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher%27s_stone

• Alexander the Great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great

• Aristotle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle

• Bloom’s 2 sigma problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem

• Alpha School: https://alpha.school

• In Tech We Trust? A Debate with Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen: https://a16z.com/in-tech-we-trust-a-debate-with-peter-thiel-and-marc-andreessen

• John Woo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woo

• Assembly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_language

• C programming language: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language)

• Python: https://www.python.org

• Netscape: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape

• Perl: https://www.perl.org

• Scott Adams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Adams

• Larry Summers’s website: https://larrysummers.com

• Nano Banana: https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation

• Bitcoin: https://bitcoin.org

• Ethereum: https://ethereum.org

• Satoshi Nakamoto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto

• Inside ChatGPT: The fastest-growing product in history | Nick Turley (Head of ChatGPT at OpenAI): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-chatgpt-nick-turley

• Anthropic co-founder on quitting OpenAI, AGI predictions, $100M talent wars, 20% unemployment, and the nightmare scenarios keeping him up at night | Ben Mann: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropic-co-founder-benjamin-mann

• Inside Google’s AI turnaround: The rise of AI Mode, strategy behind AI Overviews, and their vision for AI-powered search | Robby Stein (VP of Product, Google Search): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-google-built-ai-mode-in-under-a-year

• DeepSeek: https://www.deepseek.com

• Cowork: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-getting-started-with-cowork

• Definite vs. indefinite thinking: Notes from Zero to One by Peter Thiel: https://boxkitemachine.net/posts/zero-to-one-peter-thiel-definite-vs-indefinite-thinking

• Henry Ford: https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/stories-of-innovation/visionaries/henry-ford

• Lex Fridman Podcast: https://lexfridman.com/podcast

• $46B of hard truths from Ben Horowitz: Why founders fail and why you need to run toward fear (a16z co-founder): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/46b-of-hard-truths-from-ben-horowitz

• Eddington: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31176520

• Joaquin Phoenix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_Phoenix

• Pedro Pascal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Pascal

• George Floyd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd

• Replit: https://replit.com

• Behind the product: Replit | Amjad Masad (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad

• Grok Bad Rudi: https://grok.com/badrudi

• Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai

• Star Trek: The Next Generation: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092455

• Star Trek: Starfleet Academy: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8622160

• a16z: The Power Brokers: https://www.notboring.co/p/a16z-the-power-brokers

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.