Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

Seventy-five percent of the total value of US companies that have floated since 1995 has been created by venture-backed firms, including Alphabet, Facebook, and countless others. But how did an obscure investment strategy become the engine of modern innovation and where might it go next? Sebastian Mallaby, author of an excellent new book, The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future, joins Azeem Azhar to discuss the history (and future) of venture capital. They also discuss: What sets the most successful VCs apart from the pack. How an unknown Russian investing in Facebook changed the VC game forever. Why venture capital is here to stay. @Azeem @exponentialview @scmallaby Related resource: The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future – Sebastian Mallaby

Nutritional science has long been one-size-fits-all. Advice on a healthier diet has been generic, failing to consider the huge variance of our bodies. ZOE is trying to change that by combining new research about our microbiomes with AI and machine learning. The healthtech startup offers dietary advice tailored to an individual’s microbiomes – the unique makeup of microorganisms present in  our human gut – to change the way we  eat for the better. ZOE co-founder and CEO Jonathan Wolf joins Azeem Azhar to discuss what the ZOE process looks like, the growth of the company, and the importance of the microbiome to our health. They also discuss: How ZOE has been able to speed up health research. What an individual’s genome cannot account for when it comes to health. Whether eating doughnuts can ever improve your health outcomes. @Azeem @exponentialview @jwolf @join_zoe Further resources: ‘Human postprandial responses to food and potential for precision nutrition’ – Berry et al., Nature Medicine, 2020 ‘Microbiome connections with host metabolism and habitual diet from 1,098 deeply phenotyped individuals’ – F. Asnicar, S. Berry, N. Segata, Nature Medicine, 2021

The workings of the brain have long puzzled scientists and philosophers, but the last twenty years have been a golden age for consciousness research. Cognitive and computational neuroscience professor Anil Seth is at the cutting edge of that work. He and Azeem Azhar discuss theories on how and why our brains work the way they do and explore how learning more about those questions could lead to new discoveries in medicine, AI, and virtual reality. They also address: How is it possible to scientifically study a subjective experience? What is the difference between consciousness and intelligence, and can you have one without the other? If a computer becomes conscious, but it doesn’t want to share its self-awareness, would we ever know? @Azeem @exponentialview @anilkseth Further resources: ‘What Is It Like to Be a Bat?’ – Thomas Nagel (1974) Being You, Anil Seth – Penguin Random House

Companies of all sizes and sectors have committed to net-zero emissions targets, but getting there is not straightforward. Measuring carbon dioxide output is tricky, carbon markets are fragmented, and the quality of offsets varies hugely. Michelle You, co-founder and CEO of Supercritical, is on a mission to help companies better measure, reduce, and remove carbon emissions – and her first target is the tech sector. Tech doesn’t attract as much criticism regarding emissions as some other sectors, but Michelle argues that tech companies emit more than the airline industry. She and Azeem Azhar discuss Supercritical’s approach and methods. They also explore: What product specialists, like Michelle, can add to the climate fight. Why carbon removal is the only viable path to net-zero. Why early-adopters of carbon removal technology are especially crucial to saving the planet. @Azeem @exponentialview @wreckingball37 Further resources: Decarbonization by the Numbers (with Michele Della Vigna)  – Exponential View Podcast, 2021 Funding Innovation to Fight Climate Change – Exponential View Podcast, 2021 Building a Trustworthy Market for Carbon Offsets (PART 1) — Exponential View Podcast, 2021

Azeem Azhar sets out his vision for 2022 and shares the trends he thinks will change our world this year. Some changes are hurtling down the pike, like the growth of Web 3.0 and the metaverse, while others are rumbling along more slowly: the continued dominance of Big Tech, and the tireless march of artificial intelligence. Azeem’s discussion touches on: Why we should differentiate between “tech crypto” and “money crypto.” Why the metaverse is so much more than Meta. Why the “climate tech” tag might become obsolete. @Azeem @exponentialview Further resources Exponential View Newsletter Is Three the Magic Number: My Take on Web3 (Exponential View Newsletter, 2021)

As 2021 draws to a close and Covid cases spike, it’s easy to think not much has changed. But in between pandemic waves, we’ve made major progress in science and technology. And that progress gives us clues about how the future might play out. Host Azeem Azhar reflects on the tech trends we’ve seen this year and key shifts in industry and society that are changing cities, the labor market, and the semiconductor business. He also discusses: Why semiconductor chips were hot property (and will only get hotter). What people got wrong about the “death of the city.” New media, the creator economy, and the “great resignation.” @Azeem @exponentialview Further resources: Exponential View Newsletter Learning From 2020: Azeem’s Takeaways

Andreessen Horowitz general partner Andrew Chen and host Azeem Azhar have something in common: they were both tech company insiders and early-stage investors before becoming authors. They explore why they decided to write their books, how writing intersects with their day jobs, and whether they’d do it all again. They also discuss: What selling a book online has taught them about e-commerce. How the future for factual books has changed as publishing has decentralized. What books can communicate that other media can’t. @Azeem @AndrewChen @ExponentialView Further resources: Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 1995-2019 Status as a Service (Eugene Wei, 2019) The Cold Start Problem (Andrew Chen, 2021) The Exponential Age (Azeem Azhar, 2021)

Quantum computing won’t be an incremental improvement – it will be a step-change in the power of the technology that underpins a huge part of our economy. Exponentially faster computing won’t just help us solve problems more quickly, but it will also allow us to tackle problems that have been impossible to answer and find answers to questions we did not know to ask. Chad Rigetti, founder and CEO of Rigetti Computing, speaks to Azeem Azhar about just how revolutionary quantum computing will be. They also discuss: How quantum could usher in a new computing revolution. Why having the lead in quantum computing is turning into the contemporary equivalent of the “space race.” How quantum computing could change how we do science. @Azeem @ChadRigetti Further resources ‘Building A Quantum Computer with Light’, (Exponential View Podcast, 2021) ‘Making Quantum Computers a Commercial Reality’, (Exponential View Podcast, 2021)

Nuclear fusion seems to have been “twenty years away” forever, but recent advances could mean fusion is finally on its way to becoming part of our energy mix. Azeem Azhar speaks to Nick Hawker, co-founder and CEO of First Light Fusion, a UK-based company that uses an approach it calls “projectile fusion” to generate energy. That method uses an electromagnetic launcher to fire material towards fuel at high speeds. Nick explains why it’s one of the most promising approaches to a problem that has puzzled physicists for decades. He breaks down the challenges, both extraordinary and mundane, that fusion experiments involve. They also discuss: Why First Light Fusion’s system could generate power more efficiently than the sun. When the first fusion reactor could plug into an electrical grid. How many lasers it takes to turn on a light bulb. @Azeem @FLF_Nick Further resources Investing in Deep Tech for an Abundant Future (Exponential View Podcast, 2021)

Murray Shanahan, professor of cognitive robotics at Imperial College London and a senior research scientist at DeepMind, joins Azeem Azhar to discuss AI: where developments have exceeded expectations, where they have fallen short, and what the next steps are towards an artificial general intelligence (AGI). They explore the hurdles that stand in the way of truly intelligent computer programs: why an AGI might need to exist in a body that can sense the world around it to reach its full potential, whether we can teach computers common sense, and what it means for a self-driving car to “think.” They also discuss: What the future of AI may have in common with the aeronautical ingenuity of the Wright brothers. The pros and cons of the various approaches to AI from symbolic models to convoluted neural networks, transformers, and generative models. Why huge salaries for commercial deep learning engineers might actually hinder research. @mpshanahan @exponentialview @Azeem Further resources: AI’s Competitive Advantage (Exponential View podcast, 2021) How To Practice Responsible AI (Exponential View podcast, 2021) ‘Conscious exotica’ (Murray Shanahan, Aeon, 2016) State of AI Report 2021 (Nathan Benaich and Ian Hogarth)