

Raising Health
Andreessen Horowitz, a16z Bio + Health
A myriad of AI, science, and technology experts explore the real challenges and enormous opportunities facing entrepreneurs who are building the future of health. Raising Health, a podcast by a16z Bio + Health and hosted by Kris Tatiossian and Olivia Webb, dives deep into the heart of biotechnology and healthcare innovation. Join veteran company builders, operators, and investors Vijay Pande, Julie Yoo, Vineeta Agarwala, and Jorge Conde, along with distinguished guests like Mark Cuban, Greg Verdine, Fei-Fei Li, and Suchi Saria, as they explore the intricacies of these technological advancements and how they can be built and effectively delivered. Together, we can rewrite the script. Welcome to Raising Health.
Episodes
Mentioned books

16 snips
Aug 8, 2023 • 28min
The AI-Flipped Clinic with Zak Kohane
Together, Vijay and Zak talked about having been through AI winters and hype cycles before, and why they think this time could be different. They also talked about how AI could revolutionize the healthcare model — what Zak calls the “flipped clinic.”Join Zak and Vijay as they talk about how AI could flip the clinic, how foundation models could quickly transform the discovery and development of drugs, and how Zak thinks about the future.

5 snips
Aug 1, 2023 • 26min
Putting the Pro in Provider Networks with Dan Rosenthal
Dan Rosenthal, a provider network expert and the newest advisory partner for a16z Bio + Health, joins Julie Yoo, general partner.Together, they talk about the 101 and 201 of provider networks, tactical advice for digital health builders, and how AI could theoretically change the way networks are constructed.

Jul 25, 2023 • 39min
The Exec Hiring Playbook with Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi
The holy grail of company building is finding product-market fit. But what most people don’t tell you is that once you’ve found it, product-market fit brings its own set of challenges, particularly when it comes to scaling rapidly and hiring the right executives at the right time.Drawing from their extensive experiences, a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Databricks cofounder and CEO Ali Ghodsi sit down with Steph Smith of the a16z podcast to talk about the hardest things about executive hiring and firing, and what is at stake.They dive into the common reasons an exec fails, why sometimes micromanagement is a good idea, and the difference between someone who has written a playbook and someone who has only run one.

31 snips
Jul 20, 2023 • 40min
Drugging the Undruggable with Greg Verdine
When Greg started out in science, he heard other researchers referring to certain targets as “undruggable.” In response, he’s devoted his life to drugging the undruggable, cofounding the field of chemical biology along the way. After a robust career founding multiple biotechs and serving as the cofounder, chairman, and CEO of FogPharma, he is the newest venture partner at a16z Bio + Health.Join Greg, Vineeta, and Jorge as they talk about Greg's upbringing and career, and how he thinks about the field today.

9 snips
Jul 18, 2023 • 25min
Forecasting Human Health with Jeffrey Kaditz
After his own health scare, Jeffrey got obsessed with how MRIs work—and decided that they were too unscientific to really track human health over time. In response, he built a new kind of imaging, creating a “digital twin” that can be tracked over time. And if health can be tracked over time, in theory it could eventually become as forecastable as the weather.Join Jeffrey and Vijay as they talk about human imaging, health forecasting, and how a digital twin could change healthcare.

6 snips
Jul 11, 2023 • 31min
Will AI Kill Us All? with Marc Andreessen
AI has the potential to save the world — that’s the thesis of Marc’s most recent article, linked below. This episode was recorded right after Marc published his article, live from a16z Bio + Health’s first summit.Join Marc and Vijay as they talk about how AI can save the world, and where it can go wrong.Additional reading:Why AI Will Save the World

Jun 27, 2023 • 29min
AI, Innovation, and Regulatory Insights with Amy Abernethy
AI is not just a sci-fi concept anymore; it's being woven into the fabric of healthcare, revolutionizing everything from research to patient care. It has the potential to create more streamlined and efficient processes. The challenge now is how we adapt and regulate this ever-evolving technology, while ensuring safety and trust.Amy Abernethy, former Principal Deputy Commissioner at the FDA and now the President of Product Development and Chief Medical Officer at Verily Life Sciences, joins Vijay Pande, founding partner of a16z Bio + Health, to discuss.

Jun 20, 2023 • 13min
From Faculty to Founder: Building Startups from Academia
In this episode, taken from a live a16z event, Bio + Health general partner Vineeta Agarwala moderates a panel of UCSF faculty founders, including Michelle Arkin, Jimmie Ye, and Natalia Jura (full bios below). Together, they discuss fundraising, the decision to stay in or leave academia after founding a company, and their tips for managing the IP process. Michelle Arkin is a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at UCSF, chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and a co-director of the Small Molecule Discovery Center at UCSF. Professor Arkin is also a cofounder of both Elgin Therapeutics and Ambagon Therapeutics.Jimmie Ye is an associate professor of medicine at the Institute for Human Genetics at UCSF and an affiliate investigator at Gladstone Institutes. He is also the cofounder of Dropprint Genomics and Survey Genomics.Natalia Jura is a professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and an investigator at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UCSF. Professor Jura is also an associate director of the Quantitative Biosciences Institute. She is a cofounder of Rezo Therapeutics.

Jun 13, 2023 • 39min
Curing the Trust Problem with Mark Cuban
Today’s episode is with Mark Cuban, founder of multiple businesses, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, one of the sharks on Shark Tank, and cofounder of the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. He is joined by Vijay Pande, founding partner of a16z Bio + Health. Together, they talk market forces in healthcare, the importance of trust to patients, and Mark’s ideas to tackle the Gordian knot that is American healthcare.

7 snips
Jun 8, 2023 • 36min
The Founders Reinventing Healthcare with Fintech
Today’s episode is a cross-post with the a16z podcast. It features founders—Chris Severn, Florian Otto, Andrew Adams, Jade Chan, Jimmy Chen, and Fay Rotenberg—chatting with a16z podcast host Steph Smith, about how they're trying to reinvent the healthcare system, using fintech.Additional reading:https://a16z.com/healthcare-meets-fintech/https://a16z.com/2023/02/07/healthtech-x-fintechs-biggest-prize/https://a16z.com/2022/06/01/payvidors-unbundled-opportunities-in-healthcare-fintech/