a16z Live

Welcome to a16z Infra, the Clubhouse Show where the a16z enterprise team discusses the foundational technology and products that underpin all of tech. We dig deep into data, AI/ML, security, developer tools, compute, network, storage, hardware, and anything else found below the surface of modern  stacks.On our first show, a16z general partners Ben Horowitz, Martin Casado, and David Ulevitch  talk about their journeys as infrastructure founders-turned-investors; what exactly  infrastructure is; how it's different from other types of tech; and the importance of technical founders developing go-to-market know-how. Plus, what AWS canceling Parler signals about the state of infrastructure, the impact of cloud costs on margins, and the changing relevance of open source. Like what you hear? Tune in for our next show with former Microsoft Windows president Steven Sinofsky on Thursday, April 1, 4-5pm.  

Amanda Atkins, who leads Internal Communications & Culture at Slack, and Shannon Schiltz, who heads up HR & People Practices at a16z, talk internal comms with Margit. They break down the basics — When do you need an internal comms function? Where should it report? Is it actually different from external comms — and share advice for the toughest parts of the job, including how to handle layoffs, divisive political issues, negative employee reviews on Glassdoor, and leaks. 4B with Margit is a Clubhouse show for raw and unfiltered advice from comms and marketing experts who have seen it all, as well as insider stories from the builders and pioneers who were in the trenches. Think “Scandal” meets “Halt and Catch Fire.” Catch it live Wednesdays 4-5 PST.  

King.com cofounder Riccardo Zacconi (developer of Candy Crush Saga) and Glu/Playfish cofounder Kristian Segerstrale (now the CEO of Super Evil Megacorp) discuss trends in the games industry, failing fast, and building enduring startups with a16z partner Jonathan Lai, Indie MEGABOOTH founder Kelly Wallick, and Stillfront SVP Andrew Green on Games Club.

In this occasional Clubhouse series, a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talk with Greg Reyes, the former CEO of Brocade Communications who was recently pardoned after being convicted of and serving time for the fraudulent backdating of corporate stock options. Greg talks about his career before his conviction, his case and the SEC, his time in prison and what life was like after, the presidential pardon process, his advice for leaders today, and more. Catch Ben and Marc's Clubhouse show live at 7pm PT every Monday.

Pricing has huge implications for market size. How do you know if the price isn't right? And when a customer says something is too expensive, what are they really telling you? Also on Boss Talk #6: creating a new category, how Ali learned to handle racism, and when to bet on your next product. Boss Talk is the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff. Live every Tuesday 5-6pm on Clubhouse. 

On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show "It's Time to Heal", a16z general partners Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande talk to guests Peyton Greenside and Mark DePristo of BigHat Biosciences. The conversation covers the growing role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in drug development and specifically in biologics and protein therapeutics.

Topics covered this week include:How to tell if a startup has entered  "purgatory", where they're getting by each year but no longer has a chance to be a multi-billion dollar companyCommon mistakes founders make when pitching VCsWhen do the biggest disagreements happen over possible investmentsWhat happens when an idea is great, but one of the founders is toxicIs there anyone now like Silicon  Valley coaching legend, Coach Bill Campbell?What kinds of large companies are easiest to compete with?R&D and basic research, now and thenInvesting in people, pre-ideaIf you started today with zero connections and $50k in the bank, what would you do?

On this episode of the a16z Bio Clubhouse Show "It's Time to Heal", a16z general partners Julie Yoo, Vineeta Agarwala, Jorge Conde, and Vijay Pande, along with market development partner Venkat Mocherla, talk to guest Dr. Stephen Klasko, the president of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health about transforming the US healthcare system.

What are the different types of failure? Which can (and can’t) we come back from? And what does it take to turn failure into a comeback story?The second episode of “4B with Margit” explores failure and comebacks with Suneel Gupta, once a poster child for failure, featured in the New York Times and on the keynote stage of FailCon, whose new book Backable is a study in turning failure into success. Also joining the conversation is Eugene Soltes, Harvard Business School professor and author of Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal; Ash Spiegelberg, a partner at the Brunswick Group specializing corporate reputation and crisis management; and Carlye Adler, the Silicon Valley ghostwriter who helped Suneel with Backable.“4B with Margit” is a Clubhouse show for raw and unfiltered advice from comms and marketing experts who have seen it all, as well as insider stories from the builders and pioneers who were in the trenches. Think “Scandal” meets “Halt and Catch Fire.” Catch it live Wednesdays 4-5 PST.  

For some cloud software companies, they don't just build on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, they compete with them. So, how do you stay ahead when competing in the cloud?  a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, cover that, as well as getting product-market fit on your second product, why it's difficult to do both on-prem and cloud software, the importance of making the right unpopular decision, and how to know if a potential exec hire is a cultural fit on this episode of Boss Talk – the Clubhouse show where a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi, the Founder/CEO of Databricks, discuss CEO stuff, leadership stuff, management stuff... boss stuff.