Podcast: a16z

Nvidia’s $5 billion investment in Intel is one of the biggest surprises in semiconductors in years. Two longtime rivals are now teaming up, and the ripple effects could reshape AI, cloud, and the global chip race.

To make sense of it all, Erik Torenberg is joined by Dylan Patel, chief analyst at SemiAnalysis, joins Sarah Wang, general partner at a16z, and Guido Appenzeller, a16z partner and former CTO of Intel’s Data Center and AI business unit. Together, they dig into what the deal means for Nvidia, Intel, AMD, ARM, and Huawei; the state of US-China tech bans; Nvidia’s moat and Jensen Huang’s leadership; and the future of GPUs, mega data centers, and AI infrastructure.

In this episode of Honestly with Bari Weiss, we share a special conversation featuring a16z general partner Katherine Boyle in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s shocking assassination.

Katherine reflects on what courage means in a culture where words and debate are increasingly met with violence. Drawing on faith, history, and her own response to recent tragedies, she discusses the idea of martyrdom, not only in its most extreme sense, but also in the small, everyday choices to speak the truth despite risk.

The web is unhealthy, and AI agents are about to rewrite how we shop.

In this episode, a16z General Partner Alex Rampell and Partner Justine Moore explore how AI agents will change commerce and the implications for Google’s business model, affiliate marketing, online shopping, and more.

OpenAI’s Codex has already shipped hundreds of thousands of pull requests in its first months. But what is it really, and how will coding agents change the future of software?

Can we make science as fast as software? In this episode, Erik Torenberg talks with Patrick Hsu (cofounder of Arc Institute) and a16z general partner Jorge Conde about Arc’s “virtual cells” moonshot, which uses foundation models to simulate biology and guide experiments.

In this conversation from Lenny’s Podcast, Ben Horowitz joins Lenny to discuss the psychological muscle every founder needs, why hesitation can be fatal for CEOs, when it’s time to replace a founder, and how to normalize failure while building confidence. They also explore the Databricks founding story, investing in Adam Neumann after WeWork, whether AI is in a bubble, where the real opportunities lie, and Ben’s work with the Paid in Full Foundation supporting hip-hop pioneers. The result is a candid look at leadership, product management, and what it takes to build enduring companies.

The $13T U.S. mortgage market serves 50M homeowners but still runs on decades-old software.

In this episode, a16z GP Angela Strange hosts Tim Mayopoulos (ex-CEO of Fannie Mae and ex-president of Blend), Mike Yu (co-founder and CEO of Vesta), and Andrew Wang (co-founder and CEO of Valon) to unpack why standardization and regulation slow change, and how modern loan-origination and servicing platforms, cleaner data, and AI can cut costs, boost transparency, and reduce errors. They also discuss policy levers that could speed innovation and what a true one-tap mortgage could look like.

Why do some consumer products explode into networks that reshape the internet, while others fade away?

Today on the podcast, a16z general partners Anish Acharya and Chris Dixon take on that question. Anish invests in AI-native consumer products and the next wave of consumer tech. Chris is best known for his work in Web3 and network economies, and he’s also led some of a16z’s biggest consumer bets.

Together, they cover the history and power of consumer networks, the exponential forces that shape how they grow, and what it all means for founders building in the age of AI.

What happens when AI collides with salesmanship, streaming-era sports, and healthcare?

In this episode, Erik Torenberg is joined by Mark Cuban, entrepreneur, Dallas Mavericks co-owner, and founder of Cost Plus Drugs.

Topics include fiery group chats and how dissent sharpens thinking, the sales playbook of modern politics, and concrete fixes for U.S. healthcare like ending PBM opacity, publishing real prices, and government-backed patient financing. Mark also explains how AI is pushing media from “social” to algorithmic, why he expects millions of models, and why ESOPs are an underrated wealth engine. He shares what he’d build today and weighs in on NBA economics under the new collective bargaining agreement.

Who’s speaking up for startups in Washington, D.C.?

In this episode, Matt Perault (Head of AI Policy, a16z) and Collin McCune (Head of Government Affairs, a16z) unpack the “Little Tech Agenda” for AI- why AI rules should regulate harmful use, not model development; how to keep open source open; the roles of the federal government vs states in regulating AI; and how the U.S. can compete globally without shutting out new founders.

Stainless founder Alex Rattray joins a16z partner Jennifer Li to talk about the future of APIs, SDKs, and the rise of MCP (Model Context Protocol). Drawing on his experience at Stripe—where he helped redesign API docs and built code-generation systems—Alex explains why the SDK is the API for most developers, and why high-quality, idiomatic libraries are essential not just for humans, but now for AI agents as well.

Taken from The Oprah Podcast, this special episode brings together Shaka Senghor, a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz, and Oprah Winfrey for a powerful conversation on resilience and transformation.

Shaka, a resilience expert, motivational speaker, and bestselling author of Writing My Wrongs, shares his journey from incarceration to redemption along with insights from his new book, How to Be Free. Full of hard-earned wisdom and practical tools, it’s a guide for anyone seeking freedom in their own life.

Is non-consensus investing overrated—or the secret to venture returns?

a16z General Partner Erik Torenberg is joined by Martín Casado (General Partner, a16z) and Leo Polovets (General Partner, Humba Ventures) to unpack the debate that lit up venture Twitter/X: should founders and VCs chase consensus, or run from it?

They explore what “consensus” really means in practice, how market efficiency shapes venture outcomes, why most companies fail from indigestion, not starvation, and the risks founders face when they’re too far outside consensus.

Jack Altman sits down with Martin Casado, General Partner at a16z, to unpack the shifting dynamics of venture capital and why media matters more than ever. They cover a16z’s evolution from generalists to specialized platforms, the rise of AI infrastructure, and why today’s fiercest battles are often for talent, not market share.

What if the future of media isn’t controlled by algorithms or legacy institutions—but by independent voices building directly with their audiences?

In this episode, Erik Torenberg is joined by Chris Best, cofounder and CEO of Substack, along with a16z general partners Katherine Boyle and Andrew Chen.

We trace the origin story of Substack and its cultural impact, including how it reinvented the business model for independent media. We also explore the evolution of blogging, the rebundling of media, and what the future holds as attention becomes the scarcest resource.

Venture capital has powered companies like Facebook and TikTok—but what if that same urgency fueled America’s defense and industrial base? Katherine Boyle, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and cofounder of the firm’s American Dynamism practice, argues this is the biggest business opportunity of our time.

In this conversation from The Shawn Ryan Show, Boyle discusses the rise of defense tech startups, why optimism drives her work, and how a new generation of engineers and founders is rethinking innovation and patriotism in America.

In this interview from the 20VC podcast, Martin Casado (a16z General Partner) joins Harry Stebbings to unpack the state of AI, the rise of coding models, the future of open vs. closed source, and how value is shifting across the stack.

Martin offers a candid view of the opportunities and dangers shaping AI and venture capital today.

What are real consumers actually doing with AI today?

In this episode, a16z consumer investors Olivia Moore and Justine Moore break down the fifth edition of our Consumer AI 100, a biannual ranking of the most used AI-native web and mobile products across the globe.

What exactly is an AI agent, and how will agents change the way we work?

In this episode, a16z general partners Erik Torenberg and Martin Casado sit down with Aaron Levie (CEO, Box) and Steven Sinofsky (a16z board partner; former Microsoft exec) to unpack one of the hottest debates in AI right now.

They cover:
-Competing definitions of an “agent,” from background tasks to autonomous interns
-Why today’s agents look less like a single AGI and more like networks of specialized sub-agents
-The technical challenges of long-running, self-improving systems
-How agent-driven workflows could reshape coding, productivity, and enterprise software
-What history — from the early PC era to the rise of the internet — tells us about platform shifts like this one

The conversation moves from deep technical questions to big-picture implications for founders, enterprises, and the future of work.

Erik Torenberg sits down with Ben Horowitz, Cofounder of a16z, for a candid conversation on venture capital, leadership, and the future of innovation. Recorded live at a16z’s Menlo Park offices in 2023, Ben shares practical wisdom and hard-earned lessons on navigating market cycles, building resilient companies, and why culture is a lasting competitive edge.

Highlights:
Venture Cycles: How today’s market compares to past downturns.
Leadership in Uncertainty: Strategies for guiding teams through volatility.
Founder Resilience: The traits that separate enduring founders.
Culture as Strategy: Why culture determines long-term success.
Investment Lens: How a16z identifies standout startups.
Future Trends: Ben’s predictions on AI, crypto, and beyond.