Lectures / Talks

Around the firm we use “software eats the world” as a guide for how technology will impact every industry and every person – from education to healthcare and government. As a16z marks its five-year anniversary, we turned to the fellow who came up with the thesis, Marc Andreessen, to explain how it’s rippling around the globe. And to break down all the implications for building companies and managing people we tapped a16z's cofounder Ben Horowitz. With both “a” and “z” in the room, this segment takes stock of the technology industry and startup ecosystem – from entrepreneurs to investors, and where it’s all headed next.  Part one of two.

a16z Podcast: Ben and Marc Explain (Practically) Everything – Part 1

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Alex Morton - How To Make Millions In Your Early 20's

Silicon Valley and the U.S. Department of Defense have had a long history of partnership -- including the government funding R&D that was commercialized by major companies and is now used by people everyday. But lately, there's been a more "commercial" evolution of technology, with both government and startups shifting focus in what they did (and didn't do) before. Where does this leave innovation around big ideas?

In this segment of the a16z Podcast, we grabbed a few moments with U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to hear his thoughts on these and other questions. Including how startups should partner with the government -- one of the biggest IT buyers in the world -- as well as what security areas he thinks are important to work on. And: why he hates GPS.

a16z Podcast: Government, Startups, & Innovation -- with U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter

There is increasing interest among companies -- small and large -- in putting together technical advisory boards. It sounds pretty straightforward: get some senior technical experts to help with the technical speed bumps. But if that is all your technical advisory board is, you are missing out. Built and utilized correctly, a technical advisory board can be a huge advantage when it comes to mapping out a long-term strategic plan, finding talent, and building a great engineering culture.

On this segment of the a16z Podcast we break down the right way to build a technical advisory board; what you should expect from the board (and just as important, what you shouldn’t). And for those looking to serve on a technical advisory board, the reasons to do it, as well as the things to consider before committing.

This conversation was recorded as part of an event featuring four technical experts: Arnie Goldberg from PayPal; Purnima Padmanabhan, former CEO of Cavirin; Alex Roetter, SVP of Engineering at Twitter; and a16z General Partner Peter Levine.

a16z Podcast: Building the Right Technical Advisory Board

The title of world's financial capital bounces back and forth between London and New York. This year London has bragging rights, but does being the word's center of gravity for finance mean so-called "fintech" companies will naturally flow from that position?

London-based investor Eileen Burbidge joins a16z's Alex Rampell to pick apart fintech in this segment of the podcast recorded on our U.K. road trip. Everything from the term (please make it go away), to the particular barriers and opportunities facing entrepreneurs looking to create what really amounts to better banks.

a16z Podcast: Fintech from the World's Financial Capital -- London

Rob Rhinehart, like most startup entrepreneurs, was strapped for cash and time as developed his ideas and ultimately a company. What stood out to Rhinehart in that all-consuming and ongoing process was the contrast between all the things in his life that technology had made more convenient and cheaper -- basically everything powered by smartphones -- and what he felt was a process still trapped in our agrarian past: sitting down for a meal.

Out of that observation came Soylent -- nutrition in powder or ready-to-drink form, that substituted for Rhinehart the lousy ramen or frozen corn-dog meals he was subsisting on.

Better, faster, cheaper -- Soylent has all the trademarks of good tech -- but are we really going to start drinking our meals? Rhinehart joins this segment of the pod along with a16z’s Chris Dixon, who led the firm’s investment in Soylent, to talk about where Soylent might fit into our lives ... and what it means for the future of food as well as earth's resources.

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The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
 
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

a16z Podcast: The Future of Food

India and China. The two most populous countries on the planet are also two of the most tantalizing markets for companies of all size, from startups to conglomerates. But those markets are also intensely, densely competitive: There's a lot of capital, a lot of players, and a whole lot of people.

So do local players really have the home-court advantage here? Can they compete with the global players who have unparalleled execution ability and scale? And how does timing and structuring of companies entering those markets matter?

Andreessen Horowitz partners Connie Chan and Anu Hariharan discuss these topics and more -- everything from logistics and infrastructure to design and talent -- on this episode of the a16z Podcast. As well as how domains like e-commerce, payments, and ride-sharing are playing out against the incredibly layered sociocultural backdrop of these two countries.

a16z Podcast: The Tiger and the Dragon -- On Tech and Startups in India and China


The principal political binary of the past century was the political 'left versus right'. But in the 21st century the binary has shifted -- the battleground now is 'open versus closed'. Those states and societies that embrace economic, political, and cultural openness will have a better shot at competing in the software and technology-driven future, argues Alec Ross, author of the new book The Industries of the Future.

Ross, who worked on the first Obama presidential campaign and was the advisor on innovation to Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State, joins the a16z Podcast to discuss his views on the industries (and cities) of the future, how they are playing out across a 196-country chessboard, and what we all can do to prepare ourselves and our children for what is to come. 

a16z Podcast: Open vs. Closed, Alpha Cities, and the Industries of the Future

Thomas A. Russo joined Gardner Russo & Gardner LLC as a partner in 1989. In 2014, he became the Managing Member of the firm. Gardner Russo & Gardner LLC is a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and is not associated with any bank, security dealer or other third party. Mr. Russo serves as Managing Member of Gardner Russo & Gardner LLC and of Semper Vic Partners GP, LP, which oversees two “global value”, long-only, equity investment partnerships, the first of which Mr. Russo founded in 1983. Mr. Russo oversees more than $12 billion distributed between Semper Vic partnerships and separate accounts managed in parallel fashion.

Mr. Russo looks for companies with strong cash-flow characteristics that generate large amounts of “free” cash flow. These industries typically have included branded food and beverage, tobacco, and advertising-supported media. Mr. Russo’s portfolio companies tend to produce high rates of return on their assets and have strong balance sheets. The challenge comes in finding these obviously desirable investments at compelling valuations.

Mr. Russo commits capital to leading global consumer products companies whose brands enjoy growing market shares in parts of the world undergoing economic growth and enjoying increasing political stability. He prefers companies with sufficient cash flows from existing operations, combined with balance-sheet strength, to underwrite investments designed to activate emerging markets.

Mr. Russo backs rare management teams willing to invest to secure robust future returns even when such investments burden current reported profits. Mr. Russo believes that managements of family-controlled companies have the “capacity to suffer” when investments intended to build long-term wealth are ill-received by short-term focused Wall Street analysts. Mr. Russo believes that such “capacity to suffer” leaves family-controlled companies often uniquely well positioned to bear short-term burdens on reported profits in pursuit of long-term gains in intrinsic value. Accordingly, he often invests in public companies where founding families still retain control and significant investment exposure, to reduce management agency costs and to align owner interests.

Mr. Russo’s goal is one of an absolute return rather than a relative return. He pursues a long-term investment objective of compounding assets between 10 and 20 percent per year without great turnover, thereby deferring capital gains tax on unrealized gains.

Thomas Russo is a graduate of Dartmouth College (BA, 1977), and Stanford Business and Law Schools (MBA/JD, 1984). Memberships include Dean’s Advisory Council for Stanford Law School, Dartmouth College’s President’s Leadership Council, and California Bar Association. Mr. Russo is a charter member of the Advisory Board for the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing at Columbia Business School. He serves on the boards of the Winston Churchill Foundation of the U.S., Facing History and Ourselves, and Storm King Art Center. In May 2017, he was awarded The Graham & Dodd, Murray, Greenwald Prize for Value Investing.

Tom Russo on Global Investing and Mental Models in a Changing World

with Frank Chen, Steven Sinofsky, and Sonal Chokshi

There are many reasons why we’re in an “A.I. spring” after multiple “A.I. winters” — but how then do we tease apart what’s real vs. what’s hype when it comes to the (legitimate!) excitement about artificial intelligence and machine learning? Especially when it comes to the latest results of computers beating games, which not only captures our imaginations but has always played a critical role in advancing machine intelligence (whether it’s AI winning Texas Hold’em poker or beating the world human champ in the ancient Chinese game of Go).

But on learning that Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo can master the game of Go without human knowledge — or more precisely: “based solely on reinforcement learning, without human data, guidance, or domain knowledge beyond game rules” — some people leap too far towards claims of artificial generalized intelligence. So where can we then generalize the findings of such work — unsupervised learning, self-play, etc. — to other specific domains? What does it mean for entrepreneurs building companies (and what investors look for)? And what does it mean for how we, as humans, learn… or rather, how computers can also learn from how we learn?

Deal and research operating team head Frank Chen and a16z board partner Steven Sinofsky ponder all this and more, in conversation with Sonal Chokshi, in this episode of the a16z Podcast. We ended last time with the triumph of data over algorithms and begin this time with the triumph of algorithms over data … is this the end of big data?

Lectures / Talks

Benedikt Lotter