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Apple and Google won the mobile OS war, but the next war – to build big businesses on top of Android and iOS – is just beginning. Andreessen Horowitz Partner Benedict Evans untangles what the next phase of mobile means for entrepreneurs, Apple and Google's competitors, and consumers eager for the next great gadget.

a16z Podcast: Apple and Google Won the Mobile OS War, But a New War Has Already Begun

The mobile experience is still in its 1995 Yahoo phase, a sea of apps and websites without an easy way to find what you want and need on your smartphone. What will be mobile’s version of PageRank, the algorithm that made the web manageable? What is the interaction model and the form - app, card, URL – that will help us find, explore and engage with people, products and services from our mobile devices? Andreessen Horowitz’s Chris Dixon, Benedict Evans and Balaji Srinivasan delve into the options.

a16z Podcast: Searching for Mobile’s Own PageRank

Suppose you develop a new technology that is valuable to some industry. The old approach was to sell or license your technology to the existing companies in that industry. The new approach is to build a complete, end-to-end product or service that bypasses existing companies. Andreessen Horowitz’s Chris Dixon, Balaji Srinivasan and Benedict Evans discuss the reasons behind, and advantages of, going “full stack.”

a16z Podcast: The Rise of Full Stack Startups

Speaker(s): Professor Gerd Gigerenzer | Remember the volcanic ash cloud over Iceland? The subprime disaster? What about mad cow disease? Each new crisis makes us worry until we start worrying about the next one. When something goes wrong, we are told that the way to prevent further crises is through better technology, more laws, and bigger bureaucracy. How to protect ourselves from the threat of terrorism? Homeland security, full body scanners, further sacrifice of individual freedom. How to counteract exploding costs in health care? Tax hikes, rationalization, better genetic markers. One idea is absent from these lists: risk-savvy citizens. And there is a reason for that. Many experts have concluded that people are basically hopeless when it comes to risk and, like a child who needs a parent, require continuous “nudging." Against this pessimistic view, I will argue that instead of being the solution, experts are often part of the problem, and that everyone can learn to deal with risk and uncertainty on their own. A democracy needs risk-savvy citizens who cannot be easily frightened into surrendering their money, their welfare, and their liberty. Gerd Gigerenzer is managing director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, former professor of psychology at the University of Chicago and author of Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions. Wed, 21 May 2014 18:30:00 GMT

Risk Savvy: how to make good decisions [Audio]

Consumers seem content with the mobile duopoly we currently have. So what can be gained from a third mobile operating system? If it's an open computing platform, argues Cyanogen CEO and co-founder Kirt McMaster (in discussion with a16z's Zal Bilimoria), one big win for developers and device makers is access to the guts of an operating system -- and the opportunity to exist as core services rather than simple apps riding on top of an OS. For consumers this means potentially new and unique software for smartphones, tablets, and wearables that take advantage of that tight integration. How else could the next Siri or Gmail take hold on mobile ... without necessarily coming from the likes of Apple and Google??

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a16z Podcast: Searching for Mobile's Third OS

"Thanks to Aidan for the invitation to contribute to his excellent mix series, and for his patience as I cycled through four different iterations each time I changed my mind about theme, concept and tracklist. The idea to focus on soundtracks came from the inclusion of Max Richter and Symmetry in version 2, then watching Interstellar and finishing the amazing game Inside that subsequent weekend. All are represented here, as are various other modern film compositions, a handful of similarly atmospheric game soundtracks and a couple from older, Eighties film scores that are not as celebrated as the likes of Carpenter and Vangelis but are in my opinion no less excellent.  

"I tried to steer away from anything too obvious (hence no Vangelis or Carpenter), and draw only from films and games I have personally watched/played, even if not necessarily "enjoyed" in the strictest sense (hello Lost River). The end result is something I think pretty well captures a broad swathe of my personal tastes in film, music and gaming, all of which I am more than happy to geek on about interminably. I hope you enjoy it."

@driscollobos, 2016

Bandcloud Guest Mix - October 2016 - Dean Driscoll

Some favorite records by women from around the world. Happy International Women's Day.

"Diane" And Shango - Miawo-ezon Lo-o - Togo
Dip In the Pool - On Retinae (East Version) - Japan
Evinha - Esperar Pra Ver - Brazil
The Soulettes - Deh Pon Dem - Jamaica
Ната - Знаеш, Че Много Те Обичам - Bulgaria
Lijadu Sisters - Not Any Longer - Nigeria
Sonya Spence - Let Love Flow On - Jamaica
Sade - Spirit - United Kingdom
Sandra Sá - Guarde Minha Voz - Brazil
Brenda & The Big Dudes - Weekend Special - South Africa
Stereolab - Miss Modular - France
Şenay - Kent Yaşamı - Turkey
Barbara Marchand - I Whisper Role Over - Italy
Nahawa Doumbia - Djina Mousso (Demon Woman) - Mali
Ibibio Sound Machine - Woman Of Substance (Awuwan Itiaba) - Nigeria
Kyoko Furuya - Harumi Futoh - Japan
Gal Costa - Baby - Brazil

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John W. Degraft-Johnson