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The Knowledge Project Podcast

Chris Dixon: The State of Venture Capital [The Knowledge Project Ep. #5]

In this episode, a16z partner Chris Dixon and I discuss the history of venture capital, artificial intelligence, what makes a great entrepreneur, and why companies fail.

Now available on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript

Chris is a partner at perhaps the most famous venture capital firm in the world, Andreessen Horowitz or commonly known as a16z.

This interview provides a rare peek behind the scenes of what happens at a16z and the business philosophies that laid the foundation for its success.

Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

  • The fascinating history of venture capital and how it morphed into what it is today
  • What Chris is looking for when he evaluates a company in search of funding
  • How a16z earned their reputation as the preeminent VC firm and what they do differently that sets them apart in such a competitive space
  • How to shift your mindset to accept and even expect failure and how to learn from it
  • The characteristics that Chris seeks out in a founder before investing a dime
  • The next wave in technology that will revolutionize the way we interact with one another
  • How close we are to having self-driving cars in every driveway and the “edge cases” that the current technology can’t quite get right
  • The exciting things some start-ups are doing to improve the food quality in the United States
  • How Chris explores the “idea maze” with entrepreneurs to gauge the depth of thought they’ve put into their start-up

And much much more.

If you’re at all interested in the world of venture capital and how great ideas are funded, you’ll get a lot out of this conversation with Chris.

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.

Books Mentioned

  • Arthur C. Clarke, How the World was One
  • Douglas Hofsteader, Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
  • Daniel Dennett, Conciousness Explained
  • Stephen Jay Gould, Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History
  • Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
  • Cixin Liu, The Three Body Problem
  • Andy Weir, The Martian
  • Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
  • Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Links

  • Chris Dixon on The Babe Ruth Effect in Venture Capital
  • Chris Dixon’s new blog on Medium
  • Follow Chris on Twitter
  • Ben Horowitz – The Hard Thing about Hard things
  • Ben Horowitz on “The Struggle”

Transcript

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The Knowledge Project

A podcast about mastering the best of what other people have already figured out. The Knowledge Project focuses on insights and lessons that never expire. You’ll walk away from every episode with actionable insights that help you get better results and live a more meaningful life.

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