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
