a16z Podcast

What can today’s startups learn from Amazon’s so-called “invention machine” and a culture of growth and innovation that led to several successful and diverse lines of products? As it scaled, how did Amazon define and adapt its culture and practices to promote innovation even as it got more complex and large? Longtime Amazon execs Colin Bryar and Bill Carr take us behind-the-scenes.

In turbulent times, it's critical to to understand the fundamental finances that drive the business. One of the key metrics both investors and founders look at is gross margins. This conversation digs into the what, when, and why gross margins matter for both early and late stage startups.

Every founder's journey is unique, and a16z general partner David Ulevitch's is no exception. From working in tech during the Dot Com boom to founding and guiding his own startups to successful exits to becoming an investor, he shares his story with The Modern CTO's Joel Beasley. But while every journey is different, some of the lessons remain the same.

What was it like to build and demo new things for Steve Jobs? How did Apple develop the software components of iconic hardware products iPhone, iPad, and more? Longtime Apple software engineer and designer Ken Kocienda shares stories and lessons from his career at Apple with a16z's Frank Chen.

“Disruption” is a word often used in the tech -- and yet, spotting and harnessing truly disruptive technology is much trickier than it looks. Benedict Evans and Steven Sinofsky use the example of Tesla and electric vehicles to dig into the nuances of what disruption looks like in practice, in the tech industry and beyond.

Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings talks with a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz about his management philosophies and learnings from managing Netflix through multiple pivots. Because as companies grow and their technologies and customers rapidly evolve, building a resilient culture that can reinvent the product and itself is critical for enduring success.

So, you’ve found product market fit and you’re starting to acquire users. But it’s not enough to just have users – you need to make sure they’re sticking around and keep finding value in your product. How do you measure and track user engagement and retention? a16z general partners Andrew Chen (formerly of Uber and author of the book, The Cold Start Problem) and Jeff Jordan (formerly of OpenTable, eBay) dig into the two key elements for any growth strategy: engagement and retention.

Growth is one of the most top of mind questions for entrepreneurs building startups of all kinds -- but how does one go beyond a mindset of "growth hacking" to thinking about growth more systemically and holistically? a16z general partners Andrew Chen (formerly of Uber and author of the book, The Cold Start Problem) and Jeff Jordan (formerly of OpenTable, eBay) dig into the fundamentals of growth, starting with user acquisition.

Over a decade after the idea of “big data'' was first born, data has become the central nervous system for decision-making in organizations of all sizes. But the modern data stack is evolving and which infrastructure trends and technologies will ultimately win out remains to be decided. Five leaders in data infrastructure debate the future of the modern data stack.

In the face of great uncertainty, how do you make decisions? Can you really apply the lessons of the past to the present and the future, to navigate seemingly new situations and get what you want out of business and life? Ray Dalio, co-chief investment office at Bridgewater Associates and author of several books, including "Principles: Life and Work", digs deep into these questions with a16z's Alex Rampell and Sonal Chokshi.