The Olympics just ended, but that doesn't mean our coverage has, because building a strong nationwide athletics program is a bit like trying to build a strong innovation hub.

In that, you know what ingredients might might help but it's not always clear

what moves the needle. And just like in athletics where countries double down on their

best sports like the approximately 50 million dollar grand system the team USA allocates

more to gymnastics so we're handball. Countries also make strategic decisions on

where they invest hoping to create thriving innovation hubs.

So in today's episode, we direct our attention to the UK

and try to break down which ingredients matter most.

This episode was originally published on our sister podcast, Web 3 with A16Z.

So if you're excited about the next generation of the Internet,

find Web 3 with A16Z wherever you get your podcast.

For now, over to Sonal to properly introduce A6 and Z. I'm Sonal Choxi and today's episode is all about

innovation around the world at both A systems and at a people level. So we

discuss not only what does and doesn't work in making certain places become

hubs of innovation and economic growth, but also discuss what makes entrepreneurial talent,

the nature of ambition and helping people find their path,

and more broadly navigating risk, reward, and dynamism in different regions, including London and Europe.

My special guest is Matt Clifford, who's played an important role in the

London entrepreneurial ecosystem. I actually had Matt on the OG A6 and Z

podcast back in 2015 so we also discuss what's changed since then to now, as well as new ways of funding breakthrough

R&D, tech trends of interest, and more.

For more context, Matt is the chair of Entrepreneur First, which he co-founded with Alice

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