Marc Andreessen & Jack Altman: Venture Capital, AI, & Media

a16z Podcast

a16z

Science, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneurship, Culture, Disruption, Software Eating The World, Technology

4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2025

⏱️ 101 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode Jack Altman, CEO of Lattice and host of Uncapped, interviews Marc Andreessen on how venture capital is evolving - from small seed funds to billion-dollar barbell strategies - and why today’s most important tech companies don’t just build tools, they replace entire industries. They cover: - The end of “picks and shovels” investing - Why missing a great company matters more than backing a bad one - The power law math behind fund size and asymmetric returns - AI as the next computing platform — and a test for Western civilization - Preference falsification, media power, and what founders can’t say out loud This is a conversation about ambition at scale, the structure of modern venture, and the deep forces reshaping startups, innovation, and power.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Here's what I would encourage people to do.
0:07.4	Here's the thought experiment to do.
0:09.0	Write down a piece paper two lists.
0:10.4	What are the things that I believe that I can't say?
0:12.8	And then what are the things that I don't believe that I must say?
0:15.3	And just write them down.
0:17.6	What happens when startups don't just sell the tools but decide to take over the entire industry?
0:22.6	On today's episode, Mark Andresen, co-founder of A16Z, six down with Jack Altman, co-founder and CEO of Ladis,
0:29.6	to unpack how the venture industry is changing, from small seed funds to multi-billion-dollar barbell strategies,
0:35.6	and what that means for founders, funders, and the future of innovation.
0:40.3	Mark explains how the classic playbook of picks and shovels investing
0:43.3	gave way to full-stack startups like Uber and Airbnb,
0:46.3	and why the biggest tech companies today are not just building tools, but replacing entire sectors.
0:51.3	He also talks about the realities of fund size, venture returns, power
0:55.9	laws, early-stage conflict dynamics, and why missing a great company matters far more than backing
1:01.3	a bad one. And then it gets even bigger. Mark dives into AI as the next computing paradigm,
1:07.1	U.S.-China geopolitical risk, and why Mark thinks we're in a capital T test for the future of civilization.
1:13.3	This episode is about asymmetric bets, ambition at scale, and the deep forces reshaping tech and power.
1:20.1	Let's get into it.
1:23.2	As a reminder, the content here is for informational purposes only.
1:26.8	Should not be taken as legal business, tax, or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any
1:31.2	investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any A16Z fund.
	...

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