with @0xgaut @ishverduzco @rhhackett

Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we’re talking about how to make social media work for you, rather than overwhelming you.

Whether you’re a startup founder, creator, avid doomscroller, or longtime lurker, this show has tips and tactics you can use to attract attention, build a following, and level up your online presence.

In this episode, we cover what to do and what not to do, how much of your authentic self to bring to the table vs. merely playing to the algorithms, turning your interests and obsessions into viral hits, and what standup comedy has to do with the art of posting.

Our guest today is Gauthier Le Meur, aka Gaut, a meme-maker with a cult following who also happens to be the cofounder and chief operating officer of Alongside, a DeFi project that creates investible crypto market indices. Joining him is the man behind our handles, a16z crypto Social Lead Ish Verduzco, as well as me, your host, Robert Hackett.

Resources

• Social for startup founders: A practical guide to building an online presence by Ish Verduzco [a16z crypto, August 2024]
• How to build a social presence in web3 and beyond [video]
• How to 10x on Twitter (without getting lucky) [@ishverduzco on X, March 2021]
• 24 Prompts to Get Over Writer's Block in 2024 by Ish Verduzco [The Creator Blueprint, January 2024]

As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today's episode is all about design, creativity, and taste-making.

Our special guest is Jason Mayden, the chief design officer of Jordan Brand at Nike — that's Jordan as in former NBA superstar Michael Jordan. In his role, Mayden is responsible for the look and feel of iconic products, like Air Jordan sneakers and related apparel.

In this episode, Mayden speaks with Chris Lyons, a16z crypto's president of web3 media, about the interdisciplinary nature of industrial design, the role of humans in an AI world, what makes fashion and food alike, and how to build a brand, whether you’re in crypto, sportswear, or another field.

This conversation originally took place at a16z crypto's Founders Summit in the fall of 2024. Be sure to subscribe to the a16z crypto Youtube channel where you can listen to more from that event, plus many more thought-provoking talks and other resources.

As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @carrawu @eddylazzarin @0xkarmacoma and @smc90 @rhhackett

Welcome to our special end-of-year episodes -- which also look ahead to 2025 -- covering our annual Big Ideas lists, where various a16z crypto team members share what they are personally excited about. (You can see the firmwide list, also including all the trends of the crypto team, here.)

This episode is part 2 of 2 -- but you don't have to listen to them in any particular order -- covering the intersection of crypto & AI:

• agents that have their own crypto wallets -- and also AI agents in games; DePin/ decentralized physical infrastructure, like energy grids; and more;
• proof of personhood, and why having a unique ID matters in a world of deepfakes, bots, scams and more is needed with proliferating AI;
• decentralized, truly autonomous, chatbots (using TEEs or trusted execution environment).

Covering each of these -- and coming from the investing, engineering, and other teams -- are: Carra Wu, Eddy Lazzarin, and Karma (aka Daniel Reynaud); in conversation with hosts Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett, who also share some commentary at the top.

These are just a few of the 14 trends we shared; you can check out the full list at a16zcrypto.com/bigideas.

Also be sure to check out part 1, which covers the trends of stablecoins, app stores, infrastructure, and user experience.

As a reminder, none of the content is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.

with @sambroner @meigga @darenmatsuoka @jneu_net @chrislyons and @rhhackett @smc90

Welcome to our special end-of-year episodes -- which also look ahead to 2025 -- covering our annual Big Ideas lists, where various a16z crypto team members share what they are personally excited about. (You can see the firmwide list, also including all the trends of the crypto team, here.)

This episode is part 1 of 2 -- but you don't have to listen to them in any particular order -- covering the trends and themes of:

• stablecoins, payments, and where the early adopters will come from;
• app store distribution, curation, and discovery;
• where the next crypto users will come from, turning passive holders into active users;
• how builders improve, and better choose, infrastructure; and
• simplifying user experience.

Covering each of these -- and coming from the investing, go-to-market, data science, research, and media teams are: Sam Broner, Maggie Hsu, Daren Matsuoka, Joachim Neu, and Chris Lyons; in conversation with hosts Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett. (Stay tuned until the end for some of our meta-commentary.)

These are just 5 of the 14 trends we shared; you can check out the full list at a16zcrypto.com/bigideas.

Also be sure to check out part 2, which covers all the trends at the intersection of crypto and AI.

As a reminder, none of the content is investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.

with @baileyflan @ahall_research @rhhackett

Today we’re dusting off an ancient practice that has become trendy once again: the old-but-new idea of “sortition,” or selecting representatives by lottery.

Sortition was used in ancient Athenian democracy to elect public officials. It’s also been lately revived by tech companies like Meta and AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic to tackle some of their thorniest policymaking challenges.

Our guests today are experts on sortition, including Bailey Flanigan, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard who is joining MIT as an assistant professor next year, and who has helped develop selection algorithms for sortition that are in use today. Also joining is Andrew Hall, Stanford University poli sci professor, advisor to Meta, and consultant to a16z crypto research.

In this episode, we discuss why not to rely exclusively on expert authority, how the process of deliberation changes people’s minds, and how sortition can apply everywhere from the governance of countries to the governance of crypto projects, and more.

Related resources:

• Algorithms for fair, manipulation-robust, and transparent sortition with Bailey Flanigan

As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice. Please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @pmarca @bhorowitz

Today we’re running a special episode featuring a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talking about AI bots and crypto. They discuss what happens when you mix postmodern theories and internet memes in an LLM. They also get into the sudden rise of a strange memecoin, the state of crypto regulation in the U.S., and more.

This episode is a crossover from the Ben & Marc Show, which you can follow on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

See the original episode:

• How An AI Bot Became a Crypto Millionaire

As always, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal or investment advice. See a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.

with @DarenMatsuoka @eddylazzarin @rhhackett

Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we're taking you behind the scenes of our newly released, annual State of Crypto Report — a16z crypto's analysis of the latest data and trends that have defined the industry in 2024.

This year's report features some brand new insights, from estimating the number of real crypto users globally, to understanding how much interest in crypto swing states may have ahead of the U.S. election. We also dig into infrastructure improvements to blockchains and key applications — including stablecoins, AI, and so-called DePIN. Be sure to visit a16zcrypto.com for all this and more including a new “Builder Energy” dashboard, which we’ll discuss on the show.

Joining me to talk about the findings are lead data scientist and report author Daren Matsuoka and CTO Eddy Lazzarin. The first voice you'll hear after mine is Daren's, then Eddy's.

a16z crypto resources:

• State of Crypto Report 2024
• Builder Energy dashboard
• Estimating the number of real crypto users by Daren Matsuoka and Eddy Lazzarin

As always, none of the content should be taken as tax, business, legal or investment advice. See a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.