Andreessen Horowitz

Crypto activity hit an all-time high. New technologies drastically lowered costs for users. Key applications are emerging, from stablecoins to decentralized social media, gaming, and AI. a16z crypto shares data and analysis on crypto activity, trending topics for builders, policies shaping the industry landscape, and much more. See where innovation is happening — including proprietary, aggregated data on thousands of crypto startups — in this year’s State of Crypto in 2024. Get the report → https://lnkd.in/gdyBPEEp (None of the above should be taken as investment advice or an advertisement for investment services; please see https://lnkd.in/gjmYWkHi for more information.)

Curious about our early-stage program, A16Z GAMES SPEEDRUN? Joshua Lu told a packed room at TECH WEEK by a16z in L.A. about the program, which includes a $750,000 investment in each company. Reach out if you're interested in more information, and follow Josh and the SPEEDRUN team on X and LinkedIn for updates. None of the above should be taken as investment advice or an advertisement for investment services; please see?https://lnkd.in/gjmYWkHi?for more information.

Just 3-5 seconds of your voice is enough to create a convincing deepfake. But as deepfakes get smarter, so is AI’s ability to detect them. According to Vijay Balasubramaniyan, CEO & co-founder of Pindrop, AI is now analyzing over 8,000 voice samples per second, detecting anomalies in voice data with 99% accuracy—becoming our strongest line of defense. With Martin Casado, he breaks down how AI is outpacing deepfakes and reshaping fraud prevention to protect the future of voice and data security on the a16z Podcast: link.chtbl.com/34AhlCgj

?? New Andreessen Horowitz investment thesis: building the "AI brain" We all exist in our own context. Is it possible to take your jumble of thoughts, history, and memories and distill it into something more tangible? I spent six months using ChatGPT to export my brain to AI - sending my thoughts, feelings, even (anonymized!) screenshots on a daily basis. I was blown away by how useful it was in better understanding myself and communicating with other people. And I can imagine immense possibility in using this "AI brain" to personalize other apps. There are a number of startups building personal and professional AI brains (initial market map below), but I'm actively hunting for more in this space. Please reach out if you're working on something here! And read more in the full blog post ?? https://lnkd.in/dybiDmpD

One of the most powerful yet overlooked skills for founders: storytelling, Siqi Chen said in conversation with Andrew Chen. “As a founder, storytelling is a super power,” he said, particularly when seeking investment. During SF Tech Week, Brandon Penn of Runway, along with Andrew Chen and Siqi Chen, highlighted the importance of storytelling when it comes to building and leading a company. Founders often spend most of their time developing their ideas but little time talking about themselves or their products, Andrew said. To be successful, though, you need to highlight your own accomplishments. While it might feel uncomfortable to talk about yourself, Andrew warns that no one wants to hear a dry, dictionary-like explanation. And investors want to understand the people behind the company. Keep that in mind when explaining why you believe your startup will be successful, Andrew said. “A great story always has conflict,” he said. Focus on a “why now,” or what is broken in the industry, or even the idea of an incumbent and a new contender. And for founders who want to improve their storytelling skills: consume great stories, Andrew and Siqi said. Like an artist who wants to succeed in music listens to great music, you should watch and read great stories, taking note of what makes them work. Telling the story and taking the big risk is actually how you get the money, Andrew says. For more insights from SF Tech Week, and LA Tech Week up next, follow TECH WEEK by a16z.

Ever wish you could give others — your coworkers, your partner, your therapist — a direct line to your brain to help them understand your feelings, decisions, or actions? Well, thanks to LLMs, now you can. Justine Moore calls this idea “exporting your brain.” For months, she has been using ChatGPT like a daily journal: recording her thoughts, describing her feelings,? and sending it anonymized screenshots of interactions she wants advice on. “I’ve used it to analyze how I communicate with family members, talk through options for a tricky work situation, and get an external perspective on confusing messages from a friend,” Justine writes. Though ChatGPT isn't the ideal product for this (more on that in the link), she identified three core use cases for an "AI brain”: - Communicating with others - Understanding yourself? - Communicating with applications So what’s next? There are clearly real use cases for using AI in this way, Justine writes. She shares her take on what the future could hold and a few early examples of companies with tangible products here: https://lnkd.in/eAr_kcBM

In this article, a16z Partners Santiago Rodriguez and Alex Immerman address the myth that if you become a bank, you will “trade like a bank” and be valued at lower multiples.

When trying to find product-market fit, there is one person that we believe?companies building in AI need to win over: the developer. As more companies enter the space, and existing companies mature, developers are emerging as the “kingmakers” in the AI industry, says?Jennifer Li. They are often the first adopters of new technologies, and responsible for putting them into product experiences. So how should AI-focused companies adjust to keep these “kingmakers” in mind? Integrate your product into their existing workflows, said Keerti Melkote, CEO of Anyscale. Take care of governance, security and other important aspects of using your product, and allow the developers to think about the tasks they are actually trying to accomplish, he said. Keerti, along with Jennifer Li, Marjorie Janiewicz of Mistral AI, Lauren Nemeth of Pinecone and Monique Shivanandan of HSBC discussed how AI companies can find product-market fit in a competitive landscape, at TECH WEEK by a16z in San Francisco. “Developers don’t want to be sold to,” Lauren said. “They want to be able to say, ‘Here’s my use case. Here’s the problem I’m trying to solve.’” And using a new tool to solve those problems must be “frictionless,” Monique said. “Focus on the thing that you're going to be best, and be best at it, but integrate with the ecosystem that exists,” she said. This is also where the power of open source comes into play, Marjorie said. When your product is out there, there is so much you can learn, she said. Hearing from developers live about what their wishes are is important. “We do find that the requirements coming bottom up can be quite different from the requirements at the top,” she said. “And in the end, it's about connecting the two.” For more from Tech Week, follow TECH WEEK by a16z on X, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Fintech isn’t dead. AI is driving a new beginning, say a16z General Partner Angela Strange and a16z Partner James da Costa.

Great founders stay deeply involved in the decision-making loops that define long-term success even after hiring great execs. In the latest AI Revolution episode, Alexandr Wang, founder and CEO of ScaleAI, breaks down the “founder fantasy”—the belief that bringing in top executives allows founders to take a step back from running their companies. Wang shares why staying involved in key decision-making is crucial for a company’s growth and success, even as your leadership team expands. Hear more on his leadership philosophies from the growth of Scale and what he thinks growth-stage founders tend to get wrong when hiring: https://lnkd.in/g6rhxTQr