We’re at a moment where we are now seeing medicine go virtual faster, and at a scale that it has never done before. In this conversation,  a16z bio general partners Vijay Pande and Julie Yoo, who come from the worlds of bio, technology and care delivery,  talk with Hanne Tidnam all about what exactly virtual care and “telemedicine” is... and what it isn’t; what it works well for, what doesn’t (yet), and where there’s potential; and finally, the current pain points (including regulation), and what we’ll learn from this current moment for the next generation of virtual medicine tools.

We’re at a moment where we are now seeing medicine go virtual faster, and at a scale that it has never done before. In this conversation,  a16z bio general partners Vijay Pande and Julie Yoo, who come from the worlds of bio, technology and care delivery,  talk with Hanne Tidnam all about what exactly virtual care and “telemedicine” is... and what it isn’t; what it works well for, what doesn’t (yet), and where there’s potential; and finally, the current pain points (including regulation), and what we’ll learn from this current moment for the next generation of virtual medicine tools.

a16z

When Medicine Goes Virtual

A lot's going on in the world of healthcare right now, and one topic that's especially relevant is how diagnostic labs work. In this episode with Dave King, Executive Chairman of Lab Corp (one of the largest clinical lab networks in the world) and a16z's General Partner Jorge Conde and Hanne Tidnam, we cover the evolution of the modern lab over the past 50 years, especially as new technologies and new tests are added; how tests go from specialized to mainstream and widely available; and who pays for most tests and how reimbursement affects all this. We also discuss where lab information flows—in electronic health records and in the health system at large—and touch on what the lab of the future might be like.

A lot's going on in the world of healthcare right now, and one topic that's especially relevant is how diagnostic labs work. In this episode with Dave King, Executive Chairman of Lab Corp (one of the largest clinical lab networks in the world) and a16z's General Partner Jorge Conde and Hanne Tidnam, we cover the evolution of the modern lab over the past 50 years, especially as new technologies and new tests are added; how tests go from specialized to mainstream and widely available; and who pays for most tests and how reimbursement affects all this. We also discuss where lab information flows—in electronic health records and in the health system at large—and touch on what the lab of the future might be like. 

Labs for Diagnostics: Then, Now, and Next

On February 21, Andreessen Horowitz kicked off its very first Crypto Startup School, with 45 students from around the U.S. and three countries gathering to learn how to build crypto projects. But just two weeks into the seven-week course, community spread of the novel coronavirus meant the school had to go remote — not just for the health and safety of everyone involved, but for others too, given the recommendations around social distancing and the importance of “flattening the curve”.Marketing partner Kim Milosevich and Jesse Walden, former founder of Mediachain who’s helping lead our <a href="https://a16z.com/2019/11/08/introducing-a16z-crypto-startup-school/" target="_blank">Crypto Startup School</a>, chat with a16z crypto editor Zoran Basich — in this hallway-style episode of the a16z Podcast — about virtual learning and collaboration in a new, uncharted world.

On February 21, Andreessen Horowitz kicked off its very first Crypto Startup School, with 45 students from around the U.S. and three countries gathering to learn how to build crypto projects. But just two weeks into the seven-week course, community spread of the novel coronavirus meant the school had to go remote — not just for the health and safety of everyone involved, but for others too, given the recommendations around social distancing and the importance of “flattening the curve”.Marketing partner Kim Milosevich and Jesse Walden, former founder of Mediachain who’s helping lead our Crypto Startup School, chat with a16z crypto editor Zoran Basich — in this hallway-style episode of the a16z Podcast — about virtual learning and collaboration in a new, uncharted world.

How a16z's Crypto Startup School Went Remote

The last financial crisis prompted many consumers to reassess their banking expectations—none more so than millennials and Gen-Z-ers. While revealing one's financial information was once considered taboo, now consumers are more apt than ever to openly discuss money and debt on online platforms. It's a trend that's evident on both ends of the spectrum, whether that’s people divulging their crushing levels of debt on Twitter and Instagram (#debtfreejourney), bragging about their credit scores, or bemoaning their latest stock trades. And the repercussions extend far beyond social media. In this hallway-style conversation with fintech general partner Anish Acharya and D'Arcy Coolican, a partner on the consumer tech team, we discuss why the "holy grail" of social plus fintech is both so challenging and, potentially, so rewarding. We cover which products and companies are taking advantage of it (some in rather novel ways), how it's being driven by various subcultures online, and why this shift is happening now.

The last financial crisis prompted many consumers to reassess their banking expectations—none more so than millennials and Gen-Z-ers. While revealing one's financial information was once considered taboo, now consumers are more apt than ever to openly discuss money and debt on online platforms. It's a trend that's evident on both ends of the spectrum, whether that’s people divulging their crushing levels of debt on Twitter and Instagram (#debtfreejourney), bragging about their credit scores, or bemoaning their latest stock trades. And the repercussions extend far beyond social media. In this hallway-style conversation with fintech general partner Anish Acharya and D'Arcy Coolican, a partner on the consumer tech team, we discuss why the "holy grail" of social plus fintech is both so challenging and, potentially, so rewarding. We cover which products and companies are taking advantage of it (some in rather novel ways), how it's being driven by various subcultures online, and why this shift is happening now.  

Drowning in Debt, Eager to Share: When Fintech Meets Social

One of the recurring themes we talk about a lot on the a16z Podcast is how software changes organizations, and vice versa... More broadly: it’s really about how companies of all kinds innovate with the org structures and tools that they have. But we've come a long way from the question of "<a href="https://hbr.org/2003/05/it-doesnt-matter" target="_blank">does IT matter</a>" to answering the question  of what org structures, processes, architectures, and roles DO matter when it comes to companies -- of all sizes  -- innovating through software and more. So in this episode (a re-run of a popular episode from a couple years ago), two of the authors of the book Accelerate: The Science of  Lean Software and DevOps, by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Jean Kim join Sonal Chokshi to share best practices and large-scale findings about high performing companies (including those who may not even think they’re tech companies). Nicole was co-founder and CEO of Dora, which was acquired by Google in December 2018; she will soon be joining GitHub as VP of Research & Strategy. Jez was CTO at DORA; is currently in Developer Relations at Google Cloud; and is the co-author of the books The DevOps Handbook, Lean Enterprise, and Continuous Delivery.

One of the recurring themes we talk about a lot on the a16z Podcast is how software changes organizations, and vice versa... More broadly: it’s really about how companies of all kinds innovate with the org structures and tools that they have. But we've come a long way from the question of "does IT matter" to answering the question  of what org structures, processes, architectures, and roles DO matter when it comes to companies -- of all sizes  -- innovating through software and more. So in this episode (a re-run of a popular episode from a couple years ago), two of the authors of the book Accelerate: The Science of  Lean Software and DevOps, by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Jean Kim join Sonal Chokshi to share best practices and large-scale findings about high performing companies (including those who may not even think they’re tech companies). Nicole was co-founder and CEO of Dora, which was acquired by Google in December 2018; she will soon be joining GitHub as VP of Research & Strategy. Jez was CTO at DORA; is currently in Developer Relations at Google Cloud; and is the co-author of the books The DevOps Handbook, Lean Enterprise, and Continuous Delivery.   

Innovation Through Software Development and IT

In 2014, in "<a href="https://a16z.com/2014/02/14/why-there-will-never-be-another-redhat-the-economics-of-open-source/">Why There Will Never Be Another Red Hat</a>," Peter Levine argued that Red Hat’s open source business model of commercializing support and services was highly difficult to replicate. Instead, he predicted the future of open source companies would be open source-as-a-service. And today SaaS has emerged as the dominant business model.In this podcast, recorded as a hallway-style conversation as part of the a16z Innovation Summit last year, Peter chats with Red Hat CIO, Mike Kelly, about what it means to be an open source CIO today – and how even Red Hat is evolving in the open SaaS era. They cover everything from why open hybrid has become the dominant enterprise architecture to how CIOs should think about adopting new technologies to what it takes for an M&A to be successful, beyond the spreadsheets.

In 2014, in "Why There Will Never Be Another Red Hat," Peter Levine argued that Red Hat’s open source business model of commercializing support and services was highly difficult to replicate. Instead, he predicted the future of open source companies would be open source-as-a-service. And today SaaS has emerged as the dominant business model.In this podcast, recorded as a hallway-style conversation as part of the a16z Innovation Summit last year, Peter chats with Red Hat CIO, Mike Kelly, about what it means to be an open source CIO today – and how even Red Hat is evolving in the open SaaS era. They cover everything from why open hybrid has become the dominant enterprise architecture to how CIOs should think about adopting new technologies to what it takes for an M&A to be successful, beyond the spreadsheets.

The Open Source CIO

This episode covers the following -- since our <a href="https://a16z.com/2020/01/29/16mins-news-coronavirus-outbreak-2019ncov-r0-genomics-epidemics/" target="_blank">previous deep-dive</a> on the novel coronavirus outbreak -- including:<ol><li>practical implications for the U.S. healthcare system given how it works today, and where we might go in the future — with a16z general partner <a href="https://a16z.com/author/julie-yoo/" target="_blank">Julie Yoo</a>, given our vantage point in tech; and</li><li>how the rt-PCR test works — with a16z bio partner Judy Savitskaya;</li></ol>…in conversation with Sonal Chokshi.Sources for updates at top:<ul><li><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/t0225-cdc-telebriefing-covid-19.html">CDC's latest briefing February 26, 2020, transcript</a></li><li><a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200226-sitrep-37-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=2146841e_2">WHO situation report #27</a>  February 25, 2020 [we covered #6 and #25 on previous episodes]</li></ul>Sources for last week's episode:<ul><li>latest numbers: cases in the U.S. (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html" target="_blank">CDC, as of February 17, 2020</a>); global cases (<a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200214-sitrep-25-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=61dda7d_2" target="_blank">WHO situation report #25, February 14, 2020</a>); spike in diagnosing cases as reported in China (<a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3050354/coronavirus-hubei-province-reports-sharp-spike-new-confirmed" target="_blank">SCMP</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1227768644291170306" target="_blank">Scott Gottlieb</a>)</li><li>situation & policy statements/reports: CDC summary (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html" target="_blank">as of February 14, 2020</a>); “Annual report on global preparedness for health emergencies”, WHO (<a href="https://apps.who.int/gpmb/assets/annual_report/GPMB_annualreport_2019.pdf" target="_blank">Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, 2019</a>)</li><li>on definitions (of pandemics, endemics), other terms, and various naming conventions: “Understanding pandemics: What they mean, what they don’t mean, and what comes next with the coronavirus”, Helen Branswell, StatNews (<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/12/understanding-pandemics-what-they-mean-coronavirus/" target="_blank">February 12, 2020</a>); on disease occurrence and levels (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section11.html" target="_blank">CDC</a>); “<a href="https://twitter.com/maiamajumder/status/1227847272823771136" target="_blank">misinfodemic</a>“; best practices on naming new human infectious diseases (<a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/163636/WHO_HSE_FOS_15.1_eng.pdf;jsessionid=A50FD2F63D1F69F2DCEAE78F35801734?sequence=1" target="_blank">WHO</a>); qPCR (<a href="http://omicsomics.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-qpcr-explainer.html" target="_blank">Keith Robison</a>)</li></ul>image: CDC test kit for COVID-19/ <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:COVID-19#/media/File:CDC_COVID-19_test_kit.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons </a>

This episode covers the following -- since our previous deep-dive on the novel coronavirus outbreak -- including:practical implications for the U.S. healthcare system given how it works today, and where we might go in the future — with a16z general partner Julie Yoo, given our vantage point in tech; andhow the rt-PCR test works — with a16z bio partner Judy Savitskaya;…in conversation with Sonal Chokshi.Sources for updates at top:CDC's latest briefing February 26, 2020, transcriptWHO situation report #27  February 25, 2020 [we covered #6 and #25 on previous episodes]Sources for last week's episode:latest numbers: cases in the U.S. (CDC, as of February 17, 2020); global cases (WHO situation report #25, February 14, 2020); spike in diagnosing cases as reported in China (SCMP, Scott Gottlieb)situation & policy statements/reports: CDC summary (as of February 14, 2020); “Annual report on global preparedness for health emergencies”, WHO (Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, 2019)on definitions (of pandemics, endemics), other terms, and various naming conventions: “Understanding pandemics: What they mean, what they don’t mean, and what comes next with the coronavirus”, Helen Branswell, StatNews (February 12, 2020); on disease occurrence and levels (CDC); “misinfodemic“; best practices on naming new human infectious diseases (WHO); qPCR (Keith Robison)image: CDC test kit for COVID-19/ Wikimedia Commons 

Novel Coronavirus Updates: How Healthcare System, Tests Work; More

It's "Marketplaces Week" for us at a16z, thanks to our consumer team releasing a new index of the next industry-defining marketplaces, the <a href="https://a16z.com/2020/02/18/marketplace-100/" target="_blank">Marketplace 100</a>.  But what happens as such marketplaces and other platforms evolve over time, as do their users? This episode is a rerun of a popular conversation from a couple years ago -- featuring general partners Andrew Chen and Jeff Jordan (in conversation with Sonal Chokshi) -- on what comes after user acquisition: retention. It's all about engagement. So what are the key metrics? And if different kinds of users join a  platform over time -- what does that mean for engagement, and where do cohort analyses come in?

It's "Marketplaces Week" for us at a16z, thanks to our consumer team releasing a new index of the next industry-defining marketplaces, the Marketplace 100.  But what happens as such marketplaces and other platforms evolve over time, as do their users? This episode is a rerun of a popular conversation from a couple years ago -- featuring general partners Andrew Chen and Jeff Jordan (in conversation with Sonal Chokshi) -- on what comes after user acquisition: retention. It's all about engagement. So what are the key metrics? And if different kinds of users join a  platform over time -- what does that mean for engagement, and where do cohort analyses come in?

Metrics and Mindsets for Retention & Engagement

Susan shares how she learned to leverage the characteristics of her personality early in her career as assistant secretary of state [2:05]One of the important conversations Susan had with a mentor that changed the trajectory of her career [4:50]Her parent’s commitment to education, their personal backgrounds, and the legacies they created [8:10]The result of instilling self-belief into children and mastering “psychological jiu jitsu” [10:22]What the early lessons of family diplomacy taught her [14:00]The importance of strategic compartmentalization [16:48]How to approach crisis during high stakes situations [18:29]How to practice compassionate leadership while maintaining effectiveness [20:10]Hacking the concept of “work-life balance” [21:10]The required characteristics of powerful leaders [28:14]The hard things about leadership and the idea of being liked [31:20]The “middle finger story”/the time Susan stood up for herself in an important meeting [33:23]Susan talks about China’s intelligence collection in the US [39:45]A call for unity between the private, public, and academic sectors [42:54]

Susan shares how she learned to leverage the characteristics of her personality early in her career as assistant secretary of state [2:05]One of the important conversations Susan had with a mentor that changed the trajectory of her career [4:50]Her parent’s commitment to education, their personal backgrounds, and the legacies they created [8:10]The result of instilling self-belief into children and mastering “psychological jiu jitsu” [10:22]What the early lessons of family diplomacy taught her [14:00]The importance of strategic compartmentalization [16:48]How to approach crisis during high stakes situations [18:29]How to practice compassionate leadership while maintaining effectiveness [20:10]Hacking the concept of “work-life balance” [21:10]The required characteristics of powerful leaders [28:14]The hard things about leadership and the idea of being liked [31:20]The “middle finger story”/the time Susan stood up for herself in an important meeting [33:23]Susan talks about China’s intelligence collection in the US [39:45]A call for unity between the private, public, and academic sectors [42:54]

Tough Love, Global Diplomacy, and Lessons on Leadership

with @OzAzamTmunity1, @JorgeCondeBio, and @omnivorousreadCAR T therapy, the groundbreaking new medicines that uses engineered T-cells to attack cancer, has been so effective in childhood leukemias that we believe it may actually be a potential cure. But this isn't just one new medicine, it's an entirely new therapeutic tool—and a total paradigm shift from most traditional medicines we've seen before.Tmunity CEO Usman "Oz" Azam was previously the head of Cell and Gene Therapies at Novartis, in many ways the first CAR T company and the team brought us blood cancer CAR T-cell therapy Kymriah—the first cell-based gene therapy to be approved in the US. In this conversation, Azam discusses with a16z's general partner Jorge Conde and Hanne Tidnam what CAR T therapy really is and how it all works. The conversation begins with the “patient and cell journey” of this treatment and how this medicine is developed, manufactured, delivered to patients; why exactly it's so different traditional medicines; what it will take to make these new medicines work on more kinds of cancer, scale to more patients, and cost less; and finally, what company building lessons can be learned from building the first CAR T company of its kind from the ground up.This episode was recorded at the annual a16z Summit.

with @OzAzamTmunity1, @JorgeCondeBio, and @omnivorousreadCAR T therapy, the groundbreaking new medicines that uses engineered T-cells to attack cancer, has been so effective in childhood leukemias that we believe it may actually be a potential cure. But this isn't just one new medicine, it's an entirely new therapeutic tool—and a total paradigm shift from most traditional medicines we've seen before.Tmunity CEO Usman "Oz" Azam was previously the head of Cell and Gene Therapies at Novartis, in many ways the first CAR T company and the team brought us blood cancer CAR T-cell therapy Kymriah—the first cell-based gene therapy to be approved in the US. In this conversation, Azam discusses with a16z's general partner Jorge Conde and Hanne Tidnam what CAR T therapy really is and how it all works. The conversation begins with the “patient and cell journey” of this treatment and how this medicine is developed, manufactured, delivered to patients; why exactly it's so different traditional medicines; what it will take to make these new medicines work on more kinds of cancer, scale to more patients, and cost less; and finally, what company building lessons can be learned from building the first CAR T company of its kind from the ground up.This episode was recorded at the annual a16z Summit.

Building the First CAR T Company

When we think about rebellious behavior in the context of organizations and companies, we tend to think of rebels as trouble-makers, rabble-rousers; in other words, people who make decisions and processes more difficult because they may not follow the established rules or norms. But rebel behavior can also be incredibly positive and constructive—in keeping us from stagnation, encouraging growth and learning, increasing curiosity and creativity.In this episode of the a16z Podcast, Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gino, a social scientist who studies organizations, breaks down with a16z's Hanne Tidnam what makes rebels different in how they tend to see and do things—whether that’s cooking, flying planes, or holding board meetings—and what we can all learn from “<a href="https://www.rebeltalents.org/">rebel talent</a>” to make our organizations more productive and innovative.

When we think about rebellious behavior in the context of organizations and companies, we tend to think of rebels as trouble-makers, rabble-rousers; in other words, people who make decisions and processes more difficult because they may not follow the established rules or norms. But rebel behavior can also be incredibly positive and constructive—in keeping us from stagnation, encouraging growth and learning, increasing curiosity and creativity.In this episode of the a16z Podcast, Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gino, a social scientist who studies organizations, breaks down with a16z's Hanne Tidnam what makes rebels different in how they tend to see and do things—whether that’s cooking, flying planes, or holding board meetings—and what we can all learn from “rebel talent” to make our organizations more productive and innovative.

Rebel Talent

This episode of 16 Minutes on the news from a16z is all about the recent coronavirus outbreak -- or rather, a new type of coronavirus called 2019-nCoV for 2019 novel coronavirus. Since it's an ongoing and fast-developing news cycle, we take a quick snapshot for where we are, what we know, and what we don't know, and discuss the vantage point of where tech comes in. Topics covered include:<ul><li>definition of a virus, categories of coronaviruses</li><li>origins and spread</li><li>how this stacks up so far against SARS and MERS</li><li>speed of sequencing, implications of genomic info</li><li>speed of information sharing</li><li>R0 ("r-naught"/"nought") and what it measures</li><li>different ways to think about how bad a given epidemic is</li><li>current moves and treatments</li></ul>Our a16z guest is Judy Savitskaya on the bio team, in conversation with Sonal Chokshi.<h3>Link sources or background readings for this episode:</h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/" target="_blank">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) + <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/types.html" target="_blank">types</a></li><li><a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus" target="_blank">World Health Organizatio</a>n (in the United Nations) -- situation report #6, <a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200126-sitrep-6-2019--ncov.pdf?sfvrsn=beaeee0c_4" target="_blank">January 26</a></li></ul><h3>Other background readings / pieces mentioned in this episode: </h3><ul><li>"Scientists are moving at record speed to create new coronavirus vaccines--but they may come too late", Jon Cohen, Science (AAAS), <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/scientists-are-moving-record-speed-create-new-coronavirus-vaccines-they-may-come-too" target="_blank">January 27</a></li><li>"Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China", The Lancet, <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext" target="_blank">January 24</a></li><li>"Discovery of a novel coronavirus associated with the recent pneumonia outbreak in humans and its potential bat origin", bioRxiv, <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.22.914952v2" target="_blank">January 2</a> *note - preprint, NOT peer reviewed*</li><li>"The deceptively simple number sparking coronavirus fears", Ed Yong, The Atlantic, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/01/how-fast-and-far-will-new-coronavirus-spread/605632/" target="_blank">January 28</a> *this appeared AFTER this episode was recorded, so sharing here as additional reading only*</li></ul>image: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/dpk/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus/images/outbreak-coronavirus-world-1024x506px.jpg" target="_blank">CDC</a>

This episode of 16 Minutes on the news from a16z is all about the recent coronavirus outbreak -- or rather, a new type of coronavirus called 2019-nCoV for 2019 novel coronavirus. Since it's an ongoing and fast-developing news cycle, we take a quick snapshot for where we are, what we know, and what we don't know, and discuss the vantage point of where tech comes in. Topics covered include:definition of a virus, categories of coronavirusesorigins and spreadhow this stacks up so far against SARS and MERSspeed of sequencing, implications of genomic infospeed of information sharingR0 ("r-naught"/"nought") and what it measuresdifferent ways to think about how bad a given epidemic iscurrent moves and treatmentsOur a16z guest is Judy Savitskaya on the bio team, in conversation with Sonal Chokshi.Link sources or background readings for this episode:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) + typesWorld Health Organization (in the United Nations) -- situation report #6, January 26Other background readings / pieces mentioned in this episode: "Scientists are moving at record speed to create new coronavirus vaccines--but they may come too late", Jon Cohen, Science (AAAS), January 27"Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China", The Lancet, January 24"Discovery of a novel coronavirus associated with the recent pneumonia outbreak in humans and its potential bat origin", bioRxiv, January 2 *note - preprint, NOT peer reviewed*"The deceptively simple number sparking coronavirus fears", Ed Yong, The Atlantic, January 28 *this appeared AFTER this episode was recorded, so sharing here as additional reading only*image: CDC

All about the Coronavirus

The idea of "<a href="https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/" target="_blank">1000 true fans</a>" -- first proposed by Kevin Kelly in 2008 and <a href="https://toolsoftitans.com/" target="_blank">later updated for</a> Tools of Titans -- argued that to be a successful creator, you don’t need millions of customers or clients, but need only thousands of true fans. Such a true, diehard fan "will buy anything you produce", and as such, creators can make a living from them as long as they: (1) create enough each year to earn profit from each fan, plus it's easier and better to give existing fans more; (2) have a direct relationship with those fans, which the internet (and long tail) now make possible.But patronage models have been around forever; what's new there? How <a href="https://a16z.com/2019/12/19/future-of-web/" target="_blank">has the web evolved</a>; and <a href="https://a16z.com/2020/01/26/writers-readers-publishers-newsletters-creators-online-thebrowser-substack/" target="_blank">how are media, and audiences/voices finding and subscribing to each other</a> changing as a result? If the 1000-true-fans concept is also more broadly "useful to anyone making things, or making things happen" -- then what nuances do people often miss about it? For instance: That there are also regular fans in the next concentric circle around true fans, and that the most obscure node is only one click away from the most popular node.Finally -- when you combine this big idea with another idea Kelly proposed in his most recent book The Inevitable (covered previously on <a href="https://a16z.com/2016/06/07/kevin-kelly-inevitable/" target="_blank">this episode</a>) on inverting attention economies so audiences monetize their attention vs. the other way around, how do we connect the dots between them and some novel thought experiments? In this hallway-style episode of the a16z Podcast, which Sonal Chokshi recorded with Kevin in our pop-up podcast booth at our <a href="https://a16z.com/tag/summit-2019/" target="_blank">most recent a16z Summit</a>, we discuss all this and more. Because on average, we all currently surrender our attention (whether to TV, books, or whatever) for about $3 an hour. Whoa?! image: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/whatleydude/16260251573/" target="_blank">whatleydude</a>/<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>

The idea of "1000 true fans" -- first proposed by Kevin Kelly in 2008 and later updated for Tools of Titans -- argued that to be a successful creator, you don’t need millions of customers or clients, but need only thousands of true fans. Such a true, diehard fan "will buy anything you produce", and as such, creators can make a living from them as long as they: (1) create enough each year to earn profit from each fan, plus it's easier and better to give existing fans more; (2) have a direct relationship with those fans, which the internet (and long tail) now make possible.But patronage models have been around forever; what's new there? How has the web evolved; and how are media, and audiences/voices finding and subscribing to each other changing as a result? If the 1000-true-fans concept is also more broadly "useful to anyone making things, or making things happen" -- then what nuances do people often miss about it? For instance: That there are also regular fans in the next concentric circle around true fans, and that the most obscure node is only one click away from the most popular node.Finally -- when you combine this big idea with another idea Kelly proposed in his most recent book The Inevitable (covered previously on this episode) on inverting attention economies so audiences monetize their attention vs. the other way around, how do we connect the dots between them and some novel thought experiments? In this hallway-style episode of the a16z Podcast, which Sonal Chokshi recorded with Kevin in our pop-up podcast booth at our most recent a16z Summit, we discuss all this and more. Because on average, we all currently surrender our attention (whether to TV, books, or whatever) for about $3 an hour. Whoa?! image: whatleydude/Flickr

The Truth about 1000 True Fans + Pricing Our Attention

We've been financing good writing with bad advertising -- and "attention monsters" (to quote Craig Mod) for way too long. So what happens when the technology for creators finally falls into place? We're finally starting to see shift in power away from publications as the sole gatekeepers of talent, towards individual writers. Especially when the best possible predictor of the value of a piece of writing is, well, the writer. The publication's brand is no longer the guarantee of quality, or the only entity we should be paying and be loyal to, when a new ecosystem is forming around the direct relationship between consumers, content creators, and the tools and business models to facilitate all this.So where do readers come in... how do they find signal in the noisy world of drive-by billboard advertising, "attention-monster" feeds, and the death of Google Reader? Particularly as machine learning-based translation, summarization, and other mediums beyond text increasingly enter our information diets, for better and for worse?This episode of the a16z Podcast features Robert Cottrell, formerly of The Economist and Financial Times and now editor of <a href="https://thebrowser.com/" target="_blank">The Browser</a> (which selects 5 pieces of writing worth reading delivered daily); Chris Best, formerly CTO of Kik and now co-founder and CEO of <a href="https://on.substack.com/p/the-future-of-substack" target="_blank">Substack</a> (a full-stack platform for independent writers to publish newsletters, podcasts, and more); and Andrew Chen, formerly independent <a href="https://andrewchen.co/" target="_blank">blogger/ newsletter publisher</a>, now also an a16z general partner <a href="https://a16z.com/2019/07/16/substack/" target="_blank">investing in</a> consumer -- all in conversation with Sonal Chokshi. The discussion is all about writing and reading... but we're not just seeing this phenomenon in newsletters and podcasting, but also in people setting up e-commerce shops, video streaming, and more. Is it possible that the stars, the incentives, are finally aligning between creators and consumers? What happens next, what happens when you get more than -- and even less than -- "<a href="https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/" target="_blank">1000 true fans</a>"? image: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thadz/12213308404" target="_blank">Thad Zajdowicz</a>/ <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/" target="_blank">Flickr</a>

We've been financing good writing with bad advertising -- and "attention monsters" (to quote Craig Mod) for way too long. So what happens when the technology for creators finally falls into place? We're finally starting to see shift in power away from publications as the sole gatekeepers of talent, towards individual writers. Especially when the best possible predictor of the value of a piece of writing is, well, the writer. The publication's brand is no longer the guarantee of quality, or the only entity we should be paying and be loyal to, when a new ecosystem is forming around the direct relationship between consumers, content creators, and the tools and business models to facilitate all this.So where do readers come in... how do they find signal in the noisy world of drive-by billboard advertising, "attention-monster" feeds, and the death of Google Reader? Particularly as machine learning-based translation, summarization, and other mediums beyond text increasingly enter our information diets, for better and for worse?This episode of the a16z Podcast features Robert Cottrell, formerly of The Economist and Financial Times and now editor of The Browser (which selects 5 pieces of writing worth reading delivered daily); Chris Best, formerly CTO of Kik and now co-founder and CEO of Substack (a full-stack platform for independent writers to publish newsletters, podcasts, and more); and Andrew Chen, formerly independent blogger/ newsletter publisher, now also an a16z general partner investing in consumer -- all in conversation with Sonal Chokshi. The discussion is all about writing and reading... but we're not just seeing this phenomenon in newsletters and podcasting, but also in people setting up e-commerce shops, video streaming, and more. Is it possible that the stars, the incentives, are finally aligning between creators and consumers? What happens next, what happens when you get more than -- and even less than -- "1000 true fans"? image: Thad Zajdowicz/ Flickr

Writers Writing, Readers Reading, Creators Creating

How can we evolve the web for a better future? Has the web become a mature platform — or are we still in the early days of knowing what it can do and what role it might have in our lives? Just as “social/local/mobile” once did, what are the new trends — like crypto and blockchain networks and commerce everywhere — that might converge into new products and experiences?Chris Dixon (general partner at a16z and co-lead of the a16z crypto fund) discusses all things internet with Jonah Peretti (founder and CEO of BuzzFeed). Their conversation ranges from the early days of the web to the way innovation happens (what Chris calls “outside-in vs inside-out”) to the promise of a community-owned and operated internet, and more.Together they explore the possibilities that could co-evolve and converge are we enter into the next era of the web, and they share how we might not be quite as far removed from the “wild west days” of the internet as we imagined.

How can we evolve the web for a better future? Has the web become a mature platform — or are we still in the early days of knowing what it can do and what role it might have in our lives? Just as “social/local/mobile” once did, what are the new trends — like crypto and blockchain networks and commerce everywhere — that might converge into new products and experiences?Chris Dixon (general partner at a16z and co-lead of the a16z crypto fund) discusses all things internet with Jonah Peretti (founder and CEO of BuzzFeed). Their conversation ranges from the early days of the web to the way innovation happens (what Chris calls “outside-in vs inside-out”) to the promise of a community-owned and operated internet, and more.Together they explore the possibilities that could co-evolve and converge are we enter into the next era of the web, and they share how we might not be quite as far removed from the “wild west days” of the internet as we imagined.

What's Next for the Internet?

The a16z Podcast discusses tech and culture trends, news, and the future -- especially as ‘software eats the world’. It features industry experts, business leaders, and other interesting thinkers and voices from around the world. This podcast is produced by Andreessen Horowitz (aka “a16z”), a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. Multiple episodes are released every week; visit a16z.com for more details and to sign up for our newsletters and other content as well!

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