Episodes

  • Bridges: Out of the Mess, Into the Meshnet (with LayerZero)

    Bridges: Out of the Mess, Into the Meshnet (with LayerZero)
    Sep 28 2024

    Welcome to web3 with a16z. Today we explore the messy secrets of blockchain bridges. These cross-chain connectors are the go-betweens in today's multichain world, but their short history has been a checkered one, with prominent projects succumbing to major hacks and other hijinks.

    So we've brought on one of the builders who knows this world best to help disentangle the messiness. That’s Bryan Pellegrino, cofounder and CEO of LayerZero Labs, maker of a popular blockchain interoperability protocol. In this episode, Bryan delivers a crash course on the evolution of bridges, including the ups and downs of various approaches. You'll also learn about the technology's inner workings, its applications, and how it fits in with ongoing efforts to scale blockchains.

    Joining is a16z crypto general partner Ali Yayha, who is also an expert in this area; plus me, your cohost, Robert Hackett. The first voice you'll hear after mine is Bryan's, then Ali's.

    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.
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    42 mins
  • Games as Reality (with EVE Online)

    Games as Reality (with EVE Online)
    Sep 13 2024

    with @HilmarVeigar @eddylazzarin

    Our featured guest today is Hilmar Pétursson, the CEO of CCP Games, maker of EVE Online, a massive multiplayer online role playing game. In this episode, Pétursson shares his unique world view and game-making philosophy, as well as a deep dive into the technology and economic design of his sci-fi simulation. He also touches on how niche cults can break into mainstream culture, how slow databases can make for fun gameplay, and what to expect from EVE Frontier, a new blockchain-based overhaul of the space survival game that is now inviting people to apply as playtesters.

    The other voice you'll hear is that of Eddy Lazzarin, a16z crypto’s Chief Technology Officer and an avid gamer himself. This conversation originally took place earlier this year at a16z crypto's CSX startup accelerator program in London, videos of which are posted on the a16z crypto YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe for more thought-provoking conversations and other insightful content.

    Related links:

    • "Crafting Virtual Worlds with Hilmar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games" (a16z crypto Youtube)
    • Eve Online (eveonline.com)
    • Eve Frontier (evefrontier.com / projectawakening.io)
      • Playtest signup

    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.
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    36 mins
  • How Blockchain Tech Advances Benefit Other Industries

    How Blockchain Tech Advances Benefit Other Industries
    Sep 9 2024
    with Dan Boneh @tim_roughgarden @smc90In this special 50th episode of the web3 with a16z podcast, we discuss how work in the blockchains/ crypto space has led to advances in several important technologies — which can be (and are being) used by many other industries beyond crypto.Tim Roughgarden (a16z crypto Head of Research and professor at Columbia University) and Dan Boneh (a16z crypto Senior Research Advisor and professor at Stanford University) discuss these advances in conversation with Sonal Chokshi. Topics covered include automated market makers; credible auctions, collusion, and mechanism design not possible before; as well as zero knowledge; trusted execution environments (TEEs) and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE); and much more. We also discuss the recurring theme of how web3 provides a laboratory not only for experiments in governance, but for macroeconomics and more. The two also offer many useful explanations for anyone new to these technologies or seeking to understand why they matter in the big picture. It’s an innovation story we’ve seen over and over again, from the space program to other massive invention efforts: Technologies developed for one purpose often lead to benefits for humanity overall.Pieces mentioned in this episode and other resources:On some results and challenges in cryptoeconomics -- Tim Roughgarden, CESC 20228 reasons why blockchain mechanism design is hard -- Tim Roughgarden, a16zcrypto.com, 2024The computer in the sky (short version) -- Tim Roughgarden, 2024Zero knowledge canon -- with Justin Thaler's annotated bibliography, a16zcrypto,com 2022Using zero-knowledge proofs to fight disinformation -- Trisha Datta and Dan Boneh, IACR 2023VerITAS: Verifying Image Transformations at Scale -- Trisha Datta, Binyi Chen, Dan Boneh, 2024Achieving crypto privacy and regulatory compliance [+pdf of full paper]-- Joseph Burleson, Michele Korver, Dan Boneh, 2022Credible auctions: A trilemma -- Mohammad Akbarpour, Shengwu Li, Econometrica, 2020Auction design for web3 [episode 3 of this podcast] -- Scott Duke Kominers, Tim Roughgarden, Sonal Chokshi, 2022Building Cicada: Private on-chain voting using time-lock puzzles -- Michael Zhu, 2023Transaction fee mechanism design for the Ethereum blockchain: An economic analysis of EIP-1559 -- Tim Roughgarden, 2020Collusion-resilience in transaction fee mechanism design -- Hao Chung, Tim Roughgarden, Elaine Shi, 2024Transaction fee mechanism design in a Post-MEV world -- Maryam Bahrani, Pranav Garimidi,Tim Roughgarden, 2024Notes on Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) -- Barnabé Monnot, 2022Complexity-approximation trade-offs in exchange mechanisms: AMMs vs. LOBs -- Jason Milionis, Ciamac Moallemi, Tim Roughgarden, 2023Trusted execution environments (TEEs) for blockchain applications -- Ari Juels, a16zcrypto.com, 2023 As a reminder, none of the following 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.
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Governance Attack!?

    Governance Attack!?
    Aug 15 2024
    with @ahall_research @eddylazzarin @0xShuel @smc90In this episode, we cover both recent events + evergreen governance questions in political systems: Specifically, we breakdown the recent Compound “governance attack”... as well as the broader topic of DAO governance and voting in general. We also discuss how to avoid, prevent, and respond to such governance attacks -- highlighting key differences between on-chain/ token-based/ digital voting systems vs. physical-world political systems around the world. What happens when you have activity from actors that the majority doesn’t necessarily agree with? How do you distinguish between good-faith and bad-faith activity, especially on-chain? And other such tricky questions?? Our experts answering these questions (in conversation with Sonal Chokshi) include: - a16z crypto CTO Eddy Lazzarin;- head of network operations Ross Shuel;- and a16z crypto research collaborator, and Stanford professor of political science, Andrew Hall.The episode begins by quickly recapping the exact sequence of a recent Compound governance “attack” event a few weeks ago -- including discussing whether “governance attack” is the right label for it or not; how it’s different from other attacks; and the broader trend of online vs offline governance attacks in general -- before then going into specific solutions. The team also shares some behind-scenes tick tock on what happened, how people figure out motives behind actions on-chain (especially given the "indistinguishability problem"), and much more. Pieces mentioned in this episode and other resources:DAO governance attacks, and how to avoid them by Pranav Garimidi, Scott Duke Kominers, Tim RoughgardenThe DUNA: An Oasis For DAOs by Miles Jennings and David KerrGovernance FAQs by Andrew HallA new financial model for app tokens: How to generate cash flows by Mason Hall, Porter Smith, Miles Jennings, and Ross Shuelall things DAOs on a16zcrypto.comall things decentralization on a16zcrypto.comVoting, Security, and Governance in Blockchains (a16z Podcast, 2019) with Phil Daian and Ali Yahya (see also "On-Chain Vote Buying and the Rise of Dark DAOs" by Phil Daian, Tyler Kell, Ian Miers, and Ari Juels)PoS Blockchains - Designs, Consensus, Attacks (web3 with a16z Podcast, 2022) with Valeria Nikolaenko, Tim Roughgarden, Sonal ChokshiLightspeed Democracy: What web3 organizations can learn from the history of governance by Andrew Hall and Porter SmithGoverning democracy, the internet, and boardrooms (web3 with a16z Podcast, 2024) with Noah Feldman, Andrew Hall, Robert HackettAs a reminder: None of this should be taken as business, investment, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information -- including a link to a list of our investments.
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Token Do's and Don'ts

    Token Do's and Don'ts
    Aug 8 2024

    with @eddylazzarin @milesjennings @rhhackett

    Today’s episode covers all things tokens — that includes what tokens have to do with decentralized protocols, understanding the different types of tokens, and, of course, the Do's and Don'ts of designing and launching a token.

    Our guests are a16z crypto chief technology officer Eddy Lazzarin, as well as a16z crypto general counsel and head of decentralization Miles Jennings, the two of whom have advised many scores of projects on protocol design and tokencraft. They discuss what sets web3 apart from earlier technology eras; avoiding common pitfalls in the search for product market fit; how to reason about various designs and strategies, as well as their risk and reward tradeoffs; and more.

    Related resources:

    The token launch playbook (part 1)

    • "Operational guidelines for token launches, from creation to custody" by Adina Fischer, Matt Gleason, and Justin Simcock
    • "5 rules for token launches" by Miles Jennings
    • "Getting ready to launch a token: What you need to know" by Miles Jennings and Jason Rosenthal
    • "How to navigate token launch risks" by Miles Jennings
    • "Launching compliant tokens" by Miles Jennings

    The token launch playbook (part 2)

    • "Tokencraft" with Eddy Lazzarin [Youtube, August 2024]
    • "Planning for token launches" with Miles Jennings [Youtube, August 2024]

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

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    57 mins
  • Where Innovation Happens

    Where Innovation Happens
    Jul 31 2024

    with @matthewclifford @smc90

    This special episode is all about regional innovation — at both a systems and people level.

    We cover what does and doesn’t work in making certain places become hubs of innovation and economic growth (aka “innovation ecosystems”). But we also discuss — going back and forth between the structural and individual — when to intervene for entrepreneurial talent; the nature of ambition, yearning, and finding one’s path; and more broadly, mindsets for navigating risk/reward and dynamism in different regions including London and Europe. We also discuss new ways of funding breakthrough R&D at a national level, tech trends of interest including crypto, and much more.

    Our special guest — in conversation with editor in chief Sonal Chokshi, who also brought him to the a16z Podcast over 8 years ago in its first-ever UK roadshow in December 2015 — is Matt Clifford, who’s played an important role in the London entrepreneurial and tech ecosystem since 2011. Matt is the Chair of Entrepreneur First (which he co-founded with Alice Bentinck over a decade ago); and is also the Chair of the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA). [Before this episode was recorded, Matt was also the Prime Minister’s representative for the AI Safety Summit — which he helped organize at Bletchley Park (the historic home of computing in the UK); after this episode was recorded, Matt was appointed by the UK secretary of science to deliver an “AI Opportunities Action Plan” to the UK government, which was just announced last week.]

    Fittingly, this episode was recorded live from Andreessen Horowitz’s first international office, in London; for more on our efforts there, and other content from there, please visit a16zcrypto.com/uk.

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

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    45 mins
  • What, How, and Why We're Reading

    What, How, and Why We're Reading
    Jul 21 2024

    with @rhhackett @smc90 @stephbzinn @tim_org

    In this fun hallway-style conversation, a16z crypto's Sonal Chokshi, Robert Hackett, Tim Sullivan, and Stephanie Zinn discusses picks from our latest annual summer reading list, as well as evergreen/ Lindy picks that show up on our what-we're-reading lists again and again. We also share our top picks of all time.

    Throughout, we also discuss HOW we read — whether audiobooks count as reading or listening, graphic novels, read-alouds; on multiple modes of reading; and technologies for reading and how they have changed us over time. Which books are better as movies and TV shows, and games too? Also, are collaboratively-filtered recommendations via family or friends really that great? What other heuristics — and anti-heuristics! — do we use to read?

    Finally, WHY do we read?? Is mythology and fantasy filling a hole left by religion? Wherefore nonfiction vs. fiction... or seemingly new genres such as "infotainment," "romantasy," and others? From Shakespeare to Prince Harry to erstwhile seafarers to modern mermaids, this episode is a rollicking ride — and love letter — to all things books, and reading, from the a16z crypto editorial team and Andreessen Horowitz. Curiosity is magic, after all!
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    1 hr and 30 mins
  • On Finding Product Market Fit — and Meaning

    On Finding Product Market Fit — and Meaning
    Jun 25 2024

    with @jasonrosenthal @benrbn

    Welcome to web3 with a16z, a show about building the next generation of the internet.

    Our featured guest today is serial entrepreneur Ben Rubin, who previously built the viral livestreaming app Meerkat, and then the group video chat app Houseparty — acquired by Epic Games in 2019 — and who is now CEO and cofounder of Here Not There Labs, which is building a decentralized messaging protocol.

    Rubin spoke with Jason Rosenthal, head of a16z crypto's CSX startup accelerator program, about paths to product market fit, given his journey in building breakout apps; they also discuss his unique perspective on creating company culture and more.

    This conversation first took place at our recent CSX program, which just concluded in London. (Watch the video interview on Youtube here.)

    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.
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    1 hr and 6 mins