The a16z Show

Martin Casado joins MTS hosts Theo Jaffee and Sophia Dew to unpack where value is actually accruing in AI, why this technology cycle looks fundamentally different from previous waves, and whether the frontier labs will ultimately capture most of the market.

Martin explains why AI has turned venture into a scale-up capital game, where small teams can productively deploy extraordinary amounts of money, and why the relationship between capital, innovation, and growth has never been tighter. He lays out the case both for and against the frontier labs dominating AI, the role of open-source and specialist models, and why applications are increasingly capturing more value.

The conversation also explores model routing, AI economics, founder-market fit, and why Martin believes this may be the biggest unlock of wealth he's seen since the 1990s.

 

Resources:

Follow Martin Casado on X: https://x.com/martin_casado

Follow Theo Jaffee on X: https://x.com/theojaffee

Follow Sophia Dew on X: https://x.com/sophiadew

Follow MTS on X: https://x.com/mtslive

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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a16z's Joel De La Garza is joined by Aaron Zollman, Deputy CISO at Microsoft Gaming, to discuss how security teams can embrace AI agents without losing control.

Aaron shares Microsoft's experience with OpenClaw, from the initial instinct to ban it to figuring out how to make it safe to use. They unpack what agents mean for identity, permissions, containerization, and monitoring, as well as how AI is shifting the CISO's role from saying "no" to safely enabling new technology.

They also explore whether AI could help defenders patch vulnerabilities as quickly as they're discovered, and why new AI threats don't make the old security problems go away.

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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Elena Burger is joined by a16z’s Angela Strange and Gabriel Vasquez to discuss the rise of the "borderless founder": entrepreneurs who bring the networks and insights of their home markets together with the talent, capital, and speed of Silicon Valley to build global companies.

Angela and Gabriel trace how a16z's international investing efforts grew from early work in Latin America into a broader global network, and why AI has accelerated the flow of founders and talent between Silicon Valley and startup ecosystems around the world. They explore the advantages borderless founders can bring, from differentiated talent networks and early customers to strong local brands and communities that help open doors across markets.

They also discuss how founder diasporas can function like powerful alumni networks, why spending time in Silicon Valley can help founders recalibrate around speed and ambition, and how the next generation of global companies may increasingly be built across multiple countries from day one.

 

Resources:

Read Angela Strange and Gabriel Vasquez's piece on Borderless Founders: https://www.a16z.news/p/rise-of-the-borderless-founder

Follow Angela Strange on X: https://x.com/astrange

Follow Gabriel Vasquez on X: https://x.com/GEVS94

Follow Elena Burger on X: https://x.com/VirtualElena

 

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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a16z General Partner David George is joined by Grant LaFontaine, co-founder of Whatnot, to unpack how a marketplace that started with collectibles evolved into one of the world's leading live shopping platforms.

Grant traces the company's origins from selling Pokémon cards online as a kid to discovering live commerce by watching Whatnot's earliest customers hack together sales on social media. They discuss why Whatnot thinks less like a traditional e-commerce marketplace and more like a digital shopping mall, where discovery, entertainment, community, and commerce all happen at once. Today, users spend roughly 95 minutes a day on the platform, and most aren't even buying something on a given day.

They also explore how Whatnot is enabling small businesses to reach global audiences, expanding from collectibles into categories like fashion, food, and golf, and using AI to make sellers more efficient without replacing the human connection at the center of the experience.

 

Resources:

Follow Grant LaFontaine on X: https://x.com/GrantLaFontaine

Follow David George on X: https://x.com/DavidGeorge83

Follow Whatnot on X: https://x.com/whatnot

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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a16z's Joel De La Garza is joined by Nick Warner of Neo and Max Pollard of Cotool to discuss what happens when cybersecurity tools built to defend against humans and malware suddenly have to contend with AI agents. As frontier models become more capable of finding and exploiting vulnerabilities, many of the assumptions underlying traditional security are beginning to break.

They explore why guardrails designed to stop AI-powered attackers can also prevent security teams from doing their jobs, why defenders increasingly need access to multiple models, and how agentic software creates an entirely new endpoint security problem. They also discuss why static signatures and even newer techniques like honeypots are struggling in a world where software can reason and act autonomously.

Recorded around Black Hat, the conversation looks at how security teams are adapting in real time and why the same AI capabilities creating new attack surfaces could ultimately give defenders their biggest advantage yet.

 

Resources:

Follow Nick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholaswarner/

Follow Max on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmpollard/

Follow Joel De La Garza on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/3448827723723234/

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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