Want to get up to speed on the latest in Silicon Valley?
If you have 60 minutes or so, I highly recommend you take a listen to the most recent “Decode” podcast on Re/code, featuring venture wunderkind and futurist of the here and now Marc Andreessen. The founder of Netscape (an IPO which required a minimum $250K investment in 1995 thus pretty much eliminating your humble narrator any shot at some stock) and now co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz and all-around tech guru, slash prognosticator, gives a highly informative, and entertaining account of the current state of the Internet economy, an explanation for scaling business models used for companies such as Uber and Airbnb, and why he thinks founders make for the right CEOs.
But, fair warning.
This is Silicon Valley. So expect fast talking. Things move rapidly with host Kara Swisher doing her best, hyper, rapid-fire Terry Gross impersonation — kind of like Fresh Air: Double Espresso Edition. All too common! My wife Loni and I often catch ourselves having rapid fire exchanges after work. Apple Watch this. Oh, the State of the Internet that. And — Taylor Swift. Yes, yes, and what is up with the 49ers? Sec, available next Thu. Wait, incoming Hangout. Grass fire! Evacuate. ADBE, valuation? Stark Insider, Orpheum, next Friday. Wait, okay, you have sunscreen? $38 billion. Right. Ex Machina. No no Once Upon a Time. Oh no. Dinner. Sushi. Right.
Sometimes we remind ourselves to slow down. Smell the wine a little. And, yet, things around the Valley seem to moving faster than ever. Boom is definitely in the air. Interest rate are slow. Inflation in check. Valuations healthy (too healthy?). Employment strong. Unemployment numbers also in check. Then again, there’s the wobbly stock market, economic woes across Europe, and the ever-growing global shocks that accompany a world seemingly on the brink of war.
All that to say, this podcast is a must listen for those who want to keep up on the Valley’s latest from a mind that happily clocks in at the equivalent of Tesla insane mode.
LISTEN: Entrepreneur, Investor Marc Andreessen interviewed by Kara Swisher
[download]
[link to Re/code article and podcast]