A massive data breach — exposing potentially all social security numbers, with ~3 billion records now circulating for free — has recently come to light. The hack involved a background check company, and reportedly happened about four months ago. In the latest episode of the a16z podcast, Joel D. and Naftali Harris join us for a deep dive on what happened. The security experts help us explore the implications of this breach for both the near and long-term future. Listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts. 🎧
Andreessen Horowitz
Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
Menlo Park, CA 439,019 followers
Software is eating the world
About us
Founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz (known as "a16z") is a venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. We are stage agnostic: We invest in seed to late-stage technology companies, across the consumer, enterprise, bio/healthcare, crypto, fintech and games spaces. a16z is defined by respect for the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurial company building process; we know what it’s like to be in the founder’s shoes. The firm is led by general partners, many of whom are former founders/operators, CEOs, or CTOs of successful technology companies, and who have domain expertise ranging from biology to crypto to distributed systems to security to marketplaces to financial services. We aim to connect entrepreneurs, investors, executives, engineers, academics, industry experts, and others in the technology ecosystem. We have built a network of experts including technical and executive talent; top media and marketing resources; Fortune 500/Global 2000 companies; as well as other technology decision makers, influencers, and key opinion leaders. a16z uses this network as part of our commitment to help our portfolio companies grow their business, so our operating teams provide entrepreneurs with access to expertise and insights across the entire spectrum of company building. https://a16z.com/portfolio/ https://a16z.com/podcasts/ https://a16z.com/videos/ http://a16z.com/subscribe
- Website
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http://www.a16z.com
External link for Andreessen Horowitz
- Industry
- Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
- Company size
- 201-500 employees
- Headquarters
- Menlo Park, CA
- Type
- Privately Held
- Founded
- 2009
Locations
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Primary
2865 Sand Hill Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025, US
Employees at Andreessen Horowitz
Updates
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With time, generative models haven broken through from niche interest to public consciousness. Recently, this happened in the music industry. Conor Durkan, cofounder of Udio, chats about the platform’s different users — from professional musicians to casual creators — adapting to feedback and evolving the product based on real-world use cases.
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AI presents a massive opportunity for startups to revolutionize the healthcare industry. a16z Bio Health’s Julie Yoo explains how AI can: - Leapfrog outdated tech - Streamline manual workflows - Solve severe staffing shortages Watch for more on why we believe healthcare will benefit the most from AI.
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The U.S. military is the world’s single largest consumer of petroleum, running largely on diesel and kerosene. Historically, the military has commonly used fuel in two ways: to power an engine, or to run an electric generator to operate infrastructure (like a base). Recently, though, the battlefield has seen a surge in power-hungry electronics, drones, radar systems, computers, and other advanced technology, not to mention broader electrification efforts. The problem with our reliance on fossil fuels to meet this demand becomes clear when you consider the supply chain, writes David Ulevitch. Read the full story on why decentralized power generation would create a huge advantage. https://lnkd.in/dpZmewyD
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End-to-end models and generative AI have accelerated technology in unprecedented ways, but they're not enough. Though it's typically easy to get started when building in a new frontier, the hardest technological problems exist in the remaining 0.001% of the curve. Waymo Co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov shares with Growth general partner David George what it takes to go fully autonomous.
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French founders are now building the world’s largest companies. With a thriving ecosystem attracting talent from Europe and the US, France is emerging as a global startup hub. a16z's Bryan Kim is joined by Roxanne VARZA, director of the world's biggest start-up campus STATION F, and Antoine Martin, (cofounder and CEO of Zenly, which was acquired by Snap Inc. in 2017), who has now founded amo. They discuss the infrastructure, community, and government support driving this transformation. Discover why France is now an exciting place to build a startup: https://lnkd.in/ezAzitfc
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One of the most critical parts of making vehicles fully autonomous: simulators, which require huge volumes of data to be representative of the real world. Whether it's a pedestrian jaywalking or unpredictable weather conditions, these simulators must be able to mirror rare events for vehicles to reduce the risk of accidents and become fully autonomous. Waymo Co-CEO Dmitri Dolgov is focused on scaling their powerful simulation tool to build the world's most trusted driver. Join him in the latest AI Revolution conversation with Growth general partner David George on how they are uniquely positioned to shape the future of AI.
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"Token compensation is a balancing act within a larger compensation strategy — the ultimate goal of which is to reward work and retain employees, without losing engagement or creating a distracting work environment." Compensation is always a complex and challenging topic. But it's also an opportunity to attract and retain talent, as well as compete with other companies. So how do crypto tokens fit into a company's larger compensation strategy? a16z crypto shares details specific to structuring token grants, from vesting schedules and lockups to taxes: https://lnkd.in/e8gXKGNz
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The cofounders of Civitai, Justin Maier and Maxfield Hulker, noticed a problem. Creators were making custom models and posting them disparately on forums, but "they'd just kind of vanish after that," Maier says. That's when the idea to create a place for them to share their models and tools was born. The cofounders share their journey from a niche concept to a thriving platform with millions of users👇
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Enterprise leaders are nearly tripling budgets on AI spend and shifting away from just OpenAI to open source models, Growth general partner Sarah Wang recently found in a survey on how enterprises are building and buying genAI. To successfully move from prototype to production, Pinecone CEO Edo Liberty and LangChain CEO Harrison Chase share that the commitment to bridge that gap will determine whether the company is successful. Join their latest conversation at a recent Pinecone event: