Stop thinking about technology as apart from other companies or industries. Today, every company is a technology company, thanks to the ubiquity of the always-connected massive processing power in everybody’s pockets. Whether it is autonomous cars or artificial intelligence or enhanced reality, the distinction between firms making tech and those deploying it is becoming irrelevant.
So says Benedict Evans of Andreessen Horowitz; (subscribe to his newsletter here). Evans joined the famed venture capital firm in 2014 from his prior work as an analyst covering the media and technology industries.
Evans explains why valuations matter so much less in venture capital then it does in public markets. The expectations are that most of the investments will net little if anything. The model is to find that one investment that will pay for all the failed others. He also discusses some of the controversies around Facebook: its privacy issues, data scraping and how Zuckerberg has pushed these issues to the edge of the envelope. We take a lot of these issues for granted in tech, without thinking about we got to where we are.
His favorite books are referenced here; our conversation transcript is published here.
You can stream/download the full conversation, including the podcast extras on iTunes, Bloomberg, Overcast, and Soundcloud. Our earlier podcasts can all be found on iTunes, Soundcloud, Overcast and Bloomberg.
Next week, we speak with famed short seller Jim Chanos, President and founder of Kynikos Associates.
