a16z Live

Startup Purgatory, Common Pitch Mistakes, Competing with Incumbents and More on One on One with A and Z #4

Episode Summary

a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz talk about tech trends, company-building, and more in the fourth episode of their Clubhouse show, One on One with A and Z. Catch their show live at 7pm PT every Monday.

Episode Notes

Topics covered this week include:

• How to tell if a startup has entered  "purgatory", where they're getting by each year but no longer has a chance to be a multi-billion dollar company
• Common mistakes founders make when pitching VCs
• When do the biggest disagreements happen over possible investments
• What happens when an idea is great, but one of the founders is toxic
• Is there anyone now like Silicon  Valley coaching legend, Coach Bill Campbell?
• What kinds of large companies are easiest to compete with?
• R&D and basic research, now and then
• Investing in people, pre-idea
• If you started today with zero connections and $50k in the bank, what would you do?