We’ve been doing this roundup every year since the a16z Podcast first began — and in fact, if you’re new to our podcast, a good way to “start here” is to just catch up on popular episodes of past years! (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014) — but 2020 has obviously been a year… unlike any other. So a good portion of our podcasts across our network of shows this year covered various aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, from science and business to culture: early coverage of the initial outbreak and what happens when medicine goes virtual (including virtual oncology); the reality of remote work and shifts in online education; how companies were/are navigating the numbers and growth in turbulent times; impacts on small businesses (including PPP) and real estate. And of course, we covered all things vaccines, across ALL our shows: news/ explainers, trends, maker stories, more.
But in this year unlike any other, you, our listener, also tuned in to a wide variety of topics well beyond the pandemic, as reflected in the list of popular episodes below. Some of them were even popular in previous years (re-run episodes), and some were cross-promotions of *new* shows. Because this year, we officially announced the a16z Podcast network, which, besides the popular a16z Podcast and our news show 16 Minutes, now includes our new show Bio Eats World (with Journal Club). We also started doing read-alouds podcasts this year — key theses by our partners, read out loud by them in audio — including one of the most popular episodes of 2020: a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen reading his viral and vitally important essay “It’s Time to Build“. And this summer, we also released a special podcast episode hosted by a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz on “What We Can’t Reveal We Can’t Heal“, featuring insiders from the perspectives of police and prison (criminal justice) reform.
We are so grateful to all our guests who share their experiences and expertise with us, and therefore, with you. We also thank our a16z partners who take the time to regularly join the shows and share their insights, too. But most of all, we are thankful to YOU, our loyal fans: for lending us your time and attention, for sharing and engaging, for simply listening and being there through it all. We truly do it all for you. Here’s to the future!
1. How to decide, convey vs. convince, & more
2. Textiles as tech, science, math, culture… or civilization
3. Fintech for Gen Z and millennials
4. The present future of audio: talk, music, video, interactivity
5. TikTok & beyond: The algorithm question, the future of product
(first appeared on 16 Minutes)
6. Tracking the Trends: AI, WebRTC, Crypto, and Full-stack startups
7. It’s time to build
8. How to moderate talks, panels, meetings, more (virtual and beyond!)
9. Data alone is not enough: The evolution of data architectures
10. Reining in complexity: Data science and future of AI/ML businesses
11. The great data debate
12. Working, making, creating in public… and private
13. GPT-3: What’s hype, what’s real
(first appeared on 16 Minutes)
14. Innovation through software development and IT
15. Designing for, marketing to, and partnering with Gen Z
16. Biology of aging
(first appeared on Bio Eats World)
17. Degrading drugs for problem proteins
(first appeared on Bio Eats World)
18. Metrics and mindsets for retention & engagement
19. Gross margins, early to late: What they do (and don’t) tell you
20. SaaS go-to-upmarket
image: Umair Abbasi / Flickr
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Sonal Chokshi is the editor in chief as well as podcast network showrunner. Prior to joining a16z 2014 to build the editorial operation, Sonal was a senior editor at WIRED, and before that in content at Xerox PARC.
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