Ben & Marc: Why Everything Is About to Get 10x Bigger
a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz join a16z general partner Erik Torenberg and Not Boring founder Packy McCormick for a conversation on how the media and information ecosystem has changed over the past decade. The discussion breaks down the shift toward a more open and decentralized speech environment, the rise of writer- and creator-led platforms like Substack, and the erosion of centralized media gatekeepers. Marc and Ben also tie these dynamics to their investing worldview, outlining how supply-driven markets, major technological step changes, and reputation-driven venture platforms shape outcomes in the AI era.
Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
00:46 How the media ecosystem is changing
4:20 Why a16z invested in Substack
6:28 Supply-driven markets and new content creation
8:07 Why writers felt trapped by media companies
10:09 Databricks and the 10x cloud multiplier
13:58 Long-form podcasting proves demand
15:40 What the new fund signals about the future
16:24 AI as a universal problem solver
18:49 Why market sizing is broken
20:45 Go-to-market, policy, and platform power
22:37 Turning inventors into confident CEOs
25:58 Borrowing power to scale faster
27:29 Building dreamers, not killing dreams
30:46 Reputation as a core competitive advantage
35:57 Taking arrows in public
38:56 Avoiding big company failure modes
40:39 Autonomous teams inside a16z
41:54 Venture capital as the last job
46:01 Why intangibles matter more than ever
48:17 Original thinkers with charisma
50:06 Why Zoomers are different
Resources:
https://www.notboring.co/p/a16z-the-power-brokers
https://www.a16z.news/p/firm-fund
Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca
Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz
Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Follow Packy McCormick on X: https://twitter.com/packyM
Stay Updated:
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!
Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z
Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z
Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX
Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg](https://x.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Stay Updated:
Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube
Find a16z on X
Find a16z on LinkedIn
Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify
Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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a16z, AI and Investing in the new era (ft. Packy McCormick)
a16z cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz join a16z general partner Erik Torenberg and Not Boring founder Packy McCormick for a conversation on how the media and information ecosystem has changed over the past decade. The discussion breaks down the shift toward a more open and decentralized speech environment, the rise of writer- and creator-led platforms like Substack, and the erosion of centralized media gatekeepers. Marc and Ben also tie these dynamics to their investing worldview, outlining how supply-driven markets, major technological step changes, and reputation-driven venture platforms shape outcomes in the AI era.
Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
00:46 How the media ecosystem is changing
4:20 Why a16z invested in Substack
6:28 Supply-driven markets and new content creation
8:07 Why writers felt trapped by media companies
10:09 Databricks and the 10x cloud multiplier
13:58 Long-form podcasting proves demand
15:40 What the new fund signals about the future
16:24 AI as a universal problem solver
18:49 Why market sizing is broken
20:45 Go-to-market, policy, and platform power
22:37 Turning inventors into confident CEOs
25:58 Borrowing power to scale faster
27:29 Building dreamers, not killing dreams
30:46 Reputation as a core competitive advantage
35:57 Taking arrows in public
38:56 Avoiding big company failure modes
40:39 Autonomous teams inside a16z
41:54 Venture capital as the last job
46:01 Why intangibles matter more than ever
48:17 Original thinkers with charisma
50:06 Why Zoomers are different
Resources:
Follow Marc Andreessen on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca
Follow Ben Horowitz on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz
Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg
Follow Packy McCormick on X: https://twitter.com/packyM
Read Packy’s piece: https://www.notboring.co/p/a16z-the-power-brokers
Read David Haber’s piece ‘Firm > Fund’: https://www.a16z.news/p/firm-fund
Stay Updated:
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!
Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z
Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z
Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX
Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg](https://x.com/eriktorenberg
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Optimism In A Tech Downturn — With Packy McCormick and Austin Rief
Austin Rief is the CEO of Morning Brew. Packy McCormick is the author of Not Boring on Substack and founder of Not Boring Capital. The two join Big Technology Podcast for a discussion of why the economic downturn has hit tech disproportionately hard and how bad it's going to get. They also look for places of optimism, and areas of opportunity. Stay tuned for the second half where we discuss whether their own investing has changed, how their media businesses will get through this moment, and the latest on Elon Musk's plan to buy Twitter.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Arena Show Part I: Idea Dinner + YC Continuity
We did an Arena Show!! This evening was so big and so special, we had to split it into two episodes for the podcast feed. First up is the Idea Dinner with our best internet buddies, Packy McCormick and Mario Gabriele (and special guest judge Shu Nyatta), followed by the story of YC Continuity with managing partner Anu Hariharan. Huge, huge thank you to PitchBook for making this night possible. Stay tuned for Part II!
Sponsors:
Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
WorkOS: https://acquired.fm/unpluggedPlaying Cards: https://bit.ly/workOSshop (Code: ACQDECK)
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26
More Acquired!
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© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC
Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.
EP 15 Pt 2: Packy McCormick and Ben Thompson Talk About Their Own Start, Finding Your Audience and The Creative Process
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:02:28) Packy & Ben’s Businesses
(00:23:08) Finding Your Audience
(00:36:01) VC Hindsight
(00:46:18) Creative Process
(00:57:52) Web3
(01:05:57) Advice for Content Creators
(01:14:59) All-In and Twitter
(01:23:54) One Last Thing
Follow the show:
https://twitter.com/3cartoonavatars
https://www.instagram.com/3cartoonavatars/
https://www.tiktok.com/@3cartoonavatars
Follow the hosts:
https://twitter.com/loganbartlett
Mixed and edited: Justin Hrabovsky
Produced: Andrew Nadeau and Rashad Assir
Executive Producer: Josh Machiz
Music: Griff Lawson
Not Boring - The Great Online Game - https://www.notboring.co/p/the-great-online-game?s=r
Not Boring – Schumpeter’s Gale - https://www.notboring.co/p/schumpeters-gale?s=r
Not Boring – Ramping Up - https://www.notboring.co/p/ramping-up?s=r
Not Boring – Ramp’s Double Unicorn - https://www.notboring.co/p/ramps-double-unicorn-rounds-behind?s=r
Stratechery – What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong - https://stratechery.com/2013/clayton-christensen-got-wrong/
Stratechery – Bubble Talk Revisited - https://stratechery.com/2020/bubble-talk-revisited-it-wasnt-1999-the-big-tech-basket/
Executive Producer: Rashad Assir
Producer: Leah Clapper
Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky
Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA
🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1
Follow on Socials
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow
📱 X - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow
🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow
About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member.
Tap follow and enable notifications to stay ahead of the game.
112 - Into the Funtier | Packy McCormick
Packy McCormick is the writer of Not Boring, an investor at Not Boring Capital, and an advisor to the a16z Web3 Fund. Packy has a sharp intuition for general trends, and he puts in the work to understand and thoughtfully communicate his findings outward. Writing and creating content is a great way to learn and share knowledge—we would know.
In this episode, we explore five of Packy’s most salient articles orbiting around the crypto space. Unraveling the secret recipe for crypto (and life), managing the delicate balance between money and fun is the key to winning these games. Making money on the internet with friends is the new normal.
As a talented writer and a great thinker, Packy is a born-again crypto enthusiast as of 2021. He is able to synthesize this chaotic space with fresh eyes, bringing prior knowledge to guide his understanding.
------ ✨ DEBRIEF ✨ | Ryan & David's Unfiltered Thoughts on the Episode https://shows.banklesshq.com/p/112-packy-debrief
------ 📣 CONSENSYS | M·A·C: NFT Collection for a Good Cause https://bankless.cc/MAC
------ 🚀 SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/ 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST: http://podcast.banklesshq.com/
------ BANKLESS SPONSOR TOOLS:
⚖️ ARBITRUM | SCALED ETHEREUM https://bankless.cc/Arbitrum
❎ ACROSS | BRIDGE TO LAYER 2 https://bankless.cc/Across
🏦 ALTO IRA | TAX-FREE CRYPTO https://bankless.cc/AltoIRA
👻 AAVE V3 | LEND & BORROW CRYPTO https://bankless.cc/aave
⚡️ MAKER DAO | THE DAI STABLECOIN https://bankless.cc/MakerDAO
🦁 BRAVE | THE BROWSER NATIVE WALLET https://bankless.cc/Brave
------ Topics Covered:
0:00 Intro 5:30 Packy McCormick’s Journey 9:55 Born-Again Crypto Enthusiast 12:48 Own The Internet 21:00 Solana Summer 29:32 Monolithic vs Modular 35:44 The SOL Value Prop 42:08 Winner Take All? 47:30 Real vs Fake Culture 55:00 Status Monkeys 1:02:10 NFTs as Status 1:06:23 The Pareto Funtier 1:14:05 A Sense of Meaning 1:19:43 The Web3 Debate 1:29:45 Predicting This Decade 1:35:02 Closing & Disclaimers
------ Resources:
Packy McCormick https://twitter.com/packyM?s=20&t=zppneMsLXcmxhoe3-5z7OA Not Boring https://www.notboring.co/ Ethereum - Own the Internet https://www.notboring.co/p/own-the-internet?s=r Solana Summer https://www.notboring.co/p/solana-summer?s=r Status Monkeys (NFTs) https://www.notboring.co/p/status-monkeys The Pareto Funtier https://www.notboring.co/p/the-pareto-funtier?s=r The Web3 Debate https://www.notboring.co/p/the-web3-debate?s=r Player Piano https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385333781?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp
----- Not financial or tax advice. This channel is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This video is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here: https://newsletter.banklesshq.com/p/bankless-disclosures
EP 8: AMC’s Gold Mine, The Business of Memes, Glossier Article, and We’re Joined by Packy McCormick and Roseanne Wincek
3:34 - AMC Invested in a Gold Mine, Unfortunately Literally
8:16 - Can You Build a Business on Memes
19:03 - Roseanne Wincek Joins
21:27 - Glossier Article and How Takedown Pieces Are Cattier Than What the Takedown is For
41:17 - Google Employees Aren’t Happy Despite Excessive Foosball Table Access
46:57 - Remote Work Makes it Too Easy to Send Me Angry DMs
Bloomberg - AMC bought a Gold Mine: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-03-15/amc-bought-a-gold-mine
Adam Aron Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Aron
Marc Andresen tweet: https://twitter.com/pmarca/status/1504548145643995142?s=20&t=kxCISRROo_mtX1kn21OOGQ
Packy Shopify/Apple tweet: https://twitter.com/packyM/status/1407008886863826946?s=20&t=kxCISRROo_mtX1kn21OOGQ
Logan passing no Doordash/Airbnb: https://twitter.com/loganbartlett/status/1337055925371342848?s=20&t=kxCISRROo_mtX1kn21OOGQ
Logan autograph tweet: https://twitter.com/loganbartlett/status/1500917755016409088?s=20&t=kxCISRROo_mtX1kn21OOGQ
New hire asking for board seat: https://twitter.com/MarkBeylin/status/1499169946907164676?s=20&t=kxCISRROo_mtX1kn21OOGQ
Executive Producer: Rashad Assir
Producer: Leah Clapper
Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky
Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA
🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1
Follow on Socials
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow
📱 X - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow
🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow
About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member.
Tap follow and enable notifications to stay ahead of the game.
Packy McCormick’s Not Boring parlay: Angel S6 E3 + Producer Rachel visits Miami Hack Week | E1372
Today’s guest is Packy McCormick of Not Boring, for Episode 3 of Season 6 of Angel. Packy turned his massive newsletter into a Not Boring Fund I in 2021, and has since invested $10M into startups. In this episode you will learn:
1. How Packy raised his first fund from his readers.
2. What regulations he needed to navigate to comply with the SEC.
3. Which sectors he invested his first $10M into (in just 6 months) and some of his breakout startups.
4. Why IRR can be hilariously large in the early stages of a small fund.
5. How he manages a syndicate and a venture fund while still doing right by LPs.
As Packy signs off we check in with Producer Rachel who went down to Miami Hack Week and spoke to one of the organizers of Tap House for an "OK Boomer" segment.
(00:00) Molly introduces the show
(01:43) Jason and Molly chat with Packy McCormick
(04:40) Packy's editorial philosophy
(08:06) How Packy used the 506c designation
(10:38) Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at https://ourcrowd.com/angel
(11:41) Using a parallel fund structure
(15:33) How media-first investors can optimize their fund structure
(20:50) LinkedIn Jobs - Go to https://linkedin.com/angel and post your first job for free.
(21:57) Not Boring Fund II goals
(24:42) How responsibilities change as check size increases
(27:45) Managing Venture LPs and a Syndicate simultaneously
(29:08) Embroker - Get an extra 10% off insurance for your business at https://Embroker.com/twist
(30:25) Does it matter what time you enter the market as a VC?
(37:04) IRR (internal rate of return) versus and multiple on cash
(46:25) Packy's weekly cadence for investing and writing
(51:39) OK Boomer - Rachel Reporting from Miami Hack Week
Check out Not Boring: https://www.notboring.co
FOLLOW Packy: https://twitter.com/packym
FOLLOW Rachel: https://twitter.com/_@rachelbraun
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood
2021 Recap: Acquired x Not Boring x The Generalist
Originally broadcast live on New Years Eve: we raise a glass (of coffee haha) and recap 2021 with our besties Mario Gabriele from the Generalist and Packy McCormick from Not Boring. Thank you for making 2021 an incredible year for all of us at ACQ, NB + TG, and may 2022 be filled with great things and grand adventures for us all!
Sponsors:
Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra
Not Boring (with Packy McCormick)
When does a creator become a company? Who says that media companies — or venture firms — have to be organizations? How high is the ceiling on one person + the internet? Acquired has the answers and they are... Not Boring. 🙂
Sponsors:
Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
WorkOS: https://acquired.fm/unpluggedPlaying Cards: https://bit.ly/workOSshop (Code: ACQDECK)
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26
More Acquired!
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Merch Store!
© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC
Links:
Not Boring: https://www.notboring.co/
Proto-Not Boring: https://www.packym.com/blog/nyc-debate-club
Not Boring's first sponsor deck: https://projector.com/story/2cb6296d-e229-4774-839c-efbf86d7f69f?scene=7127c7a0
Jake Singer's Not Boring Flywheel: https://theflywheel.substack.com/p/not-boring-packy-m
Proof Ben was famous even before Acquired: https://web.archive.org/web/20150814041757/https://www.seattletimes.com/business/high-octane-leader-drives-microsoftrsquos-innovation-garage/
Carve Outs:
Velcro swaddles (dad life...): https://www.amazon.com/s?k=velcro+swaddle
An Engineer's Hype-Free Observations on Web3: https://www.psl.com/feed-posts/web3-engineer-take
Rabbits: https://www.amazon.com/Rabbits-Novel-Terry-Miles-ebook/dp/B08HY29VM2
Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.
HeadSpin accused of $80M fraud, housing startup irks NIMBYs + Not Boring’s Packy McCormick | E1272
In the news segment, Jason covers unicorn SaaS Startup called HeadSpin has been accused of a massive fraud by the SEC and DOJ (2:06), and Pacaso real estate startup offering fractional ownership of vacation homes is causing outrage in wine country (17:35). Then, Jason interviews Not Boring's Packy McCormick (34:41), about his time at WeWork competitor Breather (36:14), turning his newsletter into a venture fund (59:12), and Packy's vision for crypto - it's one of the best explanations we've heard (1:03:17).
The Idea Dinner #1 (with Mario Gabriele and Packy McCormick)
We team up with Mario from the Generalist and Packy from Not Boring for something new: The Idea Dinner!
We've been longtime fans of each others' work and, given all the buzz on Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces, decided to team up and run a little experiment: The Idea Dinner. Last night on Twitter Spaces we all got together and brought one beverage of choice, one public market investment idea, and one private market investment idea.
Despite some technical audio issues... it was a blast! We're super excited to share the recording here with everyone who couldn't make it. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Stay tuned for more to come!
Sponsors:
Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra
Slack + Salesforce Emergency Pod with Packy McCormick of Not Boring
Acquired is live on the scene covering Salesforce's blockbuster $27.7B acquisition of Slack, with the help of the internet's #1 Slack bull (and top internet analyst in his own right), Packy McCormick of Not Boring. We dissect the deal itself, Slack's relatively short life as a public company, the impact of Microsoft and Teams, and most importantly what this means for enterprise SaaS startups broadly. And oh yeah — we have a ton of fun too. :)
Note: you can find our full June 2019 episode on Slack's history and their DPO here: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/the-slack-dpo
Sponsors:
Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
WorkOS: https://acquired.fm/unpluggedPlaying Cards: https://bit.ly/workOSshop (Code: ACQDECK)
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26
More Acquired!
Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the Slack
Subscribe to ACQ2
Merch Store!
© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC
Playbook Themes from this episode are available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/slack-salesforce-emergency-pod-with-packy-mccormick-of-not-boring
Links:
Not Boring: https://notboring.substack.com
Packy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/packyM
Packy's bull thesis on Slack from November 2020: https://notboring.substack.com/p/slack-the-bulls-are-typing