E34: Marc Andreessen on His Intellectual Journey

"Turpentine VC" | Venture Capital and Investing

This episode features an interview with a16z GP and co-founder Marc Andreessen, discussing his intellectual influences and detailing his quest to understand how the world works. He covers the authors who have shaped his thinking, the influence of elites on policies, and global governance. This conversation was recorded in late 2022. Since then, Marc and a16z have released “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto".

If you enjoyed this episode with Marc check out episode 1 of Turpentine VC with Ben Horowitz who discusses the how they built the firm and its future plans.

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LINKS:

The Techno-Optimist Manifesto: https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/

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Recommended Podcast: Company Breakdowns

Each episode of Company Breakdowns dives into S-1s and series B-and-beyond companies, interviewing founders and investors to break down the companies. First episode is on Rubrik - which just IPO'd. Coming up this season: Databricks, Reddit + more,

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RELATED SHOWS: @10xcapitalpodcast

If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The 10x Capital Podcast with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://10xcapitalpodcast.com/

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X / TWITTER:

@pmarca (Marc)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@turpentinemedia

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(01:33) How much has Marc changed vs the world changed?

(05:05) How much do ideas matter? Who drives society — the elite or the masses?

(08:07) People respond to interests more than ideas

(10:18) Mental models for the left and the right

(12:54) Sponsors: Turpentine | Squad

(15:12) The road to hell is paved with good intentions

(16:58) Master morality and slave morality

(21:37) Unpacking Elon’s quote “Wokeness is the mind-virus”

(24:17) Is classical liberalism sustainable and how it leads to wokeness

(33:18) James Burnham’s worldview

(41:09) How the left captured the institutions

(43:44) Elon as the return to entrepreneurial capitalism

(46:22) The experiments Elon is running

(53:09) The billionaire mindset toward politics

(55:49) We live in an oligarchy, not a democracy

(1:04:13) Larry Page is the contrarian billionaire

(1:05:48) Effective altruists think they can play God

(1:08:54) SBF’s roll-the-dice philosophy

(1:09:33) Aristocratic vs Meritocratic elite

(1:20:04) Elites are insulated from the consequences of their policies

(1:22:06) Why global governance is a nerd trap

(1:25:28) Global governance is anti-diversity

(1:29:00) Tech people are politically homeless

(1:29:49) Elites can’t be removed, they can only be replaced

(1:33:21) Advice for counter-elites

(1:45:39) Reasons to be optimistic

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This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [email protected].