The a16z Show
00:45:32 · Erin Price-Wright, Connor Love
[00:45:32] S1: It's an everything problem. [00:45:33] S2: It's an everything problem. And look, we're optimists inherently. I do think that snowball has started to roll. I think the question is, back to our discussion on capital markets earlier, will there be emergent winners in these categories that then fuels more capital to flow into the ecosystem? And it's this kind of self fulfilling prophecy that happens, like, If you build it, they will come, but at some point there needs to be a pot at the end of the rainbow. And if there is for a few companies, I think one, capital flow like I mentioned, but I think the last thing I'll say just real briefly is, anything in the physical world takes time. To set up a factory at a scale where really you either affect our power generation, or you affect our military systems, or you name it, you can't take a couple of engineers, throw them in front of a couple servers and computer screens and come up with an answer. Mean, moving dirt, it is physically understanding a supply chain, like these things take years, and there's a little bit of patience that we need to have in the capital market side, but again, I think I'm optimistic. I think it's happening and to some extent, like it's our salutes. Like it's ours as a government and a nation to mess up and to get in the way of this and that's a risk, don't get me wrong, but.
00:46:48 · Erin Price-Wright
[00:46:48] S1: I do think it's do think it's another... Will be another long term benefit of capital markets even if it's short term painful. Just people need a feel... I mean, you mentioned that these are physical things. They take time. They're also physical things in that they have a physical manifestation to those people and communities that live around them. And the most important thing is that, you know, American society at large feels like they're participating in the economic growth that's coming as a result of this development. Software, you know, was sort of... Like, had this ability to be sort of siloed because it really existed in just a few cities. It was kind of this virtual thing. You sort of experienced it in the way that your your interaction with digital services got better... Lot better over the last twenty years, but, you know, it it was a little bit more it was a little bit more abstract. Physical world, like someone's building a data center, a power plant, a mine in your backyard, and you need a You have a say and you have a stake in that. You physically see it. It affects your life. If you don't feel like you have participation and then economic upside, it's hard. I do think that this is one thing that the capital markets long term will solve really well because companies will figure out how to bring communities along for the journey and make it financially and economically worth it.
00:48:03 · Connor Love, Erin Price-Wright, Elena Burger
[00:48:03] S2: And I think there are some good examples of that. A few companies on the eighty fifty list who like build real things in their communities and show up the right way. There are also bad examples that have existed in the last few years. I mean, if you look at what AMCA does, they show up to these really small machine shops that exist, they partner with them, they don't cut the management and fire people, they say, how can we build new products and grow the kind of business that you have today? And it's that type of concept of working with communities as opposed to working against them, that I think we still need to wrestle with a little bit in the tech world, and understand that just because we sit in Silicon Valley, I mean, we we we don't understand everything that's happening in the world. And, you know, fundamentally, I think a lot of these 80 companies will build stuff that that touches Middle America. I mean, it will physically exist in Middle America. And, you know, I I I think that's net good. Prosperity. I think that means more energy and abundance world where, you know, we have a safer America. And [00:49:02] S1: Less concentration of wealth in these pockets... In these elite pockets on the coast. It's a good thing. Yeah. But it will take time. [00:49:08] S2: Yeah. [00:49:09] S3: Well, Erin, Connor, thank you so much for joining, and everyone can check out the eighty fifty list today. [00:49:15] S2: Awesome. Thanks. [00:49:16] S1: Awesome. Thanks so much.
00:49:16 · Erin Price-Wright, Erik Torenberg
[00:49:16] S1: Awesome. Thanks so much. [00:49:20] S4: Thanks for listening to this episode of the a16z podcast. If you like this episode, be sure to like, comment, subscribe, leave us a rating or a review, and share it with your friends and family. For more episodes, go to YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Follow us on x at a sixteen z, and subscribe to our Substack at a16z.substack.com. Thanks again for listening, and I'll see you in the next episode. As a reminder, 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 a sixteen z fund. Please note that a sixteen z and its affiliates may also maintain investments in the companies discussed in this podcast. For more details, including a link to our investments, please see a16z.com/disclosures.