Benedict Evans

@benedictevans · a16z

@hunterwalk When you go to a totally new job and new type of company you kind of expect to be surprised. You learn about the internal mechanics of the space (hence, conflict, board seats, how different rounds work) and so on, and its all new. For me it was all part of moving to SF, which comes with a much larger set of... surprises

@benedictevans · a16z

@benedictevans Would I be an investing partner? Maybe. It wouldn't be there since there's no path to partner (as I'm not a founder). But right now I'm busy trying to get completely on top of the current role.

Ouriel Ohayon

@ourielohayon · appsfire, CEO/ isai (VC) co-founder

@benedictevans Hi Benedict (long time). How do you organize your day and in particular your access to information on a daily basis? What are the sources or tools your use most?

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@benedictevans · a16z

@ourielohayon I try to read everything all the time. Mostly twitter is my aggregator, but there are lots of other places to track

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Ouriel Ohayon

@ourielohayon · appsfire, CEO/ isai (VC) co-founder

@benedictevans what are you top 3 must follow twitter accounts?

3 share tweet・2 years ago

Erik Torenberg

@eriktorenberg · Former Product Hunt

Stealing this question from Mazzeo: With the qualifier that you guys agree on many/most things, what's a prediction that Marc Andreessen and/or Chris Dixon and/or Ben Horowitz have for the future that you vehemently disagree with and why?

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@benedictevans · a16z

@eriktorenberg Venture is all about what might happen, not what will.

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Paul Robert Cary

@prcary · CEO, Findie | www.findie.me

@benedictevans Thanks for doing this. Are Netflix and Amazon gravitating towards replicating traditional film & TV studio models and thus setting themselves up for disruption? Who is going to capture the premium content mobile user, and how?

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@benedictevans · a16z

@paulrobertcary That's a blog post, not a question ;)

Paul Robert Cary

@prcary · CEO, Findie | www.findie.me

@benedictevans Great! Can you write one this week and tag me please? 🙏

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Jeff Needles

@jsneedles · BI @ Meerkat & Maker of Things

@benedictevans Thanks for taking the time! What is the most fascinating trend you've seen come and go very rapidly? Do you think these kinds of things represent innovations before their time or simply driven by marketing/hype?

@benedictevans · a16z

@jsneedles It's always interesting when cool things don't work. The way QR Codes are a really useful part of everyday life in east Asia and just die every time here is a great example. Maybe beacons will solve that, though.

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Johann Kratzer

@jhnkrt

@benedictevans What does a normal working day at a16z look like for you?

@benedictevans · a16z

@jbykk driving down the 280, staring at traffic and swearing at the other drivers.

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Michael Babich

@michaelbabich · Entrepreneur, hacker, and traveler.

@benedictevans Great time for emotional podcasting.

upvote share tweet・2 years ago

Abhinav Chhikara

@abnux · UI/UX Designer, Co-founder @ Lisn App

What are your thoughts on apps designed as chat bot based assistants (Pana, Luka.ai, Lark Health, Facebook M etc.)? Does the ubiquity of text messaging + personalisation of app experiences through intelligent chat bots excite you?

@benedictevans · a16z

@abnux it's tough to have a domain narrow enough for the 'AI' to work but broad enough to be useful. And there's an uncanny valley. There will be a company that makes this work, though

Chris Schroeder

@cmschroed · investor

Benedict: you have shared some of the most concise and provocative data I've seen on the worlds we are in, and thank you for this. I wondered in all that you've seen, what trends have surprised you most -- been most unobvious to you. Mobile is a place I know you've particularly focused on -- so there, or beyond?

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@benedictevans · a16z

@cmschroed It was unobvious to me that there as an opportunity to do something as discontinuous as the first iPhone (though I did immediately think it would change the world). But the industry moves so fast there are always things you didn't see coming. Generally you only understand things once they've already happened. You can see the big trends but it's the details that get you, and the details are where the money is.

Dorin Lukian

@dorinlukian · CEO, Happytrip.com

@benedictevans Can you name 3 most important things in a startup pitch? , also does it matter if the startup is in Eastern Europe

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@benedictevans · a16z

@dorinlukian Venture is a local business. We have made investments outside the USA but they're the exception. The pitch has to say what you're building, why it's a good idea and why you're the people to do it.