Marc Andreessen & Jack Altman: Venture Capital, AI, & Media

In this episode Jack Altman, CEO of Lattice and host of Uncapped, interviews Marc Andreessen on how venture capital is evolving — from small seed funds to billion-dollar barbell strategies — and why today’s most important tech companies don’t just build tools, they replace entire industries. They cover:

• The end of “picks and shovels” investing • Why missing a great company matters more than backing a bad one • The power law math behind fund size and asymmetric returns • AI as the next computing platform — and a test for Western civilization • Preference falsification, media power, and what founders can’t say out loud

This is a conversation about ambition at scale, the structure of modern venture, and the deep forces reshaping startups, innovation, and power.

Resources:

Listen to more from Uncapped: https://linktr.ee/uncappedpod

Find Jack on Xhttps://x.com/jaltma

Find Marc on X: https://x.com/pmarca

Find Uncapped on X: https://x.com/uncapped_pod

Timecodes: 00:00 What You Can’t Say

01:20 Founders, Funders, and the Future

02:00 Fund Size and Power Law Math

06:45 From Tools to Full Stack Startups

10:00 Market Sizing and Asymmetric Bets

13:00 Public Markets Mirror Venture Dynamics

17:00 The Barbell Strategy in Venture

20:00 The Conflict Dilemma in Venture

25:00 Staying in Early-Stage Venture

29:30 The Death of the Middle

32:00 Why It’s So Rare to Build a New Top VC Firm

35:00 The Case for Power in Venture

37:45 Limiting Factors for Big Companies

41:00 AI as the Next Computing Platform

45:30 Betting on Startups, Not Incumbents

48:00 How a16z Thinks About Risk

51:00 Building a Top-Tier GP Team

55:00 Taste, Timing, and Getting Into the Scene

57:00 Raising Capital Is the Easy Part

1:00:30 AI’s Existential Stakes

1:05:00 Autonomous Weapons, Ethics, and War

1:11:00 Tech, Government, and Power

1:13:00 Media, Mistrust, and Narrative Collapse

1:24:00 Preference Falsification and Cultural Cascades

1:32:00 The Thought Experiment

1:33:00 Career Advice for Young Builders

1:35:00 Marc vs. the Huberman Protocol

1:39:30 What Would Prove You Right?

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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.