Listen ⚡️ The Dot-Com Boom and Bust with Guests Marc Andreessen and Tim Draper

 

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE

The media is filled with experts comparing today’s market with the dot-com crash of 2000. But few, if any, of these experts actually lived and worked through the dot-com boom and bust.

Marc Andreessen is Founder and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and Tim Draper is Founder and Managing Director at Draper VC. And both Marc and Tim were either running or investing in tech startups at the time. So, what was it like to experience the dot-com crash? What did Marc and Tim learn that might give us clarity around how to navigate an uncertain economic future?

On this episode of Boost VC, Marc and Tim join us to explore the likelihood that we’re headed into a recession and explain what they’re encouraging founders to do right now. Marc and Tim discuss the mistakes they made in the early 2000s and describe why a downturn can be good for the best companies.

Listen in for insight on retaining employees in a remote or hybrid setting and get Marc and Tim’s advice on contingency planning to survive an economic crisis—without losing your business. 

Topics Covered

Where Marc and Tim go for their media

  • Timeless source of info = books prior to 1960

  • Direct conversations with founders

  • Science fiction to predict future

What Marc was doing in the early 2000s

  • Launch Netscape in 1999 at high point in market

  • Lifting weights to burn off stress

What Tim was doing in the early 2000s

  • Just raised $1.4B to bring VC to world

  • Hosted party ‘2001 Cyberspace Odyssey’

What it takes to be a successful entrepreneur

  • Smart, open to new ideas and determined

  • Social skills to build team, raise money, etc.

  • Disagreeable (think against the grain)

The likelihood that we’re headed into a recession

  • Good people laid off start own businesses

  • Economy too complex to predict future 

What a16z is encouraging founders to do right now

  • Think in terms of scenarios and contingencies

  • Consider specific circumstances of your company

  • Cut deep enough that only do layoffs once 

Tim's experience as an investor in the dot-com crash

  • Reactive approach, scrambled to raise money

  • Lost 4 businesses with $100M in revenues

The difference between the dot-com crash and 2008

  • 2000 was equity-driven, credit crisis in 2008

  • Tech companies don’t run on debt

What Marc did right and wrong in the dot-com crash

  • Underestimated how bad things could get

  • IPO saved company from bankruptcy

 Why a downturn can be good for the best companies

  • Eliminates competition

  • Easier to recruit, gain market share

How to retain employees in a hybrid/remote setting

  • Create intense social bonding experiences

  • Management training, employee development

How tech innovation is flowing out of the Bay Area

  • COVID as catalyst, other cities rise in importance

  • Texas and Florida are attracting entrepreneurs

How governments are in competition for entrepreneurs

  • Regulations push businesses out

  • US can remain #1 if allow startups to innovate

Marc and Tim’s greatest qualities + accomplishments

  • Tim fearless in engaging with boldest ideas

  • Marc transformed the VC business

 

Connect with Marc

Connect with Tim

 Resources Mentioned

Connect with Boost VC

Adam Draper

Managing Director at @BoostVC // Seed investor in @Coinbase, @Amplitude_HQ, @Benchling, Wave Mobile Money // Board Member of @Skybound I like comic books. #Bitcoin

 
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