with @aeyakovenko @alive_eth
Today’s episode features Solana cofounder Anatoly Yakovenko in conversation with a16z General Partner Ali Yahya, recorded live at our CSX Crypto Startup Accelerator program earlier this year.
Anatoly shares the origin story of Solana — from a late-night eureka moment to thousands of investor meetings and several near-death startup experiences. He talks about what it took to get the network off the ground, how his engineering background at Qualcomm shaped its design, and why a need for speed gave Solana its edge.
They also get into developer culture, engineering trade-offs, and what differentiates Solana’s approach to building — including its willingness to ship, iterate, and rethink everything: including, most recently, its consensus algorithm.
Timestamps:
(0:00) Introduction
(2:54) Early Career and Move to SF
(3:57) Discovering Crypto and Solana's Beginnings
(8:28) Challenges and Fundraising
(12:12) Building Solana and Overcoming Obstacles
(13:41) Solana's Vision and Market Strategy
(17:23) Navigating Crises and Team Resilience
(22:37) Solana's Unique Approach and Future Plans
(24:57) Solana's Unique Approach to Software Development
(26:35) Redesigning Solana: Lessons Learned
(30:22) The Importance of Hackathons and Community
(32:32) Technical Choices and Implications
(34:16) Prioritizing User Experience Over Developer Comfort
(36:40) Competitive Landscape of Layer 1 Chains
(38:49) Building a Loyal Developer Community
(42:36) Future of Blockchains and Solana's Vision
(47:29) Long-Term View and Goals
As a reminder, none of the content should be taken as investment, business, legal, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.