Katherine Boyle on Shawn Ryan

a16z Podcast

Venture capital has powered companies like Facebook and TikTok—but what if that same urgency fueled America’s defense and industrial base? Katherine Boyle, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and cofounder of the firm’s American Dynamism practice, argues this is the biggest business opportunity of our time.

In this conversation from The Shawn Ryan Show, Boyle discusses the rise of defense tech startups, why optimism drives her work, and how a new generation of engineers and founders is rethinking innovation and patriotism in America.

Timecodes:

0:00 Introduction

0:41 Patriotism, Optimism, and American Innovation

4:27 Startups vs. Legacy Primes in Defense

10:08 Venture Capital’s Unique Incentives

17:21 Katherine’s Backstory: Family & Upbringing

21:07 The Decline of Community & Family Pillars

23:23 Polarization, Religion, and Social Fabric

26:16 America’s Birth Rate Crisis

29:46 Cultural Shifts and the Family Structure

42:01 Katherine’s Path: Journalism to Venture Capital

1:06:06 Breaking into Silicon Valley

1:18:06 Investing in Defense: The Anduril Story

1:37:37 The American Dynamism Movement

2:04:27 Manufacturing, Space, and the Future of Defense

2:14:06 Espionage, China, and National Security

2:37:38 The Attack on the American Family

2:48:29 Cultural Change, Suffering, and Purpose

2:55:30 Closing Thoughts

Resources:

Find Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle

Shawn Ryan Show Links

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkoujZQZatbqy4KGcgjpVxQ/join

Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shawn-ryan-show/id1492492083

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5eodRZd3qR9VT1ip1wI7xQ?si=7abec4d61c324b24

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