When Neal Stephenson coined “the metaverse” three decades ago, his book Snow Crash was found on the shelves of “science fiction”. While the book remains in that category, many of its concepts are now found in reality… Fast forward to 2022, where numerous companies are now building toward their version of the metaverse, including Neal himself – working on Lamina1 – a blockchain company oriented toward creators.  While the present metaverses don’t perfectly mimic that from Stephenson’s early imagination, we get the unique opportunity to discuss the various design decisions that he’s making, but also the intersection between the metaverse and gaming, the involvement that AR/VR might play, the evolving role of IP, how artificial intelligence fits in, what he’s building and why, and where he gets all of his ideas from. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 1:20 - Tech's highest impact position 4:35 - What is the metaverse? 6:46 - Interoperability 8:52 - Incentive alignment 13:06 - Immersion requirements 16:30 - VR engineering challenges 20:09 - Skeuomorphism 24:17 - Commercial VR/AR applications 27:26 - AI and gaming 30:51 - The value chain 38:13 - Right of refusal 42:05 - Good and bad tech 46:05 - Fighting “free” 49:16 - Building Lamina1 58:07 - Neal’s design designs 1:03:40 - Inspiration for Snow Crash 1:09:16 - Looking ahead from 2022 1:11:59 - Science fiction writing 1:13:46 - Carbon removal   Resources:  Neal’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nealstephenson Lamina1’s website: https://www.lamina1.com/   Stay Updated:  Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app:https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio 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. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Many people consider space to be the next frontier and equally an infinite horizon to explore. But the reality is that not all “space” is the same and there are strategic zones that don’t only matter up there – but down here on Earth. Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) is one of those regions – a zone filled with satellites that support life on Earth, from agriculture to climate to navigation to defense. Unfortunately, these live satellites are not alone in our space highways. LEO is getting increasingly clogged with space debris; we’re polluting our skies just like we’re polluting our land.  In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with all three cofounders of Privateer – Steve Wozniak, Alex Fielding, and Dr. Moriba Jah, as they explore just how much junk is up there, how this challenge is expected to progress with time due to lower launch costs, and ultimately, what infrastructure is missing in this fragile ecosystem – from tracking to global treaties to a sharing economy of satellites. By the end of the episode, listeners should be more equipped to understand how our infrastructure in space vastly impacts life on Earth, how the preservation of this ecosystem is crucial, and how Privateer is providing the map to better understand and fix the issue. Timestamps:  With Steve Wozniak 00:00 - Intro 3:24 - Why space and why now? 8:55 - The changing perception around space 13:29 - Exponential technologies and thinking different 16:32 - Inventors vs engineers vs visionaries 18:46 - Early days at Apple and moving towards the future 20:53 - Steve’s personal fascinations 23:58 - How vocabulary drives awareness 1:21:55 - Woz returns! With Alex Fielding and Dr. Moriba Jah 24:43 - Is space really an infinite void? 25:55 - The growing pollution in space 29:14 - The impact of space down on Earth 30:34 - The challenge of space policy and governance 38:27 - Orbital highways and carrying capacities 41:05 - Dependence on space infrastructure and its fragility 45:14 - Privateer’s role in the evolving ecosystem 46:52 - Democratizing space through data sharing 49:45 - Can we undo the damage that’s been done? 52:01 - Determining intent in space 58:17 - Talent needed in the space industry 1:01:04 - Privateer’s biggest challenges 1:09:22 - Space stewardship and Hawaii’s kuleana 1:15:19 - Who inspires Alex?   Resources:  Privateer’s website: https://mission.privateer.com/ Privateer’s Wayfinder tool: https://mission.privateer.com/ Privateer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PrivateerSpace Steve Wozniak on Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevewoz Alex Fielding on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alex__Fielding Dr. Moriba Jah on Twitter: https://twitter.com/moribajah   Stay Updated:  Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.com/podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio 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. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.