Robert Smith on Unfettered Conversations with A and Z

a16z Live

• Robert's foundational experiences growing up [3:03]
• His introduction to computers, how he got an internship at Bell Labs, and what he learned there [6:38]
• Why he studied chemical engineering [13:15]
• Working at Kraft and engineering macaroni and cheese [15:08]
• Why he moved to investing [18:12]
• How he realized that it made sense to do buyouts in enterprise software [23:19]
• Creating a common playbook for running enterprise software companies [30:45]
• How does he think about retaining vs replacing founders [34:54]
• Vista's approach to evaluating talent and getting people in the right roles [37:02]
• Robert's next ambition [46:10]
• His philosophy of philanthropy [49:15]
• Why he paid off the student debt for Morehouse College Class of 2019 [1:00]

For our upcoming schedule of Clubhouse conversations, follow the a16z Club on Clubhouse or visit a16z.com/clubhouse.