French founders are now building some of the world’s largest companies. 🇫🇷✨

@roxannevarza from @joinstationf, @an21m founder of @amoamoamo, and a16z's @kirbyman01 discuss the infrastructure, community, and government support driving France’s startup boom 👇 

Check out the full episode of the a16z podcast on "The Olympics of Talent: France's Tech Boom," wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/DedIp__Q 

The Rise of French Tech

🚨 Our latest fintech newsletter is out: https://a16z.com/2023/05/31/generative-ai-is-coming-for-insurance-may-2023-fintech-newsletter

In this month’s issue:

⏺ @joeschmidtiv shares why Generative AI is coming for insurance

⏺ @sumeet724 lays out the opportunities and risks with third-party payment links

⏺ @seema_amble discusses Visa+, interoperability, and creating clearinghouses for new payment methods.

To get these updates delivered to your inbox every month, sign up here: https://info.a16z.com/newsletters-fintech.html

May 2023 Fintech Newsletter | a16z

Our AI Canon includes a curated list of articles, ranging from beginner-level to deeply technical.

We think @karpathy @stephen_wolfram @dalequark @mccrmx offer some of the best introductions out there:

For more, check out our AI Canon: https://a16z.com/2023/05/25/ai-canon/

Top AI Introductions by Industry Experts

Research in artificial intelligence is increasing at an exponential rate. Even experts struggle to keep up with everything new.

So we've curated a list of 3rd-party resources we’ve relied on to get smarter about modern AI, that we're calling "AI Canon." 👇https://a16z.com/2023/05/25/ai-canon/

We will update it on an ongoing basis.

AI Canon has something for everyone. From a "gentle introduction" to get anyone up to speed on the most important parts of modern AI, to technical learning resources and practical guides to building with large language models (LLMs).

Plus, a reference list of landmark research results, starting with “Attention is All You Need” — the 2017 paper by Google that introduced the world to transformer models and ushered in the age of generative AI.

Also, see market analysis, including from a16z's @BornsteinMatt @appenz @martin_casado @JackSoslow @zebird0 @JoshLu @zeyalater @kshenster @astrange @illscience @sumeet724 @arampell @mandrusko1 @joeschmidtiv @dhaber @seema_amble @conniechan @venturetwins @vijaypande @JayRughani

This is one you may want to bookmark 💡https://a16z.com/2023/05/25/ai-canon/

AI Canon: A Curated List of Resources for Modern AI

Noninflationary acquisition channels only address the most obvious challenge for most fintech companies—growth—but ignore a key factor: differentiation. 👇

Absent sustainable differentiation, even the most attractive channels (inefficient or budgeted) someday tap out, and Hell’s Flywheel starts spinning anew. https://a16z.com/2022/11/10/escaping-hells-flywheel-building-non-inflationary-distribution-channels/

.@joeschmidtiv on the sustainable differentiation that results in a compounding flywheel, with a focus on financial services companies that sell commodity-like, nonphysical world products such as money, insurance, lending, or equity capital: https://a16z.com/2023/05/18/identifying-your-durable-advantage-in-fintech/

Bat Out of Hell: Identifying Your Durable Advantage in Fintech

We formalized our American Dynamism practice a little more than a year ago, to galvanize support for solving our country’s most vexing challenges with an entrepreneurial and technology-first approach.

We’ve been blown away at how this movement has captured the minds of entrepreneurs, policymakers, and investors across the country and throughout the world.

So first, thank you.

While we’ve long invested in companies solving hard problems, we want to make clear — now more than ever — that Dynamism is more than a movement for us.

With this in mind, today we’re proud to share that we’re dedicating $500 million toward the early stage companies building for American Dynamism.

We’re eager to make bold bets on bold entrepreneurs at all stages of the building process.

It’s Time to Build For America | a16z

Startups are facing a radically new market environment. To successfully execute a fundraise, founders will require a different mindset, approach, preparation, and process.

@manascripts, @jaytoj, @melissawasser and Peter Blackwood offer their advice: https://a16z.com/2023/05/02/the-16-commandments-of-raising-equity-in-a-challenging-market/

Historically, merchants in high-risk industries have had few options for payments, which tend to provide clunky experiences, limited capabilities, and high take rates.

@sumeet724 and @seema_amble on the clear opportunity for new providers: https://a16z.com/2023/05/01/building-better-payments-platforms-for-high-risk-industries/

If business partnerships are a high-stakes form of matchmaking, the pairing of Lyft and Holman was a bit of an odd-couple proposition at the start.

2 key players in the strategic business partnership tell the story behind their eventual success: https://a16z.com/2023/04/27/both-sides-of-the-partnership-lyft-holman/


The way we shop is changing, and fast.

Today, much of the Western world relies on searching for the items they want to buy.

But what about the products that you’re not looking for, asks @conniechan?

"Discovery" of new products—and how it will lead to more conversions and fewer returns—is the future of commerce, @conniechan says.

Here's how it all works: https://a16z.com/2023/03/23/the-future-of-ecommerce/

And check out @conniechan's video explaining the future of ecommerce, on a16z's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S230jl3HiEM