The Anti-a16z? Vijay Pande’s Bet on a Tiny, AI-Native VC Firm

In this episode, Connie is joined by Vijay Pande, co-founder of VZ and former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to discuss why he believes AI is poised to transform healthcare and create a new generation of trillion-dollar companies. Pande explains how AI could improve drug discovery and clinical trials, why better data could move medicine beyond unreliable animal models, and how technology is giving patients more agency over their own health. The two also discuss Pande’s decision to leave a16z and build a small, AI-native venture firm, why VZ plans to make only a handful of highly concentrated investments, and how AI is changing what early traction means for startups. Plus, Pande shares what he learned from more than a decade investing at the intersection of technology and biology, why go-to-market matters as much as groundbreaking science, and where he thinks the hype around AI curing disease gets ahead of reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices