Episode

Why This Isn't the Dot-Com Bubble | Martin Casado on WSJ's BOLD NAMES

Podcast
AI + a16z
Published
Feb 3, 2026
Duration seconds
1769
Processing state
not_requested
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https://ai-a16z.simplecast.com/episodes/why-this-isnt-the-dot-com-bubble-martin-casado-on-wsjs-bold-names-u9crQXPt
Audio
https://mgln.ai/e/1344/afp-848985-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/112866f3-1a50-4a8d-b12e-850b73e71b33/episodes/b017fabc-401a-4ff5-8cf3-61ea7570b6ad/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=112866f3-1a50-4a8d-b12e-850b73e71b33&awEpisodeId=b017fabc-401a-4ff5-8cf3-61ea7570b6ad&feed=Hb_IuXOo
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/ai-a16z-6874937/episodes/why-this-isn-t-the-dot-com-bubble-martin-casado-on-wsj-s-bold-names
Markdown
/podcast/ai-a16z-6874937/why-this-isn-t-the-dot-com-bubble-martin-casado-on-wsj-s-bold-names.md

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Summary

Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins of the Wall Street Journal sit down with a16z General Partner Martin Casado on WSJ’s Bold Names to ask whether the AI spending boom is a bubble waiting to burst. Martin explains why the fundamentals differ dramatically from the dot-com era—when WorldCom had $40 billion in debt versus today's tech giants with hundreds of billions on their balance sheets—and why a speculative valuation correction shouldn't be confused with systemic collapse. They also discuss where a16z sees opportunity in the "long tail" of AI companies beyond the state-of-the-art large language models.