Katherine Boyle on Shawn Ryan
Venture capital has powered companies like Facebook and TikTok—but what if that same urgency fueled America’s defense and industrial base? Katherine Boyle, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and cofounder of the firm’s American Dynamism practice, argues this is the biggest business opportunity of our time.
In this conversation from The Shawn Ryan Show, Boyle discusses the rise of defense tech startups, why optimism drives her work, and how a new generation of engineers and founders is rethinking innovation and patriotism in America.
Timecodes:
0:00 Introduction
0:41 Patriotism, Optimism, and American Innovation
4:27 Startups vs. Legacy Primes in Defense
10:08 Venture Capital’s Unique Incentives
17:21 Katherine’s Backstory: Family & Upbringing
21:07 The Decline of Community & Family Pillars
23:23 Polarization, Religion, and Social Fabric
26:16 America’s Birth Rate Crisis
29:46 Cultural Shifts and the Family Structure
42:01 Katherine’s Path: Journalism to Venture Capital
1:06:06 Breaking into Silicon Valley
1:18:06 Investing in Defense: The Anduril Story
1:37:37 The American Dynamism Movement
2:04:27 Manufacturing, Space, and the Future of Defense
2:14:06 Espionage, China, and National Security
2:37:38 The Attack on the American Family
2:48:29 Cultural Change, Suffering, and Purpose
2:55:30 Closing Thoughts
Resources:
Find Katherine on X: https://x.com/KTmBoyle
Shawn Ryan Show Links
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkoujZQZatbqy4KGcgjpVxQ/join
Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shawn-ryan-show/id1492492083
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5eodRZd3qR9VT1ip1wI7xQ?si=7abec4d61c324b24
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a16z Podcast
The a16z Podcast discusses tech and culture trends, news, and the future – especially as ‘software eats the world’. It features industry experts, business leaders, and other interesting thinkers and voices from around the world. This podcast is produced by Andreessen Horowitz (aka “a16z”), a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. Multiple episodes are released every week; visit a16z.com for more details and to sign up for our newsletters and other content as well!
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- Siste episode: 2025-09-06
- Teknologi Virksomhet Entrepreneurship
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