Jan 2, 2019 · 35m · a16z
a16z Podcast | Software and Overcoming the Randomness of Birthplace
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of the a16z podcast, Teleport co-founder and CEO Sten Tamkivi joins host Michael Copeland to discuss distributed workforce strategies, digital arbitrage, and how software tools help global talent overcome geographic constraints.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The host as informed peer 2.6 Guest teaching 4.0 Guest disagreement 1.6 The host pushing back 1.4
speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 11:00 Rejecting 50 Silicon Valleys replications
Sten declares he is violently against depicting global hubs as 50 Silicon Valleys, calling it a crucial mistake by foreign governments attempting to copy SV rather than differentiate 10x.
Hardest push from the host ▶ 12:01 Challenging guest's rejection of Andreessen thesisCopeland presses back when Sten rejects the 50 Silicon Valleys concept, forcing Sten to clarify that he opposes the labeling rather than the underlying concept of regional innovation.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 33:43 Probability analysis on birthplace randomnessSten delivers a compelling statistical breakdown showing a 92 percent likelihood that a person is born in an environment with political, financial, or safety restrictions.
The host holds their own ▶ 9:54 Citing Marc Andreessen's geographic innovation thesisCopeland demonstrates deep familiarity with firm thought leadership by citing Marc Andreessen's writing on regional innovation hubs to frame the debate.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The host as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The host pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reassessing Silicon Valley's Dominance and Costs | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Copeland frames the interview around Silicon Valley bias and Sten's multi-national background. Sten offers a nuanced perspective on SV's severe cost drawbacks, noting that an Eastern European founder's SF rent equaled his mother's annual salary. | |
| Teleport's Thesis on Location Matching | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Copeland prompts Sten to explain Teleport's thesis and how Skype managed geographic distribution. Sten details Skype's early expansion across 10 offices and 16 time zones. | |
| Digital Arbitrage and the Location-Independent Worker | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Sten outlines the shift from location-bound physical labor to location-independent knowledge work. He explains how workers can perform digital arbitrage when 70 percent of life spend goes to housing and taxes. | |
| Re-evaluating Regional Tech Hubs and Special Economic Zones | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | Copeland cites Marc Andreessen's thesis on 50 Silicon Valleys, which Sten strongly rejects as bad policy. Copeland interjects to clarify whether Sten objects to the labeling or the underlying concept. | |
| Managing Teleport's Distributed Remote Team | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Copeland asks about managing Teleport's far-flung remote team. Sten details how nine employees operate across six countries ranging from Ukraine to the Galapagos Islands. | |
| Principles for Distributed Work and Global Talent Access | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | Sten lays out a three-part framework for remote team work derived from open source culture. He refutes cost objections by citing Paul Graham's observation that 95 percent of top tech talent lives outside Silicon Valley. | |
| Video Chat Etiquette and Ambient Communication Tools | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Copeland asks about video call friction and etiquette. Sten shares tips on hardware and introduces ambient communication tools like virtual office portals. | |
| Location Mobility Beyond Tech and Teleport's Bay Area App | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Copeland asks whether location mobility applies beyond software developers. Sten provides examples from film production to field engineers, then explains Teleport's Bay Area commute optimization app. | |
| Teleport Products: Startup Cities and Flock | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Sten describes expanding Teleport to global products like Startup Cities and Teleport Flock. He explains how Flock optimizes meetup locations for distributed teams across multiple variables. | |
| Overcoming the Randomness of Birthplace | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Copeland asks a concluding question about what place means in modern work. Sten presents migration statistics and a calculation showing a 92 percent chance of being born into a non-optimal environment. |
Statements from this episode (13)
250,000 people attempt to move to the San Francisco Bay Area annually
“The Bay Area itself is like seven million people, and a quarter of a million people try to enter it every year.”
Moving to Silicon Valley without connections wastes unfunded founders' resources
“If you are a unfunded founder with no valid ties and you just land in SFO with an intent to build a successful business, this is probably one of the most extensive places where you can spend your resources just to network a bit and get to know people because n…”
Moving to Silicon Valley is no longer a binary decision for startups
“Or what my thesis is that it's not a binary answer anymore. It's not like, should you move to the Valley or not? It's like, okay, you're in software business. When and how and how often should you spend time in the Valley? And what are the other places where y…”
Skype had 10 offices across 16 time zones at just 200 employees
“So by the time we got to 200 people, we had 10 offices across 16 time zones.”
Startups in doubt about location should establish themselves closest to their users
“This is, I think, a universal advice is that If startup has doubts about where to locate themselves is probably closest to the users is not the worst bet.”
Housing and taxes consume 70% of an average person's lifetime income
“For a normal person who is just doing what they do every day and not doing a spectacular one-time financial event about 70% of their money that they see in their lifetime goes to just two things. It's primary residence and taxes.”
VR telepresence will eventually render physical co-location unnecessary
“Before Oculus kicks in with proper telepresence, like it will take some time, but we'll get there.”
Regional tech hubs cannot beat Silicon Valley by simply copying it
“As any startup, in order to win the incumbents needs to be 10 X better than that incumbent. It's impossible to be another Silicon Valley and be 10 X better than the Silicon Valley that already exists.”
Mountain View is poorly suited for heavily regulated frontier tech startups
“Like if you wanted to build a company that operates drones and trades in Bitcoin while doing that and maybe layer something, I don't know, stem cells into that mixer or something, it's very unlikely that you should create that company in Mountain View.”
Remote team relationships must be built face-to-face before going virtual
“That's, I think that's a learning that we got from Skype, is that you can build human relationships face-to-face, and then you can maintain them over video calls. And when you're booting up a new team, you have to ensure that there is enough of that face-to-fa…”
Remote engineering salary savings easily cover travel costs for team retreats
“But in, in my experience, the Competition on tech talent and the top engineers in the world in Silicon Valley has grown to a point where that if you hire a person outside here, like you go to even Portland or Seattle or Vancouver, or even London or Tokyo, whic…”
No more than 5% of the world's top tech talent is in Silicon Valley
“That's, yeah. That's a recent pointer was Paul Graham wrote a great essay on this topic, is that reminding the American public and the tech scene that if you look at the statistics, if you look at the probability or the distribution of the top tech talent in t…”