Ben Horowitz and Balaji Srinivasan on Netscape and Network States
About this episode
From the show’s notesCan a country be built from the internet up? Not as a metaphor or an online community, but as a system that replaces institutions we usually think of as fixed, money, law, and governance.
In this conversation taken from The Network State Podcast, a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz joins Balaji Srinivasan to explore how internet native institutions are beginning to mirror and challenge traditional state structures. Drawing parallels to China’s early special economic zones, they discuss how constrained experiments like Shenzhen tested new rules without rewriting the entire system, and why similar experimentation is now happening online.
Read the show’s notes in full
The discussion examines crypto, digital identity, and network states as attempts to turn code into coordination and coordination into legitimacy, while grappling with a core tension. Code is deterministic, but societies are not. Ben and Balaji explore where these systems work, where they break, and whether network states are a curiosity or the next phase of governance.
Resources:
Follow Ben on X: x.com/bhorowitz
Follow Balaji on X: x.com/balajis
Listen to more from The Network State: ns.com/podcast
Stay Updated:
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!
Find a16z on X: x.com/a16z
Find a16z on LinkedIn:
Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs…
