a16z & friends present: Second Order

​SECOND ORDER

​// the interesting part is what happens next

​An intimate, invite-only dinner co-hosted by Ahoy.ai and a16z on April 14th at 18:30 at a fabulous restaurant in SF - founders and operators take a belief about technology or markets and follow the chain of consequences until something surprising falls out.

​Most conversations about technology or markets stop at the headline. This one starts there.

​We will explore past the obvious implication, into the second and third consequences that actually change things. A few speakers share something they’d genuinely bet on. The room tears it apart, builds on it, or takes it somewhere new.

​How it works
01: A speaker states a core belief about technology or markets. Something they'd actually bet on, not something safe.

​02: They walk the chain: here's what happens first, and here's what that leads to.

​03: The floor opens. You can challenge the belief, challenge the logic, or take the chain further. Whatever direction is most interesting.

​To give you a sense of it
Someone believes LLMs will be 10x more capable within 18 months. Fine. But follow that through: software engineering as a career starts to hollow out, large orgs accelerate layoffs, and suddenly you've got hundreds of thousands of technically literate people who need to figure out what's next. A lot of them start companies. Startup formation spikes. The founder profile that VCs have optimised for stops making sense. That's the kind of conversation we're trying to have.

​Everyone participates.

​There's no audience here. If you're in the room, you're expected to have a view and share it. Half-formed ideas are fine, contrarian takes are welcome, and you won't be judged for changing your mind mid-conversation. That's kind of the point.

​This runs under the Chatham House Rule. Nothing that's said gets attributed publicly. Say what you actually think.