a16z Podcast

a16z Podcast: Is Entrepreneurship a Universal Language?

Christopher Schroeder and Mohsen Malayeri

Posted July 2, 2015

 

In this special international edition of the a16z Podcast, Mohsen Malayeri, co-founder of Avatech — one of the more prominent startup accelerators in Iran among many (much like YCombinator in the U.S.) — talks to guest interviewer Christopher Schroeder (former entrepreneur, D.C. investor, and author of Startup Rising) about startups in Iran.

What happens when you have a “mobile-first” startup ecosystem? Is this about trying to be yet another Silicon Valley (and if so, are we just substituting a form of technocracy for theocracy)? Silicon Valley isn’t a religion, observes Malayeri, but entrepreneurship IS “a common language which has no border”.

This is the third installment in a special series on tech startups in Iran, part of a larger theme around global tech and how software — including mobile — is eating the world … and creating new opportunities within it.