Marc Andreessen on Building Netscape & the Birth of the Browser

"We decided to design for the future." - Marc Andreessen | Welcome back to "The Ben & Marc Show," featuring a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. In this special episode, Marc and Ben dive deep into the REAL story behind the creation of Netscape-a web browser co-created by Marc that revolutionized the internet and changed the world.
As Ben notes at the top, until today, this story has never been fully told either in its entirety or accurately.
In this one-on-one conversation, Marc and Ben discuss Marc's early life and how it shaped his journey into technology, the pivotal moments at the University of Illinois that led to the development of Mosaic (a renegade browser that Marc developed as an undergrad), and the fierce competition and legal battles that ensued as Netscape rose to prominence.
Ben and Marc also reflect on the broader implications of Netscape's success, the importance of an open internet, and the lessons learned that still resonate in today's tech landscape (especially with AI). That and much more. Enjoy!
Topics covered:
00:00:00 Teaser
00:00:30 Intro
00:02:09 Disclaimers
00:04:08 Marc's early life and education
00:08:18 Early exposure to personal computers and BBSs
00:13:44 University of Illinois
00:16:21 Credit to Al Gore
00:18:09 "The internet would never be a business."
00:22:02 Interactive television / Reed Hastings' vision for Netflix
00:25:16 Early internet usage and community
00:29:13 Paul Baran
00:33:46 Consumer online services in the early 90s
00:39:15 NCSA
00:49:27 Development of Mosaic / Design philosophy
00:58:20 Opposition in the internet community
01:01:04 Going rogue and building Mosaic
01:05:06 Marc becomes customer support for the entire internet
01:08:26 Media and press reaction to Mosaic
01:14:46 The ping pong effect / Key moments for the Internet
01:19:27 First E-commerce site
01:22:06 Graduation from UIUC
01:25:39 Jim Clark / Decision to build an internet browser
01:34:30 Marc on expert predictions
01:38:43 Building Mosaic / Conflict w/ Spyglass
01:44:05 Lawsuit against the University of Illinois
01:49:34 Parallels to modern AI discussions
01:51:40 The end of Spyglass ("A happy ending")
01:54:40 Sign off
#internet #podcast #history #tech #technology #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #vc #founder #ai #artificialintelligence #business #vr #starwars #netflix #computer #netscape #marcandreessen #benhorowitz
Book mentioned on this episode:
- “Expert Political Judgment” by Philip E. Tetlock bit.ly/45KzP6M
TV Series mentioned on this episode:
- “The Mandalorian” (Disney+) bit.ly/3W0Zyoq
Listen to Us!
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Resources:
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Marc’s Substack: pmarca.substac...
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[@travisratnam2095]

Marc’s story is particularly inspiring and deserves a biopic! His story has a happy ending and it’s not yet over!

[@tim-finnigan]

Great episode! Please do a part 2 to cover Netscape

[@CharlesLindsay1]

Yes, Please tell your Netscape story! Then LoudCloud, too!

[@kboyle1127]

Amazing story! Please do another episode on the Netscape story that Ben teased at the end.

[@DanielleNewnham]

Amazing to hear the incredible startup story of Netscape... and from the man himself!

[@faneaziz1872]

Guys I miss you so much. I'm so happy today can't wait to listen to the content

[@faneaziz1872]

Also I think this so great to discuss Netscape as personal ai agent will give rise to the network agents. Thank you much

[@larrylozon]

Great walk back to those days Marc. I still remember advance teams at EDS running us through our first Mosaic experience. Definitely much more pleasing than a Lynx browser but confused the hell out of the other side of the group attempting to pitch AOL an outsourcing deal. Then you and JC making the connection that made it all so, changing the course of tech at the crucial point in which the core components to drive mass adoption were laid in place. The first meeting with Mosaic Communications days after you moved into the first office on the 6th floor of a building in downtown Mountain View. You and Ben are now practically obliged to tell part 2. Preparing the popcorn now.

[@michelsonthe9th]

Marc deserves a Nobel. The interconnection of humans via internet is one of the best things that happened to us in the last century.

[@jonotaylor5011]

Really good to hear the early 90s stuff back again. I remember being the first kid at school with Mosaic on my PC!

[@jtildetaamand]

This story should be turned into a series for streaming.

[@pelangos]

The show has been popping off lately!

[@agrove1]

It's incredible that this is free

[@cotedazure]

Definitely want the Netscape story!! The full story, pretty please!

[@rockaroundtheweb]

Fascinating podcast, from start to finish. Yes, as others have urged, please do a Netscape followup.

[@gschifini]

Part 2 please Netscape. I remember buying a disk from JR in New York with the Netscape software. I have always been just a dopy user. About a week later I found out you could just download it for free.

[@GianGiovanii]

Historical insights, quite literally. Love it. I wish the sound could be better.

[@damirbabacic1113]

Looking forward to Pt.2 on Netscape!

[@tast4527]

Absolutely want to hear the Netscape story!

[@jbrownson]

awesome story, thanks for documenting it, one vote for a Netscape part 2

[@dmiltenberger]

Amazing episode! Would love to hear the story about Netscape!!!

[@MindFieldMusic]

Yes please re Netscape story too:)

[@BauldyBoys]

Would love to hear more stories from Marc. If the editor could also pull up some additional media that would be a nice touch. News paper articles, old photos of Marc etc.

[@ama4617]

Please do a second part, It will be awsome to know more about ben and marc professional relathionship in those days.

[@onetwokaafour]

This was great! We want Netscape story

[@amishthaker7270]

This episode is amazing. Give perspective to how things have changed over the last 30 years. When a guy like Marc from a town of 1309 people can create the internet (read browser), it gives motivation that we can make it big too.

[@kabayobill4055]

we need part 2 Netscape story competitiing with microsoft

[@sanejbandgar2733]

This was gold ❤kind of National Geographic or history channel episode of computing

[@BlizzardzRS]

Would love to hear the Netscape story.

[@rubic0n2008]

MS and Netscape story! Lets goooooo

[@donaldgriffin6383]

Give us the Netscape story!!! Great episode

[@VincentFulco]

Really enjoyable episodes. Always some food for thought. Kudos!

[@WhitneyDB]

💯 DEFINITELY would listen and "like" the Netscape story... And Ben's first Rap concert (purposefully not using the term hip-hop 😆)

[@arnoldsk]

I started my Web business in April of 1994, so I remember all of this. Two points. First, AOL did not give Web access to its users until *August 1995* which was killing me. Plus that was when Windows 95 finally came out, the first version that had native Internet protocols installed. Second, the triumph of the Internet architecture was predicted by Hal Varian (later chief economist at Google) in a working paper where he and his co-author saw that packet-switching costs were going down because of Moore's Law, but circuit switching did not benefit nearly as much. So it was just a matter of time before all the existing closed networks all failed. Finally, if you go on to talk about Netscape, you'll have to get into what a crappy server you guys produced.

[@CharlesLindsay1]

The web server got better! Pretty quickly, too. By some measure that software addressed the fastest changing industry up to that time (certainly, if you exclude world war time industrial development)

[@nbme-answers]

University of Illinois's finest !

[@nooz1394]

That was such a let down when I realized you're not gonna tell netscape story. You have to do part 2 I'm begging you.

[@amishthaker7270]

Definitely want to hear the netscape story.

[@pebre79]

Yes. Keep going!

[@user-ny4og5ce3f]

I'm only 2/3rds through this, but I need a miniseries. This is an incredible life story.

[@mikestaub]

Thanks for sharing! It was fun to browse the code on github while listening.

[@mikestaub]

Thanks for sharing! It was fun to browse the code on while listening

[@joelalain]

i've been looking yearly on amazon for a biography of Marc Andreessen and i'm always sad that he doesn't have one. all interesting and's / or successful people should have one so we can learn their story and be inspired by it. please marc, if you read comments, have someone write your biography.

[@stanleyjohn1103]

Loved it Marc, elucidated that part of web history so well !!!

[@kakaocorporation]

Netscape story would be great Ben. Thank you Marc for the climax with Microsoft.

[@Warley.Araujo]

Great Interview!!

[@RedshortsAllDay]

Redshorts represents Crypto. That’s my elevator pitch, 100% owner and not in dept. Nice to meet you!

[@paramendra]

I remember using Netscape! :)

[@VincentFulco]

That's the joke of all these 'xyz people who code' groups. Technology has no barriers to entry and is the great equalizer. No one is being discriminated against. Web info is free, PCs cost almost nothing, YT and twitch distribution is free. All it takes is an insane amount of focus and will/desire to do hard work.

[@dvcoolster]

Thanks guys for sharing this, I desperately have been looking for this story for 15 years. I am a serial entrepreneur from India, drinking the silicon valley cool aid ever since Mark Zuckerberg rejected the $B acquisition by Yahoo in 2007. Would really want to learn from fighting Microsoft as a startup and the early IPO etc. Please please share!

[@jaientenduunevoix726]

Everyone should learn and be inspired by your story

[@bwhit7919]

The University of Illinois system has $3 billion in endowment. They could have doubled that if they settled with Netscape. Crazy.

[@awesomederekbai8]

Marc you should totally write a book, this is history here

[@marctwashere3653]

Please more like this. It was so good to listen to

[@denysholovatyi3149]

this was fantastic, and yes we need to hear more about Netscape

[@romiljain2092]

WE WANT TO HEAR THE NETSCAPE STORY!

[@superresistant0]

amazing

[@JCGaal]

that Nick Land Hyperstition reference being at the center of Marc's work is priceless

[@camilordofficial]

That was greatttttt

[@brianholmes6445]

Really enjoyed all of this! Would love to hear the Netscape story.

[@larryvelezbx]

Great episode, great history! Was Bezos aware of the little bookstore that was doing e-commerce when he started Amazon?

[@elliptictree]

Interesting!.

[@boypotus]

I learn so much from these guys it’s unbelievable 💸

[@timtunnel1996]

Marc... You should invite Dr Jim Clarke in your podcast

[@trumpyla]

🔥

[@christianjon8064]

cool story bro

[@lutjenlee]

netscape story please!!!

[@qustosh]

Give us the netscape story!!!!

[@briantheoakbrookpicker578]

Shout out to all of the 1989 Snyder Hall guys at U of I - wild story re the actions by the University - they messed up big time - congrats to Marc for all of his success

[@michaelmeram6156]

Sup Marc and Ben

[@HamounKarami-xe5zv]

This episode should have been called "Corn, Cows and Computers"

[@swhanel]

Netscape Everywhere Team, Fight!

[@eugeniocg3079]

epic

[@madmonkrx7]

The urge to be first…

[@yeabsirasefr6209]

marc really likes saying "uh, you know" LOL

[@TuitionNearMe]

🙏

[@One00042]

1:05:10 ?

[@One00042]

👍🏿

[@issoof6322]

MoMa museum was founded by John D. Rockefeller Jr Wife Roosevelt Sr. Founded The American Natural History Museum

[@usman_gondal_youtube]

oh look, its pmarca

[@mrjaysahli]

It's what you don't call Netscape anymore, after Bill Gates squashed it, and AOL bailed them out...😅

[@question_asker_93]

The "experts are wrong" reminds me of near universal dismissal of crypto....and yet I'm still largely dismissive of crypto. Guess we'll see in time real use cases

[@OnionKnight541]

to the first point about founders and silver spoons, this is something that bothers me. i haven't yet read or heard of a founder that didn't have good parents (at least one). many founders had the money and stability and connections that come with that, too. but can anyone find a successful american founder who did not have a good parent or mentor?

[@testing-vj2ke]

Nature varies and selects.

[@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384]

shh dont speak the truth bro..

[@simonnilsson5356]

It’s literally the opposite and that’s their point. Remember this is tech, there are many other industries. Marc didn’t have a silver spoon for example.

[@lucianoferreyra7744]

I encourage you to keep reading, there are so many… from Rockefeller to Larry Ellison, and many more

[@ty2k]

Visibly evil guy but I like Firefox so I'll watch this some time

[@Eggs-n-Jakey]

I am convinced that half of the comments are from bots/ai, I know that sounds crazy...but why does it sound crazy? Great episode lol

[@vvee4725]

Can I just say, Emerald mines, or gem mines in general, are absolutely horrible businesses. If you look at how they operate it's terrible business to be in.

[@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384]

on paper yes... but in the black market.. they make you millions...

[@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384]

sorry but elon's father literally owned an emerald mine... like there is literal proof?

[@Eggs-n-Jakey]

Link the proof so we can debate it

[@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384]

@@Eggs-n-Jakey JC: How do you handle fear? EM: Company death - not succeeding with the company - causes me a lot more stress than physical danger. But I’ve been in physical danger before. The funny thing is I’ve not actually been that nervous. In South Africa, my father had a private plane we’d fly in incredibly dangerous weather and barely make it back. This is going to sound slightly crazy, but my father also had a share in an Emerald mine in Zambia. I was 15 and really wanted to go with him but didn’t realize how dangerous it was. I couldn’t find my passport so I ended up grabbing my brother’s - which turned out to be six months overdue! So we had this planeload of contraband and an overdue passport from another person. There were AK-47s all over the place and I’m thinking, “Man, this could really go bad.”

[@Eggs-n-Jakey]

​@@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384 who is JC? jesus? do you have a link?

[@Eggs-n-Jakey]

@@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384 that's not a link that's copy/pasta from some resource

[@dubnet69]

Take care Tiff. I could swear you were giving out financial advice/opinions... Some might even go so far as to think you may have a pretty blatant conflict of interest... Just saying - with a pinch of cringe...

[@TerryKinder]

Marc begins with the Joe Biden defense…

[@megatronmegatron5988]

I want to hear the the part 2 of the Netscape story from Marc's point of view. I've already heard from all the key devs at Netscape.