Podcast

The Art of the Regulatory Hack

Andreessen Horowitz · a16z Podcast Free Intermediate

A tighter, spoken version of Burfield's thinking, useful if you want the core ideas in an hour instead of a full book. It walks through power mapping and how a regulatory approach can create a market rather than just enter one, using Tesla as the worked example. Good listening while you decide whether your sector's change is worth chasing.

  • A regulatory strategy can create a new market, not just unlock an existing one.
  • Power mapping shows you who can help or block your entry.
  • Talking to regulators is part of the product, not an afterthought.
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The question it answers

  1. A regulation or policy just changed in my sector. How do I read it as an opportunity instead of just a headache?

Read with it

  1. A YC partner turns 'how do I get an idea' into a concrete checklist you can run today, plus the traps (tarpit ideas) that sink... YC Startup Library Video · ~50 min How to Get and Evaluate Startup Ideas Jared Friedman (Y Combinator)
  2. Entering an unfamiliar industry means you cannot see the walls and dead ends that veterans already know. Dixon explains that a... cdixon.org Essay · short read The Idea Maze Chris Dixon
  3. Video 2,851 Miles (regulatory capture and startups) Bill Gurley
  4. This is the closest thing to a playbook for building where government sets the rules, drawn from real cases like 23andMe,... Penguin Random House Book Regulatory Hacking: A Playbook for Startups Evan Burfield with J.D. Harrison
  5. Omojola built inside two of the most regulated spaces there are, payments (Cash App) and healthcare (Carbon Health), and here... First Round Review Article Finding Startup Ideas and Building in Heavily-Regulated Spaces Ayo Omojola (First Round Review)
  6. This is the serious study behind the buzzwords, documenting how Uber, Airbnb, and Tesla treated changing the law as part of the... Southern California Law Review Essay Regulatory Entrepreneurship Elizabeth Pollman and Jordan M. Barry
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