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The a16z Show
The venture firm’s view of startups, AI, software, markets, company building, and the technological shifts creating new categories.
BIDCLUB DESCRIPTION
Why AI Agents Could Finally Reinvent the Credit Card
Erik TorenbergAlex RampellMax Levchin
Visa and Mastercard still impose a roughly 2.5-second transaction window, a roughly 60-year-old standard that limits room for antifraud and payment innovation even as agents could reopen the interface.Affirm shows where the economics are strongest: Beautylish installments lifted conversion 30%, merchants fund negative CAC, and products up to 3½ years require machine-learning underwriting, while whether consumers will delegate purchase choices remains unresolved.
“Checkout Pages Should Not Exist" - Stripe on Agentic Commerce
Stripe’s first-half signups grew 50% YoY, while the median 2026 cohort generates 50% more revenue than 2025’s and its new SaaS-platform cohort is 103% larger.Stripe Minions produce 7,000 weekly one-shot PRs, KAI lifted seller productivity 20%, and Machine Payments Protocol, Link Agent Wallet, and Tempo offer potential catalysts as agentic commerce adoption and execution remain unproven.