Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet

A potent exploration of the power of blockchains to reshape the future of the internet—and how that affects us all—from influential technology entrepreneur and startup investor Chris Dixon

The internet of today is a far cry from its early promise of a decentralized, democratic network of innovation, connection, and freedom. In the past decade, it has fallen under the control of a small group of powerful companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, and others. In Read Write Own, tech visionary Chris Dixon argues that the dream of an open network for fostering creativity and entrepreneurship doesn’t have to die. In fact, it can, and must, be saved with blockchain networks, a radical new way to design fair and freely accessible internet services that put users in charge. He distinguishes this movement, which aims to provide a solid foundation for everything from social networks and marketplaces to artificial intelligence products and immersive virtual worlds, from the cryptocurrency speculation that it is unfortunately lumped together with—a distinction he calls “the computer vs. the casino.”

          With lucid and compelling prose—and drawing from firsthand observations, mental models, and experiences from a twenty-five-year career in the software industry—Dixon shows how the internet has undergone three distinct eras, bringing us to the critical moment we’re in today. The first was the “read era,” circa the 1990s, in which early networks democratized information. In the “read-write era,” during the mid-2000s, corporate networks democratized publishing. We are now in the midst of the “read-write-own era,” sometimes called web3, in which blockchain networks have begun to democratize ownership, granting power and economic benefits to communities of users, not just corporations.

         Read Write Own is a must-read for anyone—internet users, business leaders, artists, creators, entrepreneurs, the tech-curious—who wants to understand where we’ve been and where we’re going. It provides a vision for a better internet, a clarion call for anyone looking to navigate or build the future, and a playbook for getting there.

About the Author

Chris Dixon is a general partner at the storied venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which he joined in 2013. He has invested there in Oculus (later acquired by Facebook), Coinbase, and other companies. He also placed early bets on Kickstarter, Pinterest, Stack Overflow, and Stripe, all of which have products in wide use today. Dixon founded and leads a16z crypto, a division of the firm that he has grown from $300 million in 2018 to over $7 billion of committed capital dedicated to investing in crypto and web3 technologies. In 2022, he was ranked #1 on the Forbes Midas List of the world’s best venture capital investors. Dixon has a bachelor of arts and a master’s degree in philosophy from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and has founded two startups (acquired by McAfee and eBay). He grew up in Ohio and lives in California.

Author Residence: New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA