Episode summary
Steve Case, Chair & CEO of Revolution and Co-Founder of America Online on revolutionizing the world
Alt Goes Mainstream
· · Hosts: Michael Sidgmore · Guests: Steve Case, Jean Case
Summary
Steve Case argues that the biggest opportunities in the next era of the internet will come from companies that blend technology with the real world, rather than pure software alone. He revisits AOL’s early years to show why the first wave of the internet required partnerships, policy changes, and patience: the company started when only about 3% of people were online, raised just $1 million versus a competitor’s $1 billion, and still built momentum through alliances with computer makers, media companies, and network providers.
He says the third wave of the internet is now about healthcare, food, climate, defense, and other regulated industries where adoption depends on trust, partnerships, and government engagement. That is why Revolution invests not just by stage but also by place, backing startups across the U.S. through Rise of the Rest and helping create ecosystems outside Silicon Valley. He points to companies like Clear, Tempus, Cava, Sweetgreen, DraftKings, and others as examples of businesses that combined product, partnerships, and policy tailwinds.
Case also argues that venture capital itself is changing. Investors must underwrite not just technology risk or market risk, but partner risk and policy risk too. He expects more specialization, more government involvement in innovation, and a more regionally distributed startup map over time.
Key takeaways
- Case says the first wave of the internet required policy and partnership work, not just technology, because consumers and businesses were originally restricted from using the internet.
- He argues the third wave will favor companies in healthcare, food, climate, and defense that can combine software with offline operations and regulated workflows.
- Revolution’s place-based strategy is meant to find undervalued startups outside the coasts, with Rise of the Rest now spanning 200 investments in 100 cities.
- Case says investors now need to underwrite partner risk and policy risk, not just technology and market risk.
- He expects government programs like the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act to keep shaping where innovation capital flows.
Notable quotes
“revolutions happen in more evolutionary ways and you've got to take the the long view”
“the killer app of the internet was people, you know, people interacting with each other”
“The third wave is sort of when the internet meets the real world”
“underwriting around you know market risk. Now it's increasingly underwriting around partner risk and policy risk”
How the episode opens
You've got mail. Everybody's going to eat. We're going mainream.
All my family see. See you on Main Street. We're going mainream.
From Wall Street to Melrose Avenue. We're going mainream. venture capitalists to athletes to creators to the person who's collecting trading cards main collision of culture and finance.
Welcome back to the Algo's mainstream podcast. Today's episode with an internet legend provides an illuminating window into how the past can help inform us about the future. Steve Casease is a pioneer and a visionary.
He built one of the foundational companies of the internet, AOL, that brought America and the world online. As one of America's best known and most accomplished entrepreneurs, Steve has spent the past 39 years building, investing in, and shaping business policy for many foundational companies. His entrepreneurial career began in 1985 when he co-founded America Online.
Under Steve's leadership, AOL became the world's largest and most valuable internet company. AOL was the first internet company to go public and one of the best performing stocks of the 1990s, delivering 11,616% return to shareholders. At its peak, nearly half of the internet users in the US used AOL.
Steve then built another successful company, Revolution, a Washington DC based investment firm that backs entrepreneurs at every stage of their development. Revolution Growth has invested nearly a billion dollars in growth stage companies including Sweet Grain, Tempest, Taylor, DraftKings, and Clear. Revolution Ventures has invested in almost 30 companies including Framebridge and SRS Aquam.
Revolution's Rise the Rest Seed Fund has invested in over 200 startups across 100 US cities, building critical ecosystem development for entrepreneurship across the country. Steve's passion for helping entrepreneurs has extended to the policy world. He was the founding chair of the Startup America Partnership, an effort launched at the White House in 2011 to accelerate high growth entrepreneurship around the country.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- aol history
- ai and emerging technology ecosystems
- startup investing
- internet waves and policy
- entrepreneurship ecosystems
Companies and tickers mentioned
- DKNG
- YOU
- AOL
- Revolution
- Sweetgreen
- Tempus
- Tala
- DraftKings
- CLEAR
- Framebridge
- SRS Acquiom
- Case Foundation
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Alt Goes Mainstream, this episode and its artwork belong to Michael Sidgmore. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
