Marc Andreessen Dedicates Three Hours Daily to Podcasts and Audiobooks, Equivalent to a Full Day Each Week

To adopt a billionaire’s mindset, consider swapping TikTok scrolling for book reading. For venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, this is more than a routine—it’s his method for understanding the world and constantly refining his business perspective.

“I’ve always been this way; I read during practically every free moment I get,” Andreessen mentioned in a 2023 interview.

A 2020 report indicated the billionaire formerly set aside two hours for reading on weekdays. But since the pandemic, he has increased his consumption of information—a change enabled by what he calls “the single most significant technological advancement” in his lifetime: AirPods.

Andreessen now dedicates two to three hours daily to audiobooks, usually switching between history, biography, and topics in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence. In total, his weekly routine equates to almost a full day spent on learning.

Research indicates that information retention from audiobooks is comparable to that from traditional reading, suggesting Andreessen’s change in medium is an enhancement rather than a concession.

“When there’s nothing else happening,” Andreessen noted. “I always have something playing in my ears.”

Andreessen was not available for additional comments.

Mark Cuban and Bill Gates agree: Reading will drive you to success

Andreessen’s strategy is quite common amongst the super-rich. A study polling over 100 billionaires with a total net worth of more than $500 billion identified reading as the habit most frequently linked to sustained achievement.

Bill Gates, for instance, has been a long-time advocate of reading—he commonly gets through 50 books annually and shares his recommendations to motivate others.

“Reading stimulates a curiosity about the world, which I believe propelled my career and now informs my philanthropic work,” he stated in 2017.

Mark Cuban, formerly of Shark Tank, has also pointed to reading as an essential practice that distinguished him and guided his journey to becoming a billionaire.

“I read for over three hours nearly every day,” Cuban wrote in a 2011 blog post.

“All the material I read was publicly accessible,” the 67-year-old continued. “Anyone could purchase the identical books and magazines. The same knowledge was out there for anyone interested. It seems most people weren’t interested.”

According to Brooke Vuckovic, a professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, reading remains fundamental to developing sophisticated thinking and communication abilities—skills that are ever more vital for executives.

“Engaging with long-form fiction, biography, and history requires sustained focus, comfort with uncertainty and unresolved questions or hidden subtleties in narratives, and an openness to having our assumptions challenged,” Vuckovic explained. “These are all essential traits for effective leadership, [and] they are becoming scarcer.”