World of DaaS: Recent Episodes
SafeGraph
World of DaaS is a podcast for data enthusiasts, by data enthusiasts, where Auren Hoffman talks to business and technology leaders about all things data - building it, acquiring it, analyzing it, and everything in between. World of DaaS will keep you up-to-date with the latest trends, best practices, and innovations to help you create the next great data business.
Moritz Baier-Lentz is one of the foremost investors in gaming, AI, and frontier technologies—including companies like OpenAI, SpaceX, Palantir, Etched, Decart, and Recursive. He founded Goldman Sachs's global gaming practice and was previously a partner, IC member, and head of gaming at Lightspeed. Moritz is part of the founding team of General Intuition, an AI research lab training agents on video game data, which has raised a $133M Seed round and a $320M Series A. He is also a senior advisor to OpenAI, McKinsey & Co., and TPG Capital.
In this episode of Summation, Moritz and Auren discuss:
- Why video games are the best data set for the next phase of AI
- The idea that humans only truly learn during play
- Why Germany's fear of risk is cultural
- Getting into Stanford with an essay about Diablo II
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Moritz Baier-Lentz on LinkedIn or his website.
Ronnie Chatterji is the Chief Economist at OpenAI, where he leads research on how AI reshapes growth, jobs, and the economy. He is also an economics professor at Duke. He was previously the White House CHIPS coordinator implementing the $52B CHIPS Act, and before that the chief economist at the US Department of Commerce.
In this episode of Summation, Ronnie and Auren discuss:
- The three things people actually do with ChatGPT
- The 10x jump in people handing their work to AI
- Why the next big leap in AI is adoption and not capability
- The case that AI could cause a population boom
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Ronnie Chatterji on X at @RonnieChatterji
Felix Rieseberg leads engineering for Claude Cowork and Claude Code Desktop at Anthropic. Before that he led desktop and web infrastructure at Notion and built software at Stripe, Slack, and Microsoft.
In this episode of Summation, Felix and Auren discuss:
- The next AI step function: going from solving a problem to owning a responsibility
- Why AI will win many Nobel prizes before it wins a single Pulitzer
- Bringing AI into the physical world, from a $30 coffee-machine display to a Wi-Fi garage opener
- Why "here's what your team can learn from the Navy SEALs" is bad management advice
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Felix Rieseberg on X at @felixrieseberg
Brendan Wallace is the Founder, CEO & CIO of Fifth Wall, the largest investment firm focused on technology for the built environment, with ~$3B in capital, the firm is driving the growth of nearly 170 companies, backing category-defining PropTech leaders such as Opendoor, Procore, Blend, Hippo, and Bilt Rewards. It's supported by ~115 of the world's largest real estate owner-operators including CBRE, Hilton, Hines, Marriott, Public Storage, Related, and Starwood. Before Fifth Wall, Brendan was at Goldman Sachs and Blackstone, and he co-founded Identified (sold to Workday) and Cabify.
In this episode of Summation, Brendan and Auren discuss:
- How remote work protected mediocrity for years
- The data center land grab: powered land, 2037 grid connections, and bring-your-own-solar
- How land is the most stable asset on earth and there's still no way to buy an index of it
- Why "capital-intensive businesses are bad for venture" is no longer true
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Brendan Wallace on X at @BrendanFWallace
Jim Rebesco is the co-founder and CEO of Striveworks, an AI ops company deployed across the US Army, Navy, and combatant commands. In April, Striveworks announced a $70M enterprise agreement with the Pentagon, giving nearly a million defense personnel access to its platform. Jim was previously a partner at Virtu Financial, a pioneering high-frequency trading firm.
In this episode of Summation, Jim and Auren discuss:
- why the real question in AI warfare is who pushes the button
- the case that autonomy favors big nation states, not insurgents
- why it costs $200,000 to procure anything in the Pentagon
- what high-frequency trading and war have in common
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jim Rebesco on LinkedIn
Carson Block is the founder of Muddy Waters Research, one of the defining activist short-selling firms of the last decade and a half. Since 2010, Muddy Waters has published forensic research exposing accounting fraud at publicly traded companies across China, Europe, and the US and has beenright enough times that 11 companies have been delisted as a result.
In this episode of Summation, Carson and Auren discuss:
- why outright fraud is only 20-25% of Muddy Waters' focus
- the Wirecard saga
- why high-trust countries like Germany are a paradise for criminals
- how the thing that killed Enron is still completely legal
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Carson Block on LinkedIn and on X @muddywatersre
Anders Jones is the CEO and co-founder of Facet, a fintech company built to bring high-quality, flat-fee financial advice to an underserved market: the mass affluent. Facet has raised over $250M and manages more than $7B. Anders has seen the real finances of tens of thousands of households.
In this episode of Summation, Anders and Auren discuss:
- why the percentage-of-assets fee is the greatest heist in finance
- the retention data showing people stick 3x longer when you help them act, not just advise
- the horizontal wealth transfer to spouses that nobody is planning for
- why most companies should never raise venture capital
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Anders Jones on LinkedIn
Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and staff writer at The New Yorker. He is the author of The Power of Habit, Smarter Faster Better, and Supercommunicators. His work focuses on the science of habits, productivity, decision-making, and human connection.
In this episode of Summation, Charles and Auren discuss:
- why producing the words is only 10% of an author's job, and the 90% AI can't do
- what GLP-1s actually do to the brain
- the serendipity tax: why you pay for five dead-end dinners to get the one that changes your life
- the three skills that separate supercommunicators from everyone else
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Charles Duhigg on X at @cduhigg
Chris Farmer is the founder and CEO of SignalFire, an early stage venture firm managing over $3 billion.
In this episode of Summation, Chris and Auren discuss:
- why the time to return 1x has stretched to 9+ years and funds are lasting 20 years
- the engineering hiring boom hiding behind the layoff headlines
- the five functions of a VC firm and the one place data helps the least
- why almost all conventional career advice is now bad
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Chris Farmer on X at @chriswfarmer
This episode is a rebroadcast of Auren's appearance on the GTMnow podcast
Auren Hoffman (Flex Capital) joins the GTMnow podcast to share some of the most contrarian takes in tech today, from why AI moats are gone, to why your next VC meeting will be with a bot, to why AI is secretly going to trigger a baby boom.
In this episode:
- Why Auren runs 500+ AI agents to source deals, and what that means for founders raising capital
- The "agent-to-agent" meeting prediction: by end of 2026, first VC conversations will be fully automated
- Why every software moat has been "blown up" and what Salesforce, LinkedIn & DocuSign need to do to survive
- The OpenAI x The Hustle acquisition breakdown: why it's the smartest (and cheapest) distribution play in AI
- Why missing a great deal is 10x more painful than making a bad one, Auren's honest VC mistake framework
- The baby boom thesis: why AI, IVF, self-driving cars & cheaper energy could reverse the fertility decline
- Why companies won't sign yearly SaaS contracts anymore, and what that means for every B2B founder
Auren Hoffman is the founder of NQB8, Flex Capital, SafeGraph, and LiveRamp. He's an early backer of Replit, Perplexity, Rippling, Vercel, Coinbase, Chime, and AppLovin.
Max’s socials:
https://x.com/hackitmax
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler/
Auren’s socials:
https://x.com/auren
https://www.linkedin.com/in/auren/
https://auren.substack.com/
GTMnow: https://gtmnow.com
Jake Stauch is the co-founder and CEO of Serval, the AI-native enterprise service management platform. Serval was founded in 2024 and has already raised over $125M across rounds led by Redpoint and Sequoia at a $1B+ valuation. Before Serval, Jake spent five years on the product team at Verkada and earlier founded NeuroPlus, a brain-sensing hardware company that made video games for kids with ADHD.
In this episode of Summation, Jake and Auren discuss:
- Why Anthropic has added more ARR in the past few months than ServiceNow has in the past 20 years
- The "forward deployed engineer" hire and why he recruits future founders instead of solutions engineers
- Why talent density is the only remaining moat in the age of AI
- The Silicon Valley collusion around not poaching each other's employees
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jake Stauch on X at @jakeserval
Dmitry Shevelenko is Chief Business Officer at Perplexity. He previously co-founded Tortoise, a robotics and commerce automation startup and held business development roles at Uber, LinkedIn, and Meta. He also serves on the board of Lazard.
In this episode of Summation, Dmitry and Auren discuss:
- Why CEOs and executives are Perplexity Computer’s biggest power users and what that says about who wins the AI era
- Scaling Perplexity past $500M ARR with only 34% headcount growth
- The $34.5B Chrome bid and the TikTok bid before it
- Why AI's biggest constraint right now is adoption and not capability
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Dmitry Shevelenko on X at @dmitry140
Ben Miller is the co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, an alternative asset management platform that gives individual investors access to private real estate, private credit, and venture capital. In March 2026, he listed the Fundrise Innovation Fund on the NYSE under the ticker VCX, one of the first publicly traded venture capital funds. VCX gives retail investors direct exposure to private companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, and SpaceX. The fund manages over $650 million and has over 100,000 individual investors. Ben is a returning Summation guest.
In this episode of Summation, Ben and Auren discuss:
- Why VCX traded up 700% on day one while Bill Ackman's fund traded down the next week
- Why ETFs fall apart for private markets and closed-end funds are the right structure
- How AI will reshape real estate by 2031 and which markets get hit hardest
- The hidden truth that SoHo, Wynwood, and Miami Beach were all built by the same person
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Ben Miller on X at @benmillerise
Ralph Goff is a 35-year veteran of the CIA, having served as a six-time Chief of Station across Europe, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia. During his career, he also held the roles of Chief of Operations for Europe and Eurasia and Chief of the CIA's National Resources Division. Since leaving government, he advises on national security issues and speaks publicly on intelligence, geopolitics, and great power competition.
In this episode of Summation, Ralph and Auren discuss:
- Why blackmail almost never works in espionage and ideology still does
- Who is actually dying for Putin
- Why China is the biggest winner of the Ukraine war
- How technological surveillance transformed CIA tradecraft
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Ralph Goff on Linkedin
Glenn Youngkin was the 74th Governor of Virginia. Before politics, he spent nearly 25 years at The Carlyle Group, one of the largest private equity firms in the world, where he rose to co-CEO. During his four-year term, Virginia generated $10B in surplus revenue, delivered $9B in tax relief, attracted $156B in capital investment, and became one of the first states in the country to mandate cell-phone-free classrooms.
In this episode of Summation, Glenn and Auren discuss:
- Why every Virginia state agency got OKRs and how it transformed a 110,000-person government
- Why decommissioning baseload power was one of the dumbest decisions ever made
- How Loudoun County gets more than 25% of its tax base from data centers
- How a startup used AI to cut more Virginia regulations in 7 months than 3 years of manual work
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Glenn Youngkin on X at @GlennYoungkin
Marco Zappacosta is the co-founder and CEO of Thumbtack, the home services marketplace he started in 2008. Thumbtack connects homeowners to 300,000+ local service professionals, with nearly 100M projects started on the platform.
In this episode of Summation, Marco and Auren discuss:
- Why home services is bigger than groceries but barely any is booked online
- How AI collapsed Thumbtack's product pod sizes
- Why Silicon Valley underrates leadership and overrates management
- The single trait to screen every executive hire for
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Marco Zappacosta on X at @mlz
Eric Ries created the Lean Startup methodology and authored the bestselling book of the same name, which has sold over a million copies. He's also the founder and executive chairman of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, the co-founder of Answer AI (an AI R&D lab), and the author of the upcoming book Incorruptible, releasing May 26th.
In this episode of Summation, Eric and Auren discuss:
- why "bad governance" companies have outperformed "good governance" since 2008
- financial gravity - the invisible force that bends companies away from their mission
- the foundation-controlled blueprint behind Novo Nordisk, IKEA, and Zeiss
- why vibe coding is headed for its Chernobyl moment
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Eric Ries on X at @ericries
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg became Germany's youngest Minister of Defense in history, and previously served as Minister of Economics and Technology. He is the chairman and founder of Spitzberg Partners, an investment and advisory firm, a bestselling author, and co-founder of Open Minds Media, where he produces films and podcasts. He co-hosts one of Germany's most popular podcasts.
In this episode of Summation, KT and Auren discuss:
- Why Germany's defense spending hovered at 1% of GDP for decades and what finally forced a change
- The nuclear exit decision that was driven by a single state election and backfired spectacularly
- How Rheinmetall surpassed Volkswagen in market cap and what it signals about Europe's industrial reorientation
- Why Germany's total stock market cap is less than a single US company like Nvidia
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Linkedin.
Pat Gelsinger is the former CEO of Intel and longtime Silicon Valley leader. He joins Auren to unpack the forces reshaping technology, geopolitics and leadership.
After more than 30 years at Intel (including serving as its first CTO) and nearly a decade as CEO of VMware, Pat now sits at the intersection of deep tech and purpose-driven innovation as executive chair and head of technology at Gloo and general partner at Playground Global.
In this episode of Summation, Pat and Auren discuss:
- Why the US now imports more from Taiwan than from China -- and what that means for national security
- The case for a U.S. sovereign wealth fund to counter China’s tech investments in semiconductors, energy, and rare earth minerals
- What happened when Intel gave $70B back to shareholders instead of building fabs, and why tech companies need technologist CEOs
- Andy Grove's 35-year mentoring relationship with Pat, starting with a cold call that changed his career
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Pat Gelsinger on X at @PGelsinger
Vlad Tenev (Robinhood co-founder/CEO) and Tudor Achim (former helm.ai CTO) are the founders of Harmonic, an AI lab pioneering the path toward mathematical superintelligence. Together, they developed Aristotle, a model that eliminates hallucinations by reasoning in Lean code rather than natural language. By shifting from probabilistic guesses to formal logic, Aristotle produces 100% verified mathematical outputs. The model recently demonstrated its breakthrough capabilities by achieving gold-medal performance at the International Math Olympiad.
In this episode of Summation, Vlad, Tudor, and Auren discuss:
- Why AI models struggled at math for so long
- How Aristotle helped 10x the total corpus of formally verified Erdos problems in just a few months
- Why formal verification will make all software dramatically safer
- How the first Millennium Prize problem will be solved by 2027-2028
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren, Vlad Tenev on X at @vladtenev, and Tudor Achim on X at @tachim
John Allen is a retired four-star Marine Corps general who commanded 150,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan and built a 65-nation coalition as Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition Against ISIS. After retiring from the military, he led the Brookings Institution as its president. He co-invented the term "hyperwar," holds five AI patents, and co-authored Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. He currently serves as a strategic advisor to Microsoft.
In this episode of Summation, John and Auren discuss:
- Why Ukraine's battlefield is accelerating the autonomous weapons timeline faster than any defense department predicted
- The single assumption that doomed Afghanistan and why 2,500 troops could have changed everything
- What nobody is asking about the US operation in Iran
- How China's one-child military could be the most underappreciated deterrent against a Taiwan invasion
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and John R. Allen on LinkedIn
Adrian Aoun helped found Torch, a health data platform that was acquired by OpenAI earlier this year. He's also the co-founder of Seneca, which raised $60 million to build autonomous drones for wildfire suppression. Adrian previously founded Forward Health. He previously led special projects for Larry Page at Google, where he founded Sidewalk Labs and helped build Google's AI division.
In this episode of Summation, Adrian and Auren discuss:
- Why curing all cancer adds only ~3 years of life but internet access for a billion people is massively more impactful
- How AI is turning healthcare from a service into a product -- and why the AMA is the new taxi medallion lobby
- The expert investor paradox: why deep expertise makes you a worse angel investor
- Why GLP-1s are the closest thing to a miracle drug in our lifetime
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Adrian Aoun on X at @adrianaoun
Tod Sacerdoti is the CEO and co-founder of Pipedream, which recently sold to Workday. Tod is also a general partner at Flex Capital, where he's invested in over 400 companies including Chime, Vercel, Replit, CodeRabbit, Mercury, and many others. He previously founded BrightRoll, a programmatic video advertising platform that sold to Yahoo for $640 million in 2014.
In this episode of Summation, Tod and Auren discuss:
- Why seed investing has the highest annualized returns of any venture asset class
- First-gen AI companies being the most vulnerable to AI disruption
- QSBS and why it's the most important tax benefit nobody talks about
- The founder code and what happens when people break it
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Tod Sacerdoti on X at @tod
Nirav Tolia is the co-founder and CEO of Nextdoor (NYSE: NXDR), the neighborhood social network with over 105 million users across 350,000 communities worldwide. After stepping down as CEO in 2018, he returned to lead the company in 2024.
In this episode of Summation, Nirav and Auren discuss:
- Why success kills innovation
- The death of physical community
- Why Nextdoor had to change their stock ticker
- Insider vs Outsider entrepreneurs
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Nirav Tolia on X at @niravtolia.
Lieutenant General Mike Fenzel recently retired as a three-star Army General. He most recently served as the United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, navigating one of the world’s most complex geopolitical landscapes. His career is defined by high-stakes leadership, ranging from the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks, where he was stationed in the bunker alongside Vice President Dick Cheney, to multiple deployments to Afghanistan, to commanding an airborne brigade of 5,500 paratroopers. Beyond the battlefield, Fenzel is a scholar of strategic decision-making. His book, No Miracles, analyzes the internal Soviet failures during their occupation of Afghanistan.
In this episode of Summation, Mike and Auren discuss:
- Why the Soviets took four years to exit Afghanistan
- Lessons from leading security cooperation in Jerusalem
- Israel's dominance in security tech
- Why US foreign policy experts keep failing
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mike Fenzel on LinkedIn.
Martin Shkreli is the co-founder of DL Software, the parent company of Godel Terminal, a Bloomberg competitor for financial data. He previously founded the biotech companies Retrophin and Turing Pharmaceuticals and the hedge fund MSMB Capital Management.
In this episode of Summation, Martin and Auren discuss:
- The structural reasons fintech is less competitive than other industries
- How drug discovery actually works (and doing it from prison)
- Why AI labs are now out-recruiting hedge funds
- What Martin learned from being "the most hated man in America"
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Martin Shkreli on X at @MartinShkreli
World of DaaS is now Summation with Auren Hoffman. While we’re proud of our roots in the data world, our conversations have evolved. Summation better reflects our obsession with finding the non-obvious ideas that shape our world.
What’s changing? Just the name. You’ll still get the same insights from the world’s most influential founders, investors, and thinkers.
If you’re already a subscriber, you’re all set. If you’re new here, welcome. Hit subscribe and join us! Our first episode as Summation drops this Wednesday.
Thanks for the support, and welcome to the next chapter.
Auren is CEO of NQB8, GP at Flex Capital, Chairman of Dialog; former CEO of SafeGraph and LiveRamp (NYSE: RAMP).
Jonathan Siddharth is the founder and CEO of Turing, a $2.2 billion AI company that provides coding and reasoning data to train frontier models for OpenAI, Google, Meta, Anthropic and more. Turing’s mission is to accelerate superintelligence to drive economic growth.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Jonathan and Auren discuss:
- How Turing creates expert data for frontier models
- Why SaaS is dying in the age of AI agents
- Disrupting the $30 trillion market for digital knowledge work
- Building a stage five company culture
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jonathan Siddharth on X at @jonsidd.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz is the co-founder and CEO of Chapter, an AI-powered Medicare navigation platform valued at $1.5 billion that helps seniors navigate coverage and enrollment.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Cobi and Auren discuss:
- Why medicare fraud costs over $100 billion annually
- How 24,000 medicare plans create impossible choices for seniors
- Why government tech keeps failing with Accenture contracts
- Provider network data accuracy and AI solutions
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz on X at @CobiBGantz.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Hans Swildens is a partner and Head of Industry Ventures at Goldman Sachs. Industry Ventures is one of the pioneers in the secondary market for venture capital, managing several billion in assets across LP stakes, direct secondaries, and primary fund investments. In October of 2025, Goldman Sachs announced they were acquiring Industry Ventures in a deal worth over $900 million dollars.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Hans and Auren discuss:
- The evolution of secondaries from distressed deals to 70% of VC exits
- Why Goldman Sachs paid almost $1 billion to acquire Industry Ventures
- How Industry Ventures uses data from 700+ fund LP positions as a competitive edge
- The future of venture fund structures and permanent capital vehicles
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Hans Swildens on X at @hansswildens.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Glenn Hubbard is Dean Emeritus and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School. He served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003 and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury. He has served on the boards of BlackRock, ADP, MetLife, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Glenn and Auren discuss:
- Why consumer sentiment contradicts economic indicators
- The Fed's impossible dilemma on rate cuts
- Smarter tariff policy and growth
- Why most MBA programs are ROI negative
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Glenn Hubbard on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Omar Tawakol is the CEO and founder of Rembrand, an AI-powered virtual product placement company. He founded BlueKai, a data management platform acquired by Oracle for $400M+ in 2014, and Voicera, an AI meeting assistant acquired by Cisco in 2019. He currently serves on the board of The Trade Desk and as a General Partner at super{set}.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Omar and Auren discuss:
- Why virtual billboards work better than 3D product placement
- How AI eliminates two-year product placement negotiations
- Why virtual placement grew 10x faster internationally than in the US
- The mistakes repeat founders make at scale
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Omar Tawakol on X at @otawakol.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This episode is a rebroadcast of Auren's appearance on the We the Builders podcast.
We The Builders: https://twitter.com/WeThe_Builders
Host Suffiyan Malik: https://twitter.com/suffiyanmalikk
Substack: https://wethebuilders.us
This week I sat down with Auren Hoffman founder, builder, prolific investor, and one of the most connected people in Silicon Valley.
Today’s episode features Auren Hoffman founder of LiveRamp ($RAMP), Flex Capital, Dialog, Safegraph and NQB8. This is one of the most interesting conversations I have had on the show so far and probably the best.
He grew LiveRamp to a $300m exit, has invested in 180+ companies through Flex Capital, a seed stage fund, is chair of Safegraph ($370m data company backed by Sapphire Ventures, Peter Thiel, Ridge Ventures) and is host of World of DaaS, a podcast and community for data nerds.
Auren is thinking of and validating new ideas on almost a weekly cadence. He continues to start new companies through NQB8 which includes a few successful spin outs. He also has a great blog post on it if you are interested in exploring different type of spinouts and how you should think about them as a startup.
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and We The Builders on X at WeThe_Builders.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Craig Fuller is the founder and CEO of FreightWaves, a freight media company, and SONAR, a supply chain data platform. He’s also the founder of Firecrown, which owns more than 50 publications across aviation, marine, and supply chain sectors, and he recently released his first book, Moving the World: How the Supply Chain’s Evolution Affects Us All.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Craig and Auren discuss:
- How FreightWaves predicted the 2022 freight recession
- Why pricing data businesses trade at 30x EBIT
- Building negative CAC through media acquisitions
- The four-year industry experience rule for freight startups
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Craig Fuller on X at @FreightAlley.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Tanay Kothari is the co-founder and CEO of Wispr Flow, a voice-first AI assistant that recently raised $56 million in Series A funding.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Tanay and Auren discuss:
- Why Apple and Google's dictation tools fail
- What AI-first devices will actually look like
- Pivoting from hardware to software
- Voice replacing nearly three-quarters of keyboard usage
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Tanay Kothari on X at @tankots.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Microsoft is investing $17.5 billion to turn India into a global AI powerhouse — from training 20 million workers to building new data infrastructure. We break down what this means for the future of AI talent, innovation, and digital sovereignty.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Vinicius Vacanti is the co-founder and CEO of YipitData, an alternative data intelligence platform that analyzes billions of consumer data points daily for institutional investors and corporations. The company reached unicorn status with a $475 million Series E from Carlyle Group in 2021.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Vin and Auren discuss:
- Why hedge funds dominate data usage versus corporations
- How AI is transforming data processing costs
- The durability of data businesses over 120 years
- Why "hire great people and get out of the way" is bad advice
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Vinicius Vacanti on X at @vacanti.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief: MIT’s new research reveals how large language models can be fooled by their own grammar. By prioritizing sentence structure over sense, these systems risk producing confident but misleading outputs—and even ignoring built-in safety rules.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Patrick McGee is the author of Apple in China, which was named one of the most notable books of the year by the New York Times and the Washington Post. The book is a deeply reported investigation into how Apple and China built each other over 25 years—and what that means for technology, supply chains, and geopolitics. Patrick has been a reporter with the Financial Times since 2013.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Patrick and Auren discuss:
- Why Foxconn bet everything on Apple when others walked away
- The organized crime networks that distributed iPhones across China
- How Apple's supplier policies created competitors like Huawei
- Apple's $275B commitment and why they can't leave China
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Patrick McGee on X at @patrickmcgee_.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Dave Morin is co-founder and managing partner of Offline Ventures, a venture fund and studio backed by Apple as anchor investor. He was an early employee at Facebook, then founded the mobile social network Path.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Dave and Auren discuss:
- Why Meta's AI ads work while Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify fail at recommendations
- How Offline runs its venture fund/studio hybrid
- Parasocial relationships and the loneliness crisis
- Depression as the #1 disease by 2030 and breakthrough treatments
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Dave Morin on X at @davemorin.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief highlights a Forbes piece on enterprise AI infrastructure, where the author examines why data pipelines, not the models themselves, are becoming the real bottleneck.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Azeem Azhar is the founder of Exponential View, a newsletter and research platform on emerging technology read by over 130,000 executives and policymakers globally, and author of the bestselling book The Exponential Age.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Azeem and Auren discuss:
- Diagnosing an AI bubble
- Data centers driving 33% of US GDP growth
- Whether energy will constrain AI before capital does
- Circular financing in AI and funding quality risks
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Azeem Azhar on X at @azeem.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief highlights Auren Hoffman’s latest piece, where he explores how emotion—not information—drives behavior across platforms, politics, and AI systems. The piece examines why algorithms amplify strong emotional signals, how “love” consistently outperforms “hate” in outcomes, and what this means for builders designing the next generation of data-driven products.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Eric Simons is the CEO and co-founder of StackBlitz, the company behind Bolt.new, which reached $40 million ARR in five months after launching in October 2024. Bolt.new is an AI-powered platform that allows anyone to build, edit, and deploy full-stack web applications directly in the browser.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Eric and Auren discuss:
- The explosive growth from $0 to $40M ARR
- Pioneering usage-based pricing for AI tools
- Competing with Replit, Lovable, and Vercel
- Building WebContainers technology for seven years
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Eric Simons on X at @EricSimons.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief explores our latestroundtable, where data leaders discussed the evolving challenges of retaining and expanding enterprise customers in an increasingly competitive data economy. The conversation explored how companies are mitigating churn, proving ROI, and deepening customer value in the era of AI.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Garrett Langley is the co-founder and CEO of Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based public safety technology company recently valued at $7.5 billion. Flock manufactures hardware like license plate recognition cameras, drones, and gunshot detection systems, as well as software used by thousands of communities and law enforcement agencies across the U.S.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Garrett and Auren discuss:
- The broken state of law enforcement data infrastructure
- Why 60% of murders go unsolved in America
- Manufacturing high tech hardware in the United States
- How AI and drones are changing public safety
- Why Atlanta is winning at hard tech over Silicon Valley
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Garrett Langley on X at @glangley.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief explores Auren Hoffman’s latest Substack post, 46ers, 55ers, 81ers, and today - a fascinating look at how generational ambition and the rise of AI are shaping the next wave of builders. Auren draws parallels between past innovation eras and the new generation driving today’s tech transformation.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Mark Ein is the founder, chairman and CEO of Venturehouse Group and has been involved in the founding or early stages of six companies worth over $1 billion. He also served as Chairman of the President's Export Council, is Executive Chairman of Kastle Systems, owns the DC Open, and was a key partner in the $6.05 billion acquisition of the Washington Commanders.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Mark and Auren discuss:
- Cross-sector investing advantages and pitfalls
- Office occupancy data and return-to-work trends
- The SPAC evolution and capital market disruptions
- Sports betting's impact on fan engagement and sports businesses
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mark Ein on X at @Markein.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief explores The New Stack’s article on the ethical challenges of agentic AI systems that can act autonomously. As organizations hand off more decisions to machines, questions around accountability, transparency, and data governance are becoming central to building and maintaining trust.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Richard Shotton is the founder of Astroten and author of several bestselling books on marketing, including The Choice Factory, The Illusion of Choice, and most recently Hacking the Human Mind, co-authored with MichaelAaron Flicker. He specializes in applying behavioral science to marketing and has worked with brands like Google, Meta, BrewDog, and Barclays.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Richard and Auren discuss:
- Why A/B testing often steers product wrong
- Social proof and scarcity in marketing strategies
- Cognitive biases affecting executive decision making
- The illusion of effort in B2B contexts
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Richard Shotton on X at @rshotton.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief explores Big Data Wire's article on how electricity, not data or compute, is emerging as the ultimate constraint on AI progress. As global data center demand surges, performance per watt efficiency and access to reliable power are becoming the new competitive edge. Some nations and companies are pursuing nuclear-powered computation hubs to secure a strategic energy advantage.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Varun Anand is the co-founder and Head of Operations at Clay, a GTM platform that helps over 10,000 companies with data enrichment and sales outreach. Clay recently raised a $100M Series C funding at a $3.1B valuation.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Varun and Auren discuss:
- The shift from seat-based to usage-based pricing
- Why LinkedIn's data remains underutilized
- How AI agents are replacing traditional SDR work
- Building contributory data networks at scale
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Varun Anand on X at @vaanand.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers a World Economic Forum insight that scaling AI is an organizational challenge, not a technological one, requiring data maturity, strong governance, and an integrated approach tied to core business outcomes. Culture and workforce transformation are also essential for real ROI.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Beniamin Mincu is the CEO and co-founder of MultiversX, a next-generation blockchain protocol used by governments, enterprises, and developers. He previously co-founded Metachain Capital, which was an early investor in projects like Polkadot and Binance. He’s also the host of the Full Shard Podcast and one of the most followed voices in Web3.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Beniamin and Auren discuss:
- Why AI needs a blockchain trust layer
- AI sovereign chains and agent accountability
- The geopolitical AI arms race
- Building ambitious tech companies outside Silicon Valley
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Benjamin Mincu on X at @beniaminmincu.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers Auren Hoffman’s guide to running a job search like a full-time commitment. Instead of vague networking, he lays out a five-step process that stresses clarity, specificity, and creating value before asking for help. From defining target roles to demonstrating impact with real work, the approach reframes job hunting as a strategic, disciplined pursuit.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Zac Bookman is the co-founder and CEO of OpenGov, which provides cloud software and AI solutions to over 2,000 government agencies across the United States. In February 2024, OpenGov was acquired by Cox Enterprises for $1.8 billion.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Zac and Auren discuss:
- Making public data truly accessible
- Growth vs sustainability in GovTech
- How COVID transformed government digitization
- AI's potential in local government operations
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Zac Bookman on X at @ZacBookman and on Linkedin.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers the lawsuit filed by Penske Media Corporation, parent of Rolling Stone, against Google over its AI Overviews feature. PMC argues that these AI-generated summaries siphon traffic and revenue from publishers by removing the need for users to click through to original articles. The case raises major questions around copyright, fair use, and the long-term sustainability of the publishing industry as Google positions itself as the primary “answer engine.”
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Jason Kwon is the Chief Strategy Officer at OpenAI.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Jason and Auren discuss:
- Compute bottlenecks and power infrastructure challenges
- User expectations vs AI capabilities
- Geopolitical competition in AI development
- Bringing top AI talent to the United States
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jason Kwon on X at@jasonkwon.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers The Only Right Way to Ask for an Intro (Everything Else Is Wrong)by Auren Hoffman. He explains why clarity of purpose, proper framing, and respect for people’s time are essential when seeking intros for jobs, partnerships, or mentorship. Getting this right makes the difference between a strong connection and a missed opportunity.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Tyler Denk is the co-founder and CEO of beehiiv, a newsletter platform that has grown to over $20 million in annual revenue in under four years. He was the second employee at Morning Brew, where he built the growth infrastructure that helped scale the company to 3.5 million subscribers before its $75 million acquisition by Business Insider in 2020. He’s also the creator of big desk energy, a newsletter with over 100k subscribers.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Tyler and Auren discuss:
- Why email still beats algorithmic platforms
- Building the next major advertising network
- The difference between audiences and communities
- Tech nostalgia and 90s internet culture
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Tyler Denk on X at @denk_tweets.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief looks at GDPR compliance for non-EU and non-UK companies. Firms handling resident data in these regions are required to appoint local representatives who serve as points of contact for regulators and individuals exercising their data rights. This step is critical for ensuring compliance with both GDPR and UK GDPR.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Gokul Rajaram is a founding partner at Marathon Management Partners and former product leader who helped build Google AdSense and Facebook's advertising platform. He serves on the boards of Pinterest, Coinbase, and The Trade Desk, and previously led product teams at Square and DoorDash.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Gokul and Auren discuss:
- Building massive advertising platforms at Google and Facebook
- How AI is transforming content recommendations and ads
- The transition from operator to venture investor
- Why founder mode debates miss the nuance of leadership
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Gokul Rajaram on X at @gokulr.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief explores the evolving role of synthetic data in AI. Synthetic datasets are increasingly used to safeguard privacy, cut costs, and speed up model training, particularly in testing rare scenarios. But challenges remain, including risks of carrying over biases from real-world data and the need for careful validation to ensure reliable outcomes.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Patrick Lencioni is one of the founders of The Table Group and is the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 9 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.
As President of the Table Group, Pat spends his time speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health and consulting with executives and their teams. After more than twenty years in print, his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, remains a fixture on national best-seller lists. His most recent book, The Six Types of Working Genius, was released in September 2022, and he is also the host of the popular business podcast, At The Table with Patrick Lencioni.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Patrick and Auren discuss:
- Why smart companies fail despite having great strategy
- The six types of working genius framework
- How to run meetings that don't suck
- Building organizational health through productive conflict
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Patrick Lencioni on X at @patricklencioni, on Linkedin and on YouTube.
Take the Working Genius Assessment here: https://workinggenius.me/show
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers Anthropic’s settlement with a group of authors over copyright claims. The case centered on the use of copyrighted works in training AI systems and reflects the mounting legal and IP challenges shaping generative AI.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
This episode is a rebroadcast of host Auren Hoffman's appearance on the CMO Confidential Podcast.
Auren shares why he believes vendor management is the #1 skill for future executives—and why most companies should rent world-class capabilities rather than hire executives they can’t fully utilize. From “scaffolding” young talent to his provocative views on procurement’s negative value, Booz Allen, MBAs, and the transformation of private equity, this episode is packed with contrarian insights for CMOs, CEOs, and founders alike.
🧠 Don’t miss Auren’s candid takes on why many traditional business functions are stuck in the past—and what leaders should do instead.
🔔 Subscribe for more insider lessons on what it really takes to thrive in the C-suite.
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction: Auren Hoffman’s Background & Career Path
01:45 - The Most Important Executive Skill: Vendor Management
05:22 - Why Renting Talent Beats Hiring for Most Companies
08:40 - Scaffolding: A Framework for Developing Talent
12:10 - The Case Against Procurement: “A Negative Value Function”
16:03 - Why He Would Short Booz Allen
18:35 - Private Equity’s Shift from Builders to Financial Engineers
23:14 - The Problem with MBAs and Why ROI is Often Negative
26:40 - How Executives Should Rethink Internal Capabilities
29:08 - Final Thoughts & Rapid-Fire Takes
Auren Hoffman, SafeGraph, LiveRamp, CMO Confidential, Mike Linton, vendor management, procurement, scaffolding talent, executive hiring strategy, Booz Allen, private equity critique, MBA ROI, modern leadership skills, B2B marketing, executive leadership, future of work, marketing strategy, marketing podcast, business podcast, CEO advice, CMO podcast, talent development, rent vs hire, startup strategy, enterprise strategy, marketing leadership, SafeGraph CEO, Auren Hoffman interview
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief looks at new research from MIT, which finds that 95% of generative AI pilot programs inside companies are failing to deliver meaningful financial impact.
The issue is not model quality but enterprise integration and a steep organizational learning gap. The report shows ROI is strongest in back-office automation even as most budgets flow to sales and marketing, and that success comes from buying specialized solutions and forming strategic partnerships rather than building in-house.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Rujul Zaparde is the co-founder and CEO of Zip, the $2.2 billion AI platform for procurement trusted by OpenAI, Anthropic, Snowflake, and hundreds of leading enterprises. He previously co-founded FlightCar, which raised over $40 million and was acquired by Mercedes-Benz. A former Airbnb product manager and Y Combinator visiting partner, Rujul has built Zip into the category-defining leader in procurement orchestration.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Rujul and Auren discuss:
- Why everyone hates procurement departments
- Building 50+ AI agents for enterprise workflows
- The future of autonomous business processes
- YC's evolution and startup quality over time
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to http://worldofdaas.com/ for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X at @worldofdaas
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Rujul Zaparde on Linkedin at @rujulz
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant https://thepodcastconsultant.com
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief looks at a recent piece by Auren Hoffman, co-authored with Sushant Bhardwaj and Lily Petherick from Flex Capital, on a little-known but impactful clause in VC term sheets that can strip founders of their voting rights when they leave their company.
We cover how this “employment-tied voting rights” provision, often overlooked until it is too late, can leave founders as shareholders without a voice and why Flex Capital advocates for its removal to foster trust and protect true ownership.
Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.
Brian Potter is a structural engineer and author of Construction Physics, a weekly Substack about the economics, technology, and productivity of building and infrastructure. He's also a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Progress.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Brian and Auren discuss:
- Why construction productivity has flatlined for decades
- The failure of modular construction and automation barriers
- The unprecedented innovation at Bell Labs and modern research comparisons
- Why America dominates fracking but struggles to build
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head tohttp://worldofdaas.com/ for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Brian Potter on X at @_brianpotter.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Howie Liu is the co-founder and CEO of Airtable, the AI-native app platform which has raised over $1.3 billion in funding and is valued at more than $11 billion. Howie sold his first startup, Etacts, to Salesforce when he was just 21 years old.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Howie and Auren discuss:
- The evolution of the no-code/low-code movement
- How AI is transforming software development
- Pricing strategies for SaaS products
- The importance of founder mode and hands-on leadership
- The future of work in an AI-driven world
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Howie Liu on X at @howietl.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Dwarkesh Patel is the host of the Dwarkesh Podcast, where he interviews leading scientists, founders, and economists about AI, science, and progress.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Dwarkesh and Auren discuss:
- Why experts overestimate AI capabilities
- The continual learning bottleneck in current models
- Japan's economic crash and global productivity stagnation
- Spaced repetition and effective learning strategies
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Dwarkesh Patel on X at @dwarkesh_SP.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Michael Ramlet is the co-founder and CEO of Morning Consult, a global decision intelligence company with more than $100 million in annual revenue. Morning Consult conducts 30,000 daily interviews across 40+ countries and serves more than half of the Fortune 500.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Michael and Auren discuss:
- The evolution from telephone to online polling
- Building representative polling samples in the modern era
- Real-time data collection and economic indicators
- AI and the democratization of survey research
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Michael Ramlet on X at @MichaelRamlet.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Prukalpa Sankar is the co-founder and CEO of Atlan, a data platform used by organizations like Plaid, NASDAQ and the UN to manage data collaboration at scale. Atlan has raised over $200 million and grown revenue 7x in the last two years.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Prukalpa and Auren discuss:
- AI native company transformations
- Context as the foundation for enterprise AI
- Building remote-first cultures globally
- The future of metadata for enterprise
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Prukalpa Sankar on X at @prukalpa.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (thepodcastconsultant.com)
Amit Gupta is the CEO of Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX), a global commerce media platform that powers rewards programs with card-linked offers and enables brands to strengthen customer loyalty.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Amit and Auren discuss:
- How card-linked offers strengthen customer loyalty
- Identity resolution and retail media
- Cardlytics' view into $5.8 trillion of annual consumer spending
- The limitations of traditional loyalty programs
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Amit Gupta on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Fabrice Grinda is the co-founder and managing partner of FJ Labs, a venture capital firm that has invested in over 1,200 startups with more than 350 exits, including early investments in Alibaba, Flexport, and Delivery Hero. He previously built and sold three companies as CEO: Aucland (one of Europe's largest auction sites), Zingy (mobile media startup sold for $80M), and OLX (global classifieds platform operating in 90+ countries with 150M+ monthly users, acquired by Naspers).
In this episode of World of DaaS, Fabrice and Auren discuss:
- Curiosity-driven investing and founder assessment
- Diversified portfolios vs concentrated strategies
- Secondary sales and exit strategies
- AI tools transforming investment research
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Fabrice Grinda on X at @fabricegrinda.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Rabbi David Wolpe is the emeritus rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, one of the largest synagogues in the United States. He is a bestselling author of eight books on faith and spirituality and has been named one of the most influential rabbis in America.
In this episode of World of DaaS, David and Auren discuss:
- AI rabbis and digital therapy
- Lab grown meat and kosher laws
- Consciousness uploading and digital souls
- Fertility rates and collective meaning
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Rabbi Wolpe on X at @RabbiWolpe.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Max Marchione is the founder and President of Superpower, a digital healthcare platform that recently raised a $30 million Series A to make preventative and personalized medicine accessible to consumers.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Max and Auren discuss:
- Billionaire-level health protocols and testing
- Why AI will replace expensive doctors
- Peptides, toxins, and human enhancement
- The future of personalized medicine
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Max Marchione on X at @maxmarchione.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Jager McConnell is the CEO of Crunchbase, a leading business intelligence platform for startup and investment data, serving over 80 million users.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Jager and Auren discuss:
- The polarized venture funding landscape
- Why 'religion' beats 'truth' in data companies
- Finding defensible moats in the AI era
- Predicting acquisition targets at scale
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jager McConnell on X at @jagermcconnell.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Russ d'Sa is the founder and CEO of LiveKit, the infrastructure company powering real-time voice for OpenAI's ChatGPT, Character.ai, and numerous AI applications.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Russ and Auren discuss:
- The evolution of voice AI
- Turn detection and conversational dynamics
- Real-time infrastructure for AI
- Copilots vs autopilots for the future
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Russ d’Sa on X at @dsa.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Dan Driscoll is the current Secretary of the U.S. Army, overseeing a military branch with approximately one million soldiers, 250,000 civilians, and an annual budget of $185 billion.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Dan and Auren discuss:
- The Army Transformation Initiative
- Rapid defense innovation with Silicon Valley
- Modernizing obsolete military equipment
- Fixing Pentagon procurement
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Dan Driscoll on X at @SecArmy.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Brandon Daniels is the CEO of Exiger, which provides AI-powered supply chain and third-party risk management solutions to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Exiger has annual revenues of over $150 million and received a majority investment by Carlyle, Insight Partners, and JMI Equity for $1.2 billion in 2023.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Brandon and Auren discuss:
- Tariffs and supply chain chaos
- Bringing manufacturing back to the US
- Data validation in supply chain monitoring
- Countries most vulnerable to China's influence
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Brandon Daniels and Exiger on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Joshua Steinman is the co-founder and CEO of Galvanick, a cybersecurity company building tools to secure industrial infrastructure and AI systems.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Joshua and Auren discuss:
- Foreign spies in tech companies
- Vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure
- Lessons from Stuxnet and Ukraine
- Building resilience against cyber threats
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Josh Steinman on X at @JoshuaSteinman.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Brian O'Kelley is the co-founder and former CEO of AppNexus, which built core infrastructure for programmatic advertising and was acquired by AT&T for $1.6 billion in 2018. He's now the co-founder and CEO of Scope3, a company working to reduce the carbon footprint in digital advertising.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Brian and Auren discuss:
- The zero-sum game of auction paradigms
- AI tools revolutionizing software development
- Building personal brands in tech
- Climate tech's shifting business case
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Brian O’Kelley on X at @bokelley.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Trae Stephens is a partner at Founders Fund and co-founder and current executive chairman at Anduril, a defense technology company that produces software-defined, hardware-enabled major weapons programs.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Trae and Auren discuss:
- Revolutionizing defense technology manufacturing
- Billionaire founders in defense tech
- Supply chain resilience for military hardware
- Technology's impact on modern relationships
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Trae Stephens on X at @TraeStephens.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Scott Stephenson is the former Chairman, President, and CEO of Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ: VRSK), where he led the company's transformation from a nonprofit insurance data collective into a global data analytics powerhouse with a market cap of over $40 billion.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Scott and Auren discuss:
- Data monetization and defensibility strategies
- AI's impact on data businesses
- Leadership succession in data companies
- Effective board membership
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Scott Stephenson on Linkedin.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Martin Casado is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he focuses on AI and infrastructure investments. He previously co-founded Nicira which was acquired by VMware for $1.2 billion in 2012.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Martin and Auren discuss:
- Economics of open source AI
- Chinese AI innovation with DeepSeek
- Model collapse and data moats
- Regulatory challenges in AI
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Martin Casado on X at @martin_casado.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Bill Wise is the CEO and co-founder of Mediaocean, an adtech platform that processes over $200 billion in global media spend annually.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Bill and Auren discuss:
- The hidden plumbing of global advertising
- Measurement monopolies in adtech
- The transition from linear TV to CTV
- Cultural integration in tech acquisitions
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Bill Wise on X at @billwise.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Rob Henderson is a developmental psychologist, author of the New York Times bestseller Troubled and columnist for the Free Press and the Boston Globe.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Rob and Auren discuss:
- How elites exploit the poor with luxury beliefs
- The vital importance of marriage for upward mobility
- The conspiracy behind useless college degrees
- The “late bloomers” phenomenon
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and on X at @robkhenderson.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Jackie Reses is the co-founder and CEO of Lead Bank, fintech infrastructure bank with over $2.5 billion in assets under management.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Jackie and Auren discuss:
- Fintech's regulatory reckoning
- The future of community banking
- State regulator competition
- Lessons from Square's payment revolution
- Leadership insights from Jack Dorsey
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jackie Reses on X at @jackiereses.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Alex Cohen is the co-founder and CEO of Hello Patient, a healthcare AI company that streamlines scheduling and patient management for medical practices.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Alex and Auren discuss:
- The hidden costs of SaaS sprawl
- Why specialized tools beat all-in-one solutions
- Building relevancy through niche content
- The future of health data and personalized medicine
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Alex Cohen on X at @anothercohen.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Mario Gabriele is the founder of The Generalist, a tech analysis substack with over 132,000 subscribers. Mario also runs Generalist Capital, which invests in early stage companies.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Mario and Auren discuss:
- Why 70-80% of VCs destroy value
- The rise of mullet capitalism
- Navigating secondary sales in venture
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mario Gabriele on X at @mariogabriele.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Annie Duke is a former World Series of Poker champion, bestselling author of Thinking in Bets and Quit, and decision science expert who advises Fortune 500 companies on strategic decision-making.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Annie and Auren discuss:
- Cognitive biases in venture capital
- Loss aversion and mental accounting
- One-way versus two-way doors
- Reading people in poker and business
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Annie Duke on X at @AnnieDuke.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Deven Parekh is Managing Director at Insight Partners, a global software investment firm with over $90B in assets under management. Since joining in 2000, he has led investments in companies including Twitter, DocuSign, Alibaba, and JD.com.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Deven and Auren discuss:
- Why gross retention beats net retention
- AI adoption vs previous tech cycles
- European tech's struggle to match US
- Board decks that actually work
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Deven Parekh on X at @djparekh.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Tim Vanderhook is the co-founder and CEO of Viant Technology (NASDAQ: DSP), a leading advertising technology company that went public in 2021 at a $2.5B valuation.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Tim and Auren discuss:
- The trillion dollar advertising market opportunity
- Why linear TV is massively undervalued
- The explosive growth of streaming audio
- Fighting fraud in modern ad tech
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Tim Vanderhook on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Rajeev Goel is the co-founder and CEO of PubMatic (NASDAQ: PUBM), a sell-side advertising platform that processes over 780 billion ad impressions daily.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Rajeev and Auren discuss:
- Building private cloud infrastructure for ad tech
- Processing 780 billion daily ad impressions
- The rise of retail media networks
- Political advertising in Connected TV
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Rajeev Goel on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Mark Pincus is the founder of Zynga, which developed some of the most popular mobile games of all time like Farmville and Words With Friends. He currently runs Reinvent Capital and teaches product management at Stanford University.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Mark and Auren discuss:
- Why games predict the future of tech
- Building on platforms like Facebook
- The economics of virtual goods
- Product frameworks for the AI era
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mark Pincus on X at @markpinc.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Adam Singolda is the founder and CEO of Taboola (NASDAQ: TBLA), a content discovery platform that powers recommendations for Apple News, Yahoo, and other major publishers, reaching over 500 million daily active users.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Adam and Auren discuss:
- The war for internet user attention
- Why Apple and Amazon are becoming ad companies
- Building a discovery engine for the internet
- The future of AI-powered advertising
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Adam Singolda on X at @AdamSingolda.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Mark Zagorski is the CEO of DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV), a $3.4B market cap company that provides digital media measurement and verification software to major advertisers and platforms.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Mark and Auren discuss:
- The $100B digital ad fraud economy
- Why marketing data is wrong but works
- The death of cookies and what's next
- Building sustainable independent adtech companies
This episode of World of DaaS was brought to you by Alkemi. Check out alkemi.ai to learn how Alkemi can help you unlock the AI market.
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mark Zagorski on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Farley Mesko is the CEO and co-founder of Sayari, a financial intelligence and supply chain risk platform that serves major financial institutions, government agencies, and corporations.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Farley and Auren discuss:
- How geopolitics are reshaping global supply chains
- The evolution of financial crime networks
- Building data products for government agencies
- Why entity resolution is the future of intelligence
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Farley Mesko on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Michael Barrett is the CEO of Magnite (NASDAQ: MGNI), the largest independent sell-side advertising platform with a market cap of over $2.2 billion.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Michael and Auren discuss:
- The $200B shift from linear TV to streaming
- How retail media networks are reshaping advertising
- Big Tech's dominance in digital advertising
- How AI will change programmatic advertising
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Michael Barrett on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Samo Burja is an entrepreneur and political researcher. He’s the founder of Bismarck Analysis and the editor of Palladium Magazine, a publication focused on governance and societal challenges.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Samo and Auren discuss:
- Why great founders shape civilization
- Global fertility decline and its implications
- The magic of founders at age 23
- Why trust in institutions is collapsing
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Samo Burja on X at @SamoBurja.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Nate Baker is the cofounder and CEO of Qualia, the leading real estate closing platform which powers millions of real estate transactions a year. He’s also the cofounder of Fractal, a business incubator that has launched over 150 vertical SaaS companies.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Nate and Auren discuss:
- AI impacts on real estate
- Housing supply politics
- The “super app” real estate trend
- Vertical SaaS myths and playbooks
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Nate Baker on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Chris Hulls is the co-founder and CEO of Life360 (NASDAQ: LIF), the family safety platform used by over 70 million people worldwide. Life360 has a market cap of $3.3 billion.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Chris and Auren discuss:
- Building a safety super-app
- The rise of tech-enabled helicopter parenting
- Psychedelics and CEO mental health
- Why vision beats data in startups
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Chris Hulls on X at @ChrisHulls.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
George Fraser is the co-founder and CEO of Fivetran, the category-leading data integration platform that does over $300M in revenues.
In this episode of World of DaaS, George and Auren discuss:
- The Databricks/Snowflake “war”
- Building a data stack for AI workloads
- Evidence based decision making for tech companies
- Parallels between neuroscience and artificial intelligence
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and George Fraser on X at @frasergeorgew.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
DJ Patil served as the first U.S. Chief Data Scientist under President Obama. He's currently a GP at GreatPoint Ventures, on the Board of Devoted Health, and co-chairs the taskforce on GenAi for the Pentagon.
In this episode of World of DaaS, DJ and Auren discuss:
- AI's impact on data science
- Healthcare data transformation
- Innovation, bureaucracy and efficiency in National Security
- The best higher education choices in terms of ROI
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and DJ Patil on X at @dpatil.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Alex Lieberman is the co-founder of Morning Brew, a business newsletter with over 4 million subscribers. Alex founded Morning Brew in his dorm room and sold a majority stake to Business Insider for $75 million in 2020.
In this episode, Alex and Auren discuss:
- Why B2B marketing is broken
- The future of influencer marketing
- Finding purpose after the exit
- Generation media consumption
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Alex Lieberman on X at @businessbarista.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Evan Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Altana, a global supply chain management platform. Altana is one of the newest freight tech unicorns out there– they recently raised $200mm in a Series C round that valued the company at over a billion dollars.
In this episode, Evan and Auren discuss:
- Why "Globalization 2.0" is replacing free trade
- How Russia's economy defied sanctions expectations
- The hidden power of supply chain middlemen
- China's transformation from cheap labor to tech leader
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Evan Smith on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Arup Banerjee is the co-founder and CEO of Windfall, a data company that estimates the net worth of every American.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Arup and Auren discuss:
- Why accurate wealth data is so difficult to come by
- The best indicators of high net worth
- Common misconceptions about wealth distribution
- Building data co-ops
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Arup Banerjee on X at @ArupBanerjee07.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Sam Parr is the co-host of My First Million podcast and the founder of Hampton, a community of entrepreneurs and founders. Sam previously founded The Hustle, a business and tech newsletter that was acquired by HubSpot for reportedly $27 million in 2021.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Sam and Auren discuss:
- Branding strategies for tech founders
- Deciding when to sell your business
- Building communities and monetizing audiences
- Raising normal kids after success
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Sam on X at @thesamparr.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Tomas Pueyo is the author of the Uncharted Territories blog, where he analyzes global trends in technology, politics, and economics. Tomas gained international recognition in 2020 for his data-driven analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic, with his articles reaching over 40 million views and being translated into more than 40 languages.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Tomas and Auren discuss:
- Why geography ruled the past but not the future
- How zero cost energy will affect global politics
- Causes and effects of declining fertility
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Tomas Pueyo on X at @tomaspueyo.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Eric Glyman is the co-founder and CEO of Ramp, a financial operations platform. Ramp is one of the fastest growing startups in history, reaching $100M ARR in just three years. Prior to Ramp, Eric co-founded Paribus, a consumer finance app acquired by Capital One in 2016.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Eric discuss:
- Corporate spending trends
- Leveraging price intelligence data
- Ramp’s ‘Moneyball’ hiring approach
- Banking monopolies + regulatory capture
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Eric Glyman on X at @eglyman.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and founder of WordPress on the ongoing trademark dispute between WordPress and WP Engine, a hosting company owned by private equity firm Silver Lake.
Matt Socials:
Twitter: https://x.com/photomatt
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattm/
Host Auren Hoffman Socials:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/auren
Substack: https://substack.com/@auren
Ben Casnocha is a cofounder and partner at Village Global, an early-stage venture capital firm backed by tech luminaries including Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. He was also chief of staff to Reid Hoffman and co-authored two best selling books with him, “The Alliance” and “The Startup of You.”
In this episode of World of DaaS, Ben and Auren discuss:
- Approaching your career as a startup
- Evaluating founder quality
- Whether networking is overrated or underrated
- The optimal level of wealth for happiness
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Ben Casnocha on X at @bencasnocha.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Matt Clifford is the co-founder and chair of Entrepreneur First, a global talent investor that has helped create over 500 companies worth more than $10 billion. He’s also the founding chair of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, the UK’s answer to DARPA.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Matt and Auren discuss:
- Investing in talent
- Traits of successful founders
- The UK’s advanced research efforts
- AI and national defense
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Matt Clifford on X at @matthewclifford.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Daniel Pink is the author of seven bestselling books on business, work, and human behavior, including Drive and To Sell Is Human. His TED Talk on the science of motivation has been viewed more than 20 million times. His most recent book is The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Daniel and Auren discuss:
- Changing sales strategies for data and AI
- Building deeply motivated teams
- Decision-making timeframes
- Chronotypes and productivity
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Daniel Pink on X at @DanielPink.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Michael Walrath is the chairman and CEO of Yext, a publicly traded digital presence platform. Prior to Yext, Michael cofounded Right Media, the first at-scale digital ad exchange, which was acquired by Yahoo in 2007.
In this episode, Michael and Auren discuss:
- Software vendor consolidation
- Changing attitudes around growth vs profitability
- New dynamics of VC funding
- Running board meetings as a CEO
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Michael Walrath on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Bjorn Lomborg is the president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and has authored several bestselling books including "The Skeptical Environmentalist", "False Alarm" and recently “Best Things First.”
In this episode of World of DaaS, Bjorn and Auren discuss:
- The most efficient policies to save lives
- Evaluating charitable ROI
- The real costs of climate change mitigation
- Sweden vs Denmark
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Bjorn Lomborg on X at @BjornLomborg.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Alex Wirth is the cofounder and CEO of Quorum, a public affairs software platform.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Alex and Auren discuss:
- How AI is affecting lawmaking
- The evolution of modern lobbying
- Predicting policy outcomes statistically
- Building govtech companies
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Alex Wirth on X at @amaliowirth.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Bryan is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He’s also the author of a number of bestselling books, including The Case Against Education, The Myth of the Rational Voter, and recently Build Baby Build.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Bryan and Auren discuss:
- Education signaling and ROI
- The myth of involved parenting
- Immigration & diaspora theory
- Social science data access
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Bryan Caplan on X at @bryan_caplan.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Oleg Rogynskyy is the founder and CEO of People.ai, an ai-powered revenue intelligence platform. He’s also an advisor to the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Oleg and Auren discuss:
- How AI will transform the sales process
- Sales automation and APIs
- Maximizing data value and differentiation
- Geopolitical implications of the Ukraine war
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Oleg on X at @OlegR.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University and the co-author of Marginal Revolution, one of the most popular and long-running blogs on the internet.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Alex and Auren discuss:
- The decline of American dynamism
- Challenges to innovation
- Crime and bail reform
- Preparing for the next pandemic
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Alex Tabarrok on X at @ATabarrok.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Or Lenchner is the CEO of Bright Data, a leading web data collection company.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Or discuss:
- Web data freedom and ethics
- Bright Data's legal battle with Meta
- Data pricing strategies
- The Israeli tech scene
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Or Lenchner on X at @orlench.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Adam is the co-founder & CEO of Daffy, a fintech platform for charitable giving. Prior to Daffy, Adam was CEO of Wealthfront, VP of Product & Growth at Dropbox and VP of Product Management at LinkedIn.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Adam discuss:
- Trends that will dominate fintech in 2030
- Financial giants & disruptors
- Tax strategies and donor advised funds
- Most common product management mistakes
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Adam Nash on X at @adamnash.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Jason Bordoff is an expert on geopolitics, energy security and the clean energy transition. He is the Founding Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and he also held senior roles in the Obama administration, including on the National Economic Council, and the National Security Council.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Jason discuss:
- The future of solar
- How shale oil transformed US energy
- Critical minerals and energy security
- Realities of the clean energy transition
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jason on X at @JasonBordoff.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Chris is the co-founder and CEO of Substack. Prior to Substack, he co founded the messaging service Kik.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Chris and Auren discuss:
- Attention, quality, and gatekeepers in media
- The state of freedom of speech
- Building an audience
- AI as a creative tool
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to WorldofDaaS.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Chris Best on Substack at @cb and on X at @cjgbest.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Robert Cialdini is a world renowned psychologist and author. His seminal work, "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion," published in 1984, is a classic in the field. He taught marketing, business and psychology at Stanford and he is the Regents' Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Robert and Auren discuss:
- The science of influence
- Persuasion in tech and marketing
- Guarding against deception
- Persuasive technology and algorithms
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to WorldofDaaS.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Robert Cialdini on X at @RobertCialdini.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Ben Miller is the co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, an online investment platform that gives retail investors access to private assets like real estate and venture capital. Fundrise has invested over $7B in real estate and has 385,000+ investors on its platform.
In this episode, Auren and Ben discuss:
- Real estate data adoption
- Public/private market convergence
- “Soft” SEC regulations on retail investment
- Data centers, warehouses & single family rental
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to WorldofDaaS.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Ben on X at @BenMillerrise. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Harley Finkelstein is the President of Shopify ($SHOP), a leading ecommerce platform valued at over $80 billion. Shopify powers over 2 million ecommerce stores in 175 countries.
On this episode, Harley and Auren discuss:
- Entrepreneurial renaissance & record business creation
- Nonobvious brand success stories
- Shopify's ecosystem and partnerships playbook
- Canadian entrepreneurship and ambition
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to WorldofDaaS.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Harley on X at @harleyf. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Brent Beshore is the founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, a unique private equity firm that buys cash-generating small and mid-sized businesses— with the intention to hold them indefinitely.
Permanent Equity owns over a dozen businesses in diverse sectors including aerospace, building and construction, and martech.
On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Brent discuss:
- Secrets to good acquisitions
- Running a PE firm with no leverage and no fees
- Incentives and efficiency in business
- Building in Flyover County
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to WorldofDaaS.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Brent Beshore on X at @BrentBeshore. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Mark Gerson co-founded Gerson Lehrman Group, the world’s largest expert network. He’s also the co-founder and Chairman of United Hatzalah and the African Mission Healthcare Foundation.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Mark discuss:
- Measuring charity impact and ROI
- Real philanthropy vs “fake charities”
- Building GLG and expert networks
- Marriage and religion in the US
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to WorldofDaaS.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mark Gerson on X at @markgerson. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Michael Batnick is a managing partner and Director of Research at Ritholtz Wealth Management. He’s also the host of the excellent investing and finance podcast network The Compound.
In this episode, Auren and Michael discuss:
- Mega caps, crypto and retail investors
- Impact of index funds on the stock market
- Fintech vs legacy financial institutions
- Investing mistakes and life lessons
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Michael on X at @michaelbatnick.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Anand Sanwal is the founder of CB Insights, a business analytics platform and global database of intel on technology companies. Anand was CEO of CB Insights for 14 years and recently stepped into the role of executive chairman.
In this episode, Auren and Anand discuss:
- Tech and venture capital narratives vs data
- AI integration and workflows
- Future of data businesses
- CEO transitions at 1 to N companies
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Anand Sanwal on X at @sanwal.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Scott Lynn is the founder and CEO of Masterworks, the first company to securitize art. Masterworks manages $940 million in art assets and has nearly 900,000 investors on its platform. Scott is also a multitime founder– prior to Masterworks, he founded companies in online gaming, advertising and fintech including AdKnowledge, Virtumundo, V2 Ventures and Payability.
In this episode, Scott and Auren discuss:
- Data insights on the art market
- Art trends and investing strategies
- NFTs and other collectibles
- Fraud, money laundering and art scams
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Scott Lynn on LinkedIn.
Follow World of DaaS @WorldOfDaaS
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Dmitri Alperovitch is the co-founder and former CTO of Crowdstrike, and he’s currently the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a national security think tank. He’s also the author of the new book World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Dmitri discuss:
- Taiwan's strategic importance in Asia
- China's potential timeframe for invading Taiwan
- Chip dominance and global semiconductor markets
- Endgames in the Ukraine-Russia Conflict
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Dmitri on X at @DAlperovitch
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Jonathan Ross is the founder and CEO of Groq, a company that develops high performance microchips purpose built for AI and machine learning. Prior to founding Groq, Jonathan invented Google’s AI processor, the TPU.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Jonathan and Auren discuss:
- Future of industry in AI era
- Evolution of AI processing hardware
- Semiconductor supply chains
- Challenges and innovations in chip development
- Prompt writing tips from an AI pro
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jonathan on X at @JonathanRoss321.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Greg Isenberg is the CEO and Founder of Late Checkout Studio, a holding company for online community businesses. Greg has founded three venture-backed startups and he was also an advisor to TikTok and Reddit.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Greg and Auren discuss:
- Changes to startup + VC ecosystem
- Startup studio model vs. private equity
- ChatGPT businesses in 2024
- Building without venture funding
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Greg at @gregisenberg
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Saagar is the co-host of the podcast and web series Breaking Points, which has over a million subscribers on Youtube. He was previously a White House correspondent for the Daily Caller.
On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Saagar discuss:
- Media business models and revenue streams
- Bias and anti-establishment media
- Parallels in US history to today
- Aliens, conspiracies and DC parties
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Saagar on X at @esaagar.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Ryan Petersen is the founder and CEO of Flexport, a unicorn international freight forwarding business. He’s also a Venture Partner at Founders Fund.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Ryan and Auren discuss:
- Supply chain breakdowns
- Geopolitics of commercial shipping
- Scaling freight forwarding businesses 10X
- Deglobalization vs international trade
- Returning to Flexport after stepping down as CEO
- Why good CEOs micromanage
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Ryan on X at @typesfast.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Bill Magnuson is the co-founder and CEO of Braze ($BRZE), a publicly traded customer engagement platform valued at over $5 billion.
In this episode of World of DaaS:
- Growth of mobile technology
- Power of first-party relationships
- Modern martech mindset vs traditional advertising
- Tech company IPOs
- How SMS spam and fraud works
- Build vs buy martech strategies
- Toxic tech workplace culture and “family”
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Bill Magnuson on X at @billmag
Follow World of DaaS @WorldOfDaaS
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Steve was CEO of AOL during its meteoric rise from 1991 to 2003. He’s also the chairman and CEO of Revolution, which has invested over $1 billion in startups, and the author of several books, including Rise of the Rest and The Third Wave.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Steve discuss the early days of the internet and the challenges of getting people to embrace it. Steve highlights the importance of community in AOL's success and the launch of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). Steve also shares his vision for the third wave of the internet, where the internet meets the real world and disrupts industries like healthcare.
Auren and Steve also discuss Steve’s extensive investments with his firm Revolution and his Rise of the Rest Initiative, which seeks to bring venture funding and innovation to non-coastal cities. They close out the conversation with a discussion about the power of optimism in entrepreneurship and the importance of partnerships and policy in driving change.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Steve Case on X at @SteveCase.
Follow World of DaaS @WorldOfDaaS
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Blake Hall is the co-founder and CEO of ID.me, a secure digital identity network with over 100 million members.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Blake dive into online security, passwords, AI, and geopolitics. Blake explains the concept of identity wallets and their potential to streamline access to services and benefits. He also breaks down why identity wallets are like VISA and Mastercard, and explains where there’s untapped opportunity for a trillion-dollar company in the identity space.
In the second half of the conversation, Auren and Blake discuss espionage in the digital age, the influence of Iran in the Middle East, and adapting to changing warfare tactics. They close with insights into Blake’s framework for hiring executives and assessing strategic thinking, and questioning conventional wisdom in entrepreneurship.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Blake Hall on X at @Blake_Hall
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Daniel Diermeier is the Chancellor of Vanderbilt University. He’s a world-renowned scholar of business management and political science. Before joining Vanderbilt, he was Provost of the University of Chicago.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Daniel engage in a thought-provoking discussion on free speech, academic freedom and the state of higher education at large. They explore the sources behind requests to curtail free speech, the principles guiding free expression at Vanderbilt, and how Daniel has developed programs to teach students about civil discourse.
Daniel and Auren also discuss the influence of universities on broader culture to the evolving challenges faced by liberal arts colleges. Daniel shares insightful perspectives on the changing landscape of higher education and insights into the impact of rising student loan costs, the balance between teaching and research, and the rise in mental health challenges among students.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Daniel Diermeier on X at @VU_Chancellor.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Daniel Lurie is currently running for mayor of San Francisco. Prior to running for mayor, he was the founder and CEO of Tipping Point Community, a charitable organization that distributed over $30 million to organizations fighting poverty throughout the Bay Area last year.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Daniel discusses tackling crime, homelessness and cost of living in San Francisco. He breaks down the structural factors in the city’s governance and explains how they’re enabling corruption and inefficiency. In particular, Daniel outlines how he would reform the city’s massive $700 million homelessness efforts to better support drug recovery.
Daniel and Auren also discuss Daniel’s background in philanthropy in New York and San Francisco. Daniel shares his insights on what makes a charity effective and efficient, and how he evaluates charities. They also discuss the impact of ranked choice voting, and how it changes campaigning.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Daniel on X at @DanielLurie
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Sarah Tavel is a general partner at Benchmark Capital. She serves on the board of Chainalysis, Hipcamp, Medely, Rekki, and Cambly.
On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Sarah discuss the concept of selling work in the SaaS industry and how it differs from selling traditional productivity software. Sarah explains how selling work could unlock whole new verticals for software penetration and disrupt existing SaaS giants. Auren and Sarah explore the areas where these new, leaner software companies could flourish and discuss the broader impacts of AI in SaaS.
As one of the earliest hires at Pinterest, Sarah also has deep expertise with consumer social, which is set to be transformed by AI. She and Auren talk chatbots, AI avatars, and the responsibilities founders have as AI begins to replace more human interaction. The conversation wraps up by touching on Harvard as an institution, conspiracy theories about UAPs and TikTok, and questioning conventional wisdom about fundraising and growth.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit worldofdaas.buzzsprout.com, and follow us @WorldOfDaaS.
Follow World of DaaS @WorldOfDaaS
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Sarah Tavel on X at @sarahtavel.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Meb Faber is the co-founder and CIO of Cambria Investment Management, which has over $2B in assets under management. He’s also the host of the excellent financial podcast the Meb Faber Show.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Meb discuss global portfolio allocation, bitcoin ETFs, controversial investing strategies, and little-known financial industry secrets. They discuss the most common mistakes Meb sees in investment portfolios, the importance of global diversification and tax efficiency strategies for founders.
This is a high-level investing strategy discussion, with Auren and Meb diving deep on the relative safety of different assets, ETFs vs mutual funds, and Meb's learnings from angel investing. They close out the conversation with Meb’s thoughts on the role of optimism in investing in startups, conspiracy theories, and his views on conventional wisdom in investing.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Meb on X at @MebFaber
Follow World of DaaS @WorldOfDaaS
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Dr. Neil Buddy Shah is the CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the former managing director of GiveWell.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Buddy dive into all things data, public health, and AI. Buddy discusses innovative solutions for data scarcity in low-income countries, such as using machine learning algorithms to better target social and medical aid. He also explores the potential of low-cost surveys and the role of cell phones in data collection.
Buddy is a longtime member of the effective altruism movement and the former managing director of GiveWell, a EA-focused organization that evaluates charities based on their cost-effectiveness. He shares some nuanced insights on the EA movement’s strengths and weaknesses, and where he’d like to see it improve.
Auren and Buddy also discuss the impact of economic growth and governance on public health, the decline in HIV/AIDS lethality, the decline in trust of experts, and the Forbes Under 30 list.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Buddy on X at @NeilBuddyShah
Follow World of DaaS @WorldOfDaaS
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Dan Siroker is the co-founder and CEO of Rewind AI. He also co-founded Optimizely, and he was the Director of Analytics at Obama’s first presidential campaign.
On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Dan discuss how Rewind raised its Series A in public, and how the unconventional move benefited the company. Dan shares insights on creating a compelling pitch and the importance of practicing and honing the pitch through meetings with investors.
Dan also discusses the challenges and opportunities in building screenless wearable devices, and what future wearables could look like. Auren and Dan explore how wearable AI tech could affect cancel culture, transparency, and surveillance. The conversation closes with Dan’s advice for parent founders and his thoughts on conventional wisdom and advice.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Dan Siroker on X at @dsiroker.
Follow World of DaaS @WorldOfDaaS
Emil Michael was the Chief Business Officer at $UBER during its hyperscale period from 2013 to 2017. He’s currently the CEO of DPCM Capital, and he’s also a strategic advisor to a number of amazing companies, including Codecademy, GroupMe and Taser.
On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Emil cover everything from tech IPOs and Uber's stock performance to the future of AI, the relationship between Uber and Benchmark, and more.
Emil shares insights into the reasons behind the delay in tech IPOs, the profitability of ridesharing companies, and the future for Uber and Lyft as they expand their food delivery businesses and explore new verticals. He also discusses the impact of higher interest rates on startups and the nuances of launching and operating marketplace businesses.
Emil and Auren also have a candid conversation about Uber’s relationship with Benchmark Capital and how it affected the trajectory of the company– Emil thinks Uber could have been 2 or 3 times as large as it is now. He offers key advice for founders on choosing your VCs and keeping execs and the board in alignment.
To close out, Emil also shares some counterintuitive management advice and insights from conducting over 3,000 interviews at Uber.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Emil on X at @emilmichael.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Austen Allred is the founder and CEO of the Bloom Institute of Technology (formerly known as Lambda School), a coding bootcamp that’s helped thousands of students get a job in tech.
The discussion kicks off with an exploration of Income Share Agreements (ISAs) and how BloomTech has used them as an alternative to student loans. Austen shares insights on the financial incentives and regulatory pressures that have prevented more schools from embracing ISAs, and how the current student loan regime works.
Auren and Austen dive deep on education and discuss different funding models at public and private universities, the decline of apprenticeship, and the structural factors that have caused the cost of education to skyrocket in the last few decades. Austen sheds light on questionable practices of for-profit colleges and the intriguing dynamics of universities acquiring coding bootcamps.
As the conversation unfolds, Austen shares insights on how being an investor makes him a better CEO and even delves into intriguing conspiracy theories. The episode wraps up with Austen debunking common management advice and offering unconventional perspectives on micromanagement and employee satisfaction.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Austen Allred at @Austen
Oren Cass is the founder and executive director of the think tank American Compass, and the author of the book The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America. He was also the Domestic Policy Director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign.
In this episode, Oren discusses the limitations of common economic statistics, emphasizing their narrow scope in capturing the overall economic landscape. He challenges prevailing notions about the cost of thriving in the middle class, shedding light on inflation measures and geographical variations that impact individual spending.
The conversation extends to the changing dynamics within conservative ideologies, the role of unions in the new right, and the future of GOP/labor relationships. Oren explores the implications of automation on the workforce, shares insights on globalization, and critiques industrial policy. The episode also touches on the decline of apprenticeships in favor of formal education, concluding with Oren’s unconventional advice on success. Tune in for a straightforward exploration of tech, data, and macroeconomics that challenges conventional economic wisdom.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Oren Cass at @oren_cass on X.
This episode is a rebroadcast of Auren's appearance on Media Empires with Erik Torenberg. Go check out Media Empires for more from the best YouTube creators, podcasters, newsletter writers, and media entrepreneurs.
In this episode, Erik and Auren discuss all things data business, including data on windfalls and net worth, reputational databases, and the failures and successes of LinkedIn.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Erik on Twitter at @eriktorenberg
Greg Lukianoff is the President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). He’s also a bestselling author of several books, including The Coddling of the American Mindand most recently The Canceling of the American Mind.
On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Greg delve into the current state of cancel culture. Greg reveals surprising stats on which schools are the best and worst for free speech in 2024 and breaks down the escalating levels of shoutdowns and violence observed on campuses in 2020 and 2021.
Beyond campus dynamics, the discussion expands to the broader significance of the situation in academia and what the value of a degree should be in the workforce. Greg advocates for a shift in focus from degrees as a metric of value, and talks about what smart companies are looking towards for alternative hiring criteria. Auren and Greg also explore of the origins of cancel culture in 2014, tying in historical lessons on censorship and highlighting the interplay between free speech and the contemporary culture of safetyism.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Greg Lukianoff on X at @glukianoff.
Mary Kay Henry is the president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 2 million people in unions across the US and Canada.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Mary Kay discuss the current surge in the labor movement and what it means for American companies and workers. Mary Kay breaks down some recent developments, including Microsoft's agreement with the Communications Workers of America around unions for game developers.
The conversation also delves into political dynamics, exploring the evolving relationship between Republicans and labor, with Mary Kay providing nuanced insights into why some newly elected figures in the Republican party seem to be evolving on labor issues. They also discuss the effects of immigration on the country’s labor market over the last 50 years, and where the labor movement stands on immigration today.
The episode concludes with Mary Kay sharing advice for CEOs, discussing term limits, and even delving into a conspiracy theory she finds intriguing. The conversation offers a unique glimpse into Mary Kay's leadership philosophy, advocating for a culture of agility and a proactive approach to challenges within the labor movement.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mary Kay Henry on X at @MaryKayHenry.
Joe Lonsdale is a co-founder of a number of amazing companies, including Palantir, Addepar and OpenGov, and he’s a cofounder of the University of Austin. He’s also the founder and managing partner of the venture firm 8VC, and he’s invested in some incredible companies, including Oculus, Anduril, Wish and Flexport.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Joe engage in a thought-provoking discussion on optimism and pessimism, technological progress, and reforming society at the most basic levels. Joe shares his vision for revolutionizing American healthcare, emphasizing the need to fix a broken system without sacrificing innovation. Auren and Joe also explore the challenges within higher education, unpacking surprising statistics about administrator-to-student ratios and contemplating the evolving nature of meritocracy.
As a cofounder of Palantir, Joe has unique insight into the defense industrial complex, and he and Auren delve into the intersection of defense, geopolitics, and technology. Joe makes predictions about the future of defense innovation, and speculates on the emergence of new unicorns in the sector. The episode concludes with a challenging, contrarian take on entrepreneurship, where Lonsdale redefines the qualities required to be a founder and questions some of the conventional wisdom about starting companies.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Joe Lonsdale on X at @JTLonsdale.
Sam Lessin is a GP at Slow Ventures, a former Facebook product manager, and the founder of Drop.io and Fin. He’s also the co-host of an excellent podcast on tech called More or Less.
On this episode of World of DaaS, Sam gives a comprehensive breakdown of the state of venture capital. Auren and Sam discuss the “unicorn factory” for building public companies, the influence of megafunds like Tiger Global and Softbank, and the fundamental changes that VC went through in 2018-2022.
Sam also shares his outlook on the best areas for investment in 2024 and beyond, including which founders are set up to thrive and which businesses are likely to struggle. They also go deep on the dynamics of investing in AI– Sam is confident he knows who the winners will be in artificial intelligence.
To close out, Auren and Sam dive into some of the “weird” investment ideas they’re exploring, like income share agreements and backing creators. They also reflect on the changing global landscape of tech and discuss whether the era of the “open internet” is over.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Sam Lessin on X at @lessin.
Brian Halligan is the co-founder, longtime CEO and now executive chair of Hubspot, a full service platform for marketing, sales and customer service. Hubspot was founded in 2006 and has a market cap of $23B today. Brian coined the term “inbound marketing” and helped give rise to one of the biggest shifts in marketing of the last 20 years.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Brian offers a deep dive into the intricacies of boardroom politics, effective leadership transitions, and the ever-evolving landscape of marketing in the AI age. He offers a candid perspective on what makes a bad board, and how to steer clear of individuals who are a “waste of a board seat.”
As the conversation unfolds, Brian forecasts the future of marketing, envisioning a landscape transformed by AI and the democratization of information. He highlights the unique model of renowned venture capital firm Sequoia and draws comparisons between the cultural dynamics of the tech scenes on the West and East coasts.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Brian Halligan on X at @bhalligan.
This episode is a rebroadcast of Auren’s appearance on the MapScaping Podcast.
In this episode, Auren and MapScaping host Daniel O’Donohue go deep on geospatial data. They start by discussing Placekey– an open entity resolution service for places and addresses. Auren gives a breakdown of the complexities involved with address matching, and what that has to do with the dollar, Unix time, and innovation.
Auren and Daniel also delve into a broader conversation about join keys, data integration and the future of data interoperability.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and on X and Daniel O’Donohue on LinkedIn.
See more from the MapScaping podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts.
Sam Corcos is the CEO of Levels, an a16z-backed health tech startup. While Levels’ mission is amazing, what really sets the company apart is how Sam runs it: Levels is highly transparent, asynchronous first, and serious about leveraging delegation for maximum productivity.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Sam gives a master class on the art of virtual assistance and delegation. Levels uses VAS to allow team members much greater leverage over their work. Sam himself has four EAs that allow him to get an extra 90-120 hours of work done each week.
Auren and Sam also delve into transparency and building in public, a principle Sam champions as a CEO. Sam discusses the leadership skills that allowed him to build enough trust in his organization to try out experimental management techniques like radical transparency and asynchronous-first communication.
Sam isn’t just an optimizer in his professional life– he’s a hardcore minimalist (he owns just one pair of pants), a digital nomad, and a deeply intentional thinker on matters in his personal life. Sam shares the mathematical formula that led him from single to married in six months, how he thinks about consumerism, and his formula for throwing the perfect salon dinner.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Sam on X at @SamCorcos
Jeff Lawson is the cofounder and CEO of Twilio, a $10 billion public software communications company.
Jeff has an incredible founder story. Prior to Twilio, he co-founded Versity, which he sold for $30 million when he was just 23 years old. He was also the founding CTO of Stubhub and one of the first product managers at AWS. He founded Twilio in 2008.
In this episode, Jeff shares his insights into the API economy, scaling successful businesses, and the future of the SaaS business model. Jeff and Auren reflect on the evolution of SaaS and discuss which areas still have yet to be disrupted.
Jeff dives into Twilio’s fascinating journey, including his takes on raising money in a challenging environment and pitching new technology to investors. He provides a firsthand account of Twilio’s journey from startup to billion dollar public company, including how they built a top tier sales organization. He and Auren also discuss API business models, the challenges of M&A, and breaking down internal silos that hold companies back.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jeff Lawson on X at @jeffiel.
Spencer Kimball is the founder and CEO of Cockroach Labs, a $5 billion company that makes the CockroachDB database used by Netflix, Nubank, Shipt, and many other leading tech companies. Spencer was building and contributing to major open source projects before he graduated from college.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Spencer and Auren do a deep dive on open source companies: How they make money, what the ecosystem looks like in 2023, and competing with the giants like AWS and Oracle.
Auren and Spencer open with an in-depth history lesson on the software industry and open source’s role in it. Spencer explains how open source and open core companies evolved and how the rise of cloud giants like AWS has changed the industry. They also discuss how belief and optimism affects founders, Spencer’s “hierarchy of success,” and essential advice for first time founders.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Spencer on LinkedIn.
Michael Seibel is a group partner at Y Combinator and the managing director of YC's startup accelerator. He evaluates 1000s of startups a year and sees hundreds go through YC, which means he has better data on startup success than just about anyone in tech. He’s also the cofounder of Twitch.
In this episode, Michael and Auren dive into the startup landscape and the inner workings of Y Combinator. As a partner at YC, Michael sheds light on the top qualities he seeks in applicants, drawing from his experience of sifting through a staggering 20,000 yearly applications to their accelerator program.
They also discuss Michael’s journey as co-founder of Twitch (formerly known as Justin.tv), which now boasts an impressive 140 million monthly active users and was acquired by Amazon for roughly $1B. Michael delves into the mistakes Twitch made along the way and the surprising advice that saved the company from collapse.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Michael on Twitter at @mwseibel.
Ben Horowitz is the cofounder and CEO of Andreessen Horowitz, the most influential venture capital firm of the last 20 years. Ben and Andreessen Horowitz (also known as a16z) have invested in some of the biggest companies out there, including AirBnb, Coinbase, Facebook, Instacart, GitHub and Oculus.
Prior to his VC career, Ben founded Opsware/Loudcloud, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion. He’s also the author of the bestselling books 'The Hard Thing About Hard Things' and ‘What You Do Is Who You Are.’
In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Ben discuss the data moats, AI vs software, and the nuances of the modern VC. Ben starts by exploring whether AI will eat the world like software has, and who the winners and losers of the AI revolution might be.
They also explore one of Ben’s best-known management concepts: wartime to peacetime CEOs, and how every CEO should be thinking about strategy and adaptability during broader tech headwinds. Ben's offers a candid perspective on how to build the right culture and what sets Andreessen Horowitz apart in the venture capital world.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Ben on Twitter at @bhorowitz.
Guillermo Rauch is the founder and CEO of Vercel, a cloud platform that powers some of the biggest names on the internet, like Patreon, Ebay, Netflix and Adobe.
Guillermo has an incredible founder story– he began coding at age 10, dropped out of high school and moved from his native Argentina to San Francisco as a teenager. He’s also the creator of several major open source projects and a dual threat CEO who runs his own solo VC firm, Rauch Capital.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Guillermo and Auren discuss the future of web development, the significance of user experience, and the rise of developer-first companies. They also explore the world of open-source business models and AI's impact on data interactions.
Guillermo also shares his unique personal journey and some thought-provoking insights on health, the immigrant experience and conspiracy theories.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Guillermo on Twitter at @rauchg.
Andrew Ross Sorkin is a financial columnist for the New York Times, a co-anchor of CNBC’s Squawk Box and the founder and editor of DealBook. He’s also the co-creator of the hit-show Billions and the author of the bestselling bookToo Big To Fail, on the 2008 financial crisis.
On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Andrew dive into the intersecting realms of technology, finance, and data. Andrew offers non-obvious insights into the 2008 financial crisis, highlighting the nuances of a pivotal moment in history. He also discusses the evolution of the banking system since 2008, and how that crisis compares to the SVB collapse earlier this year.
As the conversation unfolds, Andrew delves into topics such as venture capital in the media industry, AI's role in copyright, changes in M&A driven by private equity, and even touches on intriguing subjects like independent media and conspiracy theories.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Andrew on Twitter @andrewrsorkin or at NYT DealBook.
Peter Thiel is one of the greatest entrepreneurs and investors of his generation. He was the co-founder and CEO of PayPal, the first investor in Facebook, and co-founder of Palantir Technologies. He’s the founder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Founders Fund, and the author of Zero to One, one of the best business books of all time.
In this episode, Auren and Peter dive deep on venture capital, scientific stagnation, AI, tech start-ups, and more. Peter shares his compelling theory for why scientific progress has slowed down dramatically in the last decades, and explains how that’s affected start-ups and investing.
Auren and Peter also survey the global economic landscape and discuss why the US and China have outperformed the rest of the world's economies by such a wide margin. Peter breaks down the conclusions from his book The Diversity Myth and explains why “competition is for losers.”
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Peter Thiel on Twitter at @peterthiel.
Amjad Masad is the founder and CEO of Replit, an online coding environment.
Amjad and Auren discuss what the rise of AI means for coding, developers, and tech companies. Amjad shares his thoughts on consumer vs creator computer culture, why development hasn’t moved to the cloud faster, and why everyone should be able to call themselves a programmer.
They also discuss Amjad’s experience coming from Jordan to start a company in the US. Amjad shares whether he still thinks Silicon Valley is the best place for startups. They also discuss unique considerations for CEOs that aren’t talked about often: free speech as an executive, assessing expert opinion, and how investing makes you a better CEO.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Amjad Masad on Twitter at @amasad.
Sir Martin Sorrell is the founder of WPP, one of the largest advertising agencies in the world, which he ran for over 30 years. He’s currently the executive chairman of S4 Capital, which is a pure play digital advertising company he founded in 2018.
In this episode, Auren and Martin dive into the fascinating intersection of AI in advertising, the economic impact of Brexit, and the ever-evolving landscape of ad revenue at big tech companies.
Martin shares his global outlook for advertising, including the regions he’s most bullish about, and he also outlines how the UK mishandled its economic opportunities with Brexit.
Auren and Martin also dive deep into some technical concerns in the advertising space, including cookie deprecation, ad targeting, and brand building in the social media era.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Martin Sorrell on Twitter at @martinsorrell.
Neil Strauss is a 10x New York Times bestselling author and a renowned journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Esquire.
Neil and host Auren Hoffman delve into the intriguing world of charisma, self-improvement, and relationships. Neil explains how anyone can learn to be more charismatic, and what charisma has to do with group dynamics.
The conversation then shifts to personal transformation and the challenges of breaking recurring patterns. Neil challenges societal notions of relationships and discusses the evolving role of emotional intelligence in today's world.
As the discussion unfolds, Neil delves into the impact of AI on creative work and social media credulity, providing a unique perspective on technology's influence. The podcast touches on various thought-provoking topics, from NFTs and Neil’s book on the Bored Ape Yacht Club to relationships with AI and modern parenting.
Throughout, Neil Strauss offers a candid take on common advice and shares his intriguing thoughts on conspiracy theories.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Neil Strauss on Twitter at @neilstrauss.
Bram Cohen is the creator of BitTorrent, which revolutionized digital entertainment and has been downloaded over two billion times.
Today, Bram is the founder and CTO of Chia network, which manages the Chia cryptocurrency. Chia uses a unique proof of space model, in contrast to proof or work or proof of stake models like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Bram and host Auren Hoffman discuss a wide range of topics related to technology, data science, and cryptocurrencies. Bram begins by sharing insights into Chia, Crypto, and BitTorrent, touching upon the importance of breakthroughs in data science and the limitations of recommendation algorithms when dealing with poor-quality data and misaligned incentives.
Bram also highlights the dominance of BitTorrent in internet traffic and discusses the role of decentralized compute work, proof of space, and the revolutionary potential of decentralization.
Additionally, the podcast delves into subjects like the hype around cryptocurrencies, the possibility of a banking collapse, and even Bram's personal beliefs regarding conspiracy theories.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
To learn more about SafeGraph, visit https://www.safegraph.com
To learn more about Flex Capital, visit https://www.flexcapital.com
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Bram on Twitter @bramcohen and on Substack.
Bryan Johnson is the founder of the payments processing company Braintree, which sold to Paypal for $800 million in 2012. He’s also the founder of OS Fund, which invests in advancing genomic and biological technology, and Kernel, which is focused on developing brain-machine interfaces. In 2021, he launched Project Blueprint, which aims to slow and reverse the aging process in the human body. He's spent millions of dollars optimizing and tracking his health, becoming the "most measured man in history."
Auren and Bryan delve into a comprehensive discussion about optimizing health, longevity, and well-being. Bryan Johnson starts by sharing insights into his biological age and training regimen, including strategies for enhancing V02 Max. He elaborates on motivating oneself for rigorous training and emphasizes Blueprint as a positive pathway for health transformation.
They also explore fasting windows and their effects on sleep, along with the scientific formulation of Bryan's diet and the importance of aesthetics to the overall anti-aging project. Bryan explains what he recommends as a starting point for anyone interested in implementing the Blueprint, along with the supplements and medications that are part of his daily regimen. Finally, Auren and Bryan explore ideas of addiction and self control, the future of humanity, and the role of data in decision-making.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Bryan Johnson on Twitter at @byan_johnson.
Sue Gordon is the former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. She had a 30+ year career with the CIA, as well as serving as Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Auren and Sue discuss shifting global power dynamics and the nature of modern intelligence in an ever-evolving world.They delve into the realm of cyber defense and Sue gives an overview of the expanding threat landscape that stretches far beyond government borders. They also discuss open source intelligence (OSINT) and the cutting-edge world of satellite technology and geospatial intelligence.
Sue and Auren also explore the dynamics of coalitions and how they’ve challenged established perceptions about military invasions and global power dynamics in the wake of the Ukraine invasion. They also discuss the inner workings of INQTEL, the CIA's technology investment arm, and get a firsthand account of Sue Gordon's extensive experience at the helm of various CIA departments.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Sue Gordon on LinkedIn.
Ajit Pai is the former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, where he served from 2017 to 2021. He’s currently a partner at Searchlight Capital.
Auren and Ajit delve into the intricacies of technology regulation, including the nuances of regulating AI and crypto. Ajit outlines the essential triggers for preemptive intervention, and the many unintended consequences of Section 230 and Europe’s GDPR privacy regulation.
They also discuss the anticompetitive nature of big tech, censorship concerns, and the aftermath of net neutrality debates. Shifting to communication infrastructure, Ajit and Auren break down the amazing explosion of the commercial satellite industry. Ajit shares how the FCC is modernizing the broadcast spectrum for faster WIFI and better mobile connectivity.
They finish with a discussion of the overall health of private equity– which firms will fare well coming out of the pandemic bubble, and which could face collapse as interest rates and valuations change.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Ajit on Twitter @AjitPai.
Steven Pinker is a linguist, cognitive scientist, and a professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard. He’s the author of twelve books, including the bestsellers How the Mind Works, Enlightenment Now, and most recently Rationality.
Auren and Steven delve into the world of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and intellectual freedom. Steven brings his perspective from cognitive psychology to explain how AI does (and does not) mirror the human brain.
They also explore the complexities of disasters, rationality, and academic freedom, with Steven emphasizing the necessity of open debates in universities. The episode concludes with a thought-provoking discussion on honesty, common knowledge, and communication, pondering on the idea that humans sometimes need to forget the truth to remain human.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Steven on Twitter at @sapinker.
Erik Torenberg was the first employee at Product Hunt, and the founder and chairman of On Deck. He’s currently a partner at Village Global and the founder of Turpentine podcast network.
Erik and Auren discuss the startup founder mindset and what it takes to be successful in tech. Erik shares the career strategies and frameworks that have allowed him to found multiple companies and a venture capital firm.
They also discuss unconventional financial arrangements that could allow more people to found companies, like income share agreements and equity pooling. Erik also shares some of his insights on podcasting and why it’s one of the best ways to learn.
To learn more about SafeGraph, visit https://www.safegraph.com
To learn more about Flex Capital, visit https://www.flexcapital.com
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Erik on Twitter at @eriktorenberg
Jesse is the founder and CEO of Gateway X, a venture studio focused on DTC brands. Previously, he was the co-founder and CEO of Ampush, a digital marketing firm which he bootstrapped to an eight figure exit.
Jesse and Auren break down some of the nuances of digital marketing and discuss the state of marketing on the major tech platforms today. They also discuss Red Ventures, “the most impressive company you’ve never heard of.”
Jesse is an expert on DTC companies and shares his insights on the space overall, including where he thinks the next major companies will be built. Auren and Jesse also do a deep dive into the venture studio model and explore how Jesse structures the business and hires CEOs.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Jesse on Twitter @jspujji.
Immad Akhund is the CEO of Mercury, a bank for startups. He’s also a multi-time founder and a Dual Threat CEO with over 300+ angel investments.
Auren and Immad discuss the collapse of SVB and how Mercury handled an influx of over $2 billion in deposits. Immad explains some lesser-known structural aspects of the banking system that affect the product and customer experience.
Auren and Immad also talk about crowdfunding a startup, how much focus founders need to succeed, and why Dual Threat CEOs can outperform conventional VCs.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Immad on Twitter @immad.
HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud was the head of Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Directorate for 24 years. He also served as the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the UK, Ireland, and the United States, and he’s the author of The Afghanistan File.
Auren and Prince Turki discuss the complex history of Afghanistan and Middle East geopolitics. Prince Turki shares his thoughts on the mistakes made by the U.S. in Afghanistan, the consequences of negotiating with the Taliban, and how the U.S. could have made a better strategic exit from the country.
They also delve into the failure of Israeli peace talks, the rise of Chinese diplomacy, and the nature of Iran’s nuclear program. Finally, Prince Turki provides insights into the changing landscape of the oil market, the impact of fracking on OPEC+, and the plateau that frackers have reached in the industry.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren.
Dmitri Alperovitch is the co-founder and former CTO of CrowdStrike and the founder of Silverado Policy Accelerator.
Dmitri and Auren delve into the complexities of cyber warfare, geopolitics, and their intersections. Dmitri explains the intricacies of the 'vulnerabilities equities process' and the challenges in making software safer.
The conversation also explores the realm of cyber weapons and Ukraine's resilience in combating cyber attacks. Shifting to geopolitics, they discuss the implications of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China's strategic objectives, and the changing communication dynamics due to Starlink satellites.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Dmitri on Twitter at @DAlperovitch
Nick Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic. Prior to that, he was editor-in-chief of Wired and a senior editor at The New Yorker.
Nick and Auren discuss the evolving relationship between tech and media and the impact of social media platforms like Twitter on these industries. Nick shares insights into the tech industry's self-narratives and its influence on politics.
They also delve into the world of AI and its implications for journalism, from generating news stories to creating children's books. Nick discusses advertising challenges in the journalism industry, the dynamics of tech billionaires owning media companies, and the potential of conversation platforms like Speak Easy AI to foster positive conversations and political diversity.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Nick on Twitter at @nxthompson
Hadi Partovi is the founder and CEO of Code.org. He also founded Tellme Networks and ILike, held leadership roles at Microsoft and Myspace, and angel invested in a number of incredible companies, including Facebook, DropBox, Airbnb, and Uber.
Hadi and Auren discuss making computer science as part of the core curriculum in public education. Hadi explains the importance of learning basic computer science and explores how AI will change software development and education.
Hadi also shares insights and anecdotes from his experiences with some of the most powerful leaders in tech, (like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs) and what their management styles all had in common. Hadi also talks about the thought processes that lead him to make early investments in amazing companies like Facebook and Uber.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Hadi Partovi on Twitter at @hadip.
David Sinclair is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and the founder of the Sinclair Lab. He’s the author of the bestselling book Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To, as well as a founder of several biotech companies.
Auren and David discuss the potential to expand the average human lifespan by decades. David challenges traditional notions of aging and emphasizes the need to embrace new technologies. They also discuss the benefits and drawbacks of common anti-aging practices like interval training, fasting, and stress reduction.
David shares his thoughts on what longevity medicines and supplements are most beneficial, and how to talk to your doctor about them. He breaks down which health metrics to monitor in treating and preventing aging. Overall, David offers an incredibly optimistic vision for what the future of aging could look like, and the science it will take to get there.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and David Sinclair on Twitter at @davidasinclair
Matt Kaminski is the Editor in Chief of Politico and the founding editor of Politico Europe.
Auren and Matt discuss the challenges of restoring trust in journalism and navigating politics in the digital age. Matt highlights the complicated nuances of getting a story right, the role of bias in journalism, and the need to protect free speech. He also discusses how Politico approached breaking the story of the leaked decision in the Supreme Court’s Dobbs case.
Matt and Auren also explore the evolving landscape of media coverage, and whether or not there’s a conspiracy against Gen X people.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Matt Kaminski on Twitter at @KaminskiMK
Marissa Mayer was the CEO of Yahoo and the 20th employee at Google, where she held key leadership roles in major Google products including Search, Maps, and Gmail. She’s currently the co-founder and CEO of Sunshine.
Marissa and Auren discuss the unexpected turn AI has taken towards creativity and expression, and its impact on coding and software engineering. They also explore how AI can improve software engineering and potentially affect the business models of tech giants like Google.
Marissa shares insights from her experiences at Google and Yahoo, focusing on bureaucracy and efficiency within tech companies, as well as the origin of Google’s famous APM program and her insights for developing talent. They also talk about Marissa’s startup Sunshine Contacts, building a personal relationship manager, and managing contacts in the age of AI.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Marissa Mayer on Twitter at @marissamayer.
Tom Tugendhat is the UK’s Minister of State for Security and a British Member of Parliament. He was previously the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, and before that he served multiple tours in the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Auren and Tom discuss the role of the UK's Minister of State for Security and Tom’s work with cybersecurity, intelligence gathering, and defense. Tom highlights some of the most overlooked factors in security and what government and private actors should be doing to improve their resilience against cyber threats.
Tom and Auren also dive into the changing world of intelligence gathering and open source intelligence (OSINT). They discuss the role of OSINT in understanding the environment and context of situations, how organizations like Bellincat operate, and using OSINT for making predictions.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Tom Tugendhat on Twitter at @TomTugendhat.
Jack Abraham is the founder of Atomic, a startup studio that has launched several dozen companies including Hims & Hers, Openstore, and Bungalow. Before starting Atomic, Jack co-founded Milo, which he sold to eBay.
Auren and Jack discuss how the studio fund model works and what’s allowed Atomic to be successful in a space where many other studios have failed. Jack breaks down the process of finding scalable ideas and deciding which ones to allocate resources to.
Auren and Jack also dive into the history of the startup studio model and highlight the success stories of companies like Uber, Twitter, and Moderna that originated from studios. They also discuss the benefits of starting a company during a downturn, scaling companies quickly, and the art of branding for both DTC and B2B companies. Jack also shares his thoughts on what’s made Miami a tech hub and where the city will be going in the future.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Jack Abraham on Twitter at @jackabraham.
Will Manidis is the CEO and founder of ScienceIO, which builds data solutions for health care. He was previously a managing partner at Dorm Room Fund, and a Thiel Fellow.
Auren and Will discuss American dynamism and the future of knowledge work. Will breaks down his view that technology has not improved our lives as much as it should have. He explains how the nature of platform shifts have accelerated tech earnings over the last decade, but kept actual progress low.
Will and Auren also do a deep dive on healthcare: why it’s so expensive, why healthcare data is so difficult to work with, and what can be changed. Will emphasizes the need for more usable healthcare data and breaks down how operational workflows consume most of the healthcare dollars spent in the US.
They also discuss Will’s practical advice for young founders (as a founder and former Thiel fellow), his early work on classical Greek and Latin, and why everyone should believe in demons.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Will Manidis on Twitter at @WillManidis.
Avlok Kohli is the CEO of AngelList and the founder of FastBite and Fairy.
Auren and Avlok discuss the underestimated impact of AI and how it could be creating a tech mega cycle. Avlok explains the importance of unique data as a moat for companies building on top of large language models, and how this technology can disrupt incumbents.
They also discuss the rise of Dual Threat CEOs and their outsized success in early stage venture capital. Avlok makes the case for why more current operators should start funds, and explains why they’ll thrive in the changing VC landscape.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Avlok Kohli on Twitter at @avlok.
Elad Gil is a prolific angel investor and advisor whose early investments include AirBnb, Coinbase, Pinterest, Stripe, and Square. He’s also the founder of Color Health and author of the bestselling book High Growth Handbook.
Elad and Auren discuss the challenges and opportunities for startups in the emerging AI technology landscape, particularly in comparison to incumbent companies. Elad breaks down what he’s learned as an angel investor and provides some non-generic advice for making good early-stage investments.
Auren and Elad also discuss fundraising and operating in lean times, the potential for life extension drugs, and why the biotech market is so fragmented.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Elad Gil on Twitter at @eladgil.
Johnathan Bi is the host of a fantastic seven-part lecture series on the work of philosopher René Girard. He’s also a member of the founding team at Opto Investments.
Auren and Johnathan discuss some of the fundamental concepts in Girard’s philosophy and how they apply to startups, venture capital, and life more broadly. They break down physical vs metaphysical desire, the power of self-delusion, and Girard's concept of zero-sum and negative-sum human interactions.
Johnathan explains what to make of Girard’s apocalyptic thoughts on the future of humanity, and makes some useful recommendations for using mimetic theory to improve your life.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Johnathan Bi on Twitter at @JohnathanBi.
Nicole Perlroth was the New York Times’ lead cybersecurity reporter for over a decade. She’s an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Advisory Committee and the author of the bestselling book This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends.
Auren and Nicole discuss the global cyber landscape— which countries have the strongest hacking capabilities, how Ukraine has changed cyber warfare, and where the US stacks up against its adversaries.
Nicole also shares insights on personal opsec and recounts her experience tracking down a potential leaker behind the Shadow Brokers hack of the NSA.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Nicole Perlroth on Twitter at @nicoleperlroth.
Sigal Mandelker served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence from 2017 to 2019. She’s currently a general partner at Ribbit Capital, which invests in fintech companies.
Sigal and Auren discuss how sanctions actually work and what makes them effective. Sigal explains how the US’s role in the global financial system could change as new financial technology evolves. They also discuss how the government should work with the private sector, why crypto regulation has moved so slowly, and where the US is starting to look to other countries for regulatory leadership.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph & Flex Capital. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Sigal Mandelker on LinkedIn.
Jonathan Greenblatt is the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. Prior to leading the ADL, he was the founder of Ethos Brands, VP of Global Consumer Products at Starbucks, and Director of the Office of Social Innovation during the Obama administration.
Auren and Jonathan discuss the role of technology in amplifying hate and extremism in society, and what tech companies and regulators should do about it. Jonathan breaks down how Section 230 could be reformed and how tech companies should approach moderation. They also discuss what the boundaries of free speech, comedy and anonymity should be on the internet.
Jonathan gives an overview of the ADL’s research and the unparalleled data they have on extremism in the US. He shares insights from the ADL’s nearly 100 years of public opinion polling and puts the most recent figures in historical context.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Jonathan Greenblatt on Twitter @JGreenblattADL.
Dr. Jonathan Levin is the Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He’s the winner of the 2011 John Bates Medal, and an expert in market design, game theory, and industrial organization.
Auren and Jon discuss how Stanford GSB, one of the most selective schools in the world, thinks about finding talent. Jon breaks down the non-obvious ways universities foster innovation, and how that path of research differs from the private sector.
They also discuss whether or not hedge fund managers are overcompensated, what datasets could improve public policy, and what kind of hard and soft skills are the most important today.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Jon Levin on LinkedIn or at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Dr. Nir Barzilai discovered the first “longevity gene” in humans and pioneered key research around the biology of aging. He’s the founding director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the author of the book Age Later.
Nir and Auren discuss the most promising studies and treatments in the field of anti-aging research and break down the major takeaways from Nir’s seminal studies on centenarians— why they live longer, and what the rest of us can learn from them.
Nir also explains the role of genetics vs. environment in longevity and makes some data-backed recommendations for anyone who wants to live a longer, healthier life.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Nir Barzilai on Twitter @NirBarzilaiMD.
Tony is a retired 4-star US Army General and was the commander of the US Special Operations Command from 2016 to 2019. During his 35-year military career, he played a key role in numerous high-profile operations, including the mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. He’s currently a partner at Lux Capital.
Auren and Tony discuss what we’ve learned from the war in Ukraine and which countries are the strategic winners and losers of the conflict. Tony has a clear, nuanced view of Russia’s strengths and weaknesses and explains how the U.S. should be positioning itself against China.
Auren and Tony also break down how AI should be implemented in military technology, whether NATO is still relevant, and which of the US’s major weapons systems are obsolete.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Tony Thomas on Twitter @TonyT2Thomas.
Auren and Megan discuss some of the less obvious factors that contributed to the superheated economy of the last decade. Megan breaks down how she thinks about monopolies in the tech sector and explains one of the most misunderstood things about markets.
Megan also shares some of her insights on politics and culture. She explains how one of the most popular negotiation techniques in politics almost never works, how companies should think about cancellation mobs, and why there’s no point having a pen name on the internet anymore.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Megan McArdle on Twitter @asymmetricinfo.
Jaan Tallinn is one of the founding engineers of Skype and the file-sharing service Kazaa. He’s also a co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the Future of Life Institute.
Auren and Jaan discuss the trajectory of artificial intelligence and the existential risks it could present to humanity. Jann talks about the prevailing attitudes towards risk in AI research and what needs to change in order get aligned, safe AI.
Jaan and Auren also talk about how Jaan’s native Estonia has become one of the most tech-forward societies in Europe.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Jaan Tallinn’s work on YouTube and at the Centre for Existential Risk and the Future of Life Institute.
Baroness Dido Harding has held high-level leadership roles in the UK’s National Health Service and in the private sector, at companies like TalkTalk, Tesco, and Thomas Cook. She was executive chair of the NHS’s COVID-19 Test and Trace effort.
Dido and Auren break down what we’ve learned about data and public health during the pandemic. Dido explains how publicly accessible data helped leaders and the general public make decisions, and outlines what we should be doing to prepare for the next pandemic.
Auren and Dido also talk about running large organizations, staying productive, and what the public and private sectors have in common.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Dido Harding on Twitter at @didoharding.
Oren Etzioni was the founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, or AI2. He’s founded multiple companies that had successful exits, and he’s a professor emeritus at the University of Washington.
Oren Etzioni and host Auren Hoffman discuss Oren’s criteria for artificial general intelligence and what signs he’s looking for to indicate that AGI is about to emerge. They talk about major issues in AI research right now, including the cost of compute, accessing data, and adversarial versus collaborative AI training methods.
Oren shares how AI2 has been able to spin out so many successful companies and how he's found the balance between running a research organization and a business.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Oren Etzioni on Twitter at @etzioni
Vivek Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur, investor and author. He founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and Strive Asset Management in 2021. He’s also the author of the bestselling books Woke Inc. and Nation of Victims.
Auren and Vivek discuss how CEOs and leaders should think about ideology in the workplace— both their own and their employees’. Vivek breaks down the history of the ESG movement and pulls back the veil on two companies that have massive, little-understood power over the public markets— proxy advisory services ISS and Glass Lewis.
Vivek also talks about what drives the pharmaceutical industry and what’s holding it back from greater innovation.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Vivek Ramaswamy on Twitter at @VivekGRamaswamy
David is a co-founder and partner at Craft Ventures, one of the foremost SaaS VCs. He was the former COO at Paypal and he’s invested in over 20 unicorns, including AirBnB, Facebook, Palantir, Uber, and SpaceX.
David and Auren discuss the state of SaaS in 2023 and consider how layoffs, seat contraction, and the broader macro environment could affect the ecosystem this year. David shares some advice on how companies should be positioning themselves to weather the downturn. They also talk about bubbles and cycles in tech, how to spot stand-out founders early, and which analysts have the best record on foreign policy.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and David Sacks on Twitter at @DavidSacks
Bret Stephens is a foreign affairs columnist at the New York Times and author of America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder.
Auren and Bret discuss major takeaways from the war in Ukraine, and the US's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bret offers predictions about the future of warfare and weaponry, and explains what the US will have to do to remain the preeminent global power through the next decade. They also discuss cancel culture, decadence, and environmentalism.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Bret Stephens at the New York Times Opinion section. nytimes.com/column/bret-stephens
Thani Shamsi is the co-founder and CEO of Datarade, a Berlin-based data commerce platform.
Auren and Thani dive deep into the data market and discuss how it’s developed in comparison to SaaS. Thani shares his insights on how the most successful data companies drive sales and how expects the data space to evolve.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Thani Shamsi on Twitter @ThaniShamsi.
Amit Bendov is a serial founder who’s scaled three unicorn software companies to massive exits. He’s currently the co-founder and CEO of Gong, an AI sales intelligence platform.
Auren and Amit discuss the best practices for B2B sales, based on data Gong has collected from over a billion sales conversations. Amit breaks down how winning strategies have changed in the challenging macro environment.
Auren and Amit also discuss the generational difference in startup founders and what’s made Israel the most startup-dense place on Earth.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Amit Bendov on LinkedIn.
Eric Frank is the founder and CEO of LightBox, a GIS real estate data company. He’s also the creator of ADR.com and former president of the Investment & Advisory division at Thomson Reuters.
Eric brings his perspective from financial services to analyze data adoption in the commercial real estate space. He outlines some non-obvious effects of COVID on the market and breaks down where real estate tech is headed.
Eric and Auren also discuss building a business through acquisitions, and how Eric managed to integrate the different technology companies that make up LightBox today.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Eric Frank on Twitter at @ericfrank.
Bryan Mistele is the founder and CEO of INRIX, a leading provider of traffic data and analytics.
Auren and Bryan discuss how vehicle technology is changing and when we can expect to see mass adoption of driverless cars in the US and around the world. Bryan breaks down which industries he expects will go autonomous first and how self-driving will affect total vehicle sales.
Auren and Bryan also discuss the intricacies of operating a global data company and what better safety data could do for transportation.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Bryan on Twitter at @BryanMi.
Sarah Bond is Corporate Vice President of Xbox’s Game Creator Experience & Ecosystem at Microsoft.
Auren and Sarah discuss the future of gaming across platforms and where Sarah expects to see the most growth in the next few years. They break down the democratization of game development and what the growth of the creator economy could mean for the industry.
Sarah also shares insights on how Microsoft transformed its culture to become a hyper successful acquirer and how she helped lead T-Mobile through its historic turnaround.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Sarah on Twitter at @BondSarah_Bond.
Richard Barlow is the CEO of Wejo, a publicly traded company that collects and analyzes connected vehicle data. Wejo gathers billions of data points a day from cars all over the world.
Richard and Auren discuss the state of global connected vehicle data— what data points are out there right now, how many cars on the road are equipped with connected tech, and what new sensors could do in the future. Richard also explains how data sharing could help get autonomous vehicles to the next level and bring self-driving tech to the mass market.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Richard on Twitter @RichardWejo.
Dimitri Dadiomov is the co-founder and CEO of Modern Treasury, a payment operations software company valued at over $2 billion.
Auren and Dimitri discuss the future of crypto payments, innovation (or lack thereof) in the massive B2B payments space, and what Dimitri expects to change as more instant payment services come on line in the next few years.
They also dive into culture and break down how Dimitri was able to gain traction and scale Modern Treasury to a $2 billion valuation in less than four years.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Dimitri on Twitter at @dadiomov.
Richard Hanania is a foreign policy expert and author. He’s the president of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology and a visiting scholar at the University of Texas’s Salem Center.
Richard and Auren discuss which players have the most sway over American foreign policy and how they’ve affected the US’s global strategic positioning. Richard breaks down the failure of expert opinion in the intelligence community to anticipate events like the fall of Afghanistan and the invasion of Ukraine. They also discuss sanctions, NATO expansion and partisanship in Washington.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Richard on Twitter at @RichardHanania.
Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of Skybridge Capital, which manages over $800 million in digital assets. He’s also the founder of the SALT Conferences, and he briefly served as the White House Communications Director.
Anthony and Auren break down the 2022 crypto crash in depth and discuss the major factors that led to the crash. Anthony shares his perspective on potential crypto regulation, institutional investing in the space, and which blockchain technologies he expects to become dominant.
In addition to crypto, Auren and Anthony also discuss working in politics, the art of throwing good events, and Anthony’s finest Long Island wisdom.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Anthony on Twitter at @Scaramucci.
Keith Rabois is the CEO of Openstore and a general partner at Founders Fund. He’s had an amazing career as a founder and senior operator at some of the most innovative companies of the last 20 years, including Paypal, Square, Opendoor, and LinkedIn.
Auren and Keith take a deep dive into spotting talent— one of Keith’s strengths— and discuss how he’s managed to hire so many incredible people over the years. They break down what makes a successful founder, why sitting on “too many” boards is the right move for VCs, and how Keith has reverse engineered a tech scene in Miami.
Keith has a highly unique perspective and brings sharp insight to everything from fundraising to culture to personal health.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Keith at @Rabois.
Packy McCormick is the founder and writer of Not Boring, a Web3 and startup newsletter. He’s also an investor at Not Boring Capital.
Packy and Auren dive into the tech landscape on a generational scale and talk about the loss of tech optimism and what’s limiting technological progress today. They discuss how to evaluate early-stage companies as investments and Packy shares his insight on what he looks for in crypto and Web3 companies.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Packy at @PackyM.
Grover Norquist is the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform and one of the most influential conservative activists in Washington.
Grover and Auren discuss the historical balance of power between the two parties and what partisan realignment has meant for the country. They also talk about the future of the filibuster in the Senate and the structural shifts that have occurred in taxation, investing, and education in the last 30 years.
Grover is one of the most long-term thinkers in the political space and he gives a master class on thinking about strategy in decades, rather than election cycles.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Grover on Twitter at @GroverNorquist
Michael Brown recently finished his term as director of the Defense Innovation Unit, a DoD organization focused on accelerating the adoption of commercial technology by the military.
Auren and Michael go in depth on defense spending and discuss how to reform the budget process. Michael outlines the challenges of buying commercial technology for the military and offers some advice for startups looking to work with the government. They also discuss how new technologies are being used in the war in Ukraine and what the government can do to hire more innovative people.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Michael on LinkedIn at @michaelabrownceo.
Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT 4th) serves as the chair of the National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee.
Jim and Auren discuss Jim’s recent white paper on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that explored the potential for a US CBDC and how it should be structured. They also talk about what regulation could mean for the crypto landscape and discuss why it’s so hard for the military to buy innovative tech.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Jim on Twitter at @jahimes.
Jason Gardner is the founder and CEO of Marqeta, an open-API card issuing platform used by companies like Square, Doordash, and Uber.
Jason is one of the most knowledgeable people in the complex world of payments. He gives an in depth breakdown of how the global payments system actually works and shares his outlook on disruptors like crypto and mobile wallets. Jason and Auren also talk about the differences between startup and scale CEOs, the process of going public, and what the best executive chairmen have in common.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Jason on Twitter at @jmgards.
Tim Urban is the creator of Wait But Why, a blog with over half a million monthly subscribers. He writes about productivity, science, politics and the future.
Tim and Auren discuss some of Tim’s biggest ideas around technology, including cryonics, life extension, and artificial superintelligence. They break down Tim’s framework for understanding political polarization and Tim shares his unique perspective on tackling some of life’s biggest challenges, from beating procrastination to marrying the right person.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Tim on Twitter @waitbutwhy or on his blog Wait But Why.
RJ Pittman is the CEO of Matterport, a $1.2 billion market cap spatial data and 3D capture company.
RJ and Auren discuss the mechanics of bringing real estate, an “offline” asset class, into the 21st century. RJ talks about the company’s decision to launch a smartphone capture app and adopt a freemium model. He also shares some insight on entering an organization as a non-founder CEO.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and RJ Pittman on Twitter @rjpittman.
Mark Penn is the CEO of Stagwell and a longtime pollster and strategic advisor. He’s a former senior executive at Microsoft and has advised politicians including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.
Mark and Auren discuss Mark’s books Microtrends and Microtrends Squared, in which Mark identified minor demographic trends and predicted their outsized impact on society and the economy. Mark gets into the mechanics of good opinion polling and breaks down the major differences between political and consumer polling, and how internet polling is affecting the industry. They also discuss Stagwell and Mark’s digital-first strategy for disrupting the old-school advertising holding companies.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Mark at @Mark_Penn.
Christopher Ahlberg is the founder and CEO of Recorded Future, a cyberintelligence firm that sold for $780 million in 2019. He formerly co-founded the business intelligence software company Spotfire.
Christopher and Auren discuss the global cybercrime landscape, from emerging threats and ransomware gangs to international conflicts and the geopolitics of taking down hackers. They dive into how the US can improve its cyber defenses, both in the public and private spheres, and talk about the sprawling US security apparatus. They also discuss cyber operations in Ukraine and what we can expect from future conflicts.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Christopher on Twitter @cahlberg.
Terry Kawaja is the founder and CEO of Luma Partners, a media and technology investment bank. Terry has advised on over $300 billion in transactions, including some of the biggest deals in media, tech and advertising.
Auren and Terry discuss the changes in the markets over the last few months and what they expect from the M&A landscape in the near term. Terry shares his thoughts on the long-term outlook for consolidation in the media and advertising space and where he thinks the next most innovative companies will appear in adtech.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Terry on twitter @tkawaja.
Sheila Heen is the Deputy Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project and the bestselling author of Difficult Conversations. She’s an internationally recognized negotiation coach and trainer.
Sheila and Auren discuss how to approach your toughest conversations, including best practices for opening a negotiation, defusing conversations that feel adversarial and giving and receiving better feedback. They also talk about the surprising similarities in tough conversations at work and at home, and how you can use negotiation strategies to throw a better dinner party.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren.
Cindy Cohn is the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the largest digital rights organization in the world.
In this wide ranging conversation, Cindy and Auren touch on a number of topics across the tech space, including privacy on the Blockchain, interoperability and the politics around regulating big tech. They discuss the unintended consequences of privacy protections and what smart regulation should seek to accomplish.
Cindy brings a unique perspective to the debate around open access to data and discusses how to think critically about the power that data can unlock.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren.
Neal Katyal is a professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University, a partner at Hogan Lovells law firm, and the former Acting Solicitor General. He has argued 45 cases before the Supreme Court.
Neal and Auren look back on the Supreme Court’s most recent term and Neal brings some historical context to the court’s major decisions. They discuss the court’s new balance of power and Neal explains how Supreme Court lawyers can make arguments on the most complex legal issues in under 30 minutes.
They also talk about productivity, balancing multiple roles, and how to get the best people on your team.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Neal Katyal at @neal_katyal
David Epstein is the author of the New York Times bestsellers “Range” and “The Sports Gene”.
Auren and David discuss David’s latest book Range and his counterintuitive ideas about specialization and why generalists are so powerful. They talk about why the 10,000 hours rule is overrated, how specialists get so many major predictions wrong, and how to think about talent and interest in your own career.
David also discusses some of the intricacies of genetics in medicine and gives some non-obvious advice for healthy living.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and David at @DavidEpstein. You can also find David’s newsletter at https://davidepstein.bulletin.com/.
Rob Buxton is a partner at AGC Partners where he specializes in the DaaS and SaaS capital markets. Rob has completed over 300 financings and M&A transactions in his career.
Rob and Auren dive into the recent trends in the data-as-a-service (DaaS) sector. They break down the insights from Rob’s recent DaaS sector report and dig into what makes the great data companies great and the broader DaaS M&A landscape. Rob walks through the different types of data companies out there, their respective competitive advantages and TAMs, and how the recent downturn has impacted the DaaS space.
They also discuss when external data can benefit a company, what data readiness looks like, and why DaaS companies are so profitable at scale.
Rob’s DaaS sector report can be found here: https://www.blackpeakcapital.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/AGC-DaaS-Mar-2022.pdf
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Rob Buxton on LinkedIn.
Gary Marcus is the Author of Reboot AI and professor at NYU.
Gary and Auren discuss the advancements in and shortcomings of artificial intelligence. They dive into how for AI to be really good, it needs to be built towards human intelligence and gain “Common Sense”, which it lacks today.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Gary Marcus at @GaryMarcus.
Or Offer is Co-Founder and CEO of Similarweb (ticker: SMWB), a digital intelligence data company.
Auren and Or dive into how data businesses actually work. They explore the problems every data company faces: build vs. partner, accuracy vs. coverage, how to think about data costs, and how to focus on your core competencies.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Or at @oroffer.
Antonio Garcia Martinez is the NYT best selling author of Chaos Monkeys. He is a senior fellow at the Lincoln Network. Previously, he was the founder of AdGrok and formerly a product manager at Facebook.
Auren and Antonio explore the unintended consequences of regulation, the growth of the adtech markets, and frameworks to apply when thinking about privacy. They also dive into Antonio’s pursuit of religion in an increasingly complex modern world.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Antonio at @antoniogm.
Liv Boeree is a former world poker champion, a science commentator and content creator, and a philanthropist.
Auren and Liv dive into a broad range of topics including poker, probability, societal progress, artificial intelligence and decision-making. Liv has an incredible mind and has thought deeply about the intricacies of life, society and science.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Liv at @Liv_Boeree.
Jeremy Stanley is Founder and CTO at Anomalo. Previously, he was VP of Data Science at Instacart.
Auren and Jeremy dive into progress in the artificial intelligence field over the past decade and why most people think about AI incorrectly. They also discuss the approaches to building data science teams and the tactics Jeremy has seen work best.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Jeremy Stanley at @jeremystan.
Ryan Breslow is the Chairman at Bolt, a decacorn online checkout startup.
While he’s built one of the fastest growing startups in Silicon Valley, Ryan Breslow is perhaps most famous for his twitter threads about the so-called "Silicon Valley Mob". Auren and Ryan dive into the various claims Ryan made about the Silicon Valley juggernauts like Y Combinator, Stripe and Sequoia.
They also dive into company building and the alternative approaches available to young entrepreneurs out there just starting their journey.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.
You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Ryan Breslow at @theryanking.
Glenn Fogel is CEO at Booking Holdings, a juggernaut in the travel industry. Glenn has a remarkable track record of completing successful acquisitions.
Auren and Glenn dive into the common pitfalls of M&A, the heuristics to apply when evaluating deals and why acquisitions can be transformative when done right. Glenn walks through the many acquisitions Booking Holdings has done in the travel space and their strategy over the years.
They also discuss the experience of being in the travel industry during the pandemic and how Glenn navigated the unprecedented circumstances.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find host Auren Hoffman on twitter @auren.
This episode is a rebroadcast of Auren's appearance on The Data Scientist Show. Auren and Daliana dive into the nuts and bolts of building a geospatial DaaS business.
Daliana Liu is a senior data scientist and host of The Data Scientist Show. You can find her at the following places:
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
Auren is the CEO at SafeGraph and can be found on Twitter @auren.
Barry Nalebuff is the author of Split the Pie, co-founder of Honest Tea and professor of negotiations at Yale.
A big part of the problem with most negotiations is that the parties don’t spend enough time defining the pie and spend too much time bargaining for a larger slice. Barry and Auren discuss tactics that can help you uplevel your negotiation skills 5x.
Barry imparts all his wisdom from years of experience in both academia and from when he sold Honest Tea to Coca Cola.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
Dr. Joel Myers is the founder and CEO of AccuWeather, one of the oldest weather companies in the world.
Weather companies are really data companies at their core. Joel and Auren dive into the early days of commercial meteorology and the challenges of building a business on top of a product that was historically available for free.
Joel has dedicated his entire career to AccuWeather and dives into the nuances of weather forecasting and the immense responsibility that comes with the trade.
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Joel Myers at @DrJoelNMyers
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
Charlie is co-founder and CEO of Sezzle, a $1.2 billion market cap alternative payment platform.
Charlie and Auren dive into the unit economics of Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) businesses, why the “creditization of debit” is the hottest trend, and how underwriting BNPL loans differs from traditional consumer lending.
They also explore data’s role in BNPL and how most fintech companies are on the path of becoming neobanks.
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Charlie Youakim at @CharlieYouakim
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
Jacob Helberg is the author of The Wires of War, senior adviser at the Stanford University Center on Geopolitics and Technology, and co-chair at the Brookings Institution China Strategy Working Group.
Jacob and Auren explore the current tension between global superpowers, the dependencies America has on Chinese hardware and infrastructure and potential solutions to reversing these dependencies.
They also dive into the generational and cultural rift between Capitol Hill and Silicon Valley and how that’s affecting America’s competitive advantage.
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Jacob Helberg at @jacobhelberg
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
Audio version of "It's Our Moral Obligation to Make Data More Accessible" by Auren Hoffman.
You can find the full essay at: safegraph.com/blog/data-accessibility-moral-obligation
Most of the world’s data is sitting on a shelf, being used in a very narrow domain. This data, if properly activated, could solve some of the world’s biggest problems and lead to more health, happiness, and love for society. We could use this data to uncover some of society’s biggest secrets.
The data is there. We just need to use it.
You can find Auren on twitter at @auren
Bob Moore is CEO at Crossbeam, a partnerships ecosystem platform.
Bob and Auren dive into the challenges of kickstarting a partnership, the prisoner’s dilemma that inherently exists within every new partnership, and ways to solve these issues.
They also explore Bob’s learnings as a serial entrepreneur and what he wishes he’d done differently along the way.
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Bob Moore at @robertjmoore
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
Esther Dyson is an investor, journalist, author, and philanthropist. She is the executive founder of Wellville, a nonprofit project focused on improving equitable wellbeing.
Esther and Auren discuss the structural problems that drive poor wellbeing across modern society. They dive into potential solutions ranging from improving parenting to the role of government.
They also discuss how untapped data about people can potentially revolutionize health and wellness.
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Esther Dyson at @edyson
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
Sebastian Mallaby is the author of The Power Law, a renowned journalist and a senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Sebastian and Auren start by discussing the powerful trends in the recent history of Venture Capital. They discuss the rise of the growth funds and crossover funds and the issues with governance that are created as a company grows. They also dive into what makes firms like Sequoia and Benchmark truly special.
Sebastian and Auren also review the major macroeconomic crises of the past 40 years and what we’ve learned about the Federal Reserve’s role in navigating crises.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Sebastian Mallaby at @scmallaby
David is a blogger, educator and a voracious tweeter. He runs the Write of Passage course on how to become a better writer and communicator.
David and Auren dive deep into mimesis, the philosophies of Rene Girard and Peter Thiel, and what it means to be a contrarian. They discuss ways to build a “personal monopoly” and how to stand out in a world where everyone imitates each other.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and David Perell at @david_perell
Dina is a writer and researcher who has published extensively on antitrust matters in big tech. She is also a Fellow with the Thurman Arnold Project at Yale University.
Dina and Auren discuss how big tech grew to be so powerful and key events in the histories of these companies that created the antitrust issues that exist today.
They dive into the inner workings of advertising exchanges and the potential conflicts of interest that exist today. They also explore potential solutions that can increase competition and benefit consumers.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Dina at @DinaSrinivasan
Tyler Henritze is Head of Strategic Investments at Blackstone Real Estate Americas. Tyler has been with Blackstone since 2004 and has worked on over $100 billion of transactions.
Tyler and Auren dive into the history of Blackstone Real Estate and how it transitioned from investing opportunistically to investing thematically. They explore promising assets today that have high potential of generating alpha over the next decade. Tyler also explains the impact the Global Financial Crisis had on the real estate markets and how Blackstone persevered through turmoil.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Emiliano Kargieman is Founder and CEO at Satellogic, a satellite and geospatial data company.
Emiliano and Auren discuss the power of low-orbit satellites and how building and deploying satellites has become dramatically more affordable in the past decade. They also discuss promising technologies that will usher in the next generation of satellite companies.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Emiliano at @earlkman
Tod Sacerdoti is Founder and CEO at Pipedream, a platform that lets developers connect APIs remarkably fast.
Tod and Auren are both serial founder CEOs who dive deep into how go-forward compensation for founder CEOs is way LESS than that of a replacement CEO. They explore ways to solve this problem and tactics founders can employ to restructure their compensation.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Tod Sacerdoti at @tod
Javier de la Torre is Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at CARTO, a spatial analytics and intelligence platform.
Javier and Auren dive into the journey behind CARTO and the tactics Javier used to drive step-function growth for the business through the different stages of its history. Javier explains the role partnerships and self-serve played in their go-to-market strategy and the power behind product-led growth.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Javier de la Torre at @jatorre
Peter Platzer is CEO at Spire, owner and operator of the largest multi-purpose constellation of satellites.
Peter and Auren dive into how the satellite industry has evolved over the past few decades, the different types of satellites out there today and what type of analyses are possible with data collected from satellites.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Peter Platzer at @ppl4world
Ann Fudge is the former Chairman and CEO of Young & Rubicam Brands and has served on countless boards. She serves on the boards of GE, Novartis, Northrop Grumman, Unilever, & Infosys.
Auren and Ann dive into what makes a good Board of Directors, how companies can make board meetings more efficient and effective, and how to have tough conversations with leadership teams.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Satyen Sangani, Co-Founder and CEO at Alation, joins World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Auren and Satyen discuss the importance of data literacy and ways for the private and public sectors to increase data literacy globally. They also break down key trends in the data science world and how powerful new innovation in the past few years is accelerating growth in the industry.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Satyen Santani at @satyx
Gabe Rogol, CEO of Demandbase, joins World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Auren and Gabe break down how the modern marketing funnel works and the pitfalls of the classic lead-based model. They dive into how intent-based models work and how intent signals differ between Mid Market and Enterprise accounts.
If you are building a sales or marketing function, this episode is a must listen.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Gabe Rogol at @GabeRogol
Alex Dalyac, co-founder and CEO of Tractable AI, joins World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman.
Tractable offers artificial intelligence to help people repair, protect & sell their vehicle & home. Auren and Alex dive into the mechanics of building an AI product in insurance, how to build a successful data co-op, and the challenges startups face when going global. They also explore the journey of building a company and how to navigate the tough moments.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Alex Dalyac at @AlexDalyac
Jonathan Levin, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Chainalysis, joins World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Auren and Jonathan dive into the importance of understanding transactions on the blockchain, how challenging it is to establish a data co-op, and what it’s like to build a data company in crypto. They also chat about how data companies are misunderstood and can’t be viewed from the SaaS lens.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and Jonathan Levin at @jony_levin
Tom Goldstein, Supreme Court litigation expert, co-founder of SCOTUSblog, and professor at Harvard Law School joins World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman.
Auren and Tom dive into approaches to Supreme Court advocacy and data’s role in legal decision making. They also cover the Google v. Oracle case and its impact on technology for years to come.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren and read more from Tom at @SCOTUSblog
Julia Galef, co-founder of the Center for Applied Rationality, host of the podcast Rationally Speaking, and author of The Scout Mindset joins World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman.
Auren and Julia explore building a scout mindset as defined in Julia’s new book, why embracing being wrong is important and tactical approaches to shifting your mindset. They also cover how entrepreneurs approach risk and how the scout mindset manifests in unique ways across different professions.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Dan Doctoroff, Founder and CEO of Sidewalk Labs and former CEO of Bloomberg joins World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Dan was also formerly the Deputy Mayor of Economic Development for New York City during the Michael Bloomberg administration and Managing Partner at the private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners.
Auren and Dan dive into how cities are formed and how they can leverage data about the physical world to operate better. They also cover Sidewalk Labs’ unique business structure (including its affiliation with Google’s parent company Alphabet) and how Dan thinks about incubating and forming new businesses.
This episode is dedicated to those who suffer from ALS. We encourage listeners to make a donation to Target ALS at: https://www.targetals.org/donate/
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Richard previously served as Director of Policy Planning for the US State Department, was President George W. Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland and Coordinator for the Future of Afghanistan, and is the author of 14 books, most recently of "The World: A Brief Introduction".
Auren and Richard dive into the increasing importance of globalization, the role of data in foreign policy, and the evolution of the US's foreign policy over the last 20 years. They also dive into numerous topics that they've historically debated, including the value of the speech and if we should focus on fixing what's broken or work toward creating a new and better world.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Godard Abel, CEO of G2, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. G2 is a software marketplace, valued at $1.1B that helps people make software decisions based on peer reviews.
Auren and Godard cover how G2 took on the very hard task of creating software categories, unintentionally built a hard-to-replicate, revenue-generating data product, and mastered the art of SEO. They also discuss why Venture Capital wasn't ready to invest in G2 at the time of its founding, the advantages of being a multi-time founder, how to identify and grow leaders, and more.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Technology drives many transformations in how humans interact. Yet, very few people working in technology spend time studying the past. Niall Ferguson believes that we would better understand today's burning issues in technology if we thought about them with a historical framework.
Niall Ferguson is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a public policy think tank within Stanford University. Niall is also an historian, columnist at Bloomberg, and author of 17 books.Auren and Niall explore early examples of virality in the 16th and 17th century, data's role in writing and understanding history, and what you shouldn't do if you want to change the world. They also dive into Niall's latest book, Doom, and Niall's concern that society today is limiting the creation of brilliant ideas.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Dean Stoecker, co-founder and former CEO of Alteryx, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Alteryx is a $5 billion market cap data analytics automation platform. Alteryx knew that digital transformation would be driven by workers in every functional area of a business, from Sales Ops to FP&A to supply chain, and not just the PhD-trained statisticians. So they built a platform that allowed for code-free and code-friendly approaches to the entire analytics continuum.
Auren and Dean explore the rise of the citizen data scientist, how Alteryx defined the analytics space, and how they built a product that supported the entire analytics continuum. They also dive into why Alteryx invested in long-term strategies, including channel partnership and a user community, to slowly yet effectively strengthen their business.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
Spotting talent is really hard. Identifying A-players can feel impossible. Peter Thiel has one of the best interview questions for identifying talent, “What important truth do very few people agree with you on?” But Daniel Gross disagrees. Daniel believes easygoing questions like “What movies do you like to watch?” elicit more telling responses.
Daniel Gross is the CEO of Pioneer, a reimagined version of the startup accelerator focused on identifying, motivating, and enabling the next wave of founders. Daniel previously founded Cue, which was acquired by Apple, and was a partner at Y Combinator. Daniel co-authored with Tyler Cowen the soon-to-be-released book, Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World. Simply put, Daniel is an expert on spotting talent.
Auren and Daniel dive into Daniel’s favorite interview questions, how to distinguish between good and great employees, what makes a 10xer, and how to measure productivity. They also explore why the strongest leaders are energetic, enthusiastic, and funny.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Tyler Cowen, Chair of Economics at George Mason University, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Tyler is the host of the Conversations with Tyler podcast, blogger at Marginal Revolution, and author of several books. Auren and Tyler discuss how the last year drove the end of the Great Stagnation, society’s newfound appreciation for big business, why Tyler thinks economists’ use of data is overrated, how to spot talent, why organizational capital would be one of the most valuable data sources, and so much more.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Daniel Yanisse, CEO of Checkr, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Checkr is a $4.6 billion market cap dollar company automating background checks. Auren and Daniel discuss the legacy system for running background checks, why it was the perfect market for a startup, how Checkr approached channel partnerships and international expansion, and its recent shift to B2C. They also discuss Checkr’s mission to build a fairer future of work.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Sinan Aral, Professor of Management, Marketing, IT and Data Science at MIT, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Sinan is also the director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, founding partner of Manifest Capital,and the author of the book “Hype Machine”. Auren and Sinan discuss why social media networks are optimized to connect users with like-minded people, what creates viral content, and how to solve market failures in social media. They also discuss the future of Wall Street Bets and why it will likely remain part of our investment landscape.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Hayden Brown, CEO of Upwork, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Upwork is a $6 billion market cap workplace company. Auren and Hayden cover how the COVID-19 pandemic massively accelerated the freelance market, Upwork’s strategy to become the single destination for all work-related needs, and various other examples of successful marketplaces. They also discuss Upwork’s proprietary dataset that provides unique insight into the labor market and how Upwork is working to make more of this information publicly available.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Glen Weyl is Microsoft Office of CTO Political Economist & Social Technologist, founder of RadicalXChange, and author of “Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society”.
Glen is reimagining democracy with two revolutionary concepts -- quadratic voting and quadratic funding. Auren and Glen cover how quadratic voting and quadratic funding can revitalize collective decision-making, current applications of both concepts, and how they can be used by corporations. They also explore why accessing high-quality data is so hard and what businesses can do to significantly improve their data accuracy.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Will Marshall, co-founder and CEO of Planet, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Prior to Planet, Will served as a Scientist at NASA/USRA. Planet is a data business that operates hundreds of orbiting satellites that capture images of the entire world daily. Will and Auren cover Planet’s proprietary methods of building a dataset in space, how satellite imagery is used by numerous industries, the benefits of running a data business, Planet’s plan to go public later this year, and more.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Byrne Hobart, Author of The Diff talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. The Diff is a top newsletter that covers inflection points in finance and technology. Byrne previously worked in data-driven equity research and online marketing.
In 2020, Byrne published an article stating that airline loyalty programs are worth more than the airlines themselves. These programs have been key to the airline industry's survival. Byrne and Auren dive in. They break down the mechanics of airline loyalty programs, reveal how airlines survived the pandemic, share lessons that cryptocurrencies can learn from airline loyalty programs, and more.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Susan Athey, The Economics of Technology Professor at Stanford's Graduate Business School, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Susan serves as the Founding Director at Stanford's Golub Capital Social Impact Lab, using technology and social science to improve the effectiveness of social sector organizations, and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Athey was the first Chief Economist at Microsoft. She's also on the Board of Directors of Expedia, Lending Club, Ripple, Rover, Turo, and more. Susan and Auren dive into the role of tech economists, machine learning, and causal inference.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Scott Stephenson, CEO of Verisk (NASDAQ: VRSK), talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Verisk Analytics is a $28 billion market cap data analytics company. Scott joined Verisk from BCG in 2001, was promoted to CEO in 2013, and doubled Verisk’s annual revenue to almost $3 billion since then. Auren and Scott discuss Verisk’s founding as a nonprofit, its role as one of the first InsureTech companies, how data sharing transformed the insurance industry, what went into building a successful data contributory model, and more.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Henry Schuck, CEO of ZoomInfo (NASDAQ: ZI), talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. ZoomInfo is a $17 billion market cap B2B data company and one of the only billion dollar data companies that have been created in the last 20 years. Auren and Henry cover ZoomInfo’s origination, how it differentiated itself in an already crowded market, best practices on building a contributory network, ZoomInfo's unique acquisition strategy, and more.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Will Lansing, CEO of FICO (NYSE:FICO), talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Will previously served as the CEO of InfoSpace, ValueVision Media, NBC Internet, and Fingerhut and a partner at General Atlantic Partners, a global private equity firm. He also co-authored the DaaS Bible 2.0. Auren and Will dive into data standards, the relationship between analytics and data companies, and how FICO successfully transformed their score into a currency.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Stephen Orban, GM of the AWS Marketplace, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Stephen previously served as the GM of the AWS Data Exchange and CIO of Dow Jones. He’s also the author of Ahead in the Cloud: Best Practices for Navigating the Future of Enterprise IT. Auren and Stephen cover the launch of AWS Data Exchange, Amazon’s role as an industry-wide innovator, the advantages of Amazon’s leadership principles, and what the future of data discovery could look like.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
Hilary Mason, CEO of Hidden Door and data scientist in residence at Accel Partners, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Hilary previously co-founded Fast Forward Labs, which was acquired by Cloudera, and served as the Chief Scientist at bit.ly. Auren and Hilary explore how data science has progressed in the past decade, the role of data science in an organization, and data ethics.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren on Twitter at @auren
Jack Dangermond, founder and CEO of Esri, talks with World of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Esri is the global market leader in GIS and location intelligence with over $1 billion in revenue. Auren and Jack discuss Esri's history, its unique organizational structure, pioneering in a specific space, the relationship between software and geospatial data, and more.
World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren Hoffman (CEO of SafeGraph) on Twitter at @auren
World of DaaS is a podcast for data enthusiasts, by data enthusiasts, where Auren Hoffman talks to business and technology thought leaders about all things data - building it, acquiring it, analyzing it, and everything in between. World of DaaS will keep you up-to-date with the latest trends, best practices, and innovations to help you create the next great data business.
Subscribe here and join us as we explore the World of DaaS. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts
You can find Auren on Twitter at @auren