This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Silicon Valley Bank imploded last week, becoming the second-largest bank collapse in US history. This led to an insane meltdown within the tech industry and beyond. In this ep, we explain what happened, what it means, and offer 1-2 prolonged rants along the way. This was recorded on Monday March 13, so if anything insane happens after that which doesn’t vindicate our predictions, please give us the benefit of th...
Mar 13, 2023•36 min
This is part two of a two part episode, for subscribers only. In the second part of our AI doom episode, for subscribers only, we dive into the nitty gritty. What are people actually saying when they claim AI is going to kill us all? (They can be pretty vague on the specifics, after all.) Are they right? Is ChatGPT going to end your life? Let us answer these questions, and perhaps a little more. Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode . See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...
Mar 09, 2023•33 min
This is part one of a two part episode. With the end of a long AI winter and the rise of large language models and platforms like ChatGPT, we’re experiencing a renaissance of AI doomerism, and people making wild and bold predictions of the incoming robot apocalypse. It’s almost quaint, in a way. Charming. This week, we’re looking at the AI doomer movement, who predict we’ll all be dead at the hands of ultrasmart computers in a few short years. In part one, we chart a course of its history, and t...
Mar 09, 2023•33 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com For hundreds of years, newspapers had a pretty good business model: you’d buy the paper, and it would have ads in it. Not bad! Unfortunately, computers occurred. Now, our friends in the lying news media have been forced to adapt. In today’s episode, we dig into the uneasy marriage of news publishers and the internet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 02, 2023•6 min
Over the past decade, we’ve successfully outsourced romance and human reproduction to a series of apps, most of which are owned by Match Group. Pretty cool! But it’s starting to look like Tinder and its many clones have lost their spark. What does the future hold? This week: a dive into the sick, sordid world of dating apps. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See omnystudio.com/lis...
Feb 28, 2023•36 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Unlike other tech podcasts – who we won’t name – Down Round is ruthlessly committed to accountability and self-critique. On today’s ep, we revisit a handful of topics we’ve covered over the last six or so months and evaluate whether we got it right or wrong. And we have a few laughs along the way. This is exactly what you pay for. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 23, 2023•6 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Gaming, which was considered a nasty little hobby for maladjusted dweebs as recently as 2018, is now as important to the global economy as healthcare and the natural resources industry. OK, maybe that’s not true. But anyway. Gaming is big business, and it’s become deeply intertwined with the rest of the tech industry. This week, we’re talking about how t… See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 21, 2023•35 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com The history of tech is littered with rivalries. Apple vs. Microsoft. Netflix vs. Amazon. PlayStation vs. Xbox. IBM vs. HP. Raph vs. Henno. Microsoft vs. Google is one you hear about slightly less. But it’s been thrust to the forefront of the discourse now as the two companies battle in the world of AI and Google tries to tackle the ChatGPT threat. But the rivalry goes back far longer and deeper than that. We dig...
Feb 16, 2023•5 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Sports betting. It’s an enduring part of Australian culture, where having a flutter on your sport of choice is as natural as breathing oxygen, or putting your paycheque through the pokies, or having a flutter on something else like the dishlickers at Wentworth Park. But sports betting is even more topical now that it has swept through the US in the wake of a Supreme Court decision back in 2018 . Now it looks lik...
Feb 14, 2023•30 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Reddit. Once infamous as a haven for libertarians, endless arguments about video games and borderline illegal porn, it has managed to survive the last decade of internet development as one of the last genuinely useful online communities. We dive into the history, the culture, and why ‘Reddit’ has become one of the most common and effective Google search … See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 09, 2023•44 sec
Instant grocery (also known as instant commerce, 10-minute grocery, ultrafast delivery and a million other names) was one of the hottest categories globally at the tail end of the last investment craze. It seemed every major city had 3-5 companies trying to be the one to deliver you a bag of oranges at superhuman speed. Now it doesn’t look so hot. In Australia, only Milkrun is left, with Voly and Send having collapsed already. And it’s looking shaky for Milkrun too. What happened? Was instant gr...
Feb 08, 2023•30 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com The creator economy was one of the most hyped sectors at the tail end of the last boom, promising that anyone with an iPhone and a $15 ring light could become a phenomenally wealthy celebrity if they just believed in themselves. It even convinced two crazy-ass white boys from Sydney they could become successful Substack podcasters. Now the dust has settled, was the hype justified? We’re talking everything from Y...
Feb 02, 2023•56 sec
The tech industry has had a long-time obsession with revolutionising food and the way we eat. From Soylent, the nutrient slurry intended for lifehacking programmers to optimise their sad lives, to the current obsession with plant-based and cell cultured meat, there are always venture-backed startups trying to disrupt the crap we stuff into our chompholes. We dive in. Links * Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad” - Bloomberg * The original Soylent blog This is a pu...
Jan 31, 2023•27 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Since the last time we did an episode about AI, there’s been enough movement that we are being dragged back in. Join us… A few updates we dive into: – Microsoft is deepening its investment in OpenAI, and integrating it into its cloud computing offering and software like Office. – Google has called a “code red” and plans to roll out more customer-facing AI stuff this year and next. – ChatGPT is turning into a pai...
Jan 26, 2023•53 sec
It’s Down Round’s 50th episode. We’re celebrating this momentous occasion by discussing a real upper of a topic: the avalanche of layoffs which have hit the tech industry over the past several months. So what’s going on? Is the world economy about to collapse? Or are these hugely profitable big tech companies working themselves into a tizzy? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See o...
Jan 24, 2023•26 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Fans of tech scams will enjoy the first big one of the year. Frank, the student loan startup acquired by U.S. bank JP Morgan, turned out to be less of a business and more of a fraudulent Excel spreadsheet. We discuss how it fits in among the greats. Links * JP Morgan Says Startup Founder Used Millions Of Fake Customers To Dupe It Into An Acquisition – Forbes See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 19, 2023•58 sec
One of the buzziest sectors over the past half a decade is micromobility: e-scooters, e-bikes and the various rental apps which shell them out. Is it actually a good business? Or are they doomed to sink to the bottom of our various urban rivers? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 18, 2023•21 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Unfortunately much like stocks, crypto, rare sneakers, NFTs, classic Nintendo games and vibes, Pokemon cards have crashed in value. This week, the collectable boom and bust cycle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 12, 2023•43 sec
On today’s ep we’re joined by Mike Isaac, New York Times tech correspondent and author of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber . He’s writing a book about Facebook, and we grill him relentlessly for an hour about Zuckerberg, the metaverse, and how things are feeling in Silicon Valley. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 10, 2023•49 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Today’s episode is all about payments and fintechs. From neobanks to buy now pay later, how are they all weathering the marginal increase in interest rates? Not well, it turns out! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 05, 2023•48 sec
In the wake of Tesla’s huge stock price drop, Down Round discusses: is the company all that? Or is it going to be smoked by Volkswagen? Happy New Year, and apologies for another episode about Elon Musk. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 04, 2023•31 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com We’re pausing the free ep this week over the Xmas/NY break. We’re back and firing all cylinders from January 4. For our cherished premium subs, we have 28 red hot minutes of deeply researched analysis on where the tech world is going in 2023. From crypto and AI to corporate mergers and social media, we’re offering sharp analysis and comprehensive, action… See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 28, 2022•3 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Merry Christmas from the Down Round crew. Your present is another listener Q&A episode, packed to the brim with exciting questions about cutting edge companies like IBM and Salesforce. Do you like it? Say thank you Santa. Want to participate in our next Q&A? Follow us on Twitter . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 22, 2022•55 sec
Today we’re going meta. Various companies have been trying to turn podcasting (and ‘premium audio’) into a huge business on the level of streaming video. But is the hype actually justified? We discuss. (Disclosure statement: as proud proprietors of Australia’s best value premium podcast, we think podcasts are going to the moon. Invest now.) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See om...
Dec 20, 2022•30 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com TikTok: is it a fun lip syncing app for Zoomers, or a sinister intelligence operation by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party? You won’t find answers in this episode, that’s for sure. But we will hold your attention for 20-ish minutes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 15, 2022•44 sec
Elon has leaked internal comms from old Twitter onto the internet via trusted Substack journos, insisting that it reveals corruption, collusion and left-wing bias. But is it actually anything? The fellas discuss. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 13, 2022•27 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit downround.substack.com Down Round has gone premium, and this is our first episode in the warm, comforting embrace of the paywall. We’re kicking off with an omnibus ep updating you all on a few things we’ve gone over previously: Apple, Elon and SBF. If you’re listening to the preview in front of the paywall – do yourself a favour and sign up . Go on then. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 08, 2022•50 sec
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has taken the internet by storm this week, making it seem like an AI-dominated future could be just around the bend. But is it all that? The fellas discuss. But, more importantly: Down Round is going premium. If you want to invest in our future podcast content empire, visit our Substack and join the family. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See omnystudio.com/list...
Dec 06, 2022•24 min
We talk the persistence of the 14 year old smartphone, and the failure of voice, AI and the metaverse to usurp it. Links Everybody promised to disrupt the smartphone — and the smartphone outlasted them all – The Verge This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 01, 2022•22 min
Thank you to everyone who made the FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried episode our most listened ever. As a reward for your loyalty, you get another episode about it. Say thank you. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 29, 2022•19 min
