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 sprawl...
Aug 30, 2022•58 min•Ep. 57
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 in...
Aug 23, 2022•37 min•Ep. 56
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 h...
Aug 16, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 55
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 arou...
Aug 09, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 54
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 minu...
Aug 02, 2022•38 min•Ep. 53
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 ...
Jul 26, 2022•50 min•Ep. 52
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 respect...
Jul 19, 2022•25 min•Ep. 51
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....
Jul 05, 2022•47 min•Ep. 50
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....
Jun 28, 2022•34 min•Ep. 49
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...
Jun 21, 2022•45 min•Ep. 48
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...
Jun 14, 2022•41 min•Ep. 47
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...
Jun 07, 2022•49 min•Ep. 46
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 starti...
May 31, 2022•28 min•Ep. 45
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 indus...
May 24, 2022•39 min•Ep. 44
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: Twitter Apple Podcasts Spotify Auren is the CEO at SafeGraph and can be found on Twitter @auren....
May 19, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 43
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 br...
May 17, 2022•47 min•Ep. 42
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...
May 10, 2022•40 min•Ep. 41
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 ...
May 03, 2022•46 min•Ep. 40
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...
Apr 26, 2022•32 min•Ep. 39
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 ...
Apr 21, 2022•23 min•Ep. 38
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 SafeGrap...
Apr 19, 2022•58 min•Ep. 37
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 o...
Apr 14, 2022•35 min•Ep. 36
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 ...
Apr 12, 2022•57 min•Ep. 35
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 Ho...
Apr 05, 2022•54 min•Ep. 34
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 incre...
Mar 31, 2022•36 min•Ep. 33
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 ...
Mar 29, 2022•52 min•Ep. 32
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...
Mar 22, 2022•48 min•Ep. 31
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 Safe...
Mar 17, 2022•39 min•Ep. 30
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.c...
Mar 15, 2022•50 min•Ep. 29
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 Pla...
Mar 08, 2022•47 min•Ep. 28
