Summation with Auren Hoffman

Auren Hoffman

Non-obvious ideas that move the world. Auren Hoffman hosts leaders across tech, business, markets, and government.

Summation is the permanent home for the relentlessly curious.

Auren is CEO of NQB8, GP at Flex Capital, Chairman of Dialog; former CEO of SafeGraph and LiveRamp (NYSE: RAMP).

Subscribe Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

278 episodes
Updated July 28

Episodes278

Newest first

Aug 30, 2022 · 57 min
Christopher Ahlberg: Building a Safer Future
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.
Aug 23, 2022 · 36 min
Terence Kawaja: The Future of AdTech
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.
Aug 16, 2022 · 1 hr 1 min
Sheila Heen: How to Navigate Hard Conversations
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.
Aug 9, 2022 · 1 hr
Cindy Cohn: Who Should Regulate the Internet?
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.
Aug 2, 2022 · 37 min
Neal Katyal: Taking on the Supreme Court
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
Jul 26, 2022 · 49 min
David Epstein: Never Underestimate the Generalist
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/.
Jul 19, 2022 · 24 min
Rob Buxton: The State of DaaS (A Market Snapshot)
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.
Jul 5, 2022 · 47 min
Gary Marcus: The Failed Promise of Artificial Intelligence
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.
Jun 28, 2022 · 33 min
Or Offer: The Mechanics of Data Businesses
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 21, 2022 · 45 min
Antonio Garcia Martinez: A New Approach to Regulation
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.
Jun 14, 2022 · 40 min
Liv Boeree: Developing a Probabilistic Mindset
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.
Jun 7, 2022 · 48 min
Jeremy Stanley: How Machines Actually Learn
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.
May 31, 2022 · 28 min
Ryan Breslow: The King vs. The Mob
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.
May 24, 2022 · 38 min
Glenn Fogel: The Greatest Acquirer in History
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.
May 19, 2022 · 1 hr 27 min
Auren Hoffman: A Tale about Truth in Data
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 17, 2022 · 47 min
Barry Nalebuff: A Radical New Way to Negotiate
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
May 10, 2022 · 39 min
Joel Myers: The Father of Commercial Meteorology
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
May 3, 2022 · 46 min
Charlie Youakim: The Real Economics of Buy-Now-Pay-Later
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
Apr 26, 2022 · 31 min
Jacob Helberg: The New Cold War
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
Apr 21, 2022 · 23 min
Auren Hoffman: It's Our Moral Obligation to Make Data More Accessible
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