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).

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279 episodes
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Episodes279

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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
Apr 19, 2022 · 57 min
Bob Moore: Solving the Cold Start Problem
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
Apr 14, 2022 · 34 min
Esther Dyson: Using Data to Revolutionize Wellness
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
Apr 12, 2022 · 57 min
Sebastian Mallaby: The Greatest Storyteller in Venture Capital
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
Apr 5, 2022 · 53 min
David Perell: Building a Personal Monopoly
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
Mar 31, 2022 · 35 min
Dina Srinivasan: Reining in Big Tech
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
Mar 29, 2022 · 52 min
Tyler Henritze: Thematic Investing to Predict the Future
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
Mar 22, 2022 · 48 min
Emiliano Kargieman: Remapping the Entire Earth
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
Mar 17, 2022 · 39 min
Tod Sacerdoti: Let’s Talk About Founder Compensation
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
Mar 15, 2022 · 50 min
Javier de la Torre: Building a Killer Go-To-Market Strategy
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
Mar 8, 2022 · 47 min
Peter Platzer: Moore’s Law Strikes the Satellite Industry!
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
Mar 3, 2022 · 34 min
Ann Fudge: Leveling Up Board Meetings
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
Mar 1, 2022 · 41 min
Satyen Sangani: We’re Still in the Dark Ages of Data
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
Feb 22, 2022 · 44 min
Gabe Rogol: A Masterclass in Demand Gen
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
Feb 15, 2022 · 32 min
Alex Dalyac: The Secret to Building a Computer Vision Unicorn
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
Feb 8, 2022 · 45 min
Jonathan Levin: The Blockchain Archivist
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
Feb 1, 2022 · 33 min
Tom Goldstein: The Art of Supreme Court Advocacy
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
Jan 25, 2022 · 44 min
Julia Galef: How to be Wrong Correctly
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
Jan 18, 2022 · 36 min
Dan Doctoroff: Where the Sidewalk Leads
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
Nov 2, 2021 · 46 min
Richard Haass: Why We Need More Global Coordination
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