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Technology

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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  • 278 episodes
  • Updated July 28

Episodes278

Newest first
  • Oct 8, 2021 · 56 min

    Niall Ferguson: Writing History with Data

    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

  • Oct 1, 2021 · 46 min

    Dean Stoecker (Founder of Alteryx): 20 Year Journey to Successful IPO

    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

  • Sep 24, 2021 · 58 min

    Daniel Gross (CEO of Pioneer): Why Energy is the Best Predictor of Talent

    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

  • Sep 17, 2021 · 43 min

    Tyler Cowen: Identifying Talent and Measuring Organizational Capital

    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

  • Sep 10, 2021 · 56 min

    Daniel Yanisse (CEO of Checkr): Building a Fairer Future of Work

    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

  • Sep 2, 2021 · 49 min

    Sinan Aral: Solving Social Media Market Failures

    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

  • Aug 26, 2021 · 44 min

    Hayden Brown (CEO of Upwork): Owning the Work Marketplace

    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

  • Aug 19, 2021 · 42 min

    Glen Weyl: Reimagining Democracy with Quadratic Funding and Quadratic Voting

    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

  • Aug 11, 2021 · 46 min

    Will Marshall (CEO of Planet): Building a Data Company in Space

    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

  • Aug 5, 2021 · 54 min

    Byrne Hobart: Why Airline Loyalty Programs Are Really Just FinTech Companies

    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

  • Jul 29, 2021 · 55 min

    Susan Athey: Tech Economists, Machine Learning, and Causation

    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

  • Jul 22, 2021 · 59 min

    Scott Stephenson (CEO of Verisk): How Data Sharing Transformed Insurance

    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

  • Jul 14, 2021 · 55 min

    Henry Schuck (CEO of ZoomInfo): Building A Billion Dollar Data Company

    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

  • Jul 1, 2021 · 43 min

    Will Lansing (CEO of FICO): Power of Data Standards

    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

  • Jun 10, 2021 · 44 min

    Stephen Orban: Data Marketplace Innovation at Amazon

    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

  • Jun 9, 2021 · 46 min

    Hilary Mason: Rise of Data Science

    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

  • Jun 8, 2021 · 50 min

    Jack Dangermond: Building Esri

    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

  • Jun 3, 2021 · 1 min

    Coming Soon: World of DaaS

    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