"The Riff" with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg

Discussion on e-commerce roll-ups and challenges post-pandemic, dynamics of big platforms like Facebook and Google, complexities of content moderation, potential AI impact on advertising, economics of Facebook Marketplace, and understanding shrinkflation's impact on inflation measurements.

The podcast delves into technology-induced market shifts, hedge fund dynamics, outage economics, and the evolving landscape of open source vs proprietary AI models. Topics include VC insights on scaling, navigating the COVID crisis, personal hedging strategies, margin liquidation tactics, software development quality assurance, and advantages/challenges of search engines and AI.

The podcast explores lessons about Tiger Global's strategy and the role of alternative data in investing. They discuss the challenges of creating a good dating app and the evolution of executive roles in the finance industry. Additionally, they touch on the importance of assistants in high-level positions and the innovative ad approach of the Brave browser.

Byrne and Erik discuss company valuations, short selling, market predictions, earnings guidance, and the behavior of companies and investors in financial markets. They also touch on topics such as risk in investment, gold and Bitcoin, buybacks vs. dividends, and the dynamics of short selling in the stock market.

The podcast delves into the fertility crisis, economic policies influencing family decisions, distribution of parental attention among siblings, Facebook's problem-solving strategies, Walmart stock success, AI integration, and the rivalry in the banana industry.

Brad Hargreaves, founder of General Assembly and Common, discusses innovative real estate models, contrasting tech innovation and investing, transforming downtown spaces, challenges in real estate branding, and post-pandemic uncertainty in the real estate sector.

The hosts discuss the history of the media business and the high living standards of unionized workers in the 50s. They explore the impact of print media on discourse and the decline of working journalists. They also delve into the challenges of funding investigative reporting and the importance of understanding different industries and their strengths.

This podcast explores the mortality of corporations, why momentum investing works, and when to learn from extreme events. It also touches on preserving financial assets indefinitely, selling with Shopify, extreme events and power law distribution, and the economics of trade publications.

The podcast discusses the trend of Silicon Valley professionals becoming more financially literate, the shift from Excel to programming languages in finance, factor-neutral hedge funds, the role of venture capital as a compensation scheme, financial incentives and challenges for founders, and optimizing revenue through menu selection.

Financial analyst and writer, Byrne Hobart, discusses topics such as generalists vs specialists, pseudonyms in journalism, the future of education, and the role of social capital in financial bubbles.