The Diff
Byrne Hobart
The Diff is a newsletter exploring the technologies, companies, and trends that are making the future high-variance. Posts range from in-depth company profiles, applied financial theory, strategy breakdowns and macroeconomics.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 7, 2025 • 15min
What We'll Lose With AI
The discussion dives into how AI is transforming writing skills and human interaction, especially in education. It highlights the evolving norms of privacy and labor as advanced technologies reshape consumer behavior. The podcast also tackles the economic dynamics between major brands and platforms like Amazon, revealing political implications. Additionally, it explores the potential impact of new political movements on existing power structures, while offering a quirky take on the snack food industry post-weight-loss trends.
Jun 30, 2025 • 16min
In Defense of the Ad Economy
Dive into the fascinating world of the ad economy, exploring how user behavior shapes revenue and advertising success. Discover the complex dynamics of attention economics and labor markets, revealing the influence of cognitive biases. Delve into the GPU market, where collateral transforms into valuable assets. Unpack the recent trade discussions between the U.S. and Canada concerning digital services taxes, and consider the competitive advantages tech giants hold in AI and infrastructure. It's an insightful journey through modern monetization models!
Jun 23, 2025 • 12min
Gonzo Startups
This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week.
(00:00) - Gonzo Startups
(07:01) - Don't Bet on a Third World War
(08:11) - Perplexity
(08:39) - Equity Compensation
(09:36) - Hiring
(10:36) - LLM SEO!
Jun 16, 2025 • 10min
What Happened to Working Your Way Up from the Mailroom?
This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week.
(00:00) - Reasoning Models Don't Really Reason, But It's Fine: Computers Don't Really Think in 1s and 0s, Either
(05:51) - Guidance
(06:21) - Correlated Outages
(06:57) - Attrition
(07:52) - Policy Impact
(08:35) - Antitrust
Jun 9, 2025 • 14min
Search Remains the Best Business in History
This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week.
(00:00) - Search Remains the Best Business in History
(09:38) - Equity Market Vigilantes
(10:27) - Scale
(11:15) - Volatility
(12:02) - Tariff Impact
(13:03) - Splits and Synergies
Jun 2, 2025 • 12min
Democratizing Complicated Financial Products is Inevitable, but Fraught
This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week.
(00:00) - Democratizing Complicated Financial Products is Inevitable, but Fraught
(08:27) - Startup Fraud
(09:09) - Automation
(09:52) - Motivations
(10:31) - Ads
(11:15) - Utilization
May 27, 2025 • 5min
Adversarial Attacks in Statistical Arbitrage
This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week.
(00:00) - And, elsewhere:
(00:03) - Banking
(00:44) - Financial Engineering
(01:20) - Hiring and Game Theory
(02:38) - Currency Blocs
(03:13) - AI SEO
May 19, 2025 • 13min
Competing Elite-Selection Mechanisms
This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week.
(00:00) - TK Competing Elite-Selection Mechanisms
(06:39) - Left-Tail Outcomes
(08:18) - Downgrades and Giffen Goods
(10:21) - Bearer Instruments
(11:27) - Currency
(12:07) - Shipping
May 12, 2025 • 13min
Arbs Close, Infrastructure Remains
This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week.
(00:00) - Arbs Close, Infrastructure Remains
(06:41) - Abundance and Realignment
(07:17) - AI Undeath
(08:11) - Basic Capital
(09:42) - Tariffs
(11:28) - Insurable Risks
Apr 28, 2025 • 13min
When Step One is to Light Money on Fire and Measure How Fast it Burns
This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week.
(00:00) - When Step One is to Light Money on Fire and Measure How Fast it Burns
(06:21) - Groupchats and Norms
(09:56) - Venture
(10:23) - Made in America
(11:08) - Real Estate Elasticity
(11:47) - Lagging Investments
