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
Apr 21, 2025 • 14min
Thinking-Things-Through Privilege
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) - Thinking-Things-Through Privilege
(08:11) - Trade Negotiations
(10:05) - M&A
(11:09) - AI and IP
(11:58) - Consolidation
(12:42) - Sourcing
Apr 14, 2025 • 13min
Information Economies and Institution Economies
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) - Information Economies and Institution Economies
(07:58) - Distribution
(09:19) - Non-Tariff Barriers
(10:24) - Low-Background Text
(11:08) - Application Layer
(12:05) - Socks
Apr 7, 2025 • 13min
Finance as a Scale-Invariant Global Computer
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) - Finance as a Scale-Invariant Global Computer
(06:29) - The Market
(08:45) - Supply and Demand
(09:38) - The March Continues
(10:43) - ETFs
(11:42) - Intellectual Property
Mar 31, 2025 • 11min
"Do Firms Need Juniors?" Might be the Wrong Question
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) - "Do Firms Need Juniors?" Might be the Wrong Question
(06:02) - Solve for X + X
(07:45) - Refactoring
(08:21) - AI and Distribution
(09:11) - How Models Think
(10:14) - The AI Business Model
Mar 24, 2025 • 13min
There's More Than One Efficient Market Paradox
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) - There's More Than One Efficient Market Paradox
(08:06) - Reciprocal Tariffs
(08:46) - AI Purgatory
(09:24) - Payments and Credit
(10:47) - LinkedInFluencers
(11:43) - Efficient Markets
Mar 17, 2025 • 16min
Klarna and the Two Pivots of 2022
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) - Klarna and the Two Pivots of 2022
(11:00) - Crypto Adoption
(12:26) - Art Margin Calls
(13:13) - Liquidations
(14:07) - Corporate Espionage
(15:26) - DeepSeek
Mar 10, 2025 • 12min
Text and Telos
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) - Text and Telos
(07:03) - Scaling
(07:49) - Retail Investors
(09:12) - Comparative Advantage
(09:47) - Transaction Costs and Corporate Structure
(10:58) - DeepSeek Governance
Oct 28, 2024 • 13min
Tools, Agents, Interfaces, and Synthetic Luck: AI Interaction Models
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) - Tools, Agents, Interfaces, and Synthetic Luck: AI Interaction Models
(06:40) - Lyft Got Fined For Telling the Truth and is Now Compelled to Lie to Drivers
(09:59) - Ozempic and Signaling
(10:41) - Wargaming and Pivots
Oct 21, 2024 • 10min
Tokenomics, Revisited
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) - Tokenomics, Revisited
(04:41) - AI and Education
(06:59) - Money Laundering
(07:54) - Agglomeration Economics
(08:49) - Threat Models
(09:24) - Universal Hardware
Oct 14, 2024 • 6min
Offshoring and AI Agents
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:
(00:01) - Capital Structure
(01:12) - Designer Brands and Transaction Costs
(02:45) - SMBs
(04:27) - Top-Down Market Reform
(05:10) - Chosen Obligations
