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
Oct 21, 2020 • 12min
The WeWork Arc
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) - The WeWork Arc
(07:26) - Amazon's Third-Party Data
(08:14) - The Lucas Critique in Finance
(09:20) - Matching the Huawei Strategy
(10:02) - Froth
(10:52) - Demand and Logistics
Oct 16, 2020 • 14min
How the Pandemic is Fixing Some of the Real Estate Market's Flaws
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) - How the Pandemic is Fixing Some of the Real Estate Market's Flaws
(06:32) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(07:11) - Measuring the World's Largest Economy
(08:14) - Showrooming and Retail
(09:58) - Google Continues to Disaggregate Pages
(10:43) - Canada Policy Goes Post-Covid
(11:18) - The Bus Factor
(11:56) - Retro Trade Policy
(12:52) - Payments and the Acquisition Option
Oct 9, 2020 • 29min
Inside the House Report on Big Tech and Competition: Part II
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) - Inside the House Report on Big Tech and Competition: Part II
(21:57) - Yelp’s Crypto-Coinbase Moment
(22:50) - Life at a Hypergrowth Startup
(25:38) - Square and Bitcoin
(26:15) - Driverless
(27:21) - Local Champions and Good Globalization
(28:04) - China’s Domestic Consumption Push
Oct 2, 2020 • 14min
The Gamer/Arbitrageur to Generalist Pipeline
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) - The Gamer/Arbitrageur to Generalist Pipeline
(06:15) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(06:52) - Office Politics, Redux
(08:53) - Vaccine as Perk
(10:13) - Who Owns User Data?
(10:53) - Tech Sees Like a State, Test-and-Trace Edition
(11:36) - Conflicts of Interest
(12:18) - The Negotiate-With-Hackers Hack
(12:51) - Small Deals and Stagnation
Sep 25, 2020 • 19min
Surfing the Right S-Curve
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) - Surfing the Right S-Curve
(10:43) - Google: Benefits and Retention
(11:21) - Tail Risk on Trial
(12:37) - A Theory of Policy Homogeneity
(13:38) - Procurement
(14:45) - Density Redistribution
(15:45) - Crisis Hormesis
(17:07) - The Other Derivatives Narrative
Sep 18, 2020 • 25min
Big Tech at the End of 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) - Big Tech at the End of History
(19:49) - Belt & Road & Vial
(20:55) - CCP and SMBs
(21:17) - Hire Fast, Transfer Fast
(21:52) - Life Imitates Science Fiction
(22:28) - Koanic SaaS Secrets
(23:00) - Interactive Brokers' Big Option Trade
Sep 11, 2020 • 16min
Banking When You Can't Bank on Anything: Part 2
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) - Banking When You Can't Bank on Anything: Part 2
(09:18) - Inside Taiwan's Covid Response
(11:15) - Defense Tech
(12:34) - The Right Amount of Fraud
(13:18) - Prizes
(13:51) - The Airshow
(14:20) - The Reliance Model
(14:49) - Moderation and Politics
Sep 4, 2020 • 16min
Banking When You Can't Bank on Anything: Part 1
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) - Banking When You Can't Bank on Anything: Part 1
(09:51) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(10:29) - France's New Industrial Policy
(11:41) - China Exit Subsidies
(12:32) - China Chips
(13:23) - Basic Income With Right-Wing Populist Characteristics
(13:48) - Facebook's Election Redistribution
(14:34) - Antitrust Timing
Aug 31, 2020 • 14min
Ant Group and China's Fitful Convergence
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) - Ant Group and China's Fitful Convergence
(08:26) - The Startup Cycle
(09:05) - Buybacks
(09:53) - Return-on-Kickback
(10:24) - Legalization
(11:06) - Housing
(11:31) - Big Tech, Monopolies, and Attack Surface
(12:50) - TikTok
Aug 28, 2020 • 21min
Business Model Meta-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) - Business Model Meta-Models
(12:17) - Fed Maximalism
(13:58) - CFOs Vocally but Passively Worried About Valuations
(15:09) - TikTok
(16:09) - Coming Soon: Experimental Data on IPO Unfairness
(17:16) - Death and Base Rates
(18:49) - Rapid Testing
(19:30) - The Other Wuhan Story
(20:01) - Politics in a One-Party State
