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
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
Aug 26, 2020 • 21min
Palantir: On Business, Cults, and Politics
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) - Palantir: On Business, Cults, and Politics
(16:36) - Wirecard's Scramble & Gamble
(17:53) - Global Yuan?
(18:32) - The Housing Boom
(18:56) - Financial Education for the Soon-to-be 1%
(19:29) - Alphabet Insurance
Aug 21, 2020 • 23min
Amazon: A New Kind of Antitrust Risk
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) - Amazon: A New Kind of Antitrust Risk
(15:55) - PPE Nationalism, Vaccine Internationalism
(16:54) - A Macro Renaissance?
(19:37) - Tech Sees Like a State: Parties, Fires
(20:13) - Technology-Governance Fit
(22:16) - China’s (Internal) Immigration Reform
Aug 14, 2020 • 21min
Newsletters and New Media Economics
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) - Newsletters and New Media Economics
(12:05) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(12:42) - Fortnite, Apple, and Platform Wars
(15:06) - Apple's Other App Problem
(15:43) - Theaters Restart the Two-Sided Network
(16:18) - Singapore, Reconsidered
(17:54) - Wealth Taxes and Peak California
(18:46) - A16Z Revisits AI Economics
(19:31) - Bullet Trains and China Stimulus
Aug 7, 2020 • 17min
Working in Public and the Economics of Free
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) - Working in Public and the Economics of Free
(08:33) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(09:12) - Household Delevering
(09:35) - More Alternative Lending
(10:33) - It's Time to Build in Britain
(11:22) - Pinduoduo
(12:19) - Industrial Espionage in Taiwan
(13:13) - Executive Orders
(14:27) - Executive Orders, Con't.
(15:11) - Executive Orders, Pt. 3
Jul 31, 2020 • 21min
To Understand Jio, You Need To Understand Reliance
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) - To Understand Jio, You Need To Understand Reliance
(11:15) - Earnings
(12:30) - Amazon Sees For the State
(12:51) - Gerontocracy
(13:56) - M&A in Kids YouTube
(15:07) - Monopolists Still Compete
(16:48) - China, Infrastructure, and Risk-On
(17:43) - Fintech is all about CAC, Part #1281241
(18:25) - Dollar Shortages, At Home And Abroad
(19:45) - Second Acts
