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
Jun 26, 2020 • 16min
Software, Full-Stack, and Sumo 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) - Software, Full-Stack, and Sumo Startups
(07:29) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(08:33) - Google Paying Publishers
(09:25) - National Champions
(10:51) - Quant Crowding
(11:45) - Compare and Contrast
(12:30) - Working Capital
(13:17) - Stimulus Checks for the Dead
(14:12) - Social Credit
(14:36) - More Browser Commoditization
(15:05) - QVC Returns
Jun 24, 2020 • 15min
Free Press vs Free Expression
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) - Free Press vs Free Expression
(10:27) - The Apocalypses That Weren't
(11:20) - Bureaucracy APIs
(12:16) - Big Tech Sees Like a State
(13:01) - Facebook's Prediction Markets
(13:53) - Outflanking Carta
(14:22) - Japan and Corporate Espionage
Jun 19, 2020 • 13min
The Invention of Postwar Europe
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 Invention of Postwar Europe
(06:20) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(06:48) - Identity (pt 1)
(07:49) - Identity (pt 2)
(08:44) - Google Outsources the Ultra-Long-Tail
(09:30) - YouTube and the Influencers
(10:09) - Putin on Geopolitics
(10:38) - Tech and Externalities
(11:40) - The German Enron
Jun 16, 2020 • 13min
Communications, Commerce, and Money as the High-Order Bit
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) - Communications, Commerce, and Money as the High-Order Bit
(07:29) - Levered Pensions
(09:26) - Bankrupt Stocks: Not a Great Bet
(10:03) - Chip Wars
(11:29) - The Fame Market
(12:10) - Inflation and Missing Prices
Jun 12, 2020 • 21min
Lemonade: Solving the Market for Lemons
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) - Lemonade: Solving the Market for Lemons
(11:55) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(12:35) - Zoom Transpacific Problem
(13:29) - Drawdowns
(15:39) - Chris Cox Returns to Facebook
(16:30) - Reopening and Stay-Opening
(17:37) - Short Laws
(18:11) - Tech Astroturf
(18:59) - Partner Banks
(19:17) - Hertz's Plan to Wipe Out Slightly More Shareholders
Jun 5, 2020 • 13min
Incumbents, Not Startups, Are Regulatory Arbitrageurs
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) - Incumbents, Not Startups, Are Regulatory Arbitrageurs
(07:07) - Limits to Automation
(08:22) - Silver Lake
(09:58) - 1830, 1930, 2030
(10:35) - Google Dissolves the Webpage
(11:11) - Globalizing Cybersecurity
(11:58) - Private Equity in 401Ks
May 29, 2020 • 16min
The Bloomberg Terminal Shows How to Create Virtual Economic Cluster
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 Bloomberg Terminal Shows How to Create Virtual Economic Cluster
(06:13) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(07:10) - Big Tech M&A
(07:54) - Europe Reopens for Vacation Season
(08:19) - Reverse Hong Kong
(09:05) - Microsoft Subsidiary Disrupts Microsoft Subsidiary
(09:48) - Airbnb for Warehouse Space
(10:29) - A16Z on Accounting Versus Economics
(12:03) - How Social Engineering Drives Technology
(13:48) - Systematic Value, Re-Revisited
(14:24) - How Stripe Scales Remote
May 22, 2020 • 20min
You Learn From Good Businesses and Bad Trades
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) - You Learn From Good Businesses and Bad Trades
(13:45) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(14:31) - ByteDance
(15:00) - Clubhouse
(15:56) - What's China Up To?
(17:25) - The Cloud
(18:25) - Facebook Goes More Remote
(19:04) - Italy's Financial Engineering
May 18, 2020 • 15min
Bretton Woods 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) - Bretton Woods Revisited
(10:37) - Facebook/Giphy
(12:21) - Africa and Covid-19
(13:02) - China, Chips
(13:38) - Italy Doesn't Plan to Miss Tourist Season
(14:12) - Good Bubbles
May 15, 2020 • 15min
The Future of Remote Work is not That Remote
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 Future of Remote Work is not That Remote
(09:28) - A Word From Our Sponsors
(10:06) - Multilateralism
(11:01) - Unilatéralisme
(11:58) - 51% of Ad Dollars Spent, Not Wasted
(12:35) - Domestic Fabs
(13:27) - Google Privatizes the Web
(14:08) - Restaurant Software; Restaurants as Software
