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 23, 2023 • 11min
The Economics of Startup Swag
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 Economics of Startup Swag
(05:18) - Trappings of Success
(06:27) - Globalization and the Movies
(07:29) - AI & IP
(08:46) - AI & Religion
(09:48) - Innovator's Dilemma Epicycles
Oct 16, 2023 • 11min
A Bull Market in Facts; A Bear Market in Narratives
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) - A Bull Market in Facts; A Bear Market in Narratives
(06:09) - The Decline of Meme Stocks
(07:16) - Volatility
(08:12) - Lobbying as a Competitive Advantage
(09:09) - Goldman
(10:16) - "Name and Shame"
Oct 9, 2023 • 15min
Predicting, and Knowing What to Predict
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) - Predicting, and Knowing What to Predict
(07:27) - FTX Addenda
(10:41) - Slack and M&A Integration
(11:41) - The Global Meme Stock Rally
(12:57) - Shrinkage
(13:33) - The Coasian Border in Ridesharing
Oct 2, 2023 • 14min
Paradoxes of Productivity Growth
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) - Paradoxes of Productivity Growth
(08:11) - New FTX
(10:08) - Apple Search
(11:16) - The IPO Window
(12:04) - Markets in Everyone
(12:55) - The Dollar
Sep 25, 2023 • 12min
"Capital Light" is a Trait of the Cycle as well as the Industry
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) - "Capital Light" is a Trait of the Cycle as well as the Industry
(06:21) - Individual Bets and Risk Premia
(07:50) - Tinder's Price Discrimination
(08:38) - Smartphone Competition
(09:26) - The Partner-With-AI Arms Race
(10:29) - Mediocre Success
Sep 18, 2023 • 19min
Making A Match
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) - Making A Match
(11:49) - Instacart: Ahead of the IPO
(13:47) - Movie Clips and the Piracy Equilibrium
(15:00) - EVs and Public Choice Theory
(16:39) - Banks Retrench
(17:32) - China's Lost Decade?
Sep 11, 2023 • 15min
Price-First or Thesis-First Research?
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) - Price-First or Thesis-First Research?
(08:35) - Aging Up
(09:31) - Housing
(10:33) - Virality
(12:05) - LLM Arms Races
(13:26) - The Uber of X
Sep 4, 2023 • 15min
The Supply Chains of Bits and Atoms
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 Supply Chains of Bits and Atoms
(08:21) - 7nm
(09:20) - New Yahoo
(10:39) - Red Teams and AI Unit Economics
(11:52) - Horizontal Expansion
(12:57) - Private Markets
Aug 28, 2023 • 19min
Instacart is the Best and Worst Grocery Business Imaginable
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) - Instacart is the Best and Worst Grocery Business Imaginable
(14:47) - New Cities
(15:21) - Scraping
(16:19) - Klaviyo
(17:03) - Crowdfunding
(17:36) - Maturity Matching
Aug 21, 2023 • 16min
Should We Expect Valuations to Mean-Revert Over Time?
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) - Should We Expect Valuations to Mean-Revert Over Time?
(11:48) - Sushi
(12:40) - Modeling Demand
(13:35) - China's Debt
(14:24) - Coevolution and Pulling Up the Ladder
(15:21) - The Venn Diagram Career
