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
Aug 14, 2023 • 17min
Inside the Decline of Stack Exchange
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 Decline of Stack Exchange
(11:20) - The Other X
(13:14) - Refinancing China
(14:06) - The Activist Short Death Spiral
(15:10) - Rebundling
(16:05) - Fitness Bands
Aug 7, 2023 • 15min
Information as a Universal Complement and Universal Substitute
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 as a Universal Complement and Universal Substitute
(09:14) - Making a Market
(10:25) - Financial Innovation
(11:02) - IRL
(12:10) - Open-Ended Liabilities
(13:19) - Meme Stock Relapse
Jul 31, 2023 • 11min
You Hate The Products You're An Early Adopter Of Because of Invisible Base Rates and Anthropic Bias
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 Hate The Products You're An Early Adopter Of Because of Invisible Base Rates and Anthropic Bias
(06:54) - The Big Tech Cycle
(08:00) - Chinese Consumer Internet Competition With American Characteristics
(08:32) - Reallocating
(09:38) - Durables
(10:07) - Crypto Use Cases
Jul 24, 2023 • 12min
Don't Get Addicted to Fantasy 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) - Don't Get Addicted to Fantasy Economics
(07:04) - Exporting Clean Energy
(07:48) - Reverse Turing Tests
(08:56) - Syndicate Economics
(09:51) - Integration
(10:38) - Data
Jul 17, 2023 • 19min
It's Hard to Build a Durable Business Selling Durable Goods
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) - It's Hard to Build a Durable Business Selling Durable Goods
(13:02) - Wrappers and Layoffs
(13:53) - The Movies
(15:38) - Evaporating Sanctions
(16:09) - Bonds
(16:52) - Errors in Translation
Jul 10, 2023 • 16min
Was it Worth it for Facebook to Become Meta?
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) - Was it Worth it for Facebook to Become Meta?
(09:38) - Carbon Accounting
(10:48) - Social Mobility
(11:23) - To Replicate or To Replicate
(13:06) - Energy Transitions
(14:04) - Financing
Jul 3, 2023 • 12min
AI Turns UGC into a PVP Zone
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) - AI Turns UGC into a PVP Zone
(07:04) - Goldman
(08:17) - ETFs
(09:02) - Dispersion
(10:09) - Softbank
(11:20) - Contrarianism
Jun 26, 2023 • 14min
The Economics of Engineering Blogs
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 Engineering Blogs
(08:27) - Art Exchange
(09:51) - Fraud
(10:56) - Airlines
(11:44) - The Long Tail
(12:29) - Chinese IPOs
Jun 20, 2023 • 14min
Reddit and Platform 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) - Reddit and Platform Politics
(09:12) - The Boomer Market
(10:18) - Network Effects
(11:20) - Direct to Retail
(12:08) - Strategic Investing
(13:05) - ByteDance and AI
Jun 15, 2023 • 16min
Where Does Stripe Go From Here?
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) - Where Does Stripe Go From Here?
(10:43) - Deal Flow
(11:32) - Proprietary Data
(12:31) - Beyoncéflation
(13:09) - Pricing and Local Maxima
(14:28) - Funds and Spoils
