
"World of DaaS"
deep dive into Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) businesses. World of DaaS is a podcast for data enthusiasts, by data enthusiasts, where Auren Hoffman talks to business and technology leaders about all things data - building it, acquiring it, analyzing it, and everything in between.
Latest episodes

Aug 23, 2022 • 37min
Terence Kawaja: The Future of AdTech
Terry Kawaja is the founder and CEO of Luma Partners, a media and technology investment bank. Terry has advised on over $300 billion in transactions, including some of the biggest deals in media, tech and advertising. Auren and Terry discuss the changes in the markets over the last few months and what they expect from the M&A landscape in the near term. Terry shares his thoughts on the long-term outlook for consolidation in the media and advertising space and where he thinks the next most innovative companies will appear in adtech. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Terry on Twitter @tkawaja.

Aug 16, 2022 • 1h 1min
Sheila Heen: How to Navigate Hard Conversations
Sheila Heen is the Deputy Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project and the bestselling author of Difficult Conversations. She’s an internationally recognized negotiation coach and trainer. Sheila and Auren discuss how to approach your toughest conversations, including best practices for opening a negotiation, defusing conversations that feel adversarial and giving and receiving better feedback. They also talk about the surprising similarities in tough conversations at work and at home, and how you can use negotiation strategies to throw a better dinner party. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren.

Aug 9, 2022 • 1h
Cindy Cohn: Who Should Regulate the Internet?
Cindy Cohn is the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the largest digital rights organization in the world. In this wide ranging conversation, Cindy and Auren touch on a number of topics across the tech space, including privacy on the Blockchain, interoperability and the politics around regulating big tech. They discuss the unintended consequences of privacy protections and what smart regulation should seek to accomplish. Cindy brings a unique perspective to the debate around open access to data and discusses how to think critically about the power that data can unlock. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren.

Aug 2, 2022 • 38min
Neal Katyal: Taking on the Supreme Court
Neal Katyal is a professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University, a partner at Hogan Lovells law firm, and the former Acting Solicitor General. He has argued 45 cases before the Supreme Court. Neal and Auren look back on the Supreme Court’s most recent term and Neal brings some historical context to the court’s major decisions. They discuss the court’s new balance of power and Neal explains how Supreme Court lawyers can make arguments on the most complex legal issues in under 30 minutes. They also talk about productivity, balancing multiple roles, and how to get the best people on your team. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Neal Katyal at @neal_katyal

Jul 26, 2022 • 50min
David Epstein: Never Underestimate the Generalist
David Epstein is the author of the New York Times bestsellers “Range” and “The Sports Gene”. Auren and David discuss David’s latest book Range and his counterintuitive ideas about specialization and why generalists are so powerful. They talk about why the 10,000 hours rule is overrated, how specialists get so many major predictions wrong, and how to think about talent and interest in your own career. David also discusses some of the intricacies of genetics in medicine and gives some non-obvious advice for healthy living. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and David at @DavidEpstein. You can also find David’s newsletter at https://davidepstein.bulletin.com/.

Jul 19, 2022 • 25min
Rob Buxton: The State of DaaS (A Market Snapshot)
Rob Buxton is a partner at AGC Partners where he specializes in the DaaS and SaaS capital markets. Rob has completed over 300 financings and M&A transactions in his career. Rob and Auren dive into the recent trends in the data-as-a-service (DaaS) sector. They break down the insights from Rob’s recent DaaS sector report and dig into what makes the great data companies great and the broader DaaS M&A landscape. Rob walks through the different types of data companies out there, their respective competitive advantages and TAMs, and how the recent downturn has impacted the DaaS space. They also discuss when external data can benefit a company, what data readiness looks like, and why DaaS companies are so profitable at scale. Rob’s DaaS sector report can be found here: https://www.blackpeakcapital.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/AGC-DaaS-Mar-2022.pdfWorld of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Rob Buxton on LinkedIn.

Jul 5, 2022 • 47min
Gary Marcus: The Failed Promise of Artificial Intelligence
Gary Marcus is the Author of Reboot AI and professor at NYU. Gary and Auren discuss the advancements in and shortcomings of artificial intelligence. They dive into how for AI to be really good, it needs to be built towards human intelligence and gain “Common Sense”, which it lacks today. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Gary Marcus at @GaryMarcus.

Jun 28, 2022 • 34min
Or Offer: The Mechanics of Data Businesses
Or Offer is Co-Founder and CEO of Similarweb (ticker: SMWB), a digital intelligence data company. Auren and Or dive into how data businesses actually work. They explore the problems every data company faces: build vs. partner, accuracy vs. coverage, how to think about data costs, and how to focus on your core competencies.World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Or at @oroffer.

Jun 21, 2022 • 45min
Antonio Garcia Martinez: A New Approach to Regulation
Antonio Garcia Martinez is the NYT best selling author of Chaos Monkeys. He is a senior fellow at the Lincoln Network. Previously, he was the founder of AdGrok and formerly a product manager at Facebook. Auren and Antonio explore the unintended consequences of regulation, the growth of the adtech markets, and frameworks to apply when thinking about privacy. They also dive into Antonio’s pursuit of religion in an increasingly complex modern world. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Antonio at @antoniogm.

14 snips
Jun 14, 2022 • 41min
Liv Boeree: Developing a Probabilistic Mindset
Liv Boeree is a former world poker champion, a science commentator and content creator, and a philanthropist. Auren and Liv dive into a broad range of topics including poker, probability, societal progress, artificial intelligence and decision-making. Liv has an incredible mind and has thought deeply about the intricacies of life, society and science. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts.You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Liv at @Liv_Boeree.
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