"World of DaaS"

Michael Brown recently finished his term as director of the Defense Innovation Unit, a DoD organization focused on accelerating the adoption of commercial technology by the military.Auren and Michael go in depth on defense spending and discuss how to reform the budget process. Michael outlines the challenges of buying commercial technology for the military and offers some advice for startups looking to work with the government. They also discuss how new technologies are being used in the war in Ukraine and what the government can do to hire more innovative people.   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 Michael on LinkedIn at @michaelabrownceo.

Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT 4th) serves as the chair of the National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee.Jim and Auren discuss Jim’s recent white paper on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that explored the potential for a US CBDC and how it should be structured. They also talk about what regulation could mean for the crypto landscape and discuss why it’s so hard for the military to buy innovative tech.    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 Jim on Twitter at @jahimes.

Jason Gardner is the founder and CEO of Marqeta, an open-API card issuing platform used by companies like Square, Doordash, and Uber. Jason is one of the most knowledgeable people in the complex world of payments. He gives an in depth breakdown of how the global payments system actually works and shares his outlook on disruptors like crypto and mobile wallets. Jason and Auren also talk about the differences between startup and scale CEOs, the process of going public, and what the best executive chairmen have in common.    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 Jason on Twitter at @jmgards.

Tim Urban is the creator of Wait But Why, a blog with over half a million monthly subscribers. He writes about productivity, science, politics and the future. Tim and Auren discuss some of Tim’s biggest ideas around technology, including cryonics, life extension, and artificial superintelligence. They break down Tim’s framework for understanding political polarization and Tim shares his unique perspective on tackling some of life’s biggest challenges, from beating procrastination to marrying the right person.  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 Tim on Twitter @waitbutwhy or on his blog Wait But Why. 

RJ Pittman is the CEO of Matterport, a $1.2 billion market cap spatial data and 3D capture company. RJ and Auren discuss the mechanics of bringing real estate, an “offline” asset class, into the 21st century. RJ talks about the company’s decision to launch a smartphone capture app and adopt a freemium model. He also shares some insight on entering an organization as a non-founder CEO. 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 RJ Pittman on Twitter @rjpittman.

Mark Penn is the CEO of Stagwell and a longtime pollster and strategic advisor. He’s a former senior executive at Microsoft and has advised politicians including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.Mark and Auren discuss Mark’s books Microtrends and Microtrends Squared, in which Mark identified minor demographic trends and predicted their outsized impact on society and the economy. Mark gets into the mechanics of good opinion polling and breaks down the major differences between political and consumer polling, and how internet polling is affecting the industry. They also discuss Stagwell and Mark’s digital-first strategy for disrupting the old-school advertising holding companies. 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 Mark at @Mark_Penn.

Christopher Ahlberg is the founder and CEO of Recorded Future, a cyberintelligence firm that sold for $780 million in 2019. He formerly co-founded the business intelligence software company Spotfire. Christopher and Auren discuss the global cybercrime landscape, from emerging threats and ransomware gangs to international conflicts and the geopolitics of taking down hackers. They dive into how the US can improve its cyber defenses, both in the public and private spheres, and talk about the sprawling US security apparatus. They also discuss cyber operations in Ukraine and what we can expect from future conflicts. 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 Christopher on Twitter @cahlberg.

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.

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.

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.