Summation with Auren Hoffman

This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers Auren Hoffman’s guide to running a job search like a full-time commitment. Instead of vague networking, he lays out a five-step process that stresses clarity, specificity, and creating value before asking for help. From defining target roles to demonstrating impact with real work, the approach reframes job hunting as a strategic, disciplined pursuit. Liste...

Zac Bookman is the co-founder and CEO of OpenGov , which provides cloud software and AI solutions to over 2,000 government agencies across the United States. In February 2024, OpenGov was acquired by Cox Enterprises for $1.8 billion. In this episode of World of DaaS, Zac and Auren discuss: Making public data truly accessible Growth vs sustainability in GovTech How COVID transformed government digi...

This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers the lawsuit filed by Penske Media Corporation, parent of Rolling Stone, against Google over its AI Overviews feature. PMC argues that these AI-generated summaries siphon traffic and revenue from publishers by removing the need for users to click through to original articles. The case raises major questions around copyright, fair use, and the long-term sust...

Jason Kwon is the Chief Strategy Officer at OpenAI. In this episode of World of DaaS, Jason and Auren discuss: Compute bottlenecks and power infrastructure challenges User expectations vs AI capabilities Geopolitical competition in AI development Bringing top AI talent to the United States Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter an...

This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers The Only Right Way to Ask for an Intro (Everything Else Is Wrong) by Auren Hoffman. He explains why clarity of purpose, proper framing, and respect for people’s time are essential when seeking intros for jobs, partnerships, or mentorship. Getting this right makes the difference between a strong connection and a missed opportunity. Listen to this short podc...

Tyler Denk is the co-founder and CEO of beehiiv , a newsletter platform that has grown to over $20 million in annual revenue in under four years. He was the second employee at Morning Brew, where he built the growth infrastructure that helped scale the company to 3.5 million subscribers before its $75 million acquisition by Business Insider in 2020. He’s also the creator of big desk energy , a new...

This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief looks at GDPR compliance for non-EU and non-UK companies. Firms handling resident data in these regions are required to appoint local representatives who serve as points of contact for regulators and individuals exercising their data rights. This step is critical for ensuring compliance with both GDPR and UK GDPR. Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by...

Gokul Rajaram is a founding partner at Marathon Management Partners and former product leader who helped build Google AdSense and Facebook's advertising platform. He serves on the boards of Pinterest, Coinbase, and The Trade Desk, and previously led product teams at Square and DoorDash. In this episode of World of DaaS, Gokul and Auren discuss: Building massive advertising platforms at Google...

This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief explores the evolving role of synthetic data in AI. Synthetic datasets are increasingly used to safeguard privacy, cut costs, and speed up model training, particularly in testing rare scenarios. But challenges remain, including risks of carrying over biases from real-world data and the need for careful validation to ensure reliable outcomes. Listen to this short...

Patrick Lencioni is one of the founders of The Table Group and is the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 9 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages. As President of the Table Group, Pat spends his time speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health and consulting with executives and the...

This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers Anthropic’s settlement with a group of authors over copyright claims. The case centered on the use of copyrighted works in training AI systems and reflects the mounting legal and IP challenges shaping generative AI. Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.

This episode is a rebroadcast of host Auren Hoffman's appearance on the CMO Confidential Podcast . Auren shares why he believes vendor management is the #1 skill for future executives—and why most companies should rent world-class capabilities rather than hire executives they can’t fully utilize. From “scaffolding” young talent to his provocative views on procurement’s negative value, Booz Al...

This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief looks at new research from MIT , which finds that 95% of generative AI pilot programs inside companies are failing to deliver meaningful financial impact. The issue is not model quality but enterprise integration and a steep organizational learning gap. The report shows ROI is strongest in back-office automation even as most budgets flow to sales and marketing, a...

Rujul Zaparde is the co-founder and CEO of Zip , the $2.2 billion AI platform for procurement trusted by OpenAI, Anthropic, Snowflake, and hundreds of leading enterprises. He previously co-founded FlightCar, which raised over $40 million and was acquired by Mercedes-Benz. A former Airbnb product manager and Y Combinator visiting partner, Rujul has built Zip into the category-defining leader in pro...

This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief looks at a recent piece by Auren Hoffman, co-authored with Sushant Bhardwaj and Lily Petherick from Flex Capital, on a little-known but impactful clause in VC term sheets that can strip founders of their voting rights when they leave their company. We cover how this “employment-tied voting rights” provision, often overlooked until it is too late, can leave founde...

Brian Potter is a structural engineer and author of Construction Physics, a weekly Substack about the economics, technology, and productivity of building and infrastructure. He's also a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Progress.  In this episode of World of DaaS, Brian and Auren discuss: Why construction productivity has flatlined for decades The failure of modular construction and automati...

Howie Liu is the co-founder and CEO of Airtable , the AI-native app platform which has raised over $1.3 billion in funding and is valued at more than $11 billion. Howie sold his first startup, Etacts, to Salesforce when he was just 21 years old. In this episode of World of DaaS, Howie and Auren discuss: The evolution of the no-code/low-code movement How AI is transforming software development Pric...

Dwarkesh Patel is the host of the Dwarkesh Podcast, where he interviews leading scientists, founders, and economists about AI, science, and progress. In this episode of World of DaaS, Dwarkesh and Auren discuss:  Why experts overestimate AI capabilities   The continual learning bottleneck in current models  Japan's economic crash and global productivity stagnation  Spaced repetition and effec...

Michael Ramlet is the co-founder and CEO of Morning Consult, a global decision intelligence company with more than $100 million in annual revenue. Morning Consult conducts 30,000 daily interviews across 40+ countries and serves more than half of the Fortune 500. In this episode of World of DaaS, Michael and Auren discuss: The evolution from telephone to online polling  Building representative poll...

Prukalpa Sankar is the co-founder and CEO of Atlan , a data platform used by organizations like Plaid, NASDAQ and the UN to manage data collaboration at scale. Atlan has raised over $200 million and grown revenue 7x in the last two years. In this episode of World of DaaS, Prukalpa and Auren discuss: AI native company transformations Context as the foundation for enterprise AI Building remote-first...

Amit Gupta is the CEO of Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX), a global commerce media platform that powers rewards programs with card-linked offers and enables brands to strengthen customer loyalty. In this episode of World of DaaS, Amit and Auren discuss: How card-linked offers strengthen customer loyalty  Identity resolution and retail media Cardlytics' view into $5.8 trillion of annual consumer spen...

Fabrice Grinda is the co-founder and managing partner of FJ Labs, a venture capital firm that has invested in over 1,200 startups with more than 350 exits, including early investments in Alibaba, Flexport, and Delivery Hero. He previously built and sold three companies as CEO: Aucland (one of Europe's largest auction sites), Zingy (mobile media startup sold for $80M), and OLX (global classifi...

Rabbi David Wolpe is the emeritus rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, one of the largest synagogues in the United States. He is a bestselling author of eight books on faith and spirituality and has been named one of the most influential rabbis in America. In this episode of World of DaaS, David and Auren discuss: AI rabbis and digital therapy Lab grown meat and kosher laws Consciousness uploadin...

Max Marchione is the founder and President of Superpower , a digital healthcare platform that recently raised a $30 million Series A to make preventative and personalized medicine accessible to consumers. In this episode of World of DaaS, Max and Auren discuss: Billionaire-level health protocols and testing Why AI will replace expensive doctors Peptides, toxins, and human enhancement The future of...

Jager McConnell is the CEO of Crunchbase, a leading business intelligence platform for startup and investment data, serving over 80 million users. In this episode of World of DaaS, Jager and Auren discuss: The polarized venture funding landscape Why 'religion' beats 'truth' in data companies Finding defensible moats in the AI era Predicting acquisition targets at scale Looking...