Summation with Auren Hoffman

Russ d'Sa is the founder and CEO of LiveKit , the infrastructure company powering real-time voice for OpenAI's ChatGPT, Character.ai, and numerous AI applications. In this episode of World of DaaS, Russ and Auren discuss: The evolution of voice AI Turn detection and conversational dynamics Real-time infrastructure for AI Copilots vs autopilots for the future Looking for more tech, data a...

Dan Driscoll is the current Secretary of the U.S. Army, overseeing a military branch with approximately one million soldiers, 250,000 civilians, and an annual budget of $185 billion. In this episode of World of DaaS, Dan and Auren discuss: The Army Transformation Initiative Rapid defense innovation with Silicon Valley Modernizing obsolete military equipment Fixing Pentagon procurement  Looking for...

Brandon Daniels is the CEO of Exiger , which provides AI-powered supply chain and third-party risk management solutions to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Exiger has annual revenues of over $150 million and received a majority investment by Carlyle, Insight Partners, and JMI Equity for $1.2 billion in 2023. In this episode of World of DaaS, Brandon and Auren discuss: Tariffs and sup...

Joshua Steinman is the co-founder and CEO of Galvanick , a cybersecurity company building tools to secure industrial infrastructure and AI systems. In this episode of World of DaaS, Joshua and Auren discuss: Foreign spies in tech companies Vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure Lessons from Stuxnet and Ukraine Building resilience against cyber threats Looking for more tech, data and venture ca...

Brian O'Kelley is the co-founder and former CEO of AppNexus, which built core infrastructure for programmatic advertising and was acquired by AT&T for $1.6 billion in 2018. He's now the co-founder and CEO of Scope3, a company working to reduce the carbon footprint in digital advertising. In this episode of World of DaaS, Brian and Auren discuss: The zero-sum game of auction paradigms...

Trae Stephens is a partner at Founders Fund and co-founder and current executive chairman at Anduril, a defense technology company that produces software-defined, hardware-enabled major weapons programs. In this episode of World of DaaS, Trae and Auren discuss: Revolutionizing defense technology manufacturing Billionaire founders in defense tech Supply chain resilience for military hardware Techno...

Scott Stephenson is the former Chairman, President, and CEO of Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ: VRSK), where he led the company's transformation from a nonprofit insurance data collective into a global data analytics powerhouse with a market cap of over $40 billion. In this episode of World of DaaS, Scott and Auren discuss: Data monetization and defensibility strategies AI's impact on data busi...

Martin Casado is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he focuses on AI and infrastructure investments. He previously co-founded Nicira which was acquired by VMware for $1.2 billion in 2012. In this episode of World of DaaS, Martin and Auren discuss: Economics of open source AI Chinese AI innovation with DeepSeek Model collapse and data moats Regulatory challenges in AI Looking fo...

Bill Wise is the CEO and co-founder of Mediaocean , an adtech platform that processes over $200 billion in global media spend annually. In this episode of World of DaaS, Bill and Auren discuss: The hidden plumbing of global advertising Measurement monopolies in adtech The transition from linear TV to CTV Cultural integration in tech acquisitions Looking for more tech, data and venture capital inte...

Rob Henderson is a developmental psychologist, author of the New York Times bestseller Troubled and columnist for the Free Press and the Boston Globe. In this episode of World of DaaS, Rob and Auren discuss: How elites exploit the poor with luxury beliefs The vital importance of marriage for upward mobility The conspiracy behind useless college degrees The “late bloomers” phenomenon Looking for mo...

Jackie Reses is the co-founder and CEO of Lead Bank , fintech infrastructure bank with over $2.5 billion in assets under management. In this episode of World of DaaS, Jackie and Auren discuss: Fintech's regulatory reckoning The future of community banking State regulator competition Lessons from Square's payment revolution Leadership insights from Jack Dorsey Looking for more tech, data...

Alex Cohen is the co-founder and CEO of Hello Patient , a healthcare AI company that streamlines scheduling and patient management for medical practices. In this episode of World of DaaS, Alex and Auren discuss: The hidden costs of SaaS sprawl Why specialized tools beat all-in-one solutions Building relevancy through niche content The future of health data and personalized medicine Looking for mor...

Mario Gabriele is the founder of The Generalist , a tech analysis substack with over 132,000 subscribers. Mario also runs Generalist Capital, which invests in early stage companies.  In this episode of World of DaaS, Mario and Auren discuss: Why 70-80% of VCs destroy value The rise of mullet capitalism Navigating secondary sales in venture Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Hea...

Annie Duke is a former World Series of Poker champion, bestselling author of Thinking in Bets and Quit , and decision science expert who advises Fortune 500 companies on strategic decision-making. In this episode of World of DaaS, Annie and Auren discuss: Cognitive biases in venture capital Loss aversion and mental accounting One-way versus two-way doors Reading people in poker and business Lookin...

Deven Parekh is Managing Director at Insight Partners , a global software investment firm with over $90B in assets under management. Since joining in 2000, he has led investments in companies including Twitter, DocuSign, Alibaba, and JD.com. In this episode of World of DaaS, Deven and Auren discuss: Why gross retention beats net retention AI adoption vs previous tech cycles European tech's st...

Tim Vanderhook is the co-founder and CEO of Viant Technology (NASDAQ: DSP), a leading advertising technology company that went public in 2021 at a $2.5B valuation. In this episode of World of DaaS, Tim and Auren discuss: The trillion dollar advertising market opportunity Why linear TV is massively undervalued The explosive growth of streaming audio Fighting fraud in modern ad tech Looking for more...

Rajeev Goel is the co-founder and CEO of PubMatic (NASDAQ: PUBM), a sell-side advertising platform that processes over 780 billion ad impressions daily. In this episode of World of DaaS, Rajeev and Auren discuss: Building private cloud infrastructure for ad tech Processing 780 billion daily ad impressions The rise of retail media networks Political advertising in Connected TV Looking for more tech...

Mark Pincus is the founder of Zynga , which developed some of the most popular mobile games of all time like Farmville and Words With Friends. He currently runs Reinvent Capital and teaches product management at Stanford University.  In this episode of World of DaaS, Mark and Auren discuss: Why games predict the future of tech Building on platforms like Facebook The economics of virtual goods Prod...

Adam Singolda is the founder and CEO of Taboola (NASDAQ: TBLA), a content discovery platform that powers recommendations for Apple News, Yahoo, and other major publishers, reaching over 500 million daily active users. In this episode of World of DaaS, Adam and Auren discuss: The war for internet user attention Why Apple and Amazon are becoming ad companies Building a discovery engine for the inter...

Mark Zagorski is the CEO of DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV), a $3.4B market cap company that provides digital media measurement and verification software to major advertisers and platforms. In this episode of World of DaaS, Mark and Auren discuss: The $100B digital ad fraud economy Why marketing data is wrong but works The death of cookies and what's next Building sustainable independent adtech compa...

Farley Mesko is the CEO and co-founder of Sayari, a financial intelligence and supply chain risk platform that serves major financial institutions, government agencies, and corporations. In this episode of World of DaaS, Farley and Auren discuss: How geopolitics are reshaping global supply chains The evolution of financial crime networks Building data products for government agencies Why entity re...

Michael Barrett is the CEO of Magnite (NASDAQ: MGNI), the largest independent sell-side advertising platform with a market cap of over $2.2 billion. In this episode of World of DaaS, Michael and Auren discuss:  The $200B shift from linear TV to streaming How retail media networks are reshaping advertising Big Tech's dominance in digital advertising How AI will change programmatic advertising...

Samo Burja is an entrepreneur and political researcher. He’s the founder of Bismarck Analysis and the editor of Palladium Magazine, a publication focused on governance and societal challenges. In this episode of World of DaaS, Samo and Auren discuss:  Why great founders shape civilization Global fertility decline and its implications The magic of founders at age 23 Why trust in institutions is col...

Nate Baker is the cofounder and CEO of Qualia, the leading real estate closing platform which powers millions of real estate transactions a year.  He’s also the cofounder of Fractal, a business incubator that has launched over 150 vertical SaaS companies.  In this episode of World of DaaS, Nate and Auren discuss:  AI impacts on real estate Housing supply politics The “super app” real estate trend ...

Chris Hulls is the co-founder and CEO of Life360 (NASDAQ: LIF), the family safety platform used by over 70 million people worldwide. Life360 has a market cap of $3.3 billion. In this episode of World of DaaS, Chris and Auren discuss: Building a safety super-app The rise of tech-enabled helicopter parenting Psychedelics and CEO mental health Why vision beats data in startups Looking for more tech,...