Summation with Auren Hoffman

Nick Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic. Prior to that, he was editor-in-chief of Wired and a senior editor at The New Yorker . Nick and Auren discuss the evolving relationship between tech and media and the impact of social media platforms like Twitter on these industries. Nick shares insights into the tech industry's self-narratives and its influence on politics.  They also delve into the...

Hadi Partovi is the founder and CEO of Code.org . He also founded Tellme Networks and ILike, held leadership roles at Microsoft and Myspace, and angel invested in a number of incredible companies, including Facebook, DropBox, Airbnb, and Uber.  Hadi and Auren discuss making computer science as part of the core curriculum in public education. Hadi explains the importance of learning basic computer...

David Sinclair is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and the founder of the Sinclair Lab. He’s the author of the bestselling book Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To , as well as a founder of several biotech companies.  Auren and David discuss the potential to expand the average human lifespan by decades. David challenges traditional notions of aging and emphasizes the nee...

Matt Kaminski is the Editor in Chief of Politico and the founding editor of Politico Europe .  Auren and Matt discuss the challenges of restoring trust in journalism and navigating politics in the digital age. Matt highlights the complicated nuances of getting a story right, the role of bias in journalism, and the need to protect free speech. He also discusses how Politico approached breaking the...

Marissa Mayer was the CEO of Yahoo and the 20th employee at Google, where she held key leadership roles in major Google products including Search, Maps, and Gmail. She’s currently the co-founder and CEO of Sunshine .  Marissa and Auren discuss the unexpected turn AI has taken towards creativity and expression, and its impact on coding and software engineering. They also explore how AI can improve...

Tom Tugendhat is the UK’s Minister of State for Security and a British Member of Parliament. He was previously the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, and before that he served multiple tours in the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Auren and Tom discuss the role of the UK's Minister of State for Security and Tom’s work with cybersecurity, intelligence gathering, and...

Jack Abraham is the founder of Atomic , a startup studio that has launched several dozen companies including Hims & Hers , Openstore , and Bungalow . Before starting Atomic, Jack co-founded Milo, which he sold to eBay. Auren and Jack discuss how the studio fund model works and what’s allowed Atomic to be successful in a space where many other studios have failed. Jack breaks down the process o...

Will Manidis is the CEO and founder of ScienceIO, which builds data solutions for health care. He was previously a managing partner at Dorm Room Fund, and a Thiel Fellow. Auren and Will discuss American dynamism and the future of knowledge work. Will breaks down his view that technology has not improved our lives as much as it should have. He explains how the nature of platform shifts have acceler...

Avlok Kohli is the CEO of AngelList and the founder of FastBite and Fairy.  Auren and Avlok discuss the underestimated impact of AI and how it could be creating a tech mega cycle. Avlok explains the importance of unique data as a moat for companies building on top of large language models, and how this technology can disrupt incumbents.  They also discuss the rise of Dual Threat CEOs and their out...

Elad Gil is a prolific angel investor and advisor whose early investments include AirBnb, Coinbase, Pinterest, Stripe, and Square. He’s also the founder of Color Health and author of the bestselling book High Growth Handbook . Elad and Auren discuss the challenges and opportunities for startups in the emerging AI technology landscape, particularly in comparison to incumbent companies. Elad breaks...

Johnathan Bi is the host of a fantastic seven-part lecture series on the work of philosopher René Girard. He’s also a member of the founding team at Opto Investments.  Auren and Johnathan discuss some of the fundamental concepts in Girard’s philosophy and how they apply to startups, venture capital, and life more broadly. They break down physical vs metaphysical desire, the power of self-delusion,...

Nicole Perlroth was the New York Times’ lead cybersecurity reporter for over a decade. She’s an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Advisory Committee and the author of the bestselling book This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends . Auren and Nicole discuss the global cyber landscape— which countries have the strongest hacking capabilities, how Ukraine has changed cyber w...

Sigal Mandelker served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence from 2017 to 2019. She’s currently a general partner at Ribbit Capital, which invests in fintech companies.  Sigal and Auren discuss how sanctions actually work and what makes them effective. Sigal explains how the US’s role in the global financial system could change as new financial technology evol...

Jonathan Greenblatt is the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. Prior to leading the ADL, he was the founder of Ethos Brands, VP of Global Consumer Products at Starbucks, and Director of the Office of Social Innovation during the Obama administration.  Auren and Jonathan discuss the role of technology in amplifying hate and extremism in society, and what tech companies and regulators should do about...

Dr. Jonathan Levin is the Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He’s the winner of the 2011 John Bates Medal, and an expert in market design, game theory, and industrial organization.  Auren and Jon discuss how Stanford GSB, one of the most selective schools in the world, thinks about finding talent. Jon breaks down the non-obvious ways universities foster innovation, and how that path...

Dr. Nir Barzilai discovered the first “longevity gene” in humans and pioneered key research around the biology of aging. He’s the founding director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the author of the book Age Later .  Nir and Auren discuss the most promising studies and treatments in the field of anti-aging research and break down the ma...

Tony is a retired 4-star US Army General and was the commander of the US Special Operations Command from 2016 to 2019. During his 35-year military career, he played a key role in numerous high-profile operations, including the mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. He’s currently a partner at Lux Capital. Auren and Tony discuss what we’ve learned from the war in Ukraine and which c...

Auren and Megan discuss some of the less obvious factors that contributed to the superheated economy of the last decade. Megan breaks down how she thinks about monopolies in the tech sector and explains one of the most misunderstood things about markets.  Megan also shares some of her insights on politics and culture. She explains how one of the most popular negotiation techniques in politics almo...

Jaan Tallinn is one of the founding engineers of Skype and the file-sharing service Kazaa. He’s also a co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the Future of Life Institute.  Auren and Jaan discuss the trajectory of artificial intelligence and the existential risks it could present to humanity. Jann talks about the prevailing attitudes towards risk in AI research and what nee...

Baroness Dido Harding has held high-level leadership roles in the UK’s National Health Service and in the private sector, at companies like TalkTalk, Tesco, and Thomas Cook. She was executive chair of the NHS’s COVID-19 Test and Trace effort.  Dido and Auren break down what we’ve learned about data and public health during the pandemic. Dido explains how publicly accessible data helped leaders and...

Oren Etzioni was the founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, or AI2. He’s founded multiple companies that had successful exits, and he’s a professor emeritus at the University of Washington.  Oren Etzioni and host Auren Hoffman discuss Oren’s criteria for artificial general intelligence and what signs he’s looking for to indicate that AGI is about to emerge. They talk about major issues in AI...

Vivek Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur, investor and author. He founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and Strive Asset Management in 2021. He’s also the author of the bestselling books Woke Inc. and Nation of Victims.  Auren and Vivek discuss how CEOs and leaders should think about ideology in the workplace— both their own and their employees’. Vivek breaks down the history of the ESG movement and pulls ba...

David is a co-founder and partner at Craft Ventures, one of the foremost SaaS VCs. He was the former COO at Paypal and he’s invested in over 20 unicorns, including AirBnB, Facebook, Palantir, Uber, and SpaceX.  David and Auren discuss the state of SaaS in 2023 and consider how layoffs, seat contraction, and the broader macro environment could affect the ecosystem this year. David shares some advic...

Bret Stephens is a foreign affairs columnist at the New York Times and author of America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder. Auren and Bret discuss major takeaways from the war in Ukraine, and the US's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bret offers predictions about the future of warfare and weaponry, and explains what the US will have to do to remain the preeminent gl...

Thani Shamsi is the co-founder and CEO of Datarade, a Berlin-based data commerce platform.  Auren and Thani dive deep into the data market and discuss how it’s developed in comparison to SaaS. Thani shares his insights on how the most successful data companies drive sales and how expects the data space to evolve.  World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com...