Byrne Hobart

The Diff

Business EN ↓ 307 episodes

The Diff is a newsletter exploring the technologies, companies, and trends that are making the future high-variance. Posts range from in-depth company profiles, applied financial theory, strategy breakdowns and macroeconomics.

Author

Byrne Hobart

Category

Business

Latest episode

Jul 6, 2026

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Episodes

Invisible Efficiencies 13.05.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Invisible Efficiencies (06:49) - Making a Market (07:53) - Outsourcing (09:35) - Multicloud (10:53) - Can Frackers Collude? (12:37) - Infrastructure (13:25) - Area Man Tweets

Martingale Beliefs 06.05.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Martingale Beliefs (07:18) - Country Equity (08:25) - Costs and Benefits (09:38) - Continuation Funds (10:36) - Deepfaking the Dead and the Last Generation of Celebrities (11:47) - Mature Financial Systems

AI Ruins Education the way Pulleys Ruin Powerlifting 29.04.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - AI Ruins Education the way Pulleys Ruin Powerlifting (12:38) - The Other Kind of Bank Unwind (13:30) - AI Asset Plays (14:15) - Retail Rides Again (14:59) - Single-Family Rentals (16:21) - AI Math

Who's Afraid of Index Funds? 22.04.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Who's Afraid of Index Funds? (10:25) - The Market for Data (11:52) - Crowded Careers (12:42) - Black Boxes, Everywhere (13:32) - Externalities (14:45) - Intra-Elite Conflict

Most Market Phenomena are Older than they Look 15.04.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Most Market Phenomena are Older than they Look (06:58) - Labor Arbitrage (07:40) - Reddit and Search (09:23) - On-Prem (10:21) - Audience of One (11:07) - Ads Everywhere

The Data Business, At Three Resolutions 08.04.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - The Data Business, At Three Resolutions (08:45) - The Instagram Numbers (09:57) - Trader Pay (11:08) - The Distribution of Near-Misses (12:54) - Benefits (13:34) - Funding Cycles

Algorithmic Collusion 01.04.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Algorithmic Collusion (08:38) - Operationalizing Secrecy (09:36) - Product Convergence (10:00) - Black Box Update (10:49) - Data Scarcity (11:41) - Cash Management

The Duolingo Disaster That Wasn't 25.03.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - The Duolingo Disaster That Wasn't (07:34) - Chatbots (08:31) - Alpha Capture (09:45) - Coreweave (10:58) - Preannouncements (11:41) - AI's ROI

The Case for Marking More to Market 18.03.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - The Case for Marking More to Market (06:47) - Petrodollar Recycling (07:44) - Importing Talent (08:19) - Self-Regulation (09:38) - Apple/Google (10:39) - Exits

Death Spirals 11.03.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Death Spirals (05:19) - Ads! (06:10) - Healthcare and Insurance (07:01) - Transition Economics (07:46) - Volatility (08:49) - Strategic Investments

Should You Hedge It All? 04.03.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Should You Hedge It All? (07:22) - Apple Car (08:35) - State-Directed Investment (09:26) - Flywheels and Bubbles (10:28) - Inflation Impacts (11:42) - Vertical Integration

Exposed! Your Torrid Love Affair With Airline Fees 26.02.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Exposed! Your Torrid Love Affair With Airline Fees (08:43) - Malicious Compliance (11:01) - Sanctions and Third Countries (12:00) - Bing and BATNAs (13:19) - Celebrity Endorsements and Binary Outcomes (14:10) - Supply/Demand Balance

Building for Power Users 20.02.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Building for Power Users (10:16) - Adtech and "Sky Bridges" (11:04) - SuperMicro! (12:57) - GDP YoY (13:43) - Black Boxes (14:43) - Pods and Cycles

Antithesis: Debugging Debugging 13.02.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Antithesis: Debugging Debugging (12:59) - Rebooting (13:40) - AI, UGC, and Communities (14:18) - Land Rushes (15:21) - AI and Share Shift (16:20) - Nirvana

AI-Based Disinformation Will Not Be An Especially Big Deal in the 2024 Election 12.02.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - AI-Based Disinformation Will Not Be An Especially Big Deal in the 2024 Election (06:10) - Discount Pods (07:22) - China and Real Estate (08:26) - Microcaps (09:30) - Unraveling (10:14) - Market Structure

Is "Social" an Enduring Category or Just a Phase? 05.02.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Is "Social" an Enduring Category or Just a Phase? (07:13) - The Carbon Discount Rate (08:43) - Alternative Data (10:16) - Transitory Lessons (11:17) - App Economics (12:15) - Where Does the Basis Trade Come From?

Being Not-a-Tech-Company 29.01.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Being Not-a-Tech-Company (08:52) - Media (10:41) - News: Supply and Demand (11:56) - Preferred Habitats (12:49) - Liquidation (14:12) - The Activism Cycle

Momentum, Intellectual Humility, and Missing Pieces of the Model 22.01.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Momentum, Intellectual Humility, and Missing Pieces of the Model (06:57) - War Finance Meets Green Finance (08:03) - AI-Assisted Creativity (08:56) - Property Rights and Mortal Institutions (09:41) - Complements (10:25) - Hedge Funds

A Theory of Grift 16.01.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - A Theory of Grift (08:40) - Buy The Change You Wish to See in the World (10:27) - Schmuck Insurance (11:22) - Uncertainty (12:23) - Block Trading (14:59) - Ads

Why Does Any Company Own its Corporate Headquarters? 08.01.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Why Does Any Company Own its Corporate Headquarters? (09:36) - The Noise Election (11:04) - Automation (12:03) - Complementary Businesses (14:26) - Talent Cycles (15:22) - The Mechanics of Regulatory Moats

How Many Trillion-Dollar Companies Should There Be? 02.01.2024

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - How Many Trillion-Dollar Companies Should There Be? (09:57) - Choice (11:09) - Durables (12:01) - Lobbying (12:55) - The China Model (13:37) - Training Data

How Should Higher Education Be Financed? 18.12.2023

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - How Should Higher Education Be Financed? (10:28) - Accredited Investors (11:54) - Gambling on Gambling (12:41) - Price Discrimination (13:25) - In Play (14:19) - Even More Product Convergence

Graduating to Parallelized Strategies 11.12.2023

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Graduating to Parallelized Strategies (07:16) - AAI (08:13) - OpenAI (10:36) - Twitter (11:31) - Pod Shop Math (12:22) - Privacy, Security, and Monopoly

In Investing, and in Life, The More Timeless the Discovery the More It's a One-Off Gain 04.12.2023

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - In Investing, and in Life, The More Timeless the Discovery the More It's a One-Off Gain (08:01) - Airlines (09:21) - Deflation (10:07) - VC (10:32) - Automation (11:13) - Vertical Integration

Can Argentina Dollarize? Should They? 27.11.2023

This is an audio version of the free newsletter. Read the newsletter at thediff.co, and subscribe for an additional 3 posts (and podcasts!) per week. (00:00) - Can Argentina Dollarize? Should They? (07:06) - 0DTEs (08:57) - Corporate Politics (09:45) - Ads and Sports (11:15) - AI Creating Jobs (11:48) - Marketing Real Estate

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