"The Riff" with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg

On this week's episode of The Riff, Erik and Byrne discuss Austin real estate, why Duolingo has remained strong post-pandemic, and how to identify spurious correlations during data analysis. --- This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching ne...

In this episode, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss how technological changes influence markets and business adaptability. They explore the dynamics and challenges of e-commerce roll-ups, the unique economic incentives of large platforms like Facebook and Google, the complexities of content moderation on social media platforms, and social securities' future liabilities and taxes. --- This sho...

On today’s episode, Byrne Hobart delves into the intricacies of technology-induced market shifts, hedge fund dynamics, Byrne’s post on outage economics, and the evolving landscape of open source and proprietary AI models. --- This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders...

On this week's episode of The Riff, Erik and Byrne discuss lessons about Tiger Global from Carrie Sun’s book Private Equity, the role of alternative data in investing, and why it’s hard to make a good dating app. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co --- Check out Erik's new showRequest for Startupsfeaturing a rotating cast of founders and investors sh...

Byrne and Erik discuss company valuations, short selling, company earnings guidance, market predictions, and the behavior of companies and investors in financial markets. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: https://turpentine.co --- Check out Erik's new show  Request for Startups featuring a rotating cast of founders and investors sharing their requests for startu...

On this week's episode of The Riff, Erik and Byrne discuss the fertility crisis, how Walmart is a tool of upward mobility, AI as the last interface, and more. The Riff is sponsored by Brave. Head to https://brave.com/brave-ads/ and mention “MoZ” when signing up for a 25% discount on your first campaign. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co --- RECOMME...

On this week's episode of The Riff, Erik and Byrne sit down with Brad Hargreaves, founder of General Assembly and Common and editor at real estate publication Thesis Driven. They do a deep dive on everything real estate, from investing to housing policy to urbanism. The Riff is sponsored by Brave. Head to https://brave.com/brave-ads/ and mention “MoZ” when signing up for a 25% discount on your fir...

On this week's episode of The Riff, Erik and Byrne do a deep dive on the history of media, how technology is impacting the media landscape, and how to build the next media empire. The Riff is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: https://turpentine.co --- Check out Erik's new show Req...

On this week's episode of The Riff, Erik and Byrne discuss the mortality of corporations, why momentum investing works, and when to learn from extreme events. The Riff is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: https://turpentine.co --- Check out Erik's new show Request for Startups fea...

On this week's episode of The Riff, Erik and Byrne discuss factor netural hedge funds, the trend of Silicon Valley becoming more financially literate, the opportunity cost of features, and more. The Riff is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: https://turpentine.co --- Check out Erik...

This week's episode is the second part of Erik's March 2020 interview with Byrne on Venture Stories from Village Global. Erik and Byrne about generalists vs specialists, how the work of Rene Girard can be used to understand financial bubbles, the role of pseudonyms, why duopolies exist, and more. The Riff is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period. --- The...

This week on The Riff, Erik and Byrne talk about why you should ignore the 2024 presidential election news cycle, the barriers to the success of prediction markets, why the United States can't be a net exporter, and more. The Riff is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: https://turpe...

Today's episode is a throwback to when Erik interviewed Byrne Hobart for the first time on the Venture Stories by Village Global podcast. Byrne and Erik go deep on technological change, debate centralization versus decentralization, discuss mental models for financial bubbles, and examine human nature from the lens of different thinkers. The Riff is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/moment...

This week, writer Byrne Hobart and investor Erik Torenberg discuss the failed acquisition of Figma by Adobe, a deep dive on antitrust, Byrne's take on higher education and viable alternatives, unions, and more. The Riff is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: https://turpentine.co --...

This week, writer Byrne Hobart and investor Erik Torenberg discuss new updatates from OpenAI, Byrne's macroeconomic predictions, the importance of software for Microsoft, and more. Moment of Zen is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co --- Check out Erik's new show Reque...

This week, writer Byrne Hobart and investor Erik Torenberg discuss the lessons to be learned from the life of the late Charlie Munger. They explore what made Munger a great investor, how he was different from Warren Buffett, and where to find the next Munger today. --- The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co --- Check out Erik's new show Request for Startups...

In our 5th episode of The Riff, writer Byrne Hobart and investor Erik Torenberg are joined by Thomas Li, the CEO of Daloopa for a deep dive into the world of hedge funds. They discuss what venture capitalists may not know about hedge funds, what most people get wrong, crowding, and risk management. The conversation also touches on the role of the yield curve in investment strategies and the compet...

In our 4th episode of The Riff, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss the complex interplay of technology, economic growth, demographics and investment decisions and the socio-technological implications of dating apps on society. They also debate the impact of political leaders' policies on capital markets, focusing specifically on the comparison of Xi Jinping's and Trump's stances and their tan...

In our third episode of The Riff, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss the evolving story of Sam Altman’s ousting at OpenAI and new home at Microsoft, what OpenAI's next pivot could look like, the new competitive landscape for the big AI players, and Effective Altruism’s role in this drama. -- We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incuba...

In our second episode of The Riff, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss the role and influence of companies like OpenAI, AI investment opportunities, the whitespace in the future of social media models, and turning cloud networks into real communities. The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co - We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's per...

In our first episode of The Riff, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss Byrne's writing for his newsletter The DIff, his biggest influences, and the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried. The Riff is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co -- We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA,...