Alex Lieberman is the co-founder of Morning Brew, a business newsletter with over 4 million subscribers. Alex founded Morning Brew in his dorm room and sold a majority stake to Business Insider for $75 million in 2020. In this episode, Alex and Auren discuss: Why B2B marketing is broken The future of influencer marketing Finding purpose after the e…

Evan Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Altana, a global supply chain management platform. Altana is one of the newest freight tech unicorns out there– they recently raised $200mm in a Series C round that valued the company at over a billion dollars. In this episode, Evan and Auren discuss: Why "Globalization 2.0" is replacing free trade How Russia…

Arup Banerjee is the co-founder and CEO of Windfall, a data company that estimates the net worth of every American. In this episode of World of DaaS, Arup and Auren discuss: Why accurate wealth data is so difficult to come by The best indicators of high net worth Common misconceptions about wealth distribution Building data co-ops Looking for more …

Sam Parr is the co-host of My First Million podcast and the founder of Hampton, a community of entrepreneurs and founders. Sam previously founded The Hustle, a business and tech newsletter that was acquired by HubSpot for reportedly $27 million in 2021. In this episode of World of DaaS, Sam and Auren discuss: Branding strategies for tech founders D…

Tomas Pueyo is the author of the Uncharted Territories blog, where he analyzes global trends in technology, politics, and economics. Tomas gained international recognition in 2020 for his data-driven analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic, with his articles reaching over 40 million views and being translated into more than 40 languages. In this episode …

Eric Glyman is the co-founder and CEO of Ramp, a financial operations platform. Ramp is one of the fastest growing startups in history, reaching $100M ARR in just three years. Prior to Ramp, Eric co-founded Paribus, a consumer finance app acquired by Capital One in 2016. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Eric discuss: Corporate spending t…

Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and founder of WordPress on the ongoing trademark dispute between WordPress and WP Engine, a hosting company owned by private equity firm Silver Lake. Matt Socials: Twitter: https://x.com/photomatt LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattm/ Host Auren Hoffman Socials: Twitter: https://twitter.com/auren Substack: …

Ben Casnocha is a cofounder and partner at Village Global, an early-stage venture capital firm backed by tech luminaries including Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. He was also chief of staff to Reid Hoffman and co-authored two best selling books with him, “The Alliance” and “The Startup of You.” In this episode of World of DaaS, Ben and…

Matt Clifford is the co-founder and chair of Entrepreneur First, a global talent investor that has helped create over 500 companies worth more than $10 billion. He’s also the founding chair of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, the UK’s answer to DARPA. In this episode of World of DaaS, Matt and Auren discuss: Investing in talent Traits of…

Daniel Pink is the author of seven bestselling books on business, work, and human behavior, including Drive and To Sell Is Human. His TED Talk on the science of motivation has been viewed more than 20 million times. His most recent book is The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward. In this episode of World of DaaS, Daniel and Auren…

Michael Walrath is the chairman and CEO of Yext, a publicly traded digital presence platform. Prior to Yext, Michael cofounded Right Media, the first at-scale digital ad exchange, which was acquired by Yahoo in 2007. In this episode, Michael and Auren discuss: Software vendor consolidation Changing attitudes around growth vs profitability New dynam…

Bjorn Lomborg is the president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and has authored several bestselling books including "The Skeptical Environmentalist", "False Alarm" and recently “Best Things First.” In this episode of World of DaaS, Bjorn and Auren discuss: The most efficient policies to save lives Evaluating charitable ROI The real costs of clim…

Alex Wirth is the cofounder and CEO of Quorum, a public affairs software platform. In this episode of World of DaaS, Alex and Auren discuss: How AI is affecting lawmaking The evolution of modern lobbying Predicting policy outcomes statistically Building govtech companies Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com…

Bryan is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He’s also the author of a number of bestselling books, including The Case Against Education, The Myth of the Rational Voter, and recently Build Baby Build. In this episode of World of DaaS, Bryan and Auren discuss: Education signaling and ROI The myth of involved parenting Immigration & …

Oleg Rogynskyy is the founder and CEO of People.ai, an ai-powered revenue intelligence platform. He’s also an advisor to the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. In this episode of World of DaaS, Oleg and Auren discuss: How AI will transform the sales process Sales automation and APIs Maximizing data value and differentiation Geopolitical…

Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University and the co-author of Marginal Revolution, one of the most popular and long-running blogs on the internet. In this episode of World of DaaS, Alex and Auren discuss: The decline of American dynamism Challenges to innovation Crime and bail reform Preparing for the next pandemic Looki…

Or Lenchner is the CEO of Bright Data, a leading web data collection company. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Or discuss: Web data freedom and ethics Bright Data's legal battle with Meta Data pricing strategies The Israeli tech scene Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newslett…

Adam is the co-founder & CEO of Daffy, a fintech platform for charitable giving. Prior to Daffy, Adam was CEO of Wealthfront, VP of Product & Growth at Dropbox and VP of Product Management at LinkedIn. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Adam discuss: Trends that will dominate fintech in 2030 Financial giants & disruptors Tax strategies and…

Jason Bordoff is an expert on geopolitics, energy security and the clean energy transition. He is the Founding Director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and he also held senior roles in the Obama administration, including on the National Economic Council, and the National Sec…

Chris is the co-founder and CEO of Substack. Prior to Substack, he co founded the messaging service Kik. In this episode of World of DaaS, Chris and Auren discuss: Attention, quality, and gatekeepers in media The state of freedom of speech Building an audience AI as a creative tool Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to Worl…

Robert Cialdini is a world renowned psychologist and author. His seminal work, "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion," published in 1984, is a classic in the field. He taught marketing, business and psychology at Stanford and he is the Regents' Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University. In this episode of World o…

Ben Miller is the co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, an online investment platform that gives retail investors access to private assets like real estate and venture capital. Fundrise has invested over $7B in real estate and has 385,000+ investors on its platform. In this episode, Auren and Ben discuss: Real estate data adoption Public/private market c…

Harley Finkelstein is the President of Shopify ($SHOP), a leading ecommerce platform valued at over $80 billion. Shopify powers over 2 million ecommerce stores in 175 countries. On this episode, Harley and Auren discuss: Entrepreneurial renaissance & record business creation Nonobvious brand success stories Shopify's ecosystem and partnerships play…

Brent Beshore is the founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, a unique private equity firm that buys cash-generating small and mid-sized businesses— with the intention to hold them indefinitely. Permanent Equity owns over a dozen businesses in diverse sectors including aerospace, building and construction, and martech. On this episode of World of DaaS,…

Mark Gerson co-founded Gerson Lehrman Group, the world’s largest expert network. He’s also the co-founder and Chairman of United Hatzalah and the African Mission Healthcare Foundation. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Mark discuss: Measuring charity impact and ROI Real philanthropy vs “fake charities” Building GLG and expert networks Mar…

Michael Batnick is a managing partner and Director of Research at Ritholtz Wealth Management. He’s also the host of the excellent investing and finance podcast network The Compound. In this episode, Auren and Michael discuss: Mega caps, crypto and retail investors Impact of index funds on the stock market Fintech vs legacy financial institutions In…

Anand Sanwal is the founder of CB Insights, a business analytics platform and global database of intel on technology companies. Anand was CEO of CB Insights for 14 years and recently stepped into the role of executive chairman. In this episode, Auren and Anand discuss: Tech and venture capital narratives vs data AI integration and workflows Future …

Scott Lynn is the founder and CEO of Masterworks, the first company to securitize art. Masterworks manages $940 million in art assets and has nearly 900,000 investors on its platform. Scott is also a multitime founder– prior to Masterworks, he founded companies in online gaming, advertising and fintech including AdKnowledge, Virtumundo, V2 Ventures…

Dmitri Alperovitch is the co-founder and former CTO of Crowdstrike, and he’s currently the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a national security think tank. He’s also the author of the new book World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the Twenty-First Century. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Dmitri discuss:…

Jonathan Ross is the founder and CEO of Groq, a company that develops high performance microchips purpose built for AI and machine learning. Prior to founding Groq, Jonathan invented Google’s AI processor, the TPU. In this episode of World of DaaS, Jonathan and Auren discuss: Future of industry in the AI era Evolution of AI processing hardware Semi…

Greg Isenberg is the CEO and Founder of Late Checkout Studio, a holding company for online community businesses. Greg has founded three venture-backed startups and he was also an advisor to TikTok and Reddit. In this episode of World of DaaS, Greg and Auren discuss: Changes to startup + VC ecosystem Startup studio model vs. private equity ChatGPT b…

Saagar is the co-host of the podcast and web series Breaking Points, which has over a million subscribers on Youtube. He was previously a White House correspondent for the Daily Caller. On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Saagar discuss: Media business models and revenue streams Bias and anti-establishment media Parallels in US history to t…

Ryan Petersen is the founder and CEO of Flexport, a unicorn international freight forwarding business. He’s also a Venture Partner at Founders Fund. In this episode of World of DaaS, Ryan and Auren discuss: Supply chain breakdowns Geopolitics of commercial shipping Scaling freight forwarding businesses 10X Deglobalization vs international trade Ret…

Bill Magnuson is the co-founder and CEO of Braze ($BRZE), a publicly traded customer engagement platform valued at over $5 billion. In this episode of World of DaaS: Growth of mobile technology Power of first-party relationships Modern martech mindset vs traditional advertising Tech company IPOs How SMS spam and fraud works Build vs buy martech str…

Steve was CEO of AOL during its meteoric rise from 1991 to 2003. He’s also the chairman and CEO of Revolution, which has invested over $1 billion in startups, and the author of several books, including Rise of the Rest and The Third Wave. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Steve discuss the early days of the internet and the challenges of …

Blake Hall is the co-founder and CEO of ID.me, a secure digital identity network with over 100 million members. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Blake dive into online security, passwords, AI, and geopolitics. Blake explains the concept of identity wallets and their potential to streamline access to services and benefits. He also breaks …

Daniel Diermeier is the Chancellor of Vanderbilt University. He’s a world-renowned scholar of business management and political science. Before joining Vanderbilt, he was Provost of the University of Chicago. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Daniel engage in a thought-provoking discussion on free speech, academic freedom and the state of…

Daniel Lurie is currently running for mayor of San Francisco. Prior to running for mayor, he was the founder and CEO of Tipping Point Community, a charitable organization that distributed over $30 million to organizations fighting poverty throughout the Bay Area last year. In this episode of World of DaaS, Daniel discusses tackling crime, homelessn…

Sarah Tavel is a general partner at Benchmark Capital. She serves on the board of Chainalysis, Hipcamp, Medely, Rekki, and Cambly. On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Sarah discuss the concept of selling work in the SaaS industry and how it differs from selling traditional productivity software. Sarah explains how selling work could unlock …

Meb Faber is the co-founder and CIO of Cambria Investment Management, which has over $2B in assets under management. He’s also the host of the excellent financial podcast the Meb Faber Show. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Meb discuss global portfolio allocation, bitcoin ETFs, controversial investing strategies, and little-known financi…

Dr. Neil Buddy Shah is the CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the former managing director of GiveWell. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Buddy dive into all things data, public health, and AI. Buddy discusses innovative solutions for data scarcity in low-income countries, such as using machine learning algorithms to better t…

Dan Siroker is the co-founder and CEO of Rewind AI. He also co-founded Optimizely, and he was the Director of Analytics at Obama’s first presidential campaign. On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Dan discuss how Rewind raised its Series A in public, and how the unconventional move benefited the company. Dan shares insights on creating a com…

Emil Michael was the Chief Business Officer at $UBER during its hyperscale period from 2013 to 2017. He’s currently the CEO of DPCM Capital, and he’s also a strategic advisor to a number of amazing companies, including Codecademy, GroupMe and Taser. On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Emil cover everything from tech IPOs and Uber's stock pe…

Austen Allred is the founder and CEO of the Bloom Institute of Technology (formerly known as Lambda School), a coding bootcamp that’s helped thousands of students get a job in tech. The discussion kicks off with an exploration of Income Share Agreements (ISAs) and how BloomTech has used them as an alternative to student loans. Austen shares insight…

Oren Cass is the founder and executive director of the think tank American Compass, and the author of the book The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America. He was also the Domestic Policy Director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign. In this episode, Oren discusses the limitations of common economic statistics, emphasizing t…

This episode is a rebroadcast of Auren's appearance on Media Empires with Erik Torenberg. Go check out Media Empires for more from the best YouTube creators, podcasters, newsletter writers, and media entrepreneurs. In this episode, Erik and Auren discuss all things data business, including data on windfalls and net worth, reputational databases, an…

Greg Lukianoff is the President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). He’s also a bestselling author of several books, including The Coddling of the American Mind and most recently The Canceling of the American Mind. On this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Greg delve into the current state of cancel culture. Gre…

Mary Kay Henry is the president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 2 million people in unions across the US and Canada. In this episode of World of DaaS, Auren and Mary Kay discuss the current surge in the labor movement and what it means for American companies and workers. Mary Kay breaks down some recent developments, …

Joe Lonsdale is a co-founder of a number of amazing companies, including Palantir, Addepar and OpenGov, and he’s a cofounder of the University of Austin. He’s also the founder and managing partner of the venture firm 8VC, and he’s invested in some incredible companies, including Oculus, Anduril, Wish and Flexport. In this episode of World of DaaS, …

Sam Lessin is a GP at Slow Ventures, a former Facebook product manager, and the founder of Drop.io and Fin. He’s also the co-host of an excellent podcast on tech called More or Less. On this episode of World of DaaS, Sam gives a comprehensive breakdown of the state of venture capital. Auren and Sam discuss the “unicorn factory” for building public …