"World of DaaS"
deep dive into Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) businesses. World of DaaS is a podcast for data enthusiasts, by data enthusiasts, where Auren Hoffman talks to business and technology leaders about all things data - building it, acquiring it, analyzing it, and everything in between.
Episodes
Fabrice Grinda is the co-founder and managing partner of FJ Labs, a venture capital firm that has invested in over 1,200 startups with more than 350 exits, including early investments in Alibaba, Flexport, and Delivery Hero. He previously built and sold three companies as CEO: Aucland (one of Europe's largest auction sites), Zingy (mobile media startup sold for $80M), and OLX (global classifieds platform operating in 90+ count...
Rabbi David Wolpe is the emeritus rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, one of the largest synagogues in the United States. He is a bestselling author of eight books on faith and spirituality and has been named one of the most influential rabbis in America.
In this episode of World of DaaS, David and Auren discuss:
- AI rabbis and digital therapy
- Lab grown meat and kosher laws
- Consciousness uploading and digital souls
- Fertility rates ...
Max Marchione is the founder and President of Superpower, a digital healthcare platform that recently raised a $30 million Series A to make preventative and personalized medicine accessible to consumers.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Max and Auren discuss:
- Billionaire-level health protocols and testing
- Why AI will replace expensive doctors
- Peptides, toxins, and human enhancement
- The future of personalized medicine
Jager McConnell is the CEO of Crunchbase, a leading business intelligence platform for startup and investment data, serving over 80 million users.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Jager and Auren discuss:
- The polarized venture funding landscape
- Why 'religion' beats 'truth' in data companies
- Finding defensible moats in the AI era
- Predicting acquisition targets at scale
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 and venture capital intel? He...
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
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 supply chain chaos
- Bringing manufactur...
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 capital intel? Head to worldof...
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
- AI tools revolutionizing software...
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
- Technology's impact on modern relatio...
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 businesses
- Leadership succession in dat...
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 for more tech, data and ventu...
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 intel? Head to worldofdaas.com f...
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
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 and venture capital intel? He...
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
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? Head to worldofdaas.com for ou...
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
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 struggle to match US
- Board decks that a...
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
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