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The Diff

by Byrne Hobart

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.

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Episodes

  1. The Super-Rich as Financial Sin-Eaters

    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 Super-Rich as Financial Sin-Eaters (06:45) - Adversarial Adoption (07:52) - Rates (08:39) - Scale (09:53) - Talking Your Book (10:43)…

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  2. Life with Nonzero Interest Rates

    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) - Life with Nonzero Interest Rates (05:18) - Stimulus (05:55) - Ads (06:38) - Gambling (07:31) - Acqui-hires (08:46) - IPOs

  3. How Far in the Future Should You Be Trying to Live?

    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 Far in the Future Should You Be Trying to Live? (04:42) - Spillover Effects (05:36) - Frictional Costs (06:22) - Airgaps (08:04) -...

  4. Forward Deployed

    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) - Forward Deployed (37:12) - Felonybench (38:59) - Frontier Capabilities (40:10) - SEO (41:06) - Company Demographic Pyramids (42:17) -...

  5. The Economics and Politics of Pacing the Frontier

    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 Economics and Politics of Pacing the Frontier (06:37) - Reflexive Funding (07:57) - Insider Trades (08:56) - Reference Implementation...

  6. Staying Calibrated

    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) - Staying Calibrated (07:16) - Transparency (08:35) - Disclosure (09:20) - Credit Ratings (10:58) - AI Jobs (12:15) - Branding Inference

  7. The Surprisingly Weak IPO-Housing Effect

    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 Surprisingly Weak IPO-Housing Effect (06:28) - Bottlenecks (07:32) - More Bottlenecks (08:22) - Disjoint Models (09:06) - Aligning...

  8. Ad-Supported Platforms are a Unique Antitrust Problem

    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) - Ad-Supported Platforms are a Unique Antitrust Problem (08:38) - Brittle Buyers (09:17) - Rates (10:32) - Substitution Effects (11:12) -...

  9. Financial Entrepreneurship in the Indexing Era

    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) - Financial Entrepreneurship in the Indexing Era (07:24) - Easy As (08:27) - Missing Estimates (09:18) - Oil (09:58) - Off-Balance Sheet...

  10. FP&A as the Telemetry and Counterespionage

    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) - FP&A as the Telemetry and Counterespionage (09:21) - 0.5x AI (11:46) - Media Incentives (12:31) - Infrastructure (13:23) - Perks (14:02)…

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  11. Who Hedges Where?

    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 Hedges Where? (06:49) - Ads for Bots (07:43) - Authenticity (08:35) - The AI Race (09:32) - Priority Disputes (10:48) - Mission

  12. What We Periodically Relearn About Rent Control

    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) - What We Periodically Relearn About Rent Control (12:54) - Backstops (14:42) - Complements and Substitutes (15:36) - Personality Hire...

  13. The Lots-of-Low-Satiety-Calories Business Isn't What it Used to Be

    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) - Has AI Art Been Tried? (04:38) - Pricing (05:17) - Rewrites (06:46) - Distribution (07:35) - Trading Your PA (08:44) - Managed Markets

  14. The Bad Apple Problem

    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) - Has AI Art Been Tried? (04:38) - Pricing (05:17) - Rewrites (06:46) - Distribution (07:35) - Trading Your PA (08:44) - Managed Markets

  15. Cultural Stasis? Or Just Rising Budgets, a Limited Supply of Good Movie Release Dates, and the Kelly Criterion?

    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) - Cultural Stasis? Or Just Rising Budgets, a Limited Supply of Good Movie Release Dates, and the Kelly Criterion? (09:20) - MTurk, RIP...

  16. The Mythical Agent-Minute

    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 Mythical Agent-Minute (07:08) - AI, Globalization, and Comparative Advantage in Lobbying (08:16) - Media M&A (09:41) - Retaliatory...

  17. Blind Extrapolation as a Powerful Force in Finance

    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) - Blind Extrapolation as a Powerful Force in Finance (07:50) - Midjourney Medical (11:10) - Chips (12:02) - Financial Engineering (12:39) -...

  18. What Does it Mean to Have a Trillion Dollars?

    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) - What Does it Mean to Have a Trillion Dollars? (09:47) - Anthropic (11:04) - Mean and Variance (12:17) - Fragmentation (13:37) - Guidance...

  19. It's Maturity Transformation All The Way Down

    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) - It's Maturity Transformation All The Way Down (06:17) - Weather (07:19) - Adverse Selection (08:33) - Compute, and P/S Ratios (09:46) -...

  20. Using AI for Writing like a Responsible Adult

    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) - Using AI for Writing like a Responsible Adult (06:25) - Granular Price Discrimination (07:04) - ETFs (07:52) - Form Factors (08:41) -...

  21. The Rocketship

    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 Rocketship (08:52) - Unit Economics (10:01) - Rearrangements (10:42) - Vibeslop (11:35) - Mindshare (12:08) - Consumption Equality

  22. What Can You Learn from a Deterministically Chaotic Market Simulation?

    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) - (07:19) - Prediction Markets (08:18) - Exotics (09:34) - Binning (10:38) - Unpopular AI (11:51) - The Rebalancing Trade

  23. Why does Resource Extraction Produce Such Concentrated Wealth?

    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 Resource Extraction Produce Such Concentrated Wealth? (08:30) - RLHF (10:17) - When Will AI Show Up in Labor Market Data?…

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  24. Dead Airlines

    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) - Dead Airlines (04:46) - Synergy (06:02) - Indexes (06:58) - Warehousing (07:53) - Capacity (08:43) - Defense

  25. Are the AI Labs Ready for the AI Backlash?

    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) - Are the AI Labs Ready for the AI Backlash? (06:27) - Barter (08:06) - State Hypercapitalism (09:05) - AI Pricing (10:05) - Reflexivity...

  26. Ad-Based Platforms Have Mostly Solved Optimal Taxation

    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) - Ad-Based Platforms Have Mostly Solved Optimal Taxation (08:06) - The Infrastructure Put Option (09:14) - Monetization (10:03) - Headless...

  27. Ring, Cloudflare, and the Supply Chain of State Capacity

    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) - Ring, Cloudflare, and the Supply Chain of State Capacity (08:32) - Work Trials (09:43) - The Mezzanine Tranche (10:29) - Politics by…

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  28. Uncanny AI

    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) - Uncanny AI (05:39) - Organic Content (06:22) - Inconsistent Candor (07:28) - Liquidity (08:22) - Return to Office (09:06) - Long-Lead…

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  29. Handy Robots

    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) - Handy Robots (08:25) - It's Personal (10:03) - Rationing (10:37) - Penny Stocks (11:47) - The Text Glut (13:34) - Sora

  30. Apple, Occasionally a Commodities Trading House

    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) - Apple, Occasionally a Commodities Trading House (06:08) - How Inflation Spreads (07:50) - Reaching Your Target Audience (10:00) - Labor...

  31. Are We Already Building a Piecemeal AI Data Royalty Model?

    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) - Are We Already Building a Piecemeal AI Data Royalty Model? (05:30) - Refounding (06:20) - User Acquisition Costs (07:09) - Data Sharing...

  32. America Has a Comparative Advantage in Handling Global Disorder

    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) - America Has a Comparative Advantage in Handling Global Disorder (08:14) - A Word From Our Sponsors (08:17) - Where We Are in the Cycle...

  33. The Year of Convergence

    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 Year of Convergence (09:03) - Ads (10:10) - Maximalism (10:50) - Comparative Advantage (11:35) - Trader-in-Chief (12:20) - GenAI

  34. Routers, Apps, AGI

    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) - Routers, Apps, AGI (23:09) - Peripheral Bets (23:59) - Fragmentation and Industry Maturity (24:35) - Deepfakes as Pull Quotes (25:12) -...

  35. In Defense of Generative Video Accelerationism

    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 Defense of Generative Video Accelerationism (14:12) - Notifications (15:14) - IP (16:09) - Hyperliquidated (17:45) - DOGE (19:11) -...

  36. Technological Progress is a Stack of S-Curves; Diffusion is a Stack of J-Curves

    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) - Technological Progress is a Stack of S-Curves; Diffusion is a Stack of J-Curves (10:01) - AI Efficiency (10:54) - Dollar Diplomacy…

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  37. Media Gluts Happen at the Level of Distribution, not Content

    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) - Media Gluts Happen at the Level of Distribution, not Content (09:16) - Headline Risk (10:02) - The Crypto Treasury Trade (11:10) - The...

  38. A Sense of History

    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 Sense of History (09:30) - Coasian Labor Markets (12:06) - Industrial Policy (13:05) - Trading (13:41) - TikTok (14:52) - Crypto…

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  39. On Faking It 'Til You Make It

    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) - On Faking It 'Til You Make It (08:01) - GPU Clouds (08:55) - Going Global (09:51) - Prediction Markets (10:41) - Revenge Trading (11:41)…

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  40. The Autistic Half-Century

    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 Autistic Half-Century (11:58) - Burn Rates (13:06) - Round-Tripping (13:41) - AI and IP (14:36) - IPOs and Network Effects (15:46) -...

  41. Rumor Markets

    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) - Rumor Markets (08:14) - Legitimacy (10:25) - Tariffs (11:26) - AI and Complements (12:21) - Tariffs and Elasticity (13:15) - Economic...

  42. Figure and the Crypto Mullet Strategy

    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) - Figure and the Crypto Mullet Strategy (09:17) - Billions (10:09) - Intel (11:09) - Negotiating the AI Transition (11:47) - Price...

  43. Corporate Populism

    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) - (04:19) - Credit Spreads (04:57) - Retail and Institutions (05:38) - Scale (06:12) - Non-Tariff Barriers (07:11) - Technology Adoption

  44. Concentrate

    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) - Concentrate! (07:31) - Coasian Geopolitics (09:00) - Relaunching (10:13) - Tariff Inversion (11:16) - Crypto Holdcos (12:22) - Buybacks

  45. What Would the Aftermath of the AI Bust Look Like?

    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) - What Would the Aftermath of the AI Bust Look Like? (09:37) - Succession (10:29) - The Stats (12:58) - Going Direct (13:40) - Banks are…

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  46. Strip-Mining the Maybesphere

    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) - Strip-Mining the Maybesphere (09:28) - Regulatory Clarity (10:15) - Eurobonds (11:17) - Just-In-Time (11:59) - Ratings (13:14) - The…

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  47. The Finance of Alchemy

    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 Finance of Alchemy (08:01) - SPACs, Back (08:46) - Sanctions and Supply Chains (09:17) - AI Filtering (10:13) - Measurement Errors...

  48. Compensation as Game Design

    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) - Compensation as Game Design (13:00) - More on Talent (14:21) - Financial Engineering (15:06) - Where We Are in the Cycle (15:46) -...

  49. What We'll Lose With AI

    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) - What We'll Lose With AI (09:05) - Platforms and Reputation (10:35) - General-Purpose Technologies (11:26) - Court Politics (12:46) -...

  50. In Defense of the Ad Economy

    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 Defense of the Ad Economy (09:45) - Wage Elasticity (11:23) - Coopetition (11:58) - Capital Structure (12:46) - Market Breadth (14:26)…

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

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.

HOSTED BY

Byrne Hobart

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does The Diff have?

The Diff currently has 320 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is The Diff about?

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.

How often does The Diff release new episodes?

The Diff publishes regularly with 320 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.

Where can I listen to The Diff?

You can listen to The Diff on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts The Diff?

The Diff is created and hosted by Byrne Hobart.
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