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 development
• Building personal brands in tech
• Climate tech's shifting business case

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Brian O’Kelley on X at @bokelley. 

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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 relationships

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Trae Stephens on X at @TraeStephens.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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 data companies
• Effective board membership

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Scott Stephenson on Linkedin. 

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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 venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Martin Casado on X at @martin_casado.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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 for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Bill Wise on X at @billwise. 

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and on X at @robkhenderson. 

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Jackie Reses on X at @jackiereses.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Alex Cohen on X at @anothercohen.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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 our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mario Gabriele on X at @mariogabriele.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Annie Duke on X at @AnnieDuke.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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 actually work

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Deven Parekh on X at @djparekh.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Tim Vanderhook on LinkedIn.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Rajeev Goel is the co-founder and CEO of PubMatic (NASDAQ: PUBM), a sell-side advertising platform that processes over 780 billion ad impressions daily.

In this episode of World of DaaS, Rajeev and Auren discuss:

• Building private cloud infrastructure for ad tech
• Processing 780 billion daily ad impressions
• The rise of retail media networks
• Political advertising in Connected TV

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Rajeev Goel on LinkedIn.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Mark Pincus is the founder of Zynga, which developed some of the most popular mobile games of all time like Farmville and Words With Friends. He currently runs Reinvent Capital and teaches product management at Stanford University. 

In this episode of World of DaaS, Mark and Auren discuss:

• Why games predict the future of tech
• Building on platforms like Facebook
• The economics of virtual goods
• Product frameworks for the AI era

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mark Pincus on X at @markpinc.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Adam Singolda is the founder and CEO of Taboola (NASDAQ: TBLA), a content discovery platform that powers recommendations for Apple News, Yahoo, and other major publishers, reaching over 500 million daily active users.

In this episode of World of DaaS, Adam and Auren discuss:

• The war for internet user attention
• Why Apple and Amazon are becoming ad companies
• Building a discovery engine for the internet
• The future of AI-powered advertising

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Adam Singolda on X at @AdamSingolda.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Mark Zagorski is the CEO of DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV), a $3.4B market cap company that provides digital media measurement and verification software to major advertisers and platforms.

In this episode of World of DaaS, Mark and Auren discuss:

• The $100B digital ad fraud economy
• Why marketing data is wrong but works
• The death of cookies and what's next
• Building sustainable independent adtech companies

This episode of World of DaaS was brought to you by Alkemi. Check out alkemi.ai to learn how Alkemi can help you unlock the AI market.

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Mark Zagorski on LinkedIn.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Farley Mesko is the CEO and co-founder of Sayari, a financial intelligence and supply chain risk platform that serves major financial institutions, government agencies, and corporations.

In this episode of World of DaaS, Farley and Auren discuss:

• How geopolitics are reshaping global supply chains
• The evolution of financial crime networks
• Building data products for government agencies
• Why entity resolution is the future of intelligence

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Farley Mesko on LinkedIn.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Michael Barrett is the CEO of Magnite (NASDAQ: MGNI), the largest independent sell-side advertising platform with a market cap of over $2.2 billion.

In this episode of World of DaaS, Michael and Auren discuss: 

• The $200B shift from linear TV to streaming
• How retail media networks are reshaping advertising
• Big Tech's dominance in digital advertising
• How AI will change programmatic advertising

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Michael Barrett on LinkedIn.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Samo Burja is an entrepreneur and political researcher. He’s the founder of Bismarck Analysis and the editor of Palladium Magazine, a publication focused on governance and societal challenges.

In this episode of World of DaaS, Samo and Auren discuss: 

• Why great founders shape civilization
• Global fertility decline and its implications
• The magic of founders at age 23
• Why trust in institutions is collapsing

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Samo Burja on X at @SamoBurja. 

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Nate Baker is the cofounder and CEO of Qualia, the leading real estate closing platform which powers millions of real estate transactions a year.  He’s also the cofounder of Fractal, a business incubator that has launched over 150 vertical SaaS companies. 

In this episode of World of DaaS, Nate and Auren discuss: 

• AI impacts on real estate
• Housing supply politics
• The “super app” real estate trend 
• Vertical SaaS myths and playbooks

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Nate Baker on LinkedIn.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Chris Hulls is the co-founder and CEO of Life360 (NASDAQ: LIF), the family safety platform used by over 70 million people worldwide. Life360 has a market cap of $3.3 billion.

In this episode of World of DaaS, Chris and Auren discuss:

• Building a safety super-app
• The rise of tech-enabled helicopter parenting
• Psychedelics and CEO mental health
• Why vision beats data in startups

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Chris Hulls on X at @ChrisHulls.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

George Fraser is the co-founder and CEO of Fivetran, the category-leading data integration platform that does over $300M in revenues.

In this episode of World of DaaS, George and Auren discuss: 

• The Databricks/Snowflake “war”
• Building a data stack for AI workloads
• Evidence based decision making for tech companies
• Parallels between neuroscience and artificial intelligence

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and George Fraser on X at @frasergeorgew.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

DJ Patil served as the first U.S. Chief Data Scientist under President Obama. He's currently a GP at GreatPoint Ventures, on the Board of Devoted Health, and co-chairs the taskforce on GenAi for the Pentagon.

In this episode of World of DaaS, DJ and Auren discuss: 

• AI's impact on data science
• Healthcare data transformation
• Innovation, bureaucracy and efficiency in National Security
• The best higher education choices in terms of ROI

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and DJ Patil on X at @dpatil.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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 exit
• Generation media consumption

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Alex Lieberman on X at @businessbarista. 

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

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's economy defied sanctions expectations
• The hidden power of supply chain middlemen
• China's transformation from cheap labor to tech leader

Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to worldofdaas.com for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X @worldofdaas.  

You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Evan Smith on LinkedIn.

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)