Patrick Lencioni is one of the founders of The Table Group and is the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 9 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.
As President of the Table Group, Pat spends his time speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health and consulting with executives and their teams. After more than twenty years in print, his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, remains a fixture on national best-seller lists. His most recent book, The Six Types of Working Genius, was released in September 2022, and he is also the host of the popular business podcast, At The Table with Patrick Lencioni.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Patrick and Auren discuss:
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 Patrick Lencioni on X at @patricklencioni, on Linkedin and on YouTube.
Take the Working Genius Assessment here: https://workinggenius.me/show
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief covers Anthropic’s settlement with a group of authors over copyright claims. The case centered on the use of copyrighted works in training AI systems and reflects the mounting legal and IP challenges shaping generative AI.
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This episode is a rebroadcast of host Auren Hoffman's appearance on the CMO Confidential Podcast.
Auren shares why he believes vendor management is the #1 skill for future executives—and why most companies should rent world-class capabilities rather than hire executives they can’t fully utilize. From “scaffolding” young talent to his provocative views on procurement’s negative value, Booz Allen, MBAs, and the transformation of private equity, this episode is packed with contrarian insights for CMOs, CEOs, and founders alike.
🧠 Don’t miss Auren’s candid takes on why many traditional business functions are stuck in the past—and what leaders should do instead.
🔔 Subscribe for more insider lessons on what it really takes to thrive in the C-suite.
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction: Auren Hoffman’s Background & Career Path
01:45 - The Most Important Executive Skill: Vendor Management
05:22 - Why Renting Talent Beats Hiring for Most Companies
08:40 - Scaffolding: A Framework for Developing Talent
12:10 - The Case Against Procurement: “A Negative Value Function”
16:03 - Why He Would Short Booz Allen
18:35 - Private Equity’s Shift from Builders to Financial Engineers
23:14 - The Problem with MBAs and Why ROI is Often Negative
26:40 - How Executives Should Rethink Internal Capabilities
29:08 - Final Thoughts & Rapid-Fire Takes
Auren Hoffman, SafeGraph, LiveRamp, CMO Confidential, Mike Linton, vendor management, procurement, scaffolding talent, executive hiring strategy, Booz Allen, private equity critique, MBA ROI, modern leadership skills, B2B marketing, executive leadership, future of work, marketing strategy, marketing podcast, business podcast, CEO advice, CMO podcast, talent development, rent vs hire, startup strategy, enterprise strategy, marketing leadership, SafeGraph CEO, Auren Hoffman interview
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief looks at new research from MIT, which finds that 95% of generative AI pilot programs inside companies are failing to deliver meaningful financial impact.
The issue is not model quality but enterprise integration and a steep organizational learning gap. The report shows ROI is strongest in back-office automation even as most budgets flow to sales and marketing, and that success comes from buying specialized solutions and forming strategic partnerships rather than building in-house.
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Rujul Zaparde is the co-founder and CEO of Zip, the $2.2 billion AI platform for procurement trusted by OpenAI, Anthropic, Snowflake, and hundreds of leading enterprises. He previously co-founded FlightCar, which raised over $40 million and was acquired by Mercedes-Benz. A former Airbnb product manager and Y Combinator visiting partner, Rujul has built Zip into the category-defining leader in procurement orchestration.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Rujul and Auren discuss:
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to http://worldofdaas.com/ for our podcast, newsletter and events, and follow us on X at @worldofdaas
You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Rujul Zaparde on Linkedin at @rujulz
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant https://thepodcastconsultant.com
This week’s World of DaaS LM Brief looks at a recent piece by Auren Hoffman, co-authored with Sushant Bhardwaj and Lily Petherick from Flex Capital, on a little-known but impactful clause in VC term sheets that can strip founders of their voting rights when they leave their company.
We cover how this “employment-tied voting rights” provision, often overlooked until it is too late, can leave founders as shareholders without a voice and why Flex Capital advocates for its removal to foster trust and protect true ownership.
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Brian Potter is a structural engineer and author of Construction Physics, a weekly Substack about the economics, technology, and productivity of building and infrastructure. He's also a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Progress.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Brian and Auren discuss:
Looking for more tech, data and venture capital intel? Head to http://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 Potter on X at @_brianpotter.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Howie Liu is the co-founder and CEO of Airtable, the AI-native app platform which has raised over $1.3 billion in funding and is valued at more than $11 billion. Howie sold his first startup, Etacts, to Salesforce when he was just 21 years old.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Howie and Auren discuss:
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 Howie Liu on X at @howietl.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Dwarkesh Patel is the host of the Dwarkesh Podcast, where he interviews leading scientists, founders, and economists about AI, science, and progress.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Dwarkesh and Auren discuss:
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 Dwarkesh Patel on X at @dwarkesh_SP.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Michael Ramlet is the co-founder and CEO of Morning Consult, a global decision intelligence company with more than $100 million in annual revenue. Morning Consult conducts 30,000 daily interviews across 40+ countries and serves more than half of the Fortune 500.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Michael and Auren discuss:
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 Ramlet on X at @MichaelRamlet.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Prukalpa Sankar is the co-founder and CEO of Atlan, a data platform used by organizations like Plaid, NASDAQ and the UN to manage data collaboration at scale. Atlan has raised over $200 million and grown revenue 7x in the last two years.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Prukalpa and Auren discuss:
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 Prukalpa Sankar on X at @prukalpa.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (thepodcastconsultant.com)
Amit Gupta is the CEO of Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX), a global commerce media platform that powers rewards programs with card-linked offers and enables brands to strengthen customer loyalty.
In this episode of World of DaaS, Amit and Auren discuss:
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 Amit Gupta on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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+ countries with 150M+ monthly users, acquired by Naspers).
In this episode of World of DaaS, Fabrice and Auren discuss:
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 Fabrice Grinda on X at @fabricegrinda.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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:
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 Rabbi Wolpe on X at @RabbiWolpe.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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:
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 Max Marchione on X at @maxmarchione.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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:
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 Jager McConnell on X at @jagermcconnell.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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:
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 Russ d’Sa on X at @dsa.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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:
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 Dan Driscoll on X at @SecArmy.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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:
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 Brandon Daniels and Exiger on LinkedIn.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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:
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 Josh Steinman on X at @JoshuaSteinman.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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)