"The Riff" with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg
Investor and writer of the popular newsletter The Diff, Byrne Hobart, and co-host Erik Torenberg discuss today’s major inflection points in technology, business, and markets – and help listeners build a diversified portfolio of trends and ideas for the future.
The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network.
Recent Episodes
March 25, 2025
E67: Hidden X-Risk, Network Effects of Elon’s Empire, and American Hegemony
This week, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg explore Donald Trump Jr.'s financial leverage of the Trump brand, Dustin Moskovitz's shift toward AI existential risks, Elon Musk's strategic decisions with Twitter, potential U.S. r...
March 11, 2025
E66: The Politics of Alex Karp and Palantir, DOGE Breakdown, and AI vs Blogging
This week, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg explore the effects of technological change on media and society, covering topics such as the AI debate, blogging's social impact, AI's influence on search and data, the changing new...
Feb. 25, 2025
E65: Bill Gates’s Persona, Against Copying Berkshire Hathaway, and Making the Economy More Like Chipotle
This week, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg examine why Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway can't be successfully replicated today, analyze Bill Gates's public versus private persona, and consider how economic growth manifests as "premium mediocre" options like Chipotle
Feb. 19, 2025
E64: US vs China’s Strategies, Uber’s Growth Model, AI Supply Chains
This week, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss technological inflection points and examine how legal frameworks mask continued globalization despite apparent retrenchment, explores US-China dynamics, analyzes AI industry structure and emerging models, and considers Uber's strategic positioning …
Feb. 11, 2025
E63: OpenAI Deep Research, Elon’s Potential Hostile Takeover, and AI Agent Companies
This week, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss the transformative impact of technological advancements, particularly OpenAI's research, Elon Musk’s $97 billion offer to acquire its controlling nonprofit, and the implications for business, jobs, regulation, and Musk's strategies with X and Doja.
Feb. 4, 2025
E62: Trump’s Tariffs, Open Source AI Models, and The Future of VR
This week, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg explore the impact of technological advancements on markets and businesses, covering topics like global trade tariffs, political populism, AI's evolving role, open-source vs. proprietary models, stock market trends, and Meta’s investments in the metaverse …
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