Summation with Auren Hoffman
Auren Hoffman
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Summation with Auren Hoffman is a podcast that explores non-obvious ideas shaping the world. Host Auren Hoffman, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor, interviews leaders from tech, business, markets, and government. The show is designed for the relentlessly curious, offering deep insights and thought-provoking discussions. Auren is CEO of NQB8, GP at Flex Capital, and former CEO of SafeGraph and LiveRamp.
Epizode
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Fmr. Senator Cory Gardner: why the AI race is won on boring infrastructure and how China wins by making America hate AI 18.08.2026 53minCory Gardner is a former U.S. Senator and Congressman from Colorado and was one of the Senate's leading Taiwan and China experts, chairing the Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and authoring the Taipei Act. He is now president and CEO of NCTA, the Internet & Television Association, whose members built the nation's largest broadband platform. In this episode of Summation, Cory and Auren discuss: Why the AI race gets won on spectrum, fiber, and memory chipsThe bottleneck raising t... -
CodeRabbit CEO Harjot Gill on software's new bottleneck and zero to $50m ARR in 2 years 11.08.2026 55minHarjot Gill is the co-founder and CEO of CodeRabbit, the AI code review company that became the most installed AI app on GitHub and GitLab. Over about two years, CodeRabbit went from zero to over $50M in ARR and a $1B+ valuation. It is his third startup. In this episode of Summation, Harjot and Auren discuss: Why the bottleneck in software just moved from writing code to reviewing itWhy mature companies now adopt AI firstWhy you should never let a coding agent review its own workThe playbook ... -
Moritz Baier-Lentz on why the future of AI runs on video games 04.08.2026 1h 5minMoritz Baier-Lentz is one of the foremost investors in gaming, AI, and frontier technologies—including companies like OpenAI, SpaceX, Palantir, Etched, Decart, and Recursive. He founded Goldman Sachs's global gaming practice and was previously a partner, IC member, and head of gaming at Lightspeed. Moritz is part of the founding team of General Intuition, an AI research lab training agents on video game data, which has raised a $133M Seed round and a $320M Series A. He is also a senior adviso... -
OpenAI Chief Economist Ronnie Chatterji: measuring the greatest technology of our time 28.07.2026 56minRonnie Chatterji is the Chief Economist at OpenAI, where he leads research on how AI reshapes growth, jobs, and the economy. He is also an economics professor at Duke. He was previously the White House CHIPS coordinator implementing the $52B CHIPS Act, and before that the chief economist at the US Department of Commerce. In this episode of Summation, Ronnie and Auren discuss: The three things people actually do with ChatGPTThe 10x jump in people handing their work to AI Why the next big ... -
Anthropic’s Felix Rieseberg: why AI wins a Nobel before a Pulitzer 21.07.2026 1h 6minFelix Rieseberg leads engineering for Claude Cowork and Claude Code Desktop at Anthropic. Before that he led desktop and web infrastructure at Notion and built software at Stripe, Slack, and Microsoft. In this episode of Summation, Felix and Auren discuss: The next AI step function: going from solving a problem to owning a responsibilityWhy AI will win many Nobel prizes before it wins a single PulitzerBringing AI into the physical world, from a $30 coffee-machine display to a Wi-Fi gara... -
Fifth Wall CEO Brendan Wallace: the data center land grab and the most stable asset on earth you still can't buy 14.07.2026 53minBrendan Wallace is the Founder, CEO & CIO of Fifth Wall, the largest investment firm focused on technology for the built environment, with ~$3B in capital, the firm is driving the growth of nearly 170 companies, backing category-defining PropTech leaders such as Opendoor, Procore, Blend, Hippo, and Bilt Rewards. It's supported by ~115 of the world's largest real estate owner-operators including CBRE, Hilton, Hines, Marriott, Public Storage, Related, and Starwood. Before Fifth Wall, Brenda... -
Striveworks CEO Jim Rebesco on drone swarms, AI for warfighters, and the end of air superiority 07.07.2026 1hJim Rebesco is the co-founder and CEO of Striveworks, an AI ops company deployed across the US Army, Navy, and combatant commands. In April, Striveworks announced a $70M enterprise agreement with the Pentagon, giving nearly a million defense personnel access to its platform. Jim was previously a partner at Virtu Financial, a pioneering high-frequency trading firm. In this episode of Summation, Jim and Auren discuss: why the real question in AI warfare is who pushes the buttonthe case that aut... -
Short-seller Carson Block: a fugitive CEO, Libyan spies, and $50B fraud 30.06.2026 1h 10minCarson Block is the founder of Muddy Waters Research, one of the defining activist short-selling firms of the last decade and a half. Since 2010, Muddy Waters has published forensic research exposing accounting fraud at publicly traded companies across China, Europe, and the US and has been right enough times that 11 companies have been delisted as a result. In this episode of Summation, Carson and Auren discuss: why outright fraud is only 20-25% of Muddy Waters' focusthe Wirecard sagaw... -
Facet CEO Anders Jones on the biggest heist in finance, how advisors really sell permission, and the great boomer wealth transfer 23.06.2026 49minAnders Jones is the CEO and co-founder of Facet, a fintech company built to bring high-quality, flat-fee financial advice to an underserved market: the mass affluent. Facet has raised over $250M and manages more than $7B. Anders has seen the real finances of tens of thousands of households. In this episode of Summation, Anders and Auren discuss: why the percentage-of-assets fee is the greatest heist in financethe retention data showing people stick 3x longer when you help them act, not just a... -
Charles Duhigg on the writing AI can't touch, what GLP-1s really do to your brain, and the serendipity tax 16.06.2026 1h 3minCharles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and staff writer at The New Yorker. He is the author of The Power of Habit, Smarter Faster Better, and Supercommunicators. His work focuses on the science of habits, productivity, decision-making, and human connection. In this episode of Summation, Charles and Auren discuss: why producing the words is only 10% of an author's job, and the 90% AI can't dowhat GLP-1s actually do to the brain the serendipity tax: why you pay for five dead... -
SignalFire CEO Chris Farmer on why venture funds now last 20 years and the hiring boom behind the layoffs 09.06.2026 46minChris Farmer is the founder and CEO of SignalFire, an early stage venture firm managing over $3 billion. In this episode of Summation, Chris and Auren discuss: why the time to return 1x has stretched to 9+ years and funds are lasting 20 yearsthe engineering hiring boom hiding behind the layoff headlinesthe five functions of a VC firm and the one place data helps the leastwhy almost all conventional career advice is now badYou can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Chris Farmer on X a... -
GTMnow Podcast | Your First VC Meeting Will Be Agent-to-Agent 02.06.2026 39minThis episode is a rebroadcast of Auren's appearance on the GTMnow podcast --------------------------------------------------- Auren Hoffman (Flex Capital) joins the GTMnow podcast to share some of the most contrarian takes in tech today, from why AI moats are gone, to why your next VC meeting will be with a bot, to why AI is secretly going to trigger a baby boom. In this episode: Why Auren runs 500+ AI agents to source deals, and what that means for founders raising capitalThe "agent-to... -
Serval CEO Jake Stauch: talent is the only moat left, hiring founders as FDEs, and building a $1B company with your wife and a newborn 26.05.2026 50minJake Stauch is the co-founder and CEO of Serval, the AI-native enterprise service management platform. Serval was founded in 2024 and has already raised over $125M across rounds led by Redpoint and Sequoia at a $1B+ valuation. Before Serval, Jake spent five years on the product team at Verkada and earlier founded NeuroPlus, a brain-sensing hardware company that made video games for kids with ADHD. In this episode of Summation, Jake and Auren discuss: Why Anthropic has added more ARR in the pa... -
Perplexity Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko on why curiosity is AI’s scarcest resource 19.05.2026 1hDmitry Shevelenko is Chief Business Officer at Perplexity. He previously co-founded Tortoise, a robotics and commerce automation startup and held business development roles at Uber, LinkedIn, and Meta. He also serves on the board of Lazard. In this episode of Summation, Dmitry and Auren discuss: Why CEOs and executives are Perplexity Computer’s biggest power users and what that says about who wins the AI eraScaling Perplexity past $500M ARR with only 34% headcount growthThe $34.5B Chrom... -
Fundrise CEO Ben Miller: VCX, Roaring Kitty's revenge, and AI killing the office 12.05.2026 1h 2minBen Miller is the co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, an alternative asset management platform that gives individual investors access to private real estate, private credit, and venture capital. In March 2026, he listed the Fundrise Innovation Fund on the NYSE under the ticker VCX, one of the first publicly traded venture capital funds. VCX gives retail investors direct exposure to private companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, and SpaceX. The fund manages over $650 million and has over 10... -
Six-time CIA Station Chief Ralph Goff on the new doctrine of war 05.05.2026 1h 5minRalph Goff is a 35-year veteran of the CIA, having served as a six-time Chief of Station across Europe, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia. During his career, he also held the roles of Chief of Operations for Europe and Eurasia and Chief of the CIA's National Resources Division. Since leaving government, he advises on national security issues and speaks publicly on intelligence, geopolitics, and great power competition. In this episode of Summation, Ralph and Auren discuss: Why black... -
Glenn Youngkin on governing like a CEO, the AI power crisis, and why every operator should run for office 28.04.2026 57minGlenn Youngkin was the 74th Governor of Virginia. Before politics, he spent nearly 25 years at The Carlyle Group, one of the largest private equity firms in the world, where he rose to co-CEO. During his four-year term, Virginia generated $10B in surplus revenue, delivered $9B in tax relief, attracted $156B in capital investment, and became one of the first states in the country to mandate cell-phone-free classrooms. In this episode of Summation, Glenn and Auren discuss: Why every Virginia st... -
Thumbtack CEO Marco Zappacosta on why trades are AI-proof, the trillion-dollar home services market, and why software stopped being a capital asset 21.04.2026 58minMarco Zappacosta is the co-founder and CEO of Thumbtack, the home services marketplace he started in 2008. Thumbtack connects homeowners to 300,000+ local service professionals, with nearly 100M projects started on the platform. In this episode of Summation, Marco and Auren discuss: Why home services is bigger than groceries but barely any is booked onlineHow AI collapsed Thumbtack's product pod sizesWhy Silicon Valley underrates leadership and overrates management The single trait... -
Eric Ries on why "bad governance" outperforms, the case against shareholder primacy, and AI's Chernobyl moment 14.04.2026 58minEric Ries created the Lean Startup methodology and authored the bestselling book of the same name, which has sold over a million copies. He's also the founder and executive chairman of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, the co-founder of Answer AI (an AI R&D lab), and the author of the upcoming book Incorruptible, releasing May 26th. In this episode of Summation, Eric and Auren discuss: why "bad governance" companies have outperformed "good governance" since 2008financial gravity - the invisib... -
Fmr. German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on NATO, nuclear energy, and how to disagree without blood 07.04.2026 1h 1minKarl-Theodor zu Guttenberg became Germany's youngest Minister of Defense in history, and previously served as Minister of Economics and Technology. He is the chairman and founder of Spitzberg Partners, an investment and advisory firm, a bestselling author, and co-founder of Open Minds Media, where he produces films and podcasts. He co-hosts one of Germany's most popular podcasts. In this episode of Summation, KT and Auren discuss: Why Germany's defense spending hovered at 1% of GDP for decade...
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