E43: The Silicon Valley Canon, Smart Contracts, and the Yen Carry Trade

"The Riff" with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg

On this week’s episode of The Riff, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss the Silicon Valley Canon, impact of tech on traditional markets, the evolution of smart contracts, risks of currency carry trades and more.

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LINKS:

Byrne’s writing: https://thediff.co

Longreads + Open Thread: https://www.thediff.co/archive/longreads-open-thread-90/

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X / TWITTER:

https://twitter.com/ByrneHobart (Byrne)

https://twitter.com/TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(00:26) Silicon Valley Canon

(05:45) Silicon Valley's intellectual evolution

(08:52) Who is leading Silicon Valley’s intellectual influence?

(14:41) Variance of Mission-Driven Companies

(19:50) Shareholder activism and private equity strategies

(28:30) Sponsors: Babbel | Brave

(30:57) Understanding extreme stock returns

(35:38) Retailers and the ad business

(39:14) Walmart's membership strategy

(42:38) Environmental impact of data centers

(47:01) Oracle problem in smart contracts

(52:39) Currency carry trade

(57:28) Ryan Breslow's controversial deal

(01:00:15) Wrap