The LM Brief: India as the Next Epicenter of AI?

Hans Swildens is a partner and Head of Industry Ventures at Goldman Sachs. Industry Ventures is one of the pioneers in the secondary market for venture capital, managing several billion in assets across LP stakes, direct secondaries, and primary fund investments. In October of 2025, Goldman Sachs announced they were acquiring Industry Ventures in a deal worth over $900 million dollars. In this episode of World of DaaS, Hans and Auren discuss:The evolution of secondaries from distressed deals to 70% of VC exits Why Goldman Sachs paid almost $1 billion to acquire Industry Ventures How Industry Ventures uses data from 700+ fund LP positions as a competitive edge The future of venture fund structures and permanent capital vehiclesYou can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Hans Swildens on X at @hansswildens.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Glenn Hubbard is Dean Emeritus and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School. He served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003 and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury. He has served on the boards of BlackRock, ADP, MetLife, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.In this episode of World of DaaS, Glenn and Auren discuss:Why consumer sentiment contradicts economic indicatorsThe Fed's impossible dilemma on rate cutsSmarter tariff policy and growthWhy most MBA programs are ROI negativeLooking 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 Glenn Hubbard on LinkedIn.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Omar Tawakol is the CEO and founder of Rembrand, an AI-powered virtual product placement company. He founded BlueKai, a data management platform acquired by Oracle for $400M+ in 2014, and Voicera, an AI meeting assistant acquired by Cisco in 2019. He currently serves on the board of The Trade Desk and as a General Partner at super{set}.In this episode of World of DaaS, Omar and Auren discuss:Why virtual billboards work better than 3D product placementHow AI eliminates two-year product placement negotiationsWhy virtual placement grew 10x faster internationally than in the USThe mistakes repeat founders make at scaleLooking 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 Omar Tawakol on X at @otawakol.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

This episode is a rebroadcast of Auren's appearance on the We the Builders podcast. We The Builders: https://twitter.com/WeThe_BuildersHost Suffiyan Malik: https://twitter.com/suffiyanmalikkSubstack: https://wethebuilders.us---------------------------------------------------This week I sat down with Auren Hoffman founder, builder, prolific investor, and one of the most connected people in Silicon Valley.Today’s episode features Auren Hoffman founder of LiveRamp ($RAMP), Flex Capital, Dialog, Safegraph and NQB8. This is one of the most interesting conversations I have had on the show so far and probably the best.He grew LiveRamp to a $300m exit, has invested in 180+ companies through Flex Capital, a seed stage fund, is chair of Safegraph ($370m data company backed by Sapphire Ventures, Peter Thiel, Ridge Ventures) and is host of World of DaaS, a podcast and community for data nerds.Auren is thinking of and validating new ideas on almost a weekly cadence. He continues to start new companies through NQB8 which includes a few successful spin outs. He also has a great blog post on it if you are interested in exploring different type of spinouts and how you should think about them as a startup.-------------------------------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 We The Builders on X at WeThe_Builders. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Craig Fuller is the founder and CEO of FreightWaves, a freight media company, and SONAR, a supply chain data platform. He’s also the founder of Firecrown, which owns more than 50 publications across aviation, marine, and supply chain sectors, and he recently released his first book, Moving the World: How the Supply Chain’s Evolution Affects Us All. In this episode of World of DaaS, Craig and Auren discuss:How FreightWaves predicted the 2022 freight recessionWhy pricing data businesses trade at 30x EBITBuilding negative CAC through media acquisitionsThe four-year industry experience rule for freight startupsLooking 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 Craig Fuller on X at @FreightAlley.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Tanay Kothari is the co-founder and CEO of Wispr Flow, a voice-first AI assistant that recently raised $56 million in Series A funding.In this episode of World of DaaS, Tanay and Auren discuss:Why Apple and Google's dictation tools failWhat AI-first devices will actually look likePivoting from hardware to softwareVoice replacing nearly three-quarters of keyboard usageLooking 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 Tanay Kothari on X at @tankots.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)

Microsoft is investing $17.5 billion to turn India into a global AI powerhouse — from training 20 million workers to building new data infrastructure. We break down what this means for the future of AI talent, innovation, and digital sovereignty. Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.

Vinicius Vacanti is the co-founder and CEO of YipitData, an alternative data intelligence platform that analyzes billions of consumer data points daily for institutional investors and corporations. The company reached unicorn status with a $475 million Series E from Carlyle Group in 2021.In this episode of World of DaaS, Vin and Auren discuss:Why hedge funds dominate data usage versus corporationsHow AI is transforming data processing costsThe durability of data businesses over 120 yearsWhy "hire great people and get out of the way" is bad adviceLooking 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 Vinicius Vacanti on X at @vacanti.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: MIT’s new research reveals how large language models can be fooled by their own grammar. By prioritizing sentence structure over sense, these systems risk producing confident but misleading outputs—and even ignoring built-in safety rules. Listen to this short podcast summary, powered by NotebookLM.

Patrick McGee is the author of Apple in China, which was named one of the most notable books of the year by the New York Times and the Washington Post. The book is a deeply reported investigation into how Apple and China built each other over 25 years—and what that means for technology, supply chains, and geopolitics. Patrick has been a reporter with the Financial Times since 2013.In this episode of World of DaaS, Patrick and Auren discuss:Why Foxconn bet everything on Apple when others walked awayThe organized crime networks that distributed iPhones across ChinaHow Apple's supplier policies created competitors like HuaweiApple's $275B commitment and why they can't leave ChinaLooking 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 McGee on X at @patrickmcgee_.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)