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After Lam Wai Chan moved from his native Singapore to pastor a church in Japan, he panicked. The church had barely twenty members. In a nation known as a “missionary graveyard,” where about one percent of the nation’s people are Christian and many churches sit empty, Lam felt “like I was taking over a sinking ship.” Crying out to God, he sensed the answer: Offer the church back to Me. Rather than “update” worship or music, Wai Chan asked members to pray—for their needs, family members, friends who didn’t know Jesus. Slowly, the church doubled in size. Their faithful praying is a living, biblical model of how to build a community in Jesus. First, pray. “In every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” Paul wrote, “and do all of this without worry about anything” (Philippians 4:6). In this way, we offer our ministries, churches, and programs back to God. We may plant seeds and water them, but as Paul said, “Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:7). He was imploring believers at Corinth to stop quarrelling about which church leader they followed (v. 4). As Paul said, “No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (v. 11). Let’s prayerfully give our churches back to Him. Then, watch them grow.
What should have been a bipartisan housing bill touting affordability has instead become a fight over the Save America Act. Representative Anna Paulina Luna is leading a House conservative blockade, freezing routine procedural votes until the Senate takes up the Trump-backed elections bill. The problem is that the Senate has no path forward. The bill doesn't have the votes, and the Senate isn't about to let the House dictate its agenda. In the meantime, House Republicans are unable to move other priorities, including appropriations and next week's defense policy bill.Luna's leverage comes from one place: Donald Trump. The president canceled the planned signing of the bipartisan housing bill, saying he would not move forward until the Save America Act passes. House Republicans believe Luna's close relationship with Trump is what's keeping the blockade alive. Mike Lee has also pushed Trump to hold the line, arguing that Republican voters need something to get excited about before the midterms and that the Save America Act is that issue.Politics Politics Politics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.The divide inside the Republican Party is becoming clearer. Luna, Lee, and the hardliners argue that if voters gave Republicans the White House and both chambers of Congress, they expect them to fight for election legislation, not immediately explain why it can't pass. The Senate's answer is that the bill doesn't have sixty votes. Their view is that Republicans can either spend weeks arguing over a bill that cannot pass or move on to things they can actually accomplish.I think this has been mishandled by both Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune. Whether or not the entire Save America Act could ever get sixty votes, there are pieces of it that are broadly popular with the American public, particularly voter ID provisions. Those could have been broken out and forced into separate fights. Instead, Republicans have backed themselves into a corner where the House is frozen, the Senate has no incentive to move, and everyone is arguing over tactics instead of making progress.My expectation is that Trump ultimately signs the housing bill. This feels like walking away from the table before signing in the hope of getting something else. He wants movement on the Save America Act. I just don't think he's going to get it.Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guard reportedly struck the Singapore-flagged cargo ship Ever Lovely as it transited the Strait of Hormuz, raising new doubts about the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding and the security of commercial shipping through the waterway. No casualties were reported, but the ship was damaged and the International Maritime Organization paused evacuation efforts while reassessing security. My biggest question isn't whether the memorandum itself is good or bad. It's whether any agreement can actually be enforced if there isn't one clear center of leadership in Iran. I honestly don't know who's making the calls, and I'm not sure if anyone else really has a good idea either.Chapters00:00:00 - Intro00:02:57 - SAVE America Blockade00:11:54 - Iran00:14:16 - Asylum Ruling00:16:29 - James vs. Mamdani00:19:52 - Interview with Tom Merritt01:06:40 - Wrap-up This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/subscribe
Host Steve Turk interviews Nikheel Advani , co-founder and COO of Grace Bay Resorts, who shares how he entered hospitality at 16 after his father pushed him to work, leading to dishwashing, banqueting, and founding a small events company in Singapore. He trained at UMass Amherst, worked in restaurants and hotels, joined a Pizza Uno turnaround team, then spent years with Ritz-Carlton opening multiple properties and emphasizing mentorship. He became hotel manager at Singapore's Raffles, helped elevate its global ranking, then moved to Turks and Caicos to build a hotel into Grace Bay Resorts, focusing on training, local talent, service excellence, food and beverage, airlift, and a luxury branded-residence model that funds development and gives owners hotel access and rental income. It's an amazing episode with fantastic stories and pieces of advice that you should listen to today. A big thank you to our sponsor, Lodgify. Make sure to use promo code THM60 when you sign up at Lodgify00:00 Sponsor Lodgify01:07 Meet Nikheel Advani01:48 First Hospitality Job02:08 Dad's Tough Lesson03:21 Starting a Company at 1604:42 Choosing Hotel School07:18 UMass and Working Through School08:42 Pizza Turnaround Years10:09 Breaking Into Ritz Carlton11:48 Mentors That Changed Everything14:42 Leaving for Raffles Singapore16:24 Running an Iconic Hotel17:28 Profit Meets Guest Experience18:35 Leap to Turks and Caicos20:57 Caribbean Service Reset21:55 Risk and Ownership Leap22:55 Partners and Fast Decisions23:56 Awards and Signature Wins25:43 Building Local Talent28:29 Selling a New Destination31:46 Airlift and Island Strategy34:08 Next Projects Pipeline36:06 Branded Residences Model38:59 Advice and Farewell
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/AnalyticJoin The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here: https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K In this segment of Notorious Mass Effect, Analytic Dreamz delivers a concise breakdown of Stray Kids' major announcements: the release of their new single “RUN IT,” the upcoming EP THIS & THAT, and the full details of the RUN IT World Tour.Analytic Dreamz covers the June 24, 2026 release of “RUN IT,” the first pre-release track from the 8-track EP THIS & THAT arriving August 7, 2026. The discussion explores the music video's black-and-white minimalist aesthetic and the group's shift toward a darker, more mature visual direction.The segment also examines the RUN IT World Tour, including five Seoul shows at KSPO Dome in July and August, historic Japan dates where Stray Kids will become the first overseas male artist to headline Tokyo National Stadium, plus confirmed stops in Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok, and Singapore. Analytic Dreamz recaps the record-breaking dominATE Tour stats, festival appearances, concert film success, and the group's continued Billboard dominance. Perfect for Stay and K-pop fans seeking clear, up-to-date information.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
With U.S. debt now exceeding 100% of GDP, Senator Cynthia Lummis argues the country can't afford to ignore Bitcoin. In this Bitcoin Magazine podcast conversation with host Spencer Nichols, she lays out why a strategic Bitcoin reserve could be America's "Louisiana Purchase moment" and how holding it long term might meaningfully reduce the national debt. She also breaks down the Clarity Act timeline and the legislation racing through Congress.
On this week's episode of The Ultimate Assist, John Stockton and Ken Ruettgers sit down with economist, author, professor, and FreedomFest founder Mark Skousen for a wide-ranging conversation about freedom, capitalism, socialism, healthcare, inflation, and the future of America.Mark brings a rare combination of economic expertise and optimism to a time when many Americans are worried about government overreach, rising costs, cultural division, and whether the American Dream is still alive.The conversation begins with a provocative question:Is America still the land of freedom — or are we just good at pretending?From there, Mark explains why he still believes America's entrepreneurial spirit remains alive, despite growing regulation, taxation, and political pressure. He points to the success of American companies, the importance of free markets, and the ability of individuals and businesses to move, compete, build, and innovate as evidence that liberty still has power. John, Ken, and Mark also dive into: Why socialism continues to appeal to younger generations The difference between “democratic capitalism” and democratic socialism Why profit sharing, stock options, and employee ownership may be better answers than government redistribution How healthcare could be improved through market-based solutions What America can learn from Singapore's healthcare system Why inflation is not inevitable, but often the result of policy decisions The danger of executive orders and centralized power Why economic freedom remains one of the clearest predictors of prosperity Mark also shares the story behind FreedomFest, which he describes as a gathering focused not on “who is right,” but what is right — bringing together people interested in liberty, economics, health, technology, film, philosophy, and practical solutions.Whether you agree with him or not, Mark Skousen offers a hopeful but urgent reminder:Freedom does not preserve itself.
In this segment, we explore Dr. Nibodhi's new program, Complete Ayurveda. This is a comprehensive, self-paced course designed to bring the timeless wisdom of Ayurveda into your everyday life. I genuinely couldn't be more thrilled for this program to be released to the public and to support so many people. Dr. Nibodhi has poured years of study, clinical experience, and genuine care into creating a program that is deeply rooted in tradition but is also incredibly practical for modern living. Whether you're completely new to Ayurveda or looking to deepen your understanding, this course provides accessible tools that you can begin applying immediately.With over 10 hours of video content, 50+ lessons, 20 interactive worksheets, 12 guided meditations, and 3 personalized quizzes, every module is designed around implementation rather than information alone. The goal isn't simply to learn the philosophy of Ayurveda - it is to experience it through meaningful changes in your health, energy, habits, and overall sense of wellbeing.Receive 50$ off with the discount code AYURVEDANOW50 through August 1st! www.nibodhi.com/complete-ayurvedaNibodhi is a student and practitioner of Naturopathy, Ayurveda, Yoga, Vedic Astrology and Indigenous Wisdom traditions. Professionally he a board-certified Traditional Naturopath and Ayurvedic Practitioner and educator. He has also studied Jyotish with an emphasis in medical astrology. He is certified in Vedic psychology/ counselling, clinical nutrition, & yoga teacher/ yoga therapy as well as numerous certifications and trainings in other fields of Health and Consciousness. While he has formally studied at numerous schools his most profound studies came from one on one training with numerous Vaidyas, Yoga masters, Shamans and Elders and Healers from the Vedic traditions as well as various indigenous traditions. He has more than 3 decades of studies and experience in mindfulness and tantric meditation practice and offers guidance in personal and private practice. His vision and heart follows these wisdom paths that support health and consciousness on an individual and planetary level.He is the author of six books on health and consciousness.He offers Vedic/Ayurveda Consultations in person and online. Sessions with Nibodhi give clients a deeper understanding of their total state of health and provide tools for creating greater well-being in their lives. Ayurvedic consultations with Nibodhi are a physical, emotional, and spiritual journey towards optimum, radiant health and consciousness. Nibodhi listens with deep awareness to your health and life concerns. He determines and explains your unique constitution, and offers you a completely individualised approach and protocol that supports your health and life goals.Sessions with Nibodhi may include, but are not limited to, individualised nutrition, dietary, and herbal protocols, yoga and/or other exercise, meditation, breathing exercises, and lifestyle practices which are personalised to bring you into optimum balance.Since 2003 he has been living half of each year in Kerala, India serving in a 100% Non-profit/Charitable, Ayurveda and Naturopathy Wellness Center where he also has taught week long Ayurveda-Yoga intensives twice a year since 2013. Since 2004 he has travelled the world (USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, EU, Australia, Singapore, Malayasia, Thailand) offering Ayurveda Health and Consciousness guidance and counseling. Since 2020 he still spends half the year in India and half the year in Maui. https://www.instagram.com/dr.nibodhi/To find out more or sign up for a consultation, email:Dr.Nibodhi@gmail.com __________________________________Characteristics of Your Spouse:https://youtu.be/i_cOvdSbjy0Soulmate Astrologyhttps://youtu.be/ExnDysvjzUwChristine:website: innerknowing.yogainstagram: astrologynow_podcastpatreon: patreon.com/astrologynowpodcast
Archit Gupta went from never having written a line of code to building AI tools that grade hundreds of student cases and a Socratic AI tutor for a graduate class — in one year. Archit is graduated from Foster's MSBA (Master of Science in Business Analytics) in June, and served on the committee that planned Foster's first AI Spark Day. Before Foster, he worked in M&A at KPMG, founded a consumer fintech startup focused on retail investors, and held product roles at a Singapore-based fintech. He entered the program with no software background and built AI-assisted grading and tutoring tools at UW with Professor Leonard Boussioux. He also founded a student club to pass institutional knowledge between Foster's one-year specialty master's cohorts. How to get past the AI "cold start" when you've never touched a command prompt How to use AI for grading at scale while staying FERPA-compliant (anonymization + open-source models + human in the loop) Why a Socratic AI tutor can protect learning where an unrestricted LLM undermines it How to design an A/B test that measures retention, not just scores Why "everything that can be automated need not be automated" — and how to tell the difference What rapid iteration looks like when you don't need an engineering team Resources mentioned: n8n; Claude Code; open-source / frontier LLMs; FERPA; Ryan Holiday's newsletter; Foster's AI Spark Day.
On today's episode of the China Global Podcast, we're going to discuss the South China Sea. The past year has been marked by four intersecting dynamics: First, a sharp escalation of Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia operations, especially against the Philippines. Second, a resumption of large-scale Chinese island construction after nearly a decade-long pause; Third, increasingly sophisticated Chinese legal and administrative moves to consolidate and institutionalize its claims; And fourth, a deepening of the US-Philippines military partnership and the emergence of a broader network involving US allies and partners from Europe and the Indo-Pacific. To discuss these trends, I'm delighted to have as my guest today, Dr. Collin Koh, who is a senior fellow at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies based in Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Timestamps: [00:00] Introduction [01:33] Beijing'sObjectives in the South China Sea [06:24] Changes in China's Strategy [09:13] A Revival of Island Building in Antelope Reef [16:11] Increased Activity in Scarborough Shoal [20:13] Violating the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct? [24:21] Pros and Cons to Finalizing the Code of Conduct [28:58] China's Response to US-Philippines Security Cooperation [33:15] Claimant Perceptions of US Policy
It is a seller's market at the moment in the ship recycling sector, thanks to a shortage of tonnage. But Hitesh Vyas of the Singapore-based cash buyer Wirana says in this first of six podcasts that this could change, depending on the outcome of the situation in the Gulf.
Comments/ideas: ACFpod@outlook.comSummer Bae from Cleantech Group joins us to reveal how the Asia Pacific cleantech market is finally moving from hype to solid business proof. We dive into the "two valleys of death" for hardware startups and the urgent need for catalytic capital to bridge the regional funding gap. We explore how AI accelerates hardware breakthroughs and why the global focus has shifted from net-zero targets to energy security and resilience. Professionals in climate finance and business will gain vital insights into navigating institutional roadblocks and scaling frontier innovation across APAC.Ref.: Cleantech Group, Global Cleantech 100 Report, APAC Cleantech 25 Report, ABOUT SUMMER. Summer Bae is the Managing Director, APAC at Cleantech Group and is based in Singapore. Prior to Cleantech Group, Summer spent over 10 years at BloombergNEF, where she built partnerships with financial institutions, governments, and corporations to advance sustainable finance and clean technology adoption across the region. She focused on developing strategic relationships with C-suite leaders, particularly in Korea, Japan, and ASEAN. Earlier in her career, Summer held regional sales and planning roles at Datum Alloys, covering markets across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. She began her career at Sumitomo Chemical, where she managed chemical production line operations and was involved in business planning. Summer holds a Bachelor's degree in Asia-Pacific Sociology from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan and earned the Sustainable Investing Certificate from the CFA Institute in 2025.Recommendations: Nat Bullard Annual Presentation: A data-rich and accessible slide deck that provides a comprehensive summary of global developments in climate, energy, and technology.2026 Cleantech Forum Asia, 2026 Cleantech Forum Europe, 2027 Cleantech Forum North America: Professional networking platforms and international conferences held in three continents to support the commercialisation of new technologies.Company list: #Bloomberg Finance L.P. (BloombergNEF), #Cleantech Group LLC, #Fervo Energy, Inc., #Halcyon (Halcyon Group Holdings LLC), #Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.HOST, PRODUCTION, ARTWORK: Joseph Jacobelli | MUSIC: Ep76 onward excerpts from Vivaldi's La Follia, played by Luca Jacobelli.
In this episode, we kick things off by examining a major advancement in commercial vehicle safety technology that's targeting mass production across the Class 8 market. Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems has officially selected Aeva to integrate 4D LiDAR sensors and perception software into its next-generation collision mitigation systems for Class 8 trucks. With roughly 300,000 new Class 8 trucks entering the North American market annually, this program is targeting mass production of one of the first LiDAR-based L2+ driver assistance solutions for commercial vehicles, marking a strategic shift toward using advanced perception technology in active safety systems rather than just higher levels of autonomy. Next, we shift to cross-border logistics, where Echo Global Logistics is making an aggressive play to dominate the entire U.S.-Mexico freight corridor. The Chicago-based third-party logistics provider has formally unveiled a new suite of intra-Mexico domestic transportation services, giving shippers a fully integrated supply chain solution spanning both sides of the border. The expansion includes city-to-city freight transportation, port drayage, domestic intermodal services, and managed transportation solutions across Mexico, all integrated with Echo's existing cross-border operations and allowing the company to capture growing freight movements tied to nearshoring trends. Finally, we explore how autonomous technology is officially moving beyond pilot programs and into full-scale daily operations at a major logistics hub. DHL has transitioned autonomous vehicles from its Fast Forward Challenge into live daily operations at its Singapore facility, partnering with Zelostech to operate fully electric, driverless vehicles for point-to-point transfers between logistics facilities on campus. Each vehicle averages 40 trips and covers 28 kilometers daily, delivering consistent performance at roughly half the operating cost of diesel trucks while cutting emissions to support customers' sustainability goals. Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us Fan Mail“White Collar Talks with Nina and Joe” episode features Lucian Dervan, discussing the upcoming 2026 Global White Collar Crime Institute, July 13-14, 2026, in Singapore. which will bring together senior practitioners, government officials, judges, and scholars to examine the evolving and increasingly complex landscape of international white collar crime. Hosts are Nina Marino and Joe Whitley.
The twin pressures of vulnerable energy supply and rising power demand are making energy security a durable investment theme. Hugo Liebaert, Sustainable Investment and Research Analytics at the BlackRock Investment Institute, explains where opportunities are emerging around critical energy bottlenecks.General disclosure: This material is intended for information purposes only, and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any securities, funds or strategies to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The opinions expressed are as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Investing involves risks. BlackRock does and may seek to do business with companies covered in this podcast. As a result, readers should be aware that the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this podcast.In the U.S. and Canada, this material is intended for public distribution.In the UK and Non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries: this is Issued by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL. Tel:+ 44 (0)20 7743 3000. Registered in England and Wales No. 02020394. For your protection telephone calls are usually recorded. Please refer to the Financial Conduct Authority website for a list of authorised activities conducted by BlackRock.In the European Economic Area (EEA): this is Issued by BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V. is authorised and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. Registered office Amstelplein 1, 1096 HA, Amsterdam, Tel: 020 – 549 5200, Tel: 31-20- 549-5200. Trade Register No. 17068311 For your protection telephone calls are usually recorded.For Investors in Switzerland: This document is marketing material.In South Africa: Please be advised that BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited is an authorised Financial Services provider with the South African Financial Services Board, FSP No. 43288.In Singapore, this is issued by BlackRock (Singapore) Limited (Co. registration no. 200010143N). This advertisement or publication has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. In Hong Kong, this material is issued by BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited and has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. In Australia, issued by BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited ABN 13 006 165 975, AFSL 230 523 (BIMAL). This material provides general information only and does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation, needs or circumstances. Before making any investment decision, you should assess whether the material is appropriate for you and obtain financial advice tailored to you having regard to your individual objectives, financial situation, needs and circumstances. Refer to BIMAL's Financial Services Guide on its website for more information. This material is not a financial product recommendation or an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any financial product in any jurisdictionIn Latin America: this material is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice nor an offer or solicitation to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any shares of any Fund (nor shall any such shares be offered or sold to any person) in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities law of that jurisdiction. If any funds are mentioned or inferred to in this material, it is possible that some or all of the funds may not have been registered with the securities regulator of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay or any other securities regulator in any Latin American country and thus might not be publicly offered within any such country. The securities regulators of such countries have not confirmed the accuracy of any information contained herein. The provision of investment management and investment advisory services is a regulated activity in Mexico thus is subject to strict rules. For more information on the Investment Advisory Services offered by BlackRock Mexico please refer to the Investment Services Guide available at www.blackrock.com/mx©2026 BlackRock, Inc. All Rights Reserved. BLACKROCK is a registered trademark of BlackRock, Inc. All other trademarks are those of their respective owners.BII0626-5595004-EXP0627
Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome (BAMS) is a rare genetic disorder resulting in babies born without a nose, along with eye and reproductive anomalies. Our guests today investigated the developmental basis of this distinct defect using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from patients with BAMS. They assessed the differentiation potential of BAMS patient-derived iPSCs into cranial placode cells, a group of progenitor cells that contribute to the formation of the nasal epithelium. This allowed them to study the behavior of the nasal epithelial cells during early development. Their work uncovered cellular mechanisms underlying BAMS and provided new insights into the developmental processes that shape the human nose. GuestsShifeng Xue is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She received her Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of California, San Francisco, where she trained with Maria Barna, and then completed her postdoctoral research at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Singapore. She is the recipient of the 2018 Young Scientist Award of the Singapore National Academy of Science. Vanitha Venkoba Rao worked as a Research Fellow at NUS from 2020 to 2025. She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from NUS and subsequently held research positions at inStem and Pandorum Technologies in India, before joining the Xue lab.HostJanet Rossant, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports Supporting DocumentCranial placode differentiation defect in individuals born without a nose, Stem Cell Reports, 2026About Stem Cell ReportsStem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians. X: @StemCellReportsAbout ISSCRAcross more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to advancing stem cell research and its translation to medicine.ISSCR StaffKeith Alm, Shuangshuang Du, Kym Kilbourne, Megan Koch, Jack Mosher, and Hunter Reed
HEADLINES:• Saudi Pullback Hits BCG as PIF Cuts Consulting Spend • Uber co-founder Kalanick's Atoms eyes Saudi IPO as market waits for stability • MGX explores multi-billion-dollar bid for Singapore's DayOne Newsletter: https://aug.us/4jqModrWhatsApp: https://aug.us/40FdYLUInstagram: https://aug.us/4ihltzQTiktok: https://aug.us/4lnV0D8Smashi Business Show (Mon-Friday): https://aug.us/3BTU2MY
Seymour has has a long career in liquor and has been a global CEO multiple times, adding millions of cases and value to every firm he worked at, from the Philippines to Singapore, to Amsterdam, and from Allied-Domecq to Maxxium to Amber Beverage, and many more besides. Seymour was my client for years, starting at Maxxium, and we developed a friendship that's seen us collaborate on many projects since. His newest venture, Chimera brand development in the UK, is less than two years old but already has thousands of distribution points in bars and wholesalers throughout the UK and recently acquired the Ridgeview Wine Estate in England as well. We talk about his upbringing and education, working for the Mars brothers, his route into liquor, how competitive it was back then, fighting counterfeiters in the Philippines, building global liquor brands, what's important, what isn't, and how it all works. This is a great episode - enjoy. Seymour on IG: https://www.instagram.com/seymourferreira/Seymour on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seymour-ferreira-3b41351 Chimer Brand Development: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWlisdcsPjY/ (Get in touch with Duff!Podcast business enquiries: consulting@liquidsolutions.org (PR friends: we're only interested in having your client on if they can talk for a couple of hours about OTHER things besides their prepared speaking points or their new thing, whatever that is. They need to be able to hang. Oh, plus we don't edit, we won't supply prepared or sample questions, nor listener or “reach” stats, either, and no, you can't sit in on the interview (or lurk on the Zoom.) And our AI automatically deletes pitch emails that are clearly written using AI. Retain Philip's consulting firm, Liquid Solutions, specialised in on-trade engagement & education, liquor brand creation and repositioning: philip@liquidsolutions.orgPhilip on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipsduff/ Philip on Facebook: Philip Duff Philip on X/Twitter: Philip Duff (@philipduff) / Twitter Philip on LinkedIn: linkedin.com Old Duff Genever on Instagram: Old Duff Genever (@oldduffgenever) • Instagram photos and videos Old Duff Genever on Faceboo...
In this episode, we kick things off by examining a major advancement in commercial vehicle safety technology that's targeting mass production across the Class 8 market. Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems has officially selected Aeva to integrate 4D LiDAR sensors and perception software into its next-generation collision mitigation systems for Class 8 trucks. With roughly 300,000 new Class 8 trucks entering the North American market annually, this program is targeting mass production of one of the first LiDAR-based L2+ driver assistance solutions for commercial vehicles, marking a strategic shift toward using advanced perception technology in active safety systems rather than just higher levels of autonomy. Next, we shift to cross-border logistics, where Echo Global Logistics is making an aggressive play to dominate the entire U.S.-Mexico freight corridor. The Chicago-based third-party logistics provider has formally unveiled a new suite of intra-Mexico domestic transportation services, giving shippers a fully integrated supply chain solution spanning both sides of the border. The expansion includes city-to-city freight transportation, port drayage, domestic intermodal services, and managed transportation solutions across Mexico, all integrated with Echo's existing cross-border operations and allowing the company to capture growing freight movements tied to nearshoring trends. Finally, we explore how autonomous technology is officially moving beyond pilot programs and into full-scale daily operations at a major logistics hub. DHL has transitioned autonomous vehicles from its Fast Forward Challenge into live daily operations at its Singapore facility, partnering with Zelostech to operate fully electric, driverless vehicles for point-to-point transfers between logistics facilities on campus. Each vehicle averages 40 trips and covers 28 kilometers daily, delivering consistent performance at roughly half the operating cost of diesel trucks while cutting emissions to support customers' sustainability goals. Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
#PeopleAreRevoltingpeoplearerevolting.com
The Angry Clean Energy Guy on the Electro-Shield being built at a historic pace across the countries of the Global South: The structural decarbonization of an economy by bringing power production home through domestic solar, wind, and battery storage systems to insulate grids from foreign market shocks.For decades, the global establishment treated climate policy like a slow, voluntary environmental project, assuming nations would transition out of altruism or consensus treaties signed in quiet conference rooms. In 2026, that fiction has evaporated. The true driver of global macroeconomics and geopolitics today is raw, basic political survival. The war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz delivered a brutal lesson to every energy-importing leader on Earth: fossil fuel reliance is no longer just an environmental disaster; it is an immediate national security threat that brings protesters to the streets.This transformation is being accelerated by a massive new demand engine: the global race for artificial intelligence and compute sovereignty. In this episode, The Angry Clean Energy Guy breaks down how the Electro-Shield is being deployed in real-time across key Asian markets—including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and more.The Angry Clean Energy Guy then examines the structural divergence between Petro-states, where power is about extracting volatile molecules and capturing the wealth created through elite networks, and emerging Electro-states, which democratize energy and treat it as technology. As fixed hardware permanently outpaces extractive commodities, wires will continue to irreversibly chew pipelines.
Behavioral designer Nir Eyal sits down with Jeremy Au to unpack the ideas behind his New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief. He explains why information alone never changes behavior, why your limiting beliefs stay hidden like your own face, and how the motivation triangle of behavior, benefit, and belief decides whether you actually follow through. Nir breaks down the research showing why manifesting and vision boarding can backfire, what athletes do instead with mental contrasting, the crucial difference between pain and suffering, and the four-question turnaround he used to repair his relationship with his mother. The episode closes with a live coaching session where Jeremy rewrites his own beliefs about exercise. For founders, operators, and investors across Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia, this is a practical playbook for the inner game of building. Burnout, self-doubt, and stalled goals are common across Southeast Asia's startup ecosystem, and Nir's framework offers a science-backed way to spot the beliefs quietly capping your potential and swap them for ones that serve you. Grab Nir Eyal's new book Beyond Belief, plus Hooked and Indistractable, at https://www.nirandfar.com Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/nir-eyal-beyond-belief BRAVE is Southeast Asia's leading tech podcast, hosted by Jeremy Au. Honest conversations with the region's top founders, investors, and operators on building startups in Southeast Asia. New episodes every week. Subscribe so you never miss one. Listen & Subscribe YouTube (English), YouTube (Bahasa Indonesia), Spotify (English), Spotify (Bahasa Indonesia), Spotify (Chinese), Spotify (Vietnamese), Apple Podcasts Follow BRAVE LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp Follow Jeremy Au LinkedIn, X / Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Twitch Resources Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com #BeyondBelief #LimitingBeliefs #Mindset #SoutheastAsia #StartupFounders #Productivity #BehaviorChange #SelfImprovement 00:00 From Hooked to Beyond Belief 03:08 Why He Writes and the Birth of Hooked 05:36 The Phone, His Daughter, and Indistractable 08:28 Why Knowing Isn't Doing: The Motivation Triangle 11:26 Beliefs vs Facts vs Faith 12:55 Why Manifesting Backfires 16:56 Pain Is Not Suffering 21:04 Updating the Beliefs We Inherit 28:25 The Flowers, His Mother, and the Turnaround 31:31 Live Coaching: The Real Reason Exercise Feels Hard 41:25 The Four-Question Turnaround on Exercise 48:21 Exercise for Its Own Sake 52:00 Takeaways: Beliefs Are Lenses, Not Laws
512. The Companionship of the Holy Spirit // Christine Indrali by The City, Singapore
About Thomas: Thomas' LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/thomas-dijkman Website: qanda.nl (Company), https://www.ebeltoftgroup.com Phone: +31652656347 (Work) Email: tdijkman@qanda.nl Thomas' Bio: Thomas Dijkman is a Senior Retail Consultant at Q&A Retail, a Netherlands-based retail consultancy. He is Co-chair of the “Young Ebeltoft” initiative, a global collective of next-generation retail thinkers within the Ebeltoft Group. Thomas specializes in translating insights, market expertise, and creativity into practical solutions that help leading retailers adapt and thrive in a fast-changing retail environment. He has worked with retailers such as SPAR, Action, Nexeye, and A.S. Watson, advising on strategy, positioning, consumer engagement, and store and format optimization. With a no-nonsense, data-driven approach, he supports retailers in strengthening their concepts and improving performance across channels. Through his focus on generational insights, Thomas helps retailers better understand what young consumers want and how to turn those insights into action. SHOW INTRO: Today, EPISODE 89… I talk with Thomas Dijkman a Gen Z researcher, which is to say that he is part of Gen Z at 28 years old, who was a speaker at Euroshop 2026. Thomas and the company he work with called Q&A Retail, had just published research on Gen Alpha, which was chock full of insights on this emerging generation of global consumers. We'll get into all of that in a minute but first a few thoughts… * * * * ABOUT DAVID KEPRON: LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b Websites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website) vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog) Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.com Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/ NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/ Bio: David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University. He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore. In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. I caught up with Bryan at the SHOP Marketplace event in Charlotte and chatted about his focus on shaping what comes next in digital signage and experiential design. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production is by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.
On episode 247 of The Compound and Friends, Michael Batnick and Downtown Josh Brown are joined by Michael Zezas, Deputy Global Head of Research at Morgan Stanley, to discuss: AI capex, data centers, productivity gains, prediction markets, the 2026 midterms, the Fed, enterprise software, and why policy calls are so difficult to translate directly into investment outcomes. This episode is sponsored by Public and Vanguard. To learn more about Public, visit https://public.com/Compound. To learn more about Vanguard bonds, visit https://vanguard.com/audio. Sign up for The Compound Newsletter and never miss out: thecompoundnews.com/subscribe Instagram: instagram.com/thecompoundnews Twitter: twitter.com/thecompoundnews LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-compound-media/ TikTok: tiktok.com/@thecompoundnews Investing involves the risk of loss. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be or regarded as personalized investment advice or relied upon for investment decisions. Michael Batnick and Josh Brown are employees of Ritholtz Wealth Management and may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this video. All opinions expressed by them are solely their own opinion and do not reflect the opinion of Ritholtz Wealth Management. The Compound Media, Incorporated, an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here https://ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any mention of a particular security and related performance data is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. The information provided on this website (including any information that may be accessed through this website) is not directed at any investor or category of investors and is provided solely as general information. Obviously nothing on this channel should be considered as personalized financial advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. See our disclosures here: https://ritholtzwealth.com/podcast-youtube-disclosures/ DISCLOSURES: For important disclosures, stock price charts and equity rating histories regarding companies that are the subject of this public appearance, please see the Morgan Stanley Research Disclosure Website at www.morganstanley.com/researchdisclosures, or contact your investment representative or Morgan Stanley Research at 1585 Broadway, (Attention: Research Management), New York, NY, 10036 USA. For valuation methodology and risks associated with any price targets referenced in this research report, please contact the Client Support Team as follows: US/Canada +1 800 303-2495; Hong Kong +852 2848-5999; Latin America +1 718 754-5444 (U.S.); London +44 (0)20-7425-8169; Singapore +65 6834-6860; Sydney +61 (0)2-9770-1505; Tokyo +81 (0)3-6836-9000. Alternatively, you may contact your investment representative or Morgan Stanley Research at 1585 Broadway, (Attention: Research Management), New York, NY 10036 USA. Public Disclosure: Paid for by Public Investing. Brokerage services by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC-registered adviser. Complete disclosures available at https://public.com/disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark Thompson shares his captivating journey as the child of Royal Air Force personnel during the Cold War. From the moment his parents met in Singapore to their adventures across various military bases, Mark's stories are filled with nostalgia and insight. Mark's father, a skilled electrician, joined the Royal Air Force and was posted to different locations, including Malta and Germany. His childhood memories revolve around the vibrant life he experienced on these bases, from playing with friends to witnessing Vulcan bombers flying overhead. He recalls the joy of living in Malta, where he played on building sites and enjoyed family outings to Kalafrana, a recreational area for military personnel. The conversation takes us to Germany, where Mark shares more about his life at RAF Laarbrück and Bruggen. With his father's work on flight simulators. The camaraderie among RAF families created a unique childhood experience, filled with adventures and the occasional mischief. Mark's reflections on his upbringing reveal a deep appreciation for the opportunities he had, despite the challenges of moving frequently and saying goodbye to friends. He candidly shares his thoughts on how military life has shaped his identity. Curated video extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode461 Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation, You'll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and you'll bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we also welcome one-off tips via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ CONTINUE THE COLD WAR CONVERSATION o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ron Biscardi is one of the most influential figures in the alternative investment world. As Co-Founder and CEO of iConnections, Ron is building the largest capital introduction ecosystem in existence collectively representing $55 trillion in assets across thousands of members from 80+ countries. His Global Alts conferences in Miami, New York, and Singapore are must-attend gatherings for managers, allocators, and family offices who understand that relationships drive returns. With more than 25 years of experience building firms and raising billions, Ron is known amongst institutional investors for being at the epicenter of global capital connections. To connect with Ron, follow him on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X @rbiscardi.
Gary Shapiro has spent decades at the center of the global consumer technology industry, leading the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and building CES into one of the most important stages for innovation, policy, and deal-making on the planet.In this first episode of 2026, Gary joins Charlie, Rony, and Ted to preview CES, unpack the explosion of AI across every category, and deliver unusually blunt takes on tariffs, China, manufacturing, and U.S. innovation policy. He explains how CES has evolved from a TV-and-gadgets show into a global platform where boards meet, standards are set, and policymakers, chip designers, robotics firms, and health-tech startups all collide.In the News: Before Gary joins, the hosts break down Nvidia's $20 billion “not-a-deal” with Singapore's Groq, the stake in Intel, and what that combo might signal about the edge of the GPU bubble and the shift toward inference compute, x86, and U.S. industrial policy. They also dig into Netflix's acquisition of Ready Player Me and what it suggests about a Netflix metaverse and location-based entertainment strategy, plus Starlink's rapid growth and an onslaught of “AI everything” products ahead of CES.Gary walks through new features at this year's show: CES Foundry at the Fontainebleau for AI and quantum, expanded tracks on manufacturing, wearables, women's health, and accessibility, plus an AI-powered show app already fielding thousands of questions (top query: where to pick up badges).He also talks candidly about his biggest concern—that fragmented state-level AI regulation (1,200+ state bills in 2025) will crush startups while big players shrug—and why he believes federal standards via NIST are the only realistic path. The discussion ranges from AI-driven healthcare and precision agriculture to robotics, demographics, labor culture, global supply chains, and what CES might look like in 2056.5 Key Takeaways from Gary:AI is now the spine of CES. CES 2026 centers on AI as infrastructure: CES Foundry at the Fontainebleau for AI + quantum, AI training tracks for strategy, implementation, agentic AI, and AI-driven marketing, and an AI-powered app helping attendees navigate the show.Fragmented state AI laws are an existential risk for startups. Over 1,200 state AI bills in 2025—including proposals to criminalize agentic AI counseling—could create a compliance maze only large incumbents can survive, which is why Gary argues for federal standards via NIST.Wearables are becoming systems, not gadgets. Oura rings, wrist devices, body sensors, and subdermal glucose monitors are starting to be designed as interoperable families of devices, with partnerships emerging to combine data into unified health services.Robotics is breaking out of the industrial niche. CES will showcase the largest robotics presence yet, moving beyond factory arms and drones to humanoids, logistics, social companions, and applied AI systems across sectors.Tariffs, alliances, and AI will reshape manufacturing. Gary is skeptical of “Fortress USA” strategies that try to onshore everything, pointing instead to allied reshoring (Latin America, Europe, Japan, South Korea) and the long-term role of AI-powered robotics in changing labor economics and global supply chains.This episode is brought to you by Zappar, creators of Mattercraft—the leading visual development environment for building immersive 3D web experiences for mobile headsets and desktop. Mattercraft combines the power of a game engine with the flexibility of the web, and now features an AI assistant that helps you design, code, and debug in real time, right in your browser. Whether you're a developer, designer, or just getting started, start building smarter at mattercraft.io. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Robson Silva Junior is Co-Founder of Pods.He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss how DeFi's mixed retail adoption led Pods to build modular yield infrastructure for Latin America's neobanks.Recorded live at the Token Nation event in São Paulo, the conversation traces Silva's path from naval engineering to early AMM research during Singapore's ICO era.Silva explains why Pods abandoned its B2C options protocol once it became clear retail users weren't going to interact with MetaMask directly.He also discusses Pods' work building a zero-knowledge privacy pilot for Brazil's central bank digital currency, and why programmable privacy for composable DeFi remains unsolved.The episode closes on how neobanks now use Pods' API to offer insured, cross-chain yield without building that infrastructure in-house.You can connect with Rob on Linkedin
Joe Raia, Chief Commercial Officer at Abaxx Exchange, had a fun interview as he stopped by to give us an update. As a commercial tanker captain who moved into commodities trading, he has the knowledge and background to help guide the US Markets.Connect with Joe on his LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-raia-4982a417/Follow Joe on X here: https://x.com/JoeRaia5Check out Abaxx Exchange information here: https://abaxx.exchange/1. Abaxx Exchange & LNG Futures ContractsThe core focus is on ABEX's innovative physically deliverable LNG futures contracts. Joe Rea explains how these contracts are unique because they price actual waterborne LNG molecules rather than using proxy benchmarks like Henry Hub or Brent crude oil. The contracts cover three key regions: Gulf of Mexico (FOB), DES North Pacific Asia, and Northwest Europe. This addresses a major gap in the market where there was no transparent, regulated pricing instrument for LNG.2. Pricing Benchmarks & Market InefficienciesA significant discussion centers on why traditional pricing proxies fail for LNG. Henry Hub has remained at $3 for 15 years while waterborne LNG ranges from $11-15, and Brent crude oil has no correlation to delivered LNG in Asia. ABEX's contracts provide proper pricing correlation, which is critical for midstream suppliers to get fair value for their molecules.3. Global LNG Market DynamicsThe conversation covers Europe's energy crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the shift from long-term contracts (40-50% of the market) to spot and shorter-term contracts, and the EU's struggle to refill natural gas reserves to 85-90% capacity. There's also discussion of Russia's new icebreaker LNG carriers and potential sanctions implications.4. Expansion of LNG Production & InfrastructureTopics include the U.S. becoming the world's largest LNG producer, with 200 MTPA coming online this year. There's discussion of floating LNG terminals (FSRUs) as faster alternatives to building permanent facilities, and potential expansion in the Middle East with pipelines connecting to floating LNG infrastructure.5. Precious Metals TradingAbaxx has expanded beyond energy into metals, launching gold and silver futures contracts with physical delivery capabilities in Singapore vaults. The silver contract has been particularly successful, and these contracts address logistical issues that previously plagued gold trading between London and New York.6. Energy Security & U.S. PolicyA major theme is energy security, including discussions of the Jones Act, U.S. tanker capacity, and the importance of American-flagged vessels. The conversation highlights how a 60-day Jones Act waiver resulted in more U.S. energy exports to Puerto Rico in 2 months than in the previous 20 years, and the need to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding capacity.7. Geopolitical ImplicationsDiscussion of Middle East pipeline infrastructure (Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, UAE expansion, Kuwait's plans), Iran's territorial claims, and how geopolitical tensions affect energy markets and shipping routes through critical chokepoints like the Panama Canal and Strait of Hormuz.8. Technology & Market IntegrationAbaxx's integration with major pricing platforms like Refinitiv, Bloomberg, and TradingView to make pricing data accessible globally. The conversation emphasizes the importance of having standardized, transparent pricing that can be referenced in trading agreements.This episode essentially showcases how ABEX is revolutionizing commodity trading by creating transparent, physically backed futures markets that better serve the global energy and metals industries.Thank you, Joe, for your service in the United States Merchant Fleet as a Captain and for your continued service in helping balance the markets.Check out the Energy News Beat SubStack https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/A shout-out to Steve Reese and the Reese Energy Consulting group for sponsoring the Podcast https://reeseenergyconsulting.com/.Data2 if you have any business systems, can you trust A? Well, they have the patent on validation. . https://data2.zoholandingpage.com/energyAnd we have WellDatabase rolling in as a new sponsor. https://welldatabase.com/
Rahul Tandon is joined by Rebecca Choong Wilkins in Singapore and Walter Todd in South Carolina, USA. They discuss which jobs may be most resistant to the rise of AI and whether skilled trades such as plumbing and locksmithing could offer greater job security. They also compare the challenges facing the US and Chinese economies in light of the latest data releases. And can Toy Story 5 match the box-office success of its predecessors?Producers: Neil Morrow and Bisi Adebayo Executive Producer: Justin BonesYou can email the team: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Value: After Hours is a podcast about value investing, Fintwit, and all things finance and investment by investors Tobias Carlisle, and Jake Taylor. We are live every Tuesday at 1.30pm E / 10.30am P.────────────────────── VALUE OPTIONS LETTER Three to five curated ideas every week — cash-secured puts, covered calls, and spreads on businesses we'd want to own at strikes we'd be willing to pay. Every trade includes the business thesis in plain English, the fair-value estimate and its key assumptions, the specific option trade with target premium, and the pre-identified exit criteria.Every idea reviewed and approved by an analyst before it hits your inbox.valueoptionsletter.com/subscribe──────────────────────See our latest episodes at https://acquirersmultiple.com/podcastAbout Jake Jake's Twitter: https://twitter.com/farnamjake1Jake's book: The Rebel Allocator https://amzn.to/2sgip3lABOUT THE PODCASTHi, I'm Tobias Carlisle. I launched The Acquirers Podcast to discuss the process of finding undervalued stocks, deep value investing, hedge funds, activism, buyouts, and special situations.We uncover the tactics and strategies for finding good investments, managing risk, dealing with bad luck, and maximizing success.SEE LATEST EPISODEShttps://acquirersmultiple.com/podcast/SEE OUR FREE DEEP VALUE STOCK SCREENER https://acquirersmultiple.com/screener/FOLLOW TOBIASWebsite: https://acquirersmultiple.com/Firm: https://acquirersfunds.com/ Twitter: ttps://twitter.com/GreenbackdLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobycarlisleFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/tobiascarlisleInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tobias_carlisleABOUT TOBIAS CARLISLETobias Carlisle is the founder of The Acquirer's Multiple®, and Acquirers Funds®. He is best known as the author of the #1 new release in Amazon's Business and Finance The Acquirer's Multiple: How the Billionaire Contrarians of Deep Value Beat the Market, the Amazon best-sellers Deep Value: Why Activists Investors and Other Contrarians Battle for Control of Losing Corporations (2014) (https://amzn.to/2VwvAGF), Quantitative Value: A Practitioner's Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors (2012) (https://amzn.to/2SDDxrN), and Concentrated Investing: Strategies of the World's Greatest Concentrated Value Investors (2016) (https://amzn.to/2SEEjVn). He has extensive experience in investment management, business valuation, public company corporate governance, and corporate law.Prior to founding the forerunner to Acquirers Funds in 2010, Tobias was an analyst at an activist hedge fund, general counsel of a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, and a corporate advisory lawyer. As a lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions he has advised on transactions across a variety of industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Australia, Singapore, Bermuda, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Guam. He is a graduate of the University of Queensland in Australia with degrees in Law (2001) and Business (Management) (1999).
In this episode, Kristof sits down with sustainability expert Josh Jacobs to demystify the ins and outs of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Product Category Rules (PCRs) and ISO Standards that are causing a decarbonization to happen around the world. Translating the complex data of an LCA into a standardized format, EPDs function as 'nutrition labels' for building materials, helping designers and specifiers count the 'carbon calories' of everything from steel girders to heat pumps. Josh and Kristof explore the critical shift from focusing exclusively upon operational carbon to including embodied carbon in the carbon reduction conversation, break down the cradle-to-grave phases of building materials, and offer actionable insights on using better data to make truly sustainable design decisions.Apologies that Kristof's mic was clipping. Josh JacobsJosh has helped numerous AHJs develop and implement sustainable purchasing policies and requirements, including but not limited to: the US General Service Administration, the US Military through the UFGS, the State of California, the city of New York, the Building Construction Authority of Singapore, and numerous universities and private businesses. Josh has also helped develop influential materials, human health, product emissions, and indoor air quality criteria in numerous global codes and rating systems, including but not limited to LEED v4 and v4.1, Fitwel, Green Globes, CALGreen, IgCC, ASHRAE 189.1, and BREEAM. He also works with organizations investor relations and sustainability teams to understand ESG financial reporting tools such as SASB, GRI, and TCF along with looking at their carbon footprint.Links from the EpisodeOrganizations Mentioned:MEP2040: An organization and steering committee focused on decarbonizing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.WAP Sustainability Consulting: A large life cycle assessment organization that helps manufacturers create EPDs.SLR: A global environmental and advisory firm that owns WAP.USGBC: The U.S. Green Building Council, associated with the LEED rating system.ASHRAE: The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.ISO: The International Organization for Standardization.NSF: An organization with an EPD program (distinct from the National Science Foundation - originally focused on water certification).UL: Underwriters Laboratories, an early EPD program operator in North America.ICC-ES: The International Code Council Evaluation Service, an EPD program operator.ASTM: An organization that features an EPD program.ANSI: The American National Standards Institute.CIBSE: The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers based in the UK.NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders.Standards and Financial ToolsISO 14040 / ISO 14044: International standards that provide the framework and guidelines for conducting LCAs.ISO 14025: The standard that governs how program operators run EPD programs and dictates what should be included in an EPD.ISO 21930: The overarching Product Category Rule (PCR) for building materials typically used in the Americas.EN 15804: The European equivalent to ISO 21930.ISO 20400: The standard for Sustainable Procurement.ASHRAE 189.1: A standard for the design of high-performance green buildings.IgCC: The International Green Construction Code.CIBSE TM65 / North American CIBSE/ASHRAE TM65: A standard that approximates an LCA to provide directionally accurate information when a full EPD is not available.SASB, GRI, TCFD: Sustainable financial reporting tools used by organizations and investor relations teams.TeamHosted by Kristof IrwinEdited by Nico MignardiProduced by M. Walker
Last 4 days before regular tickets sell out at AI Engineer World's Fair - this is the single biggest gathering of AI Engineers, Founders, Leaders, and Researchers in the world. Attendees get >$5000 worth of sponsor credits and talk tracks are looking FANTASTIC. Join us!The AI scaling debate always focuses on the question of “how do we get more GPUs?” but the better question may be: how do we make the most of ones we already have.The fact that a frontier lab like xAI could be running at sub-10% MFU (Model FLOPs Utilization) is just a hint at what the real problem may be.For context, older frontier-scale training runs were already much higher than 10%. GPT-3 was around 21% MFU. Gopher was around 32%. Megatron-Turing NLG was around 30%. PaLM reached around 46%. And our guest Anjney says best-in-class MFU today is closer to 60–70%.It's not necessarily that xAI is uniquely incompetent (it's clear they have talented folks) but rather the priorities may be flipped in the GPU arms race.While GPU access is a bottleneck, simply increasing CapEx won't automatically translate to better models as frontier AI is increasingly a systems problem: scheduling, utilization, networking, kernels, frameworks, data pipelines, parallelism, cluster reliability, and the thousand small decisions that determine whether your theoretical FLOPs become real training progress.From building Discord's developer platform and backing frontier AI companies like Anthropic, Mistral, Black Forest Labs, and Periodic Labs to now building AMP's independent compute grid, Anjney Midha has spent years close to the real bottlenecks of AI scaling. In this episode, Anjney joins swyx at Periodic Labs to unpack why the AI race is not just about buying more GPUs, why 95% utilization would have been considered an outage at Google, and why the next era of AI infrastructure has to be more aligned, more efficient, and more responsible.We go deep on AMP's vision for a compute grid that makes FLOPs flow like megawatts, the difference between full-stack AI labs and horizontal pooling, why AI data centers need community buy-in, and how compute markets could evolve into something closer to an independent system operator. Anjney also explains why DeepMind's unpublished research points to a market failure, why end-of-life prediction remains one of the most important AI applications he has thought about for fourteen years, and why “output maxing” may become a new discipline for frontier systems.We also discuss Anthropic's culture, why “luck favors the prepared mind” in coding models, how Claude cracked coding, why too much capital too early can make AI labs fragile, what Periodic Labs is trying to do with science and superconductors, why great researchers can become great CEOs, and why Silicon Valley is both deeply missionary and deeply mercenary.We discuss:* Why 95% utilization was considered an outage at Google* Why AI infrastructure waste compounds at frontier-lab scale* Why “move fast and break things” does not work for AI data centers* How data center backlash, power grids, and community incentives shape AI scaling* AMP's vision for making FLOPs flow like megawatts* Why compute needs an independent system operator* How interruptible demand and dynamic prioritization worked inside Google* Why DeepMind research hoarding creates negative externalities* AMP's 1.2GW base-load ambition and the need for 6GW of spike capacity* Why end-of-life prediction could become one of AI's most important healthcare applications* Frontier Systems, output maxing, and full-stack alignment* Why APIs and abstraction layers become lossy as organizations scale* Superconductors, standards, and the dream of lossless systems* SF Compute, open protocols, and the future of compute marketplaces* Why non-NVIDIA chips can still benefit from NVIDIA's reference architecture* Trust boundaries and why chip startups need visibility into future model architectures* Why VCs often underestimate researchers as CEOs* Scientists as star athletes of the mind* Why great CEOs need to be confrontational up and down the stack* Why leading the frontier matters more than “winning”* How Anthropic cracked coding* Why culture is fragile, not a permanent moat* Why hardship was a feature, not a bug, for Anthropic* Why Anthropic's P0 was coding from day one* Periodic Labs, physics as the constraint, and technical reality* Silicon Valley mercenaries, missionary teams, and what happens after a breakthroughAnjney Midha* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjney* X: https://x.com/AnjneyMidhaAMP PBC* Website: https://amppublic.com/* X: https://x.com/amppublicTimestamps00:00:00 Introduction00:00:09 Why AI Compute Is Being Wasted00:03:17 Responsible Infrastructure and Data Center Backlash00:06:07 AMP Grid: Making FLOPs Flow Like Megawatts00:12:41 Foundry, Frontier Labs, and Research Hoarding00:14:42 Gigawatt-Scale Compute and End-of-Life Prediction00:24:08 Frontier Systems, Output Maxing, and Alignment00:27:38 Compute Markets, SF Compute, and Non-NVIDIA Chips00:32:57 Trust Boundaries, Co-Design, and Researcher CEOs00:38:17 AI Coachella and First-Principles Thinking00:42:43 Leading vs Winning in Frontier AI00:45:54 How Anthropic Cracked Coding00:48:25 Culture, Hardship, and Anthropic's P000:54:03 Periodic Labs, Physics, and Silicon Valley Mercenaries00:56:26 Rishi Valley, Singapore, and Money as a Measure00:58:47 Closing ThoughtsTranscriptIntroduction: Anjney Midha, AMP, and Compute WasteSwyx [00:00:00]: We're in Periodic Labs with Anjney Midha, CEO, founder of AMP. Welcome.Compute Utilization: Node Allocation, MFU, and AlignmentAnjney [00:00:09]: Thanks for having me. At Google, there are two types of utilization usually, right? That you're measuring in these clusters. One is node allocation, and then the other's MFU. Node utilization is usually like what percentage of cards in the data center are just, used, and that, if it's not at, 95%-Swyx [00:00:29]: There is no excuseAnjney [00:00:29]: There's no excuse, right? I think 95% at Google, which is where my co-founder, Seb, came from, he built the Borg, PBorg/GQM scheduler at Google, and there I think 95% was considered an outage, so 96% node utilization is, should be standard. And most single-tenant clusters are not running at that. So that's one. And then MFU should be, I would say the best in class today is somewhere between 60 and 70%. I think this is a leadership question, right? Fundamentally it's an alignment question, which is are the people who are funding the cluster and then deploying the cluster actually aligned? And sometimes theoretically they are, but in practice the number of people in the chain, the supply chain between, the capital and all the way to whoever's managing the cluster and then whoever's measuring what the output is, are just so many, degrees of separation away that, the, The Have you ever heard the radian metaphor, which is at the beginning of an arc, if you have two arcs that are two lines that are just off by a few degrees, that-Swyx [00:01:33]: It spreads outAnjney [00:01:34]: It spreads out, right? Or at scale. And I think what's happening is a lot of cluster implementations and infrastructure, a lot of frontier labs and other teams, that's what's happening, is they're, they initialize the plan, which is kind of like North Star with a team that wants to do good, but then they're, required to scale so fast instead of iteratively that the wastage just compounds really fast at scale. And so I think we know the answer, which is just do iterative bring ups. If you spend time with people who've been in the semiconductor industry or the DSN industry for a long time, this is not new, and I don't think AI should be an excuse. Sure. Something What is new? Okay. We have a lot of new capabilities, but that doesn't mean just abandon common sense. Common sense should always be in fashion. ? AI scaling doesn't change the in fact, if anything, AI scaling should be putting a premium on the value of common sense and infrastructure because the margin of error now is so much lower and the costs of wastage are so much higher. And the cost of wastage, by the way, is not just economic. I'm, obviously I'm, I'm an investor, or I'm an investor by background. Over the last few years now we're running an AI infrastructure business called, AMP. And I think that it's okay to say this time is different on the capabilities front. We are genuinely getting capabilities at, of the, of a kind we haven't had before. That doesn't give you an excuse to say this time is different for everything, especially infrastructure. So look, I love the hacker mindset and the hustler mindset. Now, that's great for the startup mindset, but you remember this moment where Zuck went from saying, “Move fast, break things” to, move-Responsible Infrastructure and Data Center BacklashSwyx [00:03:10]: Fast and stable infrastructureAnjney [00:03:11]: Move fast with stable infrastructure. I think now we need to move fast with, responsible infrastructure. People are going to ask where the impact is. There was a really In our class yesterday, Scott Nolan, who's the founder of General Matter, came by at Stanford to speak about energy bottlenecks. And he had a phenomenal idea. He said, “if you look at the marginal unit economics of compute per hour,” he goes, “let's call it, $4 an hour. If you're having to bring up a new data center in a new community, why not just say we're going to charge 4.50 an hour, and that marginal impact or that marginal increase, we just literally take that and give it to the local community as cash?” I can tell you as a customer of that compute, I would love that. I'd be happy to pay an additional 50 cents per hour at scale.Swyx [00:03:57]: Wow. Yeah.Anjney [00:03:58]: Because if that means the public benefit is so clear to the communities that the data centers are coming up in, I'm going to feel like that compute is much more reliable. Up to 20% of all data centers this year in the US, my understanding is are at risk.Swyx [00:04:13]: Of community backlash?Anjney [00:04:14]: Correct. Of not getting the community support they need to get brought up.Swyx [00:04:19]: Wow. That's a huge number.Anjney [00:04:20]: Yeah. Now, we, I think we should dig into what that number is. I think it's a little bit of overstated. These things can get over-reported, but it-Swyx [00:04:27]: They don't just care about jobs. They care about all the other stuff around it, right? They care about power grid, they care about environments-Anjney [00:04:33]: Power grid, permitting, and so on. And imagine I think if you said there's a new AI deal. If we're bringing up a data center in your community, we're actually going to reduce the cost of your electricity bill. Okay, now we're talking. Right? The community's going, “Okay. Now this is a deal. I feel like a partner in this.” Right now that's not happening. There will be audits, there will be investigations, and when the, when the regulators come, I don't know when it's going to be, the folks who are moving fast and breaking things in the name of AI progress better be prepared. That's certainly not how we're procuring compute. Or we're, we're trying as much as we can to work with partners who have long-term track records. Many of whom, by the way, are not, AI providers. I think this whole idea of neoclouds being somehow this new category is a lot of marketing speak. There are really good, reliable, trusted data center providers in America who've been around 20 plus years. I love those folks. They know how to Sure. Are they sponsoring happy hours at NeurIPS? No. Are they legibly listed in Build? No. Are they hanging out in my, in, situational awareness parties? No. But they're adults. I trust them.Swyx [00:05:44]: They can run LAN. They can run power.Anjney [00:05:45]: They can run LAN, power, and shell. They have credit histories. We sit down, we have a conversations. Many of them live in Silicon Valley. They've, they've had to deal with the boom and bust cycles of the internet, and I love those folks. They are stable infrastructure partners and thinkers. And I think there's a lot of short-term thinking going on in the compute layer, and it's going to catch up to us. It's not going to be good.AMP Grid: Making FLOPs Flow Like MegawattsSwyx [00:06:07]: You talk about aligning incentives, and, I would think that aligning incentives means you have the full stack in one company, which is xAI and OpenAI, right? So you as a standalone infrastructure layer, why are you somehow more aligned to your portfolio companies than people who just own the whole thing?Anjney [00:06:28]: In systems design, right, there's, there's two regimes of, architecture, right? You have integration, and then you have pooling and utilization, right? So the Or rather, the way to increase utilization often is you can do systems integration where you collapse a lot of process into one node, or you can pull out a process from a node and share that amongst various That resource amongst several different nodes. And so we see the AMP grid, which is, the, what, the system we're building here, which is basically a compute grid. We're trying to do for compute what the electric grid-Swyx [00:07:02]: PowerAnjney [00:07:02]: Yeah, what the power grid did for electricity. It-- this is a pooling and utilization layer across clouds, And so we're actually the opposite of a full stack integration like approach.Swyx [00:07:12]: Super horizontal.Anjney [00:07:13]: Where it's much more horizontal and it's, it's multi-cloud, it's multi-silicon. The goal is to try to make FLOPs flow like megawatts, and that is very hard to do today for many reasons. There's stranded pools of compute all over the place and there's no fungibility. And so right now we do it at the level of scheduling, and we often do it at the economic layer. But as we start to announce what we're working on, it's extraordinary like how many folks are coming out of the woodworks and saying, “Hey, I'm actually working on a way to make compute fungible at this part of the stack and that part of the stack.” And as a grid, we'd like all of these folks to participate on the grid. There's, people often ask me, “Andra, are you a new cloud?” And I go, “No, actually neoclouds are suppliers.” sometimes they'll ask, “Are you a venture capital firm?” I go, “No, actually they are, they are demand like sort of off-takers of the grid.” We see ourselves as what's called an independent system operator. So if you study the history of the electric grid, once it became legible to a lot of factories and industrial sort of participants that, hey, actually it turns out pooling is a good idea. We should pool our generators instead of all having a generator running at half capacity in our backyard. There was a need for an independent entity who could coordinate all these parties. Transmission line, power generation, facilities, transmission lines, factories, and that neutral coordination mechanism is very critical. In order-- If you study like the history of grids, the most enduring ones were those that never owned their own assets. They were ones that had, or often started with long-term anchors who are uncorrelated sources of demand, a steel factory, a shoe mill or whatever in a particular town who weren't competitive, where the steel factory want to spike up at night, the shoe mill wanted to spike up during the day. So then you pool and you share, right? So each of you is guaranteed some base load, but then you kind of schedule your spikes to drive a peak utilization across the town. The gold standard, so to speak, historically, has been these utility companies like PJM Interconnect in the northeast of America, where they, over many years became this what's called an ISO, an independent system operator of the grid. So that's how we see ourselves. Economically, that's what we are. From a technical perspective, we started at the scheduling layer because Seb and Mihai, who, run engineering here, built that at-Swyx [00:09:28]: Did your schedulingAnjney [00:09:28]: They did that at Google. And, -Swyx [00:09:32]: And you have infra shops from Discord as well.Anjney [00:09:35]: I have some.Swyx [00:09:35]: I don't know, I don't know if Discord is like the primary identity, but what-whatever, I'm just kind of-Anjney [00:09:39]: No, D-Discord was-Swyx [00:09:40]: Choosing a well-known name.Anjney [00:09:42]: Well, I So I was running the developer platform there. The internal infrastructure I was not responsible for. That was actually a guy by the name of Mark Smith, who was extraordinary. And yes, Discord did pool So Discord is actually a counter example. I had the chance to learn a lot about fully, full stack infra there because-Swyx [00:09:56]: It's the same thing, yeahAnjney [00:09:57]: It's the, it's the other architecture which is, Discord built its own WebRTC vo-voice and video infra. So like Discord did not use-Swyx [00:10:08]: For the calls, yeah.Anjney [00:10:09]: Yeah, did not For communication, Discord did not use third party infra. It was all built in-house. And then the way you maximize utilization was you pool demand from the world's 200 million plus monthly active gamers, right? And so that's, that's how those stacks were constructed. Again, in systems design, the two concepts that keep coming up over and over again are abstraction and composition, right? And-Swyx [00:10:31]: Bundling and unbundlingAnjney [00:10:33]: Bundling and unbundling, abstraction, composition, like verticalization and-Swyx [00:10:36]: HorizontalAnjney [00:10:36]: Horizontalization. So in that sense, AMP is an independent system operator of the grid. We pool demand, we pool supply from a number of partners we trust At about 1.3 gigawatt scale over four years. And then we pool demand from some of the world's best, research labs and so on. We're sitting at one, periodic labs who need extraordinary long-term demand. And the idea is that, each of them is guaranteed base load on the grid, but they can spike up and down flexibly on, for compute, with much shorter timelines as needed. That was roughly the design of the program I came up with at a16z called Oxygen. The same-- That was the same design of the GQM, BorgX, Borg GQM implementation at Google that Mihai and Seb had built. Which was that how do you allow, teams inside of Google, on the internal infrastructure to be guaranteed capacity, for their base workloads? But when they need to spike up on research, how could they ensure that was sufficiently there? And of course, the big innovation that was not discovered, but kind of implemented in the space, this infra space maybe three, four years ago at Google was the idea of interruptible demand, right? Where you just queue up a bunch of jobs and through this like sort of credit system, there can be a bidding mechanism.Swyx [00:11:53]: Like priorities.Anjney [00:11:54]: It's a dynamic prioritization Basically. And jobs can get interrupted based on somebody else who's saying, “what? I have 10 tokens, 10 credits I want to spend on this job.” Another like team lead, research lead is “Genie 3 or whatever is only worth five, credits, and NanoBanana2 is worth 10 credits,” and so the NanoBanana job gets priority. That's a, that's a made up example.Swyx [00:12:15]: It's very real. Brain Marketplace was real. And, we've, we've covered this on the pod with David Luan, who was-Anjney [00:12:20]: Oh, great. OkaySwyx [00:12:20]: Was there. And the criticism is that, well, actually sometimes you need central command to go all in on a thing. And actually sometimes capitalism via credits doesn't work. Not, this is not a criticism of AMP. I'm just saying, this is a thing that has been tried, internally within Google, and it led to Google missing GPT.Foundry, Frontier Labs, and Research HoardingAnjney [00:12:41]: Like, we structured ourself essentially very similarly to Google. We are structured as a holdings company. So, Alphabet holdings is Alphabet holdings, and then they've got these subsidiaries called Google and-Swyx [00:12:51]: Other betsAnjney [00:12:52]: Other bets and so on. We've got, AMP holdings, and we've got our infrastructure business, and then we've got a capital business called Foundry that incubates new frontier AI labs or invests in them as venture capital, like Periodic. We put a few hundred million dollars into Anthropic from our fund earlier this year. So wherever we feel like teams are making progress, especially researchers and so on who've pushed the frontier inside of existing labs like DeepMind, I find, there comes a point where they feel misaligned with the dictatorship of Alphabet holdings. And at that point, sometimes the dictatorship doesn't want them anymore. And they're “Thank you. You've done your job here. You've kind of helped us through the zero to one phase, and for whatever reason, we're going to deprioritize your amazing, omni model or whatever it is, and instead we're going to prioritize coding.” And, I think that's a tragedy, but I get it. They're Sergey and team are running their own business there. But that doesn't mean we the rest of us should sit around waiting for that progress to get unlocked for the rest of the world and humanity. If you think about how much extraordinary research has happened inside of DeepMind over the last 10 years, I, Demis and Sergey and those guys did such a great job. But at the end of the day, so much of that has never seen the light of day?Swyx [00:14:00]: Or they're like papers only, but they never actually shipped it to production or-Anjney [00:14:03]: What's worse is the paper is actually not even being published anymore ‘cause there's a six-month embargo inside of DeepMind, right? We've heard about this where a paper comes out, and then I think there's a six-month embargo window where if anybody on the business team says, “This could be interesting” It's embargoed for life.Swyx [00:14:18]: Exactly. So the stuff that gets published is the stuff that's not good enough.Anjney [00:14:21]: There's an adverse selection problem, basically. Yeah. At this point-Swyx [00:14:25]: It's, it's a common complaint at NeurIPS, by the way, that's “Well, why would I look at the papers that are the trash of GDM?”Anjney [00:14:31]: Again, I think it's a tragedy. I get it. They're running their business, but the rest of the I think there's negative externalities of research being hoarded, and so that'there's a market failure. And somebody needs to unlock that research, and we can't do it on our own. We only have 1.2 gigawatts of compute. That's nothing. That's about $40 billion of cloud spend. We're going to need a lot-Gigawatt-Scale Compute and End-of-Life PredictionSwyx [00:14:51]: By the way, is that's a new number. I haven't, haven't come across that gigawatt number. That's huge.Anjney [00:14:56]: Yeah. And to be clear, we haven't secured all of it. That's how much demand we have started to secure. I think publicly we haven't actually confirmed how much we have for this year. In order-Swyx [00:15:04]: Where do you want to get to?Anjney [00:15:06]: I think the steady state would be that we have a base load pool Of 1.2 gigawatts at all times Of base load capacity. For spike capacity, right now my estimate is we need roughly six gigawatts over the next four years for all our teams to feel like they were able to keep moving the frontier, whatever they're working on, whether it's, like superconductor discovery over here. There's a new investment we're working on right now, which is in the end of life prediction space in healthcare. It's extraordinary how much you can, you can give this was actually my graduate school work. I went to grad school for bioinformatics at Stanford Med. And I know we-Swyx [00:15:40]: Econ, MCS, bio.Anjney [00:15:41]: So my-- I was this really weird cat where, I was never satisfied with my major options. So at one point I was an econ major, then I was a CS major, then I was a MCS major called mathematical computational science, and they decided they were going to end that major. So I took all that coursework, and I applied it to grad school, my graduate degree in bioinformatics, which was the master's program, and then I thought I was going to do a PhD. I never ended up doing it. I dropped out and went to work at Kleiner. But I was lucky enough to apprentice with this professor at, Stanford Med. His name is Nigam Shah, and he was working on end of life prediction. Stanford is one of the only research facilities in America that has a longitudinal patient data set that's larger at scale. I think it's at least 12 million patient lives. The only larger data set is at the VA, the Veterans Affairs, of America. And to do research, like do any deep learning and so on that data set, it was called the STRIDE data set at that time, you had to be a Stanford Med School affiliate, which is why I went and enrolled in the bioinformatics department. End of deep learning was early. Nigam Shah had the visibility-- the vision to see that, you could do end of life prediction to help palliative care. In America, the, over 30% of all Medicare, Medicaid spend, at least at that time, was spent on end of life care. And what's we grew up in Asia, so we all-- Yeah, at least I won't speak for you, but I have A very different relationship with death than I find folks who grew up in America do. In America, spiritually and culturally, especially in Western societies where Christianity, the Christian tradition sort of frames death as this terminal point, there's often a judgment day and so on. The way we view death is with a finality. In Indian culture, in Hindu culture, death is one-Swyx [00:17:35]: Also, he's Buddhist as well.Anjney [00:17:36]: You're Buddhist, yeah. So it's one, it's one step in a journey of many lives, right? And so, I grew up in this city called Chennai in the south of India, and when people die, you dance on the street. There's like a procession where your body is carried to be cremated and your family, like celebrates and there's drums and so on. It's this huge thing. And, It's because the idea is that you're going to be reincarnated. You've been liberated from the responsibilities of this life, and now you're onto your next. It's a new It's like going off to a new college or whatever, right? And so it was so alien to me when I got here as an undergrad- That the medical system works backwards from that assumption that we have to view death as this terminal thing and delay it, postpone it's a bad thing. And so at the time, clinical decision support in the United States was this very primitive field. Even to this day, physicians in the United States often will tell you when you have a terminal disease, this is your, we've diagnosed you, which is great. Our ability to diagnose you is extraordinary. You have somewhere between six months to six years to live. What do you do with that information? The error bars are so high that then you In times of uncertainty, we default to culture, and when the culture is let's-- this is a bad thing, I've got to prolong my life, then you start doing things like And just to, just sort of from a systems perspective, what's going on there is Physicians often feel like they need to provide such high error bars because there's always some uncertainty in end of life diagnosis, and if you provide the wrong Diagnosis or recommendation to your patient, you can be sued for medical malpractice. And then your license can be taken away. It can be catastrophic for your career. In contrast, if in countries where that's not the case, what you often observe is that patients, physicians are quite prescriptive with their recommendation. They say, “Hey, this is your condition. The literature says that you probably have this much time on Earth left. My expert opinion is that you are an outlier or whatever.” And they try to be more prescriptive, and that empowers a patient, right? ‘Cause then a patient can say, “I trust my doctor. They said on average, I have six months to live, but if I do these things, I may have a shot because of my particular predispositions or my genetic history or whatever.” And that empowers you to go about your life in a actually more scientific way than leaning on religion, culture, spirituality, and so on. In contrast, here, because of that medical malpractice sort of thing looming over your head, a physician never gives you a clear recommendation. So instead you say, “Okay, Doc, well, let's try it all.” And then you start a whole regime of drugs and therapies, and then you often spend weeks and weeks in the hospital, and that deteriorates your quality of life. And when that deteriorates your quality of life, you instead of spending your last few days doing the things you love with your family, you're spending it on a hospital bed. And that ends up being thirty percent of Medicare and Medicaid. So it's worse for the patients. The doctors feel terrible. The American taxpayer is paying a huge amount of money. And so this is why Nigam Shah, who was this professor at Stanford, said, “Anjney, if there's “ I kind of sat down with him. I was this young, I'd, I was twenty-one, and I was “I want to work on a big problem.” He's “The big problem is end of life care.” And so we tried to do deep learning to say, to-- So we started trying to run deep learning on these tried patient data sets to say, “Could you have an AI system make a recommendation that is orders of magnitude more precise about how much time you have left once you've been diagnosed with a terminal condition than a human?” And then if we can get that precision to be high enough, then you can empower the patient. And it turns out the tech works. Like it's-- Once you get the data set, like RL works. Honestly, even regression models work. You don't need to get that fancy. At the time, we were just trying, doing like very simple neural nets.Swyx [00:21:54]: Simple solutions, yeah.Anjney [00:21:54]: Today, what we can do with RL is extraordinary. The problem remains then and now is regulatory, because you actually can't shift the burden of the wrong clinical diagnoses from the physician to the AI system. And so at that time, I got quite disillusioned ten years ago for, twelve years ago where, ‘cause I felt I just didn't have the resources to influence regulation. Today, I'm very lucky. I'm in a different place. I've, I'm a lot older, and so I've been spending a lot of time on my next incubation, which is how can we unlock the, patient empowerment by training AI models to do end of life prediction much, with much more precision and ac-Swyx [00:22:37]: Oh, wow. You're still focused on this the whole time.Anjney [00:22:40]: The-- I haven't been able to get, this out of my mind a single day for the last fourteen years. This is the hill I want, I would like to die on. There's two, I would say. What? I actually, I'd prefer not to die.Swyx [00:22:51]: Yeah, exactly.Anjney [00:22:52]: But I think two bipartisan issues, I think two issues that should be bipartisan in America are how do we empower patients to make the right clinical decisions at the end of their life, such that we're reducing the taxpayer burden with science? It's just good old science, and AI can help here. And the second is, net positive data centers, ‘cause I think that's the biggest critical bottleneck on training and good enough AI models to help people at the end of their life. So there's sort of two sides of the, of the same scaling bottleneck curve, but those two, we formed AMP as a public benefit corporation. My wife and I, who you've met, you've met Viv. Her passion is education. Her family is a long line of educators and so on, and, of physicists. And so this class is my attempt to stop being the black sheep of the family and be a, an educator. But if I'm not educating, the thing I would be doing is working, on these two problems, whether on the political spectrum or as a researcher back at, in some lab. And my hope is if anyone's listening to this podcast, if they're passionate about either of those two topics, I'd love to hear from them. We'll, we'll we can share the contact in the show notes, but, we're looking for people to join both of those missions on the, on the political side as well as on the medical side, on the research side.Frontier Systems, Output Maxing, and AlignmentSwyx [00:24:08]: You said, this is a discipline that you want to form. You call it's called variously called Frontier System. It's variously called One Person Frontier Lab. What is the ideal name or shape of this? Like the, what is the mission?Anjney [00:24:24]: Of the class?Swyx [00:24:26]: Of the discipline that you're, exploring, right? I The class is called Frontier Systems. But like for me, maybe one phrase is you're, you're just anti-waste, right? Which is wasting GPUs, wasting in human and Medicare. But is there, is there a broader theme that I'm, that maybe you can encapsulate more succinctly?Anjney [00:24:45]: Yeah. The, from an engineering perspective, it's very simple. It's output maxing. It's the, it's the department of output maxing.Swyx [00:24:51]: Making the most of what we have.Anjney [00:24:52]: Exactly. I'm a huge believer in optimal outcomes. I think both in America and other countries, we are losing our appreciation for nuance, and this is the thing of And AI is the same case, right? Oh, the bitter lesson holds. Okay, fine. But that doesn't mean you just like throw 500 GB300, 500,000 GB300s at your suboptimal model scaling and you waste a bunch of compute. It also doesn't mean that, the most optimal is to have like 50 different architectures where there isn't enough standardization. One of the reasons Anthropic has had extraordinary sort of velocity is ‘cause they picked the transform architecture and said, “This is simple. Let's double down on it,” right? And now luckily there's enough investment going to the space that we can afford other architectures, but at the time, investment was just too fragmented into other architectures, so that arguably unlocked scaling. So I think there's a philosophy. I think we all owe it to ourselves to do output maxing with a new capability called AI on a global level. I think if I was starting a new department at Stanford, depending on how fuzzy or technical I wanted to be, I'd probably call it the Department of Alignment. Like-Swyx [00:25:59]: It's an overloaded termAnjney [00:26:01]: But it is, But alignment really Is a hard problem. And I think when you unlock it, full stack alignment is super hard in any organization and in any system. Like in a, in a venture capital firm, if you can have full stack alignment between your limited partners and your, the founders who are creating the value and ultimately the public that owns the IPO stock, that is a gift that keeps giving. And when you study the history of these systems, when they start off, they usually start out small scale where the feedback loop is actually so tight that there's alignment. And then the more you try to scale, the more division of labor happens, the more specialization happens, and at each step you add abstractions. And wherever there's an API interface, there's like loss. There's communication loss. And so I think a really cool thing would be for us to figure out is there a way for us to have our cake and eat it too as an engineering discipline? Is there a way to actually scale up and scale out Without losing any alignment, without lossy transmission?Swyx [00:27:01]: You mean standards?Anjney [00:27:02]: So standards is one way. The other way is you just have net new capabilities. So like what we're trying to do here is discover new superconductors. A room temperature superconductor would be a lossless transmission mechanism for energy. We would have flying cars. We are right within a few years of having a new room temperature superconductor. So I think those are the two. You either have to standardize On protocols or API specs that allow lossless communication, or you can come up with a whole new capability that unlocks so much abundance, the standardization doesn't matter ‘cause you just unlock net new capacity. This, the, so this is what I spend my days thinking about these days.Compute Markets, SF Compute, and Non-NVIDIA ChipsSwyx [00:27:38]: No, I think every infra person at, who wants scale and wants to output max does eventually end up thinking about this. We don't have time to go into it, but we have done an episode with SF Compute-Anjney [00:27:50]: Oh, coolSwyx [00:27:50]: That is trying to standardize The futures contract for compute. I don't, I don't know how that's going by the way, but like at some point this will be public.Anjney [00:27:57]: Oh, I think Evan is awesome and SF Compute is the kind of effort that I hope we can accelerate because what often happens is these exchanges are very hard to get, they, it's hard to bootstrap them, right? Because they often require-- There's many inefficiencies between parties. There's trust boundary inefficiencies in infrastructure because you don't trust, one part of the stack doesn't trust another part of the stack to give them visibility. There's capital markets inefficiencies, there's operational efficiencies. So if you can inject like a single shock to the system of a ton of compute demand or supply, then you can accelerate, these new flywheels. And so my hope is one day, or soon, if SF Compute needs extra like has excess capacity, they just hook it up to the grid and they get flooded with demand from us. And on the other side, if they have a ton of demand but they don't have supply, they just again hook up to the grid and it's a two-way protocol where they can just hook up to our capacity. And I don't think we're too far from that. Today our working implementation of it is mostly through a group of labs, universities, and a few sort of trusted parties who are, who all feel like they're in alignment to borrow an over sort of used word. But our hope is to just have it be an open protocol that anyone can hook up to on-Swyx [00:29:20]: Hook up for demand or hook up for supply? In primarily demand, it sounds like. Like you-Anjney [00:29:25]: No, bothSwyx [00:29:26]: You would want to offer demand.Anjney [00:29:27]: Both. Yeah. Unfortunately, what's happened in the last six weeks is, we thought we'd have a bunch of excess capacity by the end of this year. It's all gone.Swyx [00:29:37]: It's exploding.Anjney [00:29:38]: It, yeah. It's all gone. And so I have, my text messages are full of friends, we know many of these people, these are founders who've raised billions of dollars in San Francisco going, “Oh, any chance you have like 50 nodes in the next few weeks?”Swyx [00:29:51]: What is the scope for, non-Nvidia, right? You have Lisa Su coming and, Rainer Pope as well. And so There is a lot of demand for, more performance Alternative architectures and all that. At the same time, this hurts your standardization.Anjney [00:30:11]: I don't think so. So actually Rainer's a great example, right? Rainer is a CEO and founder of, MatX. I actually had him by for office hours in the class earlier today, and there was an insight he brought up that I hadn't considered before, which is when they decided to pick the standard For their data center, they picked the NVIDIA reference architecture. So the MatX chips Just plug in to any site that has an NVIDIA bring up planned. And, the-Swyx [00:30:42]: It's just software then. It's, it's not the-Anjney [00:30:44]: A-Swyx [00:30:44]: Hardware.Anjney [00:30:46]: Well, from an input and IO perspective It's the same footprint as an NVIDIA rack.Swyx [00:30:52]: That makes sense.Anjney [00:30:53]: Where they have done, innovated a bunch from what I can tell is on systems co-design. Which is where a lot of the gains are to be had. And so he picked He was “Anjney, we, there's just so much work to do when you're building a new chip company.”Swyx [00:31:08]: Can't fight every front.Anjney [00:31:08]: You just can't fight on every front. So my question to him was, “Well, you're working on this new chip. Their tape-out is next year. What, who are you going to partner with to host the chips?” And he said, “Whoever will host them. That's just not, that's not my focus.” And I said, “But how did you “ you decided back to our earlier systems design question, he decided that, he didn't want to be a full, fully integrated chip provider. The bottleneck they're focused on is the logic die, and they, he feels they can crank out a ton of performance gains through co-design there. But then that means you delegate, to our question earlier, it, you he's the data center provider is a different part of the stack, and so then he's dependent on that part of the ecosystem to host his chips to get the performance gains to the customer. So now you have another abstraction, and you might have loss. So I asked him, “How do you prevent loss?” And back to your point, he said, “I just picked the NVIDIA standard ‘cause I didn't want to Like I wanted to piggyback off of an existing protocol.” And that, what's great about NVIDIA is that reference architecture is known.Swyx [00:32:15]: Open.Anjney [00:32:15]: It's open. They've published it. So Jensen's actually enabled someone like Rainer to build a chip company like MatX, and I don't see them as competitive. The compute demand is so high. Like, I don't I think NVIDIA's not able to meet the demands of production, so we just need more chips. And I think it's very smart what MatX has done, which is say, “We're just going to we're not going to innovate on the data center design ‘cause actually, thank you, Jensen, you've done all the hard work. Where we can innovate is somewhere else.” And I think that's, that's very healthy. I think that's how we unblock new bottlenecks. And my view is these, the, chip teams like MatX, who have arrived at the insight that co-design is the way, The primary bottleneck for them is trust boundary. To do co-design well, you need visibility into the next model generation as soon as possible ‘cause it takes two years to tape out. So if by the time I bring my chip to market, your model architecture's changed, I'm host. Now, when he was inside Google, he was sitting next to the Gemini team. He was on Palm or whatever.Trust Boundaries, Co-Design, and Researcher CEOsSwyx [00:33:19]: His co-founder was the, was one, was one of the Palm guys, I think.Anjney [00:33:23]: Yes. Yes, exactly. So when you're inside the trust boundary of Google, then your systems co-design loop is super tight. When you leave as a founder, one of the biggest risks you take is now you're outside the trust boundary. And so what I love doing is helping chip teams who can help us unlock more capacity for the independent ecosystem access to trust. Because when I If I've been, involved with a lab from day one, and I was lucky enough to work with Anthropic, and then I'm on the board of Mistral and helped Black Forest Labs get started. I think at this point I'm on six or seven different teams.Swyx [00:33:57]: Only six? I feel like my mental number was going to be 13, but yeah, it's-Anjney [00:34:02]: No, I go deep with one at a time.Swyx [00:34:04]: You're founding CEO of Arena.Anjney [00:34:07]: Nah, that was an, that was an-Swyx [00:34:08]: Administrative CEOAnjney [00:34:09]: It was an administrative five-month gig where Whalen and Anastasios were graduating from their PhDs, and they didn't need a product team. So I helped recruit the head of engineering product and design. But Anastasios has always been the CEO of that company. I played a pinch-hitting I'm an intern. I was CEO intern For five months. -Swyx [00:34:33]: I interviewed him, and he's he's very well-spoken. I think he's a debate, former debate, champion. But also very quantitative and mathematical, which is-Anjney [00:34:41]: He-Swyx [00:34:41]: Such a unicorn.Anjney [00:34:43]: See, what's amazing about him? If you look at his output, he's an output maxer. By the time he was graduating from his PhD, which he only graduated last year, he had published more work with a citation count than, people twice his age. But at the same time, he'd already started a project called LLM Arena that was being used by millions of people As a side project. And time and time again, what I've realized is venture capitalists suck at seeing human beings as, dynamic agents where-Swyx [00:35:14]: They want to put you in a boxAnjney [00:35:15]: They want to put you in a box.Swyx [00:35:15]: This is your thing.Anjney [00:35:16]: So the first time I got introduced to Anastasios, somebody had told me “Oh, he's amazing, but he's a researcher.” I was “what? What do you mean he's a researcher?” That's what-Swyx [00:35:28]: Like he's not a CEO, not a founder.Anjney [00:35:29]: Not a CEO, exactly. I was “Are you crazy? Do you Have you met Dario?” Dario's a scientist. He's gone from zero to, what will soon be a trillion-dollar company in four years. Being a CEO, nominally speaking, is not that hard. Being a good CEO is hard. Being a great CEO actually requires a level of performance that scientists who have already published at the top of their field have accomplished. It is super hard to be a competitive scientist. To publish in academia over the last 20, 30 years, to make it to the top of your discipline at a place like Berkeley, you are a star athlete. Like, you are an athlete of the mind, and you perform at the highest levels. And to get there, whether you're, Anastasios or Whalen at Berkeley, or you are Robin, who-Swyx [00:36:23]: BFL, yeahAnjney [00:36:24]: With Black Forest, who created Stable Diffusion, or if you're, like Guillaume at Meta, who created Llama before he started Mistral. The amount of human leadership you have to demonstrate to get the resources, like get the trust of the organization, publish it, put it up. I would just fund researchers all day Right? If who have contributed already to the field. If they've, if they've put SOTA out there, they're, they're star athletes already. If they haven't done SOTA Look, they can still be good CEOs, but then I find the failure mode is that they just don't want to be CEOs, they primarily want to publish, and that's okay, too. One of the things we do with the AMP Grid is we donate excess compute. We have two nonprofits, like university labs. We carved out like a couple thousand H100s. But I do think there's extraordinary research being done on university campuses. My father-in-law's a physicist. He's a professor. Extraordinary work in physics, and we need that. But if you want to be a CEO, what you need to be willing To do is be super confrontational, outside of science. Like within the scientific community, some of the best researchers are very confrontational about their convictions, right? This architecture is right. To be a great CEO, you basically have to be willing to be confrontational up and down the stack.Swyx [00:37:41]: To your own team.Anjney [00:37:42]: To your own team-Swyx [00:37:43]: To customersAnjney [00:37:43]: Hiring, recruiting customers. Well, I would say, Yeah, pretty much to everyone Everybody. Of course-Swyx [00:37:50]: I see, I feel a little bit of that in my own work, but yeah, I can't imagine the stakes that Dario has had to go through. It's, it's pretty insane.Anjney [00:37:56]: No, I don't think the stakes are that different From how you're feeling it, right? Stakes are personal scaling vectors, right? The stakes that seem so low to you, like having this podcast where you can talk to somebody and just have a you're an extraordinary communicator, right? Like already in this conversation, you've pulled more out of me than most people, and I've been on 12 podcasts in the last two weeks.AI Coachella and First-Principles ThinkingSwyx [00:38:17]: I think I, we've just seen each other enough that there's some base trust.Anjney [00:38:20]: There's base trust.Swyx [00:38:20]: And I think, and I know that you, that I've done my homework and like I know that trust is a big deal for you, so.Anjney [00:38:27]: I think trust is about consistency, and you and I have seen each other In the community for years, right? Like, I remember the first time we met was at NeurIPS in New Orleans. I don't know if you remember that, luncheon.Swyx [00:38:38]: Oh my God.Anjney [00:38:39]: Reiko had set up this Reiko's amazing, and he set up this luncheon and-Swyx [00:38:43]: Yeah, I was “Who's this Discord guy?” I'm “Okay.” But-Anjney [00:38:45]: No, you weren't-Swyx [00:38:46]: You were just “You made some investments.”Anjney [00:38:47]: You were much less polite. You were “Who's this VC?” You're like-Swyx [00:38:51]: No, I Was I? Oh my God.Anjney [00:38:53]: It was-Swyx [00:38:53]: I'm so sorryAnjney [00:38:53]: It was visible on your face.Swyx [00:38:54]: I'm so sorry. But you weren't, you weren't The introduction was bad. I was I didn't know who you were.Anjney [00:39:00]: The, see, this is the thing about context, right? Like, but then I think I heard your accent. And I was “Are you-”Swyx [00:39:06]: Singapore, yeahAnjney [00:39:06]: “Are you Singaporean?” And you're “Yeah.” And I said, “I went to high school, JC, in Singapore.” And then the ice broke. But This is the there are in the scientific community, sometimes the stakes are very high for people who haven't had the emotional, what is called EQ Coaching and mentorship, right? Which is like to have scientific impact, you often need to be a extraordinary emotional, like emotionally in tune person with the folks you're trying to influence. And so what comes so naturally to you is actually a super high stakes thing to other people. And so I wouldn't assume that Dario's more stressed out than you. These things are you'd be surprised how similar and small sometimes the problems are to you That some of the world's biggest, leaders are facing. And that's what I've learned from this class. The guest speakers are Sam, Satya, Jensen.Swyx [00:40:01]: AI Coachella.Anjney [00:40:02]: Yeah. It's AI Coachella, right? So we got to get all the headliners, and they're I'm very lucky that some of these people have either mentored me over the years or I've done business with them. And when you, take the performative stuff out and any assumptions you may have about these people that you read in the press or on Twitter, We're all just humans. We're all trying to get along. And what's so special about this moment is AI is forcing, like scaling, the bitter lesson is forcing a lot of people to revise their assumptions for how the world works and go back to first principles or go and educate themselves. So the kind of people I was, I won't name who this person is, but I was at an event last week in Texas and, ran to somebody who said, “Anjney, I came across the class. What do you think about real time action prediction models?” And I was, don't know how happy it made me feel when they asked me that question. I know they've done the work. They've challenged themselves. I'm, they didn't ask me, “What do you think of world models?” They said, “What do you think of n-”Swyx [00:41:04]: Real time action predictionAnjney [00:41:05]: “action, real time action prediction models?” World models, don't get me wrong, are cool and everything, but you and I both know that is a layer of abstraction that is sometimes not usefully precise enough. Right? Ours-Swyx [00:41:16]: There's like four different kinds of world models.Anjney [00:41:17]: Yes, exactly.Swyx [00:41:18]: We've done the part with general intuition, by the way, which is very focused on, -Anjney [00:41:22]: Oh, cool. Yes. I love Pim. Pim is great. And this is what I love about people who've done that level of work. They realize they're not in competition with people who the rest of the world thinks they're in competition with.Swyx [00:41:34]: Because they're not in the category, they're in the specific thing they're trying to do.Anjney [00:41:37]: They're focused on their mission, and they have a systems understanding of the bottleneck they're trying to solve. And when somebody else says, “I'm working on real time, action prediction models too,” Pim goes, “Oh, I love that person. I want, I can learn from them.” But the minute they're “Oh, that person's a world model person,” it's “like which type of world model person?” But mostly they're just trying to figure out if it's a waste of their time, because we don't have enough time. So, Pim, for example, is super, loves this other company I work with we've talked about called Black Forest Labs. And he's mentioned to me multiple times that he's so, He thinks what Flux is doing is really cool. Andy Blattman came by and spoke in the class. And what I find over and over again is for people who do the work, who can be usefully precise enough about like what is actually going on in the world of frontier research, The sense of camaraderie is still well and alive, but it gets lost sometimes when you have to like abstract The technical complexities in, business terms And then the VCs are “How are you different from that world model?” I'm going to say Where do I even start to explain this stuff? And then the misalignment creeps in.Leading vs. Winning in Frontier AISwyx [00:42:43]: This is good. Yeah, I think, people listening get a sense of, what it is like to operate at a real level, like yourself, rather than at, the journalist level, where you have to sort of put everyone in, a rough category and create a narrative of competition, and who's winning today, who's behind.Anjney [00:42:58]: It-- this idea of winning is so Weird to me.Swyx [00:43:03]: You do want to win. You want you want competitiveness.Anjney [00:43:06]: No, I think you want to lead.Swyx [00:43:07]: You want SOTA.Anjney [00:43:07]: No, I think you want to lead. Yes, so you want to push the frontier. You want to push the SOTA. You want to do something that hasn't been done before. You want to capture value, but you don't want to capture so much value that, people think you're unaligned with your mission or trying to do what's best for the world. You want to capture enough value that you can keep innovating, right? And I think that people want to lead, they don't really This idea of winning and losing, again, I love Jensen. He's a, he's a leader. The mindset that he talked about on Dwarkesh's podcast, right? He's “I didn't wake up with a loser mindset.” I think that was awesome, right? Because he's, he's an engineer. Dwarkesh has done the work. So there's at least-- even though the, to me, it was very obvious they're talking about the same thing, they just passed each other. They just had to basically, Jensen has this, five-layer cake abstraction of how the industry works. And Dwarkesh had, I think from that podcast, had more of, a pre-training, mid-training, post-training systems loop concept.Swyx [00:44:04]: It's just a factor of who he talks to, right? Again, it's very clear.Anjney [00:44:06]: It's the systems It's the abstraction, the mental models, the It's the whole-- Dude, so much of the problem in the world is reasoning by analogy. And then the assumptions that are held invisibly.Swyx [00:44:19]: Yeah, I've, I've said, this is actually the best time in human history for first principles thinkers. Because everything you think will happen is actually now coming true.Anjney [00:44:28]: Correct. And the venture capital community is, notorious for this, where people look-- In times of uncertainty, they, cling to axioms that ended up being true from the previous era, and they kind of like proclaim them with confidence as if they're truths, but they're not. And it's very important to see the distinction between a heuristic and an axiom. An axiom can be proven-Swyx [00:44:55]: Like from internal consistency point of viewAnjney [00:44:56]: With internal consistency. A heuristic is a way you kind of a shortcut. And my God, the number of people I have had to put up with over the last few years who proclaim-- use heuristics As axioms to judge people, to judge which companies are going to succeed or the number of people who are “Oh, yeah, Anthropic, they're just training models right now,” but this one continue.Swyx [00:45:22]: Because that's a B2B SaaS?Anjney [00:45:23]: Yeah, the, like Which over the fullness of time, if you squint at it, maybe. But the way you arrive there is so important that you can-- you just, you can dismiss people. Here's what happened, right? What happened is Anthropic basically achieved takeoff in October of last year. That training run-Swyx [00:45:41]: Whatever, three seven?Anjney [00:45:42]: I forget the numbers now, but whatever that checkpoint was-Swyx [00:45:45]: We saw the cognition.Anjney [00:45:46]: Yeah. Right? You probably-- The, to those of us in the community, especially once post-training was done and it was released in December-Swyx [00:45:52]: Yeah. Can I sneak a sneaky question in there? I don't know if you have a perspective, maybe you don't, I just The number one question is how did Anthropic crack coding, right? Because Claude One, Claude Two, okay, like it was part of it, but it wasn't a big deal. And the leading hypothesis, it's a lucky dice roll that was then compounded, right? Like it was like Mildly better, but then they saw it and they were “Okay, let's really invest.”How Anthropic Cracked CodingAnjney [00:46:17]: I had this very annoying teacher. I went to this boarding school called Rishi Valley in India, which is like this, bird preserve. It's like three hundred and fifty acres of bird preserve in rural India, and there was no technology for seven years. There was this teacher, I won't name them, but they would have this-- I hated it every time he said this to me. He was “Luck fa-favors the prepared mind,” which is like a common saying, but the way he delivered it, always grated me, ‘cause he was always I was always one of those kids who got, a good grade without trying very hard. ‘Cause like high middle school is not that hard if you, if you're generally, paying attention and so on. And there was this one time where I-- But then I would get an eighty percent grade, and he would keep pushing me to say “The reason you didn't get the ninety-five plus percent is because you're not that lucky.” And I would say, “What do you mean?” ‘Cause I would think that I deserved that grade, and I would sometimes argue with him. And he'd say, “You didn't have a prepared mind. If you want to get lucky again “ There was basically one time where I got like ninety-five or ninety-six on this, on this subject, and I, now that I felt entitled. I was “Okay, I'm going to keep doing this,” and I didn't. And then he was “Luck favors a prepared mind. You got lucky last time, but you got to stay prepared.” And I didn't understand what he meant. Now, as I'm older, I'm okay, these adults actually knew a thing or two. Anthropic has been the most prepared company for four years. And so then when the right, context data comes in, the right developers start sending in, the right context diffs, Sure, you could say you got lucky, but if you ask me, they're pr-pretty damn prepared with paranoia for like four years. And you have to remember, it was so hard for them to get going early on that they had to do so much more with so much less that you just have to be prepared to be so efficient.Swyx [00:48:06]: Yes. There's numbers on their burn compared to OpenAI. I've, I've written about it, but they are so much more efficient in their, in their tech stack.Anjney [00:48:14]: It's not even It's not funny.Swyx [00:48:14]: Not even close.Anjney [00:48:15]: Yeah. But it's so clear, right? Like how to output max for the world. They have been prepared, and you could call that luck, but Luck favors the prepared mind.Culture, Hardship, and Anthropic's P0Swyx [00:48:25]: This is one of those things that I was going over some of your old lectures and, you were data, people think it's a moat and actually it's culture and actually it's team Actually. And I, it's-- there's different levels of moats, and this is the ultimate one that determines everything else. Which you can then compoundAnjney [00:48:43]: You're saying culture is the ultimate moat? Yeah. But the thing about culture is it's very fragile. So moats, I don't think they're-- there's very few moats I found that are actually moats. They're-- It's, it's a nice concept, but in reality, you have to replenish your culture. Ben Horowitz was, the speaker in CS153 on Tuesday, and I asked him this question about the culture bottleneck in teams because, there are several AI teams-Swyx [00:49:09]: His book, Hard Things About Hard ThingsAnjney [00:49:11]: Hard Thing About Hard Things. But more concretely, there are so many AI labs today that have all the cash they need, they have all the compute they need, and they're still not able to ship anything SOTA. And then you start seeing people leave and so on, and my diagnosis, it's, is it's the culture. And so I asked him, Ben, they're-- He's been one of the most aggressive investors in AI labs. He goes back to this thing which resonates in my mind a lot. It-- When I used to work at a16z, I would, book a conference room, and right outside the conference room, which is closest to the toilet ‘cause it was the fastest way for me to go use the bathroom between Zoom meetings-Swyx [00:49:45]: Oh my God, I'll put maxing my toilet optimization. Okay, never mind.Anjney [00:49:48]: It was not healthy in hindsight, but maybe this is TMI. But anyway, outside that conference on the wall was this quote that was printed that said, “Culture is not a set of beliefs, it's a set of actions.” And it's by Bushido, is this, Japanese philosopher. And if you stop taking the actions that demonstrate the mission alignment to what you've said to your team and to your-- the world matters to you, then your culture starts to fray. So it's not actually a moat, I would say. It's a very brittle, fragile thing that requires daily tending to like a garden. But if you figure out the system to keep that garden tended, which I think ultimately comes down to knowing yourself ‘cause you most naturally, if you're authentic and so on, you'll naturally make trade-offs that seem effortless to you, but that reinforce your culture. And then That becomes this very hard thing for other people to catch up to. And at Anthropic, from day one, there was this mission like-- missionary like zeal and belief that, hey, these capabilities will scale. These systems are stochastic, not deterministic. There will be error bars, and until we crack interpretability, there's risk. And at some point, people will go-- stop using Claude just for coding. They'll use it in some mission-critical context where there's-- it'll throw off a bug, and then people are going to come blame them, and they want to be on the right side of history where they said, “Yes, this is a powerful technology. We think it's going to change the world, And we want to be very measured and scientific about the fact that, ‘Hey, guys, these are stats models, statistical models.' That's how statistics works.” ultimately, when you're training neural nets, it is just a statistical system. And I think that Belief that safety is important and that it might seem toy-like in the early days, and sometimes, you could say, “Anjney, they totally over-exaggerated the risk,” like two years ago when they said, “Let's not launch Claude One,” or whatever. Well, okay, maybe in hindsight, but hindsight is twenty/twenty. And at the time, they didn't know how that model would be used, and to them it felt existential if somebody came and said, “You weren't responsible. It-- This wrote a bug.” The liability associated with that is massive. So how do you prevent against that? Well, day in, day out, you say safety. And when you start deviating from that, you have the team hold you accountable, you have the world hold you accountable, and I think that becomes a moat over time. At some point, that moat will get challenged and so on, and then it become fragile. I hope it endures because that's the beauty of having founders run the show, ‘cause they can make really hard trade-offs to do mission alignment. The hardest part is in the earliest days when you don't have a group of people who are going through difficulty, stress, crisis together, then your culture doesn't get defined sharply enough, and that's what I'm worried about right now, is there's so much money going to these labs. There's no hardship. There's no-Swyx [00:52:50]: To anyone who knowsAnjney [00:52:51]: There's no to anyone who knows. And that, in hindsight, was a feature, not a bug for Anthropic. The number of people who said no, the number of people who said, “Sorry, we're all doing investors in OpenAI,” that is competitive difference. It forces you to really understand, what is the hill you want to die on at the expense of everything else. What's the P zero? And there, P zero from day one was coding. The reason, the mechanism system there was if we crack coding, Then we will crack AGI. Our mission is AGI. We want to get there safely. If we focus on codin
Hello Denimheads and welcome to the 52nd episode of The Sons of Selvedge Podcast, where a group of friends get together to talk about denim, boots, heritage clothing and the makers who make them. In this episode founder David interviews Fahmy of Kerbside & Co., a Singapore based clothing label that you need to know about.Please like this interview, and subscribe to us wherever you enjoy our content: YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Google or Stitcher. Check us out on Instagram @sonsofselvedgepodcast. Give us a shout with any questions, or if you'd like to join our Discord Server.
Canada's stock market has set repeated record highs in 2026, even as the domestic economy feels soft. Canadian equity portfolio manager Mark Rutherford explains the gap between the two, and why a large weight in financials can represent more diversification rather than less. He walks through how the team rotated within the sector as the banks re-rated, and the discipline behind trimming a gold position that had run. As indexes themselves have grown more concentrated, the conversation lands on a simple idea: knowing what you own matters more than ever. Key takeaways • The Canadian market and the Canadian economy can tell very different stories. Commodities and financials drive a large share of corporate earnings even though relatively few people work in those sectors, which helps explain record markets alongside near-zero real growth. • A large weight in financials is not a single bet. Beneath the label sit banks, life, property and casualty insurers, alternative asset managers, and exchanges, each with its own return drivers and correlations. • Position weights reflect what has worked, but they are not fixed. As the banks re-rated from roughly 10 to 12 times earnings toward 15 to 16 times, the team recycled capital into property and casualty insurers and alternative asset managers offering more attractive returns. • Gold earns its place through company economics, not a price forecast. Royalty businesses and selected miners were added for their free cash flow and differentiated correlation, then trimmed as the combined weight grew and the rate and inflation backdrop shifted. • Trimming winners is as much a part of the discipline as finding them. Allowing any single position or exposure to grow unchecked introduces risk that has nothing to do with the original thesis. • Indexes have become increasingly concentrated vehicles. Knowing what you own, and holding exposures by deliberate choice rather than by default, can be key to real diversification. Host: Andrew Johnson, CFA Institutional Portfolio Manager Guest: Mark Rutherford, CFA Portfolio Manager This episode is available for download anywhere you get your podcasts. Founded in 1974, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. (pronounced "more") is a privately owned independent investment firm managing assets for institutional and individual investors. Mawer employs over 250 people in Canada, U.S., and Singapore. Visit us at: https://www.youtube.com/@MawerInvestment https://www.mawer.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/mawer-investment-management/ https://www.instagram.com/mawerinvestmentmanagement/ #ArtOfBoring #MawerInvestmentManagement #MawerInvestment #Podcasts
The menace is everywhere and you can hardly spot it, stop it or punish it. Synopsis: Every third Friday of the month, The Straits Times gets its US Bureau Chief to analyse the hottest political and trending talking points. Singapore recently ordered social media platforms to block access to 14 online posts that target the Indian community, such as by suggesting that Singapore was being overrun by Indians. Investigations showed that the content most likely originated from a platform based in China and was subsequently carried on other platforms and websites, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on June 6. In this episode, US Bureau Chief Bhagyashree Garekar chats with a US-based expert who has studied disinformation, defined as organised and systematic efforts to manipulate people and to transmit false narratives. Darrell West of the Brookings Institution has carried out extensive research on how technologies such as generative AI can be used to create serious threats to personal safety, race relations and governance. He is a senior fellow at the Center for Technology Innovation within the Governance Studies programme. He is the co-author of Lies That Kill: A Citizen’s Guide to Disinformation. It explains how falsehoods spread and what citizens, institutions, and policymakers can do to resist them. His bottom line? Only you can protect yourself from disinformation. Highlights (click/tap above): 1:03 Disinformation is more than misinformation 4:12 Where is all the disinformation coming from? 5:08 How Iran beat the US in information war 8:10 Does the US use disinformation as well? 10:12 Who’s at the top of the disinfo game? 13:30 Do disinfo producers ever pay a price? 19:04 Disinformation will get worse ahead of US elections 20:41 Only you can protect you 24:32 Are Gen Z better at detecting fakes? More articles on: Singapore blocks online posts targeting Indian community; content likely from China-based platform: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/spore-blocks-online-posts-targeting-indian-community-content-likely-from-china-based-platform Behind the anti-Indian posts: How social media pages mix divisive narratives with clickbait: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/behind-the-anti-indian-posts-how-social-media-pages-mix-divisive-narratives-with-clickbait Read Bhagyashree Garekar’s articles: https://str.sg/whNo Bhagyashree Garekar’s LinkedIn: https://str.sg/gD6E Sign up for ST’s weekly Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/sfpz Host: Bhagyashree Garekar (bhagya@sph.com.sg) Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani Executive producer: Ernest Luis Follow Asian Insider Podcast on Fridays here: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/theusualplacepodcast --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX --- #STAsianInsiderSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Michael Arbus, CEO of moomoo Canada, for a wide-ranging conversation on Wall Street trading floors, Canadian fintech, crypto regulation, AI-powered investing, and what it really takes to build and scale financial technology companies. Michael's career has taken him from the chaos of Bay Street and Wall Street desks at firms like RBC Capital Markets, TD, UBS, and Merrill Lynch to operating industrial businesses, helping scale Bitbuy into a regulated Canadian crypto marketplace, and now leading moomoo Canada as it pushes into self-directed retail trading, AI tools, options education, and investor communities.Michael shares the lessons he learned from covering major hedge funds, why one trade during the financial crisis made him rethink his role as an advisor, how spreadsheet-driven decision-making helped him turn around operating businesses, and why retail investors in Canada are ready for better tools than the legacy banking platforms have historically offered. They also dive into moomoo's AI-native product strategy, agentic investing, algorithmic trading in natural language, Canada's loyalty to big banks, the rise of retail options trading, and the founder advice Michael wishes more entrepreneurs would hear before wasting years on a business that cannot support them.Whether you're a fintech founder, startup operator, retail investor, trader, or Canadian tech ecosystem builder, this episode is packed with sharp, practical insights on the future of investing, AI, and financial platforms.From Trading Floor Chaos to Wall Street Scar Tissue (03:30)Michael describes life on massive institutional trading floors as a “casino with pumped oxygen and insanity.” The early mornings, morning meetings, nonstop client calls, and constant pressure to be relevant. Why the trading desk taught him how to process information quickly and turn noise into action.Investing in Businesses vs. Investing in Stocks (12:12)Matt and Michael break down the difference between knowing a ticker and understanding the actual company underneath it. Why some good businesses can be bad stocks, and some bad businesses can still become great trades.Scaling Bitbuy and Learning the Reality of Regulation (22:33)Michael shares how he joined Bitbuy when the business was growing but still needed operational structure. The shift from institutional finance to B2C financial services. Why serving retail customers creates a much deeper sense of accountability, especially when people are trusting a platform with their hard-earned money.What moomoo Actually Is and Why Canada Matters (27:41)Michael explains moomoo's global footprint across markets like Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, the U.S., and Canada. The scale of Futu Holdings, the role of product and R&D, and why joining a 4,000-person global fintech machine was very different from building Bitbuy from a smaller startup team.Canada's Loyalty Problem With Big Banks (29:44)Why Canadian retail investors are deeply loyal to legacy banking brands. Michael explains how trust, safety, and brand recognition are baked into Canadian financial behavior, and why moomoo believes a regulated challenger brand can win by offering a product Canadian investors have not seen before.AI Trading Inside the moomoo App (35:55)How moomoo became one of Canada's first AI brokerage platforms. Why its AI tools are different from generic public LLMs because they are connected to paid, live market data behind the platform's firewall. How this changes the quality of answers retail investors can access.Can moomoo Challenge Canada's Banking Giants? (41:24)Michael explains who moomoo is built for and who it is not built for. Why the next generation of investors may care more about control, education, and outperformance than branch loyalty. How AI, job market uncertainty, and personal financial pressure could make self-directed investing more important.Canada's Top Trader and the Nasdaq Partnership (43:20)Michael shares moomoo Canada's trading competition, including real prize money, a $100,000 top prize, and partnership with Nasdaq. Why the initiative is designed to bring retail investors into the market in a more systematic, educated way.Can Your Startup Actually Pay for Your Life? (47:42)Michael explains why founders need to calculate their personal take-home pay before committing years to a venture. The danger of getting caught in a self-fulfilling story that feels exciting but cannot support the builder behind it.The Leadership Lesson That Still Matters Most (51:32)Michael closes with a simple but powerful lesson: kindness goes a long way. After scaling multiple teams from small groups to dozens or more than 100 people, he explains why intelligence is common, but kindness is what compounds in leadership, hiring, and company building.About Michael ArbusMichael Arbus is the CEO of moomoo Canada, a global self-directed investing and trading platform under Futu Holdings focused on retail investors, trading tools, market data, options education, and AI-powered investing experiences. Before joining moomoo, Michael built a diverse career across institutional finance, entrepreneurship, industrial operations, crypto, and fintech. He spent years on Bay Street and Wall Street trading desks at firms including RBC Capital Markets, TD, UBS, and Merrill Lynch, working with global hedge funds and covering M&A event-driven situations, mining, and energy stocks. He later moved into operating businesses, including oil, scrap metal, industrial recycling, and crypto mining, before helping scale Bitbuy into one of Canada's leading regulated crypto marketplaces. Today, Michael is focused on expanding moomoo Canada, bringing institutional-grade tools to retail traders, and helping Canadian investors understand the future of AI, options trading, and self-directed financial platforms.Connect with Michael Arbus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-arbus-cfa-mba-299a49/Visit the moomoo Canada website: https://www.moomoo.com/caConnect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com
Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire again, despite the US-Iran peace deal. It's not clear if the agreement includes an end to the fighting in southern Lebanon. Also: there are protests at Iran's opening match in the football World Cup; how AI can help save plants from extinction; an interview with sculptor Anish Kapoor; and could Sherbro Island be the next Singapore? The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a news conference, following a US-Iran deal, in Jerusalem, June 15, 2026. Credit: Reuters
Liam Garner is a long distance cyclist who set out at 17 to bike from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina, completing nearly 20,000 miles and becoming the youngest person to ride the length of the Americas. Now, Liam is continuing his global cycling journey, riding roughly 15,000 miles from Portugal through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia toward Singapore as part of his goal to bike across every continent. Connect with Liam: TikTok Instagram Thank you to our sponsors: Capital One and the REI Co-op® Mastercard® AeroPress Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Part two of Ashe's conversation with Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Steven L. Kwast picks up where Space Revolution Ep. 22 left off, and this time they go further out. Literally. From China's 30-year plan to dominate the space economy to SpaceX's Earth-to-Earth rocket that can get you from LA to Singapore in under 20 minutes, this episode is equal parts geopolitical reality check and genuine wonder. Kwast explains why China is building battleships while America builds better buoys, what a livable space habitat actually looks like, and why Elon Musk's "future of human consciousness" comment still bothers Ashe. The answer, as always, is not a technology problem. It is a moral one.
Fluent Fiction - Dutch: Delayed Connections: How a Chance Meeting Sparked New Beginnings Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/nl/episode/2026-06-16-07-38-19-nl Story Transcript:Nl: De ochtendzon scheen helder door de glazen koepel van Schiphol.En: The morning sun shone brightly through the glass dome of Schiphol.Nl: Het geluid van rollende rolkoffers en aankondigingen vulden de terminals.En: The sound of rolling suitcases and announcements filled the terminals.Nl: Sven stond bij gate 17.En: Sven stood at gate 17.Nl: Zijn dag bestond uit routinechecks.En: His day consisted of routine checks.Nl: Hij hield van zijn werk, maar iets in hem wilde meer.En: He loved his job, but something in him wanted more.Nl: Voor hem leek elke dag op de vorige.En: To him, every day seemed like the one before.Nl: Hij droomde van verandering, een nieuw avontuur.En: He dreamed of change, a new adventure.Nl: Marijke stapte net van een vlucht uit Singapore.En: Marijke had just stepped off a flight from Singapore.Nl: Ze was moe, maar tevreden.En: She was tired but satisfied.Nl: Vliegen was haar passie, maar de constante beweging begon zwaar te wegen.En: Flying was her passion, but the constant movement was beginning to weigh heavily.Nl: Ze verlangde naar rust, naar een plek die ze thuis kon noemen.En: She longed for peace, for a place she could call home.Nl: Haar gedachten dwaalden steeds vaker af naar een leven minder vol reizen.En: Her thoughts increasingly wandered to a life less filled with travel.Nl: Een onverwachte vertraging bracht de twee samen.En: An unexpected delay brought the two together.Nl: Marijke staarde naar de monitor bij de gate.En: Marijke stared at the monitor by the gate.Nl: Ze zuchtte.En: She sighed.Nl: "Niet weer een vertraging," mompelde ze.En: "Not another delay," she mumbled.Nl: Sven hoorde haar en glimlachte.En: Sven heard her and smiled.Nl: "Dat gebeurt hier vaker dan je denkt," zei hij bemoedigend.En: "That happens here more often than you'd think," he said encouragingly.Nl: Ze raakten in gesprek.En: They struck up a conversation.Nl: Sven vertelde over zijn plannen om misschien verder te kijken.En: Sven talked about his plans to maybe look further afield.Nl: Misschien kon hij het drukke leven op Schiphol inruilen voor een nieuw avontuur in een andere stad.En: Perhaps he could trade the busy life at Schiphol for a new adventure in another city.Nl: "Maar het is moeilijk om zekerheid los te laten," bekende hij.En: "But it's hard to let go of certainty," he admitted.Nl: Marijke knikte begrijpend.En: Marijke nodded understandingly.Nl: "Ik twijfel ook," gaf ze toe.En: "I have my doubts too," she confessed.Nl: "De wereld rondreizen is geweldig, maar soms wil ik gewoon even stilstaan."En: "Traveling the world is wonderful, but sometimes I just want to stand still for a moment."Nl: Terwijl de tijd verstreek, ontdekten ze dat ze meer gemeen hadden dan ze dachten.En: As time passed, they discovered they had more in common than they thought.Nl: Ze deelden verhalen, dromen en angsten.En: They shared stories, dreams, and fears.Nl: De vertraging gaf hen tijd om na te denken, te reflecteren.En: The delay gave them time to think, to reflect.Nl: Het was een onverwachte kans om hun keuzes te overwegen.En: It was an unexpected chance to consider their choices.Nl: Toen de vlucht eindelijk klaar was om te vertrekken, hadden beiden een besluit genomen.En: When the flight was finally ready to depart, both had made a decision.Nl: Sven besloot zijn moed te verzamelen en voor die nieuwe baan te gaan in een andere stad.En: Sven decided to gather his courage and go for that new job in another city.Nl: Marijke daarentegen besloot een pauze te nemen, een sabbatical te overwegen en misschien een nieuw project in Amsterdam te starten.En: Marijke, on the other hand, decided to take a break, to consider a sabbatical, and perhaps start a new project in Amsterdam.Nl: Bij het afscheid glimlachten ze naar elkaar.En: As they said goodbye, they smiled at each other.Nl: "Wie weet, misschien kruisen onze wegen weer," zei Sven.En: "Who knows, maybe our paths will cross again," said Sven.Nl: Marijke knikte.En: Marijke nodded.Nl: "De wereld is kleiner dan je denkt," antwoordde ze.En: "The world is smaller than you think," she replied.Nl: Sven liep weg met een nieuw gevoel van avontuur.En: Sven walked away with a new sense of adventure.Nl: Marijke stapte richting de luchthavenuitgang met een vreedzaam hart.En: Marijke headed towards the airport exit with a peaceful heart.Nl: Beiden wisten dat verandering niet het einde betekende, maar een nieuw begin.En: Both knew that change didn't mean the end, but a new beginning.Nl: Het was tijd voor een nieuw hoofdstuk.En: It was time for a new chapter. Vocabulary Words:dome: koepelannouncements: aankondigingenroutine: routineconsisted: bestondadventure: avontuursatisfied: tevredenconstant: constantemovement: bewegingweigh heavily: zwaar te wegenlonged: verlangdewandered: dwaaldenunexpected: onverwachtedelay: vertragingencouragingly: bemoedigendcertainity: zekerheidunderstandingly: begrijpendstand still: stilstaanreflect: reflecterenconsider: overwegencourage: moedsabbatical: sabbaticalpaths: wegensense: gevoelpeaceful: vreedzaamchapter: hoofdstukadmitted: bekendecross: kruisentrader: inruilendoubts: twijfelchance: kans
Lili Hellriegel is head of enterprise solutions at Cherry Servers, a Lithuania-based bare metal cloud provider that pitches itself as a sovereign, Web3-friendly alternative to the US hyperscalers. Before joining Cherry, Lili was head of infrastructure at staking firm Blockdaemon, where she built out data center partnerships, network architecture and the server specs behind validation workloads — work that left her unusually fluent in what crypto teams actually need from their infrastructure. Why you should listen The pitch for European infrastructure has rarely been louder, and Lili makes the case with the confidence of someone who has lived on both sides of it. Every major hyperscaler — AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, even Oracle — is a US company, and for a growing cohort of Web3 teams that is no longer a neutral fact. Cherry Servers sits under European jurisdiction, runs its own facility in Lithuania, and operates data centers across Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Chicago, Singapore and a newly opened site in Tokyo. Some of Cherry's customers come for hard compliance reasons; others, Lili says, come for ideological ones, wanting the chains they help secure to live beyond the reach of any single government. The conversation lands at a moment when data sovereignty and distrust of concentrated American cloud power have moved from fringe concern to boardroom agenda. The sharper argument is about economics, and here Lili thinks the industry is approaching an inflection point. She describes a shift from "cloud-first" to "workload-first" thinking: instead of defaulting to a hyperscaler and accepting whatever T-shirt-sized instance you're sold, teams running archival nodes, validators or other niche workloads are discovering they pay more and perform worse than they would on dedicated hardware tuned to the job. Cherry's answer is granular customization — choose your disks, your storage, your RAM, and pay only for what the workload demands — backed by account managers who architect the build rather than just sell a box, with human support that answers in well under a minute. For staking-heavy customers, the model is almost self-funding: a large share pay in crypto, drawing on staking rewards to cover their infrastructure across some thirty different chains. Her forecast for the next eighteen to twenty-four months is the part worth sitting with. Lili argues the era of free cloud credits is ending — she doubts AWS will keep handing startups six-figure credit grants for signing up to an accelerator — and that founders, newly disciplined about runway, will increasingly treat optimized bare metal as a way to extend it. In the closing hot-take round she plants her flag as a multi-chain "Solana maxi," names Bitcoin as the enduring store of value while backing the smaller chains' upside, and offers a builder's creed: the market ultimately rewards people who make useful things on-chain, not those treating tokens purely as speculation — which, she adds, is also why she thinks people should run nodes with smaller providers. The desert-island sci-fi pick, naturally, is Star Wars. https://www.cherryservers.com/
An Amazon seller from Singapore reveals how data-backed product research, AI workflows, Cerebro keywords, and a wild 50 auto campaign PPC strategy helped scale Amazon products to seven figures. ► Watch The Podcasts On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Helium10SeriousSellersPodcast?sub_confirmation=1 ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft What does it take to walk away from a stable career, bet on Amazon FBA, and build a multiple seven-figure business in the Amazon US marketplace from Singapore? In this episode, Bradley Sutton sits down with Clarence Cheang of TheFBABros to unpack the mindset, strategy, and data-driven systems that have driven his Amazon journey. Clarence shares how he went from a civil engineer working on Singapore's infrastructure projects to a full-time entrepreneur after setting a clear goal: to make his side hustle outperform his day job income for 6 straight months. Clarence breaks down the product research process that helped him discover one of his breakthrough products: a Japanese egg pan that went on to generate over $1 million in lifetime sales. Instead of blindly chasing trends, he uses a highly analytical process built around 23 data points, competitor keyword weaknesses, and Helium 10 Cerebro research. His approach focuses on finding products where competitors may be making strong revenue but are weak in PPC, keyword ranking, or listing optimization. The conversation also dives into how AI is changing the way sellers research, launch, and scale. Clarence explains how AI can reduce product validation from one or two hours down to just minutes, while still requiring human judgment to verify opportunities. He also shares ideas around AI agents, Helium 10 data, bundling opportunities, and using massive short-form video output to drive external traffic from TikTok to Amazon. One of the biggest “wait, what?” moments comes when Clarence reveals his 50 auto campaign launch strategy. Instead of relying on one auto campaign, he separates match types, identifies what works, and duplicates winning campaigns across different bid levels to let Amazon find converting placements at scale. His message is clear: Amazon is still full of opportunity for sellers who are willing to use data, move fast, test aggressively, and serve customers better than the competition. For any seller wondering if it is too late to start or scale, Clarence's story is a reminder that your next breakthrough may not come from luck — it may come from discipline, research, and the courage to take action before you feel fully ready. In episode 752 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Clarence discuss: 00:00 - Introduction 05:15 - Government Engineer To Amazon FBA 08:39 - Turning A Side Hustle Full-Time 10:21 - The Breakthrough Egg Pan 11:30 - Shopping Method For Product Research 14:09 - Finding Weak Competitor Keywords 15:58 - Why Amazon Is Easier Today 17:48 - Using AI For Product Research 21:12 - TikTok, AI, And External Traffic 23:46 - Why Cerebro Is Essential 33:01 - Day One PPC Launch Strategy 34:15 - The 50 Auto Campaign Strategy
DAYS like NIGHTS: Web: https://www.dayslikenights.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dayslikenights Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dayslikenights Subscribe to the podcast RSS: feed: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:1525250/sounds.rss . 01. Jonas Saalbach - No Small Talk (Fiction Remix) [HMWL] 02. Didier Sinclair, Baron (FR) - Lovely Flight [Kitsune] 03. Deer Jade - Acid Groove Theory [I Am You] 04. Brigade Crew, Clér Letiv - On Your Mind [Belonging] 05. Eelke Kleijn - Space Disco [Toolroom] 06. AFFKT, Musumeci - Rewind (Musumeci Remix) [Sincopat] 07. Helsloot - Fledermaus [GU] 08. Budakid - Dream Atlas [Flores] 09. ID 10. Eelke Kleijn - Beg You feat. Leo Wood (DC Club Mix) [DAYS like NIGHTS] 11. Acrobat - We Danced [SoundFocus] 12. Fejká - Azur (Einmusik Remix) [Coexist] 13. Estiva - TCL [Colorize] This show is syndicated & distributed exclusively by Syndicast. If you are a radio station interested in airing the show or would like to distribute your podcast / radio show please register here: https://syndicast.co.uk/distribution/registration
Off the coast of Sierra Leone, Sherbro Island has been earmarked for an ambitious transformation: a new centre for international business and investment, designed to rival cities like Singapore or Hong Kong. The BBC's Ed Butler travels to the island to investigate the project and speaks to developer Siaka Stevens, who is leading the effort alongside supporters including film-star Idris Elba, about the vision and what it will take to deliver it. But how realistic is the ambition, and can it become more than a promise?Presenter/producer: Ed Butler Editor: Stephen RyanEach Monday on Business Daily, we take you around the globe to the heart of the stories and meeting those living through them.You can email the team: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
SCHEDULE THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 6-12-2026.1903 PRINCETON UNIVERSITYJeff Bliss describes massive, deadly swells hitting California beaches due to a southern hemisphere storm system. The conversation shifts to Las Vegas, where a massive, highly anticipated In-N-Out Burger recently opened on the Strip. Bliss details the chain's reputation for fresh food, cleanliness, and fair employee wages. (1)Jeff Bliss discusses the surprising results of the Los Angeles City Council primary, where Nithya Raman surged despite initially conceding. He highlights allegations of voter fraud in the Skid Row area and the impact of California's ballot harvesting laws. The segment also touches on Xavier Becerra's lead in the governor's race. (2)Richard Epstein analyzes the legal effort to prevent the removal of Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Centerfacade. He argues that the Trump-aligned board's appeal lacks legal merit and strength, as removing a nameplate does not constitute irreparable harm. Epstein suggests the judge should consider firing the current board due to bias. (3)Richard Epstein critiques the construction of the Obama Center in Chicago, lamenting the destruction of 800 historical trees and the seizure of public land. He describes the project's design as a "monstrosity" with a flawed traffic plan and expresses concern over the foundation's lack of financial transparency and endowment. (4)Jim McTague reports on a "budget-minded hesitancy" among Pennsylvania consumers despite falling gas prices. He notes a rare layoff notice for 70 logistics workers and uneven retail activity. Meanwhile, a data center project near Costcoproceeds under heavy security, while a similar proposal was rejected by a neighboring borough. (5)Lorenzo Fiori discusses the "disaster" of the Italian national football team failing to qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive time. The segment transitions to Pisa, highlighting the prestigious Scuola Normale Superiore and recent astronomical breakthroughs involving the James Webb Space Telescope. Fiori concludes with local wine and culinary recommendations. (6)Bob Zimmerman discusses the crew selection for NASA's Artemis 3 mission, which has been simplified to focus on Earth-orbit docking tests. He also examines private sector developments, including German startup Isar's funding, Stoke Space's reusable rocket design, and an orbital servicing mission by Catalyst intended to rescue a decaying NASAtelescope. (7)Bob Zimmerman honors the late Alan Hale, co-discoverer of the record-setting Comet Hale-Bopp. He reviews the historical significance of the first image of the moon's far side taken by Luna 3 in 1959. The segment also explores current cosmological debates regarding dark energy and the existence of "little red dots" in the early universe. (8)Peter Huessy discusses the history of "tactical" nuclear weapons and the 1950s Desert Rock exercises where U.S. troops were exposed to nuclear detonations. He details the health risks soldiers faced and parallels these actions with Sovietmaneuvers, highlighting the "ludicrous" idea of trying to operate militarily in a post-detonation environment. (9)Peter Huessy explains that Russia views low-yield, tactical nuclear weapons as usable battlefield tools to achieve victory or coerce opponents. He contrasts this with U.S. doctrine, which keeps such weapons under central command. Huessywarns of the lack of transparency regarding China's dual-use nuclear capabilities and Russia's "reckless" potential to use these weapons. (10)Colonel Jeff McCausland discusses stalled negotiations with Iran, noting the heavy influence of the Revolutionary Guard Corps over the diplomatic process. He analyzes the military difficulty of seizing Kharg Island and the profound impact of Ukrainian drones on the Russian front, suggesting that drone saturation has leveled the battlefield and interdicted Russian resupply lines. (11)Jeff McCausland draws parallels between the performative style of Civil War General Jeb Stuart and current Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He critiques Hegseth's recent speeches in Singapore, Normandy, and Guantanamo, arguing they prioritize individual image over grand strategy and mark significant, potentially transactional shifts in long-standing U.S. foreign policy toward Taiwan and European allies. (12)Veronique de Rugy argues that the U.S. already has the most progressive tax system among OECD countries, with the wealthy paying a disproportionate share of revenue. She critiques Thomas Piketty's proposal for a global wealth tax and mandated "degrowth," characterizing it as an effort to limit national growth under the guise of climate and social justice. (13)Mary Anastasia O'Grady questions the delay in scheduling Venezuelan elections under Delcy Rodriguez. She reports that over 400 political prisoners remain held, and the notorious Helicoide prison remains operational despite contradictory claims. O'Grady notes that the regime lacks the political will to allow a free press or fair electoral body to organize. (14)Conrad Black emphasizes the vital economic ties between the U.S. and Canada, noting Canada provides 25% of U.S.aluminum and 20% of its uranium. He expresses confidence that Prime Minister Mark Carney will build necessary oil pipelines to both coasts to benefit the Canadian economy, despite opposition from environmental groups and Carney's own "green instincts." (15)Francis Rose discusses the U.S. military's efforts to integrate AI by "gamifying" systems to make them intuitive for young, video-game-literate service members. He also highlights CISA's work in rebuilding its workforce to protect private-sector cyber infrastructure and the Army's Joint Innovation Outpost, which aims to accelerate the transition of technology from private inventors to the battlefield. (16)One name correction: (2) Nithia Raman → Nithya Raman (established style for the LA city council member).
Jeff McCausland draws parallels between the performative style of Civil War General Jeb Stuart and current Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He critiques Hegseth's recent speeches in Singapore, Normandy, and Guantanamo, arguing they prioritize individual image over grand strategy and mark significant, potentially transactional shifts in long-standing U.S. foreign policy toward Taiwan and European allies. (12)PERSIA
As AI demand surges, our Asia Energy Analyst Mayank Maheshwari discusses the new multi-trillion-dollar investment cycle to secure the power, fuels, grids and storage that keep modern life running.Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.----- Transcript -----Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Mayank Maheshwari, Morgan Stanley's Asia Energy analyst. Today: how AI's rapid growth is forcing Asia into a massive energy buildout across power grids, fuels, storage and dependable energy and power generation. It's Tuesday, June 9th at 8am in Singapore. Every time you ask AI to draft a note, summarize a file, plan a trip or generate an image, the response feels instant and easy. But behind it sits a very physical system: data centers, electricity, cooling, fuel, metals, power lines, storage tanks and ships. There is no AI without energy. And in Asia, the power and energy needs could get much bigger. And right now, we are at a critical inflection point where energy, AI, and security converge into [a] once-in-a-generation investment cycle. We see a super cycle with $5 trillion plus in new investments in energy over next five years, almost double of what we have seen in the past decade. And this has global implications as Asia consumes almost half of the world's energy needs – but produces only about a third of it at home. Energy markets may be global, but energy insecurity is local. It shows up in electricity prices, fuel shortages, factory delays, food supply pressure and household budgets. By 2030, Asia's energy use could rise by about 38 exajoules. That increase is roughly equal to all the energy the Middle East consumes today. Power demand alone could reach about 19 trillion units a year when expressed in kilowatt-hours. That is around four trillion more units of electricity usage than in 2025, driven by data centers, industry, and onshoring of businesses. AI is now part of that demand story. By 2030, data centers could use roughly one-sixth of all new power units in Asia. That makes AI a major new load on the power system. Meeting this demand requires a major investment cycle. Asia's annual energy investment could rise to roughly US$1.1 trillion a year over the next five years. Much of that spending goes into the power system itself: generation, grids, storage and the equipment needed to connect everything. Grids may be the biggest bottleneck. Think of [the] grid as the highway system for electricity. You can build more power plants, but if the roads clog up, the power does not reach homes, factories or data centers. Asia's grid investment needs could reach close to about US$1 trillion by 2030. Transformer lead times have stretched to years in some cases, which shows how tight the equipment supply chain has become. The hardest part is keeping the lights on every hour of the day. Baseload power means electricity that can run around the clock. Asia is adding a large amount of renewable power to its energy infrastructure. But that source depends on when the sun shines or the wind blows. That is why coal, gas and nuclear remain part of the conversation. Storage also moves from useful to essential. Batteries help smooth out renewable power demand when supply rises and falls during the day. Global energy storage installations could rise from about 500 gigawatt hours in 2025 to around 3,000 gigawatt hours in 2030. Powering AI also reaches beyond electricity. Data centers need power, but the system around them needs dependable fuels, grids, batteries, metals, refining, storage and shipping. Electricity has to be generated, moved, backed up and supplied through physical infrastructure. That is why this story pulls in copper and aluminum for grids, fuel refining for transport and petrochemical supply chains, and fertilizers because energy security also connects to food security. The future may look digital, but it will be powered by something far more physical: the largest energy buildout Asia has seen in decades. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy Thoughts on the Market, please leave us a review wherever you listen and share the podcast with a friend or colleague today.