The Times Tech Podcast

This week Danny speaks with Benedict Evans, a technologist. In this episode they cover a range of things including web 3.0, cryptocurrency regulating tech and the future of tech as a whole.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on James Peyer, co-founder of Cambrian Biopharma, to talk about the unique structure of his startup (6:30), the goal (8:45), alighting on longevity as a 15-year-old (12:45), why the field has matured (15:40), what he chooses to focus on (19:50), getting drugs to market (24:55), raising money (32:00), why he chose the name (38:30), why dying of old age not necessarily an evolutionary inevitability (41:00), and the vaccine model (45:00),  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Elizabeth Carr, America’s first baby conceived by in-vitro fertilization and patient advocate at Genomic Prediction, to talk about the new era of pre-natal screening (5:45), the dawn of in-vitro fertilization (8:40), the technology’s acceptance (12:10), what Genomic Prediction does (13:40), scoring embryos (16:30), the slippery slope (19:20), selecting for smarts (24:15), the cost (25:00), and the future of conception (28:30). PLUS Dan Benjamin, bio economist at UCLA, comes on to talk about why he and others raised the alarm about polygenic scoring (30:20), drawing the line between prevention and enhancement (34:15), limits of the tech (37:15), what else we can select for (40:00), and unexpected consequences (42:00). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We take a break this week in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Back next week with a new episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Oliver Cameron, founder of Voyage and VP of product at Cruise, to talk about the arrival of self-driving cars (3:40), dropping out of uni to develop apps (14:40), getting a spot at Y Combinator (17:20), the difference between America and Britain (18:20), becoming an executive at Udacity (20:25), his disastrous first fundraising pitch (23:55), launching his self-driving car startup Voyage (28:10), selling it to Cruise (30:40), what does “self-driving” mean (33:30), launching commercial services in San Francisco (38:30), his worst day (42:20), and his best (43:20). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Heath Jansen, founder of Think Better Group, to talk about his start running an aluminium smelter (3:30), coming to London (7:00), his ‘Jerry Maguire’ moment (8:25), creating a coffee company (12:40), why he quit the City(19:40), how his former colleagues reacted (21:25), building the Unilever for millennials (25:35), nappies (26:50), the millennial consumer (33:30), and whether sending premium products to rich people make a difference (40:30). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on Uma Valeti, founder of Upside Foods, to talk about creating “cultivated meat” doing a taste test (4:00), the process (6:00), why he is working on this (10:20), his “aha” moments (12:15), signing a release to eat chicken (19:55), cutting out fetal bovine serum (23:10), the scaling challenge (26:00), and the importance of transparency (29:40). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The SundayTimes’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on David Cowan to talk about Bessemer Venture Partners' anti-portfolio (4:00), missing Google (6:05), why tech is accelerating (7:25), why he bet on space (10:00), why colonizing space is “inevitable” (12:45), the rise of micro satellites (15:30), backing Rocket Lab (21:30), the privatisation of weather (25:00), backing off-the-wall ideas (27:30), the future of Silicon Valley (34:45), his mock-umentary Bubbleproof (38:00), and the FOMO epidemic (41:40).Want a FREE TRIAL of The Times and The Sunday Times? Click here to sign up: thetimes.co.uk/dannyinthevalley Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent brings on Jeff Lawson, founder of Twilio, to talk about what the company does (3:15), starting out in 2008 (9:15), running an extreme sports retailer (11:40), tapping into the magic of software (16:00), why the Internet is just getting started (19:45), the Darwinian fight for survival (24:00), how Covid accelerated the digital shift (28:10), growing up in Detroit (31:40), creating a note-taking startup in university (35:45), riding the first dotcom wave (39:40), why he has stuck in San Francisco (42:10), the responsibility of companies (45:20), his very first business (51:25), his worst day of work (53:40), and the act of kindness he remembers (56:30). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Sunday Times’ tech correspondent Danny Fortson brings on Holden Karnofsky, founder of GiveWell, to talk about philanthropy (3:30), teaming up with Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskowitz and hits-based giving (6:40), the most important century (12:50), how artificial intelligence could be about to change everything (15:55), deep learning (21:00), becoming a spacefaring civilization (24:45), living in a really weird time (27:30), treating AI like climate change (30:00), effective altruism (37:00), and the need for long-term thinking (42:30). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.