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Follow the Note Lab Mode Podcast to get deep dives on interesting topics, covering interesting reports and books about AI, Influencer Marketing, Industry Trends, Science and Business. Generated using NotebookLM.

  1. AUG 21

    AI Tools in 2025: Why Your Go-To Might Be (and What's Winning)

    Get ready for a deep dive into the cutting-edge world of software development with our latest episode! We're unpacking the exclusive findings from The Pragmatic Engineer 2025 Survey, drawing insights from over 3,000 tech professionals to reveal what's truly powering the industry today. Discover the surging popularity of AI tools, from GitHub Copilot dominating the landscape, to the unexpected rise of Cursor and Claude gaining ground on ChatGPT. We'll explore how company size influences AI tool adoption and whether newer AI IDEs are truly impacting the mainstream. This episode also sheds light on: The most-used and most-loved programming languages, including TypeScript's reign, Python's renaissance, and the enduring affection for Ruby on Rails and Elixir.The most-disliked tools (yes, JIRA tops the list again!), and why developers are clamouring for alternatives like Linear. We delve into the love developers have for VS Code and JetBrains IDEs, and the surprising prevalence of Figma.The dominant forces in version control and CI/CD, with GitHub Actions leading the pack, and the widespread adoption of Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform for backend infrastructure.The landscape of cloud providers, databases, and messaging systems, where AWS remains supreme, PostgreSQL is the unwavering default, and the curious case of open-source forks like OpenSearch.Tune in to understand the dynamic shifts in tech stacks, the tools developers truly rely on, and what it all means for the future of engineering. Don't miss these essential insights into the state of tooling in 2025! This episode is sponsored by OutfitAlliance.com, helping fashion enthusiasts easily shop similar styles to what their favourite influencers are wearing.

    37 min

  2. AUG 5

    Unveiling the $73.6 Billion AI Gold Rush: Why Q1 2025 Broke All Records

    Get ready to dive deep into the seismic shifts of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) venture capital landscape! In this episode, we unpack the latest Q1 2025 VC Trends that saw AI & ML startups raise a record-breaking $73.6 billion across 1,603 deals, marking the highest quarterly total on record by deal value. This staggering figure underscores AI's growing dominance, capturing one in every four VC dollars globally in 2024, a trend that's set to accelerate. We'll dissect the fascinating split between horizontal AI platforms and vertical applications: Horizontal platforms, which include general-purpose tools like large language models (LLMs), captured the lion's share of capital, securing just under $50 billion across 425 deals – nearly 70% of the total raised this quarter. Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic exemplify this category.In contrast, vertical application startups, tailored for specific sectors, led in deal volume with 1,022 transactions (roughly 60% of all deals), accumulating an aggregate deal value of $19.2 billion.Discover the underlying cost dynamics explaining this divide: developing vertical models can cost $3 million to $10 million, while horizontal LLM development can reach hundreds of millions. This has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for application-layer AI startups. Tune in for insights into the mega-deals driving this market: OpenAI secured a colossal $40 billion late-stage VC round, pushing its valuation to an astonishing $300 billion. We discuss its ambitious plans for frontier AI research, the $500 billion "Stargate" data center buildout with SoftBank and Oracle, and expansion for its 500 million weekly ChatGPT users.Anthropic raised $3.5 billion in a late-stage round, fuelled by surging demand for its Claude models and a rapid increase in annualised revenue.We also explore Q1 2025 exit activity, which totalled $27.4 billion – the strongest quarterly figure since Q4 2021. Public listings accounted for $21.5 billion, with major IPOs like CoreWeave (valued at $14.5 billion) and Blocks Group significantly impacting quarterly exit value. Learn how acquisitions, including "acqui-hires," remain common, driven by talent scarcity in AI and software. Finally, we break down shifting VC valuation dynamics. Median pre-money valuations for AI & ML startups climbed to $32.3 million in 2025, up from $24.4 million in 2024. While venture-growth valuations peaked at $325 million, early-stage VC deals demonstrated the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in median pre-money valuations at 17.14% from 2014 to 2025. We reveal why capital has increasingly shifted towards earlier stages, driven by more favourable entry points and stronger long-term upside. Don't miss this essential deep dive into the forces shaping the future of AI investment and startup funding!

    14 min

  3. JUL 30

    Unlocking Tomorrow: McKinsey's 2025 Technology Trends That Will Reshape Your Business

    Dive deep into the technological shifts that are redefining global business with our latest podcast episode, exploring insights from the authoritative McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2025. This annual report highlights the most significant technology breakthroughs, talent trends, use cases, and their potential impact on companies across various sectors. Our discussion unpacks the "baker’s dozen" of frontier technology trends identified by McKinsey, grouped into three pivotal categories: The AI Revolution: Agentic AI: Discover how this rapidly emerging trend is creating "virtual coworkers" capable of autonomously planning and executing multistep workflows, moving beyond simple chatbots to truly act in the world.Artificial Intelligence: Understand AI as a powerful technology wave on its own and a foundational amplifier that accelerates progress and unlocks new possibilities across all other trends, from bioengineering to optimising energy systems.Compute and Connectivity Frontiers: Application-Specific Semiconductors: Learn about the purpose-built chips, like GPUs and ASICs, that are essential for handling the immense computational demands of AI training and inference, driven by exponentially higher demands for computing capacity.Advanced Connectivity: Explore how evolving networks, including 5G, emerging 6G, and low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites, are enhancing global communication and enabling new data generation.Cloud and Edge Computing: Uncover how distributing workloads across hyperscale data centres and local nodes optimises performance, reduces latency, and addresses surging demand for AI computing.Immersive-Reality Technologies: Delve into the advancements in augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR), including smart glasses and haptic feedback, that are transforming experiences in gaming, training, and healthcare.Digital Trust and Cybersecurity: Understand the critical technologies, like AI trust systems and blockchain-based tokenisation, that build and maintain stakeholder confidence amidst increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats and data risks.Quantum Technologies: Get insights into the fundamental leap beyond traditional computing, as quantum computing, communication, and sensing promise to solve complex problems exponentially faster and secure communications.Cutting-Edge Engineering: Future of Robotics: Explore the advancements in robots capable of autonomous or semi-autonomous tasks, from industrial settings to service roles, driven by AI foundation models.Future of Mobility: Examine how autonomous vehicles (AVs), electric vehicles (EVs), drones, and urban air mobility are improving efficiency, safety, and sustainability in transportation systems.Future of Bioengineering: Learn about the convergence of biology and computing that's leading to breakthroughs in gene editing, personalized medicine, and sustainable food production.Future of Space Technologies: Discover how satellite systems, launch vehicles, and Earth observation are reshaping global connectivity and data-driven insights, with costs falling due to reusable rockets.Future of Energy and Sustainability Technologies: Understand the innovations transforming the global energy landscape towards clean electrons, electrification, and clean molecules, addressing surging electricity demand and decarbonisation goals.We’ll discuss the overarching themes that cut across these trends, including the rise of autonomous systems, new human-machine collaboration models, scaling challenges in global infrastructure, intensifying regional and national competition for technological leadership, and the imperative for responsible innovation. Hear about the stabilised and rebounding equity investments in frontier technologies in 2024, and the dynamic shifts in talent demand across these fields, with insights into critical skill gaps.

    16 min

  4. JUL 23

    The AI Talent Tipping Point: What Top Leaders Know That You Don't

    The global AI landscape is undergoing an existential shift, and your company's future depends on it. In this illuminating episode, we unpack key insights from the "Global AI Talent Survey," drawn from over 500 top product, engineering, and founder-level executives at venture-backed, Series A+ companies. Discover how the rise of Product-Focused ML Engineers and AI Product Managers is signalling a critical transition from pure experimentation to AI productisation. We'll reveal why a clear divide is forming between AI "builders" and "bystanders," with teams that haven’t made foundational AI hires by 2025 risking being permanently left behind. You'll learn why mid-senior talent (3-12 years experience) forms the core of AI execution, with over half of all AI hires falling into this bracket, indicating that AI isn't a playground for generalists fresh out of university. Explore how AI is no longer a "sidecar" but is increasingly embedded directly within core product and engineering teams – a philosophical, not just structural, shift towards decentralised deployment with centralised oversight. We delve into the AI infrastructure wars, from OpenAI's API dominance (used by 78% of respondents) to the rising complexity of toolchains like RAG pipelines, vector databases, and LangChain. Understand why fine-tuning open-source models is the new frontier for competitive advantage, with 24% of companies already engaging in this "arms race". Beyond the tech, we explore the talent strategy: why personal referrals are cited by 71% as their best hiring channel, and what truly motivates elite AI professionals beyond compensation – hint: it's mission, purpose, and product impact (60% and 50% respectively), not primarily compensation. We also confront the often-overlooked internal bottlenecks hindering AI hiring, from a lack of AI maturity to brand reputation. Finally, we identify the non-negotiable skills for 2025 AI talent, including awareness of hallucination and safety risks, prompt engineering, and fine-tuning LLMs. Plus, get a glimpse into future trends like the prioritisation of product engineers with AI fluency over deep specialists, the expected growth of autonomous agents & copilots, and the key verticals poised for the next wave of AI hiring, such as Fintech & Insurtech, SaaS & Productivity, and Cybersecurity. If you're a founder, executive, or aspiring AI professional looking to navigate the rapidly evolving AI talent landscape and ensure your company isn't just retrofitting yesterday's model but truly becoming AI-native, this episode is essential listening. Tune in to understand the future of AI hiring and team building!

    18 min

  5. JUL 15

    The CEO's Diary & The Data: Decoding Cathie Wood's Investment Playbook (and Its Hidden Volatility)

    Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, made headlines on "The Diary of a CEO" podcast, promising specific investments could deliver "extraordinary returns" – some even suggesting 15x gains. But what does a comprehensive, data-driven analysis actually show about these bold predictions? In this episode, we dive deep into a recent investment report by Manus AI that meticulously evaluates Wood's primary recommendations: Tesla (TSLA), Coinbase (COIN), and CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP). We go beyond the headline figures to reveal the surprising truths about her high-growth targets, like Tesla reaching $2,600, Coinbase $400, and CRISPR $268. You'll discover why our detailed analysis, employing quantitative financial analysis, risk assessment modelling, and Monte Carlo simulations, indicates that while "extraordinary gains are possible, significant losses are more probable". We expose the relatively low probabilities of success for these individual stocks – a mere 15% for Tesla, 35% for Coinbase, and 25% for CRISPR. Learn how this drastically impacts the "probability-adjusted expected returns," making them "significantly lower" than the initial projections. Our Monte Carlo simulation for a £100,000 investment reveals a mean expected return of -3.8% with "extreme volatility", indicating only a 36.2% probability of positive returns. We discuss why these investments are categorised as "extremely high-risk speculative positions suitable only for investors who can afford total loss". Tune in to understand the complex technology, regulatory, and competitive challenges facing each company. This episode is a must-listen for anyone considering high-growth, speculative investments, offering a realistic assessment and crucial insights to inform your financial decisions.

    17 min

  6. JUL 8

    The Future of Work (and Life): 8 Mind-Blowing LLM Applications from A16z Speedrun

    Are you wondering what people are really doing with AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude? In this exciting episode, we dive deep into the innovative and practical use cases of LLMs directly from the a16z speedrun team! Discover how these cutting-edge tools are transforming daily workflows, boosting creativity, and accelerating personal and professional growth. Join us as we explore fascinating examples, including: Building Custom Software on a Budget: Learn how one partner created a custom recruiting website for under $100k, achieving "one-shot deployments" in under two minutes with LLM assistance for design, backend integration, and detailed documentation.Accelerated Learning & "Personal MBAs": Hear how LLMs are used to generate 10-minute condensed reads of classic literature, and even power a self-guided 12-month "Personal MBA" curriculum complete with prioritised reading, comprehension tests, and case studies.Creative Copilots & Content Generation: Explore how AI assists in generating personalised colouring pages and stories for children, acts as a "creative copilot" for Substack topics and AI filmmaking projects, and streamlines the creation of personalised event invites.Enhanced Discovery & Customised Interactions: Find out how LLMs are used as a music discovery engine to find "singular" artists beyond typical recommendations, and how one partner crafted a custom ChatGPT prompt to receive maximally detailed, critical, opinionated, and proactive answers with summaries and follow-up questions.This episode pulls back the curtain on the diverse applications of AI, showing how large language models are becoming indispensable tools for efficiency, learning, creativity, and business innovation. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, a founder, or just curious about the future of work, you'll find actionable insights and inspiration for integrating AI into your own life.

    20 min

  7. JUL 2

    The Great Workforce Shuffle: How To Survive (And Thrive) The AI Job Shift By 203

    Ready for the most significant economic shift of our time? Between 2025 and 2030, Artificial Intelligence is poised to fundamentally reshape global economies and labor markets. Forget simple job elimination; this period is about a profound transformation and workforce shuffle. We dive into the stark reality: AI and automation could displace up to 83 million jobs globally by 2027, while creating 69 million new ones. This indicates massive churn within the workforce. Crucially, entry-level and routine white-collar roles are far more vulnerable than before, marking a critical shift from past automation waves that primarily affected blue-collar workers. By 2030, 70% of the skills used in most jobs will change, making continuous upskilling and reskilling an absolute imperative for individuals, businesses, and governments aiming to maintain a competitive and adaptable workforce. But it's not just disruption. Economically, AI is a powerful engine for productivity and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth across nearly all sectors. PwC projects global GDP could be up to 14% higher by 2030, equivalent to an additional $15.7 trillion. This impressive growth is fuelled by both productivity gains from businesses automating processes and augmenting their workforce and increased consumer demand from the availability of personalised and AI-enhanced products and services. We explore how AI is set to boost efficiency, with estimates suggesting up to a 15% increase in labour productivity if 25% of total work tasks are automated. We also cover the anticipated modest inflationary pressures and expected upward trend in interest rates driven by the substantial investment required for AI infrastructure and increased capital demand. For startup founders and established businesses, this era presents immense opportunities. AI is a horizontal technology poised to enhance nearly all existing sectors, rather than being confined to a few tech-centric ones. Discover the high-growth industries set for significant AI-driven expansion, including Information & Communication, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Retail, Services (Healthcare, Education), and Transport & Logistics, all projected to see GDP increases of at least approximately 10% by 2030 due to AI. Explore emerging 'AI-native' business models where AI is not just a feature, but the fundamental core of the business itself, enabling new value propositions like Process-as-a-Service and Data-as-a-Service. Crucially, AI enables startups to scale with significantly leaner teams and achieve unprecedented capital efficiency, fundamentally altering venture capital dynamics and potentially lowering barriers to entry. We also tackle the potential pitfalls: the concern that AI could exacerbate existing income and wealth inequality and the policy discussions around potential social safety nets like Universal Basic Income (UBI) and alternative "predistribution" strategies. Learn why building a strong data foundation is considered the "lifeblood of AI" and a critical competitive moat, particularly access to rich, longitudinal datasets which can be hard to replicate. We discuss the challenge of talent centralisation in specific global AI hubs and the growing importance of embracing ethical and responsible AI practices to build trust and credibility in an increasingly regulated landscape. Ultimately, the future of work is increasingly defined by a symbiotic human-AI collaboration paradigm. AI is primarily an augmenting force, making humans more efficient, insightful, and productive, and shifting demand towards uniquely human skills that AI cannot replicate: creativity, critical thinking (especially nuanced judgment), emotional intelligence (EQ), adaptability, and complex problem-solving. This episode provides a strategic playbook for founders and businesses navigating this transformation, emphasising continuous learning, fostering an experimentation culture, maintaining agility, and adopting an "AI-first" mindset.

    40 min

  8. JUN 25

    Supercharge Loyalty: The Untapped Power of E-commerce Community Engagement

    Feeling the sting of rising acquisition costs in e-commerce? Losing £29 for every new customer in 2025? It's time to pivot. This episode dives deep into why building a thriving e-commerce community is no longer a nice-to-have, but a strategic imperative for sustainable growth in 2025. We explore how moving beyond purely transactional relationships to value-driven, long-term customer partnerships is essential to thrive amidst intense competition and evolving data privacy landscapes. Discover how a mere 5% increase in customer retention can boost e-commerce profits by 25% to 95%. Learn how fostering authentic connections between brands and customers, and among customers themselves, drives powerful outcomes. We discuss how emotionally connected customers show a remarkable 306% higher lifetime value and how 81.5% of community members identify as brand advocates. This isn't just loyalty; it's turning customers into organic growth drivers who are 73% more likely to recommend your brand. We'll uncover the key trends shaping the 2025 digital marketplace, including the dominance of social commerce (projected at £2 trillion globally), the expectation of hyper-personalization, and the critical balance of AI efficiency with the indispensable human touch. Find out why transparency in data usage is paramount to build trust and encourage consumers to willingly share valuable zero-party data. Plus, we delve into practical techniques and channels, from leveraging user-generated content (UGC) to implementing gamification and robust loyalty programs. Understand the power of hosting engaging live events and empowering community members to become advocates and co-creators. We also look at the importance of a seamless omnichannel presence, integrating social platforms with owned community hubs for a unified customer journey. Tune in to understand how investing strategically in community building can forge a resilient, profitable, and future-proof e-commerce model.

    35 min
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Follow the Note Lab Mode Podcast to get deep dives on interesting topics, covering interesting reports and books about AI, Influencer Marketing, Industry Trends, Science and Business. Generated using NotebookLM.

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