Down Round

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Down Round Q&A: Zero tolerance for stupid questions Jul 26, 2023

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It’s been a while since we’ve done a Q&A episode, and we know your pressing questions have been accumulating for months. We’re sorry we let it get so desperate.

Thank you to our subscribers on Substack and Twitter (X???) who sent in questions. If we didn’t make it to you, there’s a good chance we’ve got a whole ep planned in future.

Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.

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The Hollywood Strikes: Please help me budget, my streaming industry is dying Jul 18, 2023

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Hollywood actors and writers are both on strike for the first time since 1960. Two of the primary reasons they’re hitting the picket line are core Down Round areas: the economics of streaming, and the future of AI content.

Working actors are mad that they’re not being compensated properly for appearances in streaming content, where audience figures are much more opaque, and they’re staring down the barrel of having their likenesses reused with AI.

Ah well. Guess it’s up to us to figure it out then…

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe

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Drones: A threatening buzzing sound from 50 metres up Jul 13, 2023

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. Want to join? Sign up for Down Round Premium!

The rise of the consumer-available drone over the past decade has been a huge win for real estate agents and YouTube fail compilations. But what about the rest of us chumps?!

In this episode, we talk about the drone — from the dominance of Chinese companies in their production, to the (possible) promises of drone delivery.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Threads: Glory to Meta! Glory to Meta! Jul 11, 2023

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At the end of last week, Mark Zuckerberg decided to take advantage of the chaos over in Twitterland by surprise dropping Meta’s own text-based social media platform, Threads. Because it leverages the Instagram social graph, it quickly exploded to over 100 million users.

In today’s ep, we dig into Threads and make a series of wild predictions which are sure to never be vindicated.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twitter: You have exceeded your podcast rate limit Jul 06, 2023

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This is a free preview of a premium episode. To hear more, join Down Round Premium.

The ongoing freakout at Twitter culminated this week in the platform limiting the number of tweets users could see per day, which Elon Musk claimed was to stop an onslaught of AI bots training themselves on Twitter data.

That caused a brief exodus to Bluesky, the wonky alternative currently being hyped by Twitter refugees and former addicts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ticketing: The Swifties will see justice, in this life or the next Jul 04, 2023

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The ticket industry is one of the most confusing online industries in 2023, a rentseeking behemoth which doesn’t seem to offer much for fans or artists alike.

Thanks to the suggestion of a few listeners who seem to have missed out on Taylor Swift tickets last week, we’re diving in.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI Update: ChatGPT please generate a mid joke for this subtitle Jun 29, 2023

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It’s been a hot minute since we’ve checked in on the world of AI, and things have been chugging along at rapid pace in the buzziest sector of tech.

This week, we dive into the current AI landscape, including the world of open-source AI.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LinkedIn: 2 executives at Down Round viewed your profile Jun 27, 2023

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Let’s face it: LinkedIn is one of the most annoying websites ever to exist. Terrible emails, armies of recruiters, and some of the worst posts you’ve ever seen.

And yet it’s also one of the most successful social media platforms, a genuine moneymaker for Microsoft, and now completely integral to modern white collar life. In this episode, we talk through LinkedIn and the horrible posters who populate it.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reddit Blackout: Understanding the twisted mind of a mod Jun 22, 2023

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This is a free preview of a premium episode. To hear more, join Down Round Premium.

Reddit, one of the internet’s last largely functional online communities, is undergoing something of a political revolution. Thanks to the company’s plans to implement charge for API access — potentially affecting everything from third-party apps to moderation bots — subreddits large and small have gone dark, with the platform’s army of uncompensated …

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vision Pro: Wearing VR goggles to a funeral Jun 20, 2023

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It’s been a couple of weeks since Apple announced the Vision Pro, the ‘spatial computing’ headset it believes is the future of going on the computer, getting online, and posting up a storm.

Now the dust has settled, it’s time for the boys to go in.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit downround.substack.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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