FYI - For Your Innovation - ARK Invest

Autonomous Vehicles Powered By End-To-End Deep Learning with Alex Kendall, Wayve.ai Feb 16, 2021

Catching autonomous taxis will cost less than half of what it does to drive your personal car and a tenth of riding in conventional taxis. This is what will push wide-scale adoption of the technology, and currently, some of the main players overcoming the final challenges to self-driving cars are Tesla, Waymo, Baidu, and Wayve.ai. Today we invite Alex Kendall, Co-Founder and CEO at Wayve.ai onto the show to speak about how the company is differentiating itself and solving some of the problems to wide adoption of self-driving cars. The private company Wayve.ai aims to build scalable, adaptable robotics for learning algorithms for self-driving cars. They have made a bold move in committing to a full end-to-end deep learning approach, meaning they use machine learning to optimize driving algorithms right from the input to the output. Alex begins by explaining how this approach differs from competitor systems and presents a higher chance of finding a solution that will be able to handle any environment it is presented with. Our conversation with Alex then touches on some of the technical challenges he and his team are facing, covering topics around system interpretability, labeling, complexity, measuring progress without a static trained data set, and more. We then zoom in on some of the challenges in the area of commercialization, hearing Alex talk about the regulatory sphere, data sharing for training learning systems, and other relevant topics. Tune in for a rigorous interview that paints an accurate picture of the landscape of self-driving cars from one of the main players who is driving research forward.

“By learning end-to-end, it enables us to achieve a level of efficiency that you can’t obtain with the traditional rules or LiDAR or an HD map-based approach that many of the incumbents use.” — @alexgkendall
“I would highlight data as being a really important problem for us to solve and a big bottleneck. In particular, it’s not the quantity of data, it’s the quality and the distribution of data.” — @alexgkendall

Key Points From This Episode:

Introducing Alex Kendall and how AI can serve society via self-driving cars.
Arguments for the adoption of autonomous vehicles.
The technology that makes Wayve.ai unique compared to Tesla, Waymo, and Baidu.
A deeper dive into the approach at Wayve that utilizes end-to-end deep learning.
Limitations and challenges in the sphere of deep learning relating to interpretability.
Some of the challenges and possible solutions in areas of data and labeling.
Wayve’s approach that measures progress without having to use a static test set.
Challenges to the validation of new self-driving systems.
The path to commercialization at Wayve.
How Wayve intends to optimize capabilities in different environments.
Wayve’s approach to onboard compute.
How Wayve is handling the issue of latency using a basic inference system.
The approach to handling regulations at Wayve: The evidence-driven safety case.
Why self-driven public transport also falls into the purview at Wayve.
How the issue of data sharing and access between competitors is progressing.
Competitors Alex admires and his thoughts regarding exponential adoption.
Alex’s thoughts on assisted driving models versus full autonomy.
The connection between intelligence and movement.
Whether the neighborhood electric vehicle space is relevant to Wayve’s mission.
Thoughts on how different car models will benefit needs as they evolve.

Understanding mRNA. Conversations with Moderna and Arcturus Therapeutics Feb 01, 2021

Get ready for two insightful interviews about mRNA, an innovative technology that is revolutionizing vaccines and may help in the current global pandemic. We ask two of the leaders in the space: What is the future for mRNA?

In today’s episode, ARK Analyst, Alexandra Urman, interviews Stéphane Bancel and Joseph Payne, CEOs of Moderna and Arcturus Therapeutics respectively about mRNA technology and its possibilities for the future. We discuss how mRNA can be used as a vaccine to combat SARS-CoV-2, its benefits, challenges, intellectual property landscape, and how it can be used for oncology and rare diseases. ARK believes the genomic revolution is underway with the potential to change healthcare and improve people’s lives. This episode helps educate our audience on how we can achieve a better future and discusses the role of mRNA. Tune in to listen for more!

“A single shot is absolutely essential to progress these types of technologies forward, it increases compliance, it increases convenience, and it helps accelerate our path to herd immunity.” – Joe Payne.
“Most drugs die in clinical trials because of safety.” – Stephane Bancel

Key Points From This Episode:

Why mRNA was able to be used to create a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine so quickly
How long it would have taken to get mRNA vaccines approved without the pandemic
Why lipid nanoparticles may be the best form of delivery for mRNA vaccines and other therapeutics
The safety of mRNA therapeutics
The importance of cellular vs. humoral responses for vaccines
The ability of current vaccines to work against new variants
Vaccine hesitancy and distribution
mRNA challenges and benefits
Intellectual landscape for mRNA
One dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and what to expect from them

Best of 2020 — FYI Podcast Compilation Dec 28, 2020

As the year comes to an end, we would like to thank everyone who listened to the FYI — For Your Innovation podcast. 2020 will likely go down in history as the year of COVID-19, a year that forced us to battle a global pandemic and all the uncertainty that comes with it. In this final episode of 2020, we complied some of our most interesting podcast episodes for you. Please enjoy this summary and tune back in when we return in 2021.

1. Battery Supply Chain for Electric Vehicles with Simon Moores and Vivas Kumar (EP 72)

We have Simon Moores and Vivas Kumar from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence here to discuss the often under-appreciated topic of battery supply chain and look at the present and future of the electric car battery industry. (Listen to the Full Episode)

2. The Digital Economy with Gary Vaynerchuk (EP 82)

ARK sat down with Gary Vaynerchuk to talk about the future of the digital economy. Gary is a serial entrepreneur, five-times New York Times bestselling author, Chairman of VaynerX, CEO of VaynerMedia and VaynerSports. (Listen to the Full Episode)

3. Be Creative. Together. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jared Geller (EP 65)

We enjoyed the conversation with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jared Geller. They joined FYI to speak about their platform, HitRecord, an online community built around creative collaboration. HitRecord offers artists of all kinds a platform to share their artwork or idea, and open it up to the input of other artists, thereby producing a trail that records the work’s progression much like GitHub does with code. (Listen to the Full Episode)

4. The State of Genetic Testing in The US with Rob Metcalf (EP 79)

In episode 79 we were joined by Rob Metcalf, CEO of Concert Genetics, a private company looking to connect the genetic health information network and simplify the often-murky world of genetic testing. We heart about Rob’s entry into healthcare and his interest in the intersection of tech and real world problem-solving. (Listen to the Full Episode)

5. Supersonic Travel with Blake Scholl, CEO of Boom Supersonic (EP 66)

Blake Scholl, the CEO of Boom Supersonic, joined the FYI podcast to give us insights into the ambitions for supersonic travel. Boom aims to build the world’s fastest civil aircraft, twice as fast commercial flights. (Listen to the Full Episode)

Check out the FYI – For Your Innovation podcast ‘Best of 2020’. Because investing in innovation starts with understanding it. #FYIpodcast

Championing Innovation Within Earlier Cancer Detection With Gabe Otte Dec 22, 2020

Presently, the tools we use to detect early-stage cancer are about half a century old. Many of these tools have severe challenges with their ability to detect early-stage disease (sensitivity). Using a molecular approach, or a liquid biopsy, allows clinicians to detect the earliest warning signs that cancer is forming. If detected earlier, we can significantly reduce the emergence, or incidence rate, of the deadliest form of cancer—late stage (metastatic). Freenome a private company focused on using this approach. Freenome uses cutting-edge machine learning models to track changes associated with changes in DNA, RNA, and proteins in the bloodstream—otherwise known as ‘multi-omics’. Today’s guest is Gabe Otte, co-founder and CEO of Freenome. In this episode, Gabe speaks on his efforts to champion innovation within earlier cancer detection by expounding on the company’s work at the intersection of biology, technology, and software. He describes the shift he’s seeing in investor attitudes towards diagnostics companies, the importance of educating the investment community about the nuances of cancer screening study results, the lessons he’s learning from advisors and mentors, as well as the importance of partnerships among companies in the diagnostics space. Listeners also will find out about UI/UX in the context of medicine and clinical care. Gabe also discusses the right balance of sensitivity (true positive rate) and specificity (true negative rate) for different cancer types and the repercussions these decisions carry. Finally, Gabe shares his efforts running a clinical trial for Freenome’s first earlier detection test. Tune in!

“It’s the maturity of our understanding of certain biologies, combined with the technology improvements on the sequencing side, as well as the software and maturity, that’s really enabling us to do what we do today.” — @GabeOtte
“There is no one-size-fits-all solution for cancer screening. If we really want to do right by the patients […] we need to be more thoughtful about what is the right balance between sensitivity, specificity, and cost that actually fits into the clinical care paradigm.” — @GabeOtt

Key Points From This Episode:

How Gabe became interested in cancer screening and starting Freenome.
Championing innovation on the diagnostics front – the areas Gabe saw to improve.
How Freenome’s solutions are at the intersection of biology and software.
Some of the early lessons Gabe and his co-founders learned.
The shift in the way investors are thinking about research and development for an advanced diagnostics company like Freenome.
Not all studies are created equal – why educating investors is critical.
Some of the advisors Gabe had as Freenome started to mature, who challenged him to think about certain things differently.
Why the old tech adage of “build it and they will come” doesn’t apply in diagnostics.
Thinking about UX/UI in the context of medicine and clinical care.
The total addressable market (TAM) for single-cancer screening versus multi-cancer screening.
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for cancer screening – it’s about finding the right balance between sensitivity, specificity, and cost.

ByteDance, TikTok, and China’s Growing Influence in Global Tech with Matthew Brennan Dec 10, 2020

Apps like WeChat are leading a wave of innovation in China and the world, quickly bringing China closer to the goal of becoming a technological superpower. In today’s episode, ARK Analyst, James Wang, interviews Matthew Brennan about the future of Chinese mobile technology and innovation. Matthew is a speaker and writer focusing specifically on mobile technology and innovation in China. In particular, he’s known for his analysis of social e-commerce and WeChat, China’s famous super app. He explains what a super app is – or isn’t – and how recommendation algorithms, video classification, and growth hacking have contributed to the rapid growth of companies like ByteDance. Find out how TikTok achieved international success, and hear Matthew weigh up the likelihood that short-video and live stream e-commerce will become popular in the near future in the US. Tune in today to find out more!

“I think the success of ByteDance has been very encouraging for Chinese companies to finally have a global breakout hit. On the other hand, the political backlash has been very discouraging.” — @mbrennanchina

Matthew explains the short-form video trend and the rise of ByteDance in China.
The relationship between music.ly and ByteDance.
Why TikTok’s recommendation algorithm is different from others.
How the TikTok recommendation algorithm works.
The advancement of video classification technology over the past few years and how it assists with enriching user profiles.
Growth hacking and how it contributed to ByteDance’s success.
When TikTok’s reputation took a turn and became the app of choice for the Gen Z.
Matthew weighs in in TikTok’s biggest threat and its growth trajectory.
E-commerce and TikTok – the future of live stream and short video e-commerce.
Instagram Reels versus TikTok and the 2018 scramble to copy TikTok.
Matthew shares some of the live stream e-commerce trends he has seen.
The discounting mechanism and how it plays into the success of e-commerce marketplaces like Pinduoduo, TaoBao, and Alibaba.
Matthew explains the super app phenomenon in China – it’s all about user acquisition costs.
Why WeChat is a real super app and the key to food-delivery app Meituan’s success.
Why it’s ByteDance’s game to lose right now and what their trajectory will be.

The History of Big Data and the Future of Analytics with Muji Dec 03, 2020

Big data is a word we’ve heard thrown around for the better part of a decade. This week’s guest is Muji of hhhypergrowth. Muji is a technologist, software developer, and investor who has spent over two decades in the trenches, helping IT departments implement software and new systems. Given the recent IPO of the data company, Snowflake, this episode attempts to review the history of big data. The evolution of big data has gone from on-premise to in the cloud solutions. Snowflake being one of the most noticeable cloud companies in 2020. In this episode, Muji–who has written an in-depth dissection of Snowflake, its technology, its positioning, and how it compares to competitors–shares the history of how we got to this point, and what he thinks makes Snowflake special.

“It’s going to be interesting to see services crop up around making the most of that data, and performing analytics over it, and gaining insights, without the customers having to do it themselves. You don’t have to hire an entire team of data scientists anymore.” — @hhhypergrowth

Key Points From This Episode:

Muji shares a bit about his background in data and how he has watched it evolve.
The challenge today is corralling the different apps and data sources companies use.
How companies used to gather and refine data.
Who provided the software in the 90s, 2000s – Oracle, SAP, IMB, Microsoft,…
Cloud provides nearly unlimited scale capabilities on both storage and compute, which unleashed a new wave of data and analytical tools.
About the demise of Cloudera and Hortonworks.
How Snowflake managed to scale so successfully, from leveraging the cloud to being vendor-neutral and a turnkey service.
Why he believes Snowflake beat Amazon at its own game by building a turnkey solution on great architecture.
How to empower customers with a multi-cloud strategy and variable pricing.
Snowflake’s three layers – a storage tier, scalable compute, and shared services layer.
The frenemies relationship in today’s cloud economy.
Muji talks about the rise of analytics and how Alteryx is making analytics simpler.
Where Muji thinks Snowflake is headed.
Making analytics easier is the key to unlocking value.
Why Muji says traditional valuation metrics aren’t important.
Other companies Muji is paying attention to in the software space.
Muji’s plan for his blog, hhhypergrowth – he wants to help average investors who don’t have the insights understand these platforms better.

The First AI Chip Startup with Naveen Rao, Nervana Systems Nov 20, 2020

Over the past five years, over 50 companies dedicated to making artificial intelligence run faster have sprung up. Whether in data centers or in cars, like Tesla’s automobiles, all of these innovations arguably started with NVIDIA and the move to deep learning on graphics processing units (GPUs). This created an entire industry. The first AI chip company was Nervana Systems, and its Founder, Naveen Rao, joins us to shares his insights. In this episode, we hear about Naveen’s academic and professional backgrounds and how he used his engineering and neuroscience skills to start Nervana after working at Qualcomm. We discuss what fundraising for Nervana was like and how the venture capital (VC) landscape changed its attitude to hardware concurrent with Nervana’s growth and innovation. The company was ultimately acquired by Intel, and we learn about how it went from a business development proposition to acquisition. Naveen shares the personnel and resource constraints Nervana faced despite being part of a much larger organization such as Intel, and how his role ultimately changed over time. While Intel has kept some of Nervana’s developments, they have also gone in different directions, and Naveen shares his take on this. We close it out with an outlook on the AI chip space. To hear more, tune in!

“I think, if Intel doesn’t react well enough to actually maintain the markets they have, NVIDIA is going to eat at them and that’s what they’re going to do with Arm. It could be painful.” — @NaveenGRao

Key Points From This Episode:

Naveen’s background and moving from engineering to computational neuroscience.
Hear about Naveen’s time at Qualcomm and the neuromorphic computing research.
How a failed internal pitch for an artificial neural network at Qualcomm led to Nervana’s creation.
Nervana’s founding story, building the team, and fundraising for the company.
The difficulty of pitching chip investments to VCs
Hear more about the nature of Nervana’s relationship with NVIDIA.
How the deal with Intel went from biz dev to acquisition.
Some of the obstacles that came with being bought by a big company.
Getting an offer to head up the AI team at Intel and the challenges for Naveen.
How the release of Volta, NVIDIA’s chip, changed the competition in the space.
The importance of patience in the space; NVDIA has always bet on their team.
Naveen’s position on Intel acquiring Habana and how his job changed after.
Naveen’s impression of the AI companies that have sprouted up since.
Unpacking the critical software for this type of development.
Google’s GPU team and the advantage they have on the inference side.
NVIDA’s acquisitions and Naveen’s take on what they are trying to do.
What Naveen is up to now that he is no longer at Intel.

Using Gene Editing to Cure HIV with Daniel Dornbusch Nov 13, 2020

Viruses are specialists at replicating, something that has frustrated researchers for an HIV cure — until now. With advances in gene editing, the private company Excision BioTherapeutics seems to have developed a functional cure for HIV in animals by removing genomes. Today we speak with Excision CEO Daniel Dornbusch about their breakthrough and why, after decades, gene editing is now attracting significant attention. We open our conversation by talking about what gene editing is, its connections to health science, and how top minds have been experimenting with CRISPR to prevent viral infection. Daniel shares details on his company’s approach to an HIV cure while emphasizing that their research is derived from a community of scientific thought. From CasX to Cas9, we chat about different CRISPR proteins and how each has its abilities and aptitudes. After touching on the challenges of balancing effective gene editing with safety, Daniel provides his insights into why technological leaps have led to an explosion in the gene editing field. We then discuss how gene editing has accelerated the development of a Covid-19 vaccine before we ask Daniel for his take on the controversial 2018 story, when scientists allegedly edited the genes of babies. Near the end of the episode, we talk about other approaches to curing HIV and Daniel leaves us with a final message. Tune in to hear more about the exciting application of gene editing and what Daniel has done to push for an HIV cure.

(Daniel: “I should have thanked our collaborators at Temple University, Dartmouth College and UC Berkeley for their innovations and tireless work over the years.”)

“With every drug, and throughout the history of drugs, there’s always a balance between efficacy and safety.” — Daniel Dornbusch
“Gene editing has been a cornerstone of why we’ve moved so fast with new vaccines for the coronavirus.” — Daniel Dornbusch

Key Points From This Episode:

We share the career highlights of Daniel Dornbusch, today’s guest.
Leading theories on the origin of HIV and why the disease is still worth discussing.
What gene editing is and its connections to health science.
Harnessing the power of CRISPR to edit genes and to avoid viral infections.
The differences between curing and treating viruses.
Developing a functional cure for HIV in animals by removing genomes.
Hear the details of how Daniel’s HIV curative treatment works.
Why Daniel’s company is focused on specifically curing HIV.
Exploring the different types of CRISPR proteins.
Balancing efficacy with safety in both drugs and gene editing.
Why gene editing is starting to take off.
How gene editing has accelerated the development of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Why vaccine trials move so slowly; the human body is complex and safety is paramount.
Commercializing gene editing and how viruses’ natural characteristics have frustrated generations of gene editors — until now.

The Digital Economy with Gary Vaynerchuk Nov 01, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic likely accelerated the demise of linear TV and boosted momentum for social commerce and the creator economy. In this week’s episode of FYI, ARK sat down with Gary Vaynerchuk to talk about the future of the digital economy. Gary is a serial entrepreneur, five-times New York Times bestselling author, Chairman of VaynerX, CEO of VaynerMedia and VaynerSports. Gary is a highly sought-after public speaker, as well as a prolific angel investor with early investments in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Venmo, and Uber. In today’s episode, Gary shares several hot takes on the future of advertising, social media, and the creator economy. , He shines light on how both executives and consumers have contributed to the recent shift in COVID-era marketing strategies, why Facebook holds the key to advertising to seniors, and how gaming could be the next wave in social. Finally, tune in to hear Gary tell us about the impending “trillion dollar warfare” and the advent of social commerce 3.0.

“As long as the internet is the foundational infrastructure of our society and as long as it doesn’t get over-regulated, content creation will be sustainable in perpetuity, until it takes all the money out of the ivory towers” — @garyvee

“Whether you’re YouTube or Spotify or Facebook, I believe all three of those companies are in the same business. They need to show me that they can vertically integrate with retail.” — @garyvee

Key Points From This Episode:

What the future holds for advertising and the digital economy and why the winners will be those that are financially able to invest in streaming and OTT
Biddable OTT platforms could allow even small businesses to run ads on TV classics like “Friends” and “Seinfeld”
LinkedIn and TikTok offer preferred economics and value for small businesses
Facebook could sell retirement homes and caskets like hot cakes
Why social media advertising is swallowing linear TV ads, except for the Super Bowl
The impact of COVID on innovation, when decision makers became practitioners
Gary never bets against human advancementWhy the big, iconic brands need to shift their media and creative strategies to digital.
Gary explains his thoughts on the content creation market.
Gary dives into how various apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat have democratized content creation and give users “training wheels” to create better
Gary’sv100% convinced text is replacing email
Why YouTube, Spotify, and Facebook are all in the same business
Gary believes that the infrastructure of social commerce is a huge overlooked opportunity and predicts what the platforms of the future will encompass
Gary predicts what the future of shopping at home will look like

Bitcoin As An Investment with Nate Maddrey Oct 26, 2020

Despite being just over 10 years old, Bitcoin has experienced bear and bull markets. All the while, its value as an asset class has been misunderstood by traditional institutions and crypto enthusiasts alike. Today we speak with Nate Maddrey, Senior Analyst for Coin Metric, about why he believes you should consider investing in Bitcoin. We open our conversation by exploring the possibilities of on-chain analytics, which allows you to analyze the data of every Bitcoin transaction. We then dive into how Bitcoin evolved alongside a loss of trust in financial institutions and how Bitcoin solves many of the problems found in traditional trust-based economic models. After touching on how Bitcoin empowers individual stakeholders, we discuss Bitcoin’s rise from obscurity to becoming a battle-tested asset class. With Nate’s help, we answer the question of whether it’s too late to start investing in Bitcoin. From investing in an asset that can’t be seized or inflated by institutions, we explore Bitcoin’s maturity, market opportunities, its place within an investment portfolio, and how it compares with other asset classes and stocks. Near the end of the episode, we reflect on the impact that institutions are having on Bitcoin and why Bitcoin’s story seems to have only just begun.

“Bitcoin was founded in 2009 as a direct response to the 2008 financial crisis and the loss of trust in our traditional financial institutions.” — @natemaddrey
“One of the exciting things about Bitcoin is you can send 10 million dollars’ worth of Bitcoin to the other side of the world for a couple of dollars and have it settle within 10 minutes to an hour.” — @natemaddrey

Key Points From This Episode:

Nate Maddrey introduces himself and his role at Coin Metrics, a leading crypto asset data provider.
How on-chain analytics provide incredible access to data about crypto transactions.
Unpacking Bitcoin’s characteristics and why it should be seen as an asset class.
How Bitcoin evolved in relation to the financial industry.
Predictable economic assurances and comparing Bitcoin to traditional financial institutions.
Bitcoin’s open structure and how this flips the old model of keeping data behind closed doors.
Exploring Bitcoin’s history as a game-changing technology that appeared out of nowhere.
Why Bitcoin enthusiasts see its organic evolution and anonymous origins as a key feature.
The view that Bitcoin is still early in its path to monetization.
Investing in digital gold; the many market opportunities that Bitcoin presents.
Why Bitcoin is more than a payment network.
Bitcoin’s perfect fit within diversified investment portfolios and its low correlation with other assets.
Nate answers the big question, “Is Bitcoin mature enough to be an institutional asset?”
Comparing Bitcoin’s trading volume and liquidity against FANG stocks and other asset classes.
Why institutions have neglected Bitcoin and the impact that they could have on Bitcoin’s ethos.

Learn Anything. From Anyone. AI talk with Mckay Wrigley Oct 06, 2020

The State of Genetic Testing in The US with Rob Metcalf Sep 25, 2020

Emerging Themes in Fintech with Dan Kimerling Sep 04, 2020

The Different Sides of Precision Medicine with Jo Bhakdi, CEO and Co-Founder of Quantgene Aug 20, 2020

Venture Capital Changes and Business Education with Steve Blank Aug 13, 2020

Esports: Gathering and Growing Communities with Austin Smith Aug 05, 2020

A Case for Earlier Cancer Detection Strategies with Dr. Bert Vogelstein Jul 30, 2020

Automation and Robots in The Manufacturing Sector with Tyler and Colby Stilson Jul 21, 2020

Battery Supply Chain for Electric Vehicles with Simon Moores and Vivas Kumar Jul 09, 2020

Mobile Payments with Alberto Damasso, Founder and CEO of Satispay Jun 29, 2020

The Coming Dawn of Self-Driven Cars with Oliver Cameron Jun 22, 2020

Podcast Monetization Through Subscriptions with Jason Sew Hoy, CEO of Supercast Jun 12, 2020

Innovation Isn’t Voluntary with Jim McKelvey, Cofounder of Square Jun 03, 2020

What Nvidia’s New A100 GPU Means For the Data Center and AI May 26, 2020

Supersonic Travel with Blake Scholl, CEO of Boom Supersonic May 20, 2020

Be Creative. Together. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jared Geller Talk About HitRecord May 17, 2020

The Modern SaaS Industry with Austin Petersmith May 14, 2020

The Blockchain Mindset with Dr. Alex Cahana Apr 24, 2020

In this virtual, remote, distant world we need to make sure that the technologies that support us can transfer information that is accurate, safe and trusted. For today’s episode, we had Dr. Alex Cahana join us to speak about the role Distributed Ledger Technologies will play in shaping business, health systems, and definitions of community in the post-pandemic world. Dr. Cahana is the Chief Medical Officer and Market Lead for ConsenSys Health. His experience is in military, healthcare and most recently, blockchain, and he believes that by ‘blockchainizing’ healthcare we can transform people from passive health service consumers into active, self-sovereign health and wealth producers. In today’s show, we discuss the importance of secure, trustworthy data to business and healthcare and how blockchain-based systems are ushering in a new era in this regard. Dr. Cahana tells listeners about what blockchain’s ability to remove ‘fakeness’ means for securing systems in health, law, news and more. Our conversation also covers the global pandemic and what it has emphasized, what we can learn from it, and how technologies that are being implemented now might be here to stay once things blow over. A key takeaway here is that surviving the pandemic should not come at the cost of our privacy. We discuss his efforts with “Failure Is Not an Option” (FINO) as far as their ventures toward reshaping business through blockchain, and the incentives blockchain could provide to people so that they can take a more active role in their own healthcare. Most importantly, Dr. Cahana’s message is that blockchain is a mindset. It represents a mentality where we realize that we have to work together and it enables a behavioral economy which makes things so secure that trust gets taken out of the picture. Tune in for Dr. Cahana’s big picture, cross-disciplinary insights.

Embrace The Move To Automation Apr 21, 2020

From manufacturing to universities, companies and institutions are in turmoil across the board. During the time of COVID-19, businesses are being forced to look for better, faster, or cheaper solutions to the problems that they’re facing. Increasingly new technologies can provide help. We take a look at how businesses, brands, organizations, public services, and institutions are having to make drastic shifts in order to survive and adopt new solutions such as drones, 3D printing, autonomous driving, and online education. As the world makes behavioral shifts to the “new normal,” we are seeing how people are beginning to move toward automation in multiple areas of their lives – be it food delivery, pursuing education, or catching a ride. The entire world is at a tipping point where we are being forced to embrace the move to automation… who will be left behind?

A World of Contactless Payments Apr 09, 2020

The current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has saturated media across the globe. The information available to us is vast, expansive, and can be all-consuming. But a lot of this information is, understandably, geared heavily toward medical and social topics. In this episode, we explore the impact of covid-19 on fintech companies. We ask the question, what does this mean payment methods and the future of transactions across the globe? George Whitridge and Max Friedrich, FinTech analysts at ARK, talks about how various countries have responded to the push for contactless payment methods, the economic benefits we’re seeing in contactless payments, and how companies and brands such as Zillow, Cash App, and DocuSign are responding to the current crisis. We also take a look at the response to the pandemic by The Small Business Administration and US banks, and why startups who live in uncertainty, are more likely to master this crisis than older business models. We ‘round off with some fascinating stats about just how dirty your credit and debit cards really are. If germs were a currency, perhaps we’d all still be in business? Tune in.

Powering Online Education with Chip Paucek Mar 31, 2020

This week we are joined by Chip Paucek, 2U’s Co-Founder and CEO. 2U is one of the leading online education software platforms. At ARK we often say disruptive innovation gains traction in tumultuous times. There’s perhaps no better example than in the education space. For six years 2U noted that one of the biggest challenges was fighting the stigma of online education, and then in the midst of COVID-19 nearly every school has been forced into an online only setting. Tune in to hear Chip walk us through 2U’s critical role in helping schools’ transition from the classrooms to online. We talk about the challenges of 2U, how online learning can create more engaging classes, and how 2U’s scale can help lower the cost of higher education.

How Innovations in Genomics and Biotech Can Help Us With The COVID-19 Crisis Mar 26, 2020

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to strengthen its grip across the globe, it’s natural to feel a sense of dread and despair. However, we believe that tumultuous times can be the best catalysts for innovation, and this pandemic is no exception. In this episode, Simon Barnett and Ali Urman, ARK’s genomics analysts, are here to discuss developments in genomics and biotech, underway in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Simon sheds light on the declining cost curve of DNA sequencing, which allowed scientists to sequence the virus in a handful of days—a stark contrast to the six months it took to sequence the SARS virus. We also discuss improvements in diagnostic tools like synthetic biology in the context of this pandemic. Ali zooms further in on some preventative medicine and vaccine developments. While traditional vaccines use the virus itself, companies like Moderna, Inovio, and Arcturus Therapeutics, among others, are working on a range of unconventional and potentially groundbreaking preventative measures. We also look at how existing anti-viral drugs are being repurposed for the treatment of COVID-19. Lastly, we take a look at auxiliary areas where we have seen an increase of innovations. Simon highlights how telemedicine, organ transplant, and blood safety measures have seen growth during the crisis. Many of the developments are breaking down FDA barriers. We hope that these developments galvanize innovative approaches to prevention, diagnoses, and treatments not only for COVID-19 but for other diseases as well. Be sure to tune in today!

Business As Usual During Coronavirus – How Innovation Enables Work Remote Mar 24, 2020

Here at ARK we are always talking about disruption and now we are faced with huge disruption. The coronavirus outbreak has massive implications on many levels for the whole world, not least of which is the need for many people to work remote where possible. This episode is a discussion about what that looks like during a time of mass quarantine. We are focusing our discussion on the realms of communication and entertainment. First of all, we discuss video conferencing and naturally, our eyes are on Zoom. Having grown rapidly in the last few years, Zoom will probably prove to be even more important as social distancing is enforced. From there we turn to messaging and texting in a professional context, looking at Slack in particular. We consider some of the other concerns in this period of remote work, particularly security and how the cloud has helped businesses alleviate security concerns. The conversation then turns to entertainment, as we first look at professional sports events, almost all of which have been postponed or canceled, and what might take their place in people’s lives. We can already see E-sports growing, even before the outbreak. We finish off talking about television and movies, arguing that on-demand services will probably strengthen under current conditions with traditional cable suffering due to the absence of sports. Listen in to get it all!

A History of Bitcoin’s Predecessors, Dollarization, and Stablecoins with Nic Carter Mar 19, 2020

Our guest for this week’s episode is Nic Carter, Partner at Castle Island Ventures and Cofounder of Coinmetrics.io. In this episode, we dive deep into some of Nic’s current cryptocurrency obsessions. We start off covering the history of Bitcoin’s predecessors, leading to an interesting realization that the crypto industry today may be forgetting the lessons drawn from previous attempts to create a private money. We then shift the conversation to stablecoins and the implications of their continued growth. In doing so, we highlight that stablecoins today are virtually no different than reserve-backed currencies of the past. We end the conversation on an interesting theory that, contrary to popular belief, crypto may actually be good for the dollar. We explore different cases of dollarization and the heterogenous mechanisms by which they’ve emerged. Tune in for all of that and more!

Exploring the Infinite Prospects of Computer Vision AI with Matt Zeiler Mar 11, 2020

Today’s guest is Matt Zeiler, Founder, and CEO of Clarifai. Clarifai is one of the first startups to apply modern deep learning for image recognition. Their tools are currently used by clients like Staples, OpenTable, and the US Department of Defense (DoD). In this episode, Matt sheds light on the company’s founding story and how an internship at Google was the catalyst for the creation of Clarifai. He also talks about what it’s like competing against industry giants like Facebook and Google. Clarifai’s algorithm and their ability to collaborate rather than compete with their clients truly sets them apart. Matt also sheds light on the benefits of the network effect for both the customers and the company. Matt talks about some of the interesting use cases of their technology, like Trivago, which uses image recognition to organize hotel photos or how the DoD uses it in natural disaster recovery. Matt believes that AI is a great service to the government in helping citizens in many ways, and Clarifai is incredibly proud to be a partner. Tune in to learn more about AI image recognition and be inspired by Matt.

Coronavirus and the Future of Immunotherapy with Prof. Isaiah Arkin Mar 02, 2020

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is dominating most headlines of every news channel in the world. To learn more about this virus and its implications we talked to Professor Isaiah Arkin. He is the Arthur Lejwa Prof. of Structural Biochemistry at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the former Vice-President for Research and Development at the University. He holds a Ph.D. from the Yale School of Medicine in Cell Biology. Professor Arkin’s research has succeeded in shedding new light on the inner workings of flu viruses and in particular how a virus avoids anti-viral therapy. In this episode, Prof. Arkin clarifies some of the misconceptions around the coronavirus and draws parallels between the common flu and SARS. We discuss the threat level of the coronavirus, what we can expect from the disease, how we can control it, and whether the global fear is justified. In the second part of the show, we discuss immunotherapy, which he believes is ‘the next big thing’ in healthcare. He walks us through what the future of cancer research holds, why we should look to the natural world for answers and highlights some interesting research that is currently happening. As usual, our interaction with the Hebrew University was a fruitful one and we look forward to engaging more at NEXUS: Israel 2020 in New York.

How Lululemon Broke the Mold, with Chip Wilson Feb 26, 2020

This week’s guest is Chip Wilson, entrepreneur, philanthropist and most notably, the founder of apparel company Lululemon. Long before Apple and Tesla opened their owned stores, Lululemon pioneered the concept of vertical retail in North America. Unlike other sports apparel companies that sold to retailers, Lululemon designed products were sold exclusively in its own stores. By owning all aspects of design, marketing, and retail, it commanded software like gross margins. In this episode, Chip gives his insights on Lululemon’s business model, why Kit and Ace didn’t take off and his latest involvements in Amer and Anta, which some are calling the Nike of China. We are excited to discuss with Chip his innovative business model approach and how Lululemon was able to become brand pioneers, carving out a corner of apparel and creating the athleisure market.

Bitcoin’s Security Model with Hasu Feb 19, 2020

Eleven years since the creation of Bitcoin, its security model is still not agreed upon. Our guest today goes by the Twitter pseudonym Hasu (@hasufl), an independent cryptocurrency researcher who publishes work on the subject of non-sovereign money and has taken a recent interest in Bitcoin’s security model. We kick off our conversation with a recognition of the power of pseudonymity in the digital realm and the implications of our ability to access an abundance of information in a post-internet world. We then take a deep dive into the world of Bitcoin, unpacking its security model. We begin with an explanation of Satoshi Nakamato’s explicit design goals to achieve the properties of an apolitical monetary system. We introduce an intuitive way of thinking about proof of work, highlighting Bitcoin’s innovative ability to coordinate trust, and facilitate the transfer of value without relying on a centralized authority. We explain why Bitcoin needs mining and how the network incentivizes miners. We place particular emphasis on the economic incentives required to secure Bitcoin and a potential shift in these incentives over time. We finish with an outline of countermeasures against a potentially weakening security model, in hopes to further encourage conversation. Key Points From This Episode: The transition from information scarcity to information abundance since the internet. Democratic values provided by the internet and its culture of pseudonyms. Satoshi’s design goals and Bitcoin’s security principles Why Bitcoin needs mining Timestamping with Nakamoto consensus Miners’ influence on the network: what miners can and can’t do How to think about proof-of-work What secures Bitcoin: a combination of cryptography and economic incentives Acknowledging a shift in Bitcoin’s security model from block rewards to transaction fees Countermeasures to Bitcoin’s changing security model Tweetables: “Money and finance are spaces that have historically had huge barriers to entry and largely been protected from disruption. Cryptocurrency is able to exist outside of the curfew of government regulation.” — @hasufl “The market value of rewards is tied to the health of the network. As a result, the entire balance sheet of miners is tied to the health of the network. If users lose faith, miners lose their investment.” — @hasufl “If there ends up being a problem, and we are in a hurry to fix things, then it’s way easier to make a mistake, adopt an imperfect solution, or implement something without full community buy-in.” — @hasufl

A Proactive Approach for a Pathogen-Free Blood Supply with Dr. Larry Corash Feb 12, 2020

Blood is a crucial supportive therapy within healthcare. Approximately 18 million blood components including red cells, platelets, plasma, cryoprecipitate, and a small amount of whole blood are collected each year in the United States, meaning it is of critical importance that blood remains pathogen-free. Today’s guest is Dr. Larry Corash, the co-founder and chief scientific officer of Cerus (CERS), a patient-centric medical technology firm focused on massively improving the safety of the world’s blood supply. Cerus is helping to shift medical paradigms around the prevention of transfusion-transmitted diseases from reactive to proactive. Before 1971, there was only one test that was done on blood before transfusion, which was a test for syphilis. Since then, tests for other viruses have been invented but the method remains cumbersome and accident-prone. Dr. Corash’s experience with patients who had been infected with HIV through blood transfusions was ultimately what brought him to do the research that lead to the development of the technology Cerus uses. Dr. Corash appears on the show today to speak more about Cerus’s mission, the science behind INTERCEPT technology, legalities around FDA approval in the US, and some of the great work they have already done to revolutionize blood transfusion safety practices globally.

Esports and Gaming Trends with Will Hershey of Roundhill Investments Feb 03, 2020

On the podcast this week, we have Will Hershey, cofounder and CEO of Roundhill Investments, to help us breakdown Esports and the Gaming Industry. Will is responsible for the company’s indexing, research, and product development efforts, in addition to firm-level partnerships and operations. Before founding Roundhill in 2018, Will served as the Head Trader with Yorkville Capital Management, and prior to that he was with Yorkville ETF Advisors, where he was instrumental in the creation and growth of two NYSE-listed ETFs. We dive into the latest trends in gaming, what we are looking forward to as new tech develops, and different business models between streaming platforms, both in the east and the west. Will gives us his perspective on cloud gaming and the introduction of VR. For an incredible look into the world of Esports, be sure not to miss out on today’s episode!

Introduction to ARK’s Big Ideas 2020 Jan 14, 2020

Join James Wang as he interviews Cathie Wood (CEO and CIO at ARK Invest) on our recently published Big Ideas 2020 report. On this podcast Cathie will share her perspective on some of the biggest breakthroughs ARK believes should not be missed in the coming year.

Best of 2019: FYI Podcast with Elon Musk, George Church, and more Dec 22, 2019

As we wrap up 2019, we would like to thank everyone who listened to the FYI — For Your Innovation podcast. We received incredibly positive feedback for our podcast show and had some truly amazing guests in the past year, ranging from world class geneticists to founders and CEOs. In this final episode of 2019, we put together a “greatest hits compilation” of our five most popular episodes. 1. On the Road to Full Autonomy with Elon Musk (EP11) Elon Musk talks about how his engineering background drives his decision making for Tesla and why he is so confident that Tesla will achieve full autonomy. On this podcast: Elon Musk, Tasha Keeney, Cathie Wood. (Listen to the Full Episode) 2. Immunotherapy and the Race to Cure Cancer with Charles Graeber (EP21) For decades cancer was something that was treated rather than cured. Author of the book The Breakthrough: Immunotherapy and the Race to Cure Cancer, Charles Graeber unpacks the history of immunotherapy, why it remained on the fringes for so long, and why cancer might become a manageable disease. On this podcast: Charles Graeber and James Wang (Listen to the Full Episode) 3. The Genomic Revolution with Prof. Dr. George Church (EP26) Professor George Church is one of the pioneers of modern genetics. We dive into the stage of genomics, next generation oncology, the security and regulation of genetic information, gene editing, and the increasing speed of the genomic revolution. On this podcast: George Church, Manisha Samy, Simon Barnett, and James Wang. (Listen to the Full Episode) 4. Wright’s Law—Understanding Technology Cost Curves with Brett Winton (EP07) Brett Winton explains how Wright’s Law makes simple and robust predictions about technology cost declines, and why it’s at the center of ARK’s research. On this podcast: Brett Winton and James Wang (Listen to the Full Episode) 5. Cerebras’ Wafer Scale Engine AI Chip with CEO Andrew Feldman (EP37) Andrew Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Cerebras, joins us to discuss the Wafer Scale Engine, or WSE, an AI chip that is 50 times larger than the largest chips produced by Nvidia and Intel. On this podcast: Andrew Feldman and James Wang (Listen to the Full Episode) We will be back in 2020 with new episodes and more exciting topics, because investing in innovation starts with understanding it. Until then, stay innovative!

The Beginning of Every Deep Learning Exercise With Manu Sharma and Brian Rieger Dec 16, 2019

In today’s episode, we welcome Manu Sharma and Brian Rieger from Labelbox, a private company which we believe is leading training data solution for machine learning. We have had many conversations on this show about artificial intelligence from a hardware and algorithm perspective, but data is just as important. All production AI systems are based on supervised learning, which requires large quantities of data to be labeled so that the algorithms can understand and compartmentalize it. In other words, data without labels can’t be used by most AI algorithms. While large internet companies like Google and Facebook have built custom tools in-house to help label and sort through their large troves of data, most enterprises have very few options. Labelbox aims to fill this gap by providing a scalable and easy-to-use tool to help companies convert their raw data into labeled data fit for machine learning algorithms. Today on the show, Manu and Brian get into the history of Labelbox, as well as the services it provides to its clients and the machine learning community. We talk about the tiers and iterations of Databox, its pricing structures, the various industries it supports, and what makes it stand out against its competition. We also cover some fascinating ground around human-in-the-loop systems, how a machine learning startup would train its AI and the difference between software 1.0 and 2.0. In our conversation, we also speak about Labelbox in relation to computer vision, drone technology, and labor ethics. Join us to get a taste of the many ways data and AI will continue to penetrate life and industry well into the foreseeable future.

The Power of Deep Learning with Bryan Catanzaro from NVIDIA Dec 04, 2019

We are joined by Bryan Catanzaro, Vice President of Applied Deep Learning Research at NVIDIA. In his early career he built some of the original deep learning libraries and worked at Baidu in the specific field of deep speech. In 2016 he returned to NVIDIA and has been there since, exploring the ever-evolving field of deep learning at one of the industry leaders. We discuss conversational AI and the newest advancements in the field, Bryan’s thoughts on NVIDIA’s competition and what the market looks like currently. Bryan also weighs in on how far we are from a more general form of artificial intelligence and how far we can get by just scaling today’s technologies. We also cover autonomous driving, related software, hardware and frameworks and the impact of cloud computing on the field. For this informative chat be sure to listen in to the For Your Innovation podcast!

Streaming Wars with Nick Grous Nov 25, 2019

Isn’t everyone talking about streaming wars? This may seem like a new phenomenon, but it all started in 2007 when Netflix introduced streaming for the first time. With Disney Plus and Apple TV gaining traction, we are exploring what the future of streaming might look like and how it could shape the media landscape. On this episode Nick Grous, analyst at ARK Invest, shares his broad perspective and insightful knowledge on the current streaming wars taking place across the globe. On day one of their launch in November 2019, Disney Plus received over 10 million subscribers from just a handful of countries. Nick explains how the growing competition, like Disney Plus and Apple TV, impacts Netflix – the market leader in the streaming space. We explore some of the history behind streaming and why it took other companies over 12 years to start competing with Netflix. Lastly, we discuss how companies are expanding their business models and products in order to win a piece of the pie. Take a listen to this episode if you want to know who ARK believes might be best positioned in these streaming wars.

HD Maps for an Autonomous Future with Ro Gupta Nov 19, 2019

We are joined by Ro Gupta, the CEO of Carmera to discuss his contribution to an autonomous future. Carmera is a private company that makes real time HD maps for autonomous driving. We talk about his own history and early interest in transportation before diving into the development of digital maps and the apps that have spearheaded this technology. Ro explains data collection, safety policies, and some of the main challenges today. He also describes differences between the US and international markets, notably China. We discuss different solutions, how to share data across platforms, and how Carmera aims to grow in the future.

A Different Type of VC Firm with Eric Vishria from Benchmark Nov 10, 2019

On this episode of FYI we welcome Eric Vishria, General Partner at Benchmark. Benchmark is a one-of-a-kind venture capital firm based in San Francisco, opting to operate with a small team of just 5 to 7 general partners and no junior partners or other team members. They have helped to bring to market iconic companies such as Twitter, SnapChat, DropBox and Uber! In our conversation, we talk about why he believes SaaS is larger than ever before. Eric makes a strong argument for low barriers to adoption over low barriers to entry. We talk about Benchmark’s recent investments in software and machine learning and get some insight into their work with Cerebras as its first investor! As a venture capital company that does not do a lot of PR, it is all the more exciting to have Eric as our guest to get a peek inside a true industry leader and trendsetter.

Asking Different Questions Than Everyone Else, with Sean George Nov 05, 2019

On this FYI episode, we are joined by Sean George, CEO and co-founder of Invitae one of the innovative frontrunners in the medical genetic testing space. (This episode was recorded: Sep. 10, 2019) Invitae is driven by the provision of affordable genetic testing, clinical-grade accuracy, and transparent reporting practices. In asking different questions than anyone else in the space, Invitae is spearheading a paradigm shift in the diagnostics industry.1 For them, finding scalable solutions, where anyone can access information about medical risks they face and then tailor solutions accordingly, is an ideal outcome. Sean also talks about the declining costs of DNA sequencing and the implications it has for the future of the medical genetics testing industry along with the host of other industries it will benefit. He also touches on how genetic testing can continue to change cancer treatment to ensure that all patients get comprehensive, tailored treatments that deal with the specificities of their case. While being an innovator in this space has provided altruistic benefits for many people outside of the company, finding investors has at times proved to be challenging for Invitae. Sean then gets into what the current investment landscape for biotech companies looks like as well as his suggestions for raising capital moving forward. For all this and more, join us today!

The Future of Cultured Meat Production with Yaakov Nahmias Oct 28, 2019

Today’s episode is part two of the discussion with Professor Yaakov Nahmias, the Israeli biomedical engineer and innovator. We discuss his startup, Future Meat Technologies, a company funded by Tyson Foods, which is poised to develop the next generation of cultured meat. Initially when someone proposed the idea of cultured meat to him, Yaakov thought it would be too expensive. Drawing inspiration from the human body’s filtration and purification system, Future Meat Technologies is working on a bioreactor which removes the growth inhibiting ammonia from the cell growth process. With this breakthrough development, the company has a plan to drastically drive down the cost of cultured meat production and improve efficiency to the point where it could surpass the output of the conventional meat industry. This may not only feed more people, but also allow consumers to make more conscious decisions. Yaakov recognizes that it is a niche market and in order to widen the customer base it is important to make the product as close to conventional meat as possible.

A Commitment to Bitcoin with Ric Edelman Oct 18, 2019

Today on the podcast we are joined by Ric Edelman, the founder and chairman of Edelman Financial Engines and author of The Truth About Your Future. We also have our very own Cathie Wood join us for the conversation as we look at the current state of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, a decade after they emerged into the public imagination. We hear from Ric about his early theoretical and then practical interactions with bitcoin, his ongoing belief in the platform, its limitations and what its future may look like. Cathie also weighs in on ARK’s initial relationship with bitcoin and how cryptocurrencies informed the formation of the company. We discuss bitcoin’s strengths and weaknesses, who can most benefit from its unique characteristics at present and the advantages that would emerge with the involvement of the SEC. Tune in to hear this engaging discussion on what we believe to be one of the decade’s defining technologies!

Steve Forbes on the Market, Policy, and the Evolution of Media Oct 06, 2019

On the podcast today, we are joined by Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor in Chief of Forbes Media Group. Together with ARK CEO and CIO Cathie Wood and ARK analyst James Wang, we have a fascinating chat with Steve on the market, the modern media landscape, and the trustworthiness of cryptocurrencies. The podcast starts off looking at the current economic climate, doom and gloom predictions, and why Steve has come out publicly with a relatively optimistic outlook. From there we naturally move into taxation, the market, and all the political issues connected to these topics. Steve gives us his views on the path of Forbes Media Group through the internet age. We hear about the philosophy that guided the company from its previous iteration as a purely print publication, into the online powerhouse we see today. We even broaden our conversation into a comparison of today’s popular music landscape. Lastly, we focus on cryptocurrencies, the concept of trustworthiness of Bitcoin, and some of Steve’s current and upcoming projects. Be sure not to miss this great episode!

Tissue Dynamics with Professor Yaakov Nahmias Oct 03, 2019

In this episode of the FYI—For Your Innovation podcast, we welcome Professor Yaakov Nahmias from the Hebrew University. Yaakov is an Israeli bioengineer and an award-winning, industry-leading expert in his fields, who has worked in 3D printing and cellular research for the majority of his career. This two-part conversation will cover his work at Tissue Dynamics in the field of drug discovery and the production of cost-effective cultured meat at Future Meat Technologies. In this first part, we explore how Professor Nahmias is helping to advance medical research, drug discovery, and production of new medicines. We hear about his ideas that led to the founding of his company, Tissue Dynamics, and some of the problems that the company aims to fix. Professor Nahmias does a great job of explaining the complex issues of drug discovery. We discuss technological advancements, such as smart organ-on-chip technology, that could allow us to reduce the time it takes to find new drugs. For this and more, tune in!

What are Disruptive Innovation Platforms? Sep 25, 2019

For today’s show we welcome Brett Winton, ARK’s Director of Research, to discuss his recent white paper titled Disruptive Innovation – Why Now? The main idea of the paper explores innovation today and how the convergence of five major innovation platforms compares to other innovation periods in our history. Brett details the five technologies that we have identified as transformative signposts today. To unpack just how exciting and unprecedented this is, we look at comparable innovation platforms, their criteria, and impact on our economy. We explore the importance of technologies evolving simultaneously and the exponential nature of stacked innovation platforms. Lastly, we discuss how innovation could impact investing and the different growth industries.

Cerebras’ Wafer Scale Engine AI Chip with CEO Andrew Feldman Sep 16, 2019

Andrew Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Cerebras, joins us this week to discuss the Wafer Scale Engine, or WSE, an AI chip that is 50 times larger than the largest chips produced by Nvidia and Intel. This radical design has raised a lot of eyebrows and it is already being heralded as the biggest breakthrough in semi-conductor technology in decades. Andrew helps us unpack why AI work needs chips this large, how Cerebras was able to leapfrog industry incumbents, and what why the Wafer Scale Engine is the ideal AI training accelerator. Join us on this podcast as we talk with Andrew about some of the biggest hurdles that his team encountered on this market shifting journey.

The Vibrant Online Education Space with Aaron Nace Sep 09, 2019

Building Sustainable Global Trade with Matt Heider, CEO NautilusLabs Aug 28, 2019

On this week’s episode, we are joined by Matt Heider, CEO of Nautilus Labs, to continue the series on looking at startups as a lens to learn about innovation. Nautilus Labs is a maritime tech company that aims to advance the efficiency of ocean commerce. Nautilus is building software solutions for global shipping companies in order to minimize fuel consumption, maximize operations, and optimize fleet performance. In doing so, Nautilus Labs helps ship owners and operators reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enable sustainable global trade. Investors in Nautilus include M12 (Microsoft’s venture fund), Root Ventures, Quiet Capital, Trail Mix Ventures, and Amplifier, amongst others, bringing Nautilus’ total funding raised to $14.5 Million and making it one of the most well-funded maritime startups. Ships transport around 90 percent of the world’s goods across the seas and waste a lot of fuel on poor decisions while doing so. Despite the significant impact of shipping on our daily life, it historically has been a poorly regulated industry, along with very little technological advancements, leading to inefficiencies and fuel waste. Not only is this environmentally destructive, but it also damages companies’ bottom line. Nautilus Labs wants to change that. Its technology platform for shipping companies provides predictive analytics and AI solutions to reduce fuel consumption and maximize ROI. Matt is here to chat with us about this very unique vertical in the SaaS space. If you would like to learn more about Nautilus Labs and the maritime industry, tune into this FYI podcast episode.

Analyzing the Data Center Business with Akram’s Razor (Part 2) Aug 22, 2019

Last week was Part 1 of our conversation with Akram’s Razor where he gave his account of how the crypto crash of 2018 impacted Nvidia and AMD. This week, Akram and James go through Nvidia’s data center business in depth and assess the growing competitive landscape for AI accelerators, from cloud and startup companies alike. Akram shares more about how he approached his research for his thesis on Nvidia and we get into a serious discussion about Google’s AI advantage and why he believes they are not making their TPU training chips freely available. We then debate Nvidia’s pricing for their data center boards and talk about their CEO, Jensen Huang, and his refreshing transparency and openness.

Nvidia and the Crypto Implosion of 2018 with Akram’s Razor (Part 1) Aug 14, 2019

On the show today we are joined by Seeking Alpha contributor, Akram’s Razor, to bring to you a Nvidia podcast in two parts, focused on the company, semiconductors, and beyond. Akram has published numerous articles on semiconductors, software, and macro. He notably forecasted the global crypto crash of 2018 and its impact on Nvidia, an opinion that went starkly against the grain of most analysts in his field. In this first of a two part episode, we on Akram’s thesis on Nvidia, the crash, and the players in the drama that unfolded over the subsequent months. In next week’s follow up conversation, Akram unpacks his thoughts on Nvidia’s datacenter business and looks at the growth of the competitive landscape for AI accelerators. Be sure to join us for this episode and check back for part two as well!

The Capital Market Space within FinTech Aug 05, 2019

This week on For Your Innovation, we are talking to Morgan Dunbar, partner at Bendigo Partners, a firm that specializes in the global financial technology industry as both a principal investor and operational advisor. In addition to that, Morgan is managing partner at AIR Summit, a network and conference targeted at the capital market industry and, in particular, capital market startups. In the podcast, we are going to discuss the capital market space within FinTech, an area that is often overlooked amongst the hype you see around consumer FinTech startups and large venture rounds.

Innovative Insights into Semiconductors, with Dylan Jul 30, 2019

On today’s episode, we are joined by our first ever anonymous guest, who goes by the name of Dylan. James came across him on Twitter and was inspired by his fresh and innovative insights on semiconductors. Dylan works in data science for a large company, but is interested in semiconductors and AI as a personal side project. Having been one of the most stagnant sectors, the semiconductor landscape has dramatically shifted and is now one of the most dynamic and vibrant sectors today. This appears clear as indicated by the meteoric rise of AI chip startups as well as autonomous car developments. Dylan, as an independent analyst, shares some of his background, what spurred his interest, and how his views are different from other analysts. He talks about the state of the chip market, such as current innovations, what the role of trade tensions are, mobile slowdowns and market saturation, to name a few. Then together with ARK analyst Tasha Keeney, he provides an overview of what is unfolding in the self-driving car space in relation to semiconductors, discussing topics such as what current competition there is in the market, anticipated levels of autonomy and whether claims around full autonomy could ever be realized. For this and many more semiconductor insights, join us today!

A Closer Look at Facebook’s Libra and Calibra Jul 15, 2019

Joining us on this episode are ARK analysts Yassine Elmandjra and Max Friedrich. Today we talk about the headlines that Facebook has made in recent months, particularly in relation to their plan to launch their own cryptocurrency in 2020. We discuss what Libra is and how it will be governed, what the role of the Libra Association will be and how it will be different to other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. It seems as though Bitcoin managed to establish itself before any regulatory measures could intervene, but will Libra be given the same opportunity? Yassine and Max share the governmental responses there have been to Libra and how different markets are likely to react. They share their ideas around why Facebook might have introduced this new dimension in their company and about the function of Calibra as a digital wallet. For all of this and more, be sure to join us!

Reimagining the Future of Smart Speakers Jul 08, 2019

On this week’s episode of For Your Innovation, we’re talking to ARK analyst Nick Grous about the booming market for smart speakers. In just over four years, devices like Amazon Echo and Google Assistant have gone from niche toys to a mainstream device that’s found in many people’s homes across the world. We have a conversation about why they’ve become popular, the reason why they’re selling at such a low price and how its adoption into the market compares to the smart phone. We also talk about the Amazon Echo and Alexa and why they have not managed to develop a greater variety of apps compared to Apple’s App Store and what developers can do to improve traction. We get into the practical problems that are still being resolved with voice interfaces and its potential for revitalizing the market through interactive music, shopping and connecting home devices.

The Future of AI Hardware with James Wang Jun 28, 2019

On today’s episode we welcome back our very own James Wang to talk about the future of AI hardware and his recent talk at the CogX event. With a definite move back towards fabrication and production of chips in Silicon Valley, the future of technology in both America and abroad is in just as much transition as ever. James informs us on what the industry and related fields look like right now, how this will all translate into the marketplace and the effect that it will have on companies and customers. We discuss the last year in chip fabrication and think about the years ahead; what vertical and horizontal integration can we expect? We talk about how the field is placed geographically and China’s commitment to industry and market leadership by 2025. We also get into the implications for the autonomous driving market as takes shape.

A New Way for Investors to Be Heard, with Zach Hascoe from Say Jun 18, 2019

On the show today we are joined by Zach Hascoe, co-founder of Say, a company dedicated to giving a voice to all shareholders. Say is an innovative investor communications platform that appears to be transforming the way that companies and shareholders communicate and interact. They are doing this through a verification and democratization process, in which investors of any size are able to question and engage the companies where they own shares. Zach believes this gap in the market is an essential one to fill and has already seen great results on the platform. In our conversation we cover the required background and impetus behind Say’s emergence, the problems that the platform addresses directly and how the company is going about approaching potential clients. Zach explains how he and the team are positioning Say at the moment and the way in which he imagines their position growing. He explains their verification procedure and much more so make sure to listen in with us!

The Genomic Revolution with George Church, Ph.D. Jun 10, 2019

Today on FYI – For Your Innovation we are joined by George Church, Ph.D. for a high-level discussion with ARK’s genomics analysts, Simon Barnett and Manisha Samy, on the current and future status of the field of genetics. Professor Church is a pioneer of synthetic biology and an influencer in the field of genomics. He is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, the Director of personalgenomics.org and a cofounder of a multitude of companies! His innovations have led to technological breakthroughs in the areas of next generation DNA sequencing and CRISPR gene editing, amongst many others. Our conversation in this episode covers a wide range of topics within genomics including next generation oncology, the security and regulation of genetic information, gene editing and the increasing speed of the genomic revolution. Professor Church gives us the inside and expert scoop on how exciting things in his world are and how this may become more of a reality for all of us sooner than you think. For all this and more be sure to join us!

Additive Manufacturing at the Forefront of Innovation, with Peter Leys Jun 06, 2019

On today’s episode your host and ARK analyst, Tasha Keeney, sits down with the chairman of Materialise, Peter Leys. Materialise NV (“Materialise”) is a leading 3D printing firm that specializes in software and solutions for 3D printing for the medical and manufacturing space. You might know the company for their Materialise Build Processor, one of the most commonly used pieces of software across many different 3D printing manufacturers. Peter has been with the company since 2013 but has long been involved in an advisory capacity and has witnessed Materialise’s development to date. We discuss the multitude of advantages of 3D printing, including significantly reducing production costs and enabling greater creativity and freedom of design. Peter talks about the different industries that can benefit from this technology and how the transformation from traditional manufacturing to additive manufacturing is a slow yet inevitable process. He also shares his views about the level of investor interest, what the main focus of Materialise is and how the market will increasingly become consumer rather than product orientated. Be sure to join us for more about the exciting world of 3D printing! Disclosure: As of 4/30/19, ARK holds more than 5% of the shares outstanding for Materialise.

Immunotherapy Part 2, with Dr. Daniel Chen MD PhD May 29, 2019

On today’s show we welcome Dr. Daniel Chen MD PhD, formerly Vice President, Global Head of Cancer Immunotherapy at Genentech/Roche and now Chief Medical Officer at IGM Biosciences to continue our current exploration of immunotherapy in the fight against cancer. In April we spoke to Charles Graeber, author of The Breakthrough, and today we are very lucky to welcome Dr. Chen, one of the leading pioneers of immunotherapy from Charles’ book. In the show he furthers our understanding of the state of cancer immunotherapy and its recent advancements. Dr. Chen expertly balances the excitement and passion around the amazing leaps that have been made with a keen sense of purpose and caution around over playing the hand medicine has currently been dealt. We chat about Dr. Chen’s own experience in the field over the last 20 years and what it has meant in the last decade to bring the latest drugs to market. Our guest unpacks a host of the technical terms and concepts, so that even the most uninitiated can grasp the basics of immunotherapy for cancer. We go on to talk about which forms of cancer are seeing the best results in response to immunotherapy and why, what the next few years may look like and the important role that big data, machine learning and AI can play in the progress we so badly need. For all this and more be sure to tune into our show today!

Artificial Intelligence in China with Jeffrey Ding May 21, 2019

Today on the show we are joined by Jeffrey Ding, creator of the ChinAI newsletter. He is here to tell us all about his work in the AI field and his focus on translating the developments from China to a more western audience. We start off by talking about the reasons why he started his newsletter, namely that the AI community in China are mostly abreast of advancements from the US and UK, while the same cannot be said in the opposite direction. This language asymmetry, as Jeffrey calls it, means there is a gap in the knowledge base in the Americas and Europe around the burgeoning Chinese AI scene. Jeffrey answers a host of questions around rumors and myths related to China’s forays into AI and unpacks some of the key concepts including semiconductors, the facial recognition field, data labelling and data leakage. He brings into contrast many common ideas that misrepresent the state of technology and its motivating factors in China and does a great job of clarifying important touch points such as privacy and government policy. For this fascinating chat, be sure to tune in!

Analyzing India’s Digital Wallet Adoption After Demonetization, with Nicolas Crouzet and Filippo Mezzanotti May 16, 2019

Today Nicolas Crouzet and Filippo Mezzanotti, join us to talk about their research paper (joint with Ph.D. student Apoorv Gupta), which explores the digital wallet adoption in India, after the country voided the two largest denominations of its fiat currency in circulation in 2016. Both Nicolas and Filippo are professors of finance at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The paper, called Shocks and Technology Adoption: Evidence from Electronic Payment Systems, investigates the diffusion of technologies subject to positive adoption externalities and argues that “in the presence of externalities, large, temporary shocks can lead to persistent waves of adoption.” They share some insight into what led to the demonetization and the effects it had, along with what the long-lasting implications of the shock have been in relation to digital payments. They also explore some of the global payment trends and discuss where India fits into the picture of payment digitization. For all this and much more, join us today!

Immunotherapy and the race to cure cancer with Charles Graeber Apr 29, 2019

Today’s guest is Charles Graeber (@charlesgraeber), author of the book The Breakthrough: Immunotherapy and the Race to Cure Cancer. Charles tells us about the amazing strides that have been made recently in finding a cure for cancer. The progress is so notable that Charles was comfortably able to use the word ‘cure’ in the book’s subtitle! That means that cancer is on the way to becoming not just treatable but actually curable for millions of people all over the world. The book and today’s conversation center around the fact that up until now, researchers have been on the wrong trail when it comes to finding the answer posed by this deadly disease. Immunotherapy works by leveraging our body’s own immune system to kill cancer cells, which was previously considered impossible by the scientific community. Charles unpacks some of the history of these ideas, why they have remained on the fringes for so long and why they are now being viewed in a new light. We discuss broader trends in medicine and tech and Charles goes quite in-depth explaining what we know so far and how it is and might be used going forward. For an inspiring chat on this life-changing topic, be sure to join us!

What’s New In Cloud Computing, with James Wang Apr 22, 2019

On today’s episode, James Wang, web analyst at ARK Invest, joins us again to provide his always valuable insights—this time about IT and the cloud. While these topics may not seem as exciting as more talked about tech topics, interestingly enough we believe enterprise computing is valued at an estimated four trillion dollars. James talks about the history of cloud computing and how it has progressed to where it is today as well as its current trajectory. He also discusses some of the current big players and what inroads are being made by them and where they may be falling short. James makes the case for cloud computing and argues, as it currently stands, it is only the tip of the iceberg. Tune in to find out more about the exciting future of cloud computing.

Innovation Pipeline with Prof. Steve Masiclat Apr 14, 2019

On the show today we welcome Professor Steve Masiclat (Newhouse School, Syracuse University) to explain his ideas around the innovation pipeline and the issues he sees arising when it comes to reaching the next level of disruptive innovations. Buckle up for this episode, as we are diving deep into AI and big data. In our discussion we cycle through many examples from the technology world, in particular AI, and use these to explore what Steve argues is a lack of sufficient expertise to further the fields of research study that are currently available to us. We talk about deep neural nets, uneven distribution of technology and expertise, and the slowing effect this may have in the tech fields. We also discuss the different arenas in which research takes place, contrasting the strengths and weakness of academia, industry and startups. Lastly, Steve shares some perspective on his years of teaching and things that have changed over time. He contrasts student attitudes, technologies and social settings. For all this and a whole lot more, be sure to join us today on the For Your Innovation podcast!

Israel Innovation with Yishai Fraenkel Apr 08, 2019

On today’s episode, Yishai Fraenkel, Director General and Vice President at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem joins us to give insight into the interesting topic of Israeli innovation. He has nearly 20 years of experience with Intel, where he worked in new technology, with a focus on artificial intelligence and computer vision and has now been working at the university for over two years. He discusses some of the factors, both socially and culturally, which foster the Israeli ability to innovate, as well as why he is passionate about research and how his university is trying to bridge the divide between fundamental research and industry. He also shares how students have changed over the past decade, why patience is necessary when it comes to innovation and which fields of research most excite him. For all this and much more, join us today! If you want to learn more about Israel Innovation, check out NEXUS:Israel. This an interactive conference uniting the leading finance, investment and business professionals with the most prolific innovators from the spheres of nanotechnology, computer, health, agriculture, environmental and life sciences, to build capacity for the next generation of technology investment, commercialization and knowledge exchange.

Adapting to Fintech, with Nicolas Grous and Max Friedrich Apr 01, 2019

On this episode we share highlights from a recent event hosted by ARK Invest called “Adapting to Fintech”. Nicolas Grous, ARK’s Trading and Research Associate and Max Friedrich, ARK’s Fintech Analyst, are presenting clips from the event’s panel discussion and delve further into the topics explored. Adapting to Fintech offered an in-depth analysis into how technology is disrupting capital markets and what it means for business and investing. The panel was moderated by Bob Pisani, “On-Air Stocks” Editor at CNBC, and consisted of subject matter experts across industries, including: Karen Snow– SVP and Head of East Coast Listings and Corporate Services at Nasdaq Laura Morrison– SVP and Global Head of Listings at CBOE Global Markets Dominic Holland– Head of Fixed Income Electronic Markets at BNY Mellon Markets Morgan Dunbar– Partner at Bendigo Partners Cathie Wood– Founder, CEO, CIO at ARK Invest Nick and Max offer a deep dive into what drives fintech and its development trajectory, the role of data in various sectors, which companies are leveraging data in interesting ways to create new business models, and how fintech innovation shapes up in the public vs. private markets. For an interesting conversation about everything fintech, make sure to tune in.

An Exponential View of the Future, With Azeem Azhar Mar 26, 2019

On the show today we welcome none other than Azeem Azhar, early stage investor and founder of the Exponential View newsletter and podcast. Azeem is here to talk to us about his own work in covering the latest and most innovative developments in technology as well as comment on the current startup and tech landscape, the European market, and offer some exciting future predictions for our listeners! We discuss his audience and the mutually generous relationship he shares with them, some of Azeem’s concerns for the near future, nano satellites and of course, the cloud. Azeem offers first hand insights into the differences between the startup scenes in the US, Europe, and China and the reasons for these disparities. He also comments on the increasing speed of the innovation cycle and moving past Moore’s Law into new territory. For this great conversation, be sure to join us today!

The Future of Food Delivery with James Wang Mar 19, 2019

Food delivery platforms like GrubHub, Uber Eats, and Meituan are taking over the world. In this episode, ARK Internet Analyst James Wang shares his insights on the food delivery business and why he thinks this industry is about to take off now. He talks about the changing nature of our food consumption patterns and admits he’s guilty of ordering more food than the average US citizen. James tells us more about the growing penetration of food delivery platforms, the complexities of marketplace businesses, and why he considers them three sided networks. We discuss food delivery services in China and explain what “dark kitchens” are. Join us for a great episode as we learn more about the future of food delivery services!

Evolving Narratives in the Crypto Space with Andreas M. Antonopoulos Mar 12, 2019

On the show today we welcome Andreas M. Antonopoulos (@aantonop) to chat with us about his perspectives on the current crypto space, the contrasting developments of Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the massive role that design choices play in the future of these two currencies. We also welcome cryptocurrency analyst Arjun Balaji (@arjunblj) as a co-host for this episode. Together we field some introductory and more complex questions on ways in which Bitcoin and Ethereum compete, could potentially replace each other, and areas in which their goals might overlap. We talk about ideological choices from consumers, some of the pitfalls of Ethereum and why he has very little interest in which is the better investment. Andreas also explains scaling solutions and privacy concerns. For all of that and more, tune in today!

How Siraj Raval Built One of the Most Popular AI Channels on YouTube Mar 04, 2019

In this episode of FYI, we chat with Siraj Raval, Director of the School of AI, data scientist, entrepreneur, and much more. Siraj is a leading YouTube educator on the topic of AI and has helped half a million subscribers stay abreast of AI and the latest developments in the field. Today we discuss what prompted his focus on AI in general and deep learning in particular. Siraj also explains some of the recent news stories that have excited him and what he thinks we should pay more attention to. He talks about DeepMind’s AlphaFold, Open AI, self-driving cars and AI text generation. For all this and more, join us on today’s episode!

The Evolution of The Rocket Industry with Eric Berger Feb 25, 2019

In this episode we are joined by special guest Eric Berger, the senior space editor for Ars Technica, as well as our very own automation, energy, and space analyst at ARK Invest, Sam Korus. Together we deep dive into the space industry, particularly the rocket industry, and discuss a new area of space exploration. We discuss how more affordable access to space will likely be a game changer and how it could open up a whole range of new business opportunities. For instance, why do companies and startups pursue global internet or commercial space travel? For an incredible conversation, be sure to tune in!

On the Road to Full Autonomy With Elon Musk Feb 19, 2019

Today we are thrilled to be in Fremont, CA with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. In this episode Tasha Keeney, Analyst at ARK Invest and Cathie Wood, Founder, CEO, and CIO at ARK Invest chat with Elon about the future of Tesla and autonomous driving. The podcast conversation kicks off by sizing the upcoming boom in global electric vehicle demand which leads into a discussion around linear versus exponential growth. Elon explains Tesla’s competitive edge against autonomous driving peers like Waymo and talks about a key upcoming milestone for Tesla, which he thinks most people are overlooking. Elon shares his insights about Tesla’s autonomous strategy, and the timeline of how the process is laid out. We also discuss the autonomous driving regulatory environment and the crucial role that machine learning plays in getting full autonomy on the roads. For an incredibly insightful conversation do not miss out on this podcast episode.

The Effects of Automation and Robots in the Food Industry with Sam Korus Feb 11, 2019

We are joined by our very own automation, energy, and space analyst, Sam Korus. Our topic of conversation is automation in the food industry and how robotics “in front and back of house” might change the industry. A simple reaction to more automated jobs is that it decreases the demand for human roles. However, Sam explains how further automation can actually stimulate human employment through price drops and demand increases. We chat about what sorts of roles can be fulfilled by robots currently and the types of services that are already in place in certain locations. Sam quickly explains how the predicted job increase could work and shares with us his research findings for automation in the food industry. Sam will talk about collaborative robots, use cases coming out of China, and more.

Economics, Trade Relations, And Innovation — Recognizing Investment Potential with Dr. Art Laffer and Cathie Wood Feb 04, 2019

Welcome back to FYI, the For Your Innovation Podcast from ARK Invest. Today on the show we are joined by two special guests. First we have, Catherine Wood CEO and CIO of ARK Invest, as well as a her mentor, former professor, and advisor to ARK Investment Management LLC, Dr. Art Laffer. You might know Dr. Laffer from his famous Laffer Curve. He first gained prominence during the Reagan administration as a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board. Dr. Art Laffer is also the founder and chairman of Laffer Associates, an institutional economic research and consulting firm, as well as Laffer Investments, an institutional investment management firm utilizing diverse investment strategies. In today’s episode we reflect back on Dr. Laffer’s time in the Reagan administration, and what technology and economics was like back in the 80s. We also unpack exactly how the Laffer Curve works, and why cutting taxes can actually result in generating more income for a country as a whole. Finally, we dive into the intricacies of the US-China relations, why they are critical for economic advancement, and the incredible opportunities that lie within free trade. For all this and more, be sure to listen in to today’s episode!

The Bitcoin Centralization Narrative with Yassine Elmandjra Jan 28, 2019

In this episode we are joined by our very own crypto-analyst, Yassine Elmandjra, to talk about the idea that Bitcoin is becoming increasing centralized. This narrative has been growing over the last while with bigger entities supposedly controlling larger portions of the blockchain. Yassine shares his perspectives, ultimately showing that this argument has some serious flaws and that the blockchain has attributes that can prevent so-called “market control”. In our discussion, we cover the basics on the blockchain, mining, and the threat of a “51% attack” before going on to talk about pool centralization and its non-desirability. All of this is explained with the history of Bitcoin in mind. We are looking at the developments in blockchain technology from the last few years. For all this and much more, be sure to tune in!

Wright’s Law — Understanding Technology Cost Curves with Brett Winton Jan 23, 2019

Our guest today is ARK’s very own Director of Research, Brett Winton. He is here on the podcast today to talk about the recent article he published titled Moore’s Law Isn’t Dead, It’s Wrong. Long Live Wright’s Law. In his piece and during this conversation, Brett unpacks the concepts in question and what sparked his desire to make this argument. He explains the popularity of Moore’s Law, used to forecast the growth of technologies, and goes on to show why he thinks it is not the best model for the task. Brett posits that Wright’s Law is better for this application and gives reasons and examples to back up his thesis. For instance, we will discuss electric vehicles, genome research, computing, and nuclear power. Be sure to join us on today’s episode!

Cryptoassets – A review with Chris Burniske of Placeholder Jan 14, 2019

On the show today we welcome Chris Burniske of Placeholder, a venture capital firm that invests in cryptoassets. Chris is a friend and former colleague of ours at ARK Invest and he will be discussing all the latest developments in the crypto space as well filling us in on Placeholder’s projects and founding ideas. Yassine Elmandjra (ARK analyst) is also here to help conduct the interview and further our probing of Chris’ expertise. We aim to provide a review of the past year and get into the idea of defining a new economy before breaking down some of the key areas of interest relating to Bitcoin. Chris unpacks store of value and medium of exchange, what the future may look like, volatility and much more on the vanguard of the crypto world. The discussion turns to some other prominent cryptocurrencies before looking at regulation and global approaches to the growth of the cryptoassets. For all this and much more be sure to tune in! (Note: This episode was recorded 11/07/2018)

Building a Sustainable Future of Electric Powered Vehicles Jan 07, 2019

Welcome back to another episode of the For Your Innovation Podcast. Today on the show we are joined by Sam Korus, ARK’s Thematic Analyst covering robotics, energy storage, and space exploration. In this episode we are going to talk about the fundamental materials you need to build a future powered by electric vehicles and digging into the question of whether or not the earth has enough of those core minerals, like lithium, cobalt, and manganese. Sam has been researching the fundamental ingredients of batteries and where we are in the state of batteries for a long time, so it is really exciting to get his take on exactly where we are and what research and innovation has planned for the next few years. For an incredible conversation, stay tuned to today’s episode!

CRISPR Controversy – A conversation with Stanford Prof. Henry Greely Dec 17, 2018

On the show today we welcome Professor Henry Greely from Stanford to talk a about the recent developments in the genetic field and particularly the latest controversy around CRISPR technology. Professor Greely is the Director at the Center for Law and Biosciences at Stanford, he’s a Professor of Genetics at the Stanford School of Medicine, and a Chair at the Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics. Inside this episode we get a background on gene-editing and CRISPR technology. Prof. Greely breaks down the basic story of Dr. He Jiankui, a Chinese scientist who conducted a gene-editing experiment with twin babies, causing serious concerns in the scientific community and raising ethical questions. From there we discuss alternatives to CRISPR and ways in which the technology could be utilized more conscientiously in the future. In this context, we will also give some attention to the global position of China and the political landscape. For all this and more be sure to tune in!

Amazon AWS – The Everything Store for Enterprise Computing? Dec 10, 2018

Welcome back to a new episode of FYI, For Your Innovation Podcast, a podcast exclusively focused on disruptive innovation. Today on the show Yassine Elmandjra will be co-hosting the podcast with James Wang. We will be diving into the recent announcements at the AWS re:Invent Conference and what it means for the cloud computing space as a whole. Just how Amazon is the everything store for consumers, it seems like Amazon Web Services (AWS) is really the everything store for business and enterprise computing. Inside this episode we explore how Amazon has been able to take over an increasing amount of verticals, their shift into the enterprise software space, and how they are strategically eliminating the competitive edge of other companies with each new product release. We also dig into the importance of owning the customer relationship and why that has given Amazon a much greater insight into the consumer market on all fronts. For an incredible conversation on Amazon’s disruptive innovation, stay tuned in to today’s episode!

Micromobility and the Future of Transportation with Horace Dediu Dec 02, 2018

In this episode of the For Your Innovation Podcast, we chat with Horace Dediu of Asymco about his ideas on micromobility. With the unpredictable and burgeoning market that Horace is immersed in and fascinated by, there is so much to unpack and discuss in terms of possibilities and implications. This discussion offers a large array of thoughts and considerations for anyone connected to the future of transportation. It seems clear that micromobility will be a force to be reckoned with in the world of transit as well as in the global economy. Horace expertly explains many of his thoughts and goes into detail regarding possible permutations across the subject. We talk business models and industry comparisons, as well as looking at the key areas in which micromobility battles will be fought. For a detailed and horizon expanding conversation, be sure to tune in!

Understanding the Autonomous Vehicle Landscape and the Opportunity it Creates for Investors Dec 02, 2018

Welcome to FYI, the For Your Innovation Podcast. This show offers an intellectual discussion on technologically enabled disruption, because we believe that investing in innovation starts with understanding it. Today on the show we welcome on Tasha Keeney, Analyst at ARK Investment, who covers autonomous transport and 3D printing. ARK is a leading investment manager focused on disruptive innovation that is changing the way the world works. ARK was formed to capitalize on the opportunities created by companies benefiting from technological change. Inside this episode, Tasha joins us to talk about the state of the autonomous vehicle landscape and the Mobility-as-a-Services thesis. We also dive into the different launching strategies for various autonomous car companies, predictions for the future of autonomous cars, and learning how to understand the potential opportunity for investors going forward. For all this and more, stay tuned for this incredible conversation. Key Points From This Episode: Tasha’s view on what the autonomous car landscape looks like right now. The differences between level four and level five autonomous cars. Timelines for commercialization of Waymo and GM autonomous cars. Discussing launch locations and strategies for Waymo and GM autonomous cars. Tesla’s strategy for rolling out autonomous and how it differs from Waymo and GM. Understanding why LIDAR can be seen as a crutch for autonomous vehicles. Mechanical, or spinning, versus solid state LiDAR. The best way for investors to look at the opportunity of autonomous vehicles.

Welcome to FYI – The For Your Innovation Podcast by ARK Invest Nov 21, 2018

Welcome to FYI! ARK’s podcast offers an intellectual discussion on recent developments across disruptive innovation—driven by research, news, controversies, companies, and technological breakthroughs. In every episode ARK and guests provide a unique perspective on how to best understand disruptive innovation. We shine light on research, reports, and expert opinions, with the goal to discuss what really matters and how to capture technologically enabled growth. Some of our first guests on this podcast include Horace Dediu, Chris Burniske, Ambassador Yossi Gal, Cathie Wood, and more. Please feel free to reach out to us with topic ideas and suggestions for podcast guest. We hope you enjoy the conversation!