Bits, Bytes, and Burgers with Byrne Hobart

Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined again by Byrne Hobart, writer of The Diff, for a follow up conversation about “whales” – and so much more – across the gaming, aviation, software, hospitality and fast food industries. Patrick and Byrne also discuss their writing process, knowledge management, and how they use AI tools.
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Full transcript available here: www.complexsystemspodcast.com/byrne-hobart-whales-miscellany

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Links:

• The Diff thediff.co
• Capital Gains capitalgains.thediff.co
• Byrne Hobart’s book Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation
• Kongregate Presentation:
  • Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7SDByLlCHw)
  • Slides (https://blog.kongregate.com/dont-call-them-whales-f2p-spenders-and-virtual-value/)

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Twitter:

@patio11

@byrnehobart

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Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:45) Economics of video game currencies
(02:56) Pricing strategies in mobile gaming
(05:08) Monetization skew towards high-end players
(08:08) VIP systems and casino host analogy
(11:08) Whale behavior in casual games
(15:03) Hyper-consuming outliers in other industries
(19:09) Sponsors: WorkOS | Check
(21:25) Hobbies and opportunity costs
(23:01) Custom software for tech billionaires
(26:30) Evolution of website development
(29:55) Restaurant websites and delivery apps
(40:17) McDonald's take rates
(44:59) Restaurant groups
(53:34) Tech company cafeterias and employee benefits
(57:57) Google's business model and economic feedback loops
(1:00:57) Early Google investment anecdote
(1:02:16) Writing as a memory aid
(1:04:46) Using ChatGPT for memory assistance
(1:10:30) LLMs as writing and coding aids
(1:13:34) Children's interaction with ChatGPT
(1:18:11) Arguing with LLMs and using them for research
(1:03:00) Wrap

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Complex Systems is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Turpentine also has a social network for top founders and execs: https://www.turpentinenetwork.com/