Empire

What Empire Says About Technology

12 episodes about technology

Empire features interviews with top crypto founders to get the real stories that aren’t shared elsewhere. Empire is your...

Key Insights on Technology

College graduates are booing AI mentions at commencement speeches, reflecting anxiety about job displacement from technology whose architects promise career destruction

  • Meta laid off 8,000 employees (10% of staff) while installing screen tracking software allegedly for AI training, creating 'new lows' in company morale
  • OpenAI's Sam Altman shifted messaging from doom to augmentation: 'way cooler to help software developers Pokemon evolve into superheroes than replace them'
  • Dr. Christina Maher combines software engineering, finance, and neuroscience backgrounds to develop brain-computer interfaces for enhanced human communication
  • "You have this innovation bazooka with these models. Why would you point it at rebuilding payroll or ERP or CRM?" - Anisha argues AI should target the other 90% of enterprise spend, not just the 8-12% on software
  • "Weird wins" - startups can thrive building products touching disagreement, persuasion, and sexuality that big tech committees explicitly avoid due to brand risk
  • Workday has 97% gross dollar retention but takes 6.5 minutes for a tech investor to find basic compensation information
  • HR software serves as a bellwether for AI adoption reaching mass enterprise takeoff beyond coastal tech hubs

Episodes

Figure Co-Founder: How Figure Became A $10B Business | Mike Cagney

Figure Co-Founder: How Figure Became A $10B Business | Mike Cagney

A Quantum Fork is Coming to Bitcoin | Alex Pruden & Philip Martin

A Quantum Fork is Coming to Bitcoin | Alex Pruden & Philip Martin

Western Union CEO: Western Union's Stablecoin Future

Western Union CEO: Western Union's Stablecoin Future

The Two Biggest Issues In Crypto Today | Weekly Roundup

The Two Biggest Issues In Crypto Today | Weekly Roundup

Copper Founder: Building a Billion Dollar Company & Fixing Crypto Custody

Copper Founder: Building a Billion Dollar Company & Fixing Crypto Custody

Hivemind: State of The Market, Saylor’s End Game & AI Growth in China

Hivemind: State of The Market, Saylor’s End Game & AI Growth in China

Hivemind: Can Bitcoin Reclaim $80k, State of The Market & The AI Trade

Hivemind: Can Bitcoin Reclaim $80k, State of The Market & The AI Trade

Building The Perfect Portfolio In 2026 | Tushar Jain & Pranav Kanade

Building The Perfect Portfolio In 2026 | Tushar Jain & Pranav Kanade

Hivemind: Surviving Market Chop, Is Crypto Bottoming & Reasons to Be Optimistic in 2026

Hivemind: Surviving Market Chop, Is Crypto Bottoming & Reasons to Be Optimistic in 2026

Quadrillions: The New Wall Street | Nick Shalek & Mathew McDermott

Quadrillions: The New Wall Street | Nick Shalek & Mathew McDermott

Quadrillions: Stablecoins: We’ve Only Just Begun | Mohamed Afifi

Quadrillions: Stablecoins: We’ve Only Just Begun | Mohamed Afifi

Why BitGo Went Public | Mike Belshe

Why BitGo Went Public | Mike Belshe

Books on technology

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