waffleByte: Tech News & Deep Dives

Today is a good one, we start off with Trump's Tariffs and the implications it has on tech, then talk about antitrust issues and Instagram's new "Blend" feature. We also look into Norway's wealth fund - one of the most incredible feats of any Government, and end on running humanoid robots. Enjoy!

WaffleByte is all about interesting stories and bytes about technology, business, and things that might change the world. Hosted by Kuankuan Lin and Sourish Sharma, available every Monday. We try not to waffle.

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this episode's sources⁠

Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:00:52 Trump's Tariffs00:10:14 Antitrust cases00:18:04 Instagram Blend00:23:57 Norway's incredible $2 Tn fund00:39:51 Thought of the Episode

Today we discuss a new time-based social media app, seven39, look at OpenAI's strategy in India, discuss lab-grown meat, and peer into Shopify's CEO's radical company memo. Also, we uncover who the heck Reuters are, before ending on a conversation about smartphones in China. Enjoy!

WaffleByte is all about interesting stories and bytes about technology, business, and things that might change the world. Hosted by Kuankuan Lin and Sourish Sharma, available every Monday. We try not to waffle.

⁠Follow us on Twitter/X!⁠

this episode's sources⁠

Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:01:13 seven3900:11:42 OpenAI in India00:19:48 Mississippi bans lab-grown meat00:24:37 Shopify and AI00:31:15 Uncovering Reuters00:48:16 Thought of the Episode

This is a chat with Dan Scarbrough, Chief Commercial Officer of Stelia. Stelia’s mission is to “build the internet for AI”, offering a data mobility platform which allows for ultra-fast and flexible scaling with access to the best compute resources available globally.Dan is a data centre wizard, with over 25 years of experience in the industry and various entrepreneurial ventures. In this conversation, we explore the future of the internet, the problem AI innovators face today, the philosophy of humanity, and lots more. Enjoy!

A HUGE thank you to ⁠OpenUK⁠ for organising ⁠State of Open Con⁠ 2025, where we met Kris!!

Dan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danscarbrough/Stelia's Newsroom: https://newsroom.stelia.ai/Stelia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stelia-io/

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We dissect the latest Nothing and Xiaomi phones, Apple's new MacBook Air, startups that've raised $100mn in 2025, Discord's potential IPO, and TSMC's $100bn American plan. We also learn about the full story of Wetherspoons, before ending on a thought on YouTube premium. Enjoy!WaffleByte is all about interesting stories and bytes about technology, business, and things that might change the world. Hosted by Kuankuan Lin and Sourish Sharma, available every Monday. We try not to waffle.

⁠Follow us on Twitter/X!⁠

this episode's sources⁠

Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:00:51 New phones00:10:54 New MacBook Air00:19:25 Startups raising $100mn00:22:16 Discord's IPO00:26:40 TSMC's $100bn bet00:30:34 The full story of Wetherspoons00:51:08 Thought of the Episode

This is a chat with Kris Bondi, co-founder and CEO of Mimoto, a tech startup using AI to revolutionise cybersecurity. Kris has had a squiggly career path, working in a diverse range of jobs with a diverse range of people.Kris has honed her marketing skills by helping many entrepreneurs go-to-market, and her experience in consulting came after a short stint in journalism right at the start of her career.In this conversation, we explore how to run a remote-first company effectively, the buzz of Silicon Valley, the top tip for technical people, and lots more. Enjoy!

A HUGE thank you to OpenUK for organising State of Open Con 2025, where we met Kris!!

Kris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisbondi

Kris' Substack: https://krisbondi.substack.com/

Mimoto: https://www.mimoto.ai/

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This is a chat with Chris Hadnagy, founder and CEO of Social-Engineer LLC. Chris has 2 decades of experience in the science of human hacking, and has authored many books on the topic.Chris has mastered the art of social engineering through physical penetration testing - where he breaks into buildings to test their security, and digital campaigns such as sending millions of phishing emails. Chris works with the latest technologies, currently experimenting with Deep Fake CEO fraud.In this conversation, we explore why we should all learn social engineering, how it will evolve over time, do a real-life demo of a physical pen test, and lots more. Enjoy!Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherhadnagy/Social Engineer: https://www.social-engineer.com/Human Behavior Conference: https://humanbehaviorcon.com/

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We look at 4 headline stories today, starting off with the North Korean $1.4 billion hack, then the iPhone 16e, Microsoft's quantum developments, and a round-up of DOGE updates. We also try to understand what Palantir is all about, before ending on a discussion about food delivery services. Enjoy!

WaffleByte is all about interesting stories and bytes about technology, business, and things that might change the world. Hosted by Kuankuan Lin and Sourish Sharma, available every Monday. We try not to waffle.

⁠Follow us on Twitter/X!⁠

this episode's sources⁠

Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:01:12 The $1.4Bn hack00:10:13 iPhone 16e00:23:44 Microsoft's quantum leap00:26:30 A DOGE roundup00:34:24 Who are Palantir?00:45:52 Thought of the Episode

We breakdown the drama between Elon Musk and Sam Altman to understand what's going on, discuss Arm's latest move, and use the iPhone leaks to springboard into the smartphone market. Sourish also shares interesting improv ideas and stories from his 19th year of life. Enjoy!

WaffleByte is all about interesting stories and bytes about technology, business, and things that might change the world. Hosted by Kuankuan Lin and Sourish Sharma, available every Monday. We try not to waffle.

⁠Follow us on Twitter/X!⁠

this episode's sources⁠

Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:01:10 Elon vs Sam00:09:51 Arm designing CPUs?00:14:40 iPhone 17 leaks 00:21:46 Some musings from Sourish01:20:57 Thought of the Episode

Michael Stahnke is the Vice President of Engineering at Flox, having previously been the VP of Engineering at CirceCI. Michael has thus far had a decorated career in developer tooling and team leadership, also acting as an advisor at Uplevel. In this conversation, we get a glimpse into Michael's strategies for successfully leading talent, discuss the role of LLMs in the workplace, and lots more. Enjoy!

The waffleByte Podcast partnered with our friends at OpenUK to interview cool people at State of Open Con 2025.

Michael

Flox

Nix

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Guy Podjarny is celebrated in the tech space having co-founded the cybersecurity company, Snyk, which is valued at over $3 billion. Today he works on his new company, Tessl, to develop an AI Native development platform and recently raised $125 million to fund this future. In this conversation, we learn from Guy's career of building and leading companies. Enjoy!The waffleByte Podcast partnered with our friends at OpenUK to interview cool people at State of Open Con 2025.

Guy

Tessl

Snyk

AI Native dev community

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