The Contrarians with Adam and Adir

Adam and Adir unpack San Francisco’s AI-fuelled tech boom, from Waymo and Zoox to Figma’s aggressive push and Lovable’s wild valuation. Later, Adir explains what DEF CON reveals about modern cybersecurity, before John Stensholt joins to discuss Tech Bros, Atlassian’s founder breakup and the strange billionaire world of Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar.
GET YOUR TICKET TO THE CONTRARIANS LIVE! https://events.humanitix.com/the-contrarians-live
John Stensholt's book 'Tech Bros' is available now: https://harpercollins.com.au/products/9781460769492
00:00 - San Francisco, Waymo and Zoox
08:00 - Figma, AI and the API Boom
17:15 - Lovable’s $13bn Valuation
21:45 - Contrarians Live Show Announcement
26:30 - LinkedIn’s Algorithm Problem
31:30 - DEF CON, Hackers and Cybersecurity
51:15 - John Stensholt on Tech Bros and Atlassian
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Hear Blackbird's Rick Baker, Airtree's Craig Blair and Jelix's Ian Gardiner discuss the AI Bubble, CGT Founder Chaos and Australia's Startup Future
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Adam and Adir discuss Zoox, Waymo, autonomous cars, Xero’s strange Vegas advertising, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Victoria’s work-from-home laws, Delta One, airline lounges, Jetstar’s carry-on bag crackdown, Ryanair, Canva’s slowing growth, AI design tools, Claude, OpenAI, Figma, Atlassian’s profit pivot and the future of Australia’s biggest tech companies.
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Adam and Adir discuss Canva’s slowing growth, its $60 billion valuation, Figma, Meta, AI design tools, OpenAI, Anthropic, the pressure on Australia’s biggest private tech company, eBay’s corporate terrorism scandal, the Steiners, Devin Wenig, CEO accountability, the $55 million settlement and why corporate consequences rarely reach the top.
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Adam and Adir discuss Ben Carroll replacing Jacinta Allan, Victoria’s work-from-home laws, credit card fees, AI chatbots, bad customer experience, the “logo CEO” problem, Qantas, Alan Joyce, self-managed super property changes, Gen Z drinking habits, OSW and the battery boom, Anthony Fauci, COVID lockdowns, Leopold Aschenbrenner’s AI fund blow-up, Anthropic, Nvidia and the AI bubble.
01:07 - Victoria's Leadership Change
06:52 - Credit Cards
13:20 - AI Customer Service
18:26 - Logo Changes and Rebrands
27:08 - Alan Joyce
41:08. - Property Rules
51:59 - OSW
1:03:22 - Fauci, COVID and the Pandemic Reckoning
1:16:30 - Leo Lats, AI Leverage and Bubble Behaviour

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