Welp. Here we are with a bittersweet episode of Same Same but Tech: it’s the Season Two wrap up show. And after travelling up, down and all around the technosphere, what a season it was! From the highest of highs to the pits of despair, our guests brought us into their worlds, building technologies that are moving and shaking the foundation of culture and bringing us into the future, one brilliant analogy at a time. And while the good times always have to come to an end eventually, we thought...

Joined by O.G. startup whisperer, Brad Feld, Co-founder of Techstars and Managing Director of the Foundry Group, we dive into the startup soup. This latest wave of startups is boooooming. Money is pouring in as startups as the pandemic actually births or accelerated many - from audio social networks to video conferences to ghost kitchens! But anyone who’s tried before knows how hard it is to actually start a company. It takes funding, confidence, and a team that can make it happen. But how...

The deepfakes are coming! The growing trend of AI manipulated media has been racking up views and making everyone from Tom Cruise to Nancy Pelosi say things they’ve never said before, blurring the line of trust in what’s actually real and what’s altered on the Internet. In this episode of Same Same but Tech, we go deep with a startup called Lyrebird, who revolutionized an audio deepfake technology called voice cloning. Co-Founder and Head of Research Kundan Kumar gives the inside look at how...

WTF is an NFT? Why are they worth so much? And what do they have to do with internet cats and the NBA? All of these questions and more answered on this edition of Same Same but Tech. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital assets that can be bought and sold on the public ledger of the blockchain. In this episode, we trace the story of the rise of Dapper Labs, who’ve been on the front edges of advancing NFTs. In 2017 they started Cryptokitties, an NFT marketplace offering a digital...

What will the future of celebrity look like? Here’s a scoop on the tiger beat: The next teeny-bop sensation might be a bot. No, we’re serious. An entirely new era of stardom is upon us, and the pop stars of the future are going to be, well, a little less human. All the instagram glitz and TikTok glam of today’s influencer culture without the human flaws? That’s the promise of the latest mind-blowing innovations in virtual beings technology. And what is a virtual being you ask? We’re going to...

Since the pandemic drove the world indoors and “Work From Home” became the new mantra, a host of voice-first social networking apps like Clubhouse have busted through the interwebs and into our airpods, creating a buzz around Social Audio as the next frontier of social media. This week on Same Same, we track the rise of Clubhouse with one of its most prolific users: musician Axel Mansoor, who for the last several months was the literal face you see on the app icon. He started the Lullaby...

SHOW DESCRIPTION How much money would you pay to go to space? With Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, and Blue Origin throwing billions at launching tourists into space, that question is less hypothetical than you’d think. This week on Same Same, get the inside track on what it takes to get into orbit and how it will shift our galactic perspective with guests Raphael Roettgen, space investor and founder of E2MC Ventures, and Richard Garriott, a video game pioneer and serial entrepreneur who risked...

Is AI-generated artwork “real” art? Is an artist using a computer a “real” artist? What is “art,” anyway? According to our guests, Dr. Ahmed Elgammal and Hugo Caselles-Dupré, generative art using AI is just like using a camera in the 1850s. As the popularity of AI-generated art grows, so does the debate of what is - and isn’t - considered art. Listen to the story of the team at Obvious, the creators of the first piece of generative artwork ever to be auctioned off at the venerable Christie’s...

Imagine trying to change a habit people have had for thousands of years: eating meat. That’s the human-engineering challenge ahead of the makers of plant-based meat -- create a burger that saves our climate, tastes incredible, and convinces humanity to trade in their beloved burgers for something . . . well, green. The story of the Impossible Whopper, from test kitchen to drive-thru. Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy, Head of Innovation at Spotify, Partner-alum at BCG Digital Ventures, and...

Season 2 of Same Same But Tech is on the way with stories about commercial space flight, AI-generated art, plant-based food, startups, and more.

What makes our podcast tick? Join us behind the scenes with Corinne Javier and Lee Schneider (Producers @ Same Same but Tech) to recap our first season of Same Same But Tech. We discuss our favorite episodes, dream guests, and preview Season Two! Sound effect medley, anyone? Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by BCG Digital Ventures. Thank you to our Season 1 guests: Justin Kan, Dennis Mortensen, Quentin Hardy, Kimberly Zenz, Anthony Johnson, Andrey “reynad” Yanyuk, Matthew Cohen,...

What makes the Apple Pencil every illustrator's favorite toy? Kevin Bethune (Founder + Chief Creative Officer @ dreams • design + life ) and Bill Burnett (Executive Director of the Design Program @ Stanford University) join us as we dissect human-centered design, and learn how to design a new product that people really, deeply love. Hint: it all starts with empathy... Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by BCG Digital Ventures.

What’s better - YouTube or Apple Music? Disney+ or Netflix? How does Spotify make money? Gabby Cohen (Chief Brand Officer at Rent the Runway) and Sanjay Amin (Head of YouTube Music Subscription Partnerships) join us to dissect the subscription economy vs the sharing economy, and provide the real reason why we don’t “own” anything anymore - not even our clothes. Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by BCG Digital Ventures.

Matt Salzberg (Founder + Chairman @ Blue Apron) joins us to answer “Why did we run out toilet paper during the pandemic?” In this Mini Episode, we break down supply chains and discuss the coronavirus supply chain, the food supply chain, and how consumers can influence ethical production practices, like Apple’s commitment to go carbon neutral. Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by BCG Digital Ventures.

Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto (Managing Director @ Gemini) and Shawn Cheng (Partner @ ConsenSys) join us for a two-for-one episode to explain the hottest buzzwords since “the internet” - cryptocurrency and blockchain. In this episode, we answer “what are cryptocurrencies” and explain blockchain technology applications. Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by BCG Digital Ventures.

Alexis Hancock (Technologist @ Electronic Frontier Foundation) joins us to answer Mauhan’s favorite question, “Is my phone listening to me?!” In this Mini Episode, we discuss ambient listening, mobile GPS, and everyone’s favorite app, TikTok. Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by BCG Digital Ventures.

Ted Schilowitz (Futurist @ Paramount Pictures) and Greg Sullivan (Director of Mixed Reality @ Microsoft Hololens) take us on a journey through our new digital realities: virtual reality (“VR”), augmented reality (“AR”), mixed reality (“MR”), and the catch-all extended reality (“XR”). In this episode of SSBT, we hear virtual and augmented reality examples, and learn how mixed and virtual reality headsets like Hololens, Oculus Quest, and the upcoming Apple Glasses work. Hosted by Mauhan M...

Boris Sofman (Head of Trucking @ Waymo) invites us into the future at Google’s self-driving car project in this SSBT Mini Episode. Together, we consider all the profound implications autonomous vehicles will have on cities, travel, and our day-to-day lives. Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by BCG Digital Ventures.

Andrew Lewman (Co-Founder/CEO @ Tor Project) and Gary Aflord (Supervisory Special Agent @ IRS) take us on a journey to the anonymous internet, and recount the incredible story of the Silk Road aka “the Amazon for drugs.” In this episode of SSBT, we answer the question, “What is the dark web?” and discuss what it reveals about humanity. Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by BCG Digital Ventures.

Christian Guirnalda (Director @ Verizon 5G Labs) helps us answer “What is 5G?” in this SSBT Mini Episode. Together, we take a peek into a 5G future full of crazy-fast download speeds and augmented reality in grocery stores. Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by BCG Digital Ventures.

Andrey “Reynad” Yanyuk (esports star + owner @ TempoStorm) and Matthew Cohen (Gaming @ CAA) dissect the video game industry. While explaining gaming, streaming, and esports, they help answer “What is esports?” and “Are esports like 'real' sports?” Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by analogies.

Can Anthony Johnson (CTO @ GIPHY) explain GIFs using words? On the heels of Facebook’s $400 million acquisition of GIPHY, Anthony joins SSBT for a “Mini Episode” to answer “What is a GIF?” and explain their cultural significance. Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by analogies.

Quentin Hardy (Head of Editorial @ Google Cloud) and Kimberly Zenz (Head of Threat Intelligence @ DCSO) explain the most popular tech buzzword of the past decade, and answer your questions about cloud computing basics like, “How does cloud computing work, and is my online identity safe?” Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by analogies. This episode was recorded before the pandemic.

Justin Kan (Co-Founder + CEO of Twitch and Atrium) and Dennis Mortensen (Founder + CEO of x.ai) kick off Season 1 by helping us answer, “What is artificial intelligence and how does it work?” Hosted by Mauhan M Zonoozy. Powered by analogies.