Code Story: Insights from Startup Tech Leaders - S11 E10: Brennan Pothetes, Infinity Constellation

Brennan Pothetes grew up in Louisiana, but went to High School in Portland, Oregon - two very different places. He started his career in internal audit, before he eventually helped launch Simple, the first bank on the iPhone. He has built a lot of companies since, and continues to do so. Outside of business and tech, he likes food and enjoys whipping up some cajun or greek cuisine. Recently, he picked up surfing, but also likes to sit down with real time strategy games like Civilization.

Brennan was one of the first customers of Invisible, which was one of the biggest trainers of LLMs. After he sold his last company, he was approached by the board to help then spin businesses out, but in a strategic way with a hold co, allowing them to work together with them zero to one, and beyond.

This is the creation story of Infinity Constellation.

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Headlines From The Times - Wallis Annenberg Legacy, Rising Global Pressure, Alligator Alcatraz Lawsuit, SNAP Data Fight, Stater Bros Strike, & Tea App Breach

Wallis Annenberg, whose decades of giving transformed Los Angeles’ cultural and civic life, has died at 86, leaving behind a profound legacy across education, healthcare, and the arts. Meanwhile, President Trump escalates pressure on Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, cutting a 50-day peace deadline to less than two weeks after renewed Russian attacks.Lawyers sue Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center over detainees held without charges. California and other states take on the USDA for demanding personal data from SNAP recipients. Thousands of Stater Bros. grocery workers authorize a strike across Southern California stores over labor disputes. And a dating safety app suffers a major data breach, exposing tens of thousands of user images and IDs.

Marketplace All-in-One - How does online scamming work?

Bridget and Ryan get swept up in a cyberpunk adventure as they try to answer Cooper’s question about how online data thefts can lead to real world consequences for your bank account. With the help of longtime friend of the program, Scam Slammer Host Brenda Hammer, the duo travel inside the internet to follow the trail of our digital bread crumbs, and see how advertisers and fraudsters get to know more about us than we might think.

The Intelligence from The Economist - Pause for little effect: a trickle of aid in Gaza

Localised “tactical pauses” in Gaza relieve international pressure on Israel more than they relieve the pressure of starvation on Gazans. We ask how the aid effort looks on the ground. Japan’s law on couples sharing surnames is coming under fire; repealing it might actually help with the birthrate. And how Bad Bunny brought Spanish to the top of the charts.  


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Opening Arguments - Chesa Boudin Grew up Visiting His Parents in Prison. He Later Became San Francisco DA.

OA1177 - We are excited to welcome former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin for the first half of this unique two-part interview! Chesa is a very notable representative of the “progressive prosecutor” movement. His time as SF DA shows both the promise of this movement, and the limitations. But before we dig into all that, we begin with Chesa’s unique background as the child of incarcerated parents and how this experience inspired him to dedicate his life to bringing a new approach to the criminal legal system.

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WSJ What’s News - Famine Unfolding in Gaza, Experts Say

A.M. Edition for July 29. At least sixteen children under five have died of hunger-related causes since mid-July, according to the UN-supported group the IPC. WSJ correspondent Margherita Stancati says it’s the most dire assessment of conditions in Gaza since the war began. Plus, in Midtown New York a lone gunman has killed four people including a police officer and a Blackstone executive. And, we look at how the Trump administration is looking to borrow 1 trillion dollars with a deluge of new government debt. Azhar Sukri hosts.


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NPR's Book of the Day - In Sophie Elmhirst’s ‘A Marriage at Sea,’ a couple tries to keep themselves afloat

In 1972, Maurice and Maralyn Bailey set out from England to sail around the world. Partway through the voyage, a whale knocked a hole in their boat, leaving the couple stranded at sea. A Marriage at Sea, a new book by Sophie Elmhirst, chronicles how the Baileys struggled to survive for months as they awaited rescue. In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about the Baileys' story.

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The Daily - Europe Caves to Trump on Tariffs

By almost all accounts, the historic trade deal that was reached between the United States and the 27 nations of the European Union is far better for the United States than it is for Europe.

Jeanna Smialek, the Brussels bureau chief for The Times, explains why the European Union gave in to President Trump and the blowback that’s causing.

Guest: Jeanna Smialek, the Brussels bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

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The Ezra Klein Show - Best Of: Barbara Kingsolver on ‘Urban-Rural Antipathy’

“It’s so insidious, people don’t realize it,” Barbara Kingsolver told me, describing the prejudice against “country people.” Kingsolver is one of those “country people,” as well as a literary legend in her own time, who set out to write the “great Appalachian novel.” And I think she did. 

Demon Copperhead” won the Pulitzer Prize in 2023, and we taped this conversation later that year. And I wanted to re-air it because the divide between rural and urban America remains just as strong today, and as relevant to our politics. And Kingsolver might be the country’s sharpest and most poignant observer of it.

Mentioned:

Shiloh and Other Stories by Bobbie Ann Mason

Book Recommendations:

Landings by Arwen Donahue

Raising Lazarus by Beth Macy

Pod by Laline Paull

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find the transcript and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Mixing by Sonia Herrero, with Aman Sahota.

Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Rollin Hu, Elias Isquith, Marina King, Jan Kobal, Kristin Lin and Jack McCordick. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.

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