# Byrne Hobart

> Byrne Hobart is the founder and author of The Diff, a daily newsletter read by hedge fund managers, venture capitalists, and tech founders tracking inflection points in finance and technology. A self-taught investor who landed at SAC Capital without a college degree purely on the strength of his writing, Hobart now co-runs Anomaly, a frontier tech investment firm, and co-authored Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation with Stripe Press. He writes roughly 500,000 words a year and counts 1.5% of the Forbes 400 among his readers.

- **Role:** Founder & Author at The Diff; Founding Partner at Anomaly
- **Organizations:** The Diff, Anomaly, Stripe Press (book author), The Riff (podcast)
- **From:** St. Louis, USA
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** High School (Jesuit), St. Louis University High School, Attended on full scholarship, did not complete degree, Arizona State University
- **Known for:** Founded The Diff, one of Silicon Valley's most-read finance and tech newsletters with 50,000+ subscribers, 1.5% of the Forbes 400 read The Diff, Landed a job at SAC Capital (one of the world's top-performing hedge funds) without a college degree

## Career timeline

- **~1995** — Read The Westing Game at age 10, sparked interest in stock markets
- **~1996** — Bought first stock (Southern Union Gas) at age 11
- **~1998** — Opened first brokerage account at age 13
- **~2004** — Won full-ride scholarship to Arizona State University
- **~2005** — Dropped out of ASU at 18, moved to New York City to pursue finance
- **2006-2012** — Worked in online marketing in NYC, including building Yahoo SEO strategy for news, sports, and finance verticals
- **2012** — Hired at SAC Capital (later Point72) as internet-sector analyst, covering Google, Amazon, WebMD, and others - without a college degree
- **2014** — Laid off from Point72 due to team restructuring; joined 21.co under Balaji Srinivasan in marketing and BD
- **2017** — Joined M Science as Senior Analyst
- **2018** — Started publishing finance and tech essays on Medium; began building audience
- **2019-2020** — Launched The Diff on Substack at platform's invitation
- **2020-01** — Tweeted January 27 that COVID-19 had likely already reached New York City
- **2020-02** — Activated The Diff paywall as pandemic concerns grew
- **2020-06** — Newsletter revenue exceeded all other income sources
- **2023-02** — Identified SVB's massive unrealized bond losses weeks before collapse; shorted SIVB
- **2024** — Co-authored Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation with Tobias Huber, published by Stripe Press
- **2024** — Co-founded Anomaly, a frontier tech investment firm, with Tobias Huber
- **2024-08** — Nikhil Davar joined The Diff to handle research, operations, and new ventures
- **2026-03** — Appeared on Bloomberg Odd Lots (live at SXSW) with David Shor discussing AI and white-collar job displacement

## Achievements

- Founded The Diff, one of Silicon Valley's most-read finance and tech newsletters with 50,000+ subscribers
- 1.5% of the Forbes 400 read The Diff
- Landed a job at SAC Capital (one of the world's top-performing hedge funds) without a college degree
- Co-authored Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation, published by Stripe Press (2024)
- Co-founded Anomaly, a frontier tech investment firm
- Early and accurate public prediction of COVID-19 reaching New York (January 2020)
- Identified SVB's unrealized bond losses weeks before the 2023 banking crisis
- Earned CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation
- Writes ~500,000 words per year across newsletter, essays, and other output
- Readers include hedge fund managers, VCs, tech founders, and 1.5% of the Forbes 400
- Co-hosts The Riff podcast with Erik Torenberg (Turpentine network)

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Appeared on Bloomberg Odd Lots at SXSW with David Shor discussing AI's impact on white-collar employment
- **2025** — Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation received major reviews including in The New Atlantis
- **2024-08** — Hired Nikhil Davar to join The Diff team for research, operations, and new ventures
- **2024** — Co-founded Anomaly, frontier tech investment firm, with Tobias Huber
- **2024** — Published Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation with Stripe Press

## Links

- Website: https://www.thediff.co/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/byrnehobart/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ByrneHobart
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRiffPodcast
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byrnehobart/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/byrne-hobart
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-23