Dom Hallas
5 Aug 2026Dario’s Concerns | Bending Spoons | Aperol Vs. Hugo Spritz | AI Talent Wars
Dom Hallas: Industrial Revolution Lessons for AI — Grow the Pie
Dom Hallas wraps his interview by arguing today's AI debates mirror the Industrial Revolution, citing Middlemarch, Manchester's history, Saltaire, and the social movements that emerged then, and saying societies find muddled ways through rather than stopping change. He warns the biggest risk is 'shaving the edges off success' — ending up with a $7B company instead of $10B while the public stays unhappy. The core takeaway is growing the economic pie, illustrated by Microsoft paying ~$20M/year in data center property taxes to a small Wisconsin town and the case for UK fiscal devolution.
4 Mar 2026Claude Vs. Gov, OpenAI Backs Down, Framer CEO Joins Live
Dom Hallas on AI Labs, Politics & 'Don't Be Evil'
Dom Hallas of the Startup Coalition joins the studio to unpack the Anthropic/OpenAI/government standoff, comparing it to Google's original "don't be evil" era and framing the core question of who has the right to decide how frontier models are used. He discusses how AI brands have become politicized like sports teams, Katy Perry's Claude switch as consumer brand politics, and the European vantage point on US tech-versus-government fights.
UK Spring Statement: Growth, Tax & Keeping Founders (Dom Hallas)
Dom turns to UK politics for Rachel Reeves's Spring Statement, which he expects to be a deliberately dry fiscal event with GDP forecasts trimmed to around 0.9%. He walks through the Startup Coalition's focus on the Treasury consultation on the tax environment for entrepreneurship, arguing policy should keep the 5,000–10,000 founders who can have a GDP-level impact building in the UK rather than fleeing to Dubai, while noting laptop-based businesses make founder retention the key lever.
16 Jan 2026Listen Labs $100M, Europe’s New Unicorn, Sinking Machines, Dom Hallas
Dom Hallas on Clegg, Hiro Capital & Europe's Capital Gaps
Dom Hallas, executive director of the Startup Coalition and previous guest, returns to discuss Nick Clegg joining Hiro Capital and Yann LeCun's rise as an advisor to Prior Labs. He argues Europe shouldn't clone Silicon Valley but build on strengths like fintech, research universities and deep tech, unpacks the 'valley of death' in growth-stage capital, pension fund reform and differing return profiles across industries — detouring into his Sharia-compliant pension fund, the USS/Thames Water loss, London crime narratives and British self-deprecation.
18 Oct 2025Jack and Jill raise $20m, Oura hits $11bn, UK IPO Market, IPO push for Nscale, Waymo announce London
Dom Hallas on UK tech policy & the budget
Startup Coalition's Dom Hallas, joining from rural Wisconsin at 6 a.m., unpacks Jensen Huang's UK visit and the wave of AI infrastructure commitments from US tech giants, questioning how much of the money is real. He argues the UK shouldn't copy US or Chinese industrial policy but should find leverage points in the AI stack (pointing to ARIA's moonshot bets), supports EU Inc-style work to complete the digital single market, and previews Startup Coalition's priorities ahead of the UK budget — stock options reform on offense, tax rises on defense. He also weighs in on Revolut founder Nik Storonsky's Dubai tax move and calls Trump's $100,000 H-1B fee a major talent opportunity for the UK.
17 Oct 2025etn. Episode 2
Dom Hallas on UK Tech Policy, AI Investment & Visas
After a quick Fora sponsor read, Startup Coalition's Dom Hallas — calling in from rural Wisconsin — breaks down Jensen Huang's UK visit and NVIDIA's investment announcements, questioning how much of the pledged AI infrastructure money is real. He covers ARIA's moonshot funding under Matt Clifford, compares US, Chinese and European industrial policy, and argues for completing the EU digital single market. He also previews the upcoming UK Budget and stock options reform, weighs in on Revolut founder Nik Storonsky's Dubai tax move and the UK's reliance on foreign-born founders, and calls Trump's $100K H-1B fee a talent opportunity for Britain if visa costs and Home Office bureaucracy improve.