Claude Code for Finance + The Global Memory Shortage: Doug O'Laughlin, SemiAnalysis

**Doug O'Laughlin** (0:00)
This crap makes mistakes all the time, all the time. It is still just like, I think of it once again as like a junior analyst, right? The analyst goes and does all this like really pain in the ass information, and you bring it all together to make a good decision at the top. Historically, what happens is that junior analyst, who I once was, went and gathered all that information. And after doing this enough times, there's a meta level thinking that's happening where it's like, okay, here's what I really understand and how this type of analysis I'm an expert in, actually, I'm very good at, I consistently have a hit rate. Now, I'm the expert, right? I don't think that meta level learning is there yet. We'll see if L1s do it, right? Everyone who's spending one quadrillion dollars in the world thinks it will.
It better happen if you're spending a trillion dollars and there's not meta level learning. But for me in our firm, that massively amplifies everyone who is an expert. Because you have to still do something, you can't just like slop it up. It's very obvious to me what it's slop.

**swyx** (0:59)
Doug O'Laughlin, welcome to Latent Space.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (1:01)
Thank you for having me now. After all this time, is it okay if I just call you Swyx? I feel like that's where my brain is. I've known you for so long. You can call me Mule if you want. I'm not a pirate. Yeah. I mean, it's been a long time.

**swyx** (1:15)
It's been a long time coming. I think I first met you at New Orleans or one of the Neuripsis.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (1:22)
Yeah. I met you at one of the Neuripsis in Perth. I think it was Vancouver.

**swyx** (1:25)
Right. I don't know. It was some after-party.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (1:28)
Yeah.

**swyx** (1:29)
You were like, hey, who's this small dude? I'm like, oh, okay.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (1:34)
Yeah. Well, I mean, I knew about you. We've been internet pen pals for a long time, so it was cool meeting in person. Yeah. I think that was the first time I ever met you in person. So yeah.

**swyx** (1:43)
Amazing.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (1:44)
I didn't go to the New Orleans one. I really wish I did. I love New Orleans, obviously.

**swyx** (1:47)
Yeah.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (1:47)
So.

**swyx** (1:48)
We've been to New Orleans in a row, and yeah, obviously, we should go back there.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (1:52)
Yeah.

**swyx** (1:52)
Are you guys going to Melbourne or the Australia one this year?

**Doug O'Laughlin** (1:56)
I don't even think that far out, but that sounds pretty interesting to me. I think, I can't remember which one. There's something in Korea this year, right?

**swyx** (2:04)
Yeah. I think ICML.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (2:05)
ICML?

**swyx** (2:06)
Yeah.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (2:06)
I think I'm going to try to go to ICML in Korea. And I know ICLR is, I don't know, man, there's so many conferences. I honestly hate to say it. I'm not much of a travel guy.

**swyx** (2:15)
Well, yeah, I mean, I'm glad to catch you. I mean, I am traveling to you. Yeah. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Yeah, it's a really nice one.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (2:22)
Yeah.

**swyx** (2:22)
I did not know that I would be caught in a snowstorm.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (2:24)
Yeah. It's funny. I feel like people recently have been coming and they keep getting stuck in these snowstorms. So yeah, first blizzard in four years or something like that. Thank you for telling me.

**swyx** (2:32)
Yeah. Yeah. It's a pleasure. And so you want to go back. You used to be anonymous. You used to be ValuMule, how I know you.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (2:38)
You know, it's funny is that ValuMule is like the very first one.

**swyx** (2:41)
That's the...

**Doug O'Laughlin** (2:42)
Do you know how I noticed you?

**swyx** (2:44)
I was just like, oh, this guy seems smart. Yeah.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (2:46)
I don't know, dude. I mean, I remember noticing you too. So it's like, you know, this was in the early, like the primordial days of Twitter. Honestly, I miss those the most. It was like 2017, 18, something like that.

**swyx** (2:55)
Yeah.

**Doug O'Laughlin** (2:56)
But yeah, yeah, I remember from ValuMule. So that's like the deepest cut. If you are even aware of what that is, that is like the deepest cut that you possibly have. And then, yeah, I have another account. And I actually have a third account, which is my main account these days.

**swyx** (3:08)
Yeah. Oh, which one is that? I don't want to dox your other account.