Brett Hurt returns to Austin Next for the fourth time, more than any guest in the show's history, to argue that the hardest problem in front of us is psychological. Abundance is already on a clear technological path, and the thing most likely to stop us is the fear center we carried off the savannah.

He walks through the four technologies he calls the Superfecta: AI, robotics, quantum computing, and brain-computer interfaces, and why they land together rather than in sequence. The stakes are the Great Filter and to make it through to abundance or destroy ourselves. His book lands June 23, and this conversation is the argument it rests on.

Agenda
0:00 Love is hard, fear is hijacked
10:21 Cooked food and broken business models
18:04 Mocktails, birth rates, and Bhutan
25:52 Moonshots and the James Webb sublime
30:42 Why aliens would be benevolent
36:13 The Superfecta changes everything
41:52 Capitalism, Chad, and abundance
51:40 Old Austin, wizards, and prophets
58:33 The nuclear math nobody wants
1:02:37 How the podcast made him hopeful
1:11:09 Open source wins the next hinge

Guest Bio & Links
Brett Hurt
X: https://x.com/brettahurt
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bretthurt/
Love Conquers Fear Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@LoveConquersFear2025

Love Conquers Fear: Humanity, AI, and the Age of Abundance for All
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Conquers-Fear-Humanity-Abundance-ebook/dp/B0GX32NPX5

Brett Hurt is a serial tech entrepreneur, investor, and author. He works at the intersection of AI, leadership, and human values focusing on how society can harness exponential technologies with courage, ethics, and unity.

Hurt most recently co-founded and led data-dot-world, which was acquired by ServiceNow on July 7, 2025. He previously co-founded Bazaarvoice (unicorn IPO) and Coremetrics (acquired by IBM). He also co-leads Hurt Family Investments, which is in 150 startups (12 unicorns) and 50 VC funds. He was named Austin’s Best CEO (Legacy Award) and is also an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow.

Through his Love Conquers Fear holding company, platform, and podcast, Hurt explores how AI and emerging technologies can either amplify fear or help create broad-based human flourishing to eventually reach the Age of Abundance for All. Based in Austin, he’s the author of three books and host of the Love Conquers Fear podcast, which has 60 episodes and counting.