Clock Builders vs. Time Tellers | AI Workflows, Macro Markets & Bitcoin 2026

Most people are using AI to find out what time it is. A smaller group is building clocks. The difference compounds — and it's the only distinction that matters for anyone trying to use these tools to do real work.

Mark Connors and Bill Mann hit record mid-conversation and never really stopped. No guest, no agenda — just two capital markets veterans who've been living inside AI workflows for years comparing notes in real time, with the Global Scorecard live on screen and the macro read flowing underneath.

Inside this episode, you'll discover:

⚡ Why the clock builder / time teller distinction is the only AI framework that matters for practitioners
⚡ How memory files and persistent context turn a chat window into a compounding intelligence system
⚡ What Bill is actually building in Claude Code — and why a two-person shop can outwork a Goldman AI panel
⚡ Mark's CLI workflow: three memory layers, 10,000 stories synthesized, three words delivered: Hormuz is hot
⚡ Why Jensen Huang's advice to spend half your salary on tokens is a man talking his book
⚡ The one macro sentence that explains every monetary and fiscal headline in 2026
⚡ AMD +83% in a month, Sandisk +100% — the AI infrastructure build is in the factor returns, not the headlines
⚡ Bitcoin 2026: why the cycle is curtailed but intact, the 54% drawdown was not the 80%, and why fall is the trigger window

If you care about AI adoption, macro markets, energy infrastructure, Bitcoin strategy, or how small teams can outcompete large institutions with the right workflows — this one is for you.

📇 Bill Mann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williammann/
🌐 Harmonic Insights: https://www.harmoniqinsights.com/

📇 Mark Connors on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrconnors/
🌐 Risk Dimensions: https://riskdimensions.io/
📊 Global Scorecard (live macro dashboard): https://global-scorecard.riskdimensions.io/

₿ Unchained (Sponsor): Interested in learning how to acquire and custody bitcoin? Hit the link here, https://www.unchained.com/newbarbspod and use this code, NewBarbPod10, to get a 10% discount off your first purchase. In the FWIW column, this is how Mark custodies his bitcoin.

🔗 Follow Our Work:
📜 Substack: New Barbarians Podcast — https://substack.com/@newbarbarians
📜 Substack: The Macro Case for Bitcoin — https://substack.com/@markrconnors
📜 Harmonic Insights (Bill Mann & Chris Rosa) — https://www.harmoniqinsights.com/
📜 SSRN Practitioner Quant Research — https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=2035436
📜 SmartKarma — Bill Mann — https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/william-mann-88ce6ae0-716e-4511-98ee-65b1af2765ff/research
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⏱ Timestamps:
00:00 Cold open — no guest, just Mark and Bill mid-conversation
01:00 May quant returns; equity factors, oil, hedge fund record April
02:53 Bitcoin had a good April
03:09 Bill crosses the Rubicon: chat window to Claude Code terminal
03:50 Stage 1 vs. Stage 2 AI — call-and-response vs. building
05:47 The file system leap — what Claude Projects actually do
07:41 Which foundational model for which job
08:36 Cursor, vibe coding, and the IDE moment
10:43 Mark's CLI workflow: three memory layers, frameworks in markdown
12:33 What the command line interface is — and why it matters
14:13 Memory files as compounding machines — the core distinction
15:52 Goldman AI panel: big firm problems vs. two-person shop
22:17 "I would put up what we know against anyone in that room"
24:04 The wrong way to use AI: "I have a problem, AI will solve it"
27:38 Clock builders vs. time tellers — stated plainly
30:22 Bill shares screen: VS Code, Claude Code, live build
34:13 Memory files as curation, not dictation
37:49 Tokens, context windows, and why memory files reduce cost
38:47 Model routing: $1 vs. $25 per million tokens — choose wisely
41:18 Are foundational model companies profitable at this compute scale?
43:09 Jensen Huang's token spend advice — and Mark's response
43:27 Bare metal vs. cloud; Apple silicon for local AI workloads
44:37 Markets live: Global Scorecard — energy dominates year to date
47:24 Hormuz is hot. Three words. 10,000 stories.
49:17 AMD +83% in a month. Sandisk +100%.
52:17 Warsh's workaround: banks hold Treasuries at zero capital requirement
52:48 "We don't do recessions anymore" — long only, run it hot
More Related Tags:
AI, AIworkflow, bitcoin, macromarkets, claudecode, vibecoding, memoryfiles, LLM, foundationalmodels, bitcoincycle, fedpolicy, globalscorecard, energymarkets, AIadoption, productmanagement, hedgefund, quantfinance, bitcoinoutlook, clockbuilder, digitalsovereignty

#AIRevolution #BitcoinNews #MacroInvesting #ClaudeCode #NewBarbarians #BitcoinCycle #FedPolicy #VibeCoding #AIWorkflow #GlobalMacro #HarmonicInsights #RiskDimensions #BitcoinOutlook #DigitalAssets #AITools

Видео Clock Builders vs. Time Tellers | AI Workflows, Macro Markets & Bitcoin 2026 канала The New Barbarians Podcast