.@BarrettLyon built the first cloud DDoS-protection service, mapped the entire internet (now on display in New York's Museum of Modern Art), and got chased out of Moscow hunting Russian extortionists. His new company is a parallel internet designed to keep advertisers, trackers, and creepy VPNs out of your life. Barrett joins a16z's Joel de la Garza to explain what it is and how it works: a private network where messages, calls, and files travel directly between people instead of through someone else's server, and where nobody needs your name, number, or email to reach you. They also get into why most VPNs are "just entry and exit points," why you can't set policy on equipment you don't own, the day Barrett's plane lost power over Oakland on the way home from a16z, and the data center myths that drive him crazy. 0:50 Meet Barrett Lyon 1:31 Losing an engine over Oakland 7:08 The hacker name behind the company 10:12 Censorship is coming to the US 13:17 Why VPNs barely protect you 14:21 Building a parallel internet 16:30 20GB files with no middleman 17:57 Free VPNs sell you 21:47 Why you must own the hardware 22:27 26 data centers, 12 people, run by AI 25:03 Data centers don't drink water 29:17 What ad trackers know about you 32:35 The DDoS attacks that built Prolexic 36:17 Mapping the internet for $50 39:46 Hunting extortionists in Moscow 41:47 Starlink at Burning Man YouTube: @BarrettLyon @YODELAGARZA

⁠FT consumer editor Claer Barrett and Abigail Foster discuss why Andy Burnham should deliver policy changes that help graduates. Claer and Abi will be debating ‘How do we fix the finances of Gen Z?’ at the FT Weekend Festival on September 5 in London