This Week in Startups

Register here to join Founder University Japan's kickoff: https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday's show:Google and Meta had their cases dismissed (or received a slap on the wrist)… Despite all the backlash and cynicism, AI companies continue making bank and releasing hot new products… What does it all mean?For Jason Calacanis, the signs are pointing to a “major M&A moment,” with huge opportunities for increased efficiency and consolidation among America's favorite brands and largest companies?Who will it be? Join Jason and Alex for a round of hot speculation.PLUS why Jason thinks Michael Burry is both right and wrong about GPU depreciation, why NOTHING is certain about these OpenAI mega-deals, Google's Nano Banana Pro can make infographics and they're VERY impressive… and much more.Timestamps:(1:54) Jason's calling in from Vegas… He's doing a hot lap at F1!(3:18) How restaurants are becoming the new Hot IP(6:50) Founder University is heading to TOKYO!(9:27) Why Jason thinks the future of startups is truly global(10:06) Pipedrive - Bring your entire sales process into one elegant space. Get started with a 30 day free trial at pipedrive.com/twist(11:39) Nvidia killed it on the numbers… but what are the vibes around AI? Jason sounds off.(13:05) Why nothing is certain when it comes to the Nvidia/OpenAI deal(19:40) Is Google now WINNING consumer adoption of AI? How did it get this close?(19:57) Crusoe Cloud: Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit https://crusoe.ai/build to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.(26:07) Meanwhile, AI apps are still dominating the iOS Store(27:09) Why Jason and Alex think Michael Burry's both right and wrong about GPU depreciation(30:13) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(37:46) We're testing out Nano Banana Pro on a BBQ infographic challenge(43:42) What a week for AI models! It doesn't seem like things are slowing down…(46:12) Kalshi is growing fast, but can it catch Polymarket?(47:50) Is a rate cut coming? Jason and Alex read the tea leaves.(50:13) Why Jason predicts a “major M&A moment” in the next six months(52:09) VIEWER QUESTION: What should a software engineer be working on RIGHT NOW.(54:02) Founder Friday is now… STARTUP SUPPER CLUBSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(10:06) Pipedrive - Bring your entire sales process into one elegant space. Get started with a 30 day free trial at pipedrive.com/twist(19:57) Crusoe Cloud: Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit https://crusoe.ai/build to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.(30:13) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Today's show:The race for more compute gets all the headlines, but Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch tells us the REAL danger is running out of data!On TWiST, Jason and Alex are chatting with the head of France's largest foundation AI company, Mistral AI, about how enterprises can get more out of their AI pilots, whether the West is lacking leadership on open-source, why Mistral AI isn't pursuing every possible kind of AI application, and optimizing your models for performance rather than benchmarks (aka benchmaxxing). Find out what it's like to run a huge AI company in today's intense environment!PLUS… why everyone made the wrong call on OpenAI vs. Google… Kraken's fresh $20 billion valuation… Jason's urgent message to every company thinking about M&A… and much more!Timestamps:(3:35) Why did everyone get it wrong on Google vs. OpenAI?(10:51) Why Jason thinks drone delivery will make everyone safer(9:52) SQUARESPACE: Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(11:26) Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch joins us! What's it like to run a foundation model AI company in this intense environment?(14:50) Why enterprises aren't getting enough value out of AI and how Mistral AI aims to correct this(18:45) Why Mistral AI's goal is, ultimately, to disappear…(20:19) LinkedIn Ads: Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups to claim your credit.(22:49) Are Europe and the US lacking leadership on open source AI?(24:53) Mistral AI doesn't need to compete in every category... how big of an advantage is focus?(27:05) The “two bottlenecks” in Machine Learning: Compute and Data(29:01) How Mistral AI works with human experts to annotate their models, and where they source them from(30:06) Nexos.ai: Stop Shadow AI in its tracks with the unified platform for secure AI adoption and productivity. Try it with a free 14-day trial at https://nexos.ai/twist.(34:24) Is optimizing your model for benchmark tests (aka benchmaxxing) like cheating?(40:08) Will we ever be able to run smaller AI models on our phones?(44:21) When does Arthur think we'll have truly helpful humanoid robots in our lives?(49:42) Suno lawsuits and why Jason says you should NEVER break the rules, ESPECIALLY with the music industry(54:28) Release the Kraken! They're now worth $20 billion.(56:48) Jason is going to F1… should he take up the offer and do a dry run?(58:30) How Meta beat the FTC and why Jason is so excited about it(1:01:37) Who should buy Crunchbase?

AI Model Showdown: Grok 4.1 vs. Gemini 3 | E2211Register for Founder University Japan's Kickoff! https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday's show:*Will the arrival of two hotly-anticipated, intensely powerful AI models snap the Doomer cycle?On a new TWiST, Jason and Alex consider the current AI landscape, one where cynicism about insider mega-deals, fear of job displacement, and concerns about bubble bursts seem to rule the day. Will the arrival of two powerful new models — xAI's Grok 4.1 and Google's Gemini 3 — help the industry to course-correct? And how do we decide how much these models have improved anyway?PLUS we're investigating Cloudflare's recent downtime and their acquisition of Replicate. Are we heading toward a future in which everyone runs their own models, locally? And how worried should founders get if their products or sites go down for a few hours?Finally, if you're an investor, and want to come to Jason's Dim Sum Demo Day in San Francisco, here's the link: http://launch.co/dimsumTimestamps:(2:01) Why the internet got broadly degraded when Cloudflare went down(5:00) How worried should founders become when their sites go offline?(6:44) Downtime aside, what did Cloudflare want with Replicate?(8:12) Why Jason predicts one day we'll run our own local language models(9:39) Goldbelly - Goldbelly ****ships America's most delicious, iconic foods nationwide! Get 20% off your first order by going to Goldbelly.com and using the promo code TWiST at checkout.(15:25) How to turn off “Learn From This App” on your iPhone(17:29) Will the arrival of hotly-anticipated new models stop the spread of Doomerism and AI cynicism(20:00) Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit every.io.(23:53) Checking back in with the “Best AI Model” Polymarket… why has ChatGPT dropped so low?(29:43) Zite - Zite is the fastest way to build business software with AI. Build apps, forms, websites and portals that connect to the tools you already use. Go to zite.com/twist to get started.(31:14) ANOTHER AI mega-deal? Nvidia and Microsoft are investing in… ANTHROPIC(33:06) Why so many AI deals now include “up to…” language around investments(35:04) What Jason thinks of Dario Amodei's warning about white collar job displacement(39:39) If we all agree AI job displacement is coming… what can be done?(45:16) All about Jason's Dim Sum Investor Demo Day in San Francisco!Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(9:39) Goldbelly - Goldbelly ****ships America's most delicious, iconic foods nationwide! Get 20% off your first order by going to Goldbelly.com and using the promo code TWiST at checkout.(20:00) Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit every.io.(29:43) Zite - Zite is the fastest way to build business software with AI. Build apps, forms, websites and portals that connect to the tools you already use. Go to zite.com/twist to get started.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

*Are we finally reaching Peak eVTOL? Jason and Alex on Joby's big Abu Dhabi moves and Archer's purchase of LA's Hawthorne Airport.On a PACKED Monday TWiST, Jason is BACK from MENA and Tokyo. Hear tales from his whirlwind trips launching new Founder University satellite programs… and find out why construction and fintech are BOOMING across the Middle East.PLUS Ramp raised $300M… here's why Alex calls the round “pretty baller.” We question why AI companies are growing SO MUCH FOUNDER than their SaaS counterparts. We're digging into the Problem with Dropbox.AND we're saying goodbye to KitKat, the beloved SF bodega cat who was reportedly run over by a Waymo. Here's why Jason's not too broken up about it (but he's JUST JOKING!)

Register for Founder University Japan's Kickoff! https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday's show:Find out why AI is perfectly suited to legal tasks… despite being too fast for “billable hours”On today's TWiST, Alex takes a deep dive into LLM Law with Harvey AI co-founder/president Gabe Pereyra. It turns out, much like software development, doing legal work relies on learning specialized language and sifting through a dense and expansive corpus of information… making it an IDEAL use case for LLMs.Buuuuut AI works so fast… the current structure of legal payments (billable hours) no longer applies. Find out how Harvey is working around these challenges — and what they plan to do if OpenAI decides to get into the legal game — in this fascinating interview.THEN, Alex chats with another AI visionary — OpenRouter co-founder and CEO Alex Atallah — who allows developers to plug and play all the major models into their applications. Find out why specialized LLMs trained for “resourcefulness” are coming into fashion… why benchmarks and evals have become so crucial to the industry… AND whether we'll end up spending as much on AI inference as the human workers it's replacing… in this essential discussion.PLUS Jason stops by for some more Founder Q's!Timestamps:(0:00) Welcome back to TWiST!(1:32) Alex kicks off the show with Harvey AI co-founder and President Gabe Pereyra to talk about applying AI to the legal profession(4:52) How major international law firms (and their enterprise clients) fueled Harvey's mega-growth(6:54) Why LLMs are perfectly suited for legal work(9:24) Enterpret - Enterpret turns feedback noise into Customer Intelligence, so your team knows exactly what to fix and build next. Head to Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.x and build next. Head to Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.(17:22) Looking ahead: expanding beyond the law.(20:42) Uber AI Solutions - Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at Uber.com/twist(21:44) The problem: AI can't charge “billable hours”… it's too fast!(23:44) Will the major AI players like Google and OpenAI build their own version of this?(29:53) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(30:41) Alex welcomes OpenRouter co-founder and CEO Alex Atallah, whose rankings he loves and uses all the time(33:10) Why Alex says we're seeing more specialized LLMs trained for more “resourcefulness”(36:05) How increased competition and diversification makes things tougher for developers(41:09) Alex suggests that new models are exciting for users, like product launches used to be(42:29) OK, let's get into it… How does OpenRouter make money?(45:38) Understanding what kinds of training data the AI companies want the MOST(47:47) The important currency of evals and benchmarks(49:13) Why OpenRouter is ramping up its LLM recommendation engine(53:44) Will AI inference spend end up costing as much as the humans it's replacing?(56:49) Time for a Founder Q! What should founders do about quick vibe-coded competitors?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmThank you to our partners:(9:24) Enterpret - Enterpret turns feedback noise into Customer Intelligence, so your team knows exactly what to fix and build next. Head to Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.x and build next. Head to Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.(20:42) Uber AI Solutions - Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at Uber.com/twist(29:53) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

Register for Founder University Japan's Kickoff: https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday's show:*The key to avoiding long airport delays? Low-altitude sea planes! Why didn't you think of that?We've got an awesome line-up of TWiST 500 founders giving us an inside glimpse inside their startups on this Friday special edition.FIRST: Billy Thalheimer of REGENT introduces us to their aircraft/boat hybrid The Seaglider, and walk us through how it all works, AND why they're operating in BOTH the commercial and defense sectors from their Rhode Island HQ.THEN, we've got Convexia co-founder Ayaan Parekh showcasing how they're using a collective of specialist AI agents to exploit other pharma labs' leftovers and turn them into new drugs and treatments for rare diseases.FINALLY, Hunter Leath of Archil joins the show to tell us why efficient utilization of cloud data remains a surprisingly complex, and unsolved problem. His solution? Caching-as-a-Service! Find out how it all works, and why pre-caching is SO difficult to do, in this TWiST exclusive chat.Timestamps:(03:01) Billy Thalheimer of REGENT introduces us to the Seaglider(05:06) Inside the EV aircraft/boat hybrid's three modes of operation(08:22) How REGENT uses low altitude flight to avoid airport-related hassles(9:42) Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to ⁠http://sentry.io/twist⁠ and use code TWIST(13:57) The converging tech that makes Seaglider possible(18:20) How REGENT is operating in BOTH the commercial and defense sectors(19:39) LinkedIn Ads - Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to ⁠http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups⁠ to claim your credit.(25:05) Why Rhode Island?!(29:23) Pipedrive - Bring your entire sales process into one elegant space. Get started with a 30 day free trial at ⁠https://pipedrive.com/twist⁠(31:04) Convexia co-founder Ayan Parekh joins Alex to discuss “the world's first AI-maximalist pharmaceutical company”(33:02) Using AI agents to revisit leftover bio IP and unused data(33:22) Why so many drugs fail to reach market(35:46) Applying different agents to different kinds of tasks(44:26) The unique opportunities posed by rare diseases(46:58) On the road toward vertical integration(50:48) Hunter Leath of Archil tells us why utilizing cloud data effectively remains a complex, unsolved problem(51:56) What is “Caching as a Service”?(55:53) Why pre-caching is NOT obvious and “tremendously difficult to do”(57:00) Why the major cloud players didn't built this themselves(01:00:37) Deliberately keeping the focus narrow… for now…Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWISTLinkedIn Ads - Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups to claim your credit.Pipedrive - Bring your entire sales process into one elegant space. Get started with a 30 day free trial at https://pipedrive.com/twistCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Register for Founder University Japan's kickoff! https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday's show:*On TWiST, Jason welcomes an all-star VC panel — Deedy Das of Menlo Partners and Jay Eum of GFT Ventures — for a deep dive into the shocking scale of early-stage AI raises, a transitional moment for investors, the growing importance of the “prosumer” market, ChatGPT's insane smile curves, and much much more.IN THIS EPISODEWhat the panelists make of Roelof Botha's exit from Sequoia… and is he really going anywhere…Why Jason says VC is no longer the best way to get rich…Why so many private companies are growing SO HUGE before going public…And much more!Timestamps:(00:03:37) Jason is fresh from surviving Riyadh traffic but he's here and introducing our all star panel(00:04:03) Why Jason compares Riyadh to Silicon Valley in the 1960s(00:05:21) Friend of the Pod Roelof Botha is stepping down at Sequoia… our insiders try to guess what might have happened…(10:00) Crusoe - Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit crusoe.ai/startup to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.(00:13:11) Deedy moved up at Menlo without being a venture native… he shares the secrets behind his rise.(00:19:09) Was Roelof wrong about “return-free risk”? Does more capital always = more great companies?(20:00) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(00:26:54) With so many private companies growing SO HUGE… when is the right time to go public? Considering the case of Glean and Stripe…(30:00) AWS Marketplace - If you're ready to really accelerate your sales cycle, AWS Marketplace is your next stop. Head to https://aws.com/startups to learn more.(00:30:07) Why Jason says venture capital is no longer the best way to get rich(00:32:34) Why AI apps are so appealing to enterprises after years of paying for SaaS(00:36:32) The growing importance of “prosumers”(00:37:31) Why Deedy says a smile curve is the most beautiful depiction of “Product Market Fit”(00:44:36) Why it's still tough to raise pre-seed money, even during an AI “boom”!(00:46:08) Why Jason says the hardest job in the tech ecosystem is being an investor(00:55:52) “Time is one of the primary drivers of venture capital return.” - Jay Eun(00:57:42) Deedy on the shocking amounts being raised by early-stage AI companies(01:00:21) Just how much DO VCs work compared to founders? The panel compares notes.(01:02:53) Are some investors not doing diligence? Deedy on the speed of some AI deals.(01:16:51) The panel picks their fav portfolio company of the moment (or one of their faves)Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Crusoe - Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit crusoe.ai/startup to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visitAWS Marketplace - If you're ready to really accelerate your sales cycle, AWS Marketplace is your next stop. Head to https://aws.com/startups to learn more.Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

What will be OpenAI's IPO price? Place ya bets! | EXXX*Polymarket's sharps are already placing bets on when ChatGPT maker OpenAI will go public… and Jason and Alex want in on this action. They're placing side wagers on how the House that Sam Altman built will be valued once it finally goes public.PLUS find out why Amazon is Jason's stock pick for the next five years… Why startups are starting to release their own foundation models, and what this means for major players like OpenAI and Anthropic… AND Producer Oliver stops by with an in-depth look at the music-generating Suno app.Friday shows don't get any bigger than this.Register for Founder University's Japan Kickoff!https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday's show:*Timestamps:(0:00): Jason doesn't trust Sam Altman... Stay tuned!(2:24) Jason's been using Tesla FSD's “Mad Max” Mode and it's a SPICY ride!(8:54) Jason and Alex checked out Higgsfield's new Face Swap tool… Jason thinks this will revolutionize the movie casting process(10:39) LinkedIn Ads: Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups to claim your credit.(14:03) Here's what Jason thinks: there are acceptable uses of Higgsfield's tech but some are OVER THE LINE(17:23) Here's why Jason says the music industry deals with startups like the Mafia(19:59) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(21:02) Producer Oliver has been playing around with AI music app Suno… here's a live demo(22:47) We're using Suno to make a Dire Straits song about JCal!(30:11) PaperOS - Whether you're raising a round, launching a fund, or managing a venture portfolio, PaperOS can unlock simplicity and scale across your empire of capital, contracts, and companies. Claim your $10,000 credit at https://paperos.com/twist(39:42) IT'S EARNINGS WEEK! What Jason and Alex make of the fresh numbers from Amazon, MSFT, and Alphabet(40:58) Jason's checking out his Grokipedia page… could this be the internet's new go-to resource?(45:15) Why Amazon is Jason's pick of THE stock for the next 5 years(46:42) Three startups made their own AI models! Is the era of paying big co's for their LLMs coming to an end?(50:09) Jason's warning for anyone “dumb enough” to use OpenAI's API… they are studying you!(57:16) It's a new Jason-Alex bet… What will OpenAI's IPO price be?(59:35) What happened with Navan's IPO? Jason and Alex dig into the numbers.(1:07:37) Why Jason compares some later investors to Wormtongue from “Lord of the Rings”

Today's show:*Why rebrand an app with 40 million daily active users?On TWiST, Grammarly CEO Shishir Mehrotra swings by to explain why he's renaming his company after the mail app he just purchased, Superhuman.Plus he's giving us a first look at the startup's new AI assistant, Superhuman Go, digging into their new agent-centered strategy, looking ahead at the potential for AI job displacement, and more.Jason and Alex also talk about our new nuclear deal with Westinghouse and Japan, OpenAI's conversion and what it means for Microsoft, 1x's tele-operated Neo-bot for chores, and much more!Timestamps:(00:07:56) Jason is headed to Tokyo, and NOT just for skiing this time!(10:00) Uber AI Solutions**:** Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at Uber.com/twist(00:12:21) Untangling this US government-Japan-Westinghouse deal for nuclear power… and why nuclear power is SO important(20:00)DevStats translates complex engineering metrics into a shared language everyone at your company can understand. Get 20% off by going to https://www.DevStats.com/twist(00:20:04) Why Jason says sabbaticals and 4 day work weeks are for established brands, not startups(30:00) Perspective AI: Real insights, straight from your customers, and your first two months are on us. Just go to getperspective.ai/twist.(00:33:01) Will income inequality become a concern, even for the wealthy? Jason says YES.(00:37:29) Shishir Mehrotra from Gram— NO WAIT, Superhuman! joins us to talk name changes(00:38:16) Using Grammarly as a model for the new AI assistant, Superhuman Go.(01:08:39) Nvidia shot past $5 TRILLION in value… How is no one freaked out about this?!(01:14:52) OpenAI executed their conversion… but Jason says “public benefit corporation” status is pretty meaningless(01:25:02) Checking out the Neo robot from 1x… he wants to help you with chores and he's for sale!(01:32:09) Uber's speeding up its self-driving plansSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Perspective AI - Real insights, straight from your customers, and your first two months are on us. Just go to getperspective.ai/twist.DevStats translates complex engineering metrics into a shared language everyone at your company can understand. Get 20% off by going to https://www.DevStats.com/twistUber AI Solutions: Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at Uber.com/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Jason's been skeptical on Apple lately, but he's BLOWN AWAY by his new iPhone Air.Hear why JCal thinks Cupertino's latest release is “completely inspiring,” and why he's sure it's the next step on the road to Apple Glasses.We're chatting with LAUNCH founder Zach Handshoe of spacial video startup SpatialGen about designing products for Cupertino AND the intense pressure of performing a Steve Jobs-level keynote.PLUS Raiza Martin of Huxe stops by to tell us why they're using audio to make AI assistants more personalized AND proactive, and how they're already getting noticed in an increasingly crowded App Store.AND we've got another Gamma Pitch Competition entrant! Chess Grandmaster Vasif Durarbayli presents his expert-focused app, ChessEver.Timestamps:(2:05) Friend of the pod @ZacharyHandshoe stops by to talk about supporting Apple Immersive Video (and staying up during the AWS outage)(9:37) Enterpret - Turn feedback noise into Customer Intelligence, so your team knows exactly what to fix and build next. Head to Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.(15:55) The iPhone Air can already shoot spatial video! Just part of why Jason calls it a “completely inspiring” product.(21:25) Crusoe Cloud - Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit crusoe.ai/startup to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.(24:30) Jason offers viewers a peek inside LAUNCH's Whisper Network(32:09) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(33:10) Huxe co-founder (and NotebookLM vet) Raiza Martin wants to make your AI assistant more personalized and proactive.(37:14) Why Raiza and her team went with an audio-forward interface instead of a chatbot.(43:25) How Huxe is getting noticed in the App Store as a brand new arrival.(50:25) The big LLMs still aren't great at writing engaging content for humans, so Huxe is doing it themselves.(52:41) Chess Grandmaster Vasif Durarbayli from ChessEver joins us for his Gamma pitch!(54:26) Why Vasif is focusing on very serious players FIRST before appealing to more casual chess fans(1:05:28) Jason thinks ChessEver is at the moment of “triangulation” in their journey to finding Product Market Fit… what do Grandmasters really want?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Enterpret - Turn feedback noise into Customer Intelligence, so your team knows exactly what to fix and build next. Head to Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.Crusoe Cloud - Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit crusoe.ai/startup to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Australia has accused Microsoft of employing a dark pattern… Hear why Jason says these kinds of sneaky tactics aren't usually worth it.It's a brand-new Monday TWiST and it's PACKED with news. In addition to Australia's allegations against MSFT, we're looking at Chinese drone fails and wondering how live experiences will change in the age of AI.PLUS has Tesla finally “solved” FSD after years of promises? Does it matter that so much of Mercor's revenue goes back out to contractors? Do Chinese LLMs have a major advantage when it comes to the stock market over Western counterparts? Why Jason avoids overseas deals when he doesn't speak the language or know the culture. And much more!Timestamps:(00:03:44) Fall is here! And Jason is already looking ahead to “BFCM” and the holiday season.(00:07:13) We're bringing back the TWiSTies and a Prediction 2026 show(00:07:33) People are using AI to create fake receipts for fraudulent invoices!(10:00) Pipedrive - Bring clarity and control to your sales process with Pipedrive, the #1 CRM for small and medium sized businesses. Supercharge your sales today. Start with a 30-day free trial at pipedrive.com/twist.(00:14:23) It's earnings week for Meta AND Alphabet AND Microsoft AND AMAZON!(00:19:55) What happened with the disastrous Chinese drone and fireworks show?(20:00) Monarch - Thanks to our partner, Monarch! Try the app and get 50% off your first year by visiting monarchmoney.com/twist.(00:27:37) Why Jason thinks live experiences are going to get much bigger and more impressive in the age of AI(00:29:34) Why Tesla is training FSD on synthetic data now… Has FSD finally been “solved”?(30:00) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit https://www.aws.amazon.com/startups/credits(00:45:10) What's going on with these new Sequoia funds? Jason unpacks the strategy…(00:50:50) Jason doesn't like to invest overseas unless he speaks the language and knows the culture(00:51:11) Jason's thoughts on the controversy surrounding Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire's comments(00:58:34) Mercor pays out 60-70% of its toppling revenue to contractors… does this MATTER?(01:06:14) Do Chinese LLMs have a major advantage when it comes to investing? (Humans are now betting on all this on PolyMarket)(01:09:45) Australia alleges that Microsoft is employing a dark pattern… why Jason says that's a problem.Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit https://www.aws.amazon.com/startups/creditsMonarch Money - Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/TWISTPipedrive - Bring clarity and control to your sales process with Pipedrive, the #1 CRM for small and medium sized businesses. Supercharge your sales today. Start with a 30-day free trial at pipedrive.com/twist.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:*Working from 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week, might seem like TOO INTENSE a commitment for some, but Jason argues that elite performance — and the mega-compensation that goes along with it — sometimes requires personal sacrifice. While 72-hour weeks might lead to burnout for some, it really comes down to individual choice.PLUS Jason and Alex deep dive the NBA gambling scandal and the sketchy reality behind high-stakes home games of poker. PLUS Presh Kumar takes us behind the scenes, to see how AI apps helped him develop and workshop the video for his new wellness startup, Tempo, and what's with Anthropic buying chips from their AI rivals, Google? It's a can't miss This Week in Startups.Timestamps:(00:06:49) Jason and Alex are poker fans… what do they think about this insane NBA gambling scandal?(10:00) LinkedIn Ads - Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://LinkedIn.com/ThisWeekinStartups to claim your credit.(20:00) Nexos.ai - Stop Shadow AI in its tracks with the unified platform for secure AI adoption and productivity. Try it with a free 14-day trial at https://nexos.ai/twist.(00:25:09) Is working “9-9-6” a reasonable goal? A guarantee of success? Why Jason compares it to being an Olympian.(30:00) Every.io - Running a startup is hard enough. Every takes care of incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes and more so that you focus on building, not back-office admin. Visit every.io.(00:38:00) Our old buddy Presh walks us through the process of making his Tempo launch video(00:42:28) Jason and Alex check out some of Ridley Scott's famous storyboards(00:48:03) Anthropic is buying TPUs from Google… Are these companies in LIKE with each other?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:LinkedIn Ads - Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://LinkedIn.com/ThisWeekinStartups to claim your credit.Nexos.ai - Stop Shadow AI in its tracks with the unified platform for secure AI adoption and productivity. Try it with a free 14-day trial at https://nexos.ai/twist.**Every.io -** Running a startup is hard enough. Every takes care of incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes and more so that you focus on building, not back-office admin. Visit every.io.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:*Amazon's dropping a LOT of employees for AI and robots… are Jason's darkest predictions coming true?Legendary investor Elad Gil joins Jason and Alex for the full show today! Together, they're digging into the Amazon news, looking back at Jason's predictions from just last month, and theorizing about just how many people will lose their jobs to computers, and what we're going to do about it. (Is it possible the US hasn't been massively hit by job displacement so far because those gigs already moved overseas?)PLUS… Anthropic's Dario Amodei responds to criticisms from JCal's bestie David Sacks, Sesame emerges from stealth to work on AI wearables, and where will people in the future interact with their favorite apps? A headset? Phones? Somewhere else? The great debate continues.Timestamps:(00:04:04) Our guest is iconic angel investor Elad Gil! What's he working on…(00:04:54) Alexandria AI translates public domain books into all commonly spoken languages… Do people actually prefer AI translations?(00:09:16) Why compute tends to centralize over time… (It's because of economies of scale!)(00:09:29) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(00:12:49) So are we building TOO MANY datacenters? Will AI apps eventually run on your phone anyway?(00:16:39) Jason says “The Age of Efficiency is upon us.”(00:19:24) When companies trade inference for market share(00:19:27) Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWIST(00:21:57) Why one of the main challenges of adopting AI is buy-in and convincing teams to use it.(00:25:47) Elad's robotics questions: (1) What % of winners will be incumbents?(00:27:50) Jason called the Amazon news last month and we have the receipts!(00:29:36) Pilot - Visit https://www.pilot.com/twist and get $1,200 off your first yea(00:45:33) Jason says Adobe and Figma should abandon the UK entirely.(00:45:55) Time for a Polymarket: The sharps say 80% chance Tesla beats their quarterly earnings(00:51:02) What is Sesame? They just emerged from stealth, they raised $250M, and they're working on AI wearables.(00:53:21) Jason has concerns about AI wearables that are always recording… Does Elad share these concerns?(01:03:17) The crypto industry is now one of the largest purchasers of US government debt… what does that mean? Who owns who?(01:08:53) Anthropic responded to JCal's Bestie David Sacks… Is Dario Amodei a doomer? Fearmongering?(01:19:12) Why Jason thinks AI companies need to self-regulateSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWISTSentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWISTPilot - Visit https://www.pilot.com/twist and get $1,200 off your first yeaGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Are AI tools in the classroom just time-savers, or can they have genuine educational value?In a must-watch TWiST 500 interview, Alex chats with Magic School founder (and former principal) Adeel Khan about how AI tools can make teachers more effective, and keep students inspired, without just doing all the work for them. He talks about turning an AI chatbot into a true assistant teacher, that keeps the lessons balanced yet challenging, and particularly empowers classroom novices and non-professionals.THEN… is 6 years too long for employees to wait to vest? Is this just another founder trying to reinvent EVERYTHING, just because they can't resist? Ramp CEO Eric Glyman joins Jason and Alex to answer pressing founder questions from viewersPLUS there's a new entrant in our Gamma Pitch Deck competition, and it's so compelling, Jason can't wait to invest! Kris Canete of On the Fly Energy tells us about America's fragile power grid and his elegant solution: flywheel energy storage!Timestamps:0:00 - Welcome to TWiST!02:59 - Former principal Adeel Khan of TWiST 500's Magic School AI tells us why “teachers are magic”09:41 - Goldbelly ships America's most delicious, iconic foods nationwide! Get 20% off your first order by going to Goldbelly.com and using the promo code TWiST at checkout.10:50 - How AI tools can particularly help out classroom novices and non-pros who are just getting started20:57 - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.26:58 - How Magic School stays ahead of shifting standards across different states and regions32:57 - Zite is the fastest way to build *business software* with AI. Build apps, forms, websites and portals that connect to the tools you already use. Go to *zite.com/twist* to get started.33:30 - Why the best feedback Adeel ever got came from a teenager36:30 - Making AI a true assistant teacher, that keeps lessons balanced yet challenging38:38 - Is a 6-year vesting schedule too aggressive? Eric Glyman responds.41:00 - When even ambitious founders should sometimes just accept a standard deal.57:33 - What IS flywheel energy storage?01:00:00 - Why Jason loves the Fly Energy Gamma pitch and wants to invest right now.01:34:13 - Gamma Outro*Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: [https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com](https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/)Check out the TWIST500: [https://www.twist500.com](https://twist500.com)Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp*Follow Lon:X: https://x.com/lons*Follow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: [⁠  / alexwilhelm  ](  / alexwilhelm  )*Follow Jason:X:   / jason  LinkedIn: [  / jasoncalacanis  ](  / jasoncalacanis  )Great TWIST interviews: [Will Guidara,](   • Lessons in Unreasonable Hospitality with W...  ) [Eoghan McCabe](   • Great Builders & Success First with Interc...  ), [Steve Huffman](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast..., [Brian Chesky](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Bob Moesta,](   • Decoding Customer Insights, Trust, and the...  ) [Aaron Levie](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Sophia Amoruso](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Reid Hoffman](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Frank Slootman](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast..., [Billy McFarland](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast...)*Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis*Follow TWiST:Twitter:   / twistartups  YouTube:    / thisweekin  Instagram: [  / thisweekinstartups  ](  / thisweekinstartups  )TikTok:   / thisweekinstartups  Substack: [https://twistartups.substack.com](

Today's show: *Is the AI bubble going to POP? And if so, how much of our economy is it going to take down with it?On a new TWiST, Jason, Alex, and Lon debate the size and scale of the AI bubble, whether poppage is imminent, and just who we can blame for the last few economic crises. (HINT: Not the tech industry!)PLUS why Jason STILL thinks the current AI cycle will be the biggest in tech history, how this morning's AWS mega-failure might impact the company's earnings, the spread of AI fakes in the wake of this weekend's No Kings march, why LLMs may soon put your broker out of business, and much much more.**Timestamps:** (00:02:26) Is AI a BUBBLE? And if so, how BIG?(00:05:12) Are all the major bubbles and corrections always Wall Street's fault?(00:08:39) Why Jason thinks this AI will be the biggest cycle in the history of technology(10:00) LinkedIn Ads: Thanks to our partner @LinkedInMktg. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to [http://LinkedIn.com/ThisWeekinStartups](https://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups) to claim your credit.(20:00) Thank you to our partner @trustvanta! TWiST listeners automate your SOC2 and get $1,000 off at http://www.vanta.com/twist(00:23:01) Will this morning's AWS failure impact Amazon's earnings?(30:00) Thanks to our partner @Openphone! Streamline and scale your customer communications with Quo. Get started free, plus get 20% off your first 6 months, at [http://quo.com/TWiST](http://quo.com/TWiSThttp://quo.com/perks/twist)(00:32:49) People couldn't spot AI fakes from this weekend's protests… are we cooked?(00:49:54) Jeremy Strong shows off his Mark Zuckerberg impression… and Jason is impressed*Thank you to our partners:LinkedIn Ads: Thanks to our partner @LinkedInMktg. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to [http://LinkedIn.com/ThisWeekinStartups](https://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups) to claim your credit. @trustvanta! TWiST listeners automate your SOC2 and get $1,000 off at http://www.vanta.com/twist@Openphone! Streamline and scale your customer communications with Quo. Get started free, plus get 20% off your first 6 months, at [http://quo.com/TWiST](http://quo.com/TWiSThttp://quo.com/perks/twist)*Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis*Follow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: [https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups](https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups/)TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: [https://twistartups.substack.com](https://twistartups.substack.com/)*Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916All rights for the video shared and linked below belong to the original copyright holder, and we are using the footage under the principle of fair use.Listen here:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-startups-audio/id315114957Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ULQ0ewYf5zmsDgBchlkr9Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes315114957/this-week-in-startups-audioMore from us:Twitter: https://twitter.com/twistartupsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsOfficial site: https://thisweekinstartups.comSubscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkkhmBWfS7pILYIk0izkc3A?sub_confirmation=1Subscribe to TWiST Clips for all the best moments:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS7tJlcUA6PzVHEMo-X7ddg?sub_confirmation=1#startups #entrepreneurship #investing #angelinvesting #tech #news #business

Deel's growth overshadows SpyGate, Claude learned new skills, and the great “momentum is moat” debate | EXXXToday's show:*Deel's growing fast enough that investors are overlooking the espionage allegations and jumping on board anyway. (LAUNCH now owns a lil taste of Deel, so Jason is on board!)PLUS is the Mag 7 about to become the Mag 70… Why legendary investor Roelof Botha thinks VC is not an asset class… How startups can use capital as a weapon… AND Anthropic gave Claude more skills, which they hope will help pay their bills.Timestamps:(00:01:34) Jason's excited for ski season and checking his favorite powder app, OpenSnow(00:04:02) Why Jason's done with meetings; he's pulling a Doug Leone!(00:06:27) Jason can tell the market's heating up because people are starting to lose their minds.(00:09:31) How much will global AI tools one day be worth? Alex is crunching the numbers.(10:00) Miro - Help your teams get great done with Miro. Check out miro.com to find out how!(00:15:22) PREDICTION: The Mag7 is about to become the Mag70(20:00) Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twist(00:25:36) Deel's big raise… Why major growth overshadows spying allegations(30:00) LinkedIn Ads: Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://LinkedIn.com/ThisWeekinStartups to claim your credit.(00:33:31) Why Roelof Botha says VC is a “return-free risk,” and not an “asset class.”(00:40:49) The two reasons why VC firms end(00:44:18) How startups can use capital as a weapon(00:57:52) Anthropic gave Claude Skills to pay the bills(01:00:51) Jason's vision for what Grammarly could becomeSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Miro - Help your teams get great done with Miro. Check out miro.com to find out how!Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at LinkedIn Ads: Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://LinkedIn.com/ThisWeekinStartups to claim your credit.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:*On a very special TWiST, Jason's joined by “one of the greatest investors in in the history of VC,” Steve Jurvetson of Future Ventures.Together, they look back at some of Steve's earliest investments and learnings, the promise and ultimate failure of nanotech, breaking down the AI hype cycle, the primacy of neural networks, the return of nuclear power, why “AI safety” might be illusory, and much more.It's a packed show full of deep insights from one of the greatest minds in technology today. Do not miss this ep!Timestamps:(00:00)Jason's 1-on-1 today with “one of the greatest investors in the history of VC,” Steve Jurvetson(00:03:04) The early origins of Steve's fascination with “deep tech”(00:08:03) Jason and Steve recall playing around with the TRS-80 (“The Trash-80”)(10:00) Perspective AI: Real insights, straight from your customers, and your first two months are on us. Just go to getperspective.ai/twist.(00:15:13) Keeping your portfolio diverse when so many companies look the same(20:00) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.(00:20:49) The promise of nanotech and why it fell apart(00:25:46) Breaking down the “hype” cycle and how trends get co-opted(00:26:27) Why Moore's Law and the Power Law are so important for investors(30:00) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(00:33:36) Understanding the rise of GPUs and how they resemble tiny brains(00:51:32) Revisiting a classic clip of Steve talking about robots(00:54:04) How Jason and Steve got their hands on some of the earliest Tesla Roadsters(01:00:09) Flashback Clip: Elon predicts 2025 in 2015… how'd he do?(01:02:46) Why did the world turn SO strongly against nuclear energy?(01:16:06) Can we make AI “safe” in the age of GPT Psychosis? Is it too inscrutable?(01:21:54) Why Steve thinks technology will ultimately doom autocratic regimes.Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!Perspective AI: Real insights, straight from your customers, and your first two months are on us. Just go to getperspective.ai/twist.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:*Eric Glyman of Ramp joins us to share the fintech unicorn's growth secrets AND their Lab full of research data.On TWiST, Jason and Alex chat with Eric about Ramp's counter-intuitive mission — helping startups spend LESS money — PLUS they take a deep dive into the company's treasure trove of startup trend data. Why is there a huge spike in unemployed recent college trends? Is “static team size” as a big a story as Jason and Alex think? What does it actually take to get companies to adopt AI Agents? The answers all might be in these Ramp numbers.PLUS Eric joins us for some hot Founder Q's, and what's going on with all this Y Combinator drama? We're sifting through the angriest tweets for the inside scoop.FINALLY, Jason recommends some of his favorite startup accelerators of the moment (aside from his own) including…PearXArc from SequoiaAntlerSpeedrun from a16zTimestamps:(00:02:18) The 72-hour rule strikes again: Trump's China's tariff reversal(00:03:10) Why crypto got hit even HARDER than the stock market post-Trump announcement(00:07:32) Market manipulation “at a scale we've never seen before…”; what does this mean for everyday investors?(10:05) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(00:12:55) Ramp CEO Eric Glyman swings by to update us on his fintech unicorn's growth and their “Lab” for research data(20:09) Netsuite - Download the ebook CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twist(00:21:40) Is “static team size” a real trend? What the Ramp data shows…(00:26:25) Ramp's “counter-intuitive” mission: to help companies spend LESS money, not more.(30:24) Paper OS offers the largest library of AI-driven Workflows for both founders & fund managers. Claim your $10K credit at paperos.com/twist(00:38:07) WHY the huge spike in unemployed recent college grads? Especially among the guys?(00:49:16) What it actually takes to get companies to adopt AI agents into their processes(00:52:25) Why Jason thinks Eric is a top-tier TWiST guest. We're going through the metrics…(00:54:05) There's YC drama on social media now… we're spilling the tea.Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWISTNetsuite - Download the ebook CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twistPAPER OS - Building an empire? PaperOS offers the largest library of AI-driven Workflows for both founders & fund managers. Whether you're raising capital, launching a fund, or wading through diligence, PaperOS unlocks simplicity and scale for your ever-growing empire. Claim your $10K credit at paperos.com/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Figure's 03 Chore-bot, Jake Paul Sora takeover, ChatGPT app integrations, and more | E2191Today's show:Figure's butler-bot could be cleaning up after you soon than you think!On a Friday TWiST, Jason and Lon are checking out the Figure 03 demo reel, checking out the humanoid robot that could soon be hanging out in your house, doing your chores.Lon's a bit skeptical that full-sized Westworld drones will soon be on everyone's home but the technology is obviously moving forward at a rapid clip and cutting-edge AI models are making the bots smarter than ever.PLUS… what will be the impact of Presidents Trump and Xi's new fight over rare earth minerals? Why are Jake Paul and Mark Cuban starring in SO MANY Sora clips? How well do these ChatGPT app integrations work, and why are they going to free users first? And much much more, on a can't-miss new TWiSTTimestamps:(0:00) Figure's humanoid and its new capabilities(2:15) Show start: Jason welcomes co-host Lon Harris(6:24) The global dependency on China for rare earth minerals(9:48) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.(10:54) Sora, AI likeness & deepfakes(17:05) DEMO: Producer Oliver showcases ChatGPT's new integrations!(19:45) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(27:54) The future of AI: Will there be thousands of app integrations?(30:41) Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twist(33:44) Discussing Reflection AI: A new American open-source model(40:35) Reddit Rapid Response: Why young professionals should work in the office(47:50) How AI is eliminating entry-level jobs & the need for executive training(54:15) Jason's pitch to shut down the USPS and turn post offices into nursery schools(58:25) Jason shares his personal journey with GLP-1s & Ro.co(1:01:05) The Figure One robot: New video and future potential(1:04:20) How LLMs are the key to unlocking humanoid robot capabilitiesSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:.TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Today's show:*Zach Dell of Base Power joins us at the top of today's show to talk about building batteries in Austin, that $1 billion investment, and why an “all of the above” energy strategy is the only way forward.PLUS Jason and Alex's thoughts on that Tesla non-upside down car announcement, growing resentments toward AI datacenters, Chinese robots actually going on sale, Tim Cook's potential Apple exit, xAI's Nvidia agreement and MUCH MORE.Timestamps:(00:02:10) A MAJOR GUEST! Zach Dell of Base Power joins us from the top of the show.(00:03:31) The basics of Base Power's business model: the best electron is the cheapest electron(00:08:38) Zach teases Base's new, time-saving approach to battery installation(00:10:32) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist(00:18:12) How Base's grid can help drive down overall energy prices(00:21:17) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(00:30:12) Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWIST(00:36:20) Tesla did not announce an upside fan car… Oh well…(00:44:27) Buy your Chinese robot TODAY on Walmart dot com? Or not!(00:48:12) Is Tim Apple EXITING Apple? Who's next?(00:59:22) ANOTHER mega-deal? Now xAI is circling a Nvidia investment…Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twistSquarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWISTSentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWISTGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Everything's going great here at This Week in Startups — and we're expanding! As we launch a brand new podcast next year, we're looking to bring on two new creative roles:Video Editor — Full-time or part-time, remote or in-person (Austin). If you love startups and tech and you're skilled at editing, this is your shot. Send your portfolio to editor@launch.co.Short-Form Video Editor (CapCut) — Help us create top-tier TikToks, Reels, and YouTube Shorts from our podcast content. If you're great with CapCut and have a feel for viral startup content, email capcut@launch.co.We don't care about degrees or titles — just talent, creativity, and passion for startups. Competitive pay, flexible hours, and the chance to work with one of the top startup shows in the world.Apply now:Video Editor → editor@launch.coShorts Editor → capcut@launch.co#startups #hiring #videoediting #podcast #ThisWeekInStartups #tech

Today's show:*How many weirdly circular mega-deals is OpenAI going to sign this year?On a new TWiST, Jason and Alex consider OpenAI's latest agreement with AMD, how the biggest American companies keep trading cash and chips back and forth, and whether or not the entire AI economy might be a house of cards.PLUS what kind of fan/leafblower tech is Tesla working on… what can Jevons Paradox tell us about the AI landscape… how easy is it to master games in the YC Arena… and WHY has NASA never built a base on the moon? We're asking the TOUGH QUESTIONS so you don't have to, only on the #1 tech podcast, “This Week in Startups.”Timestamps:(0:00) Jason and Alex open the show discussing hunting and traditional Texas meat exchanges(2:16) ANOTHER weirdly circular OpenAI mega-deal? How many mega-deals can one company MAKE?(3:50) Are all these “bizarre” OpenAI deals creating a house of cards?(10:00) Stripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.(20:00) Oracle - Try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at https://oracle.com/twist⁠⁠⁠(21:14) Is the Tesla Roadster 2 coming soon? Or maybe a leaf blower?!(22:00) Datacenters in space! Is it getting crowded up there?(26:22) Why no moon base yet? Jason demands a moon base.(27:00) We're playing games in the YC Arena… Can Jason guess which pitches got accepted?(30:00) Coda - Empower your startup with Coda's Team plan for free—get 6 months at https://www.Coda.io/twist(32:00) How Jason picks companies to invest in, based on a few signals and metrics(04500) We found out what Figure's bots are actually doing for BMW(53:00) Sharpies figured out how to make their pens here in the US… who's next?!(57:00) Could ChatGPT really replace Deloitte consultants? Considering the latest controversy…(01:03:29) It's another Gamma Pitch: Welcome Ryan Yannelli of NextVisit AI, which helps therapists take notesSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Stripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.Oracle - Try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at https://oracle.com/twist⁠⁠⁠Coda - Empower your startup with Coda's Team plan for free—get 6 months at https://www.Coda.io/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Is Sora not just a copyright-killer but a TikTok-killer? Hear our review!The “This Week in Startups” team has been playing around inside OpenAI's viral app, which just hit #1 in the iOS Store. See all of Lon's creations, explore the land beyond the Uncanny Valley, and find out why the hottest new social app could stand to be a bit more social.PLUS Brave surpasses 100M MAUs… why Jason would sell ALL his OpenAI shares right away, Apple pulls the ICEBlock app from the App Store, AND how one founder hacked his local coffee shop to network and even get face time with a few VCs! It's all happening of a fast-paced Friday TWiST.Timestamps:(0:00) Why Jason started an Executive Training program at LAUNCH(05:17) Perplexity's Comet browser is now FREE to use; Jason unpacks their strategy(10:02) Monarch Money - Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/TWIST(13:42) PLUS browser/search engine Brave passed 100M MAUs!(17:44) How a founder “hacked” his local coffee shop(20:06) Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twist(21:35) You need to make it EASY for people to give you feedback!(25:41) A look at the leanest startups around and how companies are doing more with less(30:11) LinkedIn Ads: Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Go to http://LinkedIn.com/ThisWeekinStartups to claim your credit.(30:38) Why Jason would sell ALL his OpenAI shares right away!(38:56) Lon stops by to review the Sora app; the good, the bad, and the remixes!(48:45) Apple pulled the ICEBlock app… is this a free speech issue?(56:11) A new startup wants to fight gov't corruption… and keep a share of the proceedsSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Monarch Money - Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/TWISTAlphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twistLinkedIn Ads: Thanks to our partner @LinkedInMktg. Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Go to http://LinkedIn.com/ThisWeekinStartups to claim your credit.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Sora 2 will generate a video of whatever you like and respects no IP (unless they opt out)On a brand new TWiST, Jason and Alex check out Sora 2, the latest text-to-video app from TWiST 500 mainstays OpenAI, and look at some of the video videos that have already emerged from the TikTok-style scrolling video app. (TikSlop?)THEN we're considering the case of “AI actress” Tilly Norwood, and whether her big debut is a legit shift in the world of entertainment or just a marketing gimmick-slash-sales pitch.PLUS Jason's thoughts on the Wealthfront IPO, how Spotify shifted the entire music economy, Jason's pitch for making bets with stock purchases, why Americans need more financial literacy, AND another check-in with the sharps over at Polymarket.Timestamps:(0:00) What does the government shutdown mean for startups? Not much?(04:21) Jason's an investor in Wealthfront… hear his thoughts on their potential IPO(08:14) Why Jason thinks the death of Boomers will boost crypto(10:21) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(17:26) Why is everyone so excited for Sora… but not Meta's app?(19:49) CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/tech(28:38) Is Tilly Norwood just a gimmick or Hollywood's next hot ingenue?(29:15) Perspective.ai - Real insights, straight from your customers, and your first two months are on us. Just go to getperspective.ai/twist.(35:58) POLYMARKET: When is OpenAI's browser coming out?!(40:17) How Spotify changed the entire economy of music… and when a Founder/CEO should hang it up.(47:24) Why Jason thinks Americans need better financial education and literacy(49:39) Audience Q: What's the best place to buy secondaries?(52:49) Why you should bet small while you're learningSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/techPerspective.ai - Real insights, straight from your customers, and your first two months are on us. Just go to getperspective.ai/twist.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:How do you get investors excited about jets when they're hyper-focused on new AI tools?In a fresh TWiST 500 interview, Alex sits down with Blake Scholl of Boom Supersonic to talk about the Overture, the world's fastest plane that recently broke the sound barrier over the Mojave Desert. (That's a first for a private company, rather than a military or government.)Hear about the secrets to avoiding a noisy and disruptive sonic boom, using satellites to set the most efficient routes, designing the Overture's complex engine, dispelling the common myth that hardware startups are money pits and much much more.PLUS we've got two brand new companies entering our Gamma Pitch Deck Competition. Time to see how they stack up to our first impressive entrant, Where2Wheel.Timestamps:(02:22) Introducing Blake Scholl from Boom Supersonic(04:03) How Boom is improving on the classic Concorde experience(08:29) How hyper-fast Overture flights could change passenger behavior(10:02) Gusto. Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.(11:10) The long road to breaking the speed barrier(14:34) How satellites could help guide Boom's planes(16:37) The next milestones to check off Blake's list(19:13) Breaking up the jet engine duopoly(20:57) Nexos.ai Stop Shadow AI in its tracks with the unified platform for secure AI adoption and productivity. Try it with a free 14-day trial at nexos.ai/twist.(24:28) How 3D printing speeds up the R&D process(30:26) DevStats translates complex engineering metrics into a shared language everyone at your company can understand. Get 20% off by going to https://www.DevStats.com/twist(34:10) Gamma Pitch Deck Competition: Confy vs. The Drive AISubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Gusto. Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.Nexos.ai Stop Shadow AI in its tracks with the unified platform for secure AI adoption and productivity. Try it with a free 14-day trial at nexos.ai/twist.DevStats translates complex engineering metrics into a shared language everyone at your company can understand. Get 20% off by going to https://www.DevStats.com/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Friend's new AI pendant just wants to be your new pal. So why do New Yorkers hate them?On a brand-new TWiST, Jason and Alex consider the Friend AI pendant, which listens to everything you say all day and then sends you snarky texts about it.WIRED says it's unhelpful and will make your friends hate you. New Yorkers are so sick of their aggressive subway ads, they're tagging them with graffiti. But what do Jason and Alex think of the wearable companion?PLUS the value of bringing your last team with you to your new project… why partnerships often lead to purchases… Producer Claude got an upgrade… two fresh TWiST 500 companies… the rise and fall and further fall of Tai Lopez… AND Jason explains the rules of private jets.Timestamps:(0:00) Jason congratulations the Eagles while wondering what's going on with Philly fans(03:23) New Yorkers are not in love with these Friend AI pendants and their subway ads(10:08) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(11:28) Show Continues…(13:49) Are people actually using AI agents? Is it still too early?(17:01) Startup Lesson: The value of bringing your last team with you(19:27) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(20:43) Anthropic released the new Claude… can they catch back up with Grok?(27:13) Why Circle's community app is blowing up all of the sudden(29:23) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit https://www.aws.amazon.com/startups/credits(30:48) How startups SHOULD measure growth and profitability. And why you need to show your work.(36:42) Why human writers are about to be MORE valuable in the age of AI Slop.(42:20) TWO new startups are joining the TWiST 500… Jason's thoughts on Phia and Huxe(46:23) Influencer and bookshelf haver Tai Lopez is under investigation by the SEC! A look back at a viral superstar…(54:11) Jason explains the rules of flying in private jetsSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWISTLemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twistAWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit https://www.aws.amazon.com/startups/creditsGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Factory, a Sequoia-backed producer of AI agents for programming, raised $50 million at a $300 million valuation. So Jason and Alex are wondering… how much capital is TOO MUCH?We're going deep on a question that often perplexes founders: How would weigh a HUGE potential market against STIFF pre-existing competition.PLUS that Neon app that records your calls deleted itself, why AI ISN'T taking away all the radiology jobs yet, how inherent biases impact everyone's view of the economy, ChatGPT may be getting ads very soon, and MUCH MUCH MORE.Timestamps:(0:00) The Neon app: why would anyone let an app record all of their phone calls?(04:43) Another -slop term… What is THINKSLOP?!(09:46) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.(11:25) Why is TikTok US only worth $14 billion?!(17:10) Wait, why ISN'T AI taking jobs away from radiologists?(20:06) Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twist(28:38) How can xAI afford to sell AI to the US gov't for 42 cents?(29:37) Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twist(33:44) How inherent biases impact everyone's view of the economy.(46:29) Why is everyone dunking on Meta's new SlopTok app?(53:37) It certainly seems like ChatGPT is going to get ads soon…(03:49) The first entry in our Gamma Pitch Deck Competition is II off-roading marketplace Where2WheelSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:.TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twistAlphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:What is “workslop”? And is it already slowing you down at the office?On a new This Week in Startups, we've got full co-host quorum with JCal, Alex, AND Lon tackling a meaty docket of news at the cross-section of tech, startups, and pop culture.For starters: A new Harvard/Stanford study suggests that AI isn't massively improving workplace efficiency because SOME workers aren't using it properly. Are low-quality, lazily-assembled AI outputs costing US enterprises millions in lost productivity? It's certainly possible based on these results.PLUS, why YouTube invited back all those banned creators… a deep-dive into CA's new social media law that's dividing tech and civil rights advocacy groups… what we can learn from Stripe's mega-share buyback… a look at what Polymarket's sharps think will happen with the US TikTok deal… and much more.Timestamps:(0:00) Intro. What will South Park have to say about prediction markets?(06:06) Alibaba's new AI model will turn you into any celebrity… can you still believe what you see?(09:49) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist(11:03) Show Continues…(19:42) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit https://www.aws.amazon.com/startups/credits(21:02) Is CA's new proposed law a boon for civil rights, or a weapon against free speech?(29:47) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(32:21) Why YouTube invited banned creators back(41:24) What is Workslop? And is it costing companies MILLIONS?(48:42) PolyMarket asks… when will the US TikTok deal go down?(52:27) Would Jason invest in Tether?(01:01:29) Why Stripe is buying back so many shares… and what the future may hold.(01:12:16) Another Reddit Rapid Response: should startups do pilot programs?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twistAWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit https://www.aws.amazon.com/startups/creditsNorthwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:New proposal on H-1B visas… and it's pretty similar to Jason's pitch from last month!On a new TWiST, Jason and Lon wonder if the White House is watching the pod and borrowing some of our best ideas! Specifically, the new $100K H-1B visa proposal sounds a lot like Jason's suggestion from August… with a few significant tweaks.PLUS we're looking at the latest news about the US TikTok entity, why Jason's not concerned about the new algorithm, the explosion of major data centers in Scandinavia, the European Commission's scaling back of anti-cookie regulations, AND the first big marketing push from virtual assistant startup Howie! That's a packed show!Timestamps:(0:00) Alex is out today so Jason and Lon introduce the show.(04:11) Did they borrow their new H-1B visa proposal from JCal?(10:10) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(11:28) Show Continues…(19:21) Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twist(20:28) Show Continues…(26:42) Answering YOUR pressing H-1B questions.(30:13) Stripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.(31:30) Show Continues…(32:51) The Murdochs are likely joining the TikTok deal…(34:38) Why Jason's not concerned about TikTok being in the hands of mostly Trump allies(39:29) A look inside the Nordic data center boom and why it's happening(01:03:32) Checking out Howie's first ad… how much did it cost to make?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWISTPublic - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twistStripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:On an action-packed TWiST, Alex and Jason check out Meta's latest wearables, which promise to fix the “constantly staring down at your phone” problem and prevent you from blocking that little light letting others know you're filming them. Think the upgrade is worth $799 of your hard-earned money?PLUS, Lovable CEO Anton Osika stops by to answer YOUR questions, talk about how people are using the iconic vibecoding app, balancing accessibility and user engagement with the need to actually bring in revenue, and why Stockholm has become arguably Europe's leading tech hub.AND Beehiiv joins with Discord, Google bakes Gemini into Chrome, and MORE of the week's biggest tech news. Check out all this and more in a brand-new “This Week in Startups”!Timestamps:(0:00) Why Jason thinks Meta's new $799 Smart Ray Bans, which covertly record people in 3K, are creepy!(04:14) Why, in the technology business, not quitting is how you succeed.(09:47) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.(10:54) Show Continues…(17:02) Anton Osika from Lovable calls in from Stockholm: Why he thinks it's Europe's biggest tech hub.(20:37) Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWIST(21:44) A look at Lovable's new security features, to make founders feel more confident in their vibe coding(27:31) How Lovable is balancing engagement with the need to make money(29:55) Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twist(31:03) Show Continues…(42:29) Anton's tactical advice for founders who want to build a community around their product.(49:14) A viewer asks: Is vibe coding CHEATING?(59:01) Google is baking Gemini into Chrome… but how will it work? And what about privacy?(01:05:05) Beehiiv links up with Discord. Why Alex has a few concerns!(01:11:01) Responding to some of YOUR comments. (Leave us reviews and comments on Apple and Spotify!)Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:.TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWISTAlphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Jason sits down with Wilson Sonsini partner Chris Paniewski for part two of our Startup Legal Basics series on AI law — this time tackling the question every founder is asking: who owns the output of AI systems?Chris has advised on some of the biggest AI deals in history, and in this episode he helps break down how intellectual property law is colliding with generative AI.Jason and Chris cover:What kinds of IP rights might apply to AI-generated output (copyrights, patents, trade secrets)Why human authorship is central to copyright lawWhether prompts are protectable IPHow GenAI platforms' terms of service affect ownershipReal-world examples from Star Wars to Wirecutter to WarholWhat startups should document when using AI in developmentHow investors diligence AI companies on IP strategyIf you're a founder, investor, or operator trying to understand how to responsibly use AI without losing your IP, this conversation is essential.*Timestamps:(0:00) Jason introduces part two of Startup Legal Basics with Chris Paniewski(1:20) Star Wars example: using LLMs to generate existing IP(3:10) Human authorship requirement in copyright law(5:25) Prompts, super-prompts, and the role of creative control(7:45) Photography analogy & the “monkey selfie” case(10:00) Patents, inventorship, and AI-generated inventions(12:05) Startups balancing speed to market vs. protectable IP(14:15) How to layer human creativity on top of AI output(16:20) Fair use, derivative works, and investor diligence*Check Out Wilson Sonsini: https://www.wsgr.comCheck out all of the Startup Basics episodes here: https://thisweekinstartups.com/basics*Follow Chris:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-paniewski-09331a59/*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis*Follow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Today's show:Hear why Eric Jackson thinks Opendoor is the new Carvana, and how he's planning to bring Drake on board as an investor (plus Jason's Bestie Chamath).On a brand-new TWiST, Jason and Alex are chatting with Jackson of EMJ Capital about his hunt for elusive 100 baggers (stocks that return 100-to-1).PLUS we're chatting with Weave Robotics' Kaan Doğrusöz about designing practical domestic robots RIGHT NOW, rather than prototypes for 2030. Hear about how they got Isaac to fold laundry like a pro.All that and… how Jason would turn around TechCrunch, why board members should always have skin in the game, that Waymo motorcycle accident, AND Uber and Tesla's first team-up to haul freight!Timestamps:(0:00) Jason is worried about the next generation facing the end of apprenticeship; here's his advice for young workers(10:24) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(11:30) Kaan Doğrusöz of Weave Robotics joins to talk about getting his laundry-folding robot, Isaac, into customer's homes(18:01) Isaac doesn't have hands; here's how Weave makes it work with grippers(20:44) Stripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.(21:48) Show Continues…(24:51) Checking out some of Weave's competitors… how did they settle on Isaac's design?(30:01) Miro - Help your teams get great done with Miro. Check out miro.com to find out how!(31:10) What's going on with TikTok?(36:15) Jason's pitch is “BOYA”: Bring Your Own Algorithm(38:54) Eric Jackson of EMJ Capital stops by to talk up $OPEN and why he wants Drake to invest(40:14) Eric's early YouTube career as an activist Yahoo! Investor(44:42) Lessons Eric learned from Carvana and how that informed his $OPEN bet(01:00:30) Why bringing Keith Rabois back was Eric's ultimate dream for Opendoor(01:03:02) Why board members should always have “skin in the game” and why $OPEN wants Chamath back(01:07:26) Tesla and Uber are finally working together… They said it was impossible!(01:09:31) A look at YouTube's new AI podcasting featuresSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!Stripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.Miro - Help your teams get great done with Miro. Check out miro.com to find out how!Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:On a special edition of TWiST, Alex presents a trio of TWiST 500 interviews.First up, Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine on the company's new Really Simple Licensing (or RSL) initiative, and how it's helping to compensate writers for their content.THEN, Human Native CEO Dr. James Smith joins for an even deeper dive on AI licensing, why a writer's content isn't just DATA to them, and why the company is pivoting away from its old marketplace model.FINALLY, Jason Marks of TELO Trucks stops by to show off his EV mini-truck, walk us through why people need a powerful but tiny truck, and explain why they're building trucks right here in the US of A.Timestamps:(0:00) Intro: It's a trio of TWiST 500 interviews today!(02:57) Alex chats with Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine(04:54) Why Medium's more worried about HIDING from AI than anything else(10:24) Nexos.ai. Stop Shadow AI in its tracks with the unified platform for secure AI adoption and productivity. Try it with a free 14-day trial at nexos.ai/twist.(11:27) Show Continues…(15:02) What is RSL and why aren't AI companies offering publishers a good value?(19:58) Gusto. Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.(20:59) Show Continues…(22:03) How Medium calculates its revenue split with writers(26:57) Alex welcomes Human Native CEO/founder Dr. James Smith.(27:34) Writers see their content as their life's work, but tech co's just see DATA(30:01) DevStats translates complex engineering metrics into a shared language everyone at your company can understand. Get 20% off by going to DevStats.com/twist(31:06) Show Continues…(33:01) Why H.N. is pivoting away from licensing and the marketplace model(47:23) TELO Trucks CEO Jason Marks joins the show(48:25) What is a “mini-truck” and why they're TELO's focus(52:28) Why TELO is building their EV trucks right here in the US(54:42) Why towing capacity still matters, even on a mini-truckSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Nexos.ai. Stop Shadow AI in its tracks with the unified platform for secure AI adoption and productivity. Try it with a free 14-day trial at nexos.ai/twist.Gusto. Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.DevStats translates complex engineering metrics into a shared language everyone at your company can understand. Get 20% off by going to DevStats.com/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:There are new LAUNCH Accelerator and Founder U cohorts this week, and Jason's running down some of his favorite new startups.PLUS Alphabet is the latest member of the $3T club, why Eric Schmidt was SO RIGHT about remote work, Robinhood is opening up private companies to more investors, Polymarket adds earnings reports, how Jason wagered on The Emmys this year, and MORE!Timestamps:(0:00) It's kickoff day for LAUNCH Accelerator 35 AND Founder University!(02:32) Let's talk about some new companies. Jason runs down the LA35 line-up and why he's excited about these awesome startups.(10:33) OpenPhone - Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at https://www.openphone.com/twist(11:57) Show Continues…(19:50) Squarespace - Turn your idea into a beautiful website! Go to http://www.squarespace.com/twist for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.(21:05) Show Continues…(27:43) Lemon.io - Hire pre-vetted remote developers and get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(28:58) Looking back at Jason's solar energy rematch vs. Energy Sec. Chris Wright.(31:23) Why Jason thinks solar power (+nuclear) is the future.(41:03) Why Alphabet is the latest member of the $3 trillion market cap club.(46:40) Jason says Eric Schmidt was right about work from home culture(48:51) How Robinhood is giving everyday investors access to private companies(51:44) Polymarket introduces prediction markets for corporate earnings.(53:58) Why Jason loves prediction markets… and how he gambled on the Emmys this year.Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:OpenPhone - Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at https://www.openphone.com/twistSquarespace - Turn your idea into a beautiful website! Go to http://www.squarespace.com/twist for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.Lemon.io - Hire pre-vetted remote developers and get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:On Friday's TWiST, Jason, Alex, and Lon look back at some highlights from this week's big All-In Summit in Los Angeles, including a fiery, no holds barred presentation from Palantir CEO Alex Karp, Elon Musk delving into the key challenges facing Optimus, and Tucker Carlson debating Mark Cuban on Ukraine. PLUS… why schools may start blocking social media apps, the FTC's new investigation into social chatbots, AND omnidirectional Zoox robotaxis are headed to Las Vegas.Timestamps:Welcome back to TWiST!(1:52) Jason's thoughts on the killing of Charlie Kirk(10:34) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(10:52) Show Continues …(12:15) Reacting to All-In Summit highlights (Elon Musk, Alex Karp, Tucker Carlson, Mark Cuban)(21:23) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit https://www.aws.amazon.com/startups/credits(22:18) Show Continues …(26:09) Palantir, Alex Karp, and debate dynamics(31:03) Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twist(32:13) Show Continues …(45:03) How the internet used AI tools to make sense of Charlie Kirk's death(56:22) Why Jason thinks it's smart to block social media during school hours(1:03:43) The FTC chatbot investigation leaves out Anthropic's Claude… here's why(1:13:27) Zoox robotaxis make their Vegas debut… Here's how they're different from Waymo(1:19:38) Are Tesla robotaxis headed for CA soon? Polymarket says… maybe(1:27:21) Closing remarks and banterSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWISTAWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit https://www.aws.amazon.com/startups/creditsPublic - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Jason sits down with Wilson Sonsini partner Chris Paniewski for a special Startup Legal Basics on one of the thorniest questions in tech right now: how copyright law applies to AI training data.Chris has worked on some of the biggest AI deals ever — including Scale AI's $14B+ partnership with Meta and OpenAI's $6.5B acquisition of Jony Ive's design studio — and brings practical, on-the-ground insights from advising leading AI companies.In this episode, Jason and Chris cover:Why AI copyright law is unsettled and will take years to shake outThe difference between training data and output in legal termsHow “fair use” really works (and why it's a defense, not a permission slip)The risks of scraping vs. licensing, and why open source ≠ free useHow investors are diligencing AI startups around training dataWhy startups must think differently once they're funded vs. hacking in a dorm roomWhether you're building an AI product, investing in one, or just trying to understand where the law is headed, this conversation breaks down the real legal risks every founder should know.Timestamps:(0:00) Jason introduces the Startup Legal Basics series & Chris Paniewski(1:25) Why AI copyright law is unsettled(3:40) Training data: scraping vs. licensing(6:05) Open web ≠ open license; pitfalls around terms of service(8:15) Investor diligence & risks around training data(11:00) Open source & Creative Commons: common founder mistakes(13:25) “Fair use” explained: the four-part test(15:45) Why most disputes never make it to case lawCheck Out Wilson Sonsini: https://www.wsgr.comCheck out all of the Startup Basics episodes here: https://thisweekinstartups.com/basicsFollow Chris:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-paniewski-09331a59/Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Today's show:In this founder-focused episode of This Week in Startups, we sit down with Republic's Kendrick Nguyen to learn more about the company's efforts to make the private markets accessible to the common investor. Best known for its work in equity crowdfunding, the Valor-backed startup now offers access to secondary shares, tokenized assets, and much more. Following, TWiST spoke with Positron CEO Mitesh Agrawal to learn more about his company's inference-focused AI compute hardware. Related to fellow TWiST500 company Etched, Positron is building custom chips to take on the computing work required to deliver your AI query results faster and with less power draw than what GPUs can offer. With AI inference compute demand rising, the fellow Valor-backed startup has even more powerful systems coming to market in 2026 that have our hopes up that the AI cost curve can continue to point downward.Timestamps:0:00 - A future with more efficient and accessible intelligence0:41, the following sponsors are mentioned: AlphaSense, Vanta, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure1:26 - Introduction to the episode and the two featured companies, Republic and Positron2:43 - The history and purpose of Republic, a financial crowdfunding platform5:39 - Discussion of the current state and growth of equity crowdfunding9:19 - Kendrick Nguyen explains Republic's role as a financial infrastructure company, not a competitor to venture capital firms11:17 - Sponsor: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure12:25 - Republic's different products, Republic Capital and Republic Venture, are explained14:00 - The challenges and progress of secondary trading for non-accredited investors20:14 - Sponsor: Vanta21:21 - The concept of a unified "e-finance" infrastructure is introduced25:45 - Positron CEO Mitesh Agarwal discusses the future of AI chips and the limitations of current GPUs for inference workloads31:12 - Sponsor: AlphaSense32:22 - Discussion on the inefficiency of GPUs for inference and how Positron's Atlas system addresses it38:30 - Positron's strategy of using their Atlas system to prove their technology and generate revenue42:51 - The market shift from AI training to inference and the future of Positron's chips51:14 - The confidence in Positron's capital efficiency and their ability to compete with NVIDIA52:47 - Positron's focus on linear algebra acceleration rather than just transformersSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(09:04) Netsuite - Download the ebook CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twist(21:20) Coda - Empower your startup with Coda's Team plan for free—get 6 months at https://www.Coda.io/twist(31:43) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:In this TWiST founder triple-shot, Alex digs into the real-world rollout of AI agents: Paid.ai's Manny Medina explains agent economics and value-based pricing, iTruckr's Camilo Ramirez shows agents booking loads and coordinating drivers, and Tenax's Elise Myrans demos computer vision + drones that score a single home's wildfire/flood risk for smarter underwriting—plus live office-hours on winning enterprise pilots without getting stuck in PoC purgatory.Timestamps:(00:00) Brainstorming hacks for sales cycles in regulated industries — castles, moats & alligators!(03:50) Meet Paid.ai: tracking costs & monetization for AI agents(04:35) Paid.ai's Manny Medina on the “year of agents” & early enterprise traction(09:04) Netsuite - Download the ebook CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twist(11:06) The tough economics of AI agents vs SaaS — margins squeezed by tokens(18:20) How Paid.ai gets granular: tracking signals & agent activity with OpenTelemetry(21:20) Coda - Empower your startup with Coda's Team plan for free—get 6 months at https://www.Coda.io/twist(29:16) Enter iTruckr: Camilo Ramirez brings AI dispatch to the freight industry(31:43) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.(39:02) Scaling from small fleets to mid-sized trucking companies — lessons from AI Trucker(55:59) Tenax ai helps homeowners & insurers manage wildfire, flood & climate riskSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(09:04) Netsuite - Download the ebook CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twist(21:20) Coda - Empower your startup with Coda's Team plan for free—get 6 months at https://www.Coda.io/twist(31:43) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Jason heard Lina Khan on The Bulwark and got a little fired up.Plus Google doesn't have to invest in Chrome… or basically do much of anything… Atlassian picked up not just any browser company but THE Browser Company… Follow-up thoughts on that MIT “companies aren't using AI” study… AND Jason's “two stock markets” theory. It's a can't-miss Friday TWiST.Timestamps:(00:00) Sony responds to Kpop Demon Hunters success… but Jason's not buying it!(10:44) Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWIST(11:10) Jason heard Lina Khan on The Bulwark and he has THOUGHTS(12:40) Google doesn't have to divest Chrome! So what ARE the remedies?(18:31) Atlassian's buying a browser company? Which one? THE Browser Company.(20:57) CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/tech(21:22) When early DPI is better than NO DPI.(26:58) AI that helps you GET a job?! What a twist!(29:46) Jason and Alex have questions about that MIT AI study…(30:57) Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twist.(32:07) More Browser News! Why Jason's bullish on Brave.(35:10) Perplexed by “Perplexity”: Jason's rules for domain names(39:54) The path is cleared for Polymarket's return to the US(47:06) Jason's “Two Stock Markets” theory(53:02) Mistral looking to raise 2 billion… euro!(56:08) Jason's political philosophy: More joy and happiness(59:18) Stripe's new stablecoin blockchain has no native token! So what's it for?(01:04:12) Jason's tips for lowering your churn rate(01:11:56) How to use Reddit to uncover pain pointsSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(10:44) Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWIST(20:57) CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/tech(30:57) Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twist.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Wilson Sonsini Partner Becki DeGraw returns to Startup Legal Basics with Jason. This time, they dive into the “have” companies — the breakout startups with multiple term sheets, competitive valuations, and unusual deal terms.From founder voting proxies to mandatory follow-on investment clauses, Becki breaks down the creative “off-menu” structures showing up in today's financings, and what founders and investors need to watch for.Whether you're a founder navigating investor FOMO or a VC competing to get on the best cap tables, this conversation will give you insight into the new rules of the game.*Timestamps:(0:00) Jason welcomes Becki back to Startup Legal Basics(0:32) The “haves” vs. “have-nots” in today's startup market(1:28) Creative legal structures: the “off-menu” items(4:19) Travis' Uber favor & modern founder asks(7:05) Rise of secondaries & unusual board structures(11:22) Mandatory follow-on investment clauses in seed rounds?(14:13) Crypto's resurgence and legal implications(15:55) The decline of proper diligence in hot deals*Check Out Wilson Sonsini: https://www.wsgr.comCheck out all of the Startup Basics episodes here: https://thisweekinstartups.com/basics*Follow Becki:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-degraw-639bbb62/*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis*Follow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Today's show:Jason and Alex are joined by Nuro's Dave Ferguson to unpack the Lucid–Uber–Nuro deal aiming to launch fully driverless Gravity SUVs on Uber by 2026. They dig into why off-the-shelf sensors and Nvidia's Thor chip drive costs down, how mapping 150 cities improves safety, and why lidar still matters for night and edge cases. Plus: lessons from Cruise's collapse, how regulators think about safety multiples, and why autonomy could finally make rides cheaper than owning a car.Timestamps:(00:00) Show intro…(06:23) Uber x Lucid x Nuro: why this 2026 robotaxi deal matters(09:57) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(11:13) What the self-driving “cost stack” really looks like in 2025(14:08) Road-mapping at scale: Nuro's 150-city data collection push(15:38) Can AVs handle snow & rain? Weather rollout and Uber Black positioning(20:05) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(21:07) Show Continues…(24:24) Probabilistic vs. deterministic driving models — and the DARPA roots(30:08) Stripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.(31:08) Show Continues…(35:38) Post-Cruise reality check: transparency, regulators & trustSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(09:57) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(20:05) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(30:08) Stripe Startups - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on stripe.com/startups.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Find out why it's important to “get curious,” and more deep founder insights on a new TWiST.Jason and Alex are back with a look at Robot vs. Human violence spilling out into the streets, Elon Musk's vision for humanoid robots, and a reconsideration of Apple's open-source AI models. Is the hardware giant not getting enough credit for its smaller-scale innovations?Plus Grok has another hit model, AND a chat with Scale Social founder Runbin Dong about the importance of knowing your worth.Timestamps:(0:00) Robot vs. Human violence in the streets! Is anti-clanker behavior inevitable?(05:13) Producer Claude's company Anthropic is growing FAST, raising BIG money(09:21) More on why Jason is convinced Tesla's Optimus robots are the future(10:35) Monarch Money - Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/TWIST(11:50) Show Continues…(20:00) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(21:19) Show Continues…(23:31) Ask Jason: Should you get a ticket for messing with an autonomous vehicle?(27:04) Is Apple not getting enough credit for its open-source AI models?(30:30) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit aws.amazon.com/startups/credits(31:55) Show Continues…(38:08) Grok has another hit AI model… how can anyone even keep track of this?!(40:27) Runbin Dong of Scale Social stops by from ICELAND(42:54) How Runbin's job delivering homemade dumplings inspired his startup(47:05) Why founders need to know their WORTH when pricing their products(59:21) Jason's advice for companies that are creating their own categorySubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(10:35) Monarch Money - Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/TWIST(20:00) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(30:30) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit aws.amazon.com/startups/creditsGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:*“KPop Demon Hunters” is one of the year's biggest smashes… AFTER Sony sold it off to Netflix for cheap! Hear about what went wrong with one of the year's worst deals…PLUS Grok is counting on SPEED to help it outpace rivals… How Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) ran into trouble on the podcast circuit… Nvidia's big earnings report, and why everyone is watching that company in particular SO closely… PLUS a new Polymarket predicting the future of OpenAI!Timestamps:(0:00) How Sony missed out on “Kpop Demon Hunters”(10:15) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.(11:20) Show continues…(13:59) Why some politicians struggle so much on podcasts(19:30) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit aws.amazon.com/startups/credits(20:53) Show continues…(30:24) Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twist(31:37) Grok is relying on SPEED to outpace rivals… and it's working(41:23) Are AI companies playing a mega-budget game of chicken?(42:31) Why everyone's watching Nvidia's earnings so closely(47:50) Jason says he'll NEVER go back to a non-AI browser(53:32) Polymarket: Is OpenAI going to release their own browser?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(10:15) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.(19:30) AWS Activate - AWS Activate helps startups bring their ideas to life. Apply to AWS Activate today to learn more. Visit aws.amazon.com/startups/credits(30:24) Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twistReady to level up your AI collaborations?Head to www.claude.ai/twistYou can't do everything we're doing without a paid plan…But TWiST listeners get 50% off their first three months of Claude Pro.Just go to Claude dot AI Slash TWiST to get started.Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Wilson Sonsini Partner Becki DeGraw returns to Startup Legal Basics with Jason to break down what's happening in today's startup market. From excess dry powder on the VC side to companies struggling to “grow into” their valuations, Becki shares what founders need to know about deal terms, pay-to-play provisions, and the shift from the 2021 heyday to today's more structured environment.Why down rounds and structured deals are becoming more commonHow “pay-to-play” works (and why it's showing up so often now)The psychology of VCs vs. founders during tough fundraisesWhat the M&A landscape really looks like in 2025Legal provisions investors are using to protect themselves in today's talent warsWhether you're a founder preparing for your next round or an investor navigating tougher terms, this conversation will help you understand the new realities of startup fundraising.*Timestamps:(0:00) Becki DeGraw joins Jason for Startup Legal Basics(1:12) The “perfect storm” shaping today's startup market(4:30) Companies struggling to grow into 2021 valuations(6:31) Why down rounds and structured deals are rising(8:59) Pay-to-play explained: what happens if investors don't participate(15:43) The mid-market M&A wave vs. big tech acquisitions(20:37) Talent wars, acqui-hires, and protective legal provisions*Check Out Wilson Sonsini: https://www.wsgr.comCheck out all of the Startup Basics episodes here: https://thisweekinstartups.com/basics*Follow Becki:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-degraw-639bbb62/*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis*Follow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Today's show:On a brand-new TWiST, Jason and Alex are asking why there are SO MANY note-taking AI apps?Plus another death has been linked to ChatGPT… is it too easy to get past chatbot guardrails? Why Donald Trump Jr. is joining Polymarket…. How the US Navy could catch up with its international rivals… AND should Apple just buy a big AI company to help them catch up?All that PLUS a visit from Colin Russ, whose viral H1B Visa thread might just inspire Jason to reach out to his good friend, Vice President JD Vance. Check out the full episode!Timestamps:(0:00) Intro, Jason's checking out Notion's new AI note taking app… is it time to cancel Granola?(06:57) How Google Gemini's new 2.5 Flash Image tool (formerly known as “nano-banana”) could change advertising(10:28) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(11:40) Show Continues…(17:50) Another death linked to ChatGPT… is it too easy to get around AI chatbot guardrails?(19:26) Vouched - Trust for agents that's built for builders like you. Check it out at http://vouched.id/twist(20:34) Show Continues…(28:10) Donald Trump Jr. invests in Polymarket and joins the board…(29:45) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(30:49) Show Continues…(33:30) How Jason thinks the US Navy could catch up with China and other rivals, with help from startups(40:01) Do Jason and Alex think Apple might REALLY buy a big, expensive AI company? Would that be admitting defeat?(45:57) Colin Russ (@ThaaatColin) tells us about his viral X thread and why he's worried about H1B visa fraud(55:32) Jason's solution for the H1B system, and a message for VP Vance.(01:08:25) Jason responds to Kara Swisher, who accused him sucking up to power(01:19:07) Jason responds to his old pal Sam Harris, who thinks he's loyal to the wrong peopleSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(10:28) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(19:26) Vouched - Trust for agents that's built for builders like you. Check it out at http://vouched.id/twist(29:45) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:On an upbeat and optimistic new TWiST, Jason and Alex are debating why any new innovation or technology gets hit with a wave of bitter cynicism.PLUS Jason defends the government taking shares of Intel, explains the importance of interoperability, and predicts how AirBnB's Joe Gebbia will upgrade the US government's website design.All that PLUS thoughts on the Netskope IPO, Perplexity offering publishers actual revenue share, a deep dive on the new AI-based PAC, thoughts on open-source LLMs, and much much much more.Timestamps:(0:00) Cynicism vs. Optimism and why Jason thinks cynics go after any interesting new technology(10:02) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist(11:04) Show Continues…(14:37) Why Jason supports the Intel deal but worries it will become a trend(20:46) Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twist.(22:00) Show Continues…(27:02) Is it hypocritical to oppose socialist grocery stores but support the Intel deal? Jason says NO.(29:41) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(30:58) What does xAI hope to get out of this OpenAI/Apple lawsuit? Jason and Alex theorize…(39:12) Why Jason thinks interoperability is so important and how App Stores OUGHT to work(41:12) How AirBnB's Joe Gebbia could potentially upgrade the US government's websites(49:27) What does Netskope do exactly? SASE?! Producer Claude explains…(58:32) Alex and Jason celebrate Perplexity rev sharing with publishers(01:10:02) Jason's thoughts on the Leading the Future PAC, and US AI policySubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(10:02) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist(20:46) Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twist.(29:41) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWISTGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Today's show:Terra's collapse, Powell's pivot, and OpenAI's explosive growth all collide in this TWiST deep dive.Do Kwon has pled guilty after Terra/Luna's $60B implosion, Fed Chair Powell hints at a September rate cut, and OpenAI has officially crossed $1B in monthly revenue (on a $12B run rate). Jason and Alex unpack what this means for founders, LPs, and the next wave of AI + crypto.They also cover Canva's $42B comeback, Anthropic's doubled $10B fundraise, and the brewing battle between Figma & Canva.Plus: Uber, Nuro & Lucid's $6B robotaxi push — and why drivers are already protesting in Wuhan & Boston.#Startups #Crypto #AI #VentureCapital #OpenAI #Anthropic #Canva #Figma #ThisWeekInStartupsTimestamps:(0:00) INTRO(01:15) Fed rate cut signals & market reaction(05:36) Jason's $400K in new fund bets(10:25) Miro - Help your teams get great done with Miro. Check out miro.com to find out how!(11:30) Show Continues…(16:22) Do Kwon & the Terra/Luna collapse(20:22) Bolt - Don't be left behind. Build apps quickly without knowing how to code with Bolt.new. Try it free at https://www.bolt.new/twist.(21:23) Show Continues…(29:43) Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twist(30:55) Show Continues…(36:14) OpenAI's $1B/month revenue run rate(42:13) Anthropic's $10B round & AI market sizing(51:31) Canva's $42B valuation & Figma comparisonSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(10:25) Miro - Help your teams get great done with Miro. Check out miro.com to find out how!(20:22) Bolt - Don't be left behind. Build apps quickly without knowing how to code with Bolt.new. Try it free at https://www.bolt.new/twist.(29:43) Alphasense - Get deeper insights into your business with the power of AI search and market intelligence. Start with a free trial at https://www.alpha-sense.com/twistGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916