Podcast appearances and mentions of Brian Chesky

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain CLA https://claconnect.com/withyou Rippling https://Rippling.ai/twist Today's show: Hugging Face's $399 Microduck and the art of companies taking on side quests. Then, we get into Dwarkesh Patel's "The Rise and Fall of Agent Civilizations," which blew up online this weekend. Jason calls the "secret AI civilization" framing deliberate PR, and thinks it's inflammatory enough that someone might attack a data center over it. Then, Anders Forslund of Heart Aerospace shows off the X1, a battery-powered electric airliner designed for regional flights that can fly for 30 minutes on just $5 of juice. PLUS, we've got John Yu of Bitsec explaining how his subnet project outperformed Fable 5 in website vulnerability checks. Guests: Anders Forslund on X: https://x.com/AndersForslund1?s=2 Heart Aerospace: https://www.heartaerospace.com/ John Yu on X: https://x.com/yubrew Bitsec: https://sentios.io/ & https://sentios.io/ Relevant Links: MicroDuck: https://pollen-robotics.com/microduck/ Dwarkesh Patel, "The Rise and Fall of Agent Civilizations," https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/openai-huggingface Dwarkesh's launch thread on X: https://x.com/dwarkesh_sp/status/2093833419377815719 METR's independent investigation of the OpenAI/Hugging Face incident: https://metr.org/blog/2026-08-26-openai-hugging-face-incident-investigation/ X1 first flight announcement — https://www.heartaerospace.com/newsroom/heart-aerospace-completes-first-flight-of-world-s-largest-electric-aircraft JSX (JetSuiteX) — https://www.jsx.com/ Pilatus PC-12 —https://www.pilatus-aircraft.com/en/fly/pc-12 Surf Air — https://www.surfair.com/ Zcash → https://z.cash/ Timestamps: 0:00 Is Hugging Face's Microduck the greatest side quest ever? 5:31 Jason puts Clem Delangue and Jensen Huang in charge of AI PR 11:20 Northwest Registered Agent - Got a new business idea? Northwest Registered Agent helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more - with no purchase required! Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain 18:55 Top story: Dwarkesh Patel's "The Rise and Fall of Agent Civilizations" 19:22 Why agents act like people: they were trained on us 19:30 CLA - Innovation takes balance. CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors can help you get from startup to where you want to end up. Get started now at https://www.claconnect.com/withyou 21:49 "I know good PR when I see it" 23:11 The prompt Jason says OpenAI should have written instead 26:44 The data center backlash and the politicians who will flip 30:07 Rippling - Don't settle for AI that's all talk. Head to https://Rippling.ai/twist to get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business. 33:19 Guest: Anders Forslund, Heart Aerospace, and the X1's first flight 39:40 Turboprops vs. jets and the regional routes America lost 42:33 JSX, Santa Monica Airport, and 5,000 underused airports 44:54 Why Boeing won't build this: the innovator's dilemma 53:14 Guest: John Yu, Bitsec — Bittensor Subnet 60 55:01 How the subnet works: miners, validators, $10K a day 57:17 Bitsec vs. a frontier model: 160+ vulnerabilities to 60 59:37 Was the agent civilization story a pre-IPO PR play? 1:05:10 Sentios.io and continuous coverage Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: DigitalOcean https://do.co/twist Every.io https://every.io PayPal https://paypal.launch.co Today's show: *Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, just days after quietly licensing Poolside's coding model for $6 billion+. On TWiST, Jason lays out why this is actually the biggest AI story of the year. Nvidia plans to offer enterprises unmetered, unlimited on-prem compute, pulling them away from reliance on Anthropic and OpenAI's frontier models and products. PLUS we're chatting with Halter founder & CEO Craig Piggott about how his company helps farmers optimize their land use via solar-powered AI-driven cattle collars. AND Hop Aero CEO and co-founder Matija Milenovic shows us Rook, his autonomous hypersonic cargo rocket that can launch from a shipping container and deliver cargo up to 450 miles away in about 15 minutes. Finally, Jason and Lon explain why you never post Slop on the timeline. Guests: Craig Piggott on X: https://x.com/craig_piggott Halter: https://www.halterhq.com/ Matija Milenovic on X: https://x.com/mat_milenovic Hop Aero: https://hopaero.com/ Relevant Links: OpenAI Open Letter: https://openai.com/collective-cyberdefense/ OpenAI Hugging Face report: https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-incident-and-the-road-ahead/ OpenAI Jalapeño report: https://openai.com/index/jalapeno-first-results/ Dario Amodei-Gavin Baker tweet thread: https://x.com/DarioAmodei/status/2088758816376807762 TechCrunch: Nvidia-Hugging Face deal: https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/nvidia-closes-in-on-hugging-face-acquisition/ TechCrunch coverage of Halter: https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/04/unpacking-peter-thiels-big-bet-on-solar-powered-cow-collars/ Dealroom: Sir Peter Back on Rocket Lab: https://app.dealroom.co/news/note/sir-peter-beck-on-rocket-lab-s-no-money-so-we-have-to-think-playbook-from-a-60k-new-zealand-start-up-to-an-end-to-end-space-company WSJ: Druckenmiller op-ed: "Let the Bond Market Speak": https://www.wsj.com/opinion/let-the-bond-market-speak-81529d74 NOTUS: Druckenmiller's WSJ op-ed was written with AI: https://www.notus.org/media/stanley-druckenmillers-wsj-op-ed-bessent-ai WaPo: Wall Street Journal defends Druckenmiller op-ed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/08/25/wall-street-journal-says-ai-generated-op-ed-didnt-breach-its-standards/ Photon Matrix Laser Mosquito Killer: https://photonmatrixlab.com/ "The Wizard of the Kremlin" trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7ctYp3zQVA "King & Conqueror" trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anS9xQEPTsU "Lanterns" trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UIBOsuUwc4 "Rebel Ridge" trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF3gZicntIw Alpaka Bravo Sling Max 2 bag: https://alpakagear.com/products/bravo-sling-max-v2 No Agenda podcast: https://www.noagendashow.net/ THR: John C. Dvorak obit: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/john-dvorak-dead-tech-journalist-no-agenda-inside-track-1236657317/ Timestamps: 0:00 The 100+ company open letter on cyberdefense 9:48 DigitalOcean - Want to see what building on a true AI-native platform looks like? Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today — and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%. 16:46 Why some models are "unsafe at any latency" 19:44 Craig Piggott of Halter joins the show 21:03 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io 26:09 How do you add cows to Starlink? 31:26 PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.co 47:52 Founder-led hyper-local sales motion 53:15 Remember John C. Dvorak 58:27 Matija Milenovic of Hop Aero joins 59:53 Sending out autonomous swarms in the Indo-Pacific 1:11:26 Nvidia's mega-Hugging Face deal 1:16:32 Nvidia's "unmetered" play against Anthropic and OpenAI 1:29:47 How letting AI write for you is like lip syncing 1:33:44 Laser-guided mosquito defense system 1:36:32 Lon's streaming picks   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Lightfield https://lightfield.app Northwest Registered Agent https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain Rippling https://Rippling.ai/twist   Today's show: *Bill Gates dropped a 6,000 word warning: AI will be "the greatest equalizer ever invented, or the worst sort of injustice." The Microsoft icon has an AI agenda for the US: new national institutions, AI use taxes, and jobs legally reserved for humans only. Our VC roundtable guests — Sheel Mohnot (Better Tomorrow Ventures), Dave McClure (Practical Venture Capital), and Hussein Kanji — push back hard. Is taxing profits a better fix for AI taking jobs than taxing the tokens themselves? PLUS: Meta's $17B kids safety settlement… does it go far enough? Why does Stripe want OpenRouter? A peek at the VC's actual portfolio mark-ups. AND begun, the AI agent wars have. Our panel chooses between OpenClaw, Instinct, and Grok Bot. Guests Sheel Mohnot on X: https://x.com/pitdesi Better Tomorrow Ventures: https://www.btv.vc/ Dave McClure on X: https://x.com/davemcclure Practical Venture Capital: https://practicalvc.com/ Hussein Kanji on X: https://x.com/hkanji Hoxton Ventures: https://hoxtonventures.com/ Relevant Links GatesNotes: "The turbulent AI era is here": https://www.gatesnotes.com/a-turbulent-ai-era-and-critical-choices-to-make NPR: Meta settlement coverage: https://www.npr.org/2026/08/26/nx-s1-5944781/meta-settlement-child-safety-lawsuit TechCrunch: Stripe agrees to buy OpenRouter: https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/16/stripe-will-reportedly-acquire-ai-gateway-startup-openrouter-for-7b/ Skild AI S1 Demo: https://www.skild.ai/blogs/s1 Instinct AI agent (waitlist): https://instinct.co/ TechCrunch: Instinct coverage: https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/24/instincts-powerful-ai-assistant-is-raising-privacy-and-security-concerns/ CNBC: OpenAI CFO says IPO is coming in 2027: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/19/open-ai-ipo-timing-2027-friar.html Basis: https://www.getbasis.ai/ TaxGPT: https://www.taxgpt.com/ Cusp AI: https://cusp.ai/ Abacus: https://goabacus.co/ Micro1: https://www.micro1.ai/ Mottu: https://mottu.com.br/ EquityBee: https://equitybee.com/ Kiva: https://www.kiva.org/ Timestamps: 0:00 It's Hussein's first time on the VC Roundtable! 2:09 Gates says "turbulent era" for AI is here 8:56 Microloans, Kiva, and "universal basic income" 9:23 Thanks to our partner, Lightfield, the AI-native CRM that updates itself, so you never have to! Try it for free at https://lightfield.app 13:00 Why sole proprietorships may be AI's biggest beneficiary 20:29 Got a new business idea? Northwest helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more, with no purchase required! Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain 21:00 Should the gov't take a stake in AI labs? 30:24 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://Rippling.ai/twist to get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business. 32:44 Meta's $17.1B settlement 45:14 Is anything still fundable outside of AI? 46:29 Stripe and SpaceX deals 55:54 Skild AI's pancake flipping demo 59:49 Sheel's Hottest Takes 1:04:37 Dave's Charts 1:09:07 Who loses money when there are no IPOs? 1:16:49 The Agent Wars heat up 1:24:56 Everyone's favorite investments   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Thank you to our partners: (0:00) PARTNER - AD BLURB (0:00) PARTNER - AD BLURB (0:00) PARTNER - AD BLURB Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Odoo https://Odoo.com/twist Quo https://quo.com/TWiST Conservation Fund https://conservationfund.org how old a movie has to be for me to be able to show a part of it on youtube Generally 10 seconds or less of a film clip can fall under fair use for commentary or criticism — which is how most podcasts and talk shows use clips without issue. But there's no hard legal rule based on age. What actually matters more than age is fair use, which considers: Purpose — commentary, criticism, education = stronger fair use case Amount used — shorter = safer; a 5-10 second clip for reaction/discussion is generally fine Effect on market — your clip shouldn't replace the original In practice for YouTube specifically: Most major studios have Content ID systems that will flag clips regardless of movie age — even 100-year-old films if the rights holder has registered them Public domain is the real safe zone — films from 1927 or earlier are generally in the public domain in the US. Some films from the 1928-1963 range are also public domain if copyright wasn't renewed Disney, Warner Bros., Universal etc. actively enforce even very old films For a show like TWiST showing a short reaction clip — 5-10 seconds with clear commentary context is the industry standard and rarely gets actioned. But age alone won't protect you. Today's show: *A humanoid robot ran the 100m in 9.39, breaking the human Usain Bolt's world record, while an entire stadium cheered. Jason thinks Beijing's World Humanoid Robot Games aren't a science fair, or a fun exhibition, but the best AI PR campaign on Earth. While Americans debate the data centers that train the robot brains, China is already turning them into a spectacle and world-class entertainment. Find out what Jason thinks America can do to catch up… and why he believes there will be 1 billion Optimus robots deployed by the year 2036. PLUS on an all-news TWiST, hot takes on the potential $13B Hugging Face sale (to a mystery buyer), why founders should always "buy the threat," analyzing Sam Altman's "I'm listening and I hear you" face, and are kill drones already in operation around the world? We're digging in to how close the real world is to mirroring the "Terminator" films. Relevant Links CBS coverage of World Humanoid Robot Games: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-robot-usain-bolt-sprint-run-record-faster/ Bloomberg coverage of World Humanoid Robot Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lsrUAdcPPE X-Humanoid: https://www.x-humanoid.com/ Tesla Optimus on X: https://x.com/Tesla_Optimus Trailer for Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_19pRsZRiz4 Bloomberg: Hugging Face exploring sale: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-23/hugging-face-gauging-interest-for-potential-sale-business-insider-says Fortune: Stripe acquires OpenRouter: https://fortune.com/2026/08/16/stripe-7-billion-deal-ai-firm-openrouter-acquisition/ InfoWorld: OpenAI acqui-hires OPenClaw founder: https://www.infoworld.com/article/4132731/openai-hires-openclaw-founder-as-ai-agent-race-intensifies-2.html David Senra podcast w/ Sam Altman: https://www.davidsenra.com/episode/sam-altman Harvey Tenet Research Preview: https://www.harvey.ai/blog/post-training-update-harvey-tenet David Sacks comments on Harvey's Tenet (from X): https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/2090790063047168473 CNBC: Iran linked to UK cyberattack: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/23/small-uk-power-plant-shut-down-after-iran-linked-cyberattack-report.html NYT: A drone killed 3 Ukrainians: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/world/europe/russia-drones-autonomous-ai-kill-ukraine-war.html Forbes: Eric Schmidt secretly testing AI drones: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahemerson/2024/06/06/eric-schmidt-is-secretly-testing-ai-military-drones-in-a-wealthy-silicon-valley-suburb/ Restream: https://restream.io/ Kimbal Musk's Nova Sky Stories: https://novaskystories.com/ IKEA: Plug-in Solar Panels: https://www.ikea.com/be/en/energy-services/plug-in-solar/ Deadline: "Mandalorian and Grogu" box office: https://deadline.com/2026/08/star-wars-mandalorian-grogu-disney-release-date-1237040464/ THR: Dave Filoni leading Lucasfilm: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-mandalorian-grogu-box-office-franchise-low-1236604973/ Star Wars: Starfighter first look: https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-starfighter-ryan-gosling Star Wars Theory: "Vader" fan series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey68aMOV9gc Timestamps: 0:00 Jason got a fresh Optimus demo 1:35 Robots are breaking human sports records 3:39 America's messaging problem vs. China's elite PR machine 11:07 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://Odoo.com/twist 12:08 Jason got a fresh Optimus demo 19:21 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free and get 20% off your first 6 months at https://quo.com/TWiST 28:09 Who's going to buy Hugging Face and why? 28:56 Conservation Fund - Find out more about how the Conservation Fund is protecting land, wildlife, and our shared access to the great outdoors while also providing economic opportunities. Visit https://conservationfund.org 31:35 How OpenAI killed OpenClaw 39:08 Sam Altman wants to make a platform, not a product 41:19 The "Castles and Keeps" metaphor for sovereign AI 49:27 UBI isn't happening but we could raise the minimum wage 58:47 Embracing redundancy and self-reliance 1:10:53 Is Star Wars at a historic low point (and Lon's Worst Take) Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Superhuman https://Superhuman.com Sentry https://sentry.io/twist Lightfield https://lightfield.app Today's show: Jason's been saying it for years now (and we've got an All In clip from 2023 to prove it). Open source will win the AI race. This week gives us a major evidence point, as $11B legal AI company Harvey released its own in-house model, trained on an open-weight Kimi K3 base. Harvey made a proprietary specialized solution without having to risk sharing its precious expert-compiled data with the major frontier labs. PLUS we're checking out the FREE AI dictation app Willow with co-founder Allan Guo, and finding out how he plans to compete with giants like Wispr Flow and Apple. AND we've got the Stanford student who built an automated golf cart and gave luminaries like Jensen Huang and Sam Altman rides around campus. Guests Allan Guo on X: https://x.com/_allanguo Willow: https://willowvoice.com/ Ethan Goodhart: https://x.com/EthanGoodhart Sign up for the Wind TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/zZqmhhwf Relevant Links CNBC: OpenAI "will be a public company in 2027": https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/19/open-ai-ipo-timing-2027-friar.html OpenAI Zero Data Retention Pledge: https://openai.com/index/our-commitment-to-zero-data-retention TWIST (June 2026): Jason comments on OpenAI and training data: https://youtu.be/o3eow1nTrcI?si=orungk7OmplOuyio&t=742 All In podcast (Feb 2023): Jason comments on open source vs. frontier models: https://youtu.be/PVgBWV2bvLs?si=j6y7sHS0wx9q09oa&t=5173 Harvey: https://www.harvey.ai/ Harvey Tenet Research Preview: https://www.harvey.ai/blog/post-training-update-harvey-tenet Fireworks AI: https://fireworks.ai/ Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai/ Pipedrive: https://www.pipedrive.com/ Nvidia Jetson Thor: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/autonomous-machines/embedded-systems/jetson-thor/ OpenAI shares Wind golf cart clip: https://www.tiktok.com/@openai/video/7645336713472134431 Starlink Mini: https://starlink.com/mini-product-us?srsltid=AfmBOorzM7arxhdzYAdDpH6RGD4LLg9WV_BFnEoLuYieuHuGSCjQTE1Y Toro mowers: https://www.toro.com/ 404 Media: https://www.404media.co/ Punchbowl News: https://punchbowl.news/ Semafor: https://www.semafor.com/ Skift: https://skift.com/ Newcomer: https://www.newcomer.co/ Deirdre Bosa on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@deebosa Electrek: Genesis GV90 review: https://electrek.co/2026/08/20/genesis-gv90-luxury-coach-doors-images/ Toyota Alphard gallery: https://global.toyota/en/mobility/toyota-brand/gallery/alphard.html The Clash "London Calling" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfK-WX2pa8c Timestamps: 0:00 What is Jason's Grok Bot up to? 5:17 Systems over goals 9:43 Superhuman - Superhuman Go is an AI chat that's always there when you need it, already aware of what you're doing, and doesn't ask you to start from zero. Sign up to get the best in AI at https://Superhuman.com 13:08 OpenAI will go public soon 14:19 Top line ARR matters way less than churn 20:43 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST 29:55 Lightfield - Name one person who's ever enjoyed updating a CRM. Exactly. Lightfield's AI agent does it for you — it even prospects and books your meetings. Used by thousands of startups. Free at https://lightfield.app 30:52 Harvey launches Tenet 34:32 "Open source is going to win it all" 35:58 Allan Guo of Willow joins 39:18 Managing a single source of truth across a team 47:00 Lon and Jason love the Toyota Alphard 51:00 Stanford student and AV expert Ethan Goodhart joins 1:00:09 How Ethan got Jensen Huang to go for a ride 1:00:37 Punk Rock 101 1:06:24 Phoebe Gates' secret Harvard class Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

The TWiST AI Basics series is made possible by Google Cloud! Build context-aware AI workflows using DeepMind models and orchestration tools with Google for Startups' new Startup technical guide on generative media. Get the guide here: https://goo.gle/technical_guide Astrocade is building super-intelligence for the interactive world. Build the future of fun: https://www.astrocade.com/careers Today's show: *Making a video game once required a studio, an engine, and a team of five or more people working for six months. But with Astrocade, users just describe the game they'd like to play and share, and an AI assembles it from minutes, ready to publish to a TikTok-style feed. Still, founder and CEO Amir Sadeghian tell us AI can't actually build a great game all on its own. The magic isn't just in the automation, but the user's creativity and good taste. Amir demos how the app turns simple sentences and descriptions into full video games, explains why frontier models still regress to the mean rather than pushing boundaries, and unpacks how the game's human-in-the-loop workflow can turn even generic ideas into something original and fun. Guest: Amir Sadeghian on X: https://x.com/_amirabs Astrocade: https://www.astrocade.com/ Relevant Links Flappy Bird: https://flappybird.io/ Plants vs. Zombies: https://www.ea.com/ea-studios/popcap/plants-vs-zombies MrBeast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast Google's Nano Banana Pro: https://nanabananapro.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 Welcome to AI Basics, presented by Google Cloud 0:44 Amir Sadeghian, CEO of Astrocade joins 1:08 What is Astrocade and how does it work? 2:58 From describing to publishing: the TikTok for games 3:37 Amir's origin story: four continents, one vision 5:11 Why making games used to require years of training 6:46 The watermelon juice theory of product friction 7:35 Taste as the new programming language 14:18 Personalizing games with your own images 15:23 From consumer to prosumer: can you make a living? 16:22 Astrocade's creator fund and new creator economy 17:07 Open roles at Astrocade 18:10 Why play is the most universal human language 19:43 Google Cloud, Gemini, and wrapping up   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Thank you to our partners! Build context-aware AI workflows using DeepMind models and orchestration tools with Google for Startups' new Startup technical guide on generative media. Get the guide here: https://goo.gle/technical_guide Astrocade is building super-intelligence for the interactive world. Build the future of fun: https://www.astrocade.com/careers   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Vanta https://www.vanta.com/twist Agree https://agree.com YSecurity https://YSecurity.io/TWIST   Today's show: Frontier AI models can ace PhD-level exams, but it's still bad at tracking down the product you want in the style that suits you. Onton's Zach Hudson tell us that the problem is that models are a black box. His solution? A neurosymbolic model, Ontology 1, that learns about your taste and preferred aesthetic over time, then produces product searches tailored specifically to you, rather than just using keywords and relevant tags. How do neurosymbolic models work, and how does Onton understand your prompts and favorite design trends? And why aren't the frontier labs working on neurosymbolic models of their own? Zach joins Jason and Lon to discuss. PLUS, following a record-smashing SpaceX IPO, Ashi Dissanayake of Spacium makes the case that the real bottleneck in space isn't launching rockets off the ground any more. It's refueling in orbit. Guests Zach Hudson on X: ****https://x.com/nosduhz Onton: https://onton.com/ Spacium: https://spaceium.com/ Spacium on X: https://x.com/SpaceiumInc Relevant Links Poolside's journey to AGI: https://poolside.ai/vision/purpose Startup Archive: Sam Altman on the Paul Graham advice that saved OpenAI: https://www.startuparchive.org/p/sam-altman-on-the-paul-graham-advice-that-saved-open-ai-always-make-an-api Kelly Wearstler: https://www.kellywearstler.com/ Ennis House: https://franklloydwright.org/site/ennis-house/ Los Feliz Living: Ennis House profile: https://www.losfelizliving.com/los-feliz-historic-homes/ennis-house-los-feliz-hcm-149 Indiewire: Ennis-inspired "The Studio" offices: https://www.indiewire.com/features/craft/the-studio-production-design-interview-seth-rogen-1235114365/ Monocle Magazine: https://monocle.com/ Spaceium on Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/spaceium-inc Orbit Fab's RAFTI: https://www.orbitfab.com/rafti/ James Webb Space Telescope: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/ Houzz: https://www.houzz.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 Zach Hudson joins: What is "neurosymbolic search" 4:03 Ontology 1 isn't a black box 6:31 Who is using Onton? 9:36 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist 11:35 Could neurosymbolic models reach AGI? 13:19 Jason loves Wright's Ennis House 17:03 The shape of AI companies is changing 19:28 Agree.com - Stop chasing invoices and automate your entire contract-to-cash stack. Go to https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life! 22:32 UGC as a data moat 26:03 The Dead Internet Theory 28:13 Ashi Dissanayake of Spacium joins 29:52 YSecurity - The on-demand security team for startups. Need enterprise-grade security without hiring a $400k CISO? YSecurity gives you 40+ expert engineers, matched to exactly what you need, by the hour, with your first six hours completely free. Go to https://YSecurity.io/TWIST 31:50 Storables vs. cryogenics: the zero-boil-off breakthrough 34:11 All kinds of propulsion requires refueling 36:09 Getting more value from LEO to GEO 38:28 Moving at rocket speed 44:54 Why demand is so acute 49:37 The investing climate for space, post-SpaceX Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist DigitalOcean https://do.co/twist Odoo https://Odoo.com/twist Today's show: We've been going deep on Bittensor and how it works all year on TWiST, meeting with the creators of some of our favorite subnets, and exploring how the system decentralizes inference, compute, and storage. Now, on this very special episode, Jason and Lon welcome Bittensor co-founder Jason Steeves (aka "Const") to the show. He gives us a quick tour of the project's first principles, before diving into how subnets incentivize miners to contribute, how dTAO turned the creation of subnets into its own competition, how Const says he employs "the internal machinery of capitalism" to rank subnects, and his latest project, Subnet 120 (aka Affine). Find out what the OpenTensor Foundation actually does, go inside the Templar controversy, and learn why Const is trying to make himself increasingly irrelevant. Guest Jacob Steeves on X: https://x.com/const_reborn Bittensor: https://www.bittensor.com/ Affine: https://affine.io/ Relevant Links Original Bittensor whitepaper: https://bittensor.com/whitepaper Bittensor governance and documentation: https://www.bittensor.com/docs Beginner's Guide to Dynamic TAO: https://www.tao.media/the-complete-beginners-guide-to-dynamic-tao-dtao/ Prime Intellect: TOPLOC: https://www.primeintellect.ai/blog/toploc Engy (SN53): https://engy.ai/ Lium (SN51): https://www.lium.io Targon (SN4): https://targon.com/ Templar (SN3): https://www.tplr.ai/ Hippius (SN75): https://hippius.com/ MakerDAO: https://makerdao.com/ Stillcore Capital: https://stillcorecapital.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 The origin of Bittensor (and the name Const) 10:48 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 13:55 From Bitcoin mining to mining intelligence 19:33 DigitalOcean - Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today — and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%. 30:17 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Get started for free at https://Odoo.com/twist 32:37 What is a subnet? 33:35 Forcing honest inference from bad actors 37:14 Building a subnet is harder than it looks 40:42 Understanding dTAO 51:57 Where the registration TAO actually goes 1:02:57 All about the Conviction "rug pull" 1:15:19 How Const is making himself irrelevant 1:17:33 The "Buy One TAO" philosophy Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: PayPal Open https://paypalopen.com CLA https://claconnect.com/withyou Odoo https://Odoo.com/twist Today's show: *Anthropic is likely headed for the largest IPO in history. A reported 2-3 trillion October debut would blow past SpaceX's recent record. Jason breaks down why the. numbers matter less than what they'll reveal about the entire AI economy. Then, chats with a pair of founders: one who's selling subscription water filtration systems that will keep microplastics out of your brain (and other body parts), and another who's building the AI software that powers automated solar panel installation. Guests Sami Khoreibi: https://x.com/samikhoreibi Wisewell: https://www.wisewell.com/ Puneet Puri: https://x.com/puneetp Gritt Robotics: https://www.gritt.ai/ Relevant Links Fortune: Anthropic reportedly plans $2T IPO in October: https://fortune.com/2026/08/13/anthropic-ipo-2-trillion-october-largest-ever-spacex/ Ramp AI Index: August update: https://ramp.com/data/ai-index-august-2026 Decart: https://decart.ai/ Bloomberg: Anthropic in talks to buy Decart: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-13/anthropic-said-in-talks-to-buy-ai-startup-decart-for-6-billion Nat Geo: Profile of water sommelier Martin Riese: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/water-sommelier-martin-riese Mailman School of Public Health: Nanoplastics study: https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/bottled-water-can-contain-hundreds-thousands-nanoplastics Bryan Johnson microplastics post: https://x.com/bryan_johnson/status/1937194358027190637?lang=en Topo Chico: https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en/brands/topo-chico San Pellegrino: https://www.sanpellegrino.com/ Acqua Panna: https://www.acquapanna.com/intl/ Evian: https://www.evian.com/ Mountain Valley Spring Water: https://mountainvalleyspring.com Fiji Water: https://www.fijiwater.com/ TechCrunch: Gritt exits stealth: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/21/gritt-exits-stealth-with-34-million-for-robots-to-build-solar-plants-then-everything-else/ Our World in Data: Solar panel prices: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-pv-prices Our World in Data: Solar module prices vs. cumulative capacity: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-pv-prices-vs-cumulative-capacity NYT: Do your emojis make you look old? https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/12/upshot/emoji-generations.html DJI Mic 3: https://www.dji.com/mic-3 Ted Lasso S4 trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk1KdTMhFs8 Lanterns trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UIBOsuUwc4 Furious trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBSqPDxmNZs The Shards trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpm9HUOrZIc Sporked: What are Tim Tams? https://sporked.com/article/what-are-tim-tams/ Timestamps: 0:00 New Segment: "Enough Already!" 3:36 Anthropic's record-breaking IPO plans 9:59 Why it's "Springtime for Trump and M&A" 10:39 PayPal - Built for payments, growth, and agentic. Paypal Open, built for all business. Visit https://paypalopen.com to get started 16:00 Sami Khoreibi of Wisewell joins 17:30 Hiring a water sommelier 20:23 CLA - Innovation takes balance. CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors can help you get from startup to where you want to end up. Get started now at https://www.claconnect.com/withyou 29:00 The problems with tap and bottled water 30:34 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Get started for free at https://Odoo.com/twist 49:58 Puneet Puri of Gritt Robotics joins 54:35 Solar's version of "Moore's Law" 1:05:08 Are you using the Boomer emojis? 1:09:02 Why Jason loves the DJI Mic 3 1:11:36 Jason & Lon's streaming recommendations Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Airbnb just partnered with TripAdvisor to bring 425,000 experiences onto its platform — a move that signals Brian Chesky isn't just dabbling in experiences anymore, he's building a second business inside the first. The crew breaks down what this means for the future of in-destination travel, why the real unfair advantage might already be sitting inside every host's guidebook, and whether this is Airbnb's best play in markets where short-term rental bans are tightening the grip on its core product. Edwin brings the European perspective: Barcelona's courts just sided with the city, 10,000 units disappear by 2029, and the ripple effects are spreading.   Then the conversation shifts to IHG, which is taking a completely different approach to the owner economics pressure wave sweeping the industry. While Hilton cuts fees and Marriott rolls out rebates, IHG is pitching a full services package — marketing, digital support, training, group booking — and telling owners to trust the value. Edwin's challenge is sharp: don't tell me the service has value, show me the PL. The panel explores whether regional marketing studios could actually be the unlock and what happens when brands start making owners more dependent on infrastructure they don't control.   The big closer: Blackstone just paid $2.5 billion for a 25% stake in AeroPlan, valuing Air Canada's loyalty program at $10 billion — more than the airline itself. Scott calls it a data and credit card gold mine. Ben says the airline business is a commodity and loyalty is where the differentiation lives. And somehow the whole thing detours into a love letter to Blackstone CEO John Gray's Instagram and why the best business development tool in 2026 might just be a jog through Central Park with your phone out. — This Week in Hospitality is presented to you by Journey. Journey is a loyalty platform built specifically for independent boutique hotels and high-touch hospitality brands. Our mission is to give operators the same powerful rewards engine, data intelligence, and guest insights that major chains rely on — without asking them to give up the individuality, soul, or story that makes their property extraordinary. If you're an owner or operator of an extraordinary, independently owned and operated hotel or residence — and you want to see whether your property is a fit for the Journey Alliance — you can learn more and apply at https://www.journey.com/alliance — Special Guest: Sarah Kopit — Editor-in-Chief of Skift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahkopit   Your Hosts: Zach Busekrus — Journey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachbusekrus/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthestays/   Scott Eddy — Global Travel & Hospitality Expert @MrScottEddy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrscotteddy/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrscotteddy/   Ben Wolff — Founder of Onera & Oasi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-wolff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambenwolff/   Edwin Kramer — Luxury Hotelier Consultant & Former GM LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwinckramer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinkramer/

These robots could cut delivery costs by 80% | Next Unicorns This Week In Startups is made possible by: Squarespace https://squarespace.com/twist Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Agree https://agree.com     Today's show: *Cytronic built a robotics-first fulfillment network, packing and shipping orders for cents instead of dollars, from small, city-adjacent micro-warehouses. Alex chats with CEO and co-founder Kevin Gibbon about how he can build a fulfillment warehouse for $1.2 million, and why it costs Amazon 50M-100M. PLUS Eyebot delivers low-cost doctor-reviewed eyeglass prescriptions following 90-second vision tests, conducted in everyday kiosks. We asked CEO and co-founder Matthias Hofmann how he's trying to simplify vision care and caught up with his Walmart and Sam's Club pilot programs. Guests Kevin Gibbon on X: https://x.com/kevingibbon Cytronic: https://cytronic.ai/ Matthias Hofmann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mchofmann/ Eyebot: https://www.eyebot.co/ Relevant Links Axios: Cytronic seed round: ****https://www.axios.com/pro/supply-chain-deals/2026/07/15/robotic-fulfillment-cytronic-13m Airhouse acquired by Syncware: https://www.airhouse.io/ Amazon News: 10 Years of Robotics: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/10-years-of-amazon-robotics-how-robots-help-sort-packages-move-product-and-improve-safety Serve Robotics: https://www.serverobotics.com/ Zipline: https://www.flyzipline.com TechCrunch: Manna plots major US expansion: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/08/autonomous-drone-delivery-startup-manna-plots-major-u-s-expansion/ TechCrunch: Eyebot Series A round: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/26/eyebot-gets-20m-series-a-to-boost-to-expand-eye-care-access/ CNET Eyebot coverage: https://www.cnet.com/health/medical/i-took-a-vision-test-in-90-seconds-with-a-robot-and-saw-the-future-of-vision-care/ Walmart & Sam's Club announcement: https://www.eyebot.co/resources/walmart-and-sams-club-pilot-fast-affordable-eyeglass-prescriptions-using-eyebots-technology/ Formlabs: https://formlabs.com/ Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses: https://www.meta.com/ai-glasses/ Google Android XR AI announcement: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/platforms/android/android-xr-gemini-glasses-headsets/ World Health Organization: Blindness and vision impairment fact sheet: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment Timestamps: 0:00 Kevin Gibbons of Cytronic joins the show 5:29 How small is a micro fulfillment center? 9:59 Squarespace - Turn your idea into a beautiful website! Go to https://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. 11:33 Understanding the unit economics 20:24 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 22:29 Why fulfillment costs rise as you scale 29:46 Automatons Roll Out 30:12 Matthias Hofmann of Eyebot joins the show 30:31 Agree.com - Stop chasing invoices and automate your entire contract-to-cash stack. Go to https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life! 31:29 Vision tests vs. eye exams 42:28 The terrifying doctor shortage 47:22 Fundraising and partnerships 57:07 Will we always need human doctors in the loop?   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Alex: X: https//x.com/alex   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis     Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Every.io https://every.io NetSuite https://NetSuite.ai/TWIST YSecurity https://YSecurity.io/TWIST Today's show: *Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg published a 6,500 word essay about the future of AI, and Jason thinks it's his smartest PR move in years. The thinkpiece, "The Future is for Everyone: The Path to a Positive AI Future," arrives alongside a new open-weight Meta model — Muse Glimmer — and the promise of an open-weight version of Muse Spark 1.2 to come. Zuckerberg's clearly pitching an "abundance" narrative, promising the American public untold benefits from AI technology — everything from a PhD-level tutor for every student to scientific breakthroughs, personal assistants, and beyond — all for the low low cost of not banning new data centers. Do our hosts think everyday voters will take this deal? PLUS X retires its revenue sharing program, the CLARITY Act misses a key pre-recess vote, what can we do to stop widespread AI-powered community college cheating, and some of the podcasting positions for which LAUNCH is hiring. Relevant Links Meta: "The Future is for Everyone": https://about.fb.com/news/2026/08/the-future-is-for-everyone/ Meta: "Introducing Muse Glimmer": https://research.meta.ai/blog/introducing-muse-glimmer-open-agentic-model MS Now: "Kevin O'Leary wants to atone for his data center sins": https://www.ms.now/news/kevin-oleary-wants-to-atone-for-his-data-center-sins "The Social Reckoning" teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM4LkaXwGuY X: Original Content Rewards Program: https://help.x.com/en/using-x/original-content-rewards TechCrunch: Nikita Bier steps down as X's head of product: https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/05/nikita-bier-steps-down-as-xs-head-of-product/ Congress.gov: H.R. 3633 - Digital Asset Market Clarity Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3633/text Politico: "Crypto faces a setback in the Senate": https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/07/delays-imperil-senate-crypto-bill-01029817 NYT: "AI Agents are Taking Entire Online Courses for Cheating Students": https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/us/ai-cheating-online-degrees.html Inside Higher Ed: "Brown Professor Suspects Majority of His Class Used AI to Cheat": https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/learning-assessment/2026/07/08/brown-professor-suspects-most-his-class-used-ai-cheat Podnews: Spotify's Skip Ahead ad skip test: https://podnews.net/article/spotify-threat-ad-skipping Tommy Vietor X post on Spotify: https://x.com/TVietor08/status/2085073214968037428?s=20 JJ Smith SF "open drug market" video: https://x.com/war24182236/status/2086839186137710724 Timestamps: 0:00 Why Zuck thinks the future is open source 2:26 Meta's roadmap: personal assistants and beyond 9:21 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io 20:22 Netsuite - For the first time ever, you can try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, go to https://NetSuite.ai/TWIST 27:43 How to win the data center argument 29:32 YSecurity - The on-demand security team for startups. Need enterprise-grade security without hiring a $400k CISO? YSecurity gives you 40+ expert engineers, matched to exactly what you need, by the hour, with your first six hours completely free. Go to https://YSecurity.io/TWIST 39:24 X intros Original Content Rewards 51:58 The CLARITY Act faces new setbacks 1:00:46 AI agents are taking students' tests for them 1:09:37 LAUNCH is hiring!   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane break down three stories about who is winning the race to control how travel gets discovered and booked. The conversation opens with Airbnb's Q2 earnings: nights and experiences booked up 9%, revenue up 11%, and 100 new features shipped in a single quarter using AI. Brian Chesky is calling it a compounding advantage that rivals cannot close easily. From there, the crew digs into why Expedia Group is doubling down on B2B, where gross bookings are growing at more than twice the rate of its consumer business, and what the Layla AI Travel Agent acquisition means for how vacation rentals get discovered inside bank and airline platforms. They close with Booking Holdings flagging Google AI Overviews on an earnings call for the first time and what it means when the biggest OTA in the world admits the search landscape is shifting underneath it. This episode is presented by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠StayFi⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bilt⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you're ready to start turning today's guests into tomorrow's direct bookings, head to stayfi.com/goodmorninghospitality and use code GOODMORNINGHOSPITALITY to get 50% off your first three months. And for hotels with restaurants and restaurant owners, Bilt Hospitality is finally here. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠joinbilt.com/gmh⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more for GMH listeners!

P.M. Edition for Aug. 7. The U.S. lost 23,000 jobs last month, surprising economists who had expected a gain. WSJ economics reporter Matt Grossman discusses the sectors that saw the biggest losses and gains, and what this latest report means for the Fed. Plus, an appeals court rules that construction on President Trump's planned White House ballroom must stop. And as New York City has rolled out its new pied-à-terre tax, wealthy homeowners are pushing back. We hear from Journal real estate reporter Rebecca Picciotto about the ways they're doing it, from lawsuits to potential loopholes. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This Week In Startups is made possible by: DigitalOcean https://do.co/twist Sentry https://sentry.io/twist Lightfield https://lightfield.app Today's show: A hedge fund just blew up shorting SaaS stocks. In turns out, the software companies that went all in on AI are bouncing back. Figma's CEO — still riding high on strong revenue — forfeited roughly $46 million in stock awards to ease investor nerves. Twilio posted its strongest quarter in years. Airbnb's CEO credits AI as the single biggest factor in the company's incredible turnaround. Jason and Lon break down what's separating the winners this earnings season from the companies that are falling behind. PLUS we're chatting with Bluecore Energy CEO and founder Kofi Asante about his plan to power ports, and one day AI data centers, with small, floating nuclear reactors. AND we're kicking off the TWiST Weight Loss Challenge! Co-host Lon and Jason's brother, Jamie, are both starting GLP-1s. We'll track their progress and follow along as they attempt to collect $15,000 EACH in prize money. Guest Kofi Asante on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kofiasante1/ Bluecore Energy: https://www.bluecore.energy/ Jamie Calacanis on X: https://x.com/CalacanisJamie Relevant Links Bloomberg: Figma CEO forfeits $46M: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-05/figma-ceo-forfeits-46-million-in-stock-after-share-decline Twilio announces second quarter 2026 results: https://investors.twilio.com/news-releases/news-release-details/twilio-announces-second-quarter-2026-results TechCrunch: Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson buys The Onion: https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/26/area-man-twilio-co-founder-jeff-lawson-buys-the-onion Chesky: Airbnb will spend a lot more on AI: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/07/chesky-airbnb-ai-earnings.html "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Unreasonable-Hospitality-Remarkable-Giving-People/dp/0593418573 The Times: Meet the unreasonable hospitality master who inspired "The Bear": https://www.thetimes.com/magazines/the-sunday-times-magazine/article/will-guidara-hospitality-the-bear-tkgzqz33w Port of Long Beach partnership on nuclear-powered shipping: https://gcaptain.com/port-of-long-beach-marad-launch-first-u-s-partnership-on-nuclear-powered-shipping/ Reuters: ByteDance targets mega AI model: https://www.reuters.com/technology/bytedance-targets-mega-ai-model-nearing-anthropics-mythos-ft-reports-2026-08-07/ Axios: OpenAI says its AI agents breached its own systems before Hugging Face: https://www.axios.com/2026/08/06/openai-hugging-face-black-hat Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House: https://franklloydwright.org/site/ennis-house/ Dwell: Why "The Studio" built a faux Frank Lloyd Wright HQ: https://www.dwell.com/article/the-studio-apple-tv-filming-locations-production-design-frank-lloyd-wright-john-lautner-97c68081 "Predators" documentary trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibVZkvpAJjI A24 "Primetime" trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fHXyqQOKL8 Alex Honnold free solos Taipei 101: https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/25/sport/alex-honnold-taipei-101-free-solo-netflix-intl-hnk Harmonic.ai: https://harmonic.ai/ Ro.co: http://ro.co/twist Timestamps: 0:00 Figma, Twilio & Airbnb earnings: who's winning at AI? 9:50 DigitalOcean - Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today — and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%. 11:32 The real cost of stock-based compensation 17:38 Kofi Asante of Blue Core Energy joins the show 19:47 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST 20:51 What is a small modular reactor (SMR)? 26:00 Floating nuclear reactors for ports and data centers 29:47 Lightfield - Name one person who's ever enjoyed updating a CRM. Exactly. Lightfield's AI agent does it for you — it even prospects and books your meetings. Used by thousands of startups. Free at https://lightfield.app 31:56 Nuclear waste, submarine risks, and public perception 42:41 The generational shift in how we think about nuclear 48:19 ByteDance is training a 10 trillion parameter model 53:47 When AI models plan heists: the Hugging Face caper 58:02 Jason's Roko weight loss competition 1:11:38 Off duty: To Catch a Predator, Alex Honnold, and comedy Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp   Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Plus: President Trump signs two executive orders aimed at cracking down on birthright citizenship. And Airbnb boosts its full-year forecast on strong demand as the company's AI bets start to pay off. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rapid Response host Bob Safian recently sat down with Eric Becker on The Long Game to discuss leadership, innovation, and what makes a category-defining business. Bob breaks down what goes into becoming a truly “backable" founder, drawing from his experience profiling early-stage leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Brian Chesky. The pair also dive into the future of AI and what it means for productivity, how it will reshape the workforce, and why the next decade will reward CEOs who adapt quickly and make disciplined decisions in times of uncertainty.Subscribe to The Long Game with Eric Becker wherever you get your podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Market update for Friday August 7, 2026Check out the Public app for incredible investing tools and to support the show (LINK)Follow us on Instagram (@TheRundownDaily) for bonus content and instant reactions.In today's episode, Zaid covers:The surprisingly weak July jobs report and what it could mean for the FedAirbnb's strong earnings and why Brian Chesky says AI is transforming the companyGoogle's major AI leadership shake-up as longtime chief scientist Jeff Dean leavesAtlassian surging as investors warm back up to software stocksDraftKings slips after bettors won too muchSpaceX and Tesla's enormous new Terafab chip factory planned for Texas

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Vanta https://www.vanta.com/twist Agree https://agree.com Odoo https://Odoo.com/twist Today's show: *Airtable just sold for $2.25 billion, an 81% drop from its peak of $11.7 billion. On this week's TWiST VC Roundtable, Aditya Agarwal (South Park Commons), Niko Bonatsos (Verdict Capital), and Rick Heitzmann (FirstMark Capital) break down why the venture world sees this as a good outcome, not a financial disaster. By declining the deal, would Airtable's team have just been delaying the inevitable? Is the fact that they reached $400M+ ARR on its own a reason to celebrate? Find out why our investor panel prefers unwinding a stuck situation rather than chasing a growth rate that's no longer sustainable. PLUS Robinhood's booming prediction market business, the secondary market flap over Anduril shares, why so many VCs shy away from "vice" categories, and a glimpse at how insiders are talking about the Apple-OpenAI lawsuit. Guests Aditya Agarwal on X: https://x.com/adityaag South Park Commons: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply Niko Bonatsos on X: https://x.com/bonatsos Verdict Capital: https://verdictcap.com/ Rick Heitzmann on X: https://x.com/rick FirstMark Capital: https://firstmark.com/ Relevant Links Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/ Bending Spoons announces Airtable acquisition: https://investors.bendingspoons.com/newsroom/bending-spoons-agrees-to-acquire-airtable Constellation Software: The Anti-Conglomerate: https://www.eaglepointcap.com/blog/constellation-software-the-anti-conglomerate Introducing Robinhood Ventures Fund II: https://robinhood.com/us/en/newsroom/introducing-rvii/ Quartz: Robinhood posted record quarterly revenue: https://qz.com/robinhood-record-revenue-prediction-markets-earnings-073026 Riot Games: https://www.riotgames.com/en AngelList's USVC Fund: https://usvc.com/ Baseten: https://www.baseten.co/ OpenEvidence: https://www.openevidence.com/ Hermes Agent: https://hermes-agent.org/ Granola: https://www.granola.ai/ Timestamps: 0:00 VC intros & Bending Spoons buys Airtable 9:19 Why growth is the only metric that matters 9:45 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist 20:52 Agree.com - Stop chasing invoices and automate your entire contract-to-cash stack. Go to https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life! 26:25 When should VCs sell in secondary markets? 30:55 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Get started for free at https://Odoo.com/twist 35:38 Robinhood's prediction markets are exploding 43:13 The USVC-Anduril secondary controversy 46:18 How VC firms use open source models 58:43 Telling the real founders from the grifters 1:02:38 Why Apple is suing OpenAI Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Odoo https://Odoo.com/twist Quo https://quo.com/TWiST Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Today's show: *Before Bespoke's "travel concierge" chatbot could actually hold a conversation, founder/CEO Akemi Tsunagawa and her team quietly answered customers themselves. That "fake it till you make it" strategy paid off. Bespoke landed Narita Airport as a customer based on the strength of their "chatbot" answers, and now the team runs three companies, and is expanding into shipyard robots. In the fourth and final edition of TWiST Tokyo for Summer '26, Jason and Akemi discuss her thesis: "solve the labor gap first, [then] build the tech to math." Plus insights into Japan's tourism boom, how founders should consider the country's accelerating population decline, the economics and politics of importing foreign labor, and why AI may already be taking over more jobs than you think. Guest Akemi Tsunagawa on X: https://x.com/AkemiTsunagawa Bespoke: https://www.be-spoke.io/ Bebot: https://www.bebot.io BeTrained: https://www.be-spoke.io/en/be-trained Relevant Links Disrupting Japan: "Silicon Valley Has Chatbots All Wrong": https://www.disruptingjapan.com/silicon-valley-has-chatbots-all-wrong-heres-how-they-really-make-money/ CNN on Japan's population decline: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/asia/japan-biggest-population-decline-record-intl-hnk Paul Graham: "Do Things That Don't Scale": https://www.paulgraham.com/ds.html Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai/ TripAdvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ KPMG on Japan's Business Manage Visa Reforms: https://kpmg.com/xx/en/our-insights/gms-flash-alert/flash-alert-2025-195.html Business Traveller on the "Akiya" renovation trend: https://www.businesstraveller.com/insights/features/japan-akiya-boom-buying-abandoned-homes/ THR on the 2004 satirical film "A Day Without a Mexican": https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/a-day-without-a-mexican-20-years-later-1236293209/ Founder University x Japan: https://tokyo.founder.university/ JETRO: https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/ Antler in Japan: https://www.antler.co/location/japan Timestamps: 0:00 Founder U Japan Cohort 3: Coming in Jan 2027! 1:06 Introducing Akemi Tsunagawa, founder of Bespoke 3:08 Why investors passed in 2015 4:49 Selling Narita Airport on Bebot 6:29 The roots of Japan's tourism explosion 9:27 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Get started for free at https://Odoo.com/twist 14:17 Japan's population decline, by the numbers 20:06 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST 21:38 Training foreign workers via smart glasses 27:50 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 33:06 Moving into shipyard robotics, too? 37:44 Some customer development lessons 48:21 Plans for even more expansion 52:52 Q&A: How AI changed hiring   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: YSecurity https://YSecurity.io/TWIST MongoDB https://MongoDB.com/ai Odoo https://Odoo.com/twist Today's show: AI models can solve PhD-level math equations and code an app in minutes… So why does everything they design look like identical slop? Thais Castello Branco, founder of Taste Labs, raised $18.5M in seed funding to teach frontier models about aesthetics and outputting quality content. She talks to Jason and Lon about why even frontier models regress to the mean on subjective tasks, how paid "TasteMakers" can improve output quality, and whether AI accelerates or destroys the half-life of "what's cool." PLUS Leopold Aschenbrenner's AI hedge fund liquidated its public stock portfolio, but it may be too soon to count this 25-year-old completely out. Google Earth adds AI generation and turns into a misinformation factory. LinkedIn and Substack join the AI slop crackdown. And why does every venture capitalist seem to have an opinion about the Ceuta border crisis? Guest Thais Castello Branco on X: https://x.com/thaiscbranco_ Taste Labs: https://tastelabs.com/ Amplify Partners: "Kill the Slop": https://www.amplifypartners.com/blog-posts/kill-the-slop-announcing-our-investment-in-taste Relevant Links Leopold Aschenbrenner's essay "Situational Awareness": https://situational-awareness.ai/ CNBC on SA fund collapse: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/31/leopold-aschenbrenner-situational-awareness-fund-fire-sale.html Henk van Ess thread on Google Earth + Nano Banana: https://x.com/henkvaness/status/2082912544394498228 Substack CEO Chris Best: "Against Claudefishing": https://post.substack.com/p/against-claudefishing NPR on the Ceuta crisis: https://www.npr.org/2026/07/31/g-s1-136507/morocco-spain-migration Ethan Goodhart's self-driving golf cart post: https://x.com/EthanGoodhart/status/2082136189998682598?s=20 "Wind" app on TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/zZqmhhwf TechCrunch: "Gritt exits stealth": https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/21/gritt-exits-stealth-with-34-million-for-robots-to-build-solar-plants-then-everything-else/ CA Gov: Project Nexus solar-covered canal announcement: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/04/29/governor-newsom-announces-the-completion-of-first-of-its-kind-solar-covered-canal-in-the-central-valley-piloting-a-new-way-to-save-water-and-reduce-costs/ Molly Wood's "Everybody in the Pool" podcast: https://www.everybodyinthepool.com/ Timestamps:   0:00 Coming up on today's show… 1:23 Thais Castello Branco on teaching models to have good taste 10:45 YSecurity - The on-demand security team for startups. Need enterprise-grade security without hiring a $400k CISO? YSecurity gives you 40+ expert engineers, matched to exactly what you need, by the hour, with your first six hours completely free. Go to https://YSecurity.io/TWIST 15:19 The "TasteMaker" community of paid human curators 20:37 MongoDB - AI-assisted and agentic coding is helping you build faster than ever. Start building at https://MongoDB.com/ai 24:40 Jason's personal "cool hunter" prompt 30:16 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Get started for free at https://Odoo.com/twist 37:36 Situation Awareness lacked situational awareness 46:59 Claude models hacked three external organizations 50:54 Google Earth adds Nano Banana for some reason 54:24 The AI Slop crackdown spreads 57:54 Too many opinions about the Ceuta migrant crisis 1:04:05 Self-driving golf carts and also cars 1:09:53 Robot arms are installing solar panels   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent- NorthwestRegisteredAgent.com/twist Odoo - Odoo.com/twist MongoDB - MongoDB.com/ai   Today's show: The FCC's decision to ban Chinese humanoid robots over security concerns is a boon to American startups, which now face a narrower competitive market. But where should we draw the line on security over competition? Menlo Ventures' Deedy Das, Weisburd Pierce's David Weisburd, Plexo Capital's Lo Toney, and LAUNCH's Jason Calcanis broke down how they differentiate between legitimate security concerns and purported regulatory capture. Today's venture capital roundtable also dug into OpenRouter's possible sale to Stripe, changing tokenomics, the Indian market for startups, and even DoorDash's drone-delivery business taking flight. Guest Links: Deedy Das https://x.com/deedydas Menloe Ventures https://menlovc.com/ Lo Toney https://x.com/lo_toney Plexo Capital https://www.plexocap.com/ David Weisburd https://x.com/DWeisburd Weisburd Pierce https://www.weisburdpierce.com/ Jason Calcanis https://x.com/Jason LAUNCH https://launch.co/ Show Links: The FCC's decision regarding Chinese robots https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-adds-foreign-produced-power-inverters-and-robots-covered-list-0 Pacing the Frontier letter https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/ Cursor Start https://cursor.com/blog/cursor-start-india Stripe may buy OpenRouter https://www.axios.com/2026/07/24/stripe-openrouter-merger-ai-currency OpenRouter financials https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openrouter-financials-suggest-steep-price-possible-acquirer-stripe?rc=g3wfdp Kimi K3 license https://huggingface.co/moonshotai/Kimi-K3/blob/main/LICENSE Pangram https://www.pangram.com/ Tau Robotics https://www.tau-robotics.com/ Zipline https://www.zipline.com/ Manna https://www.manna.aero/ Kindred Ventures https://kindredventures.com/ Autolane https://goautolane.com/ Salmon Labs https://salmonrun.ai/   Timestamps: 0:00 The FCC bans Chinese humanoid robots 2:18 Waymo, Uber, Robotaxi, and the global BYD threat 10:30 MongoDB - AI-assisted and agentic coding is helping you build faster than ever. Start building at https://MongoDB.com/ai 15:45 The "Pacing The Frontier" letter (1,100+ AI staffers warn on RSI) 19:51 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Get started for free at https://Odoo.com/twist 21:07 Regulatory capture vs. genuine concern 30:09 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 37:57 Have we reached AGI? 38:35 Stripe eyes OpenRouter at $10B 39:19 Does OpenRouter have a moat? 47:13 Kimi K3's license and neocloud margins 49:34 Claude Tag and the future of AI-mediated workplaces 53:26 Cursor Start, ChatGPT Go, and the India market 1:02:03 Have we solved AI detection? 1:11:20 Tau Robotics $30/hour robotic housecleaning 1:12:49 Job loss, and the social safety net 1:18:25 DoorDash Air takes on Zipline, Manna 1:21:00 Portfolio shout-outs Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Every.io https://every.io MongoDB https://MongoDB.com/ai Agree https://agree.com Today's show: *Most lab-grown meat companies have already gone under. It's expensive to produce, and there's little demand from real-world consumers. But Tokyo's IntegriCulture is still standing after selling their proprietary serum to cosmetics companies. On Episode 3 of TWiST from Tokyo, Jason sits down with Dr. Yuki Hanyu, an Oxford-trained chemist who started a DIY meat movement out of a comic convention and turned it into Japan's first cell-cultured protein company. PLUS why the cultivated meat market stalled out, why producing a "slurry of cells" is more efficient than jumping right to muscle tissue, the regulatory framework in Japan vs. the US, and… is it fair to call this "meat"? Or is it something else entirely? Guest Yuki Hanyu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuki-hanyu-b860bb34/ IntegriCulture: https://integriculture.com/en/ Relevant Links: AG Funder News: "IntegriCulture turns a profit": https://agfundernews.com/cell-ag-picks-shovels-pioneer-integriculture-turns-a-profit-but-cautions-that-as-long-as-cell-ag-remains-so-capital-intensive-it-will-be-difficult-to-take-off Vegconominst: Cultivated duck liver coverage: https://vegconomist.com/cultivated-cell-cultured-biotechnology/cultivated-meat/japans-integriculture-products-cultivated-duck-liver/ Cellament skin care ingredient: https://www.cellament.jp/cellament-en?lang=en Medium: Shojinmeat Project: https://medium.com/shojin-meat Cellular Agriculture Institute of the Commons (CAIC): https://cellagri.org/en/about-us Japan Association for Cellular Agriculture (JACA): https://jaca.jp/en/ Upside Foods: https://upsidefoods.com/ Vow: https://www.eatvow.com/ Impossible Foods: https://impossiblefoods.com/ Fast Company: "Inside the stunning collapse of Believer Meats": https://www.fastcompany.com/91462102/believer-meats-stunning-collapse-600-million-cooling-cultured-meat-industry AG Funder News: "FDA clears Wildtype's cell-cultivated salmon": https://agfundernews.com/fda-clears-wildtypes-cell-cultivated-salmon-for-us-debut Food Navigator: Parima gets green light for cultivated duck: https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2026/04/15/parima-gets-regulatory-approval-for-cultivated-foie-gras/ Protein Production: "Japan publishes first draft safety guidelines for cultivated meat…": https://www.proteinproductiontechnology.com/post/japan-publishes-first-draft-safety-guidelines-for-cultivated-meat-as-regulatory-debate-advances Stateline: "Texas bans lab-grown meat": https://stateline.org/2025/06/30/texas-becomes-seventh-state-to-ban-lab-grown-meat/ TODAY: "Japan's Coca-Cola Plus has an unexpected ingredient": https://www.today.com/food/japan-s-coca-cola-plus-has-unexpected-ingredient-t121047 Timestamps: 0:00 Why founders should visit Japan 1:48 Intro of cultivated meat pioneer, Dr. Yuki Hanyu 3:19 Why don't consumers want lab-grown meat? 10:05 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io 10:26 DIY meat manuals at comic conventions 15:37 Flavors that don't exist in nature 19:35 The Wagyu Hot Dog 21:38 MongoDB - AI-assisted and agentic coding is helping you build faster than ever. Start building at https://MongoDB.com/ai 24:23 Why chicken nuggets are the hardest problem 28:28 Beachhead markets, waypoints, and surviving early 30:25 Agree.com - Stop chasing invoices and automate your entire contract-to-cash stack. Go to https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life! 35:57 Q&A: Commercializing an open source project 37:56 Q&A: Growing protein in space 40:07 Should this be called "meat"?   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: PayPal Open https://paypalopen.com DigitalOcean https://do.co/twist Rippling https://Rippling.ai/twist   Today's show: *For three decades now, we've been told that breakthroughs in quantum computing are right around the corner. So why hasn't anything materialized? On TWiST in Tokyo, Jason sits down with Yaqumo CEO Kazuhiro Nakashoji and discusses what needed to change (like better algorithms and hardware), and why we may finally be nearing quantum's big moment. Find out why quantum machines are so error-prone, explore the unusual international quantum supply chain, and get a heads-up about the cryptography reckoning coming for your Bitcoin. Guest Kazuhiro Nakashoji on X: https://x.com/KNakashoji Yaqumo Inc.: https://yaqumo.com/en/ Relevant Links JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization): https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/ Institute for Molecular Science: https://www.ims.ac.jp/en/ Quantum Insider: Yaqumo Quantum Photonics Agreement: https://thequantuminsider.com/2026/06/04/yaqumo-nkt-photonics-and-hamamatsu-photonics-sign-quantum-photonics-agreement/ Quantonation investment announcement: https://quantumcomputingreport.com/quantonation-selects-neutral-atom-hardware-developer-yaqumo-for-first-japanese-investment/ NIST: What is Post-Quantum Cryptography? https://www.nist.gov/cybersecurity-and-privacy/what-post-quantum-cryptography Timestamps: 0:00 Intro / Founder University Tokyo 2:20 Guest intro: Kazu of Yakumo 3:20 What is a qubit? 8:34 Why quantum computers are so fragile 8:45 PayPal - Built for payments, growth, and agentic. Paypal Open, built for all business. Visit https://paypalopen.com to get started 13:36 Spinning IP out of the university lab 18:42 DigitalOcean - Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today — and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%. 28:01 Building the "Toyota of Quantum" 29:38 Rippling - Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://Rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business. 31:25 AI for quantum, and quantum for AI 38:35 Harvest Now, Decrypt Later 41:41 Q&A: Yaqumo's business model 43:22 Q&A: Yaqumo's business model Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Sentry https://sentry.io/twist Agree https://agree.com Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist   Today's show: French ex-martial artist Bilal Kharouni is building his longevity startup from Okinawa, one of the world's "blue zones." (These are regions with the most people living long, healthy lives.) In this TWiST taping from Founder University in Tokyo, Jason investigates why a $200K raise in Japan can out-build a $2M raise in San Francisco, and why the best moat for biological AI isn't the model; it's the data no one else has. Plus a tactical and practical discussion of product market fit, why Ekei killed a growing side business to maintain focus, Japan's fast-track for regenerative medicine, and hitting the upper limits for consumer longevity gadgets. Plus a live Q&A with Founder U attendees. Guest Bilal Kharouni on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bilal-kharouni/ Ekei Labs: https://www.ekeilabs.com/ Relevant Links Okinawa Institute of Science and Tech (OIST): ****https://www.oist.jp/ Life Biosciences: https://www.lifebiosciences.com/ NewLimit: https://www.newlimit.com/ Centivax: https://www.centivax.com/ Medical Daily: "First Human Trial to Reverse Aging Gets FDA Clearance": https://www.medicaldaily.com/first-human-trial-reverse-aging-just-got-fda-clearance-what-epigenetic-reprogramming-actually-476076 Tim Friede snake venom article from Science: https://www.science.org/content/article/he-injected-himself-venom-decades-can-his-antibodies-help-snakebite-victims Micro1: https://www.micro1.ai/ Whoop: https://www.whoop.com/ Station F Paris startup campus: https://stationf.co/ Japan Times: "PM Takaichi sleeps only 2-4 hours a night": https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/14/japan/politics/takaichi-sleep-overwork/ FDLI: "Japan's Regenerative Medicine Regulatory Pathways": https://www.fdli.org/2019/02/global-focus-japans-regenerative-medicine-regulatory-pathways-encouraging-innovation-and-patient-access/ FDA: "Right to Try": https://www.fda.gov/patients/learn-about-expanded-access-and-other-treatment-options/right-try STAT News: "Are Blue Zones Real?": https://www.statnews.com/2026/05/04/are-blue-zones-real-new-scrutiny-longevity-hot-spots/ Timestamps: 0:00 Founder University is back in Japan! 4:05 What Ekei Labs does 5:13 Why Japan is a longevity hub 8:52 The AI biological moat 10:05 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST 15:58 Right to try and the ethics of experimental therapies 22:30 Agree.com - Stop chasing invoices and automate your entire contract-to-cash stack. Go to https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life! 24:49 Japan's fast-track regenerative medicine law 26:03 Raising in Japan vs. the US 31:32 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 40:44 Why Ekei killed a profitable service to focus 47:11 Have Blue Zones been debunked? 48:56 How socialization may extend lifespan 51:07 Founder Q&A: Booked vs. forecast revenue 55:42 Amazon's "bar raiser" framework 1:03:31 Social robots and loneliness 1:04:29 Jason on health and hustle culture   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Vanta https://www.vanta.com/twist Superhuman https://superhuman.com YSecurity https://YSecurity.io/TWIST Today's show: *Cybersecurity has long focused on cleaning up a system AFTER a breach but Ent founder Brandon Dixon says that's backwards. He just raised a $100M seed round to put an AI agent on everyone's company laptops that catches the risky clicks, leaked files, or rogue agents BEFORE they wreck havoc. PLUS Clawra creator David Im return swith his new project, Sume's Avatar, a multi-model orchestration layer that generates 60-second UGC videos from a single prompt… and gets it right on the first try, rather than falling back on trial and error. Guests: Brandon Dixon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsdixon/ Ent: ****https://ent.ai/ David Im on X: https://x.com/davidim Sume: https://www.sume.com/ Relevant Links: WSJ: "Cyber Security Startup Ent Raises $100 Million in Seed Funding": https://www.wsj.com/pro/cybersecurity/cyber-startup-ent-raises-100-million-in-seed-funding-a3e9b6c6 Microsoft Security Copilot: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/ai-machine-learning/microsoft-security-copilot Engadget: "Meta 'pausing' employee tracking program…": https://www.engadget.com/2199458/meta-is-pausing-employee-tracking-program-after-it-let-the-whole-company-see-sensitive-data/ Seedance 2.0: https://seedance2.ai/ Timestamps: 0:00 Intro: Why AI + cybersecurity is the hot combo right now 2:29 How INT stops breaches before they happen 4:56 AI is giving non-technical employees dangerous new powers 10:26 Vanta - Compliance and security shouldn't be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 report fast. Get $1,000 off for a limited time at https://www.vanta.com/twist 13:54 Why on-device AI beats cloud-based security 20:08 Superhuman - Get AI that works where you work. Unlock your Superhuman potential at https://superhuman.com 25:18 INT's business model and go-to-market 30:26 YSecurity - The on-demand security team for startups. Need enterprise-grade security without hiring a $400k CISO? YSecurity gives you 40+ expert engineers, matched to exactly what you need, by the hour, with your first six hours completely free. Go to https://YSecurity.io/TWIST 34:18 David M. of Sumi Labs: one-shotting AI video 36:10 Live demo: Sumi's video orchestration API 40:05 Consistent faces, 60-second videos, and who's buying Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Elizabeth Stone is the Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO) at Netflix, where she oversees Engineering, Product, and Design. Since her first appearance on the podcast two years ago—which remained my second-most-popular episode for more than a year—she has expanded her role to lead product, in addition to engineering. Before Netflix, Elizabeth was VP of Science at Lyft, Chief Operating Officer at Nuna, an economist at Analysis Group, and a trader at Merrill Lynch.In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:1. Why “systems thinking” is now the most important skill she looks for2. How to manage the flood of AI-generated output without losing quality or signal3. How Netflix thinks about AI fluency as a universal expectation rather than a level-specific skill4. What “excellence as an operating system” means—Brought to you by:WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more: https://workos.com/lennyMercury—Radically different banking, now with Command: https://mercury.com/command?utm_source=lennys&utm_medium=sponsored_newsletter&utm_campaign=26q3_brand_campaign—Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/netflix-cpto-on-ai-and-the-future—Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0—Where to find Elizabeth Stone:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-stone-608a754—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction(02:25) AI and role confusion: the storming phase before the forming phase(07:36) How roles have changed in the past two and a half years(11:55) Will functions survive? The case for craft specialism(13:26) What Netflix is hiring more of—and less of(17:22) Why systems thinking is the rising skill across every function(20:20) Is the design process dead?(22:08) Skills trending down(28:33) AI fluency and Netflix's career ladder overlay(31:00) AI use cases beyond coding(35:12) Netflix's AI history(38:36) Excellence as an operating system(41:11) The pillars of the excellence OS(46:41) The keeper's test—and why it's mostly a positive conversation(50:21) Attracting top talent in the age of frontier AI labs(52:54) Junior talent, craft mastery, and the mentorship question(56:25) Where engineering goes in 5 to 10 years(59:45) The future of entertainment: beyond film and TV(1:02:18) AI in Hollywood: Netflix's creator-enablement position(1:06:15) Lightning round and final thoughts—Referenced:• How Netflix builds a culture of excellence | Elizabeth Stone (CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-netflix-builds-a-culture-of-excellence• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• The design process is dead. Here's what's replacing it. | Jenny Wen (head of design at Claude): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-design-process-is-dead• Claude Code: https://www.anthropic.com/product/claude-code• Claude Cowork: https://www.anthropic.com/product/claude-cowork• Netflix's “Keeper Test” and Why You Need It | Lorne Rubis: https://www.highlights.lornerubis.com/2015/08/the-netflix-keeper-test-and-the-courage-to-take-it• Innovation for Filmmaking, By Filmmakers: Why InterPositive Is Joining Netflix: https://about.netflix.com/en/news/why-interpositive-is-joining-netflix• InterPositive: https://weareinterpositive.com• Netflix Prize: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netflix_Prize• Quarterback on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81482895• The Bill Simmons Podcast on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/82186214• Spencer Pratt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencerpratt• Salman Rushdie's Substack: https://salmanrushdie.substack.com• Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81911351• Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com• Tour de France: https://www.letour.fr/en—Recommended books:• Thinking in Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557• Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster: https://www.amazon.com/Into-Thin-Air-Personal-Disaster/dp/0385494785• Liar's Poker: https://www.amazon.com/Liars-Poker-Norton-Paperback-Michael/dp/039333869X—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

The dawn of surgery bots + buy a home for $250 (w/ Andromeda & Mogul) | E2313 This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist CLA https://claconnect.com/withyou MongoDB https://MongoDB.com/ai Today's show: *Andromeda Surgical is building the autonomy layer that could one day allow robots to perform surgery. Rather than building their own intricate, complex hardware, Andromeda uses off-the-shelf arms from a German manufacturer, and focuses on the software that will allow doctors to operate it from an iPad. Plus Mogul co-founder and CEO Alex Blackwood shows Jason how his platform lets anyone buy fractional shares of rental homes for as little as $250, earning monthly dividends, appreciation, and tax benefits without the headache of being someone's landlord. It's a founder double feature on a brand new TWiST. Guests: Nick Damiano on X: https://x.com/nickdamian0 Andromeda Surgical: https://www.andromedasurgical.com/ Alex Blackwood on X: https://x.com/blackwoodtweets Mogul: https://www.mogul.club/ Relevant Links: KUKA: https://www.kuka.com/ Intuitive Surgical (and Da Vinci 5): https://www.intuitive.com/en-us Neuralink: https://neuralink.com/ Padsplit: https://www.padsplit.com/ AngelList: https://www.angellist.com/ The Syndicate: https://thesyndicate.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 The iPad controlled surgery bot 5:46 Building "Google Maps for the body" 10:10 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 14:28 What is a "sous surgeon" 20:46 CLA - Innovation takes balance. CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors can help you get from startup to where you want to end up. Get started now at https://www.claconnect.com/withyou 24:30 The Neuralink connection 29:40 Understanding Mogul's business model 31:01 MongoDB - AI-assisted and agentic coding is helping you build faster than ever. Start building at https://MongoDB.com/ai 33:32 So who manages the homes? 36:50 Dividends vs. Appreciation 44:57 How Mogul picks markets Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Matt and Nic are back with the deals and news of the week. In this episode:  Nic licks his World Cup wounds Do Bitcoin Treasury strategies make sense? Trying to make sense of Saylor's "bitcoin rating" Trump's teleprompter operator has been trading on what Trump is going to say in his speeches Why do people keep insider trading on prediction markets? Clarity Act odds are trickling down Strategy shores up their balance sheet Is the Bitcoin cycle finally turning? Stripe bids for Paypal The AI DeFi apocalypse didn't happen Kathy Hochul's AI datacenter moratorium Why is Anthropic running ads suggesting that they could cause extinction The DTC is using Canton for it's tokenized settlement pilot Brian Chesky's AI slop thread debacle Jesse Pollak leaves Base CBDCs are officially banned federally

"If no one knows who you are, nothing good can come from that." – Joe ZappaDaniel and James sit down with Joe Zappa, founder of Sharp Pen Media, a communications agency built entirely for ad tech. At just 31, Joe has become one of the most visible people in the ad tech world across X, LinkedIn, two podcasts, and a newsletter. His core thesis? Most B2B companies and CEOs are completely invisible, and that invisibility is far more dangerous than saying the wrong thing. Joe built his entire business by putting himself out there, and in this episode he lays out exactly how anyone can do the same.Joe gives a 30 day strategy to make a big impact, explains why comms teams are often the biggest blockers, how Terence Kawaja says invisible founders are killing their own exit multiples, and why Brian Chesky's AI-generated X thread is a cautionary tale for executives who outsource their voice. Joe lays it all out in this episode and the bar is so low that just showing up consistently puts you ahead of 90% of B2B.Thank you to our sponsors for making this possible:AdQuick – Making OOH advertising as easy to plan, buy, and measure as digital. adquick.comThrad.ai — Building the advertising infrastructure for AI. thrad.aibeehiiv — The all-in-one platform for newsletters, websites, and every tool you need to grow and earn. beehiiv.comThe Farm — Fraction commercial legal with an in-house approach to outside counsel. thefarmllp.comSTAY CONNECTEDJames on Twitter & LinkedIn – /jamesborowDaniel on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok – /danieldrugerSubscribe & leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Quo https://quo.com/TWiST PayPal Open https://paypalopen.com Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Today's show: *Jason spent $11 building out PodMeme, an AI tool that tracks down the best segments from top podcasts about a specific topic, then stitches them together into a single stream. His post laying out how he did it, featuring a simple screenshot of the product, got all the way to 1.1M views in just a few days. It's a simple fact: builders love to see what other people are building, and growing your new project "in public," sharing your journey on social media, is a great way to develop buzz around your product before it even exists. Today's guest Thibault "Tibo" Louis-Lucas walks us through how he grew products like Tweet Hunter and Taplio on his social media account, using social media buzz and a focus on tools for creators to very quickly expand to over $1M ARR. PLUS why Apple would only sue OpenAI if they knew they had them dead to rights… why Uber and Waymo are fighting over DC robotaxis… Jason's response to the public backlash against surveillance startup Flock Safety… and the guys remember iconic New Zealand actor Sam Neill. Guest: Tibo Louis-Lucas on X: https://x.com/tibo_maker Revid.ai: https://www.revid.ai/ Tweet Hunter: https://tweethunter.io/ Taplio: https://taplio.com/ Relevant Links: Lemlist: https://www.lemlist.com/ GRIN influencer marketing: https://grin.co/ TechCrunch: "Apple Sues OpenAI": https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/10/apple-sues-openai-over-alleged-trade-secret-theft/ We Must Act Now statement: https://www.wemustactnow.ai/ TechCrunch: "Uber's Robotaxi Lobbying Effort": https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/13/ubers-robotaxi-lobbying-effort-has-put-it-on-a-collision-course-with-waymo/ DC Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment of 2026: https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/2003462 DoorDash: Meet Dot: https://about.doordash.com/en-us/dot Flock Safety: https://www.flocksafety.com/ DeFlock: https://deflock.org/ Gigazine: Flock accuses Deflock of being a "terrorist org": https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20260209-flock-ceo-deflock/#gsc.tab=0 Unifi AI Security Systems: https://ui.com/physical-security Jason's PodMeme post: https://x.com/Jason/status/2076231055443440105 Jason responds to Justine Bateman: https://x.com/Jason/status/2076326740050206959 NYT Sam Neill obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/movies/sam-neill-dead.html "Possession" trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLXW-oVbTxE FanEdit: https://fanedit.org/forums/news-publisher/ "Manhunter" trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLqHlg2fAnE HBO "The Man Will Burn" trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRhUYPtp6Ao Timestamps: 0:00 There's no air conditioning in Paris 7:27 Tibo Maker's "ship 1 product a week" challenge 9:24 The power of building products in public 10:59 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST 12:04 Excitement for JCal's "PodMeme" set-up 15:40 Compounding an audience and enlisting influencers 19:13 Your follower count is not important any more 20:59 PayPal - Built for payments, growth, and agentic. Paypal Open, built for all business. Visit https://paypalopen.com to get started 22:28 How Tibo got banned on LinkedIn twice 28:48 Apple sues OpenAI 30:59 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 38:44 How OpenAI should have handled the New York Times 45:10 DC's new robotaxi bill 52:06 Managing the AV and delivery-bot transition 53:23 Economists warn of AI job displacement 1:07:00 How Jason would fix Flock's messaging 1:17:26 Remembering Sam Neill 1:23:05 Lon's Dream AI edit 1:26:35 HBO's Burning Man docuseries   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com  

This Week In Startups is made possible by: NetSuite https://NetSuite.ai/TWIST Squarespace https://squarespace.com/twist YSecurity https://YSecurity.io/TWIST Today's show: *America posted 400,000 farm jobs last year, and fewer than 1% got a single domestic applicant. Danny Bernstein of Reservoir believes it's time to start automating this backbreaking labor, like picking stone fruit in 110°F temperatures. So he built the world's first on-farm robotics incubator on 40 acres of California farmland. Here's why he argues that automating farms isn't just a new opportunity, it's a national security issue. PLUS Jason responded to Gal Shir's viral "AI beat me at design" tweet, got into a kerfuffle with Figma CEO Dylan Field, and wound up making a brand new J-Trade. AND we're talking about the Dept. of Education's new "do no harm" policy, the Brown University AI cheating chart that's blowing up social media, and Lon has fresh streaming recommendations in an all-new Off Duty. Guest: Danny Bernstein on X: https://x.com/bernsteind Reservoir Farms: https://reservoir.co/ Reservoir VC: https://reservoir.vc/ Relevant Links: Bonsai Robotics: https://bonsairobotics.ai/ Root AI acquired by AppHarvest: https://www.therobotreport.com/root-ai-acquired-by-appharvest-for-60m/ John Deere: https://www.deere.com/en-us/ Western Growers Association: https://www.wga.com/ Tanimura & Antle: https://www.taproduce.com/ Naturipe Berry Growers: https://www.naturipefarms.com/ Driscoll's: https://www.driscolls.com/ Taylor Farms: https://www.taylorfarms.com/ The Wonderful Company: https://www.wonderful.com/ Capital Factory: https://www.capitalfactory.com/ Gal Shir "quitting design" post: https://x.com/galshirart/status/2074854464729629060 Dylan Field response to Gal Shir: https://x.com/zoink/status/2075290218660298807 JCal response to Field and "J-Trade": https://x.com/Jason/status/2075481565115654305 Figma: https://www.figma.com/ Dept. of Education: "Do No Harm" policy announcement: https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-issues-final-rule-hold-all-colleges-and-universities-accountable-low-earning-programs NPR coverage on Dept. of Education earnings test: https://www.npr.org/2026/06/30/nx-s1-5835631/turner-camhi-do-no-harm-college-loans Paul Graham "cheating chart" post: https://x.com/paulg/status/2075031014628311236 Off Duty Recommendations: "Lioness" on Paramount+: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNRQ0PR4a8U "Mayor of Kingstown" on Paramount+: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkQzvwxOp0s "Human Vapor" on Netflix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xe6dRKVAb8 "Sugar" on Apple TV+: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twvPGxuEOEA "Wind River" (now on Netflix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZgN0dpFoaE "Not Fade Away" by Peter Barton & Laurence Shames: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Fade-Away-Short-Lived/dp/1579546889 Timestamps: 0:00 Jason's ongoing World Tour 1:43 Danny Bernstein joins live from Reservoir Farms 3:38 What is "specialty crop agriculture" 5:15 Why strawberries are the "white whale" of AgTech 6:55 The labor crisis in farming 9:20 Why AgTech never scaled 9:51 NetSuite - For the first time, you can try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, go to https://NetSuite.ai/TWIST 10:51 Inside Reservoir's business model 17:44 Agriculture as national security 20:09 Squarespace - Turn your idea into a beautiful website! Go to https://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. 22:15 Did AI beat a designer at design? 30:56 YSecurity - The on-demand security team for startups. Need enterprise-grade security without hiring a $400k CISO? YSecurity gives you 40+ expert engineers, matched to exactly what you need, by the hour, with your first six hours completely free. Go to https://YSecurity.io/TWIST 37:23 The "do no harm" college earnings test 43:27 Brown University students cheated on their midterms 52:22 Lon's streaming recommendations 59:46 Jason's new snake grabber   Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Digital Ocean - do.co/twist Agree.com - agree.com Every.io - every.io.   Today's show: How many startups matter in tech? Fewer than you think. That's why venture capitalists are tripping over themselves to get onto their cap tables, no matter the cost. Why? Footwork's Nikhil Basu Trivedi argues that the Valley has never been more "power-law-pilled" than it is today. Basu Trivedi joined Cendana Capital's Michael Kim and TWiST's Alex Wilhelm to go deep on secondary markets, the state of startup M&A, why the SaaSpocalypse may be temporary, and what could trigger a retrenchment of the AI trade. It's Wednesday, so it's time for our venture capital roundtable to go deep on how VCs are investing today, and where on the horizon they have their eyes fixed! Guest links: Nikhil Basu Trivedi https://x.com/nbt Footwork https://www.footwork.vc/ Michael Kim https://x.com/MKRocks Cendana Capital https://www.cendanacapital.com/ Show links: The USVC-Anduril blowup https://x.com/ankurnagpal/status/2072701195714531398 Kline Hill Cendana Partners https://www.secondariesinvestor.com/kline-hill-and-cendana-raise-400m-for-second-vc-secondaries-fund/ GPTZero's exit https://gptzero.me/news/preserving-whats-human/ Salesforce buys Fin https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2026/06/15/salesforce-signs-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-fin/ Vercel buys Better Auth https://vercel.com/blog/vercel-acquires-better-auth Figma buys Bud https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/07/figma-acquires-team-behind-a-vibe-coding-app/ Protoge https://withprotege.ai/ Windborne https://windbornesystems.com/ Etched https://www.etched.com/ Lovable's reported raise https://sifted.eu/articles/lovable-300m-13-2bn-valuation Josh Browder https://x.com/Joshuabrowder   Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: Nikhil Basu Trivedi (Footwork) & Michael Kim (Cendana Capital) 1:59 The Anduril vs. USVC secondary market blowup 4:08 Why Silicon Valley is 'power-law-pilled' 8:23 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off! 9:37 Information asymmetry in the secondary markets 9:45 Every.io — For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io 15:02 Is SPV fraud smoke or fire? 16:32 Superhuman acquires GPTZero 19:54 Agree.com - Stop chasing invoices and automate your entire contract-to-cash stack. Go to https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life! 21:10 The M&A wave 27:19 The SaaSpocalypse debate 29:59 DigitalOcean - Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today — and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%. 30:44 Data's moment in the energy → compute → data loop 35:01 Where will AI value accrue? 40:04 What could cause an AI correction? 42:17 Why some companies are "too big to miss" 46:23 China's possible open-weight model ban 53:28 Young founders: Etched, Thiel Fellows, Z Fellows, Neo 55:33 Portfolio spotlight: WindBorne's weather balloons and data moat 58:47 Michael's favorite fund manager: Josh Browder Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm   Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis   Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/   Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland   Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis   Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Vanta https://www.vanta.com/twist Sentry https://sentry.io/twist Today's show: *There are $100 trillion in global assets sitting on top of what Hanover Park co-founder/CEO Chris Hladczuk calls "human duct tape": armies of accountants in offices patching together work from various legacy tools (QuickBooks, Excel) that are holding funds' own data hostage. Can all of this be replaced with AI? Find out how their startup went from overseeing $1B to $20B in assets in just 15 months. PLUS, we flash back to March 2020, when Jason and Figma co-founder/CEO Dylan Field broke down the design tool's initial go-to-market strategy, made some WILDLY inaccurate COVID predictions, and considered anxiety about "SaaS burnout" years before the category went full apocalyptic. Guests: Chris Hladczuk on X: https://x.com/chrishlad Hanover Park: https://www.hanoverpark.com/ Dylan Field: https://x.com/zoink Figma: https://www.figma.com/ Relevant Links: Turner Novak on X: https://x.com/TurnerNovak Banana Capital: https://www.bananacapital.vc/ Emergence Capital: https://www.emcap.com/ Lux Capital: https://www.luxcapital.com/ Susa Ventures: https://susaventures.com/ Bill.com: https://www.bill.com/ METR: https://metr.org/ Granola AI note taker: https://www.granola.ai/ Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/ Foo Camp on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/foocamp TechCrunch Mahalo coverage: https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/27/inside-mobile-news-launch/ Timestamps: 0:00 Hanover Park & the fund admin problem 3:32 Why funds outsource instead of building 5:44 Why fund accounting is so complex 10:38 The "one-click migration" goal 10:48 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 13:51 Context vs. intelligence gaps 16:11 No PMs, No Designers 20:46 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist 23:18 This is a $100T opportunity 25:36 Flashback w/ Dylan Field of Figma 29:15 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST 31:22 Pre-AI enterprise security worries 36:30 SaaS overload and SaaS burnout 37:30 The evolution of Figma pricing 42:38 The rise and fall of Mahalo dot com 51:38 The work-from-home revolution begins Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Thank you to our partners: (0:00) PARTNER - AD BLURB (0:00) PARTNER - AD BLURB (0:00) PARTNER - AD BLURB Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/ Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by: CLA - www.claconnect.com/withyou Northwest Registered Agent - www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Agree.com - www.agree.com Today's show: Forget the triple-triple-double-double-double; the new bar for startups hoping to raise venture capital has reached the stratosphere, though our venture panel is worried that startups are focusing too much on today's problems that may not become companies tomorrow. During a lively VC roundtable, Cowboy's Aileen Lee, Floodgate's Mike Maples, and Lerer Hippeau's Ben Lerer joined Alex to dig into exiting pre-AI startups, rising valuations, token spend, why they are keeping their funds small, and whether the government just tripped OpenAI and Anthropic! Guest Links: Aileen Lee https://x.com/aileenlee Cowboy VC https://cowboy.vc Mike Maples https://x.com/m2jr Floodgate https://www.floodgate.com Bene Lerer https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjlerer Lere Hippeau https://www.lererhippeau.com Timestamps: 0:00 Aileen Lee, Mike Maples, and Ben Lerer join the show 5:13 Venture liquidity returns: what SpaceX/Stripe distributions mean for LPs 9:13 Bending Spoons prices IPO at $29/share, roughly $18.4B valuation 10:31 Agree.com - Stop chasing invoices and automate your entire contract-to-cash stack. Go to https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life! 12:09 "Companies get bought, not sold" — Ben on taking first offers seriously 17:41 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off! 19:34 Mutiny's burn-the-boats AI pivot with Jaleh Rezaei 20:19 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 22:15 Mike's KeepSafe story: the "rule of 70" and profit-first companies 25:12 The new growth bar: 5x, 4x replaces triple-triple-double-double 28:55 Fund size is your strategy: why Floodgate and Lerer Hippeau stay small 30:11 CLA - Innovation takes balance. CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors can help you get from startup to where you want to end up. Get started now at https://www.claconnect.com/withyou 37:39 The $100M Series A: Starcloud, General Intuition, Scale Cognition, Scout AI 40:35 King-making rounds and why mega-seeds destroy optionality 54:11 Open-weight models: the GLM-5.2 moment and going model-agnostic 55:30 Why fine-tuning open models is a treadmill, with Cursor/Kimi as an example 1:03:28 Grading the Trump administration on Mythos and Fable 1:06:33 Rising anti-AI sentiment, the wealth gap, and lessons from social media 1:11:43 Raising kids in the post-intelligence era 1:12:35 Where to find the panel and what each firm is investing in Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com Check out the TWIST500: https://www.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/alex LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/ Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis Follow TWiST: Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Plaudhttps://Plaud.ai/twistShopifyhttps://shopify.com/twistLinkedIn Jobshttps://LinkedIn.com/twistNorthwest Registered Agenthttps://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistToday's show:*It's another All Star Summer, as we welcome back some of our favorite guests from throughout “This Week in Startups” history.Chamath Palihapitiya's development platform 8090 just raised $135 million, and he's using it to go after a $4 trillion market: the software maintenance, migration, and middleware spending that's currently “pure waste” for enterprises.Find out why the All-In Podcast bestie says every company should use AI to build custom software the way that Google, Facebook, and Meta already do, then go inside Software Factory, the “system on a chip” organizational model, and why Chamath believes AI will allow every human on Earth to start their own company.Guest:Chamath on X: https://x.com/chamath8090: https://www.8090.ai/Learn With Me on Substack: https://chamath.substack.com/p/learn-with-meDrink With Me: https://www.drinkwithme.com/age-verify.htmlAll-In Podcast: https://allin.com/Social Capital: https://www.socialcapital.com/Relevant Links:8090 Series A announcement: https://x.com/chamath/status/2071571183665881515Salesforce Ventures: https://salesforceventures.com/Craft Ventures: https://www.craftventures.com/The Production Board: https://www.tpb.co/WNDR: https://www.wndr.vc/LAUNCH: https://www.launch.coCoatue Management: https://www.coatue.com/Jack Dorsey: “From Hierarchy to Intelligence”: https://block.xyz/inside/from-hierarchy-to-intelligenceThomas Keller's The French Laundry: https://thomaskeller.com/tfl/Timestamps:0:00 It's TWiST All-Star Summer!0:44 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!3:21 Chamath's origin story7:54 Tom Sawyer entrepreneurship11:29 Shopify - Turn those What If's into sales with the ecommerce platform powering millions of businesses. Sign up for your $1-per-month trial today at https://shopify.com/twist16:25 The $5 trillion software market21:06 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist25:00 Building "a co-founder for every human"31:51 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist35:00 How product development lost its way45:00 Regulated industries are the beachhead50:00 Raising the $135M Series A55:00 8090's "System on a Chip" model1:04:44 What to tell your kids about 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/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twistSentry - https://sentry.io/twistNorthwest Registered Agent-https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistDigitalOcean - https://do.co/twistToday's show:F1 teams spend up to a third of their budgets on aerodynamics, often utilizing wind tunnels to simulate what happens on the track.But Lyall Davenport of SKN Systems created a sensor-embedded tape that sticks directly to race cars as they drive around the real world, generating 420M data points per hour. And it comes in at roughly 95% less cost than running a full simulator.Hear about how Lyall's background in racing helped him develop the concept, plans to expand from motorsports to drones and defense, and his experiences going through Jason's various programs.PLUS OpenAI's new models are so good, you can't use them. Why Apple's Vision Pro chief defected to OpenAI (and why their laptops and devices are getting more expensive). A look at the world's most annoying data center in Sterling, Virginia. And Jason remembers iconic and influential tech journalist Om Malik.Guest:Lyall Davenport: https://x.com/LyalldavenportSKN Systems: https://www.skn.systems/Timestamps:0:00 How SKN uses tape to generate aerodynamic data4:04 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!6:17 How SKN uses tape to generate aerodynamic data9:55 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST17:20 F1 teams are worth HOW MUCH?19:42 Northwest Registered Agent: Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist20:35 Future markets beyond motorsports30:03 DigitalOcean - Want to see what building on a true AI-native platform looks like? Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today — and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%.32:45 GPT-5.6 is banned for now43:46 Vision Pro chief makes for the exit51:24 Apple raises their prices56:05 The data center you're allowed to hate1:06:04 Zuck's new prediction market app1:08:42 RIP Om Malik (1966-2026)1:19:50 Streaming and camera recommendations1:28:06 All about eFoilingSubscribe 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/lonsLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

In our most recent episode of The Brian D. O'Leary Show, we get to the core of how we build and scale businesses. I sat down with my friend Hunter Hastings, a prolific author, economist, venture capitalist, and passionate entrepreneur. We dissected his new book, Venture Mode: Escape the Administration Trap by Finding and Unleashing Entrepreneurial Leaders (co-authored with Mark Packard, published by Amplify Publishing, May 5, 2025), to explore the dangerous traps of corporate growth and how to revive the entrepreneurial spirit. Episode Chapters & Highlights The Administration Trap: Defining the machinery of corporate control, the pressures of financial markets, and how administrative bloat kills productivity. Founder Mode & Brian Chesky: How the Airbnb founder cut through suffocating management layers to get back "in the details" with his customers. The Origins of the MBA: Tracing the roots of administrative sclerosis back to mid-20th-century logical positivism and Frederick Taylor's scientific management. Entrepreneurial Economics: A fresh look at Austrian economics, focusing on customer sovereignty, entrepreneurship, and experimental action over top-down strategy. The Atom of Value: Why the single interaction between a customer and a service provider is the true foundation of scale (with a nod to Netflix's Reed Hastings). AI and One-Person Corporations (OPCs): How AI is allowing entrepreneurs to bypass the administration trap entirely, creating a new era of solo scalability. The Masters of Business Enterprise: Replacing the outdated university MBA with principle-based learning and experiential corporate apprenticeships. The Enablement Economy & Optimism Through Unease: Why being unhappy with the current situation (short-term pessimism) is the fundamental driver of innovation and a better future. Here are the key takeaways from our conversation. The Administration Trap As businesses scale and achieve success, they often fall into what Hunter calls “administration mode.” Instead of prioritizing the innovation that initially drove their growth, companies become obsessed with the machinery of corporate control. This obsession manifests as: An intense focus on controlling future uncertainty. Pressure to deliver smooth quarterly earnings and meet financial market expectations. The addition of suffocating management layers, installed processes, and rigid annual planning cycles. The cost of this control is staggering. Hunter notes that we may have lost 50% of the US economy's potential for productivity growth due to this administrative crisis. It stifles innovation and removes humanity from business, tracing its roots back to mid-20th-century logical positivism, where the “scientific method” and pure measurement began to overshadow human creativity. Breaking Free: Shifting to Venture Mode To escape this trap, Hunter advocates for “venture mode.” A prime example of this philosophy in action is Brian Chesky, founder of Airbnb. As his company grew, Chesky realized that administrative layers were blinding him to the actual customer experience. His solution was to cut through the bureaucracy to get back “in the details,” speaking directly with hosts and consumers to figure out what was working in the market. You don't have to be a founder to apply this. Anyone in an organization can champion this mindset by removing barriers and prioritizing free-thinking experimentation over rigid systems. Entrepreneurial Economics: The “Atom of Value” Much of our conversation centered around Austrian economics, which Hunter masterfully reframes for the modern business leader. We broke down three practical principles: Customer Sovereignty: The customer is the boss. The business cycle doesn't start with production; it starts with sensing the customer's need. Entrepreneurship: This is the act of taking that sensed need, turning it into a novel idea, and bringing it back to the market. Action Over Strategy: True entrepreneurship relies on experimental action rather than relying on a top-down, predictive strategy. This approach zeroes in on what Hunter calls the “atom of value,” the single critical interaction between one customer and one service provider. By perfecting that single interaction, you can scale the entire system. Replacing the MBA and Embracing AI We also tackled the archaic nature of the traditional MBA, something that often breeds the very administrative mindset we need to avoid. Hunter envisions a “Masters of Business Enterprise,” splitting education into two distinct paths: learning scalable principles of value creation outside of traditional universities, and engaging in experiential, active learning within actual corporations. Looking to the future, we discussed the role of Artificial Intelligence in completely bypassing the administration trap. We are seeing the rise of AI-enabled, “One-Person Corporations” (OPCs). By leveraging AI for administrative tasks and tapping into broader industrial ecosystems, individuals can scale incredibly fast without ever installing bloated management structures. Optimism Through Unease I often call myself a short-term pessimist and a long-term optimist. Hunter pointed out that this perfectly aligns with the Austrian economic principle of “unease.” According to Ludwig von Mises, being unhappy with the current situation is the fundamental driver of innovation. It is our unease with administrative bloat that will propel us toward a highly adaptable, highly entrepreneurial future. To dive deeper into this shift toward venture mode thinking, listen to the full episode. Resources & Links: Get a free chapter and pick up a copy of the book at venturemode.biz. Order a copy of Venture Mode directly on Amazon. Read Hunter's ongoing insights on Venture Mode and the “enablement” economy at The Value Creators on Substack. Step Out of the Machine The ground-floor discount for our premium subscription has closed, but true sovereignty doesn't sit around waiting on a sale. You can spend the rest of your life as an optimized data point, letting the elite corporate class dictate your values and your income. Or, you can step out of the managed system, embrace the grit, and secure absolute independence for your future. But you cannot do this alone. The digital landscape is littered with lone wolves who thought they could outsmart a system designed to crush them. That is why I built a fortified, paid community for serious minds to discuss culture, business, and strategy in real time. Stop subsidizing the scavengers who hold your values in contempt. Choose your path: The Annual Subscription ($100/year): Unlocks unrestricted access to our private, paid community forum (The Junto), our strategic monthly briefs, and the full historical archive. The Founding Member Tier ($497/year): Strictly capped at 20 serious operators. Unlocks all standard subscription benefits, plus four private, 1-on-1 strategy sessions to unblock your business bottlenecks and exclusive expert deep dives. Let's get to work on halting the decline. Subscribe today at https://briandoleary.substack.com/subscribe

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Deel - deel.com/twistNorthwest Registered Agent - northwestregisteredagent.com/twistLinkedIn - linkedIn.com/twistToday's show:Jason sits down with Brynn Putnam, CEO and founder of Board, to learn more about her company's tabletop gaming console. The pair talks about how to raise capital for yet-to-launch hardware projects, the screen-time debate, and how Board is approaching building or buying IP for its family-friendly games. Next, Alex got Heremus's AJ Piplica on the horn to chat hypersonic, autonomous jets. The startup's technology bridges the gap between rockets and airplanes, and may represent the future of warfare, yes, but also fast freight!Guest Links:Brynn Putnam https://x.com/BrynnPutnamBoard https://board.fun/Board Series A announcement https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/02/board-the-new-game-startup-from-mirror-founder-brynn-putnam-raises-20m-has-already-sold-thousands/Mirror https://www.lululemonstudio.com/AJ Piplica https://x.com/AJ_PiplicaHeremus https://www.hermeus.com/Heremus Series C announcement https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hermeus-reaches-1-billion-valuation-with-350-million-raise-to-build-todays-fastest-aircraft-for-the-american-warfighter-302735273.htmlTimestamps:0:00 Board's Brynn Putnam joins the show2:54 Board's proprietary AI software stack6:43 Why Board manufactures in Mexico (not China)9:21 LinkedIn: Thanks to our partners at LinkedIn! Post your job for free at https://linkedIn.com/twist then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs' new AI assistant.9:42 How to raise a Seed round for hardware without a finished product15:26 Brynn's daughter and the mermaid example17:09 Can Board limit screen time fears?18:47 Northwest Registered Agent: Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist22:54 Selling the first 10,000 units28:38 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.29:42 Why Board is steering away from simple ports toward native IP experiences35:32 Hermeus's AJ Piplica joins the show35:32 What is Dark Horse?43:48 Commercial applications: Cargo, organs, flowers, and trans-Atlantic in 90 minutes47:47 Commercial applications: Cargo, organs, flowers, and trans-Atlantic in 90 minutes57:00 Dark Horse range and the "reusable first stage" analogy58:42 Dark Horse range and the "reusable first stage" analogy1:02:42 $350M Series C led by Khosla; total funding now exceeds $500M1:03:39 The SpaceX model: get customers to fund your R&D1:07:47 Closing: the American Dynamism pitchSubscribe 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/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Agree - https://agree.comQuo - https://quo.com/TWiSTSuperhuman - https://superhuman.comToday's show:In this double-header, Jason and Lon chat with Louis Phillips, founder of the gamified running app INTVL, which turns a quick job around the block into a worldwide turf war competition. Find out how he grew the app to over 1 million downloads without any paid ads, just making videos from his home office.PLUS Alex sits down with Alice Zhang, CEO of Verge Labs, which pivoted from making drugs to building the AI infrastructure that helps pharma companies develop their own treatments. Find out how they accumulated one of the world's largest proprietary brain datasets and why brain tissue is the “LiDAR of neuroscience.”Guests:INTVL: https://www.intvl.com.au/INTVL on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intvl.appLouis Phillips on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louisphillips12Verge Labs: https://vergelabs.com/Alice Zhang on X: https://x.com/AliceXinliZhangRelevant LinksMeta's Ad Library: https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/Strava: https://www.strava.com/Pokémon Go: https://pokemongo.com/Fitbod: https://fitbod.me/Tonebase: https://www.tonebase.co/Calm: https://www.calm.com/Hamilton Island official site: https://www.hamiltonisland.com.au/“Mr. Inbetween” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EooRG3QhQOYArticle: “Verge Genomics Rebrands as Verge Labs”: https://trial.medpath.com/news/verge-genomics-rebrands-as-verge-labs-following-als-drug-trial-failure-pivots-to-ai-driven-target-discoveryEli Lilly: https://www.lilly.com/Chai Discovery: https://www.chaidiscovery.com/Noetik: https://www.noetik.ai/Tempus: https://www.tempus.com/Timestamps:0:00 Louis on building in Melbourne, Australia7:44 Why INTVL ignores how fast you run9:59 Agree - Stop chasing invoices at https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life!15:52 Using gamification for good19:10 Powering INTVL's impressive growth19:55 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST26:16 The future of TWiST Australia27:14 Will AI ever cure cancer?27:54 Inside Verge's rebrand30:31 Superhuman - Get AI that works where you work. Unlock your Superhuman potential at https://superhuman.com32:01 Brain tissue as "ground truth"36:01 Why brain tissue is so valuable as data43:52 Verge's Eli Lilly partnership51:34 "You're going to tell me when I'm going to die"56:11 How AI could impact drug prices58:19 Clinical trial FAILS and how to move onSubscribe 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/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Deel - deel.com/twistLinkedIn - linkedIn.com/twistNorthwest Registered Agent - northwestregisteredagent.com/twistPlaud - https://Plaud.ai/twistToday's show:Anthropic stabbed Cursor in the back. Then SpaceX swooped in with $60 billion. Today, TWiST connects the dots on the biggest deal in AI since the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership, and why it's a warning sign for every startup building on top of a frontier model. Jason is joined by Bling Capital's Ben Ling, Banana Capital's Turner Novak, and co-host Alex to go deep on the future of coding models, the current golden age of venture liquidity, OpenAI's financials, and the ‘Four Ds' of venture investing. The show closes with a tribute to Josh Baer, the founder of Capital Factory.Guest Links:Ben Ling https://x.com/bling0?lang=enBling Capital https://www.blingcap.com/Turner Novak https://x.com/TurnerNovakBanana Capital https://www.bananacapital.vc/Show Links:Hanover Park https://www.hanoverpark.com/SpaceX buys Cursor https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/16/spacex-spcx-cursor-acquisition-ipo.htmlCursor Composer 2.5 https://cursor.com/blog/composer-2-5OpenAI financials source https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/AMD's new deskside data center https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/desktops/ryzen/ryzen-ai-halo.htmlPerplexity Model Council https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-model-councilTimestamps:0:00 Guest introductions1:15 Guest introductions2:43 SpaceX acquires Cursor for $60B6:13 The golden era of M&A9:13 Northwest Registered Agent: Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist12:04 Cursor's negative gross margins & the compute problem13:22 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!15:04 Rolling your own model: When does it make sense?19:35 LinkedIn: Thanks to our partners at LinkedIn! Post your job for free at https://linkedIn.com/twist then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs' new AI assistant.22:53 The "headless product" thesis28:31 Deel: Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.34:22 OpenAI financials leaked: $13B revenue, $38.5B net loss40:13 Where does AI value accumulate?45:34 Portfolio Spotlight: Hanover Park48:37 Seed stage graduation rates have fallen from 50% to 25%54:59 The four Ds of venture: Deal flow, Decisions, Doubling down, Distributions1:06:36 How to find 'undiscovered gems'1:30:59 Snap Specs AR glasses: $2,195, and a bit chunky1:39:29 Tribute to Joshua Baer, Capital Factory's founderSubscribe 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/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Every.io - visit every.ioSentry.io - sentry.io/twistVanta - vanta.com/twistToday's show:The next SpaceX won't be building rockets; it'll build the first hotel on the Moon. Today on TWiST, GRU Space founder Skyler Chan brings a brick made from lunar soil into the studio and lays out a plan to manufacture on the Moon as early as next year. We get into the science, the business model, and the regulatory land-grab ahead!Then, the US government forces Anthropic to pull Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Jason and Lon unpack what it means when a single AI model can vanish overnight, and the US government's emergency order.Stick around for the winner (or winners?!) of the $5,000 AI podcast-companion bounty!Timestamps:0:00 Knicks playoff run, San Antonio & Texas BBQ (Black's vs. Terry Black's)8:23 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!9:52 Guest intro: Skyler Chan, GRU Space — and the lunar-soil brick10:29 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io12:14 Why the next SpaceX builds habitats, not rockets15:18 NASA's $20B moon-base signal & the TRL contracting path16:13 Business model: from construction contractor to owning lunar land18:06 Building the hotel robotically + $1M refundable deposits20:00 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST31:09 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist39:28 News: US government blocks Anthropic's Fable 5 & Mythos 541:34 The politics: Hegseth, Sacks, Jassy & the "conspiracy" angle1:09:39 Why no single model dependency is safe (multi-model harnesses)1:18:47 Bounty results: MySidecast wins $3,0001:19:07 Honorable mentions: Couchverse (Lemon Slice) & Convalenz1:29:44 Next bounty: the Annotated app

Mark Pincus founded Zynga—the company behind Words With Friends, FarmVille, and Zynga Poker—and has arguably created more hit consumer products than anyone in history. At Zynga, eight of 10 major game launches became massive hits, reaching over a billion players. Over the past five years, Mark has been synthesizing everything he's learned about building successful consumer products and turning it into a book, Life at the Speed of Play, which comes out on June 23. This is the first interview he's done about the book.In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:1. His “Proven, Better, New” framework: copy what's proven, make it better so that 10 out of 10 people say “f*ck yes, I'll use this”—then add something new2. Why being less ambitious is the path to the most ambitious ideas3. His rule of thumb that your instincts are right 95% of the time, but your ideas are wrong 75% of the time4. “Kill hope before hope kills you”5. How to raise kids in the age of AI—Brought to you by:WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and moreVanta—Automate compliance, manage risk, and accelerate trust with AI—Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-common-pattern-behind-successful—Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0—Where to find Mark Pincus:• X: https://x.com/markpinc• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markpincus• Website: https://www.lifeatthespeedofplay.com—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Mark Pincus(02:46) The Proven Better New framework overview(07:29) Earning the right to innovate(08:30) What “better” really means(12:03) Quick summary of the framework(12:40) Examples of the framework in action(13:30) How to use proven correctly on your platform(15:13) The moral arbitrage of copying(23:55) Be less ambitious(28:25) The Bolt.new story and staying humble(33:15) Kill hope before hope kills you(37:00) Using AI as a failure machine(40:08) Why Zynga's games succeeded (it wasn't virality)(48:36) The future of consumer social apps(57:05) How to know if your product is a B+(1:01:25) Distribution in the age of AI(1:15:39) Make everyone a CEO(1:18:18) Stay close to the metal(1:21:35) Why Mark says micromanagement is beautiful(1:23:35) The expert witness(1:25:05) The number one job of a CEO is to be right(1:26:35) What Mark is teaching his five kids(1:35:14) Mark's “why”(1:37:08) Mark's new book: Life at The Speed of Play—Referenced:• Tribe.net: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe.net• Zynga: https://www.zynga.com• Sid Meier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier• Electronic Arts: https://www.ea.com• CityVille: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CityVille• Words With Friends: https://wordswithfriends.com/• Scrabble: https://playscrabble.com• Reddit: https://www.reddit.com• TED Radio Hour, MIT Media Lab founder, 1984 TED talk.: https://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_negroponte_5_predictions_from_1984• Peter Thiel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterthiel• FarmVille: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmVille• Craig Newmark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Newmark• How to consistently go viral: Nikita Bier's playbook for winning at consumer apps (co-founder of TBH, Gas, advisor, investor): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-consistently-go-viral-nikita-bier• Angry Birds: https://www.angrybirds.com/• OMGPop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMGPop• Draw Something: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draw_Something• Slack founder: Mental models for building products people love ft. Stewart Butterfield: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/slack-founder-stewart-butterfield• Brian Chesky's new playbook: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/brian-cheskys-contrarian-approach• Garry Tan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrytan• Brian Armstrong on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barmstrong• Jason Citron on X: https://x.com/jasoncitron• Stanislav Vishnevskiy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/svishnevskiy• Jeff Bezos on X: https://x.com/JeffBezos• Andy Jassy on X: https://x.com/ajassy• Niantic: https://nianticlabs.com• Pokémon Go: https://pokemongo.com• Bing Gordon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/binggordon—Recommended book:• Life at the Speed of Play: Launch Products People Love!: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Speed-Play-Launch-Products/dp/0063352575/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Plaud https://Plaud.ai/twistPilot https://pilot.com/twistAgree https://agree.comIM8 Health https://IM8health.com/twistAfter watching Elon build out his rocket (and AI) company over the past 20 years, Jason celebrates the SpaceX IPO on a new TWiST. He explains why some investments are evaluated based on earnings and current numbers, while other stocks are bets on expensive visions for the future, and why SpaceX why likely pay off across multiple time horizons.PLUS Polsia solo founder Ben Cera is back with guidance for founders on creating a “Purple Cow”: a unique experience that makes their brand memorable.Guest:Ben Cera on X: https://x.com/BenceraPolsia: https://polsia.com/Polsia on X: https://x.com/polsiaBen on TWiST E2256 (Feb 2026): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCce8e02IswRelevant Links:SpaceX: https://www.spacex.com/SPCX on Yahoo Finance: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SPCX/Starlink: https://www.starlink.com/Planet Labs: https://www.planet.com/Palantir: https://www.palantir.com/Valor Equity Partners: https://www.valorep.com/Seth Godin's “Purple Cow” on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Cow-New-Transform-Remarkable/dp/1591843170Uber Ice Cream stunt article: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ubers-brilliant-marketing-stunt-hail-195946535.htmlHillsborough Flintstones House article: https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/The-Flintstone-House-is-now-for-rent-on-Airbnb-10420107.php“19 Hours Inside the Airbnb X-Mansion” article: https://www.theringer.com/2024/05/29/pop-culture/x-mansion-airbnb-x-men-icons-experienceWas The Pepsi Challenge based on LIES? https://www.historyoasis.com/post/the-pepsi-challengeCloudKitchens: https://cloudkitchens.com/Cluely: https://cluely.com/Timestamps:0:00 SpaceX IPO details2:12 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!7:21 The voting vs. weighing investment framework9:41 Pilot: Focus on your product, let Pilot handle your bookkeeping. Pilot provides the most reliable accounting, CFO, and tax services for startups and small businesses. Head to https://pilot.com/twist and get $1,200 off your first year.19:53 Agree - Stop chasing invoices at https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life!22:25 The media's SpaceX criticisms and "hot takes"23:54 Ben Cera of Polsia is back26:53 Why Jason says no to a free tier29:10 IM8 Health: Start feeling like your best self every day. Go to https://IM8health.com/twist and use the code TWiST to get a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets, and 10% off your order.34:27 The wisdom of Seth Godin's "Purple Cow"50:37 The "Pepsi Challenge" model1:05:45 Lon got a dog, Jason got routers1:10:37 The YouTuber to movie theater pipeline1:15:20 Jason's new favorite travel bagSubscribe 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/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:NetSuite - Netsuite.com/TWiSTDeel - Deel.com/TWiSTSquarespace - Squarespace.com/TWiSTTwo days before SpaceX launches the largest IPO in history at a flat $135/share, our VC roundtable drops a scorcher: The top 1% of seed deals might actually be underpriced. Plus: the "Sequoia scam" dual-tranche controversy, tokens-for-equity deals, and whether Claude Fable 5 is a true step function.Tomasz Tunguz (Theory Ventures), Michael Downing (Castalia Capital), and Paige Doherty (Behind Genius Ventures) join Alex to go deep on Seed investing, startup economics, AI spend, and the impact of smarter AI on the founder journey.Guest Links:Tomasz Tunguz: https://x.com/ttunguzTheory Ventures: https://theoryvc.com/Michael Downing: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldowning/Castalia Capital: https://castalia.capital/Paige Doherty: https://x.com/paigefinnnBehind Genius Ventures: https://www.behindgeniusventures.comShow Links:Anthropic's IPO announcement: https://www.anthropic.com/news/confidential-draft-s1-secOpenAI's IPO announcement: https://openai.com/index/openai-submits-confidential-s-1/Bending Spoons F-1 filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2004711/000110465926071170/tm2613674-7_f1.htmSpaceX IPO filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1181412/000162828026040364/spaceexplorationtechnologib.htmBrendan Foody's post on Sequoia: https://x.com/BrendanFoody/status/2063470286515683759Claude Fable 5: https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-fable-5-mythos-5OpenRouter data on Chinese models: https://openrouter.ai/rankings?view=daySaronic: https://www.saronic.com/MotherDuck: https://motherduck.com/Nox Metals: https://noxmetals.co/Timestamps:0:00 Tomasz Tunguz, Michael Downing & Paige Doherty join2:07 The SpaceX IPO and the IPO window4:22 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!6:30 The new bar: 10x growth (not 3x) to raise a great Series A8:46 Net-new AI budgets9:46 Squarespace: Turn your idea into a beautiful website! Go to https://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.11:09 How some founders are outgrowing venture capital11:44 The power pendulum swings back to founders12:46 SpaceX vs. OpenAI vs. Anthropic: Which IPO is most enticing?19:53 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.26:07 Tokens-for-equity, GPU-hours-for-equity & the financialization of compute28:35 Founders airing VC dirty laundry (napping VCs included)29:56 Netsuite - The business landscape is very chaotic right now. That's why you need NetSuite, by Oracle. Get the free business guide Demystifying AI at https://Netsuite.com/TWiST36:38 Claude Fable 5 first impressions: pricing, benchmarks & orchestration45:42 Where value accrues: application layer vs. models vs. private data1:00:06 Nationalization of AI labs: Bernie Sanders, Sam Altman & Trump agree?!1:01:25 Portfolio spotlights: Saronic, MotherDuck, and Nox MetalsSubscribe 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/jasoncalacanisGreat 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/@calacanis

The AI Tutor That Makes Kids Actually Think | E2298This Week In Startups is made possible by:Northwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistLinkedIn Jobs https://LinkedIn.com/twistShopify https://shopify.com/twistPlaud https://Plaud.ai/twistToday's show:*Schools teach kids to memorize formulas. AI helps them skip thinking entirely. Brilliant founder Sue Khim joins TWiST to tell us how her new AI tutor, Koji, uses the Socratic Method to help students solve complex problems on their own. Find out why she says “People aren't anti-AI. They're anti-being replaced and anti-slop.”PLUS Jason's take on the VC horror stories going around X… and his own anecdote about the tenacity and passion of legendary investor John Doerr.Guest:Sue Khim on X: https://x.com/suekhimBrilliant: https://brilliant.org/Viral Koji launch video: https://x.com/suekhim/status/2060378988606878147Relevant Links:Viral Greg Isenberg post about VCs: https://x.com/gregisenberg/status/2061794787825479818Travis Kalanick's story: https://x.com/travisk/status/2062224472426365045Matthew Prince's stories: https://x.com/eastdakota/status/2062860530360959273John Doerr on X: https://x.com/johndoerrRoelof Botha on X: https://x.com/roelofbothaMichael Moritz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmoritz/Mohr Davidow Ventures: https://mdv.com/Jason's book “Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups”: https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Invest-Technology-Startups-Timeless-Investor/dp/0062560700Timestamps:0:00 Sue Khim's Alltuition origin story1:41 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!4:10 Brilliant: from launch to product market pull10:46 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist15:08 Pricing against tutors, not apps19:25 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist21:22 Koji demo24:11 Keeping Brilliant local while expanding30:22 Shopify - Turn those What Ifs into sales with the e-commerce platform powering millions of businesses. Sign up for your $1-per-month trial today at https://shopify.com/twist40:10 Every founder has a VC horror story44:33 John Doerr went the extra mile to hear JCal's pitch52:55 The LAUNCH investment strategySubscribe 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/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Grasshopper Bank https://grasshopper.bank/twistVanta https://www.vanta.com/twistRender https://render.com/twistPlaud https://Plaud.ai/twistToday's show:Anthropic wrote a blog post calling for a global AI slowdown. Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders wants the government to seize 50% of every major AI company's stock. Find out why JCal is reconsidering universal basic (or even high!) income policies, and why he thinks the 2028 presidential election will likely come down to AI policies.PLUS a live ComfyUI demo from founder Yoland Yan. Find out why the free-to-use open-source node-based platform has become a crucial part of millions of designers' and VFX experts' workflows, and how their tool has been used to create everything from “The Wizard of Oz” at the Vegas Sphere to those viral Coca-Cola holiday ads.GuestYoland Yan: http://x.com/yoland_yanComfyUI: https://comfy.org/AI Models and ToolsIdeogram 4.0: https://ideogram.ai/models/4.0/Stable Diffusion: https://stability.ai/LTX Video: https://github.com/Lightricks/LTX-VideoLoRa: https://huggingface.co/docs/diffusers/training/loraGoogle Veo: https://deepmind.google/models/veo/Relevant Links:Anthropic: “When AI Builds Itself”: https://www.anthropic.com/institute/recursive-self-improvementBernie Sanders: “The Public Should Own Half of the Big AI Companies”: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/op-eds/the-public-should-own-half-of-the-big-a-i-companies/Bloomberg: “Sam Altman-Backed Group Completes Largest US Study on Basic Income”: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-22/ubi-study-backed-by-openai-s-sam-altman-bolsters-support-for-basic-incomeTimestamps:0:00 Guest 1: Yoland Yan, ComfyUI — live demo intro2:06 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!4:34 Guest 1: Yoland Yan, ComfyUI — live demo intro9:47 Grasshopper Bank - Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.20:05 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist22:24 What is Outpainting?30:01 Render - Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to https://render.com/twist and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers.32:13 Jason's insider sales team advice38:42 LA mayoral race: Bass vs. Pratt42:25 Anthropic wants AI to slow down?48:45 Will Sen. Sanders' argument resonate with the public?59:39 Why 2028 will be the AI jobs election1:05:32 Brian Chesky's new AI lab1:15:21 Jason's "Mandalorian and Grogu" review1:18:53 YouTubers take over the box office1:24:16 Dean Potter vs. Alex HonnoldSubscribe 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/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Northwest Registered Agent - NorthwestRegistereAagent.com/TWISTEvery - Every.ioSentry - Sentry.io/TWISTToday's show:Want to get to space? Several launch companies can help you. SpaceX, Rocket Lab, the Russians, the list goes on. But what about once you make it upstairs, then what? Impulse Space CEO and CTO Tom Mueller is building the next stage of our orbital economy. With its Mira and Helios spacecraft, we'll soon be able to take mass from lower orbits to higher orbits, or even to the Moon, with ease.Meanwhile, venture capitalists are enamored with the idea of humanoid robots — robots share our shape, our work environment, and even our tools. But startups like Dusty Robotics are taking a different tack; instead of building human-shaped robots, Dusty has built a small, wheeled 'bot that can mark out building sites quickly and accurately. And it's doing more revenue than all humanoid robotics companies combined, I reckon. Dusty's CEO, Dr. Tessa Lau, joins Alex to go deep on purpose-built robots in today's build-crazy market.Timestamps:0:00 Blue Origin, and why fixing things in orbit is hard2:19 What Mira is and what it does4:35 Why was the commercial demand for Mira softer than expected5:20 Space Force demand and the GEO-capable Mira7:08 Helios: a "rocket on top of a rocket."10:10 Sentry - Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST11:35 How Helios beats Falcon Heavy on price ($25M)13:35 Reusability, in-orbit refueling, and propellant depots15:38 Landers, the Moon base, and "Mega Helios."18:52 NSSL and the politics of flying government payloads20:16 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io20:51 Why the Moon matters: megastructures and data centers in space25:09 The space talent market and the SpaceX "mafia."30:16 Northwest Registered Agent: Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistSubscribe 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:Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Deel https://deel.com/twistQuo https://quo.com/TWiSTLinkedIn Jobs https://LinkedIn.com/twistToday's show:Cortical Labs is the world's first company selling biological computers. Their CL1 fuses lab-grown human neurons (derived from stem cells, not actual folks) with silicon hardware to create Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI).Founder Dr. Hon Weng Chong walks us through how the system works and why neurons are more efficient than GPUs at reinforcement learning. (Also… is this computer alive?)PLUS Pyka co-founder and CEO Michael Norcia explains the various uses for his autonomous aircraft, from crop-spraying drones in Brazil to a a hybrid-electric defense UAV for the military.Guests:Cortical Labs: ****https://corticallabs.com/Dr. Hon Weng Chong on X: https://x.com/dr1337Pyka: https://www.flypyka.com/Pyka on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flypyka/?hl=enFurther Reading:2022 Pong paper in Neuron: https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(22)00806-62017 Paper: “Attention is All You Need”; https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762The “Barista Test” for Artificial Intelligence: Chris Rourk: https://medium.com/predict/the-turing-test-is-so-last-century-the-barista-test-for-artificial-general-intelligence-faf91034fa8cNotable Links:Playing “DOOM” on CL1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRV8fSw6HaEDayOne Data Center: https://dayonedc.com/NeurIPS 2026 Conference: https://neurips.cc/Neuralink: https://neuralink.com/CliniCloud Digital Stethoscope and Thermometer: https://www.design-industry.com.au/clinicloudAir Force Research Laboratory (AFWERX): https://afwerx.com/Joby Aviation: https://www.jobyaviation.com/Prime Movers Lab: https://www.primemoverslab.com/Timestamps:0:00 What is "biological computing"?2:49 Cortical's new $30 million raise4:15 The world's first biological data center9:48 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.10:51 Biological computers have a learning advantage19:43 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST29:15 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist38:46 From paper airplanes to Group 4 UAVs52:20 Introducing the DropShip defense drone58:28 How regulations block US drones1:00:40 Why Pyka builds everything in-houseSubscribe 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/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Grasshopper Bank https://grasshopper.bank/twistLinkedIn Jobs https://LinkedIn.com/twistNorthwest Registered Agent https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twistToday's show:Jason breaks down the real math behind raising a seed round. Here's the funnel: contact 150 firms, get 50 first meetings, convert 2o into second meetings, and close 2 term sheets.PLUS Jason responds to viewer questions about why hardware is no longer a dirty word for investors, how to differentiate your startup from frontier-model companies like OpenAI, even when they're in your niche. Plus a pitch for “Founder Community College,” and anecdotes from Lon's European odyssey.Thanks for the Questions:Richard Corral: CEO of Quanto: https://quanto.co/ØnProtons on X: https://x.com/0nProtonsSergeDawg on X: https://x.com/sergedawgMahika GolaniPeridot: https://www.tryperidot.com/Shawn Sully on X: https://x.com/arooglePrograms and Accelerators Mentioned:Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/Techstars: https://www.techstars.com/Antler: https://www.antler.co/PearX: https://pear.vc/pearx/Sequoia ARC: https://www.sequoiacap.com/arc/Kauffman Fellows: https://www.kauffmanfellows.org/Companies and Startups Referenced:Whoop: https://www.whoop.com/Knightscope: https://knightscope.com/Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/Cafe X: https://www.cafexapp.com/Media Referenced:New Yorker Sam Altman profile: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trustedOff-Duty RecommendationsTerra Kaffe Demi compact automatic espresso machine: https://www.terrakaffe.com/products/tk-demiOsteria Pastella (Florence, Italy): https://www.osteriapastella.it/Timestamps:0:00 Inside the TWiST private group chat3:25 How to react when an investor says your "too early."6:50 The ultimate seed round funnel8:48 Jason's new Associate in Training program10:09 Grasshopper Bank - Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.18:28 How have the metrics for early-stage companies changed?20:20 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist22:34 TWiST Bounties update23:43 Competing against frontier labs30:03 What signals real investor-founder alignment?30:14 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist36:07 A crash course in Bay Area startup culture40:15 Automatons-as-a-Service (AaaS)42:29 Who in Silicon Valley does Jason really not like?49:59 Museum Etiquette with Lon HarrisSubscribe 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/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/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