Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for This Week in Startups
Technology

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Jason Calacanis covers startups, tech, markets, media, and all the hottest topics in business and technology. He also interviews the world's greatest founders, operators, investors, and innovators.

Play
Open in
  • 54 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 1 hr 8 min
  • English

Episodes 54

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • #2332
    August 31 · 1 hr 6 min

    Are AI Agents forming "civilizations" or is this just a psy op? | 2332

    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

  • #2331
    August 28 · 1 hr 48 min

    Breaking down Nvidia's Hugging Face and Poolside bets | E2331

    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

  • #2330
    August 26 · 1 hr 31 min

    Bill Gates foresees massive AI job loss: these VCs disagree | E2330

    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

  • August 25 · 24 min

    You Can't Fire a VC From Your Board: Here's Why | Wilson Sonsini Startup Legal Basics

    Today's show: Can a founder actually fire a board member? Short answer: almost never. And the reason why may surprise a lot of founders. On this edition of Legal Basics, Wilson Sonsini partner Becki DeGraw joins Jason for a deep dive into who really controls your board, when investors start earning seats, and the differences between a board member and a board observer. Check out an episode that might just save your cab table someday. PLUS they walk through the full lifecycle of your startup's board, exploring what it actually controls, when founders should start adding their own board members, the ownership threshold that means investors will start asking for seats, and how boards evolve from seed rounds to Series B> Timestamps: 0:06 Welcome back to Legal Basics 1:47 When should a seed stage founder add their first board member? 7:47 From founder-controlled to "balanced" 10:31 Private vs. public company board pay 12:18 Do board members get expenses covered? 14:34 Why observers need a confidentiality provision 15:36 The "sign in the next 24 hours" pressure tactic 17:46 How to remove a director 24:01 When to use "Pled" vs. "Pleaded" Check out all of the Startup Basics episodes here: https://thisweekinstartups.com/basics 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 Becki: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-degraw-639bbb62/ Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis 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

  • #2329
    August 25 · 1 hr 20 min

    China wants you to cheer for the robots taking your job | E2329

    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

  • #2328
    August 21 · 1 hr 9 min

    Open source is going to win it all: Harvey proves it | E2328

    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

  • August 20 · 21 min

    Taste is the new programming language (w/ Astrocade CEO Amir Sadeghian) | AI Basics

    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

  • #2327
    August 19 · 54 min

    Neurosymbolic AI outperforms chatbots and product search | E2327

    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

  • #2326
    August 17 · 1 hr 24 min

    Bittensor creator Const on Affine, dTAO, "mining reasoning," and more | E2326

    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

  • #2325
    August 15 · 1 hr 20 min

    What we'll learn from Anthropic's $2-$3T IPO | E2325

    This Week In Startups is made possible by: PayPal Open https://paypal.launch.co 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

  • #2324
    August 12 · 1 hr 3 min

    These robots could cut delivery costs by 80% | Next Unicorns

    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

  • #2323
    August 11 · 1 hr 20 min

    Zuck's AI manifesto is a data center PR masterclass | E2323

    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

  • #2322
    August 7 · 1 hr 18 min

    How AI splits startups into winners and losers | E2322

    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

  • #2321
    August 5 · 1 hr 12 min

    Airtable's 80% off value crash: VCs explain why it's still a win | E2321

    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

  • #2320
    August 3 · 1 hr 2 min

    How Bespoke faked AI until it actually worked (w/ Akemi Tsunagawa) | E2320

    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

  • #2319
    July 31 · 1 hr 15 min

    Why AI has no taste and how to fix it (w/ Thais Castello Branco) | E2319

    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

  • July 29 · 1 hr 25 min· Video

    Banning Chinese robots isn't regulatory capture | E2318

    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

  • #2317
    July 27 · 43 min· Video

    While other cultivated meat companies are collapsing, this one turned a profit | E2317

    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

  • #2316
    July 24 · 45 min· Video

    Why quantum has been "10 years away" for 30 years | E2316

    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

  • #2314
    July 22 · 1 hr 12 min· Video

    Why this longevity startup raised in Japan, not Silicon Valley | TWiST Tokyo | E2315

    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

Showing 21–40 of 54 episodes