This Week in Startups

Latest Episodes:

Cathie Wood's new VC fund, Bill Gurley's best insights, Girls Who Code on banned books list | E1571 Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

J+M break down Cathie Wood's new VC fund (1:53), Bill Gurley's best insights from his interview with McKinsey (26:13), and Girls Who Code making a banned books list in a Pennsylvania county

(0:00) J+M tee up today's venture-heavy topics!

(1:53) Cathie Wood's new VC fund: Ark Venture Fund

(12:34) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist

(13:42) Opening up VC funds and early-stage investing for retail investors, signs of the start of a recession

(24:46) Revelo - Get 20% off the first 3 months by mentioning TWIST at https://revelo.io/twist

(26:13) Reacting to Bill Gurley's interview with McKinsey

(33:51) FanDuel Sportsbook - Sign up with promo code TWIST to place a $1000 risk-free bet at https://sportsbook.fanduel.com

(34:54) More on Gurley's insights: short memories in VC, accepting reality, startups raising too much money, layoffs

(47:32) Girls Who Code made a banned books list in a Pennsylvania county

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

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British pound crashes, Do Kwon's red notice, NASA's DART mission, TikTok nears US deal | E1570 Sep 26, 2022

Show notes

J+M break down the British pound dropping below $1.04 (5:15), Interpol issuing a red notice for Do Kwon (27:07), NASA's DART mission (53:52), and TikTok discussing an agreement with the Biden administration! (59:44)

(0:00) J+M tee up today's topics!

(2:48) Importance of focus, avoiding the news cycle in the grand scheme of things

(5:15) British pound crashes to lowest level ever against the USD

(13:15) Indochino - Get $50 off any purchase of $399 or more by using code TWIST at checkout https://www.indochino.com

(14:38) Breaking housing and energy in the economy, income inequality's impact globally

(25:34) Grammarly - Sign up for a free and get 20% Grammarly Premium at https://grammarly.com/TWIST

(27:07) Interpol issues red notice for Do Kwon on behalf of South Korea

(35:39) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://linkedin.com/twist

(36:54) Do Kwon tweeting on the lamb, more theories around where he might head to

(47:15) New decentralized crypto derivatives platform Nibiru raises a $7.5M seed at a $100M valuation

(53:52) WLITF: NASA's DART mission and planetary defense

(59:44) The Biden administration drafted a preliminary agreement with TikTok to try and resolve national security concerns

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes:

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Evaluating founder ambition, tools vs platforms + USV's Albert Wenger: post-capital world | E1569 Sep 25, 2022

Show notes

First up, J+M discuss founder ambition and tools vs. platforms on VC Sunday School. (3:06) Then, USV's Albert Wenger joins to break down his firm's $162M climate fund, his book "The World After Capital", and more! (24:16)

(0:00) J+M intro today's topics!

(3:06) Evaluating founder ambition, tools vs. platforms

(11:14) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist

(12:48) How investors evaluate tools vs. platforms, and when/if something is "too hard"

(19:50) J+M tee up today's TWiCS guest

(22:50) SnackMagic - Get 10% cashback up to $1000 until October 15th with code HOLIDAY, and see more at snackmagic.com/twist

(24:16) Molly welcomes USV Managing Partner Albert Wenger to discuss USV's $162M climate fund and the climate crisis investment opportunity

(33:26) Coda - The All-in-one doc for teams, get a $1,000 credit at https://coda.io/twist

(34:57) Albert discusses his book "The World After Capital", and the human attention problem

FOLLOW Albert: https://twitter.com/albertwenger

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes:

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Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke on navigating a downturn, innovating in compensation & more | E1568 Sep 24, 2022

Show notes

Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke joins Jason for the third time to break down Shopify's wild ride over the past 2+ years (1:40), $SHOP's new compensation system (14:19), competing with Amazon (45:38), Shop Pay (56:25), and more! Then, Producer Rachel welcomes Jules Terpak back for another segment of OK Boomer! (1:15:58)

(0:00) Jason intros today's segments!

(1:40) Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke joins to break down Shopify's wild ride over the past 2+ years and the state of the e-commerce market post-COVID peaks

(13:00) Spokn - Get 3 months free at https://getspokn.com/twist

(14:19) Dealing with stock price distractions during periods of volatility, innovating Shopify's compensation system

(27:56) Masterworks - Skip the waitlist to invest in fine art using at https://Masterworks.io/twist

(29:23) Tobi breaks down the ideation of Shopify's new "Flex Comp" system

(38:53) Helpware - Go to https://helpware.com/TWIST to get $1000 off your first invoice

(40:09) Laying off 10% of staff over the summer

(45:38) Competing with Amazon, innovating in fulfillment

(56:25) Shop Pay, BNPL, and remote work quirks

(1:15:58) Producer Rachel welcomes Jules Terpak back for another OK Boomer segment covering Gen Z online life, the entertainment economy, social media backlash, "Sharenting" and more

FOLLOW Tobi: https://twitter.com/tobi

FOLLOW Jules: https://twitter.com/julesterpak

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes:

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DAO breakdown with Orange DAO's Ben Huh + Amazon's $11B NFL deal with Lon Harris | E1567 Sep 23, 2022

Show notes

(0:00) J+M tee up today's segments!

(2:57) J+M intro Ben Huh and discuss his background and why he helped start Orange DAO

(15:21) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist

(16:51) Understanding how DAOs handle distributions, more DAO mechanics

(26:06) Odoo - Get your first app free and a $1000 credit at https://odoo.com/twist

(27:20) People taking advantage of business processes left up to interpretation, how blockchain helps solve this, standardizing DAOs

(36:58) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(38:22) Understanding trustworthiness, downside protections, will the US fall behind in crypto?

(48:32) J+M welcome Lon Harris!

(56:13) Amazon's $11B TNF deal

(1:06:20) House of the Dragon doing huge numbers for HBO, Rings of Power

(1:17:06) Andor, Disney+'s new Star Wars show

(1:24:02) Disney losing goodwill with superfans, where to put the next Disney park

Check out Orange DAO: https://www.orangedao.xyz

Check out Origami: https://joinorigami.com

FOLLOW Ben: https://twitter.com/benhuh

FOLLOW Lon: https://twitter.com/lons

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Mojo CEO Vinit Bharara on building a stock market to bet on athletes | E1566 Sep 21, 2022

Show notes

On today's show, Mojo CEO and Co-Founder Vinit Bharara joins Jason to talk about his new stock market to bet on athletes, Mojo, which just launched in New Jersey. (1:39) Vinit breaks down the thesis (17:07), does a product demo (40:27), and explains how they raised $100M to build a stock market from scratch and provide instant liquidity!

(0:00) Jason tees up today's interview!

(1:39) Jason intros Vinit Bharara, who breaks down his past business ventures including Cafe.com, Diapers.com, working with his brother Preet!

(13:05) Brave - Download today at https://brave.com/twist to browse faster, search privately and so much more

(14:28) Managing Preet at Cafe.com

(17:07) Vinit explains the thesis behind Mojo

(24:40) Neo.Tax - Get $500 off R&D tax credit fees at https://neo.tax/twist

(26:02) Raising $100M from Thrive Capital, Tiger, and more

(39:09) Spokn - Get 3 months free at https://getspokn.com/twist

(40:27) Vinit runs through a Mojo product demo

(53:58) Building a team of handicappers and quants

(1:00:56) Vinit and Jason share 9/11 stories

Nikola lawsuit updates, Rumble business breakdown + more SPAC updates | E1565 Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

Tuesday SPAC-tacular! J+M cover the biggest on-goings in the world of SPACs, including: the latest in the trial of former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton (1:55), Chamath winding down $IPOD and $IPOF and returning money to investors (30:53), and a breakdown of Rumble's business after completing its SPAC! (42:55)

(0:00) J+M tee up today's SPAC-tacular episode!

(1:55) More chaos at Nikola, Jason reacts to TWiST interview reportedly being used in court

(10:48) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist

(12:04) State of charges against former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton, lessons for founders to take away from this saga

(23:18) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/TWIST

(24:37) How Jason avoids founders pitching ahead of their skis

(30:53) Chamath to wind down $IPOD and $IPOF

(35:06) Revelo - Get 20% off the first 3 months by mentioning TWIST at https://revelo.io/twist

(36:33) Jason's thoughts on the market and the state of SPACs, plus a JAY TRADE!

(42:55) Rumble completes SPAC merger, J+M break down the business

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkkhmBWfS7pILYIk0izkc3A?sub_confirmation=1

Monetizing BeReal, Bogus accounts by US Military, iPhone 14 camera bug, Twilio layoffs | E1564 Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

Jason and Molly kick the week off by breaking down the team's favorite new social media app, BeReal, and its plans to add paid features (15:16). Then, they cover how platforms found fake accounts suspected of being run by the US military (31:12). After, they continue with more tech news, including Apple's iPhone 14 Pro bug (42:25) and Twilio's plans to make "anti-racist" layoffs (49:29). They end the show with a We Live in the Future segment, highlighting the startup TransPod (1:03:06). 0:00) J+M tee up today's segments!

(2:45) The hosts recap the weekend

(14:01) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://linkedin.com/twist

(15:16) BeReal's plans to add paid features

(29:46) Notion - Sign up for free at https://notion.com/twist

(31:12) Platforms found fake accounts suspected of being run by the US military

(40:59) Odoo - Get your first app free and a $1000 credit at https://odoo.com/twist

(42:25) The iPhone 14 Pro camera has a camera bug

(49:29) Twilio's plans to make "anti-racist" layoffs

(1:03:06) WLITF: TransPod's affordable ultra-high-speed transportation

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

How to deal with failing startups + Team Wildfire CEO Steve Wolf on "Hurricane-as-a-Service" | E1563 Sep 18, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to Sunday! First up, J+M cover different methods and classifications for dealing with failing startups. (2:01) Then, Molly interviews Team Wildfire CEO Steve Wolf about his "Hurricane-as-a-Service" business! (31:56)

(0:00) J+M tee up today's segments!

(2:01) VC Sunday School: J+M discuss hospice care for startups

(10:50) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist

(11:58) VC fund dynamics with Zombie startups, Jason explains "pay to play"

(25:32) Spokn - Get 3 months free at https://getspokn.com/twist

(27:03) J+M tee up this week's climate interview!

(31:56) Steve Wolf explains his jet engine powered fire-fighting device

(37:21) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist

(38:55) Steve breaks down the business side of Team Wildfire, "Hurricanes-as-a-Service", and more!

(55:32) Molly gets a virtual tour of the "Hurricane on wheels"

Check out Team Wildfire: https://www.teamwildfire.com

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Paid newsletter pricing disruption, Instagram Reels underperforming + OK Boomer | E1562 Sep 17, 2022

Show notes

Friday variety is back! First up, J+M do a Startup Breakdown and cover newsletter platform beehiiv and how it could disrupt Substack's pricing model (2:27). Then, they cover leaked documents from Meta that show Reels is underperforming (12:52) before Producer Rachel wraps the show with another edition of OK Boomer! (26:18)

(0:00) J+M tee up today's segments!

(2:27) Startup of the Day Breakdown! beehiiv charges a flat subscription rate for newsletter subscriptions, price comps with Substack

(11:28) Indochino - Get $50 off any purchase of $399 or more by using code TWIST at checkout https://www.indochino.com

(12:52) Leaked Meta documents show Instagram's "Reels" product is underperforming

(22:51) Producer Rachel joins to tee up today's OK Boomer guest!

(24:48) Zapier - Try for free today at https://zapier.com/TWIST

(26:18) OK Boomer: Josh Kaplan joins to break down his background and starting Smooth Media

(35:14) WorkOS - Go to https://workos.com to learn how to make your app enterprise-ready.

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