This Week in Startups Jason Calacanis

Molly is off for the day, so Producer Rachel joins Jason to break down Google, Amazon, and Apple’s latest earnings report. (1:29) Then LA26 graduate Perrin Davidson, CEO of EATERCLUB, joins Molly. (46:05) Lastly, we end the week with another edition of Ok Boomer, where Rachel interviews Eerika Savolainen, the CEO of Slush. (1:02:16)



(0:00) Jason and Rachel kick off the show!

(1:29) Google earnings

(11:19) MasterClass - Get 15% off an annual membership at https://masterclass.com/startups

(12:44) Amazon earnings

(23:28) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist

(23:30) Apple earnings

(33:36) Fitbod - Get 25% off at https://fitbod.me/twist

(34:36) The US jobs report

(46:05) LA26 Founder: Perrin Davidson of EATERCLUB

(1:02:16) OK Boomer with Eerika Savolainen, the CEO of Slush



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Jason and Molly kick off the show by discussing Meta’s Q4 earnings and the news that the Fed is raising rates by only 25 basis points (3:06), which leads to a discussion on unemployment, automation, and generative AI updates. (11:24) Then, Lon Harris joins to discuss Oscar nominations, Spotify earnings, “peak podcasting,” and more. (37:51)

(0:00) M+J kick off the show

(3:06) Meta Earnings

(7:56) The Fed raises rates by 25bps

(9:57) House of Macadamias - Get 20% off at https://houseofmacadamias.com/twist by using code TWIST20

(11:24) Unemployment and Automation

(21:59) Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub - Apply in 5 minutes for six figures in discounts at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups

(23:30) ChatGPT hits 100M MAUs + Google’s Apprentice Bard

(36:46) Anyplace - Get $250 off your booking with the code TWIST250 at https://www.anyplace.com/twist

(37:51) Oscar Nominations with Lon Harris

(44:06) Spotify earnings

(55:35) The Last of Us is another hit for HBO

(1:00:58) James Gunn reveals chapter one of the DC Universe



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Jason is joined by FirstMark Capital’s Rick Heitzmann, who started his investment career in 1999. They discuss “sobering up” after the 14-year bull run (1:55), Airbnb’s response to the downturn (7:38), how senior leaders must act as shock absorbers for their founders (26:30), and more!

(0:00) Jason kicks off the show

(1:55) Rick’s experience of the “Speculative Asset Bubble”

(7:38) Airbnb’s reaction to the downturn

(11:33) LinkedIn Jobs - Go to https://linkedIn.com/angel and post your first job for free

(12:58) Rick’s memory of the Dot Com bubble

(19:39) Advice for founders in a downturn

(22:27) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist

(23:29) How CAC and LTV have changed

(26:30) The emotional state of Founders and keeping them focused

(35:09) Term sheets in the Dot Com era and today

(40:06) Letterhead - get 50% off their first year at tryletterhead.com/twist

(41:21) Different forms of exits + Key attributes in founders



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Jason and Molly kick off the show with a quick third-rail story about Area 51. (1:56) They then cover Instagram co-founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom’s new startup, Artifact. (10:44) Finally, Gabi Lewis of Magic Spoon joins Molly for an awesome interview about their latest raise, launching in big box stores and more. (41:56)

(0:00) Molly Kicks off the show

(1:56) Conspiracy Theories with Molly and Jason

(9:37) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist

(10:44) Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom’s new venture: Artifact

(20:16) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist

(21:19) Monetizing news aggregators + content moderation

(40:42) Letterhead - get 50% off their first year at tryletterhead.com/twist

(41:56) Gabi Lewis of Magic Spoon joins Molly

(1:13:51) Jay Trades, immigration and TikTok ideas



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Jason and Molly kick off the week with a generative ai update! (5:00) Then, they cover Mr. Beast’s latest video and “stunt culture” (35:21), some more third-rail topics (49:40), and Billy McFarland being back in the news! (59:50)

(0:00) M+J kick off the show

(2:10) Apply to Founder University 2-Day Workshop at https://intensive.founder.university/

(5:00) Anthropic raises at a $5B valuation

(9:31) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://linkedin.com/twist

(11:01) More on Anthropic

(18:01) Notion - Sign up for FREE at https://notion.com/jason

(19:21) Semafor reports OpenAI has contracted 1000 developers

(27:06) Baidu is developing their own AI Chatbot

(33:53) CAST AI - get a FREE cloud cost audit AND a personal consultation at cast.ai/twist

(35:21) MrBeast’s latest video + Stunt culture

(49:40) Third-rail topics

(59:50) Billy McFarland is back in the news

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Molly and Jason chop it up about New York Attorney General Letitia James probing into MSG's alleged use of facial recognition to identify and target specific patrons (1:46). This segues into a great discussion about Meta's $10M deal with BuzzFeed and The Creator Economy as a whole (21:41). We cap off the week with two great interviews, one with LA26 graduate Nevsah Karamehmet of Breath Hub (36:17) and another with Brett Bauman, the creator of PlaylistAI (48:09).



(0:00) M+J kick off the show

(1:46) WLITF WTF: Facial recognition software at MSG

(8:33) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(10:03) More on the NYAG case regarding MSG's facial recognition software

(20:11) Linode - Apply to Linode's Rise program for up to six figures in discounts at https://linode.com/twist

(21:41) BuzzFeed's lucrative deal with Meta + Revenue share with creators

(35:07) Crowdbotics - Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowdbotics.com/twist

(36:17) LA26 Founder: Nevsah Karamehmet of Breath Hub

(48:09) Ok Boomer with Brett Bauman



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