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.

  1. 17h ago ·  Video

    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

  2. 1d ago

    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

  3. 4d ago

    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

  4. 5d ago ·  Video

    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

  5. 6d ago

    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

  6. Aug 17

    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

  7. Aug 15

    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

  8. Aug 12

    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

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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Jason Calacanis
  • Years Active
    2009 - 2026
  • Episodes
    300
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Jason Calacanis
  • Show Website
    This Week in Startups

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