This Week in Startups

AI Rebuilt Every YC W26 Startup. Should Founders Be Scared? | E2271


Listen Later

This Week In Startups is made possible by:


Deel - deel.com/twist

Grasshopper Bank - grasshopper.bank/twist

Render - render.com/twist

Plaud - Plaud.ai/twist


An AI “holding company” rebuilt dozens of YC Winter ‘26 startups in one weekend. Now we’re bringing the founder responsible into Jason’s Courtroom to defend himself.

PLUS a live demo of Boardy, the AI that acts like a virtual board member and makes crucial introductions. Find out why he gets to have so much agency, how creator Andrew D’Souza used him to raise his own $17 million round, and how this company ever plans to actually make money.

Plus Jason celebrates Apple’s 50th anniversary with a fiery rant about milking the ghost of Steve Jobs… Why OpenAI is acquiring a tech podcast… Jason’s favorite weighted vest for rucking… AND Lon’s Off Duty weekend streaming picks.

Guests

Marik Hazan:⁠ https://x.com/MarikHazan⁠

Feltsense:⁠ https://feltsense.com/⁠

Andrew D’Souza:⁠ https://x.com/andrewdsouza⁠

Boardy:⁠ https://www.boardy.ai/⁠


Timestamps:


0:00 Jason's direction for TWiST and thoughts on legacy media

5:14 Marik of Feltsense joins the show

6:10 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

7:10 Marik's viral YC replicator stunt

9:45 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.

20:39 Grasshopper bank - Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.

21:33 Feltsense founder goes on trial!

25:26 Jason dunks on Bank of America's app

27:59 TBPN acquired by OpenAI

29:28 The All In Podcast is worth $1B!

30:13 Render - Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to https://render.com/twist and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers.

33:02 Andrew D'Souza joins the show along with his agent, Boardy!

43:17 So how does Boardy make money?

48:32 Lon is becoming more and more "AI-pilled."

50:41 Tactical/ practical: "If we have data, let's look at data. If all we have are opinions, let's go with mine." -Jim Barskdale, former CEO of Netscape

1:01:00 Tactical/ practical: hire a PR firm to report on your competitors' wrongdoings.

1:02:58 Jason calls out Apple for being DISGRAZIAD!

1:15:09 Lon's TV pick of the week: "Something Very Bad is Going to Happen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMc_pWm7G7o

1:19:52 Become an Angel Investor at https://thesyndicate.com/


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

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

This Week in StartupsBy Jason Calacanis

  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2

4.2

1,274 ratings


More shows like This Week in Startups

View all
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

536 Listeners

The a16z Show by Andreessen Horowitz

The a16z Show

1,105 Listeners

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy by Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

2,342 Listeners

Founders by David Senra

Founders

2,221 Listeners

Masters of Scale by WaitWhat

Masters of Scale

3,992 Listeners

Y Combinator Startup Podcast by Y Combinator

Y Combinator Startup Podcast

233 Listeners

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

10,254 Listeners

Dwarkesh Podcast by Dwarkesh Patel

Dwarkesh Podcast

551 Listeners

Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist by Joe Lonsdale

Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

171 Listeners

ACQ2 by Acquired by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

ACQ2 by Acquired

300 Listeners

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups by Conviction

No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Technology | Startups

150 Listeners

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley by BG2Pod

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley

475 Listeners

AI + a16z by a16z

AI + a16z

34 Listeners

TBPN by John Coogan & Jordi Hays

TBPN

140 Listeners

Uncapped with Jack Altman by Alt Capital

Uncapped with Jack Altman

42 Listeners