Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon cover everything from wild political headlines to big moves in AI and venture. They kick things off with the surprising Trump pardon of Trevor Milton, the disgraced Nikola founder, and break down CoreWeave’s rocky IPO debut. Then, Jason and Alex sit down with Mariano Apodaca, founder of Prosperous AI, to talk about AI tools for negotiating construction and aerospace material costs. Later, in a brand new segment called "Office Hours with JCal," Jason reacts to real founder feedback clips, pulls key startup lessons, and explains why building for a market that doesn’t yet exist might actually be your biggest edge. Along the way, the team explores the power of taking just 10% of the value you create — a pricing philosophy that could unlock your next big win.

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Jason kicks off the show!

(4:05) Breaking news on CoreWeave and Founder University insights

(9:21) Hubspot for Startups - Visit https://www.hubspot.com/startups and join the founders who are turning growth challenges into opportunities.

(10:57) Trevor Milton's pardon and AnySphere's Cursor success

(19:21) Pricing strategies for startups

(20:19) Vanta - TWiST listeners automate your SOC2 and get $1,000 off at http://www.vanta.com/twist

(21:38) AI sentiment and startup growth strategies

(25:14) Guest interview: Mariano from Prosperous AI

(30:21) Notion - TWiST listeners can try it for free at https://notion.com/twist

(31:52) Prosperous AI's market data integration and growth

(35:03) Founder University's impact on Prosperous AI

(40:54) Product line expansions and fundraising growth strategies

(44:20) Startup decision-making and investor feedback

(47:02) Founder University and customer feedback importance

(51:12) Canva CEO's insights and handling investor rejection

(58:17) Products creating new markets and finding outlier founders

(1:06:15) Venture success with Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham

(1:09:18) Market selection, execution, and partner-product fit in startups

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Links from the show:

Prosperous AI: https://prosperousprocess.ai/

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Follow Mariano:

X: https://x.com/Mariano_APO

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariano-apodaca-45b07a16a/

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Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

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Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

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Thank you to our partners:

(9:21) Hubspot for Startups - Visit https://www.hubspot.com/startups and join the founders who are turning growth challenges into opportunities.

(20:19) Vanta - TWiST listeners automate your SOC2 and get $1,000 off at http://www.vanta.com/twist

(30:21) Notion - TWiST listeners can try it for free at https://notion.com/twist

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916