This Week in Startups is brought to you by…

Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist

*Gusto pricing shown in ad is based on pricing prior to March 2025

Lemon.io. Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

Atlassian. Head to https://www.atlassian.com/software/startups to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.

Today’s show: Jason and Lon Harris cover Nikola’s Chapter 11 and how founders can avoid the same mistake, Superhuman AI’s new features, Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines and where Sam Altman went wrong holding onto top talent, plus much more!

Timestamps:

(0:00) Episode teaser(1:26) Introduction to startup news and trends(2:47) Bill Ackman's J trade and Herbalife controversy(5:24) Comparing trading strategies: Jason vs. Pelosi(9:49) Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist(11:29) HP's acquisition of Humane and its significance(13:52) Challenges facing the AI industry(20:30) Lemon.io. Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(21:47) OpenAI veterans launch a new venture(28:09) Chamath's venture into high stakes poker(29:35) Atlassian. Head to https://www.atlassian.com/software/startups to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.(36:37) Nikola's Chapter 11 filing and securities fraud(48:10) The upside of failing as a founder in the U.S.(50:24) Superhuman introduces AI-powered email features(51:58) Preview of upcoming guests on the podcast(53:03) Key characteristics of successful founders(56:21) Play-along: Guess the fake startup(1:04:12) Movie trilogy rankings: Superman, Star Wars, Terminator

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

Check out these past Guess The Fake Startups segments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKP2iiF1oYI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhnOXuGnh14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueazpyGOgcc

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/alex

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

Thank you to our partners:

(9:49) Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist

*Gusto pricing shown in ad is based on pricing prior to March 2025

(20:30) Lemon.io. Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(

29:35) Atlassian. Head to https://www.atlassian.com/software/startups to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.

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

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