Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon break down a wild viral test on self-driving cars— will FSD see through fog, or does LiDAR win? Plus, Klarna is finally going public… but is "buy now, pay later" still the future or just a debt trap? And Netflix drops $300M on a Russo Brothers sci-fi blockbuster—critics hate it, but audiences love it. Was it worth it? We also dive into big tech’s crackdown on remote work, the Uber of estate managers, and why content creators might be falling into an algorithmic trap.

*

Timestamps:

(0:00) Teaser: Can you fool a self-driving car?

(3:11) The Electric State film discussion

(7:35) Netflix's strategy, subscriber growth, and podcast licensing deals

(10:06) Disney's content strategy insights

(10:55) NetSuite. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twist

(14:27) Kids investment club and estate manager service ideas

(21:02) Horatio - Visit https://www.hirehoratio.com/twist and get $2,000 off your initial set up.

(22:44) Estate management expansion and Uber's role in transportation

(27:19) Klarna's IPO, financials, and buy now, pay later services concerns

(30:25) Lemon.io. Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(35:12) E-commerce trends and algorithmic content creation impact

(40:21) Remote vs. in-person technical interviews

(43:08) Work-life balance, early rising myths, and avoiding burnout

(50:45) The importance of mentorship and coaching

(52:06) Google autocorrect issues for startup names and future of SEO

(56:24) Mark Rober's "Can you fool a self-driving car?" video discussion

(1:00:13) Human vs. FSD driving standards and safety

(1:03:29) Waymo's strategy and autonomous driving competition concerns

(1:06:14) Government regulations and milestones for autonomous vehicles

(1:08:18) Global AI competition and safety standards in the automotive industry

*

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

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

*

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/Lons

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

*

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

*

Thank you to our partners:

(10:55) NetSuite. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twist(21:02) Horatio - Visit https://www.hirehoratio.com/twist and get $2,000 off your initial set up.(30:25) Lemon.io. Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

*

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