This Week in Startups

First, we cover Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong potentially taking credit for an idea generated by a creative firm (2:09). Then, we cover Peloton’s new CEO Barry McCarthy's vision for a revitalized Peloton (15:29). To wrap, we break down a dozen growth stocks that are down over 60% off their 52-week highs. We forecast two winners, one with the highest upside and one with the lowest downside (27:53).

00:00 Jason intros the show, Roach Captial's first fund, and Producer Rachel's interview with the Dive Chat founder01:33 Angel Season 6 - First Time Funds 04:07 Fahd Ananta of Roach Capital's path from founder to PM to VC 06:08 Fahd's Angel investing beginnings in at Shopify 10:20 How Fahd made the transition from Angel investing to raising a fund 13:03 Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at https://ourcrowd.com/twist 14:11 Using geography (Canada) as a competitive advantage to raise capital as a VC 18:34 How Fahd has differentiates himself to founders 22:15 Embroker - Get an extra 10% off insurance for your business at https://Embroker.com/twist 23:19 Fahd's investing thesis 26:05 Early winners in Fahd's portfolio 32:33 LinkedIn Marketing - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://linkedin.com/AngelPod 34:09 Ok Boomer, Producer Rachel talks to John Herrick, the CTO of Dive Chat a new messaging and event app

Check out Roach Cap: https://roachcap.com

FOLLOW Fahd: https://twitter.com/fahdananta

Check out Dive Chat: https://dive.chat/

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Angel Season 6 is all about first-time fund managers. Fahd Ananta of Roach Capital joined to discuss his path from founder to PM to VC (04:07). You will learn:

1. How Fahd got Angel investing at Shopify

2. How Fahd made the transition from Angel investing to raising a fund

3. How geography can be used as a differentiator

4. The way he used his product skill to get on competitive cap tables

Then in our OK Boomer segment, Producer Rachel talks to John Herrick, the CTO of Dive Chat, a new messaging and event app (34:09).

Ashley Carman joins Jason & Molly to discuss Spotify's acquisition of podcast ad-tech companies Chartable and Podsights (1:55). Ashley is a senior reporter at The Verge and the lead writer at HotPod. We dig into why she thinks Spotify's main competition is YouTube and how the Big Tech and Big Media podcasting efforts are playing out.

After that, 10 companies pitch Jason and the team in rapid-fire (46:16). These startups went through Founder University, a 12-week course run by the team at Launch.

0:00 Jason and Molly tee up today's topics: Spotify's podcasting ambitions with Ashley Carman PLUS 10 founder pitches from Founder University 1:55 Ashley Carman joins to break down the news: Spotify acquires Chartable and Podsights, she also covers what happened to Clubhouse 13:25 Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at https://ourcrowd.com/twist 14:29 What podcasting loses by going with dynamically inserted ads, building for creators vs. building for established brands, Spotify going after YouTube as the main platform for creators 26:45 Linode - Apply to their Rise program for founder-led, early-stage startups and get 3 years of discounts at https://linode.com/twist. 27:52 Podcast tracking users habits, why Spotify is rejecting open standards, sleeping giants in the podcasting space 37:01 Mercury - Banking built for startups. See more at https://mercury.com/twist 38:26 Reflecting on Lumiary's big bet to be the HBO of podcasting 46:16 First 5 pitches: Giphting, Chojuu, TaCo, Term Payments, Fix6 PLUS judge feedback 1:02:05 5 Next 5 pitches: Remotespace. SavvyTeam, Gaan, Timewell, Innocuous AI PLUS judge feedback

FOLLOW Ashley: https://twitter.com/ashleyrcarman

Check out Founder University: https://www.founder.university

Companies Pitching: Giphting, Chojuu, TaCo, Term Payments, Fix6, Remotespace, SavvyTeam, Gaan, Timewell, Innocuous AI

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Ashley Carman joins Jason & Molly to discuss Spotify's acquisition of podcast ad-tech companies Chartable and Podsights (1:55). Ashley is a senior reporter at The Verge and the lead writer at HotPod. We dig into why she thinks Spotify's main competition is YouTube and how the Big Tech and Big Media podcasting efforts are playing out.

After that, 10 companies pitch Jason and the team in rapid-fire (46:16). These startups went through Founder University, a 12-week course run by the team at Launch.

Companies: Giphting, Chojuu, TaCo, Term Payments, Fix6, Remotespace, SavvyTeam, Gaan, Timewell, Innocuous AI

World-class investor-operator Keith Rabois is back for his eighth time!

But first, Jason breaks down Airbnb's great Q4 and full-year earnings report (2:42) and how its customer segment is evolving. Then, he briefly covers the SF Board of Education recall (22:58).

When Keith joins (31:27), he and Jason discuss:

1. How he called the top of the tech market in November 2021

2. Keith's 2019 prediction that came true

2. Venture Capital's decaying price discipline

3. Facebook's challenge ahead

4. Six predictions for the market

Notes

0:00 Jason intros today's topics: $ABNB full year earnings, SF BOE recall, and a Keith Rabois interview 2:42 Jason breaks down Airbnb's full year results 11:57 Vanta - Get get $1,000 off automating your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist 13:14 Jason reflects on Airbnb's roadmap based on clues from their earnings report 21:42 Gun.io - Get $250 off your first developer hire at https://Gun.io/twist! 22:58 SF Board of Education recall, tech people getting involved in government 29:56 Eight Sleep - Go to https://eightsleep.com/twist to check out the Pod Pro Cover and get $150 off at checkout! 31:27 Keith Rabois joins and talks with Jason about calling the top of the tech market in November 43:27 Reflecting on the absence of pricing discipline in VC and how the FED is running out of tools to combat inflation 53:34 Breaking down Facebook's precarious situation 1:05:16 6 Market predictions

Check out Founders Fund: https://www.foundersfund.com

FOLLOW Keith: https://twitter.com/rabois FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

World-class investor-operator Keith Rabois is back for his eighth time!

But first, Jason breaks down Airbnb’s great Q4 and full-year earnings report (2:42) and how its customer segment is evolving. Then, he briefly covers the SF Board of Education recall (22:58).

When Keith joins (31:27), he and Jason discuss:

1. How he called the top of the tech market in November 2021

2. Keith's 2019 prediction that came true

2. Venture Capital's decaying price discipline

3. Facebook's challenge ahead

4. Six predictions for the market

Catalyzed by a Ryan Breslow viral tweetstorm, we break down the arguments for if companies should loan money to employees to allow them to exercise their stock options early (1:42). Then, we briefly cover Nvidia's attempted Arm acquisition falling through and what it might mean for the SoftBank-owned chip designer (30:21). Finally, Molly interviews Craig Zingerline from Growth University, a LAUNCH Accelerator founder (38:00)!

(0:00) Jason and Molly tee up today's topics: Bolt CEO strikes again, Nvidia's failed Arm acquisition, interview with LAUNCH Accelerator Cohort 24 founder Craig Zingerline (1:42) Jason breaks down employee stock options and how equity works at early-stage startups (10:29) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist (11:27) How has Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow changed equity options for his employees? Is this new model smart or way too risky? (21:19) RealGoodFoods - Go to https://realgoodfoods.com and use code TWIST for $15 off! (22:41) VC response to Bolt's new stock option plan, Jason's final thoughts (30:21) Nvidia's failed acquisition of Arm, is this another SoftBank flop? (35:21) Teeing up the Craig Zingerline interview (36:50) Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at https://ourcrowd.com/twist (38:00) Molly interview current LAUNCH Accelerator portfolio founder Craig Zingerline about his startup Growth University

Check out Growth University: https://growthuniversity.io/

FOLLOW Craig: https://twitter.com/craigzingerline FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Ryan Breslow's Tweet in Question: https://twitter.com/theryanking/status/1493390167461224451

Catalyzed by a Ryan Breslow viral tweetstorm, we break down the arguments for if companies should loan money to employees to allow them to exercise their stock options early (1:42). Then, we briefly cover Nvidia’s attempted Arm acquisition falling through and what it might mean for the SoftBank-backed chip designer (30:21). Finally, Molly interviews Craig Zingerline from Growth University, a LAUNCH Accelerator founder (38:00)!

First, we break down the Crypto companies that ran super bowl ads and see how they stack up against the dot-com era ads (1:53). Then, we do an update on Joby aviation now that they are trying to roll out an air taxi service in South Korea (28:03). To wrap, Molly covers the BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) space and the challenges these companies are having as they scale, specifically Affirm's recent earnings (36:49).

(0:00) Jason and Molly tee up today's show… from alternate timelines! (1:53) Comparing the 2022 influx of Super Bowl crypto ads with the Dot-com Era ads of 2000, right before the crash (9:29) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist (10:47) How tech companies think about Super Bowl advertising PLUS Jason breaks down the big four crypto ads: Coinbase, FTX, Crypto.com and eToro (23:25) Boast - Get your R&D tax credits without the hassle at https://boast.ai/twist (24:40) Jason's favorite Super Bowl ad, Sopranos theories (28:03) JOBY Aviation making waves lately: SK deal, FCC proposal, Air Force contract, record-breaking speed (35:45) Odoo - Get your first app free and a $1000 credit at https://odoo.com/twist (36:49) Molly breaks down the BNPL space and Affirm's recent troubles

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood