This Week in Startups

Today's show: In this episode, Alex and Lon kick things off with the latest tech news — including 23andMe's dramatic collapse, MicroStrategy's half-million Bitcoin haul, and whether we're finally seeing a rebound in startup M&A. Then they sit down with three standout founders building the future across AI chips, data privacy, and healthcare. First up, Etched CEO Gavin Uberti explains why they're betting big on transformer-specific ASICs. Then, Skyflow co-founder Anshu Sharma breaks down how they're helping enterprises use LLMs without leaking private data. Finally, MedServe's team walks us through how they're securing medications in outpatient clinics and staying on the right side of the DEA.

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Alex kicks off the show

(1:15) 23andMe bankruptcy and SPACs impact

(5:23) MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy

(8:58) Increase in M&A activity and market trends

(10:06) Northwest Registered Agent - Get a 60% discount on your next LLC at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

(13:37) Browser use, agentic AI, and VC market insights

(19:28) Financial responsibility in startups

(20:28) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST

(21:56) Interview with Gavin Uberti of Etched

(30:32) Fidelity Private Shares℠ - Visit ⁠https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com ! Mention our podcast and receive 20% off your first-year paid subscription.

(32:12) Economic and technical aspects of chip efficiency

(39:53) Etched's market demand, manufacturing, and AI scaling

(43:05) Founder insights and hardware startup potential

(45:43) Introduction to Skyflow and Anshu Sharma

(50:19) Skyflow's growth and customer acquisition strategies

(1:03:09) ServiceNow's new product and Skyflow's bullish outlook

(1:06:33) M&A interest and AI stack value creation

(1:12:06) Skyflow's funding and cybersecurity customer trust

(1:13:12) Introduction to MedServe and Milwaukee's startup ecosystem

(1:16:30) MedServ's solution to drug dispensing and diversion

(1:23:05) Economic challenges and solutions for smaller facilities

(1:26:50) MedServe cabinet features and use case demonstration

(1:29:51) Cybersecurity and physical security of MedServe systems

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Follow Etched:

Website: https://www.etched.com/

X: https://x.com/Etched

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/etched-ai/

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Follow MedServe:

Website: https://medserverx.com/

X: https://x.com/MedServeRX

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/medserverx/

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Follow Skyflow:

Website: https://www.skyflow.com/

X: https://x.com/SkyflowAPI

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skyflow/

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Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

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

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Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/Lons

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Thank you to our partners:

(10:06) Northwest Registered Agent - Get a 60% discount on your next LLC at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

(20:28) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST

(30:32) Fidelity Private Shares℠ - Visit https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com ⁠ Mention our podcast and receive 20% off your first-year paid subscription.

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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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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

Today's show: Jason, Alex, and Lon break down a subreddit question: A founder builds 100% of the product, is promised equity—and now he's being pushed out. We break down exactly what he should do next. Plus, YouTuber Mark Rober's viral Tesla test gets fact-checked by a small creator, and the results don't look great for Mark. Finally, TechCrunch gets quietly sold to Regent in what looks like a fire sale. Is this the end of an era for tech media?

Timestamps:

(0:00) Episode Teaser(1:25) Jason's memories of Tony Hsieh

(4:09) High stakes poker stories with Tony Hsieh

(7:28) Reflecting on joy and fun in life

(9:45) Atlassian - Head to ⁠https://www.⁠⁠atlassian.com/startups/twist to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.(11:46) Founder question from Reddit

(20:12) Fidelity Private Shares℠ - Visit ⁠https://fidelityprivateshares.com⁠! Mention our podcast and receive 20% off your first-year paid subscription.

(21:52) Subreddit question: Stealth vs. building in public(27:33) Update: Mark Rober's Looney Tunes wall experiment

(31:21) Lemon.io - Get $2000 off your first hire at http://lemon.io/hire

(37:50) Lessons from the Mark Rober experiment

(40:24) The future of tech journalism and subscription models

(47:34) Jason's idea for a gadget museum

(50:12) Updates on CoreWeave and Klarna IPOs

(51:43) Bipartisan bill to amend Section 230

(56:29) Algorithms and their impact on Section 230

(59:00) Global perspectives on online speech and anonymity

(1:00:00) Podcast closing and call for social media engagement

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Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

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

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X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

Thank you to our partners:

(9:45) Atlassian - Head to ⁠https://www.⁠⁠atlassian.com/startups/twist to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.

(20:12) Fidelity Private Shares℠ - Visit ⁠https://fidelityprivateshares.com⁠! Mention our podcast and receive 20% off your first-year paid subscription.

(31:21) Lemon.io - Get $2000 off your first hire at http://lemon.io/hire

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:

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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

Today's show: Tesla FSD drama, Google's massive $32B cybersecurity bet, and XRP's SEC victory. Jason, Lon, and Alex break down the internet firestorm over Mark Rober's viral Tesla test, why Google's Wiz acquisition could spark a new M&A wave, and what the SEC dropping its case against XRP means for crypto's future.

Timestamps:

(0:00) Episode Teaser(1:27) Show intro(2:01) Jason's skiing trip and Tesla stock banter(3:00) Criticism of Democratic party's approach(5:44) Discussion of Mark Rober's Tesla and lidar video and autopilot vs FSD(8:00) Mark Rober's response and debate over his relationship with lidar CEO(9:56) Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist(11:02) Further criticisms and analysis of Rober's video and audience expectations(19:41) Suggestion for Rober to redo the test and video title accuracy(20:07) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(21:38) Accountability and public reaction to Rober's video(25:00) Potential fallout, personal consequences, and stock impact(29:58) AdQuick - For TWiST listeners - AdQuick is waiving their fee on your first campaign. Visit https://www.adquick.com/twist(31:18) Personal investments and conflicts of interest(33:25) Wiz acquisition and implications for M&A market(37:28) Calculation of returns and LP impact(40:38) Benefits of M&A for society and antitrust concerns(43:27) Examples of market cornering, price gouging, and cloud computing(49:29) XRP and SEC lawsuit update and implications(56:29) Proposed regulations for crypto projects and Trump coin(1:00:21) The need for clear crypto regulations and potential for new projects

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Links from the show:

Mark Rober's Philip Defranco interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1htfqXyX6M

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

Thank you to our partners:

(9:56) Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist(20:07) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(29:58) AdQuick - For TWiST listeners - AdQuick is waiving their fee on your first campaign. Visit https://www.adquick.com/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:

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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

Today's show: Alex interviews two incredible founders from the TWIST 500! First, Replit CEO Amjad Masad breaks down how AI-powered coding is changing software development and what the future of agents looks like. Then, Starfish Space co-founder Austin Link explains how they're building a satellite towing service to extend missions and clean up orbit. Two deep dives into the future of tech and space.

Timestamps:

(0:00) Alex kicks off the episode!

(0:53) Discussing Replit's capabilities and introduction of CEO Amjad Masad

(4:17) Replit's evolution and turning down a billion-dollar acquisition offer

(9:48) Vapi - Go to https://vapi.ai/twist and get 1000 minutes free per month - for life.

(11:42) Impact of LLMs and AI agents

(17:13) Choosing Anthropic's Claude for Replit

(19:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!

(21:29) Anthropic success and closed source AI implications

(24:37) Replit market response and economics of AI models

(28:14) Future of Replit's AI tools and plans

(33:41) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/twist

(35:12) Introduction to Starfish Space and its mission

(38:50) Core missions and challenges of the Otter satellite

(47:29) First official mission with Otter and key partnerships

(50:57) Economics and ownership of satellite services

(53:11) Key components of the Otter project

(57:19) Startups in the space economy and comparison with Orbit Fab

(59:08) Starfish Space hiring push and final thoughts

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the

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Links from the show:

Check out Starfish Space: https://www.starfishspace.com/

Check out Replit: https://replit.com/

Follow Amjad:

X: https://x.com/amasad

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

Follow Austin Link:

X: https://x.com/Austin

LinkLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-link-space/

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

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

Thank you to our partners:

(9:48) Vapi - Go to https://vapi.ai/twist and get 1000 minutes free per month - for life.

(19:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!

(33:41) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/twist

All rights for the video shared and linked below belong to the original copyright holder, and we are using the footage under the principle of fair use.

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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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Follow TWiST:

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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

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.

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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

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Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

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

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Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/Lons

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

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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:

(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

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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

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

Follow TWiST:

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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

This Week in Startups is brought to you by…

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

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CLA. Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/tech

Today's show: Jason and Alex break down the biggest tech stories of the moment. OpenAI is pushing to rewrite copyright laws to benefit AI companies while suing others for doing the same—hypocrisy or smart strategy? Meanwhile, European startups are fleeing to the U.S. as overregulation and weak IPO markets make scaling harder. Harry Stebbings joins to discuss whether Project Europe can reverse the trend. Plus, with AI-driven startups staying lean, angel investing is evolving—should investors wait for traction or bet on potential? Jason shares his 2024 playbook. Watch the full episode now!

Timestamps:

(0:00) Episode Teaser(1:15) OpenAI's recommendations, stance on copyright, and ethics(8:30) Sam Altman's political donations and the media's response

(9:41) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(15:48) Introduction of guest Harry Stebbings and his venture capital journey(19:51) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(22:05) Discussing the human aspect of investing and handling criticism(27:37) Project Europe and its support for EU founders(30:49) CLA. Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://www.claconnect.com/tech(32:16) Balancing roles as an investor and public figure(33:04) Analyzing the European startup ecosystem(35:48) Addressing Project Europe's age cap and mentorship(38:09) Global talent competition and Europe's stance(42:29) Economic impacts and the future of Project Europe(45:18) Growth and housing in Austin compared to other tech regions(47:36) Startup funding strategies and angel investment advice(55:27) Evolving startup and content creation landscapes(57:37) Founder University announcement

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Links from the show:

Check out Project Europe: https://www.projecteurope.co/

Check out 20VC: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/

Check out Stride VC: https://stride.vc/

Follow Harry:

X: https://x.com/HarryStebbingsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrystebbings

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

Thank you to our partners:

(9:41) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(19:51) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(30:49) CLA. Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://www.claconnect.com/tech

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:

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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

Today's show: Europe wants to keep its founders from fleeing, AI is growing at breakneck speed, and Nick Denton is back with a spicy Twitter storm—so we had to talk about it. Jason, Alex, and Lon break down Project Europe, a new $10M fund aimed at stopping the European startup brain drain. Plus, Anthropic's revenue just jumped 40% in a single quarter, and we debate what that means for AI's future. Meanwhile, China's EV makers are coming for Tesla, Saudi Arabia is building a gaming empire with a $3.5B Pokémon GO buyout, and we ask the big question: Should X and XAI just merge? Since XAI gets real-time data from X, it's got a major advantage—so what's stopping them from becoming one?

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Alex, Jason and Lon kick off the show!

(1:29) Recap of Jason's appearance on Glenn Beck's show and advice to MBA students

(4:21) The value of an MBA vs. starting a company(8:14) Nick Denton on Musk, Trump, and investment thesis

(9:47 Squarespace. Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST

(15:16) The rise of Chinese EV manufacturers and Tesla's challenges

(19:09) Jason's stance on vandalism, protests, and political affiliations

(20:35) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!

(23:13) Tesla's brand challenges and future prospects

(25:03) Jason's audience and political neutrality(26:35) Inflation data and its implications for startups

(28:07) Project Europe and entrepreneurship in the EU and Middle East

(29:45) AdQuick. Easily plan, deploy and measure out-of-home campaigns as easily as digital ads. Visit www.AdQuick.com/twist to learn more

(38:09) Jason's personal health and productivity protocol

(41:18) Anthropic's revenue growth, API credits, and AI developments(45:09) AI competition and consumer trust

(46:41) Mainstream adoption of ChatGPT and AI challengers

(48:02) Grok AI's integration with X

(51:12) Sale of Niantic's games business and global market shifts(

58:06) India's economic rise and TSMC's potential deal with Intel

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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

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Thank you to our partners:

(9:47 Squarespace. Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST

(20:35) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!

(29:45) AdQuick. Easily plan, deploy and measure out-of-home campaigns as easily as digital ads. Visit www.AdQuick.com/twist to learn more

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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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Follow TWiST:

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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

In this episode of AI Basics, Jason sits down with Jia Li from LiveX AI to explore how human-like AI agents are changing the game for businesses. Instead of clunky bots, these AI agents engage customers in real-time, helping with onboarding, support, and even stopping them from leaving before they churn. We'll break down how they work, why they feel more natural than traditional chatbots, and how companies can train them to eliminate costly mistakes. Plus, we'll talk about whether AI-powered support might actually be better than human agents.

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction to startup and AI basics(1:00) Collaboration with Google and insights from industry experts(1:44) Introduction of Jia Li and LiveX AI's innovative customer retention(4:32) LiveX AI's AI agent demonstration and training methodologies(9:38) Personalizing user experience with LiveX AI

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Uncover more valuable insights from AI leaders in Google Cloud's 'Future of AI: Perspectives for Startups' report. Discover what 23 AI industry leaders think about the future of AI—and how it impacts your business. Read their perspectives here: https://goo.gle/futureofai

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Check out all of the Startup Basics episodes here: https://thisweekinstartups.com/basics

Check out Google Cloud: https://cloud.google.com/

Check out LiveX AI: https://www.livex.ai/

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Follow Jia Li:

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

X: https://x.com/lijiali_vision

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Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Timestamps:

(0:00) Roy Lee's hack and Amazon's reaction

(3:03) MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy(4:29) Market reactions to Trump's policies(6:33) Creating value in current market conditions(8:00) South by Southwest highlights

(10:19) Coda. Empower your startup with Coda's Team plan for free—get 6 months at https://www.Coda.io/twist

(12:03) The $20,000 electric car concept(16:18) Electric unicycles as a startup category

(19:12) Vanta. TWiST listeners automate your SOC2 and get $1,000 off at http://www.vanta.com/twist

(20:31) Electric unicycles trend discussion(21:31) Guest introduction: Roy Lee(23:32) Roy Lee's background and startup idea(25:41) Technical coding tests and InterviewCoder

(30:14) LinkedIn Jobs. Post your first job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/twist

(32:01) Amazon's reaction to InterviewCoder and Columbia's actions(37:03) Roy Lee's future and startup funding discussion(41:19) Hiring, revenue, and fundraising strategies(44:37) Venture capital dynamics and maintaining company control(47:52) Capturing audience before investment and SBF's legal issues(57:57) ServiceNow acquires Moveworks(1:00:00) Impact of Tiger's peak valuations on LPs and IRR calculations*

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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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Today's show: AI is evolving at lightning speed—smarter assistants, faster models, and now, the massive energy demands that come with it. In this episode, Alex dives into two cutting-edge companies from the TWIST 500 that are shaping AI's future in very different ways. First, Alex interviews Zap Energy, where CEO Benj Conway explains how their breakthrough fusion power technology could provide unlimited, clean energy to fuel AI and beyond. Then, we talk to PolyAI, where CEO Nikola Mrkšić shares how their conversational AI is revolutionizing customer service with ultra-realistic, human-like voice assistants. If you're excited about where AI is headed—from hyper-realistic agents to a future powered by fusion—this is an episode you don't want to miss!

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Timestamps:

(0:00) AI's impact on business and technology; Fusion technology; AI powered voice assistants(1:51) Power demands of AI; Fusion energy's potential and commercialization(6:50) Zap Energy's approach to scaling and efficiency in fusion(9:58) Oracle. Try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at https://w⁠⁠⁠⁠ww.oracle.com/twist(12:11) Zap Energy's Sentry project and the future of fusion power(18:02) Competition in fusion development and importance of liquid metal walls(20:10) Squarespace. Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(21:38) Thermal management in fusion energy and Zap Energy's milestones(24:19) PolyAI's CEO on conversational AI and generative AI(28:39) Founding PolyAI and advancements in AI technology(30:30) Atlassian. Head to https://www.atlassian.com/software/startups to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.(32:30) PolyAI's technology stack and deep learning advancements(39:13) Growth, competitive landscape, and AI's impact on employment(46:16) Startups M&A in applied AI and conclusion with Nikola Mrkšić*

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Links from the show:

Check out Zap Energy: https://www.zapenergy.com/

Check out Poly AI: https://poly.ai/

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X: https://x.com/Energy_Zap

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Follow Nikola Mrkšić:

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Thank you to our partners:

(9:58) Oracle. Try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at https://w⁠⁠⁠⁠ww.oracle.com/twist(20:10) Squarespace. Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(30:30) Atlassian. Head to https://www.atlassian.com/software/startups to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.

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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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