This Week in Startups

BIG Tuesday show! First up, J+M break down the insane saga of Twitter's now-cancelled OnlyFans-like product (1:41), OpenSea NFT trading volume dropping ~99% (20:47), a MAJOR FTC lawsuit against a data broker selling sensitive info (36:26), and more!

(0:00) Molly tees up today's news roundup!

(1:41) Twitter's cancelled OnlyFans-like product

(10:21) Dell - Apply for Dell for Startups and get an additional 10% off Dell Latitude products at https://dell.com/twist

(11:49) Practical issues around mixing adult content with brand advertising, Twitter's internal problems

(19:24) Indochino - Get $50 off any purchase of $399 or more by using code TWIST at checkout https://www.indochino.com

(20:47) OpenSea single day trading volume dropped ~99% from a peak of $400M+ in early May to ~$5M in late August

(29:42) Vanta - Get $1,000 off automating your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist

(30:46) Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six is raising $177M to invest in distressed crypto assets

(36:26) Potentially groundbreaking FTC lawsuit brought against a data broker for selling sensitive geolocation information without user consent

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First up, J+M break down YC announcing Garry Tan as its new President and CEO, and what this means for the industry. (11:44) Then, they break down Apple potentially showing its card for its AR goggles name (37:16), and they wrap with some commentary on Eminem and Snoop Dogg performing as their Bored Apes at the VMAs. (58:20)

(0:00) J+M tee up today's topics

(2:12) Catching up on the weekend

(10:18) LinkedIn Marketing - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups

(11:44) Garry Tan is stepping back from Initialized to become YC's new CEO and President

(25:05) TripActions - Go to https://tripactions.com/twist and get a $500 Amazon gift card after making your first travel booking OR paying off your first $1000 of liquid spend

(26:34) Jason explains "no conflict, no interest"

(35:46) WorkOS - Go to https://workos.com to learn how to make your app enterprise-ready.

(37:16) Quick Jay Trading update, Apple files trademarks for potential AR goggles name

(58:20) Eminem and Snoop Dogg performed as their Bored Apes over the weekend at the MTV VMAs

Sunday show! On VC Sunday School, J+M discuss how VCs deploy reserves for follow-on funding. (1:58) Then, Molly interviews Quaise CEO & Co-Founder Carlos Araque about his geothermal drilling business! (24:02)

(0:00) J+M tee up segments for Sunday!

(1:58) Jason and Molly talk about how VCs deploy reserves for follow-on funding and bankroll management

(10:31) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist

(11:47) Golden State Warriors impact on Jason's system-based VC team building philosophy

(15:48) J+M tee up today's TWiCS interview!

(22:46) Neo.Tax - Get $500 off R&D tax credit fees at https://neo.tax/twist

(24:02) Quaise CEO Carlos Araque joins to break down his business: drilling to unlock geothermal energy

(33:03) Helpware - Go to https://helpware.com/TWIST to get $1000 off your first invoice

(34:10) Carlos explains the size of Quaise's opportunity and how he raised $50M+ Series A for a deep tech project, what their business model will look like, and more!

Check out Quaise: https://www.quaise.energy

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkkhmBWfS7pILYIk0izkc3A?sub_confirmation=1

Friday Variety Show! First up J+M break down Twitter adding podcasting to the platform and what this means for the product and for the podcasting industry. (2:14) Then, LAUNCH portfolio founder Pete Oxenham joins to discuss his SaaS startup, Chatter.dev, with Molly. (26:48) Finally, Rachel wraps the show with another edition of OK Boomer, featuring Danny Miranda. (38:25)

(0:00) J+M tee up today's segments!

(2:14) Twitter adds podcasting to "Spaces"

(15:08) Babbel - Save up to 60% off your language learning subscription at https://babbel.com/twist

(16:32) Explaining the value of adding podcasting to a consumer service

(25:29) MicroAcquire - Sell your business with no fees at https://try.microacquire.com/twist

(26:48) Chatter.dev Founder Pete Oxenham joins to break down his SaaS business!

(34:18) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist

(35:25) Producer Rachel joins to tee up OK Boomer with J+M!

(38:25) Danny Miranda joins OK Boomer to talk getting into podcasting, starting from scratch, building successful habits, AirPods' impact on podcasting and more!

Check out Chatter: https://chatter.dev

FOLLOW Danny: https://twitter.com/heydannymiranda

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkkhmBWfS7pILYIk0izkc3A?sub_confirmation=1

Big show! First up J+M break down two pandemic darlings on two totally different paths: $PTON and $SNOW (2:26). Then, Lon Harris joins to talk about HBO's record breaking House of the Dragon premiere (27:12), MoviePass returning (47:16), and more!

(0:00) J+M tee up today's segments!

(2:26) Peloton earnings breakdown: it's getting grim, so J+M brainstormed on where the company can go from here, stock was down over 20%

(16:26) Odoo - Get your first app free and a $1000 credit at https://odoo.com/twist

(17:53) Snowflake earnings breakdown: massive quarter, stock was up over 20%

(25:37) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist

(27:12) Lon Harris joins to break down this week's streaming news! First up: HBO's House of the Dragon set a record for most-watched premiere with almost 10M viewers

(39:39) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(40:58) $WBD CEO David Zaslav continues to make cuts

(47:16) MoviePass is making a comeback and Lon gives some streaming picks

First up, J+M break down the news, incl: Student loan forgiveness (2:30), Zuck copying BeReal (20:21), the Twitter whistleblower's allegations (36:32), and a climate company's Series A! (1:04:49) Then, Jason wraps the show with another edition of The Blueprint! (1:16:43)

(0:00) J+M tee up today's segments!

(2:30) Student loan forgiveness

(16:37) Brave - Download today at https://brave.com/twist to browse faster, search privately and so much more

(17:57) "Bailout culture"

(20:21) Instagram copies popular social app BeReal

(26:38) Harmonic - Get $4000 off at https://harmonic.ai/twist

(27:59) Jason explains his "never trust Zuck" take origins, how Apple's approach differs from Meta

(35:37) Visa - Learn more about Visa's online Small Business Hub at Visa.com/smallbusinesshub

(36:32) Twitter whistleblower implications, comparing it to last year's "Facebook Files"

(1:04:49) Series A: Clarity

(1:16:43) Blueprint Part 7: Should you take on student debt to go to college? Is it worth it?

Follow Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

Follow Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

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J+M are joined by Sunny Madra and Vinny Lingham for another crypto roundtable! They cover the following topics: Shkreli's new web3 project (1:50), distributed computing projects (16:08), ETH merge (38:00), Gensler's comments (44:57), and more!

(0:00) Molly tees up today's roundtable guests!

(1:50) Martin Shkreli's new web3 project

(14:46) Revelo - Get 20% off the first 3 months by mentioning TWIST at https://revelo.io/twist

(16:08) Breaking down other distributed computing projects: Helium, Filecoin, Hivemapper

(27:54) Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub - Apply in 5 minutes, no funding required, sign up at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups

(29:17) Understanding inverted incentives in crypto, market depth/liquidity theory

(36:46) UserTesting - Get real human insights from customers, try for free today at https://usertesting.com/twist

(38:00) ETH merge: how risky is it, what impact will the fork have, will it lower gas fees?

(44:57) SEC Chair Gary Gensler's comment re: DeFi protocols and crypto banks

(51:58) Lightning round! Tribe DAO, BendDAO, Sudoswap and lessons learned

Back with a big Monday news show: Jason and Molly recap last week's All-In (2:09), before covering FTX's leaked financials (17:19), Amazon potentially going further into healthcare (40:34), and more M&A in the e-commerce space. (58:55) Then, Molly wraps the show by interviewing LAUNCH portfolio founder Arjun Shokeen, Founder and CEO of Swayed (1:11:27).

(0:00) J+M tee up today's topics!

(2:09) All-In recap, Climate Syndicate, and more

(16:10) Neo.Tax - Get $500 off R&D tax credit fees at https://neo.tax/twist

(17:19) FTX had its 2020 and 2021 audited financial results leaked to CNBC

(28:07) Odoo - Get your first app free and a $1000 credit at https://odoo.com/twist

(29:26) How to frame crypto going forward, what is crypto's main product? Did the SEC miss the boat on crypto regulation?

(39:19) MasterClass - Get 15% off an annual membership at https://masterclass.com/startups

(40:34) Amazon is reportedly bidding to acquire Signify Health

(58:55) M&A: eBay acquires trading card e-commerce platform TCGplayer for $295M

(1:11:27) Molly interviews Swayed Founder and CEO Arjun Shokeen

Sunday show! First up, Jason breaks down how VCs evaluate pre-launch startups (1:54) and startups that are going after a market that doesn't exist yet. (15:21) Then, Molly is joined by Mycocycle CEO and Founder Joanne Rodriguez to talk about developing fungi-powered toxic waste removal and raw material generation! (30:36)

(0:00) Molly intros today's segments!

(1:54) VC Sunday School: How Jason evaluates pre-launch startups

(13:46) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist

(15:21) How VCs evaluate startups building for markets that don't exist yet

(20:51) Comparing early examples of traction: pre-orders, crowdfunding, LOIs and more

(29:16) Masterworks - Skip the waitlist to invest in fine art using at https://Masterworks.io/twist

(30:36) Mycocycle CEO Joanne Rodriguez joins to talk about fungi-powered toxic waste removal and raw material generation

(38:26) Helpware - Go to https://helpware.com/TWIST to get $1000 off your first invoice

(39:33) Mycocycle's finished product, how they're recycling raw materials, traction so far, future of the business

Disclaimer: Since inception, Masterworks has sold five paintings from the collection. All sales are net of all fees and expenses. The sale of any paintings from the Masterworks collection, and the option to waive fees, is at the sole discretion of Masterworks and paintings may be held in excess of or up to 10 years or longer. Past price performance is no guarantee of future results. Any historical returns, expected appreciation, or probability projections are not guaranteed and may not reflect actual future performance.

Friday variety show! First up, Jason answers your questions on VCs investing in a downturn, winning founder qualities, and more. (1:24) Then, Molly interviews LAUNCH founder Zeb Anderson about his legal startup LegalQ. (16:36) Producer Rachel wraps the show with another edition of OK Boomer! (26:59)

(0:00) Molly intros the Friday variety show!

(1:24) Ask Jason: Why VCs slow investment pace in a downturn

(7:00) Ask Jason: What qualities make Jason invest in a founder a second time after a failure

(12:29) Jason explains the traction at Uber and Calm when he invested

(15:06) Coda - The All-in-one doc for teams, get a $1,000 credit at https://coda.io/twist

(16:36) Molly interviews LAUNCH Accelerator founder Zeb Anderson of LegalQ about his app connecting legal professionals and clients

(25:34) This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp - Get 10% off your first month at https://betterhelp.com/twist

(26:59) OK Boomer! Producer Rachel welcomes tech commentator and talks about the importance of curiosity when building your brand

(37:03) iTrust Capital - Visit https://itrust.capital/twist to create your Crypto IRA today

(38:10) Digital culture, banning TikTok, social media consent, and more