podcast image for This Week in Startups
This Week in Startups
Description

Jason Calacanis covers startups, tech, markets, media, and all the hottest topics in business and technology. He also interviews the world’s greatest founders, operators, investors, and innovators.

Episodes
  • 2025 / 9 / 27
    Is there an AI coding bubble? Plus Meta’s new SlopTok product, Neon’s divisive app shuts down, and more | E2184

    Today’s show:Factory, a Sequoia-backed producer of AI agents for programming, raised $50 million at a $300 million valuation. So Jason and Alex are wondering… how much capital is TOO MUCH?We’re going deep on...

  • 2025 / 9 / 25
    The rise of “workslop,” Alibaba’s insane new deepfake model, Tether’s MASSIVE valuation, and more | E2183

    Today’s show:What is “workslop”? And is it already slowing you down at the office?On a new This Week in Startups, we’ve got full co-host quorum with JCal, Alex, AND Lon tackling a meaty docket of news at the...

  • 2025 / 9 / 23
    Jason’s H-1B pitch, the latest on the TikTok deal, and Howie’s first ad | E2182

    Today’s show:New proposal on H-1B visas… and it’s pretty similar to Jason’s pitch from last month!On a new TWiST, Jason and Lon wonder if the White House is watching the pod and borrowing some of our best...

  • 2025 / 9 / 19
    Meta’s “creepy” new Ray Bans, Beehiiv teams with Discord, AND a visit from Lovable CEO Anton Osika! | E2181

    Today’s show:On an action-packed TWiST, Alex and Jason check out Meta’s latest wearables, which promise to fix the “constantly staring down at your phone” problem and prevent you from blocking that little...

  • 2025 / 9 / 18
    Who Owns the Output? AI Copyright & IP Explained w/ Chris Paniewski | Startup Legal Basics

    Today’s show:Jason sits down with Wilson Sonsini partner Chris Paniewski for part two of our Startup Legal Basics series on AI law — this time tackling the question every founder is asking: who owns the...

  • 2025 / 9 / 17
    Tesla and Uber team up! Plus Weave Robotics’ Isaac and $OPEN bull Eric Jackson | E2180

    Today’s show:Hear why Eric Jackson thinks Opendoor is the new Carvana, and how he’s planning to bring Drake on board as an investor (plus Jason’s Bestie Chamath).On a brand-new TWiST, Jason and Alex are...

  • 2025 / 9 / 16
    Why Medium is HIDING from AI | E2179

    Today’s show:On a special edition of TWiST, Alex presents a trio of TWiST 500 interviews.First up, Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine on the company’s new Really Simple Licensing (or RSL) initiative, and how it’s...

  • 2025 / 9 / 15
    Robinhood Venture Fund, Polymarket adds earnings, and LAUNCH Accelerator 35 is here! | E2178

    Today’s show:There are new LAUNCH Accelerator and Founder U cohorts this week, and Jason’s running down some of his favorite new startups.PLUS Alphabet is the latest member of the $3T club, why Eric Schmidt...

  • 2025 / 9 / 13
    All-In Summit Highlights, Schools Could Block Social Media, FTC Chatbot Investigation, and Zoox hits Vegas | E2177

    Today’s show:On Friday’s TWiST, Jason, Alex, and Lon look back at some highlights from this week’s big All-In Summit in Los Angeles, including a fiery, no holds barred presentation from Palantir CEO Alex...

  • 2025 / 9 / 11
    AI Copyright & Training Data w/ Chris Paniewski | Wilson Sonsini Startup Legal Basics

    Jason sits down with Wilson Sonsini partner Chris Paniewski for a special Startup Legal Basics on one of the thorniest questions in tech right now: how copyright law applies to AI training data.Chris has...

  • 2025 / 9 / 10
    Republic opens private markets as Positron takes on GPUs: A TWiST500 doubleheader! | E2176

    Today’s show:In this founder-focused episode of This Week in Startups, we sit down with Republic’s Kendrick Nguyen to learn more about the company’s efforts to make the private markets accessible to the...

  • 2025 / 9 / 9
    How Founders Are Building the Next Great Startups | Paid.ai, iTruckr & Tenax AI | E2175

    Today’s show:In this TWiST founder triple-shot, Alex digs into the real-world rollout of AI agents: Paid.ai’s Manny Medina explains agent economics and value-based pricing, iTruckr’s Camilo Ramirez shows...

  • 2025 / 9 / 5
    The Browser Wars heat up! PLUS, Khan on The Bulwark, rules for great domain names, and Polymarket returns | E2174

    Today’s show:Jason heard Lina Khan on The Bulwark and got a little fired up.Plus Google doesn’t have to invest in Chrome… or basically do much of anything… Atlassian picked up not just any browser company but...

  • 2025 / 9 / 4
    Creative Structures w/ Becki DeGraw | Wilson Sonsini Startup Legal Basics

    Today’s show:Wilson Sonsini Partner Becki DeGraw returns to Startup Legal Basics with Jason. This time, they dive into the “have” companies — the breakout startups with multiple term sheets, competitive...

  • 2025 / 9 / 3
    Uber, Lucid & Nuro team up on robotaxis by 2026 | E2173

    Today’s show:Jason and Alex are joined by Nuro’s Dave Ferguson to unpack the Lucid–Uber–Nuro deal aiming to launch fully driverless Gravity SUVs on Uber by 2026. They dig into why off-the-shelf sensors and...

  • 2025 / 9 / 3
    Jason’s Tesla Optimus prediction, Anthropic’s latest mega-raise and more | E2172

    Today’s show:Find out why it’s important to “get curious,” and more deep founder insights on a new TWiST.Jason and Alex are back with a look at Robot vs. Human violence spilling out into the streets, Elon...

  • 2025 / 8 / 29
    KPop Demon Hunters breaks records, Grok speeds up, and an AI-powered browser deep dive | E2171

    Today’s show:*“KPop Demon Hunters” is one of the year’s biggest smashes… AFTER Sony sold it off to Netflix for cheap! Hear about what went wrong with one of the year’s worst deals…PLUS Grok is counting on...

  • 2025 / 8 / 28
    Market Update and Trends w/ Becki DeGraw | Wilson Sonsini Startup Legal Basics

    Today’s show:Wilson Sonsini Partner Becki DeGraw returns to Startup Legal Basics with Jason to break down what’s happening in today’s startup market. From excess dry powder on the VC side to companies...

  • 2025 / 8 / 27
    Google is Nano Banana, Apple AI plans & The Great H1B Visa Debate | E2170

    Today’s show:On a brand-new TWiST, Jason and Alex are asking why there are SO MANY note-taking AI apps?Plus another death has been linked to ChatGPT… is it too easy to get past chatbot guardrails? Why Donald...

  • 2025 / 8 / 26
    xAI’s App Store lawsuit, Intel shares vs. grocery stores, and Netskope’s IPO | E2169

    Today’s show:On an upbeat and optimistic new TWiST, Jason and Alex are debating why any new innovation or technology gets hit with a wave of bitter cynicism.PLUS Jason defends the government taking shares of...

  • 2025 / 8 / 22
    Do Kwon Guilty, Powell Pivot & OpenAI’s $12B Run Rate | E2168

    Today’s show:Terra’s collapse, Powell’s pivot, and OpenAI’s explosive growth all collide in this TWiST deep dive.Do Kwon has pled guilty after Terra/Luna’s $60B implosion, Fed Chair Powell hints at a...

  • 2025 / 8 / 20
    Is Chalk.ai the ‘Next Databricks’? + Tollbit’s Bot Paywall for AI Agents | E2167

    Today’s show:In this TWiST 500 double feature, Alex sits down with two breakout founders: Chalk’s Marc Freed-Finnegan & Tollbit’s Toshit Panigrahi!First, Chalk’s CEO Marc Freed-Finnegan is tackling one of...

  • 2025 / 8 / 19
    Scaling AI Photo Editing to 300M Users with Photoroom’s Matt Rouif | AI Basics with Google Cloud

    In this AI Basics episode, Jason sits down with Matt Rouif, Co-founder & CEO of Photoroom — the AI photo editing app with 300M+ downloads and 5B images processed annually.They break down:Why Photoroom...

  • 2025 / 8 / 18
    Decart makes AI faster, Lume teaches lamps to fold laundry | E2166

    Today’s show:We’re back with two insightful new TWiST founder interviews.First up: Dean Leitersdorf of Decart tells us about squeezing maximum productivity out of your GPUs. But it’s not all talk: he also...

  • 2025 / 8 / 15
    Meta’s “Sensual” AI Doc LEAKS, Opendoor’s dreams became memes +  OpenAI plans $1T data center spend | E2165

    It’s a Friday TWiST and Jason and Alex are FIRED UP about this internal Meta doc laying out appropriate vs. inappropriate AI behavior… You won’t BELIEVE with what Zuck approves for 8-year-old users.PLUS… AI...

  • 2025 / 8 / 14
    The End of the ZIRP Era, and why recruiting is SO PAINFUL | E2164

    Today’s show:We’re back with another all-star VC roundtable discussion.Joining Jason are Dave McClure of Practical VC, NVNG’s Grady Buchanan, and Tomasz Tunguz of Theory VC. Together, they’re having a deep...

  • 2025 / 8 / 12
    GPT Psychosis is spreading, the NYT is Super-Doxxing Zuck, and Trump is wetting his beak on Chinese chip exports | E2163

    Today’s show:On an all-new Monday TWiST, Lon joins Jason and Alex to talk about a whole bunch of stories at the intersection of tech, business, and pop culture.First up, is GPT Psychosis real? And if so, what...

  • 2025 / 8 / 8
    GPT-5 comes alive, Apple is struggling, and Ripple bought Rail | E2162

    Today’s show:Jason and Lon recorded a Thursday night special edition, so no Alex this time, but still lots to talk about.First up, Jason thinks it’s time for Tim Apple to exit the stage in lieu of a product...

  • 2025 / 8 / 7
    Communist coffee hits NYC, RIP Hulu, GPT-5 arrives and more | E2161

    Today’s show:It’s a brand-new PACKED episode of TWiST. Jason and Alex welcome guest Zach Dive of Adam.new, to tell us why he made a deepfake AI ad starring Jason and the All-In besties.PLUS a rundown of the...

  • 2025 / 8 / 5
    Lina Khan’s Figma victory lap, Meta’s Superintelligence Team, BYD mega car-carrier video & MORE | E2160

    Today’s show:Jason and Alex are running down the biggest tech, startup, and business stories of the day on a brand-new Monday TWIST.Which countries are leading the AI race, based on academic papers? Why Jason...

  • 2025 / 8 / 1
    TWiST 500 interviews with Cortical Labs, Turing, AND Mercor | E2159

    Today’s show:Alex is back with three more awesome interviews with founders on the bleeding edge of innovative tech.Dr. Hon Weng Chong walks us through the basics of biological computing and Cortical Labs’...

  • 2025 / 7 / 30
    All Star Investor Panel! Sophia Amoruso and Ryan Hoover | E2158

    Today’s show:It’s another All Star Investor Panel! Jason and Alex welcome TrustFund VC founder Sophia Amoruso AND WeekendFund investor/Product Hunt founder Ryan Hoover.Together they’re going DEEP on the...

  • 2025 / 7 / 29
    Figma IPO, IMAX AI Festival, the Tea app spill, that one Sydney Sweeney jeans ad, and more! | E2157

    Today’s show:SYDNEY SWEENEY’S AMERICAN EAGLE AD DIVIDES OUR PANEL!PLUS WHAT STARTUPS CAN LEARN FROM THE VIRAL ASTRONOMER RESPONSEJason, Alex, and Lon are looking at some of the biggest media stories of the...

  • 2025 / 7 / 25
    Behind the scenes at the ALL-IN AI SUMMIT w/ POTUS, JD Vance, Jensen Huang, Lisa Su, and more… | E2156

    Today’s show:Jason’s back and filling us in on his experiences in Washington DC, at the All-In AI Summit, including getting a Trump shoutout from stage, debating immigration with VP Vance, and calling out...

  • 2025 / 7 / 23
    AUTOMATING HEALTH CARE, THERMODYNAMIC COMPUTING, AND PRODUCT VELOCITY | E2155

    Today’s show:TWiST is back with a three more hugely insightful (and also fun!) founder interviews.First up, Trey Holterman from Tennr tells us why getting in to see a specialist is so time consuming, and how...

  • 2025 / 7 / 21
    Manufacturing in the US, Building in Open Source… and more | E2154

    Today’s show:TWiST is back with a trio of can’t miss interviews with some of our favorite TWiST 500 founders.First up, John Jeremy Harris of Harbinger Motors tells us about making his EV batteries right here...

  • 2025 / 7 / 18
    Inside Substack’s $100M Push to Fend Off Beehiiv | E2153

    Today’s show:WHY DOES @SUBSTACKINC NEED $100M IN NEW FUNDING?HOW DO THEY PLAN TO STAY AHEAD OF @BEEHIIV?Jason and Alex are debating the future of indie publishing on an all-new TWiST, considering the future...

  • 2025 / 7 / 17
    Thinking Machines’ RECORD seed round, VC Geoff Lewis, and MORE | E2152

    Today’s show:Jason and Alex tackle a full tech and business news docket on today’s show, including Jason’s big SF trip with Launch Accelerator’s 34th cohort, some peculiar social media posts from VC Geoff...

  • 2025 / 7 / 14
    Blitzhiring and the Complicated Case of Windsurf, OpenAI and Google | E2151

    Today’s show:On today’s show… Jason and Alex are considering the fallout of Windsurf’s OpenAI deal, the company’s latest agreements with both Google and Cognition AI, and how “blitzhiring” is actually playing...

  • 2025 / 7 / 12
    Grok 4 Beats OpenAI + The $300 AI Agent Era | E2150

    Today’s show: Grok 4 just leapfrogged OpenAI to become the top AI model—and it’s not just hype. In this episode, @Jason and @alex break down Grok’s AGI-level performance, the massive drop in LLM pricing, and...

  • 2025 / 7 / 10
    Orchestrating Smarter AI Systems with AI21 Labs’ Yoav Shoham | AI Basics with Google Cloud

    In this episode of AI Basics, Jason sits down with Yoav Shoham — Stanford professor emeritus and co-founder of AI21 Labs, creators of Jurassic-2, Wordtune, and the new orchestration system Maestro.They...

  • 2025 / 7 / 9
    Starlink + Tesla? $4T Nvidia? Perplexity Browser? Linda Yaccarino Steps Down? | E2149

    On a brand new TWiST, Jason and Alex ponder… What if every Tesla doubled as a Starlink-powered Wi-Fi hotspot? Plus, Nvidia’s historic $4T valuation, Perplexity’s fancy new AI browser that literally books...

  • 2025 / 7 / 9
    Cloud Seeding, Conspiracies & the Texas Floods | BONUS EPISODE!

    Today’s show:Cloud seeding startup Rainmaker faced a viral backlash after deadly floods in Texas—so @Jason hosted an emergency X Spaces with founder Augustus Doricko to unpack what really happened. Did...

  • 2025 / 7 / 7
    Exits Are Back, QSB Stock & The New America Party? | E2148

    Today’s show:Startup exits are heating up with $67.7B in Q2 activity, QSBS just got a major expansion, and Robinhood is pushing boundaries with tokenized SPVs. In this episode, @Jason and @alex break down...

  • 2025 / 7 / 2
    Startup Valuations, Biotech’s Crunch & AI’s Massive TAM | E2147

    Today’s show:It’s another blockbuster panel of insiders, as Alex sits down with Astasia Myers from Felicis, Matt Turck from First Mark Capital, and D.A. Wallach of Time BioVentures. AI is reshaping...

  • 2025 / 7 / 1
    The Grammarly–Superhuman Megadeal, plus TWiST 500 chats with LabelBox and Apptronik’s founders | E2146

    Today’s show:Grammarly is acquiring the beloved email app Superhuman! In today’s extremely timely episode, @alex sits down with Grammarly CEO Shishir Mehrotra and Superhuman founder Rahul Vohra to unpack why...

  • 2025 / 6 / 30
    Rebuilding Civilization from First Principles: Inside Balaji’s Network State Vision | E2145

    Today’s show: Jason sits down with Balaji Srinivasan in Singapore to explore how he's turning years of theory into reality with Network School—the first node of a broader vision for internet-native,...

  • 2025 / 6 / 27
    Travis’ Uber Comeback, AGI’s Stakes, Meta’s $100M AI Hires & Prediction Market Gold Rush | E2144

    Today’s show:EVs are igniting a global tariff war, and Xiaomi’s shockingly cheap, high-quality electric cars threaten to obliterate Western automakers, sparking fears of a manufacturing wipeout. In today’s...

  • 2025 / 6 / 26
    Multi-Agent AI, Open Protocols & Startup Acceleration with Saurabh Tiwary | AI Basics

    In this episode, Jason dives deep into the future of multi-agent systems with Saurabh Tiwary, VP & GM of Cloud AI at Google. They explore how teams of AI agents—not just single models—can collaborate to solve...

  • 2025 / 6 / 26
    VC Roundtable: Recruiting Secrets, Second-Time Founders & Product-Market Fit Myths | E2143

    Today’s show:In this powerhouse VC roundtable, @Jason sits down with Sequoia’s Doug Leone and Cyberstarts’ Gili Raanan to share brutally honest insights on startup recruiting, evaluating second-time founders,...