This Week in Startups
Episodes
AMA 2: All Turtles CEO Phil Libin answers questions from founders: should early-stage founders prioritize data or instincts, building global products, ML risks, thoughts on remote work
08 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
All Turtles CEO Phil Libin answers questions from founders: should early-stage founders prioritize data or instincts, building global products, ML ris...
UPCOMING: Register for Angel.University Online at Angel.University/Events
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hosted by Jason Calacanis & Michael Savino, Angel.University is a workshop for individuals interested in becoming professional angel investors. The...
E1054: The Power of Accelerators E3 Siobhan Dullea, CEO of MassChallenge on running a non-profit accelerator, accepting hundreds of companies per year, what makes a great application, why East Coast investors are more conservative & more!
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:42 Jason intros MassChallenge CEO Siobhan Dullea 3:09 What is MassChallenge & how is it different from a typical accelerator? 5:48 How many startu...
E1053: Ask Jason! Catching an investor’s eye with a cold email, what founders/investors often overlook during pitches, COVID’s impact on Jason’s deal flow, domain name hacks & more!
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Jason intros today's questions! 2:18 Kate asks what founders & investors often overlook while pitching/being pitched, and what they should focus...
TEASER: Inside Transportation E3: Sandy Munro Talks Electric Vehicles, Tesla Model Y + More
02 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/transportationpodcast Featuring Sandy Munro (CEO of Munro & Associates), Jason Calacanis (Angel investor, LAUNCH, Insi...
E1052: Range CEO & Co-Founder Dan Pupius shares best practices on building culture as a remote team, insights from working on Google+, importance of asynchronous communication on distributed teams, Holacracy & more!
02 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:56 Jason intros the show & talks about the impact the TWiST Slack has had on him 4:47 Jason intros Dan Pupius of Range 6:13 What is Range and why ...
AMA 1: freeCodeCamp’s Quincy Larson answers founder and developer questions
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
freeCodeCamp Founder Quincy Larson answers questions from his exclusive AMA only on This Week in Startups' Slack! If you’d like to participate i...
E1051: The Power of Accelerators E2 Cameron Teitelman, Founder & Chairman of StartX on optimizing Stanford’s entrepreneurial landscape, thesis on peer-support groups’ correlation to founder success, why growth-stage founders join StartX & more!
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
1:00 Jason intros Power of Accelerators Episode 2! 3:07 Jason intros StartX Founder Cameron Teitelman: What is StartX, how do they invest, when and h...
E1050: PlayVS CEO & Founder Delane Parnell shares his incredible journey from the projects to raising almost $100M to build the esports platform of the future, breaking through as an outsider in tech, using leverage & partnerships to create a moat, his top 5 entrepreneurs & more!
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:42 Jason intros PlayVS CEO & Founder Delane Parnell 2:59 What is PlayVS, how do they make money & how fast are they growing? 5:37 Attracting inves...
SNEAK PREVIEW! Inside Transportation E2: EV Companies Take PPP Loans, Virgin Australia collapses, Levandowski v. Uber
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
2:42 — Electric vehicle startups receive PPP loansAs thousands of small business owners struggle to pay rent and keep their employees on staff, two ...
E1049: freeCodeCamp Founder Quincy Larson shares insights on democratizing developer skills, which programs to learn to land a coding job, if anyone can learn to code, maximizing earning potential & more!
24 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:50 Jason thanks the front-line workers & intros freeCodeCamp's Quincy Larson 7:45 Why & how did Quincy start freeCodeCamp? What is freeCodeCamp? 1...
E1048: The Power of Accelerators E1 Steve Barsh, Managing Partner of Dreamit Ventures on top portfolio companies, focusing on specific verticals, tips for nailing accelerator interviews, follow-on philosophy & more
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
1:00 Jason thanks all frontline workers and intros Dreamit Ventures’ Steve Barsh 3:33 How did Dreamit start, what is the goal and how is their prog...
E1047: Ask Jason Slack Special! Sourcing talent during a crisis, building strong culture & motivating remote teams, investing in distributed startups, importance of market timing & more!
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Jason intros today's #AskJason and talks about the This Week in Startups Slack! 4:04 Ethan asks where and how Jason gets his news for general in...
E1046: News Roundtable! TechCrunch’s Alex Wilhelm & Slow Ventures’ Sam Lessin on COVID’s potential privacy risk, private/public investor outlooks, remote work challenges & at-risk early-stage investors
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:37 Jason intro Alex Wilhelm & Sam Lessin & checks in on how their quarantines are going 5:59 Are they all working more during quarantine then they ...
E1045: 15Five CEO & Co-Founder David Hassell shares insights on remote work: transitioning from in-person to remote, tips for keeping employees engaged, defining trust & more!
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:51 Jason intro 15Five's David Hassell & checks in on how his company is doing 4:23 What does a great leader need to do in a crisis? 8:26 How to sh...
SNEAK PREVIEW: E2 All-In with Chamath Palihapitiya & Jason Calacanis: Rebooting the economy, understanding corporate debt, steps to avoid a depression & more with David Sacks
11 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Jason & Chamath catch us up on their quarantines 1:20 Chamath intros David Sacks 4:40 David explains what their poker group chat has been like ...
E1044: Ask Jason! Starting a company in an economic crisis, bringing on & compensating startup advisors, scaling diligence as an angel investor, Jason’s thoughts on solving the unemployment surge & more!
10 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Jason previews today's Ask Jason & drops some hints about the Super Secret TWiST Slack room 2:29 Aaron asks how investors view no-code startups ...
E41: “Angel” Podcast: Shawn Carolan, Managing Partner at Menlo Ventures shares insights on his early investments in Uber, Roku, Siri & JUMP Bikes, adjusting his approach in response to hundreds of new venture funds with billions in dry powder & more!
10 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Jason thanks the sponsors, guests, listeners & the team for Angel Season 4! 4:38 Jason intros Menlo Ventures' Shawn Carolan 7:26 Thoughts on th...
E1043: News Roundtable! Bloomberg Beta’s Roy Bahat & Coelius Capital’s Zach Coelius on how tech is helping during the crisis, how startups should approach SMB loans, when VC funding will bounce back, Notion’s $50M raise, Zoom’s security issues, Luckin coffee & more!
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:54 Jason intros Roy Bahat & Zach Coelius, and they discuss their current quarantine situations 6:04 What is the timeline looking like for going bac...
E1042: Balaji Srinivasan (@balajis) shares insights on Recode incident, need for decentralized citizen journalism, techlash through the years, potential COVID-19 endgames: bull, bear & base case scenarios
03 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:55 Jason intros Balaji Srinivasan and tees up his incident with Recode's piece: “No handshakes, please”: The tech industry is terrified of the c...
E40: “Angel” Podcast: Jeff Richards, Managing Partner at GGV Capital shares lessons for founders & investors from 2008 recession & Dot-com bust, criteria for taking on venture debt, valuing companies in a down market & more
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:51 Jason gives some thoughts on quarantine & intros GGV's Jeff Richards 5:11 What will this crisis look like on the other side? Benefits of having ...
E1041: The Lean Startup’s Eric Ries gives tactical advice for founders during an economic downturn: obligations of leadership, extending runway, handling layoffs with grace, finding new revenue opportunities, capitalizing on silver-linings & more!
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:52 Jason intros Eric Ries and they discuss how things have been since shelter-in-place started 8:33 What good will come out of this? Will UBI propo...
E1040: Figma CEO & Co-Founder Dylan Field shares insights on crucial moments in Figma’s creation, overcoming SaaS burnout, active vs. passive user-pricing, getting Greylock & Sequoia to invest after they initially passed & more!
27 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
1:00 Jason intros Figma’s Dylan Field & Dylan explains why WebGL was crucial to Figma’s creation 7:09 Why ChromeOS is flourishing in schools 11:...
E39: “Angel” Podcast: Sarah Guo, General Partner at Greylock Partners shares insights on Greylock’s “Zero to One” investment thesis, sharpening her decision-making skills, ranking team, market & product as investment criteria & the changing landscape of VC
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:52 Jason intros Greylock's Sarah Guo 3:37 How did Sarah wind up at Greylock? 5:45 Sarah explains Greylock's "Zero to One" thesis & typical term co...
E1039: Independent Journalist Vincent Woo reflects on his piece, “Lambda School’s Misleading Promises”, shares insights on what drew him to the story, where Lambda School went wrong, how they can be better & more
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:45 Jason intros Vincent Woo, who wrote "Lambda School's Misleading Promises" for New York Magazine 2:21 What drew Vincent to this story? What wrong...
E1038: News Roundtable! Index Ventures’ Sarah Cannon & TechCrunch’s Alex Wilhelm on COVID-19’s impact so far: lessons learned, Sarah’s stimulus plan, endgame scenarios & more
21 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
1:04 Jason intros Alex Wilhelm & Sarah Cannon 5:00 COVID-19: Where are we now? 10:12 Have would Obama have handled this situation? What are the prop...
E1 All-In with Chamath Palihapitiya & Jason Calacanis: US Response to COVID-19 & Impact on Startups, Venture Capital & Public Markets with David Friedberg
19 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Jason & Chamath intro David and check in on each other's quarantines 2:26 Has the US overreacted or underreacted so far? David & Chamath give th...
E38: “Angel” Podcast: David Cowan, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners shares insights on owning up to his anti-portfolio, understanding sunk cost, top traits for becoming a VC & best Founders & CEOs he’s ever worked with
18 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:53 Jason intros Bessemer's David Cowan 1:54 David explains how he got his start in Venture capital in 1992 4:22 What does Bessemer look for in a p...
E1037: LAUNCH Accelerator Class 16 Founders of BasicBlock (payment solution for truckers), DaoCloud (lead-gen for health & wellness practitioners) & Lately (AI-powered social media writing software) reflect on their journeys through the program
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:38 Jason explains the LAUNCH Accelerator 5:39 BasicBlock CEO Taylor Monks details his journey through the LAUNCH Accelerator 14:58 BasicBlock CEO ...
EMERGENCY POD: E0 All-In with Chamath Palihapitiya & Jason Calacanis: COVID-19 Political, Economic & Social Ramifications featuring The Production Board’s David Friedberg (frmly Founder/CEO, The Climate Corporation)
15 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Jason intros Chamath and Episode 0 of All-In and they discuss their current self-quarantine 0:55 Jason intros David Friedberg 1:35 Chamath give...
E1036: #AskJason Special! When to join a startup to maximize equity & job security, types of companies that will thrive in an economic downturn, legendary founder & investor traits, tips for starting a podcast & more!
13 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Jason intros today's topics 2:15 George calls in and asks Jason about social media interference in the 2020 election 11:13 Joey calls in and as...
E37: “Angel” Podcast: Nicole Quinn, Partner at Lightspeed shares benefits of celebrity founders like Lady Gaga & Gwyneth Paltrow, insights on investing in consumer & power of “Force of Nature” product people
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:53 Jason intros Nicole Quinn 1:59 Nicole & Jason describe their separate Calm investments, will it be the first mental health IPO? 8:00 Calm's I.C...
E1035: SoftBank Managing Partner Jeff Housenbold on deploying the $100B Vision Fund, getting recruited by Masayoshi Son, counseling founders to manage massive capital, creating moats, reasons for shift toward profits, lessons from WeWork & more
10 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:40 Jason intros Jeff Housenbold 2:16 What did Jeff do before joining the Vision Fund? How did he help scale eBay & Shutterfly? 4:15 How did he win...
E1034: Formlabs CEO & Co-Founder Max Lobovsky shares insights on hitting $100M in revenue as a 3D printing platform, most lucrative use cases, growing organically, best 3D printing examples in science fiction
06 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:54 Jason intros Max Lobovsky 3:21 What is Max's business with Formlabs? What are people printing? Is it hitting scale with consumers yet? 10:52 Wh...
E36: “Angel” Podcast: Ajay Agarwal, Partner at Bain Capital shares insights on culture evolving from sales-driven to product-driven, why enterprise software is the ideal business, best investments & anti-portfolio
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:51 Jason intros Bain Capital's Ajay Agarwal 3:17 Are we experiencing late-stage capitalism? Is capitalism broken? 8:22 Why is upward mobility stal...
E1033: News Roundtable! Lambda School CEO Austen Allred & General Catalyst Partner Katherine Boyle on Lambda School controversy, Techlash & late-stage journalism, Robinhood down as Dow jumps & more!
03 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:54 Want to see what it's like to be an Angel Investor in Jason's Syndicate? DM @thesyndicate415 to read Jason's last 3 deal memos 1:37 Jason intros...
E1032: News Roundtable! Robinhood Snacks’ Duo Jack Kramer & Nick Martell on Coronavirus’ impact on public markets, Iger out at Disney – Buy or Sell?, link-baiting Tesla crash, defining Cult Stocks & more!
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:42 Jason intros Jack Kramer & Nick Martell of Robinhood Snacks 1:06 Starting Market Snacks as a side hustle after rooming together in college 13:2...
E35: “Angel” Podcast: Sarah Tavel, Partner at Benchmark shares insights on getting recruited by Peter Fenton, disrupting VC gender norms from the inside, transitioning from operator to investor & more
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:50 Jason intros Benchmark's Sarah Tavel 1:20 Aside from Slack, what other companies grew like consumer-facing but charge like enterprise? 3:19 How...
E1031: Zumper CEO & Co-Founder Anthemos Georgiades makes renting an apartment as easy as booking a hotel, shares insights on monetizing marketplaces, diversifying revenue streams to limit downside, Airbnb’s effect on the rental market & more!
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:44 Jason shares some thoughts on hard work 1:52 Jason intros Anthemos Georgiades and they discuss how Zumper was launched at TechCrunch 4:02 How d...
E1030: News Roundtable! Zapier CEO Wade Foster & Early-Stage Investor Monique Woodard on Tech Journalists vs. Founders/VCs, Twitter’s fake news detection, Kickstarter union, Blue Apron plummeting, Lambda School controversy & more!
22 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:36 Jason intros Monique & Wade 8:29 Tech Journalists vs. Founders/VCs 14:48 Is link-baiting press a systemic, societal issue? 19:21 Future of Fou...
E34: “Angel” Podcast: George Zachary, General Partner at CRV shares insights on cancer scare shifting his focus to investing in health-tech, passing on Google at MDV, CRISPR & “designer babies”, coronavirus threat, origins of Sand Hill Road & more!
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:50 Jason intros CRV's George Zachary 2:20 Passing on Google at MDV and coming to peace with the anti-portfolio 5:51 Differences between leadership...
E1029: Basecamp Co-Founder & Author David Heinemeier Hansson (@DHH) debates Jason on reining in capitalism, benefits of state-run education & healthcare, big-tech disappointments, work-from-home paradigm shift, wealth tax & more!
18 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:56 Jason intros David Heinemeier Hansson (@DHH) and asks about the work-from-home paradigm shift 5:28 Measuring programming success via budgets ins...
E1028: Laura Huang, author of “Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage” shares insights on overcoming disadvantages to create an edge, being bitter vs. getting better, structural bias in tech & more
14 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:41 Jason intros "Edge" Author Laura Huang 3:00 How do Harvard MBA students compare with Stanford MBA students? 7:17 Why did Laura write "Edge" at ...
E33: “Angel” Podcast: Dan Rose, Chairman at Coatue Management is leading a $700M early-stage fund, shares insights on working with Bezos & Zuckerberg during pivotal years at Amazon & Facebook, 100+ angel investments, standout founder traits & more
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:50 Jason intros Coatue Management's Dan Rose 1:52 Dan takes Jason through getting his internship at Amazon in 1999 and meeting Jeff Bezos 6:55 Wha...
E1027: Orreco CEO & Founder Dr. Brian Moore built a platform that optimizes performance of elite athletes, shares cutting-edge benefits of blood sampling, biomarkers, inflammation reduction, glucose monitoring & more!
11 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:46 Jason intros Dr. Brian Moore 3:39 What does Orreco do and how do they help elite athletes? 4:46 Do they sample blood? 6:33 What teams do they ...
E1026: Cocoon Co-Founders Sachin Monga & Alex Cornell are building an intimate app to connect close circles, share insights on key standout features, raising money as a messaging app, breeding trust via strong domain names, ideal customers & more
07 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:57 Jason intros Alex & Sachin 4:46 When and why did they start Cocoon? 6:40 Why did Facebook keep changing their developer tools platform? 9:22 W...
E32: “Angel” podcast: Season 4 Premiere! Sarah Cannon, Partner at Index Ventures, shares insights on investing in the future of work, underrated emerging startup markets, going from the Obama Administration to Venture Capital, increasing upward mobility in America, fixing the gig economy & more!
05 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Jason intros Season 4 of Angel & Index Ventures' Sarah Cannon 3:22 How did working for the Obama administration lead Sarah into Venture Capital?...
E1025: #StartupTuneup @ Founder.University Part 2!: 6 founders pitch to Jason & Dave Samuel of Freestyle Capital on AI driving assistance, sleep-aid wearables, marijuana, B2B food analytics & more!
04 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
1:07 Megan pitches Moment AI (facial recognition software that helps drivers) 3:19 Juan pitches DreamOn (wearable and app that help you fall asleep a...
E1024: #StartupTuneup @ Founder.University: 6 founders pitch to Jason & Dave Samuel of Freestyle Capital on merging communication networks, athlete performance tracking, DTC women’s clothing, smart tabletop gaming systems & more!
04 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
1:31 Bryan pitches Project OWL (smart communications platform) 3:46 Erin pitches Nude Barre (DTC eco-friendly hosiery) 6:02 Mike pitches STACT (Athl...
E1023: News Roundtable! Machine Zone CEO Kristen Dumont & The Register’s Iain Thomson on Bezos phone hack, Tesla valuation skyrocketing, DJ Elon, Coronavirus, Barstool Sports funding, unions, proposed Uber/DoorDash merger & more!
01 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:48 Jason intros Iain Thomson & Kristen Dumont 1:58 Iain on the grim state of his WeWork office 4:34 Bezos phone hack, Saudi interference 15:12 DJ...
E1022: One Drop CEO & Founder Jeff Dachis helps people with diabetes manage & improve their blood-sugar levels, shares insights on making data actionable, recent strategic partnership with Bayer, issues with US healthcare & potential life-expansion
28 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:47 Jason intros One Drop CEO Jeff Dachis 2:37 What was Jeff's original vision with One Drop? How has it evolved over time? 5:39 How did One Drop g...
E1021: Bubble Co-CEO & Co-Founder Emmanuel Straschnov built a no-code platform to empower the next generation of programmers, shares insights on bootstrapping to over 300k users, developing skills while scaling & more
24 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:53 Jason intros Bubble CEO Emmanuel Straschnov 4:25 Defining "no-code" and how Bubble differs from other no-code tools? 9:04 How much more efficie...
E1020: CEO/Investor Coach & Author Matt Mochary shares insights on developing his coaching method, understanding & overcoming primal fear, addressing imposter syndrome & more
21 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:01 Calling all writers! Apply to be the first TWiST Archivist at twistarchivist.com 2:42 Jason intros CEO Coach & Author Matt Mochary 4:49 How and...
E1019: Mahmee CEO & Co-Founder Melissa Hanna is helping new moms navigate thru postpartum care, shares insights on getting Serena Williams & Mark Cuban to invest, improving the experience for mothers of color & adding structure to a fragmented industry
17 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:58 Jason intros Melissa Hanna 1:40 What is Mahmee? What challenges are they solving for? 4:54 How does Mahmee acquire customers? Who pays for the ...
E1018: #AskJason! Avoiding first-time founder mistakes, causes of big-tech layoffs, participating in a Series A as an Angel, running a US-based startup as an international student, importance of having a strong lead investor & more!
14 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
1:39 Peter calls in and asks Jason the optimal check size if first engaging with a company in their Series A and general best practices while Angel in...
E1017: Open Office Hours LIVE! Jason helps founders with their biggest challenges: scaling as a solo founder, reducing churn, raising capital in a heavily regulated field, pivoting from one-time payments to SaaS & more @ WSGR
10 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:46 Mehak from OnDelta (ISA School for Growth Hacking/Marketing) asks Jason best practices on scaling her business as a solo founder 10:18 Ketan fro...
E1016: Substack CEO & Co-Founder Chris Best empowers writers via his email newsletter platform, shares insights on driving change in the attention economy, raising $15M from a16z, providing value to retain talent & more
07 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
1:00 Jason intros Chris Best 3:24 What happened to Kik? (Chris' first startup) What did he learn from it? 5:03 What is it about email newsletters th...
E1015: Open Office Hours LIVE! Jason helps founders with their biggest challenges: gaining interest from investors, scaling while bootstrapping in a niche market, automating operations tasks, acquiring national customers & focusing on customers in the cannabis compliance space @ WSGR
03 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
0:47 Jason intros Open Office Hours 2:15 Trevor from Moovin (on-demand software to rent professional furniture) asks Jason to share some hacks on how...
E1014: Open Office Hours LIVE! Jason helps founders with their biggest challenges: targeting a specific segment of customers, overcoming past failures in a market, developing new nuclear energy, competing against a major incumbent & more!
31 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:49 Jason intros Open Office Hours Live at Neyborly 1:09 Sebastian from Tailpath asks Jason how to generate consumer habits to drive demand 18:37 ...
E1013: Decade Wrap-Up Roundtable! Garry Tan, Initialized Capital & Zach Coelius, Coelius Capital on the biggest hits & misses of the past decade: Trump, Theranos, Streaming, Mindfulness, Crypto, Tesla, WeWork, Amazon Prime, Vaping & more!
27 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
LINKS to brackets: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zqc-2vDRl7e86USf4okiX8DRcXPzX1HW || https://www.canva.com/design/DADuVKZjuc4/9Qt3B4m4DU-Z_...
E1012: Open Office Hours LIVE! Jason helps founders with their biggest challenges: goal-setting, starting a sales flywheel, converting bounced customers, capitalizing on investor feedback & more!
24 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:52 Kenny from Bacarai asks Jason how to start a flywheel with paid pilots as a pre-revenue company in the group airfare space 13:30 Elyse from Bloo...
E1011: Check Point CEO & Co-founder Gil Shwed shares insights on being the “Godfather of Cybersecurity”, growing Check Point into Israel’s most impactful tech company, pricing & developing products for an emerging market, best practices on protecting data from hackers & the next generation of cybers
20 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:48 Jason intros Gil and asks about his lengthy background in cybersecurity 3:02 What experiences inspired Check Point? 8:31 Gil explains how he ra...
E1010: TWiST Live! Thumbtack CEO & Co-founder Marco Zappacosta shares insights on pivoting to optimize for consumer experience, starting a company during the great recession vs. 2019, fundraising tips & the future of Thumbtack
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:52 Jason intros TWiST Live guest and one of his first investments Marco Zappacosta & Marco describes how they met in 2010 2:28 What did Thumbtack l...
E1009: #StartupTuneup! Startmate Founders pitch Jason: AR presentation platform, experiential marketing, wearables that help menstrual cramps, education thru e-sports & more!
13 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:58 Jason welcomes the Startmate companies to the TWiST Studio 1:36 Zac from JigSpace pitches an AR platform for educational presentations 11:56 Te...
E1008: VSCO CEO & Co-founder Joel Flory is building a photo-sharing platform free of ads, likes & comments to empower creators, shares insights on appealing to Gen Z, expanding their global reach & the magic of subscriptions
10 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:08 Jason intros Joel Flory 2:12 What is VSCO? How is it different than Instagram, Facebook & other photo-sharing apps? 4:33 How does VSCO grow at ...
E1007: DoNotPay CEO & Founder Josh Browder built an AI lawyer to fight corporations & governments, demos product features & how it helps consumers, shares insights on following in footsteps of his father Bill Browder, & future of consumer empowerment
06 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:51 Jason intros Josh Browder & DoNotPay 2:48 Starting DoNotPay in college 6:12 How much $ has DoNotPay saved citizens since launching in 2016? 7:...
E1006: Farmer’s Fridge CEO & Founder Luke Saunders is creating a connected network of vending machines offering fresh & healthy meals, shares insights on creating a restaurant-like experience, solving food-supply chain issues, capitalizing on grassroots marketing & real-world virality & using sales
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:44 Jason intros Luke and describes how he found out about Farmer's Fridge 5:01 How did Luke overcome barriers of making a vending machine feel like...
E1005: Scale AI CEO & Co-founder Alexandr Wang creates training data for all AI applications to improve machine learning, shares insights on the future of autonomous vehicles, China’s AI advantages over US, importance of humans focusing on higher-value work & next major trends in AI
29 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:04 Jason intros Alexandr 2:19 Alexandr shares his personal startup history 5:17 How & why did Scale start? 8:26 What is the best example of Scale...
E1004: Yousician CEO & Co-founder Chris Thür created an interactive platform to master musical instruments, shares insights on acquiring 1M+ users, increasing retention through gamification, using profitability as leverage while attracting investors as an international startup
26 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:06 Jason intros the Pegasus concept & Yousician's Chris Thür 3:52 Chris explains Yousician 5:22 How did Yousician start and what did Guitar Hero ...
E1003: The Athletic CEO & Co-founder Alex Mather is building a paid online sports media publication, shares insights on attracting investors in a seemingly dying industry, managing 500+ remote writers, creating interesting angles through unique coverage & more
22 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:05 Jason intros Alex Mather 2:08 Why did Alex launch a paid subscription publication in a seemingly dying industry? 4:32 How & where did The Athle...
E1002: Wealthfront CEO & Co-founder Andy Rachleff on hitting escape velocity at Wealthfront, pioneering “self-driving money” for consumers, shares insights on product-building in 1980’s vs. today, best investor attributes, & the future of NextGen banking
19 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:08 Jason intros Andy Rachleff 2:20 Where is Wealthfront at currently? 4:44 How are traditional money managers allowed to get away with so much? 1...
E1001: Eight Sleep CEO & Co-founder Matteo Franceschetti pioneered “sleep-fitness” with smart heating & cooling technology; shares insights on product iteration, delighting customers, innovating in D2C, raising $40M from LAUNCH, Founders Fund, Craft & more
15 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:03 Jason's thoughts on the exploding DTC movement 4:10 How Jason discovered Eight Sleep 7:15 Jason intros Matteo Franceschetti 8:18 Matteo descri...
E1000: 1000th Episode Retrospective! Jason & TWiST lifers Lon Harris, Brian Alvey, & Tyler Crowley re-live favorite moments & guests, highlighting innovations in podcasting & tech over the last decade, hitting global trends & what’s in store for the next 1000
12 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:10 Jason intros episode 1000 + Brian Alvey & Lon Harris 3:58 "Money is the Root of All Evil" theme song 5:22 What were the first few episodes of T...
E999: ROOM CEO & Co-founder Brian Chen is building phone booths for the modern office, shares insights on maximizing open floor plans, partnering with Calm to reduce stress at work, maintaining capital efficiency as a hardware startup
08 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:53 Jason intros Brian Chen 1:15 Brian demos ROOM’s collaboration with Calm 2:42 How did ROOM get their room.com domain name? 3:49 Upside & down...
E998: The Next Unicorns: Benchling CEO & Co-founder Sajith Wickramasekara is increasing efficiency for scientists with a cloud-based platform, gives insights on recent life-science innovations, ethics of gene therapy & defining the line between quackery & brilliance – E10 of 10-ep miniseries
06 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:53 Jason intros Sajith Wickramasekara 1:40 What does Benchling do? 2:24 How did Sajith get into life science? 6:55 Benchling's value proposition ...
E997: HubSpot CEO & Co-founder Brian Halligan shares insights on the origin of inbound marketing, how The Grateful Dead inspired HubSpot, importance of customer experience, managing employees in the Glassdoor Era & more
05 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:52 Jason intros Brian Halligan 1:35 Brian describes how his job has changed as HubSpot has scaled 3:33 Jason asks Brian about buying Jerry Garcia'...
E996: Clearbit CEO & Co-founder Alex MacCaw is creating god-mode for marketers with Clearbit X, gives insights on dynamic customer targeting, prioritizing profitability over valuation, GDPR’s adverse effect on Facebook & Google, value of aggregated data & benefits of CEO coaching
01 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:58 Jason intros Alex MacCaw 2:26 What is Clearbit? 8:53 What are some Clearbit use cases? 12:48 Benefits of cashflow positivity in terms of fundr...
E995: The Next Unicorns: NEXT Trucking CEO & Co-founder Lidia Yan brings trucking into the digital age with her two-sided marketplace, shares insights on finding & focusing on an untapped market, owning & innovating drayage, navigating the trucking industry as a woman & scaling the right team for su
30 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:55 Jason intros Lidia Yan 5:03 Lidia describes getting into the trucking industry and why NEXT focuses on "drayage" 13:29 How NEXT has revolutioni...
E994: All Turtles CEO Phil Libin shares his state machine that answers all growth questions; Future of Early-Stage VC w/Pete Flint (NFX), Rebecca Lynn (Canvas Ventures), Dave Samuel (Freestyle Capital); plus LAUNCH Scale Partner Talk w/Lever CTO Nate Smith
29 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:03 Jason intros Phil Libin from LAUNCH Scale 2019 1:51 Phil Libin on "The State Machine that Answers All Growth Questions" 32:40 Jason joins Phil ...
E993: Superhuman CEO Rahul Vohra shares the formula for his Product-Market Fit Engine; Future of Angel Investing w/Jeff Clavier (Uncork), Ben Ling (Bling), Clara Brenner (Urban Innovation Fund); plus LAUNCH Scale Partner Talk w/Help Scout VP of Sales Tim Thyne
25 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:48 Jason intros Rahul Vohra 3:21 Rahul gives a talk on building a "Product-Market Fit Engine" 29:42 Rahul takes questions from the LAUNCH Scale au...
E992: The Next Unicorns: Expanse CEO & Co-founder Tim Junio reduces exposure to online threats by providing “attack surface visibility”, shares insights into current threats from China & Russia, potential 2020 election tampering, reasons for cybersecurity optimism & more – E8 of 10-ep miniseries
23 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:50 Jason intros Tim Junio 1:44 Tim explains what Expanse does and how "attack surface inventory" is the first step in their cybersecurity platform ...
E991: #StartupTuneup with Urban-X: Waste-reducing marketplaces, traffic liability reduction, recreational sharing spaces, firefighter safety software & energy cost saving AI
22 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:41 Jason intros the #StartupTuneup with Urban-X companies 2:33 David Rodriguez pitches Food for All: food marketplace to reduce waste & help restau...
E990: SurveyMonkey CEO Zander Lurie on driving growth by listening to customers & employees, importance of a strong & diverse board, direct listings v. IPOs, lessons learned from WeWork; plus LAUNCH Scale Partner Talk featuring Yosiat Gimbernard from Odoo
18 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:45 Zander’s take on the recent volatility in the public markets 3:38 What are the lessons learned from the WeWork disaster in terms of corporate ...
E989: The Next Unicorns: Culture Amp CEO & Co-founder Didier Elzinga is building an employee analytics platform that keeps workers satisfied & motivated, shares insights on the changing role of culture, what modern employees value & maintaining culture while scaling – E7 of 10-ep miniseries
16 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:52 Jason intros Culture Amp's Didier Elzinga 2:44 How Didier's prior career in Visual Effects led him to start Culture Amp 8:24 Issues with yearly...
E988: Aileen Lee, Founder & Managing Partner of Cowboy Ventures, pioneered actionable change to diversify tech & VC, shares early days innovating in e-commerce, insights on current funding landscape, dangers of prioritized growth over sustainability, & lessons learned from backing winners like Dolla
15 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:51 Jason intros Aileen Lee 1:36 Aileen on her time at MIT, early bias against women in math 5:56 What brought Aileen to San Francisco & working at...
E987: The Next Unicorns: Upgrade CEO & Co-founder Renaud Laplanche is empowering users to better understand credit through his consumer credit platform, announces the Upgrade Card, shares insights on taking LendingClub public & how startups have changed since he started his first company in 2000 – E
12 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:51 Jason intros Upgrade CEO Renaud Laplanche 2:07 Renaud goes over the idea of his previous startup, LendingClub, and taking it public 9:57 What h...
E986: StockX Co-founder Josh Luber is building a stock market for things, shares insights on the two cultural shifts that brought sneaker culture mainstream, attracting Mark Wahlberg, Eminem & Steve Aoki to invest along with Google Ventures & Marc Benioff & growing a unicorn out of a sneaker-data si
11 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:00 Want to work at LAUNCH? gettheseat.com 2:28 Jason intros StockX's Josh Luber 3:14 When did the sneaker crazy start? 6:37 What is StockX? 9:19...
E985: #AskJason! Recognizing great founders as an investor, dealing with a lack of updates, raising capital through crowdfunding, the ideal makeup of today’s founder, how Angel Investing has changed since the release of “Angel”, standing out in slow-to-adapt markets
09 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:00 Jason intros #AskJason and today's questions 1:47 How to differentiate a great founder from an okay one? - Darius 7:40 Dealing with the lack of...
E984: Vice Ventures Founding Partner Catharine Dockery raised $25M to invest in vices: marijuana, sextech, gambling, alcohol, vaping; shares insights on hacking her way into VC through cold emails & a strong investment thesis, capitalizing on early markets hungry for investment
04 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:47 Jason intros Catharine Dockery 4:29 How Catharine came up with Vice Ventures 7:00 What was the response when Catharine began raising her first ...
E983: The Next Unicorns: Zola CEO & Co-founder Shan-Lyn Ma shares insights on growing her all-in-one wedding platform in a $100bn market, adapting to changes in wedding demographics, balancing growth and profitability while keeping her team focused, raising moral standards in tech – E5 of 10-ep mini
04 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:51 Jason intros Shan-Lyn Ma 3:17 Starting Zola and competing in a crowded space 5:14 Jason and Shan go through LAUNCH President Sam's Wedding Regi...
E982: Karmic Bikes Founder Hong Quan on creating the “Tesla of E-Bikes” with OSLO, bootstrapping through Kickstarter, lowering costs as a strategy, insights on U.S. resistance to widespread E-Bike adoption, & why this vehicle is the future of transportation, plus Office Hours with Jason!
01 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:10 Jason intros Hong Quan from Karmic Bikes 2:55 What is the OSLO bike? 4:10 Why are there separate classifications for e-bike laws? 9:15 What do...
E981: Roy Bahat, Head of Bloomberg Beta, shares the myths of venture capital, the great value of founders turned investors, why VCs reject startups, searing insights on fundraising & valuations, and predictions on the future of enterprise, AI, work & automation @ LAUNCH Accelerator
27 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
1:00 Jason Demant intros Roy Bahat 3:14 Roy's thoughts on raising venture capital 4:14 Debunking the myth of pitching VCs 9:24 Two questions VCs as...
E980: The Next Unicorns: Alto Pharmacy CEO & Co-founder Mattieu Gamache-Asselin is working to fix the broken US pharmacy system by removing friction & aligning incentives among patients, doctors & insurers, shares insights on trading short-term profits for long-term success, combating the opioid cri
25 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:51 Jason intros Mattieu Gamache-Asselin 2:52 Changing from ScriptDash to Alto Pharmacy 4:19 Meeting and working with Twitch founder Justin Kan in ...
FLASHBACK: The future of remote work, juggling APIs, and dream integrations with Wade Foster of Zapier | E2221
01 Jan 1970
Contributed by Lukas
This Week In Startups is made possible by:Goldbelly - Goldbelly.comEvery.io - http://every.io/Zite - zite.com/twistToday’s show:Today, Zapier’s a ...