This Week in Startups
Episodes
Battery Power for Texans with Zach Dell, plus Tim Apple is LEAVING?, Polymarket to the US, and a Tesla fan update | E2190
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:*Zach Dell of Base Power joins us at the top of today’s show to talk about building batteries in Austin, that $1 billion investment, ...
We’re Hiring! Join the This Week in Startups Team
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Everything’s going great here at This Week in Startups — and we’re expanding! As we launch a brand new podcast next year, we’re looking to bri...
OpenAI’s latest “bizarre” mega-deal, datacenters in space, previewing Tesla’s big announcement and more | E2189
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:*How many weirdly circular mega-deals is OpenAI going to sign this year?On a new TWiST, Jason and Alex consider OpenAI’s latest agree...
Sora app review, Perplexity’s Comet is FREE, and which AI tools reign supreme? | E2188
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:Is Sora not just a copyright-killer but a TikTok-killer? Hear our review!The “This Week in Startups” team has been playing around i...
Sora 2, Tilly Norwood, and the New Slop Era | E2187
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:Sora 2 will generate a video of whatever you like and respects no IP (unless they opt out)On a brand new TWiST, Jason and Alex check ou...
Breaking the Sound Barrier with Blake Scholl from Boom Supersonic | E2186
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:How do you get investors excited about jets when they’re hyper-focused on new AI tools?In a fresh TWiST 500 interview, Alex sits down...
Why New Yorkers hate AI Friends, Producer Claude gets an update, and the value of human writers in the Age of Slop | E2185
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:Friend’s new AI pendant just wants to be your new pal. So why do New Yorkers hate them?On a brand-new TWiST, Jason and Alex consider ...
Is there an AI coding bubble? Plus Meta’s new SlopTok product, Neon’s divisive app shuts down, and more | E2184
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The rise of “workslop,” Alibaba’s insane new deepfake model, Tether’s MASSIVE valuation, and more | E2183
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 quoru...
Jason’s H-1B pitch, the latest on the TikTok deal, and Howie’s first ad | E2182
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Meta’s “creepy” new Ray Bans, Beehiiv teams with Discord, AND a visit from Lovable CEO Anton Osika! | E2181
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 y...
Who Owns the Output? AI Copyright & IP Explained w/ Chris Paniewski | Startup Legal Basics
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 tac...
Tesla and Uber team up! Plus Weave Robotics’ Isaac and $OPEN bull Eric Jackson | E2180
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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’...
Why Medium is HIDING from AI | E2179
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ne...
Robinhood Venture Fund, Polymarket adds earnings, and LAUNCH Accelerator 35 is here! | E2178
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 Alp...
All-In Summit Highlights, Schools Could Block Social Media, FTC Chatbot Investigation, and Zoox hits Vegas | E2177
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
AI Copyright & Training Data w/ Chris Paniewski | Wilson Sonsini Startup Legal Basics
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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: ho...
Republic opens private markets as Positron takes on GPUs: A TWiST500 doubleheader! | E2176
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
How Founders Are Building the Next Great Startups | Paid.ai, iTruckr & Tenax AI | E2175
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 economic...
The Browser Wars heat up! PLUS, Khan on The Bulwark, rules for great domain names, and Polymarket returns | E2174
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 o...
Creative Structures w/ Becki DeGraw | Wilson Sonsini Startup Legal Basics
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:Wilson Sonsini Partner Becki DeGraw returns to Startup Legal Basics with Jason. This time, they dive into the “have” companies — ...
Uber, Lucid & Nuro team up on robotaxis by 2026 | E2173
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 SU...
Jason’s Tesla Optimus prediction, Anthropic’s latest mega-raise and more | E2172
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 a...
KPop Demon Hunters breaks records, Grok speeds up, and an AI-powered browser deep dive | E2171
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 w...
Market Update and Trends w/ Becki DeGraw | Wilson Sonsini Startup Legal Basics
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ma...
Google is Nano Banana, Apple AI plans & The Great H1B Visa Debate | E2170
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
xAI’s App Store lawsuit, Intel shares vs. grocery stores, and Netskope’s IPO | E2169
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Do Kwon Guilty, Powell Pivot & OpenAI’s $12B Run Rate | E2168
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Is Chalk.ai the ‘Next Databricks’? + Tollbit’s Bot Paywall for AI Agents | E2167
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:In this TWiST 500 double feature, Alex sits down with two breakout founders: Chalk’s Marc Freed-Finnegan & Tollbit’s Toshit Pan...
Scaling AI Photo Editing to 300M Users with Photoroom’s Matt Rouif | AI Basics with Google Cloud
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Decart makes AI faster, Lume teaches lamps to fold laundry | E2166
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:We’re back with two insightful new TWiST founder interviews.First up: Dean Leitersdorf of Decart tells us about squeezing maximum pro...
Meta’s “Sensual” AI Doc LEAKS, Opendoor’s dreams became memes + OpenAI plans $1T data center spend | E2165
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The End of the ZIRP Era, and why recruiting is SO PAINFUL | E2164
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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, an...
GPT Psychosis is spreading, the NYT is Super-Doxxing Zuck, and Trump is wetting his beak on Chinese chip exports | E2163
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
GPT-5 comes alive, Apple is struggling, and Ripple bought Rail | E2162
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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’...
Communist coffee hits NYC, RIP Hulu, GPT-5 arrives and more | E2161
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Lina Khan’s Figma victory lap, Meta’s Superintelligence Team, BYD mega car-carrier video & MORE | E2160
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
TWiST 500 interviews with Cortical Labs, Turing, AND Mercor | E2159
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 throu...
All Star Investor Panel! Sophia Amoruso and Ryan Hoover | E2158
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:It’s another All Star Investor Panel! Jason and Alex welcome TrustFund VC founder Sophia Amoruso AND WeekendFund investor/Product Hun...
Figma IPO, IMAX AI Festival, the Tea app spill, that one Sydney Sweeney jeans ad, and more! | E2157
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:SYDNEY SWEENEY’S AMERICAN EAGLE AD DIVIDES OUR PANEL!PLUS WHAT STARTUPS CAN LEARN FROM THE VIRAL ASTRONOMER RESPONSEJason, Alex, and ...
Behind the scenes at the ALL-IN AI SUMMIT w/ POTUS, JD Vance, Jensen Huang, Lisa Su, and more… | E2156
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
AUTOMATING HEALTH CARE, THERMODYNAMIC COMPUTING, AND PRODUCT VELOCITY | E2155
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 g...
Manufacturing in the US, Building in Open Source… and more | E2154
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 Harris of Harbinger Mo...
Inside Substack’s $100M Push to Fend Off Beehiiv | E2153
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 in...
Thinking Machines’ RECORD seed round, VC Geoff Lewis, and MORE | E2152
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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’...
Blitzhiring and the Complicated Case of Windsurf, OpenAI and Google | E2151
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 bot...
Grok 4 Beats OpenAI + The $300 AI Agent Era | E2150
12 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 Gro...
Orchestrating Smarter AI Systems with AI21 Labs’ Yoav Shoham | AI Basics with Google Cloud
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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, Wo...
Starlink + Tesla? $4T Nvidia? Perplexity Browser? Linda Yaccarino Steps Down? | E2149
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 valuatio...
Cloud Seeding, Conspiracies & the Texas Floods | BONUS EPISODE!
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:Cloud seeding startup Rainmaker faced a viral backlash after deadly floods in Texas—so @Jason hosted an emergency X Spaces with found...
Exits Are Back, QSB Stock & The New America Party? | E2148
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 toke...
Startup Valuations, Biotech’s Crunch & AI’s Massive TAM | E2147
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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, an...
The Grammarly–Superhuman Megadeal, plus TWiST 500 chats with LabelBox and Apptronik’s founders | E2146
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:Grammarly is acquiring the beloved email app Superhuman! In today’s extremely timely episode, @alex sits down with Grammarly CEO Shis...
Rebuilding Civilization from First Principles: Inside Balaji’s Network State Vision | E2145
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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—...
Travis’ Uber Comeback, AGI’s Stakes, Meta’s $100M AI Hires & Prediction Market Gold Rush | E2144
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:EVs are igniting a global tariff war, and Xiaomi’s shockingly cheap, high-quality electric cars threaten to obliterate Western automa...
Multi-Agent AI, Open Protocols & Startup Acceleration with Saurabh Tiwary | AI Basics
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 team...
VC Roundtable: Recruiting Secrets, Second-Time Founders & Product-Market Fit Myths | E2143
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:In this powerhouse VC roundtable, @Jason sits down with Sequoia’s Doug Leone and Cyberstarts’ Gili Raanan to share brutally honest ...
AI Producers, Tesla Robotaxis & the Rise of the “Tiny Teams” Era | E2142
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:Tesla’s robotaxi launch, AI producers, job destruction, and smart toilets? In this episode of This Week in Startups, @Jason and @alex...
The Strip Mining Era of LLMs—And Why It’s About to End | E2141
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:AI has been feasting on the open web—but is the free lunch over? In this explosive episode, @Jason and @alex call out OpenAI and othe...
From Drones to Dystopia: The Future of Jobs, Fires & Meta’s AI Land Grab | E2140
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:In this episode, @Jason and @alex explore how AI is reshaping the economy—from Pano AI’s $44M raise to fight wildfires with drones,...
Meta, Scale, and the Future of AI Labeling: Did Zuck Just Kill a Category? | E2139
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:Meta just took a 49% stake in Scale AI, and the shockwaves are hitting the entire AI ecosystem. In this episode, @Jason and @alex unpac...
Stripe’s Crypto Wallet, M&A Momentum, and Robots Replacing Soul-Crushing Jobs | E2138
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show:In this episode of This Week in Startups, @Jason and @Alex break down Stripe’s big bet on crypto wallets with its latest acquisition ...
TWIST VC Roundtable: Startup Valuations, Secondary Markets & the YC Revenue Illusion | E2137
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Alex moderates a TWIST VC Roundtable with Jason, Paige Doherty (Behind Genius), and Altimeter’s Megan Reynolds about the state of ea...
YC Valuations, VC Slowdown, and Office Hours with CustomerIQ | E2136
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason and Alex dive into why Y Combinator startups are raising at sky-high valuations with relatively low ARR—what does that mean fo...
Circle’s IPO Soars, The Future of VC and Cursor’s Crazy Growth | E2135
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason and Alex dicuss stories shaping the tech and startup world: Circle’s explosive IPO and what it signals about crypto regulation...
Anthropic Cuts Off Windsurf, Deel Rewrites the Narrative and Flock Safety’s Surveillance Tech | E2134
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Alex and Lon discuss Windsurf getting abruptly cut off from Anthropic just before a rumored $3B acquisition by OpenAI, sparking questi...
Grammarly’s $1B Round, Brain Computers, and NYT Licenses To Amazon | E2133
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason and Alex discuss the hottest tech and startup news: Grammarly secures a massive $1B investment from General Catalyst to fuel its...
How AthenaHQ and Browser Use Are Building the Next Layer of the Internet | E2132
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Alex interviews two cutting-edge startups shaping the future of AI: AthenaHQ, pioneering “GEO” (Generative Engine Optimization) to...
Google’s AI Design Tool, Salesforce’s $8B Comeback Deal, and M&A Momentum Builds | E2131
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we cover three major stories shaping the startup and tech landscape. First, Google unveils Stitch, an AI-powered web design tool with...
Apple’s Tariff Trouble, Anthropic’s New Models, and Our Founder Friday Finale | E2130
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Trump takes aim at Apple with a potential 25% iPhone tariff, Anthropic releases two powerful new Claude models claiming top performanc...
David Friedberg on AI-First Startups & the Future of Biology, Business & Creativity | AI Basics with Google Cloud
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Jason chats with David Friedberg—CEO of Ohalo Genetics and co-host of the All-In Podcast—about how AI is transforming agriculture...
Jony Ive Joins OpenAI, Waymo Hits 10M Rides, and How to Launch a Marketplace from Scratch | E2129
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason and Alex dicsuss Jony Ive's $6.5B deal with OpenAI and what it means for the future of AI hardware, Tesla’s push into robo...
Drones, Design, and Digital Espionage | E2128
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason and Lon explore the wild edges of tech innovation and regulation — from a student-built acoustic weapon that takes down drones...
Microsoft Layoffs, Immigration Blunders, & Office Hours with Jeremy Redman of Airfive | E2127
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Microsoft lays off 6,000 employees despite record profits, signaling a ruthless new phase in big tech. Jason, Lon, and Alex discuss wh...
Chime’s IPO, Databricks’ $1B Acquisition & Dave Rubin’s Media Empire | E2126
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Chime is finally going public with strong financials and a shot at matching its $25B 2021 valuation, signaling real momentum in the IP...
Agentic AI Meets Cybersecurity + Solar Robots in the Desert | E2125
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Alex interviews founders from two frontier technologies reshaping our world. First, ZioSec is tackling the cybersecurity risks of AI a...
Anti-Work Uprising, Copyright Wars & the StreamFog Solution | E2124
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Lon & Alex are back with a spicy Monday episode of This Week in Startups. Jason goes off on unions vs capitalism, we dig in...
OpenAI Scoops Instacart’s CEO, AI in the Courtroom & Off-Road Startups | E2123
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon break down OpenAI’s latest power move: hiring Instacart CEO Fidji Simo to lead its consumer apps. They also div...
Zoox Crash Fallout, COATUE’s $1B Open Fund, and Office Hours with FusionAds | E2122
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Lon & Alex discuss the day’s hottest tech and startup news. Zoox’s robotaxi crash and voluntary recall, COATUE’s inno...
Cursor’s $9B Round, AI-Powered Toys & CloudNuro’s SaaS Fix | E2121
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Cursor’s explosive growth, hitting $200M in ARR and a massive $9B valuation. They also explore the buzz around Magical Toys’ new A...
Apple’s App Store Loss, AI Persuasion, and an Interview with Tyler Denk of Beehiiv | E2120
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Lon, and Alex break down a loaded week in tech: Apple’s 27% App Store “link-out” fee gets shut down by a judge—unlockin...
What's Next for AI Infrastructure with Amin Vahdat | AI Basics with Google Cloud
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of AI Basics, Jason sits down with Amin Vahdat, VP of ML at Google Cloud, to unpack the mind-blowing infrastructure behind modern AI. ...
Bittensor’s Rise, Meta’s Llama Goes Cloud, & AI Now Writes Your Code | E2119
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Alex, Lon and Special Guest Mark Jeffrey of Hash Rate, cover the explosive rise of Bittensor, a decentralized AI compute networ...
Meta’s Dangerous Chat, Protect AI & Founder Fridays Pitch Comp | E2118
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: we break down the wild story behind Meta’s AI chatbots going completely off the rails — including a bombshell WSJ exposé about bo...
Discord’s Power Move, Slate’s Modular EVs & the “Act for Private Gain” | E2117
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon break down today’s top tech and startup stories — from Slate Auto’s customizable $25K EV truck to Discord’...
Cursor’s $300M ARR, Uber’s FTC Battle, and Office Hours with GoShare | E2116
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Alex and Lon unpack the FTC’s lawsuit against Uber and what it could mean for subscription UX, break down how AI startup Curs...
Robot Lifeguards, TapCheck’s Payday Play & Thalamus’s Wild Market Share | E2115
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason and Lon break down the biggest stories in tech and startups this week: OpenAI’s new models are powerful but glitchy, Meta’s ...
LMArena Goes Startup, AI App Wars Begin, Scott Bair’s Design Playbook | E2114
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon discuss the rise of LMArena as it spins out into a full-fledged startup, what that means for AI benchmarking, and...
AI Progress and Impact on Ecosystem Players with CapitalG’s Jill Chase | AI Basics with Google Cloud
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of AI Basics, Jason sits down with CapitalG partner Jill Chase to break down how AI is reshaping the startup ecosystem — from founde...
Cuts CEO Talks Tariffs, Figma's IPO Buzz, and a Nerd Crawler Update | E2113
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon discuss Figma’s surprise IPO filing following its $1B breakup from Adobe, OpenAI’s quiet push into social net...
Vertical AI Innovations: Abacus LLM in Finance & Synthesia's Video Avatars | E2112
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Alex interviews founders from Abacus and Synthesia—two companies leading the charge in vertical AI. Abacus is deploying on-prem LLMs...
HuggingFace Buys Pollen Robotics, DHH & Bezos Founder Advice & a JCal Origin Story | E2111
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: In this episode, Jason, Alex, and Lon dive into Blue Origin’s all-female celeb spaceflight (yes, Katy Perry sang on reentry), Huggin...
Palantir's Fellowship, Coco Robots & Startup Office Hours | E2110
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: We dive into the latest tech and startup news — including Palantir’s bold new fellowship program that challenges the traditional c...
70mph Drone Deliveries, 125% Tariffs & What $10M Exits Really Mean | E2109
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon talk about stories reshaping the startup world: 70mph drone deliveries are officially live in Dallas, with Ziplin...
Economic Chaos, More Pitch Madness & the Shopify AI Manifesto | E2108
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason and Alex unpack a wild week in tech and the markets — including a fake tweet that moved $4 trillion and Trump’s latest tarif...
Rippling Targets $16B, Market Chaos, TikTok Timeout, and Office Hours | E2107
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason and Alex dive into the startup world’s latest chaos — from Nasdaq’s slide and Trump’s tariffs to Klarna’s IPO pause an...
Spycraft in SaaS, Rabbit’s Comeback, and Startup Pitch Madness | E2106
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This Week in Startups is brought to you by…Kyte - TWIST Listeners: Go to https://kyte.com/ and download the Kyte app today. Use code JASON to save 1...
M&A Mania, Palantir Meme Crash + Office Hours with Hookhub | E2105
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Circle gears up for its IPO and the stablecoin wars heat up, Palantir’s meme stock status gets a reality check, and they riff on a p...
AI Revolution Gains, Non-Consensus Startups & Prosperous AI | E2104
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon cover everything from wild political headlines to big moves in AI and venture. They kick things off with the surp...
11x in Trouble and China's AI Acceleration | E2103
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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