This Week in Startups

First, Jason and Molly cover Tesla's strong Q1 and gems from the earnings call (2:22), then Lon Harris joins (31:32) to discuss WeCrashed episode 7 (34:17), Severance episodes 1-3 (58:46), Netflix's rough Q1 and quality drop off (1:13:35) and CNN+ shutting down (1:26:40). (00:00) Jason and Molly intro today's news topics and their chat with Lon Harris (02:22) Tesla had a blowout quarter in Q1 earn...

First, we break down Netflix's earnings and discuss where Netflix's content strategy might have gone wrong (2:46). Then, Jason pitches Jared Kushner's leaked PE firm fundraising deck (35:15). We wrap with a discussion of Warner Bros. Discovery possibly killing CNN+ (56:27) and Just Eat Takeaway announcing they are looking into selling Grubhub, 10 months after finalizing a $7B acquisition (1:13:21)...

First, Jack is getting candid about Twitter's board dysfunction (2:14). Then, we cover Facebook's internet infrastructure development projects in Africa (24:31) and Better.com's new round of layoffs (33:53). Our startup of the day is Regent, which is making a regional seaplane (46:51). We wrap with a discussion of Zendesk considering a sale (1:01:34) and Telsa's third act (1:04:57). (00:00) Jason...

All-news show. First, we go over PitchBook's Q1 Venture Monitor report where VC fundraising is high, but portfolio exits are down (3:08). Then, we discuss how the incoming CNN CEO Chris Licht and Chris Sacca are both taking a Twitter break (33:35), and touch on Alex Jones' InfoWars filing for bankruptcy (44:33). Our startup of the day is new social app BeReal (53:55). (00:00) Jason and Molly intro...

Friday variety show! First, The Verge's Alex Heath joins to talk about two big stories he recently broke (2:32): Facebook's plans for AR glasses and Twitter's internal reaction to Elon's takeover bid. Molly sits down with LAUNCH Accelerator founder Aleks Smechov whose company Wordcab specifically focuses on speech-to-text AI summaries (1:04:54). We wrap with an edition of OK Boomer where Producer...

All news show. First, Jason and Molly debrief after their Worldcoin interview (2:37). Next, they discuss Elon Musk's take-private offer for Twitter at $43B (08:50), the highlights from Elon's TED interview (15:33), and more (24:53). In a We Live in the Future segment, we react to a viral video of police pulling over self-driving Cruise car (58:38). (00:00) Jason and Molly intro today's Elon/Twitte...

First, we cover Meta's announcement that they will be taking 47.5% creator fees on their Horizons platform (2:17) and A16Z's Crypto lead Chris Dixon ranking number one on the Forbes Midas List. Then, Jason and Molly chat with Worldcoin CEO Alex Blania to talk about the crypto project he launched with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (11:08). Worldcoin is scanning people's irises with custom-made hardware and...

First we discuss Shopify planning 10-to-1 stock split & increasing CEO/Founder Tobi Luke's control from 34% to 40% (1:42). Then, the Atlantic's Derek Thompson joins to discuss his piece "Why American Teens Are So Sad" (25:59), including the impacts of new-parenting styles (33:38), social media (44:10) and infinite news. Check out Derek's piece: https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/...

All news show. First, we discuss Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announcing that Elon has reversed his decision to join Twitter's board (04:10) and the NYT's Editor telling reporters to stop tweeting so much in an internal memo (31:29). Then, we discuss Ryan Breslow's latest series of threads, including one claiming that Instacart's CEO was shadow-fired by Sequoia (44:35). (00:00) Jason on meeting Harri...

Another Sunday edition of This Week in Startups! In VC Sunday School, Jason answers a question about investing in down rounds (1:54)from "Noti Gang" member Bob Gee. Then, Molly has a great interview with Jay Koh (12:16), an investor at The Lightsmith Group about how he invests in the climate landscape (20:41), cautionary tales from the first climate investing wave (32:13), and more. (0:00) Jason i...

Jason talks about how he sees the startup landscape developing, running remote teams and more on This Week in Startups Australia with Mark Pesce. Check out TWISTA: https://twistartupsaus.com/ Subscribe to TWISTA on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/twista-this-week-in-startups-australia/id951368363

First, Jason chats with Alex Campbell of Rose Technology, a data analytics tool and marketplace that helps organizations more clearly understand macro trends (1:28). Alex is a former trader for Ray Dalio's Bridgewater Associates and shares some incredible insights on the global macro environment across Chinese real estate (10:45), investment rates, Bitcoin, Tether, historical financial crises (43:...

First, Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal from Acquired join Jason to talk portfolio construction (13:41), Roelof Botha succeeding Doug Leone at Sequoia (30:58), and to debate the takeaway from Fast's demise (52:22). Then Lon Harris from Inside Streaming joins to discuss the final two episodes of The Dropout (1:24:16)! (00:00) Jason intros today's show (1:31) Catching up w/ the http://acquired.fm guy...

We kick off our crypto series with Dune Analytics CEO and Founder Frederik Haga about crypto on-chain analytics (37:23). But first, Jason covers Uber's piloting long-distance travel bookings in the UK, Twitter's edit button announcement, Open AI's new Dall-E 2 product, and does a quick CNN Plus review! (00:00) Jason intros the show (01:44) Uber testing long distance travel (07:34) Twitter adding e...

Antonio Garcia Martinez (Chaos Monkeys, The Pull Request) and Zach Coelius (Investor, Coelius Capital) join to discuss a wide range of news topics including Antonio's trip to Ukraine, the one-click company Fast closing down, Elon Musk joining Twitter's board, Apple taking on Facebook in ads (and how it will impact the battle for Ar/VR), crypto regulation and more! (00:00) Intro (01:08) Jason catch...

First, Jason and Molly discuss Elon buying a 9.2% stake in Twitter (01:50). Then, Dave Samuel of Freestyle VC joins (23:18) for a discussion on early stage investing. Freestyle invested early in startups including Airtable, Patreon and Intercom. We talk about how fund size dictates strategy, how to give feedback to founders (especially when it's a no) and more. (00:00) Jason and Molly intro today'...

Sunday double-header! In the opening VC Sunday School segment, Jason discusses deal flow (1:43), you will learn: 1. Inbound vs. outbound deal flow 2. Tactics VCs use to streamline their deal flow 3. Jason's philosophy on responding to founders - Your process is my opportunity Then, Molly chats with Jason Jacobs of My Climate Journey about scaling climate tech investing, inspiring people to solve c...

First Jason and Molly discuss instant delivery company GoPuff and 1-click checkout company Fast making layoffs (2:22). Then, Bradley Tusk of Tusk Ventures joins to discuss Uber's Taxi strategy in NYC, sports betting and tech regulation (40:06). Then in our Ok Boomer segment Rachel talks to Akash Raju, co-founder of Glimpse, brands pay Glimpse a subscription fee for the products to be featured in s...

Lon Harris joins us for This Week in Streaming to break down WeCrashed episode 4 AND The Dropout episode 6 (1:54). Then, we have David Rodolitz, the CEO and Co-Founder of FlyFish Club, which is NYC's first NFT restaurant (45:20). (00:00) Jason and Molly intro the show (01:54) Lon Harris on WeCrashed (12:23) Odoo - Get your first app free and a $1000 credit at https://odoo.com/twist (13:33) The per...

First up, Taylor Lorenz joins to talk about her newest scoop for the Washington Post: Facebook hired a GOP firm to trash TikTok (2:18)! Then, we discuss the SEC considering cracking down on SPACs (39:40), lastly we cover Fast, a 500-person one-click checkout startup, reportedly generating less than $1M in revenue (1:01:14). Read Taylor's Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/03/3...

First we explain the $625M hack of Axie Infinity's Ronin Bridge (1:34), then we discuss the engineers at Twilio who allegedly insider traded (17:30). Next we discuss Robinhood extending its trading window by four hours a day (29:50) and wrap with our startup of the day is Subject, a company providing high school courses for credit online (37:39). 00:00 Molly tees up today's topics 01:34 Axie Infin...

All news show. First, we recap the Oscars, including "The Slap" and Apple winning Best Picture (02:17). Then, we discuss $32B crypto derivate exchange FTX not having investors on its Board of Directors (42:45), Apple's reported hardware subscription (01:02:12) and Jason's Hot Tub story (01:09:57). (00:00) Jason and Molly intro the show (02:17) Talking about the 2022 Oscars slap: initial thoughts,...

Sunday Double-header! First, in VC Sunday School, Jason explains non-dilutive funding's impact on startups (2:18). Then, Molly interviews Continuum Ag Founder Mitchell Hora. His company helps farmers analyze their soil and create a roadmap improve it via a holistic approach known as regenerative agriculture (21:33). (00:00) Jason and Molly tee-up the show (02:18) VCSS: Discussing non-dilutive fund...

Another Friday variety show! First up, Jason and Molly break down the 16-year old hacking phenom who was allegedly behind the recent hacks at Microsoft, Nvidia and Okta, and might have just been caught (1:13). Then, the duo covers Molly's induction into LIBSYN's Podcasting Hall of Fame (6:46) and reminisces on the early days of podcasting including their first podcast together over 16 years ago (1...

Lon Harris joins Molly and Jason to talk WeCrashed, The Dropout and Super Pumped! First, they play a round of "Boff, Marry, Kill" between the three shows (1:16), before breaking down the first three episodes of WeCrashed (16:15) and the two lead performances (24:25). They finish with a quick chat on The Dropout and examine the potential of a "tech cinematic universe" (34:15).