This Week in Startups

First, we cover Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong potentially taking credit for an idea generated by a creative firm (2:09). Then, we cover Peloton's new CEO Barry McCarthy's vision for a revitalized Peloton (15:29). To wrap, we break down a dozen growth stocks that are down over 60% off their 52-week highs. We forecast two winners, one with the highest upside and one with the lowest downside (27:53)....

00:00 Jason intros the show, Roach Captial's first fund, and Producer Rachel's interview with the Dive Chat founder01:33 Angel Season 6 - First Time Funds 04:07 Fahd Ananta of Roach Capital's path from founder to PM to VC 06:08 Fahd's Angel investing beginnings in at Shopify 10:20 How Fahd made the transition from Angel investing to raising a fund 13:03 Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at...

Ashley Carman joins Jason & Molly to discuss Spotify's acquisition of podcast ad-tech companies Chartable and Podsights (1:55). Ashley is a senior reporter at The Verge and the lead writer at HotPod. We dig into why she thinks Spotify's main competition is YouTube and how the Big Tech and Big Media podcasting efforts are playing out. After that, 10 companies pitch Jason and the team in rapid-fire...

World-class investor-operator Keith Rabois is back for his eighth time! But first, Jason breaks down Airbnb's great Q4 and full-year earnings report (2:42) and how its customer segment is evolving. Then, he briefly covers the SF Board of Education recall (22:58). When Keith joins (31:27), he and Jason discuss: 1. How he called the top of the tech market in November 2021 2. Keith's 2019 prediction...

Catalyzed by a Ryan Breslow viral tweetstorm, we break down the arguments for if companies should loan money to employees to allow them to exercise their stock options early (1:42). Then, we briefly cover Nvidia's attempted Arm acquisition falling through and what it might mean for the SoftBank-owned chip designer (30:21). Finally, Molly interviews Craig Zingerline from Growth University, a LAUNCH...

First, we break down the Crypto companies that ran super bowl ads and see how they stack up against the dot-com era ads (1:53). Then, we do an update on Joby aviation now that they are trying to roll out an air taxi service in South Korea (28:03). To wrap, Molly covers the BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) space and the challenges these companies are having as they scale, specifically Affirm's recent earn...

Jason and Molly begin this double-header Sunday show with a VC Sunday School segment on top-tier VC behavior (01:38). You will learn: 1. How first-tier VCs compare to second-tier VCs 2. When VCs should intervene in a portfolio company 3. The difference between micromanaging and good governance 4. Jason's framework for ensuring alignment: Mission, Plan, Strategy, Tactics 5. Why good Board Members r...

Jason and Molly open the shown discussing Disney's Q1 Earnings and the 37% increase in Disney+ subscribers (01:51). Then, Qloo CEO Alex Elias joins to discuss his AI prediction company (21:12). You will learn: 1. How Qloo uses machine learning to understand taste and draw cultural correlations 2. Why Qloo adopted an API business model and is focused on developers 3. Ways businesses and brands are...

In the opening news segment, Molly and Jason break down the news around Peloton's new CEO, Barry McCarthy, including the open letter he sent to the company, his background and principles for success (2:05). Then, Monique Woodard of Cake Ventures joins for Episode 5 of Season 6 of Angel (32:50). Monique was a founder, startup community leader, VC scout, and VC partner before raising her first fund....

We have a great interview with a serial-founder today! But first, Molly and Jason cover one of the craziest stories of the year. A couple has been charged with conspiring to launder ~$3.6B worth of crypto from the 2016 Bitfinex hack. Ilya is a former YC founder and Heather part-time rapper. Today's Guest is Peter Reinhardt, the co-founder of Segment, a customer data platform that sold to Twillio f...

Molly and Jason cover Peter Thiel stepping down from FB's board and look back at the board's evolution over time (2:07). Next, we cover Joe Lonsdale's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, where he argues AWS should be split off from Amazon (27:41). We debate if valuations would increase if separated. Then, Peloton Founder & CEO John Foley is stepping down as the firm lays off 2800 people (40:30). We...

Molly and Jason catch up on the big news stories from the weekend. First, we talk about the Joe Rogan & Spotify saga (1:51) and size up the odds of Rogan finishing out his contract with Spotify (15:41). Then, we cover Facebook warning about pulling Instagram and Facebook out of Europe due to privacy regulations (29:54). Next, we cover GoFundMe's decision to pull funding for the "Freedom Convoy" pr...

John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins joins to discuss his lessons from a career of investing and his new book "Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now," alongside his co-author Ryan Panchadsaram. But first, Jason gives a 10-minute crash course on how to navigate messy cap tables in our latest VC Sunday School segment (1:54). Then John and Ryan join Molly and Jason for a conversat...

First Jason and Molly discuss reports from "The Information" that Jokr is looking to sell its NYC delivery business due to heightened competition (1:51). Next, they cover how Cruise is opening up its driverless vehicles to give rides in San Francisco (11:09). Then, Gopuff Co-founder and Co-CEO Rafael Ilishayev joins to discuss his rapid delivery business (19:12). Almost a decade ago, Raf and his c...

In the opening news segment, Molly and Jason break down the numbers behind Facebook's colossal drop in market cap (2:42). Then, they cover a company that seems to be violating music copyrights to sell NFTS (38:14). Then, Paige Finn of Behind Genius joins for Episode 4 of Season 6 of Angel (49:45). Paige became interested in venture capital during college, but within a year and a half of graduating...

First, Jason explains how someone copied the All-In podcast, put in ads, and then redirected Google's podcast player to display it as the real All-In feed (1:44). Then, we break down Google's Q4 and full year earnings for 2021 (18:25). Is Google the best business ever? Then, Jason tells the story of "The Great iPad Troll of 2010" (45:10). 00:00 Jason & Molly intro the show 01:44 How someone hijack...

Another big news drop in the gaming space! Jason and Molly discuss Sony is acquiring Bungie for $3.6B (2:36). We break down what this means for Sony, Bungie's crazy history, and if other big tech giants should look for M&A targets in gaming. Then, we talk about our startup of the day called Metafy which allows pro gamers to do 1-on-1 teaching, online for hourly rates (29:38). Finally we wrap with...

Over the weekend Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow wrote a big thread on why he thinks Y Combinator isn't worth it. We break it down point by point and assess the validity of the claims (7:07). Right before we started recording, news broke that Breslow was leaving the CEO role to assume the executive chairman position, so we cover that too (2:11). Then, we cover Joe Rogan's expla-nology (explanation/apology)...

Jason says, "fortunes are made in the down market and collected in the up market." In today's VC Sunday School Jason and Molly discuss how a down market impacts early-stage investors (01:45). You will learn: 1. Risks to VC fundraising when valuations are down 2. If your investing process should vary depending on market conditions 3. How a down market impacts future returns 4. Why founders should h...

Today's guest is Packy McCormick of Not Boring, for Episode 3 of Season 6 of Angel. Packy turned his massive newsletter into a Not Boring Fund I in 2021, and has since invested $10M into startups. In this episode you will learn: 1. How Packy raised his first fund from his readers. 2. What regulations he needed to navigate to comply with the SEC. 3. Which sectors he invested his first $10M into (in...

Alex Wilhelm from TechCrunch joins Molly and Jason for a full episode. First, they breakdown Tesla's Q4 2021 earnings including its consistently increasing Model 3 production, profitability and charger network growth (3:08). Next up, they discuss why Alex thinks the IPO window is closed for most startups. We wrap with a review of some of 2022's most anticipated IPOs including Discord, Reddit, Stri...

We break down Microsoft's amazing earnings (quarterly revenue is up $10B year-over-year) and assess if Satya Nadella is the greatest big tech CEO right now (2:32). Then, we follow-up on the Stripe Mafia thread yesterday from the Bolt CEO (20:59) and we talk about Neil Young asking to have his music removed from Spotify over Joe Rogan's COVID conversations, which prompted a discussion of Spotify's...

In this all news show Jason and Molly talk about Jason's strategy for meeting with founders (1:48) and we talk about monetization for creators on TikTok and how payouts compare to YouTube (6:48). Then we look at the post where Bolt Founder Ryan Breslow accused Stripe and YC of being Silicon Valley mob bosses (31:41). Our startup of the day is Culdesac, which is building a walkable community in Ari...

Due to the volatility in the market, Jason and Molly review the fundamentals of Block, Zoom, Netflix, Coinbase, and AirBnB and compare this correction with the Dot-com crash (2:11). They discuss investing in a downturn, the difference between private and public investors, speculative businesses vs. strong fundamentals and more! To wrap, we cover activist investor Blackwells Capital calling for the...

First, Jason teaches Sunday VC School: how investors work together (01:54). In this segment you will learn.: How collaboration varies across investing stages. How lead investors are determined and what their responsibilities are. The strategies you can use to win deals (Jason explains the pitch he gives to founders with options). The warning signs to watch for when working with other investors. Ta...