This Week in Startups

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Netsuite - https://www.netsuite.com/twist LumaAi - https://lumalabs.ai/twist Squarespace - https://squarespace.com/twist Today's show:  Government fraud and waste has become a prominent issue in the last month. That's what we are looking at. On Today's episode of TWiST, Jason interviews Alex Shieh of the The Antifraud Company. Under the False Claims Act,...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent - www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Caldera Lab - http://calderalab.com/TWIST Pipedrive - http://pipedrive.com/twist Today's show:  TWiST is coming to you all from TOKYO as we launch Japan's first-ever Founder University! That's right, a full week of key insights from Japan's top founders, investors, and tech visionaries… w...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Hubspot - http://clickhubspot.com/twist1 Circle.so - http://circle.so/twist Sentry - http://sentry.io/twist Today's show:  On the last TWiST episode before Jason goes to Japan and Alex begins on paternity leave, the hosts break down the blockbuster tech news that is kicking off 2026. Discord AND Strava both eyeing billion dollar IPOs, two massive social m...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Gusto - https://www.gusto.com/twist Lemon IO -  https://lemon.io/twist Quo - http://quo.com/TWiST Today's show:  We keep hearing about how AI is killing our ability to think, filling our media with slop, and ruining our kids' ability to learn. It seems the internet is filled with negative sentiment about the future AI is bringing. Jason is joined by Grant...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Crusoe Cloud - https://crusoe.ai/build Uber - http://uber.com/twist Every.io - http://every.io/ Today's show:  Jason and Alex are BACK on TWiST for 2026!  This holiday season was anything but calm, with deca-corn acquisitions, massive Polymarket bets, and major new startups breaking from stealth! Jason talks the recent Nvidia-Groq $20B acquisition, a majo...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: LinkedIn Ads - http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups Squarespace - https://squarespace.com/twist Hubspot - http://clickhubspot.com/twist1 Today's show:  We're saying goodbye to 2025 with our annual TWISTY Awards, looking back on our favorite pod moments from throughout the year. Featured clips include Jason's message to the members of Reddit's r/AntiWork...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent- https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Vanta - http://www.vanta.com/twist Lemon IO - https://lemon.io/twist Today's show:  Jason's already a millionaire many times over… but what are the huge, blockbuster, dream purchases that he's still holding off on? BESIDES the private jet we all know he wants? The Noti Gang has ask...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Caldera + Lab - http://calderalab.com/TWIST Crusoe Cloud - https://crusoe.ai/build Uber - http://uber.com/twist Today's show:  Why did a power outage in the Bay Area cause Waymos to pile up on city streets? Jason was actually in San Francisco to take in the spectacle of Waymos blocking traffic. But why did this happen? And can we look forward to a day whe...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Luma AI - https://lumalabs.ai/twist Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist  Lemon IO - https://lemon.io/twist Today's show:  DID YOU KNOW… most of the tried and true techniques devised by marketing gurus in the '40s and '50s still apply today? On TWiST, we're joined by online marketing expert Sam Parr, host of "My Firs...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: LinkedIn Ads- http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups Squarespace - https://squarespace.com/twist Enterpret - http://Enterpret.com/twist Today's show:  How do top tech CEOs hire? AI has thrown out the playbook for getting hired — so what are the most innovative firms looking for? Anyone can learn any skill and automate much of it, what is to be valued in t...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Vanta - https://www.vanta.com/twist NetSuite - https://www.netsuite.com/twist Lemon.io - https://lemon.io/twist * Today's show:  Domestic robots have never been hotter… so why is iRobot in so much trouble?! On TWiST, we're investigating the recent troubles facing the automated vacuum robot, Roomba. We've all seen these little discs sweeping up our friends...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: LinkedIn Ads - http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups DevStats - https://www.devstats.com/twist Crusoe - https://crusoe.ai/build Today's show:  FINALLY, you can hang out with Kylo Ren and Olaf the Snowman… thanks to the magic of AI. On TWiST, we're digging into the mega OpenAI-Disney deal. Mickey is giving Sam Altman a $1 billion investment AND will allow...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Uber -  http://uber.com/twist Pilot - https://pilot.com/twist Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Today's show:  Boom is still making supersonic jets but ALSO plans to start selling their turbines as power sources for AI data centers. It's a perfect example of problem-solving on the go and how "the best founders… MA...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Goldbelly - Goldbelly.com Every.io - http://every.io/ Zite - zite.com/twist Today's show: Today, Zapier's a multi-billion company helping enterprises integrate AI agents and other time-saving shortcuts into their workflows… but we had the founder on TWiST when they were just getting started! In a 2016 chat, founder Wade Foster walked JCal through their 20...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Superhuman - https://superhuman.com/podcast Squarespace - https://squarespace.com/twist Enterpret - https://www.enterpret.com/dlp/this-week-in-startups Today's show:  A screenshot showing a "Target Ad" in ChatGPT results went viral… over the weekend, but the OpenAI chatbot has NOT actually opened the advertising floodgates just yet. As ChatGPT staffers we...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Sentry - http://sentry.io/twist LinkedIn Ads - http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups Pipedrive - pipedrive.com/twist Today's show: Netflix wants to gobble up Warner Bros. Do they just want to own Batman and Harry Potter, or is this secretly about destroying movie theaters? Sure, this is usually a startup show, but news THIS BIG warrants attention! So Lon...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Crusoe - http://crusoe.ai/build Gusto - https://www.gusto.com/twist Today's show: Delegating is its own unique skill, requiring training and a real investment of time and attention. On TWiST, Jason chats for a full hour with the founder of one of his favorite startups, Athena, whi...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: LinkedIn Ads - http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups Vanta - https://www.vanta.com/twist Pilot - https://pilot.com/twist Today's show:  Did you know there's actually a shortage of US bricklayers? It's TRUE! So feel free to marvel at Monumental's brick-laying robots. They're not putting anyone out of work, but filling a much-needed gap. Join Alex and Monu...

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Quo - http://quo.com/TWiST Squarespace - https://www. Squarespace.com/TWIST Miro - http://miro.com/ Today's show:  Michael Saylor's Strategy play is struggling with the price of Bitcoin on a steep decline… Is his new "dollar reserve" the answer? On TWiST, we're looking into the state of $MSTR and why Jason remains SO skeptical about this increasingly conv...

Register here to join Founder University Japan's kickoff! 👉🏻 https://luma.com/cm0x90mkToday's show: On TWiST, Alex is chatting with Neubird CEO Gou Rao about the intricate complexity of IT Ops, and the vast amount of layers and components that have to be delivered very quickly to your phone in order to stream a simple video clip. Neubird has developed Hawkeye, an AI "engineer" that uses "context...

Register here for Founder University Japan's Kickoff 👉🏻  https://luma.com/cm0x90mk Today's show: The team from Familify had released a well-reviewed storytelling app for kids and parents… but it just wasn't growing! Then they noticed that Bible stories and faith-based content was particularly popular. So they decided released a brand new app, Theo, just for these sorts of lessons and stories. An...

Register here to join Founder University Japan's kickoff:  https://luma.com/cm0x90mk Today's show: Google and Meta had their cases dismissed (or received a slap on the wrist)… Despite all the backlash and cynicism, AI companies continue making bank and releasing hot new products… What does it all mean? For Jason Calacanis, the signs are pointing to a "major M&A moment," with huge opportunities for...

Today's show: The race for more compute gets all the headlines, but Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch tells us the REAL danger is running out of data! On TWiST, Jason and Alex are chatting with the head of France's largest foundation AI company, Mistral AI, about how enterprises can get more out of their AI pilots, whether the West is lacking leadership on open-source, why Mistral AI isn't pursuing eve...

AI Model Showdown: Grok 4.1 vs. Gemini 3 | E2211 Register for Founder University Japan's Kickoff! https://luma.com/cm0x90mk Today's show: *Will the arrival of two hotly-anticipated, intensely powerful AI models snap the Doomer cycle? On a new TWiST, Jason and Alex consider the current AI landscape, one where cynicism about insider mega-deals, fear of job displacement, and concerns about bubble bur...

*Are we finally reaching Peak eVTOL? Jason and Alex on Joby's big Abu Dhabi moves and Archer's purchase of LA's Hawthorne Airport. On a PACKED Monday TWiST, Jason is BACK from MENA and Tokyo. Hear tales from his whirlwind trips launching new Founder University satellite programs… and find out why construction and fintech are BOOMING across the Middle East. PLUS Ramp raised $300M… here's why Alex c...