Jason Calacanis

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis covers startups, tech, markets, media, and all the hottest topics in business and technology. He also interviews the world’s greatest founders, operators, investors, and innovators.

Author

Jason Calacanis

Category

Technology

Podcast website

thisweekinstartups.com

Latest episode

Jul 10, 2026

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Episodes

The Drone Company Everyone Thought Was Illegal (Now Worth $4B+) | E2265 20.03.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent - https:// www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Circle - https://circle.so/twist Netsuite - https://www.netsuite.com/twist Today's show: Zipline founder Keller Cliffton started his company with a simple premise: build automated logistics that serve everyone equally. The only problem? It was literally illegal in the US. In this...

How Robinhood became a $68B company w/ Vlad Tenev 18.03.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Deel - https:// deel.com/twist LinkedIn Jobs - https:// LinkedIn.com/twist . Iru - https:// iru.com/twist Today's show: We've got a treat for you today on TWiST! Jason is live from LAUNCH Fest in San Francisco, where he's joined by Robinhood founder Vlad Tenev. The era of AI is here. Robinhood found success in the midst of the last great technological shi...

Are Brain-Computer Interfaces Actually Ready for Humans? 16.03.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Caldera + Lab - https:// CalderaLab.com/TWIST Northwest Registered Agent - https:// northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Lemon - https:// Lemon.io/twist Today's show: Computers that read your mind? Jets that are all wings? Continuously tracking your body's vital signs to live longer? We've got all that and more on the show today. First, we sat down with the...

One Genius Rule That Made This Coffee Brand Famous | EP 2262 14.03.2026

Legendary British ad man Rory Sutherland invented a fake business on a podcast, a coffee shop appealing to the busy commuter called "Flat White or F**k Off." But it's one thing to have a post go big on TikTok or Instagram… but to turn that viral moment into an actual COMPANY is a very different challenge. On TWiST, Jason and Lon chat with Charlie Hurst, Tom Noble, and Will Sudlow, founders of the...

The Global Expansion of Self-Driving Vehicles 11.03.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Circle - http://circle.so/twist Sentry - http:// Sentry.io Deel - http://deel.com/twist Plaud - http://Plaud.ai/twist Today's show: It's self-driving time! We're going deep on one of the most exciting spaces developing in the world, autonomous vehicles! We've got 3 experts on the show to talk to us enlighten us, Ben Seidl of Autolane, Ming Maa of Moove, a...

How agents will change banking forever | E2260 10.03.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent - ⁠⁠northwestregisteredagent.com/twist⁠⁠ Quo - ⁠⁠quo.com/TWiST⁠⁠ Gusto - ⁠⁠Gusto.com/twist⁠⁠ Plaud - http://Plaud.ai/twist Athena - https://www.athena.com/jcal Today's show: How long until AI models can improve AI models? Once possible, recursive self-improvement by AI technology could accelerate — forever. Thus far, humans (and...

Wisdom of the $TAO: the future is decentralized AI 06.03.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Every Banking - https:// Every.io https:// Lemon.io - Lemon.io/twist Wispr Flow - https:// wisprflow.ai/twist Plaud - https:// plaud.ai/twist Ro.co - https:// Ro.co/Twist Today's show: *Sure, we all love open source models, but what about completely decentralized AI? Rather than leaving the big decision-making in the hands of a few elite CEOs, shouldn't u...

Is Anthropic Making the Biggest Mistake in AI History | E2258 05.03.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Plaud - Plaud.ai/twist LinkedIn Jobs - https:// LinkedIn.com/twist . Deel - https:// deel.com/twist Iru - https:// iru.com /twist! Today's show: It's a packed TWiST Today! WITH US, we've got Erik Voorhees of VeniceAI and Logan Allin of Fin Capital on to talk agents, crypto, and… you guessed it, OPENCLAW! Where does agentic AI meet the financial system? Ho...

How the OpenClaw foundation bullet-proofed its future (w/Dave Morin) | E2257 03.03.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Circle — http://circle.so/twistHubspot Creators — http://clickhubspot.com/twist2Uber AI Solutions — http://uber.com/ai-solutionsToday's show: *Dave Morin joined the show today to explain how the OpenClaw Foundation came into existence, and what its goals are. Fear not, Peter Steinberger retains directional control of the project. But if you want to sustain...

The Biggest Private Funding Round in History | E2256 28.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Deel - http://deel.com/twist Wispr Flow - https://wisprflow.ai/twist Luma AI - https://lumalabs.ai/twist Today's show: *$110 billion buys you 15% of OpenAI. Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank placed their bets on ChatGPT, which now has 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paying subscribers. Find out why Jason is anticipating the wildest J-Curve swing...

Behind the Scenes with an early OpenClaw contributor! | E2252 26.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Lemon IO - https://Lemon.io/twist Every.io - https://every.io Sentry.io- https://sentry.io/twist Today's show: We're going behind the curtain today — it's a packed show! We found Tyler Yust, OpenClaw's third EVER contributor to share his insights from within foundation! We've got Deedy Das, of Menlo Ventures, on the show to discuss whether SaaS is cooked!...

Kill Your Startup's Knowledge Chaos with OpenClaw (with Oliver Henry and Jeff Weisbein) | E2254 24.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Caldera Lab - [calderalab.com/twist](https://calderalab.com/twist)Iru - [iru.com](http://Iru.com/twist)LinkedIn Jobs - http://linkedin.com/twist*OpenClaw is incredible at automating tasks. But what if it could also fix your startup's internal communication problems? Give agents shared memory, and you may be able to break down information silos while ensuri...

We Asked 3 Experts How to Get More Value out of OpenClaw | E2253 21.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Gusto - https://Gusto.com/twist Circle - https://circle.so/twist Northwest Registered Agent - https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Today's show: *Getting OpenClaw set up and running without destroying your bank account is one thing. But now that you have your agent or swarm operational, how can you use them to get real work done? We have three build...

When Will Openclaw go Mainstream? | E2252 19.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Gusto - Try Gusto today and get 3 months free at gust.com/twist Crusoe Cloud - Reserve your capacity for the latest GPU's at crusoe.ai/savings Uber AI Solutions - Book a demo today at http://uber.com/ai-solutions Today's show: It's a packed show! We've got YouTuber and Openclaw enthusiast Matthew Berman, Ryan Yaneli, founder of Nextvisit, and Jason Grad,...

Will OpenAI Tank OpenClaw? | E2251 17.02.2026

Will OpenAI Tank OpenClaw? | E2251 This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Lemon IO - https://lemon.io/twist LinkedIn Jobs - http://linkedin.com/HiringProOffer Today's show: *OpenAI hired OpenClaw creater Peter Steinberger. What does this mean for the future of the AI virtual assistant platform, and what can the OpenCla...

OpenClaw is Our Friend Now | E2250 14.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Sentry - http://sentry.io/twist Circle - http://Circle.so/twist Wispr Flow - https://wisprflow.ai/twist Today's show:  What makes OpenClaw feel so much more ALIVE than other AI agents? On TWiST, we're welcoming three amazing builders who are truly connecting with their OpenClaw bots, not just using them for productivity but getting to know them and their...

Why J-Cal Invested to 200K in a former Employee | E2249 12.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: NetSuite - https://www.netsuite.com/twist Luma AI - https://lumalabs.ai/twist Squarespace - https://squarespace.com/twist Today's show:  On today's epsiode of TWiST, Jason gets pitched by two top founders, Presh Dineshkumar and Peter Cetale!  Presh used to work for Jason at Launch! When he left, Jason invested $200K into Presh's new startup The Wellness C...

How These 3 Founders are building on Open Claw | E2248 12.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Hubspot - http://clickhubspot.com/twist2 Deel - http://deel.com/twist Iru - http://www.iru.com/ Today's show:  Today on TWiST we're joined by 3 founders building on Open Claw,  Presh Dineshkumar, Vishnu, and Sean Liu! First, long time friend of the pod, Presh Dineshkumar, shows us how he's using Open Claw to automate his work at The Wellness Company. His...

Does Clawdbot (OpenClaw) Need Eyes? (feat. Alex Finn and Matt Van Horn) | E2247 10.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/twist Every.io - http://every.io/ Northwest registered Agent - www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Today's show:  Sean Liu gave his OpenClaw "eyes" by hooking the AI assistant up to his Meta Ray Bans. While Jason and Alex consider the implications… guest expert Alex Finn quickly loses interest… It's another All-Clawdbot T...

We built OpenClaw Ultron to replace 20 people at our company | E2246 07.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Crusoe Cloud - https://crusoe.ai/savings Lemon IO - https://Lemon.io/twist Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Thanks to our guests: Alex Cheema of ExoLabs http://exolabs.net Ryan Yanneli of NextVisit https://nextvisit.ai/ Today's show:  It's the Age of Ultron at TWiST and LAUNCH. We've given our OpenClaw digital Re...

Savvy is HQ Trivia + Wordle (feat. Scott Rogowsky) | E2245 04.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Circle - http://Circle.so/twist Caldera Lab - http://calderalab.com/TWIST LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/twist Today's show:  There was a time, not long ago, when offices everywhere came to a standstill, and everyone became even more fixated on their phones than usual, each time HQ Trivia went live. The app-based game show was a massive viral hit… until s...

Where early-stage founders MUST focus to success | E2244 03.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Quadratic - http://quadratic.ai/twist Today's show:  Don't get distracted! Here are the MOST CRUCIAL aspects of running a startup, where founders need to keep their full and uninterrupted focus. - Make sure you're saving up your cash - Why you need to just get started and build SOMETHING - Trust and reliability is EVERYTHING for new products - Why distrib...

SpaceX + xAI deal gets us one step closer to Musk Industries | E2243 03.02.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Uber - http://uber.com/twist Deel - http://deel.com/twist Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Today's show:  SpaceX is buying xAI, forming a mega-corp that plans to launch data centers into SPACE. Will Tesla also join up, fulfilling Elon's destiny to become real-life Tony Stark, with his own Musk Industries? Jason a...

How OpenClaw (Clawdbot) Is Rewriting the Way Our Team Works with Rahul Sood | E2242 31.01.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Deel - http://deel.com/twist LinkedIn Jobs - http://linkedin.com/twist Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Today's show:  On Today's action packed episode of This Week in Startups, our team is going full AI! Jason is joined by Oliver Korzen and Lukas Durand from the LAUNCH team, alongside Rahul Sood, founder/CEO of...

How decriminalization led to an explosion in cannabis startups (Feat. Ford Smith, Andrew Duffy, and Socrates Rosenfeld) | E2241 29.01.2026

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Gusto - http://Gusto.com/twist Zite - http://zite.com/twist Circle.so - http://circle.so/twist Guest links:  Andrew Duffy, Founder and CEO, http://sparkplug.app — Retail incentives and brand partnerships platform Ford Smith, Founder of http://Ultranative.com — Investing in transformative startups Socrates Rosenfeld, Founder and CEO of http://iheartjane.co...

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