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.
The Drone Company Everyone Thought Was Illegal (Now Worth $4B+) | E2265
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 live recording from LaunchFest in San Francisco, Keller shares how Zipline went from a...
How Robinhood became a $68B company w/ Vlad Tenev
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 shift. What lessons did Vl...
Are Brain-Computer Interfaces Actually Ready for Humans?
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 CEO of Paradromics, Matt Angle, to dig into the progress that his brain-computer interface startup has made...
One Genius Rule That Made This Coffee Brand Famous | EP 2262
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 online brand “Flat White or F**k Off,” about how they took a funny little slogan and turned it into a string of...
The Global Expansion of Self-Driving Vehicles
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...
How agents will change banking forever | E2260
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 their coding agents) are still driving AI progress. But a recent project by AI developer extraordinare Andrej Karpathy, called ‘autoresearcher’, is turning heads as it shows tha...
How agents will change banking forever | E2260
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 their coding agents) are still driving AI progress. But a recent project by AI developer extraordinare Andrej Karpathy, called ‘autoresearcher’, is turning heads as...
Wisdom of the $TAO: the future is decentralized AI
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/twistRo.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 users have a say — and potentially even a stake — in how this incredible technology develops...
Is Anthropic Making the Biggest Mistake in AI History | E2258
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
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? How will agents transact? And what does privacy look like in a world with omnipresent AI?
Stick...
How the OpenClaw foundation bullet-proofed its future (w/Dave Morin) | E2257
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 an open-source project over time, you need a corporate entity, well-heeled sponsors, maintainers and more. Morin is helping make sure that OpenClaw can stay true to itself well into the future.TWIST also put the day’s most cri...
The Biggest Private Funding Round in History | E2256
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 of all time, and believes we’ve ALREADY hit AGI… it’s just not implemented yet.
Plus a visit from our rovi...
Behind the Scenes with an early OpenClaw contributor! | E2252
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! Next we met the creator of an OpenClaw instance tha...
Kill Your Startup’s Knowledge Chaos with OpenClaw (with Oliver Henry and Jeff Weisbein) | E2254
This Week In Startups is made possible by:Caldera Lab - [calderalab.com/twist](https://calderalab.com/twist)Iru - [iru.com](http://Iru.com)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 ensuring that teammates have the same context.@oliverhenry and @jeffweisbein demo what they’ve actually built with OpenClaw, including marketing automations, agentic loops, and bug fixing tools. Then we dig into what agentic infr...
We Asked 3 Experts How to Get More Value out of OpenClaw | E2253
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 builders who are going to show you how to maximize your OpenClaw output!
GUESTS:
...
When Will Openclaw go Mainstream? | E2252
This Week In Startups is made possible by:Gusto - Try Gusto today and get 3 months free at http://uber.com/ai-solutionsCrusoe Cloud - Reserve your capacity for the latest GPU’s at http://uber.com/ai-solutionsUber 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, founder of Massive! We’re all in on Openclaw, but we have no doubts there’s still room in the market for a GIANT Openclaw consumer app...
Will OpenAI Tank OpenClaw? | E2251
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 OpenClaw community do TODAY to help protect their favorite free, open-source resource?
Jason and Alex consider the future of OpenClaw alongside guest ex...
OpenClaw is Our Friend Now | E2250
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 t...
Why J-Cal Invested to 200K in a former Employee | E2249
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...
How These 3 Founders are building on Open Claw | E2248
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 Well...
Does Clawdbot (OpenClaw) Need Eyes? (feat. Alex Finn and Matt Van Horn) | E2247
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 TWiST where we debate the mo...
We built OpenClaw Ultron to replace 20 people at our company | E2246
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...
Savvy is HQ Trivia + Wordle (feat. Scott Rogowsky) | E2245
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 suddenly, around a year...
Where early-stage founders MUST focus to success | E2244
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 distribution should...
SpaceX + xAI deal gets us one step closer to Musk Industries | E2243
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 and Alex break down the future of Space...
AI Bots Take Over | E2242
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 Irrevernt Labs and founder of Voodoo PC.
<...
How decriminalization led to an explosion in cannabis startups (Feat. Ford Smith, Andrew Duffy, and Socrates Rosenfeld) | E2241
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.com — One stop sh...
Clawdbot is an inflection point in AI history | E2240
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Quo - http://quo.com/TWiST
Lemon IO - https://lemon.io/twist
Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
Today’s show:
Jason is back from Davos and Tokyo! We are jumping right back in with a group of Clawdbot power users: Alex Finn, Matt Von Horn, and Dan Penguine.
Clawdbot is a hot open source AI project tha...
Why You’ll Choose an AI Doctor (feat. Fred Almeida and Max Weiss) | E2239
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Sentry.io - sentry.io/twist
Hubspot - clickhubspot.com/twist2
Northwest Registered Agent - https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
Today’s show:
One day soon, you might consult an AI general practitioner about your health, and then the computer will recommend human specialists to take up your case.
On TWiST Tokyo, Jason chats with Fred Almeida — founder and CEO of American Medical Intelligence Inc. — and Maxwell Weiss, a partner at Pacific Bays Capital.
Together, they discuss the future...
From Blood Transfusions to Burritos, How Zipline is Automating Delivery | E2238
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Northwest Registered Agent - www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
Crusoe Cloud - https://crusoe.ai/savings
LinkedIn Jobs - http://linkedIn.com/twist
Today’s show:
On today’s TWIST episode, Alex interviews two of the top startup co-founders: Keller Cliffton of Zipline and Anastasis Germanidis of Runway.
Zipline announced its $600 million raise at a $7.6 BILLION valuation. Kellers breaks down the origins, econom...
How startups suddenly became “cool” in Japan (feat. Shin Takamiya of Globis Capital) | E2237
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Circle.so - http://Circle.so/twist
Deel - http://deel.com/twist
Uber AI Solutions - http://uber.com/twist
Today’s show:
Not long ago, promising young Japanese graduates wanted to go work for the largest, most established, and even oldest corporations: Sony, Mitsubishi, and the like. But now, just over the last few years, more and more Japanese people are becoming entrepreneurs and fo...
Avoiding buzzwords and marketing-speak (feat. Thomas McInerney) | E2236
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Lemon.io - https://lemon.io/twist
Deel - http://deel.com/twist
LinkedIn Jobs - http://linkedIn.com/twist
Today’s show:
Some pitches sound just like ads… and it’s a huge red flag for investors.
On our latest edition of TWiST Tokyo, Jason welcomes legendary angel investor (and long-time friend of the pod) Thomas McInerney. His lis...
Japan’s Startup Revolution (feat. Kathy Matsui) | E2235
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Every.io - http://every.io/
LinkedIn Jobs - https://www.linkedin.com/twist
Zite - http://zite.com/twist
Today’s show:
Why do 40% of Japanese students want to build a company rather than join the corporate workforce?
On TWiST, Jason considers this question along with special guest Kathy Matsui, general partner of the global VC fund MPo...
How to Make Billions from Exposing Fraud | E2234
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...
Secrets of Startup Recruiting in the US AND Japan! (feat. Sho Takei) | E2233
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… when we can pull ourselves away from our favorite iz...
Jason’s Top CES Products and Takeaways | E2232
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 med...
AI makes you more creative, AI Roundtable with Steven Johnson and Grant Lee | E2231
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.
Jaso...
2026 Starts with a bang: META AI Drama and Nvidia’s $20B Groq Acquisition | E2230
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 acqu...
THE 2025 TWISTY AWARDS! Biggest Trends, Best Guests, Top Name Drops, and more | E2229
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 community…
Jason’s ultimate dream mega-purchase + Founder Q’s | E2228
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 asked, and JCal finally answers, on a holi...
Waymo Madness in SF! Why robotaxis clogged the streets | E2227
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 thi...
