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Jason Calacanis

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.

This Week in Startups

This Week In Startups is made possible by:IM8 Health - https://IM8health.com/twist Grasshopper Bank - https://grasshopper.bank/twist Northwest Registered Agent - https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twistToday’s show:Is 3D printing the key to not just solving the housing crisis but bringing us all into a more beautiful and utopian future? ICON founder Jason Ballard thinks so. His company is already building homes for the unhoused and delivering barracks to Fort Bliss at half the cost and a fraction of the time. On TWiST, he tells us space construction is also on the agenda.Explore the potential for robot-powered concrete construction can help build cheap homes for the unhoused, modernize our military infrastructure, AND colonize the solar system in this exclusive interview.Then Seby Rubino of Resi Labs demos his real estate “Oracle,” which can guess the price of any home with 98% accuracy… for just fractions of a penny.PLUS Jason tells a story of the rare founder who got one over on him, and why he’s moving away from vengeance and anger and into love and acceptable.AND we’ve got more JCal and Lon recommendations in a brand-new Off Duty.Guests :Jason Ballard: https://x.com/JasonDBallardICON: https://www.iconbuild.com/ICON on X: https://x.com/ICON3DTechSeby Rubino: https://x.com/SebyverseResi Labs: https://portal.resilabs.ai/Timestamps:0:00 Intro + "balance the ledger" tease1:10 Jason Ballard (ICON) joins — 3D-printed homes + defense (ICON Prime)5:18 Housing basics: commutes, quality of life, "food/water/shelter"7:15 ICON Prime: military construction, survivability, speed, supply chain10:08 IM8 Health: Start feeling like your best self every day. Go to https://IM8health.com/twist and use the code TWiST to get a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets, and 10% off your order.11:35 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!12:43 Fort Bliss barracks: 10 in 6 months, half the cost; blast/ballistics20:23 Beautiful + dignified housing: Community First Village; "where's the floor?"20:29 Grasshopper Bank: Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.30:10 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist37:27 Audience Q&A: longevity/cracking; plumbing + electrical41:33 ICON Titan printer + channel partners; hiring pitch45:47 Sebi Rubino (Rezzy Labs) joins — BitTensor subnet 46 real estate pricing51:18 Tau/BitTensor explained: subnet competitions, "narrow intelligence"59:15 Rezzy demo: portal + pricing engine; customers + business model1:07:49 "Got shivved for 500k" story: acquisition, investors get zero1:20:36 Bounties: annotated.com + AI sidebar + headless CMS on BitTensor1:31:10 Off-duty: View Buds (camera earbuds) + use cases1:38:13 Off-duty: Anker charger/cable/battery "trio"1:41:12 Off-duty: The Audacity (AMC) quick review1:46:43 Wrap-up + secret TWiST group chat on XSubscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisCheck out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

3D-Printed Homes for $99K: ICON’s Jason Ballard on the future of housing | E2277

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

LinkedIn Jobs - LinkedIn.com/twist Every.io - every.io Render - render.com/twist

Today’s show:

*Imagine scrolling through mobile games the way your flip through your TikTok feed. What if you could build your own game in 90 seconds and share it with the world? That’s what over 100,000 users are enjoying right now on Nanogram.

On TWiST, we meet the co-founders: 22-year-old CEO Albert Brotherton and 24-year-old CTO Boris Radilov. They demo the app for us on the air, and Jason immediately spies the potential. Power users are playing 25+ games per session already.

We’re digging into the co-founders future plans, including the potential for ads in your game feed, in this TWiST exclusive.

PLUS domestic helper bots are here. NEO from 1X Technologies can do the laundry, open the door for guests, and even read and understand Post-It Note messages.

Alex talks with CEO Bernt Børnich about building the safety-first 66-lb humanoid, why world models are so crucial for training robots in particular, and why homes are even tougher places for robots to navigate than factory floors.

Timestamps:0:59 Nanogram co-creators Albert and Boris join the show

3:42 Nanogram is TikTok for casual AI-generated games

4:27 Building Nanogram with Google Gemini

5:49 Draper and Associates: https://www.draper.vc

6:11 Integrating ads into the game feed

7:36 Roblox: https://www.roblox.com World of Warcraft: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com

8:25 Building in New York

9:07 Jason is obsessed with the Staples Baddie https://www.tiktok.com/@blivxx

10:12 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist

20:36 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io

21:40 1X CEO and founder Bernt Børnich joins the show https://x.com/BerntBornich

22:31 Designing robots to actually live around people

26:30 Teaching NEO about movement in the physical world

29:00 TechCrunch coverage: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/13/neo-humanoid-maker-1x-releases-world-model-to-help-bots-learn-what-they-see/

29:58 Render: Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to https://render.com/twist and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers.

31:04 Moving beyond training data to true general intelligence

33:17 Ensuring NEO pursues the safest possible path

34:19 Why are world models so important?

41:51 1X World Model Challenge on GitHub: https://github.com/1x-technologies/1xgpt

45:14 Robots need to train on a lot of data… Where does it all come from?

50:14 Manufacturing NEO from raw materials in San Carlos

56:32 Robots building robots

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This 22-Year-Old Built TikTok for Mobile Games, and It’s Growing Fast | E2276

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Sentry - https://sentry.io/twist 

Deel - https://deel.com/twist Netsuite - 

https://netsuite.com/twist 

Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist

Today’s show:

*TAO just had its worst week since launch. One of Bittensor’s most prominent subnet operators allegedly dumped $10 million in tokens and walked away. We’re digging into what we know, how this could change the Bittensor community… and why dedicated builders still believe in this ecosystem.

Jason and Lon are joined by Stillcore Capital Partner Mark Jeffrey to break down the Covenant AI and Templar controversy in real time. Then they’re joined by three prominent subnet founders: Ken Miyachi of BitMind (Subnet 34) and Will Squires of Steffen Cruz of MacroCosmos (which owns Subnets 1, 9, and 13). Together, they’re investigating how Bittensor incentives work, how real products are still emerging from the TAO ecosystem, and what governance fixes could arise to prevent the next (alleged) rug pull.

Timestamps:

0:00 Mark Jeffrey joins the show! https://x.com/markjeffrey

2:18 How Mark Jeffrey learned about Bittensor. https://bittensor.com/

6:17 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

7:22 Mark Jeffrey's Bittensor investments. https://stillcorecapital.com/

9:25 Check out our discussion with Nova: https://youtu.be/gjRt4eUyiYc?si=HopdmmSarxECark1

10:16 Sentry - New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST

10:41 Check out Ridges! https://www.ridges.ai/

11:53 How trading alpha tokens works on Bittensor

12:44 Subnet drama: what happened? https://x.com/covenant_ai/status/2042380152831951300

16:01 Do subnet owners have too much power?

18:33 Check out our conversation with Sam Dare (2268): https://youtu.be/TN2RmNuX4-k?si=c58Byh7Fsw1ttnAY

19:10 How Sam Dare should've handled walking away (per Mark Jeffrey)

20:02 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.

23:29 Who should subnets be owned by?

24:02 Ken Miyachi from BitMind joins the show https://x.com/kenmiyachi

30:56 Netsuite - Get the free business guide Demystifying AI at https://www.netsuite.com/twist

31:06 Ken's $3M raise & investors (Arch, Canonical, Mechanism)

33:18 Token vs. equity: how to think about a subnet investment.

41:57 Will Squires and Stefan Kruse of MacroCosmos join the show https://x.com/willsquires https://x.com/sczsteffencruz

56:29 Stefan on the Covenant drama: "disappointing, but solvable"

1:02:11 Off-duty with J-Cal, Mark Jeffrey, and Lon Harris

1:02:48 Bieber vs. Carpenter: does Coachella owe you a spectacle? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp5O72WUqTk https://x.com/FashionXGirl_/status/2043251270509592936

1:15:20 Jason says Staples should pay the "Staples baddie" $1M/year https://www.tiktok.com/@blivxx

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Bittensor’s (alleged) $10M rug pull (feat. Mark Jeffrey) | E2275

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Pilot - https://pilot.com/TWIST

Squarespace -https://squarespace.com/TWIST

Northwest Registered Agent - https://northwestregisteredagent.com/TWIST

Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twistCrowdHealth - ⁠https://JoinCrowdHealth.com/twist⁠

Today’s show:

TAO, the token associated with the Bittensor network, fell sharply last night after a major project declared it was taking its business elsewhere. Covenant AI had used Bittensor subnets 3, 39, and 89 before its abrupt and controversial decision to depart for other digital shores.

Gareth Howells, a co-founder of Vidaio (Bittensor Subnet 85), joined Jason and Alex to share the community perspective regarding Covenant’s decision to leave Bittensor, a choice that was especially bitter given that its recently-released Covenant-72B model trained using the network’s decentralized capabilities was hailed at the time as a demonstration of the crypto-AI hybrid’s potential. (Covenant’s Sam Dare was a recent guest on TWiST.)

Howells walked us through Vidaio’s product (AI models for high-quality video work, like upscaling) 

Then it was time to bring new fan-favorite Ole Lehmann on. Ole took an Andrej Karpathy concept, and turned it into a skill that you can use in either OpenClaw or Claude Cowork. 

Guests

Ole Lehmann: https://x.com/itsolelehmann

The AI Solopreneur newsletter: https://aisolo.beehiiv.com/

Vidaio: https://vidaio.io/

Vidaio on X: https://x.com/vidaio_

Timestamps:

0:00 Drama in the Bittensor space! Was there a rugpull?

1:01 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

1:47 Gareth Howells of subnet85 joins the show: https://x.com/GarethHowells

9:56 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/TWIST

11:37 Gareth reacts to the Covenant situation… Did Sam sell tokens?

14:33 How VidAIo (subnet85) optimizes video as cheaply as possible. https://vidaio.io/

20:06 Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://squarespace.com/TWIST

21:12 Demo: Gareth shows upscaled footage of our very own Lon Harris

27:09 Who is actually doing the computing on Bittensor?

28:15 How Bittensor recruits tech talent from emerging markets

29:42 Pilot - Visit https://pilot.com/TWIST and get $1,200 off your first year.

30:58 Jason's explains the Bittensor network. https://docs.bittensor.com/

37:28 Jason addresses "pump and dump" allegations

40:46 Ole Lehmann joins the show https://x.com/itsolelehmann

45:31 Jason's $1,000 "bounty" for enhanced show notes

49:35 Check out Ole's newsletter at aisolo.beehiiv.com !

59:50 CrowdHealth - CrowdHealth lets you ditch the bureaucracy with a peer-to-peer funding platform for your healthcare. Get started for $99 per month for your first three months by using the code TWIST at https://JoinCrowdHealth.com/twist.

1:00:46 Off Duty with Alex and J-Cal!

1:04:46 Reacting to the Maul trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkVepshZhGc

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

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TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Bittensor Drama! TAO down 15%! | E2274

Anthropic just built a model so dangerous, they’re not even going to release it (for now). On TWiST, Jason, Alex, and Neurometric CEO Rob May discuss whether or not this is just another frontier model or a potential weapon of mass internet destruction.

Claude Mythos Preview is already in the hands of over 40 Anthropic partners — including Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google — as part of its “Project Glasswing” security council.

Together, they’ll test how quickly and easily the model can thwart today’s most elite cybersecurity protocols, and try to develop fresh protocols to keep our most sensitive and critical software systems safe and intact. Once Mythos or a similarly powerful model hits the streets… it’s all over!

Plus, we’re checking out the real-time SaaSpocalypse monitor Death By Clawd, and chatting with its creator, Gyani, about how it feels to have your startup one-shotted by Anthropic’s latest model.

Guests

Rob May: https://x.com/robmay

Neurometric: https://www.neurometric.ai/

Neurometric SLM Marketplace: https://marketplace.neurometric.ai/

Death by Clawd: https://deathbyclawd.com/

Nick O’Neill: https://x.com/chooserich

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

LinkedIn Jobs - LinkedIn.com/twist

Grasshopper Bank - Grasshopper.bank/twist

Render - Render.com/twist

Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist

Today’s show:

Timestamps:

0:00 Anthropic's new, powerful 'Mythos' model

3:50 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

5:26 Neurometric's Rob May joins the show

10:04 Sam Altman's talent exodus

10:50 Render - Go to https://render.com/twist to apply for the Render Startup Program. You'll get anywhere from $500 to $100,000 in free credits.

11:50 Has Anthropic Passed OpenAI?

15:44 When will Claude release Mythos? Polymarket: https://polymarket.com/event/claude-mythos-released-by

18:32 The AI race turns existential

19:16 Would Anthropic's model give the CIA the ability to hack a foreign government?

20:04 Grasshopper Bank - Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.

21:19 Should AI be nationalized?

29:43 Subsidizing secret AI development.

30:15 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist

31:29 How much of the military's $1.5T will go to AI cybersecurity?

35:17 Nick O'Neill's "not sponsored" call-in.

38:24 What is an SLM?

42:01 Tactical/Practical: How can you tune SLMs

45:43 How Neurometric can afford 100M free tokens per month for its users?

49:04 What is "harness engineering"?

50:58 Tactical/ Practical: Every Reddit rant is a startup idea

1:00:25 Why Meta is the most un-innovative AI company in the world.

1:03:43 Gyani of Deathbclawd joins the show — Is your company COOKED?

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Anthropic’s Mythos is a cyber-weapon, so you can’t have it | E2273

Anthropic just pulled the plug on Claude subscriptions for OpenClaw and every third party agentic tool. So Jason and Lon welcome back three of our top TWiST OpenClaw experts to break down what it means, how much it’s going to cost now, and whether this is truly the end of the subsidized AI era.

And they all brought demos! We’re checking out ClawChief from Ryan Carson, Alex Finn’s agent Henry, and Yazin Alirhayim’s Sidecast protocol, inspired by a special request from JCal!

Hosts

Jason Calacanis: http://x.com/jason

Lon Harris: https://x.com/lons

Guests

Ryan Carson: https://x.com/ryancarson

Clawchief: https://github.com/snarktank/clawchief

Alex Finn: https://x.com/AlexFinn

Creator Buddy: https://www.creatorbuddy.io/

Yazin Alirhayim: https://x.com/yazins

OpenOats / Sidecast: https://github.com/yazinsai/OpenOats

Further Reading

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande: https://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right/dp/0312430000

Marc Andreessen on AI job loss: https://x.com/pmarca/status/2040919227641856307

OpenAI acquires TBPN: https://openai.com/index/openai-acquires-tbpn/

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Gusto - https://Gusto.com/twist 

Vanta - https://vanta.com/twist 

Shopify - https://shopify.com/twist 

Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist

Today’s show:

Timestamps:

0:00 Welcome back to TWiST

0:32 Jason's thinks Andor is as good as Empire Strikes Back…

2:30 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

3:26 Check out the checklist manifesto! https://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right/dp/0312430000

6:36 Our guests Ryan Carson, Alex Finn, and Yazin Alirhayim, and join the show

10:28 Gusto - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small businesses and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at https://Gusto.com/twist.

10:46 People are automating their coworkers and getting them fired…

18:32 Anthropic Bans OpenClaw

20:06 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist

24:06 How "caveman talk" makes AI works better

27:31 Alex thinks $2000/ month subscription plans are inevitable for AI.

29:31 Why is nobody using the leaked Anthropic Model?

30:30 Shopify: Turn those What If's into sales with the ecommerce platform powering millions of businesses. Sign up for your $1-per-month trial today at https://shopify.com/twist

32:37 Open models have been 6 months behind for the past few years

35:53 Why did OpenAI acquire TBPN?

42:01 Tactical/ Practical: The product itself is the most important thing

44:31 Demo or Die! Yazin is back to show off OpenOats

55:05 Ryan's "Claw Chief" https://github.com/snarktank/clawchief/blob/main/skills/executive-assistant/SKILL.md?plain=1

1:02:14 Alex's big announcement, "Henry intelligent machines"

1:12:33 Alex Finn DESTROYS Higgsfield's marketing strategy

1:15:35 Throwback to "Pay Per Post"

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

3 AI Agents That Actually Replaced Human Jobs | E2272

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Deel - deel.com/twist

Grasshopper Bank - grasshopper.bank/twist

Render - render.com/twist

Plaud - Plaud.ai/twist

An AI “holding company” rebuilt dozens of YC Winter ‘26 startups in one weekend. Now we’re bringing the founder responsible into Jason’s Courtroom to defend himself.

PLUS a live demo of Boardy, the AI that acts like a virtual board member and makes crucial introductions. Find out why he gets to have so much agency, how creator Andrew D’Souza used him to raise his own $17 million round, and how this company ever plans to actually make money.

Plus Jason celebrates Apple’s 50th anniversary with a fiery rant about milking the ghost of Steve Jobs… Why OpenAI is acquiring a tech podcast… Jason’s favorite weighted vest for rucking… AND Lon’s Off Duty weekend streaming picks.

Guests

Marik Hazan:⁠ https://x.com/MarikHazan⁠

Feltsense:⁠ https://feltsense.com/⁠

Andrew D’Souza:⁠ https://x.com/andrewdsouza⁠

Boardy:⁠ https://www.boardy.ai/⁠

Timestamps:

0:00 Jason's direction for TWiST and thoughts on legacy media

5:14 Marik of Feltsense joins the show

6:10 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

7:10 Marik's viral YC replicator stunt

9:45 Deel - Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.

20:39 Grasshopper bank - Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.

21:33 Feltsense founder goes on trial!

25:26 Jason dunks on Bank of America's app

27:59 TBPN acquired by OpenAI

29:28 The All In Podcast is worth $1B!

30:13 Render - Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to https://render.com/twist and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers.

33:02 Andrew D'Souza joins the show along with his agent, Boardy!

43:17 So how does Boardy make money?

48:32 Lon is becoming more and more "AI-pilled."

50:41 Tactical/ practical: "If we have data, let's look at data. If all we have are opinions, let's go with mine." -Jim Barskdale, former CEO of Netscape

1:01:00 Tactical/ practical: hire a PR firm to report on your competitors' wrongdoings.

1:02:58 Jason calls out Apple for being DISGRAZIAD!

1:15:09 Lon's TV pick of the week: "Something Very Bad is Going to Happen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMc_pWm7G7o

1:19:52 Become an Angel Investor at https://thesyndicate.com/

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter:⁠ https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com⁠

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Check out all our partner offers:⁠ https://partners.launch.co/⁠

Great TWIST interviews:⁠ Will Guidara,⁠⁠ Eoghan McCabe⁠,⁠ Steve Huffman⁠,⁠ Brian Chesky⁠,⁠ Bob Moesta,⁠⁠ Aaron Levie⁠,⁠ Sophia Amoruso⁠,⁠ Reid Hoffman⁠,⁠ Frank Slootman⁠,⁠ Billy McFarland⁠

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AI Rebuilt Every YC W26 Startup. Should Founders Be Scared? | E2271

This Week in AI, JCal sits down with three CEOs building the infrastructure, intelligence, and interfaces for the next era of AI: Jeremy Fraenkel (CEO, Fundamental), Victor Riparbelli (CEO, Synthesia), and Nick Harris (CEO, Lightmatter). We break down what's actually happening beneath the AI hype: the data modality LLMs completely missed, why copper is the real bottleneck in AI data centers, OpenAI shutting down Sora, the build vs. buy debate for AI tools, and how close we really are to AGI.

 • AI's Biggest Blind Spot, Tabular Data: LLMs transformed text, images, and code, but 70-80% of enterprise data lives in rows and columns.
 • Copper Can't Keep Up: Nick explains why AI data centers are hitting a wall. GPUs compute faster than they can communicate. Lightmatter's photonic chips push 1.6 terabits per fiber and can 3x training speed.
 • Why OpenAI Killed Sora & Anthropic's Focus is Winning: Victor breaks down why even OpenAI had to learn the lesson of focus, and why Claude Code has every founder talking.
 • Vibe Coding Your Own CRM vs. Buying Salesforce: Jeremy reveals Fundamental built their own internal CRM using vibe coding. The panel debates when building beats buying and when it's a distraction.
 • The Omnipresent CEO: Jason shares how he's using AI agents for root access to Slack, Gmail, and Notion, resurrecting former employees as AI personas, automating SDR workflows, and summarizing employee inboxes while they're on vacation.
 • Are We Already at AGI?: Nick says the rate of progress is a double exponential. Jeremy argues AGI is a moving goalpost. Victor warns of "Future Shock" and societal disruption.

🔗 Learn more about Fundamental: https://fundamental.tech🔗 Learn more about Synthesia: https://www.synthesia.io🔗 Learn more about Lightmatter: https://lightmatter.coThis Week In AI is made possible by:PayPal Open - One Platform for all Business: paypalopen.comTimestamps:00:00 Welcome & intro to Jeremy Fraenkel, Victor Riparbelli, and Nick Harris01:47 What is Fundamental? Large tabular models explained07:01 Victor Riparbelli on Synthesia & why OpenAI killed Sora11:09 Claude Code dominance & the Lightspeed founder retreat12:08 Nick Harris on Lightmatter, photonics & the new Moore's Law14:38 Copper vs. fiber: why AI data centers are hitting a wall18:44 Reinventing video: interactive, real-time, personalized21:32 The economics of a custom AI movie23:55 Why Amazon, Google & Meta are building their own chips28:06 Tables have a bandwidth problem too32:27 When will compute be as cheap as storage?36:10 The future of software: every company gets a custom stack38:06 Vibe coding your own CRM vs. buying Salesforce45:57 Jason's quest for root access to Slack50:18 The omnipresent CEO: Doctor Manhattan meets Jesus CEO52:13 Resurrecting former employees as AI personas53:25 Victor's executive changelog for a 650-person company55:07 Whisper Flow & the Plaud Pin1:00:03 AGI: is it already here?1:03:37 Jeremy: we've only solved half the brain1:06:30 70% of Americans fear AI will impact jobs1:08:47 Future Shock & keeping the rope tight*Mentioned in the show:*

Wisper Flow: https://wisperflow.ai

 • Plaud Pin: https://www.plaud.ai
 • Athena Executive Assistants: https://www.athenawow.com
 • WHOOP: https://www.whoop.com
 • "Future Shock" by Alvin Toffler: https://www.amazon.com/Future-ShockAlvin-Toffler/dp/0394425863
 • Victor on TWiST, E1776: https://youtu.be/jxET4fq_2eA
 • Nick on TWiST, E1787: https://youtu.be/FPW2nnEqfMsSubscribe to This Week in AI on Apple: https://thisweekinai.ai/spotifySubscribe to This Week in AI on Spotify: https://thisweekinai.ai/appleThanks for watching!🤖 If you want to stay ahead of the curve on all things AI, make sure to join our community across all platforms:📩 Get the Weekly Newsletter: https://thisweekinai.ai/📺 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinAIPodcast📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinaipodcast

How 3 CEOs Use AI to Run $10B in Companies | This Week in AI

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

PaperOS - https://PaperOS.com/twist

Northwest Registered Agent- https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

Every.io - https://Every.io

Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist

Today’s show:

Silicon Valley just lined up its biggest liquidity event in years: SpaceX filed confidentially for an IPO that could target a $1.75 trillion valuation — potentially the largest public offering in history. Meanwhile, a new Quinnipiac poll shows that 62% of Americans aren't excited about AI, and 70% think it will destroy their jobs. The disconnect between Sand Hill Road and Main Street has never been wider, and this panel is here to argue about what to do about it.

Jason Calacanis and co-host Alex Wilhelm are joined by Delian Asparouhov, Partner at Founders Fund and co-founder of Varda Space Industries; Salen Churi, General Partner at Trust Ventures, focused on regulated industries and physical infrastructure; and Larsen Jensen, Founder and GP of Harpoon Ventures and former Navy SEAL.

They dig into the SpaceX IPO and what it means for LP liquidity, founder formation, and venture capital's comeback story; the gap between Silicon Valley's AI optimism and public hostility; whether defense tech is in a bubble after $49 billion flooded the sector in 2025; the Marc Andreessen "zero introspection" thesis for founders; America's reindustrialization challenge and the rare earths supply chain crisis; and Artemis’s path to putting boots back on the Moon.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

1:09 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

3:50 SpaceX files confidentially for IPO: $1.75T valuation, June target

9:00 Will the SpaceX IPO reinvigorate venture capital?

10:25 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io

14:40 Quinnipiac poll: Americans use more AI but trust it less

17:31 AI's PR crisis: Dario vs. Jensen, and who's communicating well

18:02 Jason's "Invest America" proposal: give workers equity stakes

19:55 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

21:39 Larsen: Silicon Valley is walking into the same trap as China offshoring

29:04 PaperOS - Whether you're raising a round, launching a fund, or managing a venture portfolio, PaperOS can unlock simplicity and scale across your empire of capital, contracts, and companies. Claim your $10,000 credit at https://paperos.com/twist

29:50 Polymarket: 24% chance of a federal AI data center moratorium

33:57 Marc Andreessen on zero introspection (David Senra podcast clip)

46:48 Is defense tech in a bubble?

1:10:32 Saronic raises $1.75B for autonomous drone boats

1:25:07 Anthropic vs. OpenAI: where would you put your entire net worth?

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

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Follow Alex:

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Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

Follow TWiST:

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Venture Roundtable: SpaceX IPO, AI's PR Crisis, and the Defense Tech Bubble | E2270

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Quo - https://quo.com/TWiST

LinkedIn Jobs - https://LinkedIn.com/twist

Iru - https://iru.com/twist

Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist

Today’s show:

Google project manager Shubham Saboo is running 6 AI agents on a Mac Mini that handle all of his side business autonomously, from research, to social posts, to newsletters.

He joins Jason and Lon to walk us through his 5-step framework for designing an efficient AI agent team:

Start with one agent and onboard them like a new hire

Stop Googling fixes; just ask your agent how to use it

Put your agents on fixed schedules

Add shared memory so you don’t have to repeat yourself

Let agents run self-reviews and rewrite their own instructions.

Get the walkthrough to put this entire plan into practice on today’s episode. PLUS fresh demos of the “Minecraft”-inspired virtual workspace MoltWorld and AgentMail, which is Gmail for your AI pals, and Jason explains the thinking behind his viral, controversy-stirring “don’t talk to journalists” tweet.

Follow Shubham: https://x.com/Saboo_Shubham_

“How I Built an Autonomous AI Agent Team That Runs 24/7” on X: https://x.com/Saboo_Shubham_/status/2022014147450614038?s=20

Follow Mike: https://x.com/mihalich1988

MoltWorld: https://moltworld.io/

Follow Haakam: https://x.com/haakamaujla

AgentMail: https://www.agentmail.to/

Jason’s post about talking to journalists: https://x.com/Jason/status/2037573025458016659

NYT responds: https://x.com/NYTimesPR/status/2037648223771263082

Translated Japanese tweets: https://x.com/melonneet40/status/2038020624015315289, https://x.com/rambling_28/status/2038041455999246422

Japanese people singing “Country Roads”: https://x.com/harukaawake/status/2038081269830222259

Trailer for “Nuremberg” (now on Netflix in the US): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvAy9C-bipY

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:24 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

3:05 We're Claw-pilled once again; it's an all AI Agent showcase

6:15 Google AI PM Shubham Saboo's Top 5 OpenClaw tips

10:14 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST.

13:26 Tip #1 — Onboard your agent like a new hire

17:31 Tip #2 — Talk to your agents constantly

19:02 Tip #3 — Put your agents on a schedule

19:51 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist.

23:41 Tip #4 — Add cross-agent memory

29:33 Tip #5 — Let your agents self-improve

29:51 Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. TWiST listeners get 20% off when they book a demo at https://iru.com/twist!

34:03 Why Jason says founders should avoid journalists

38:24 How biased IS the New York Times?

47:02 DEMO: Co-founder Mike Nosov shows us MoltWorld

51:14 But what's the utility of this?

1:05:15 DEMO: Haakam Aujla presents AgentMail (YC S25)

1:09:59 How does AgentMail make money?

1:17:03 How Grok Translations are creating cross-cultural dialogue on X

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

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Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

The 5-Step Framework for AI Agents That Improve While You Sleep | E2269

Molly kicks off Climate Tuesday breaking down the news that the Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act has resurfaced (1:37). Then, she discusses BlocPower’s $155M raise and their collaboration with a town in New York to achieve net zero emissions (6:12). Finally, Kiran Bhatraju of Arcadia joins Molly for 2023’s first official Climate interview (11:38).

(0:00) Molly kicks off the show

(1:37) The Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act resurfaces

(6:12) BlocPower Raises $155M

(10:12) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://linkedin.com/twist

(11:38) Unlocking utility data with Kiran Bhatraju of Arcadia

(21:48) Linode - Apply to Linode's Rise program for up to six figures in discounts at https://linode.com/twist

(23:14) Breaking down Arcadia and Arc

(26:13) Democratizing solar energy with community solar

(33:57) Fennel - Join the fennel waitlist now and get your first month free at http://fennel.com/twist!

(35:27) Arc users + carbon accounting

(43:15) Kiran's journey into climate tech

(45:59) Opportunity in the climate tech space

FOLLOW Kiran: https://twitter.com/kiranraju

FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis

FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Crypto climate bill resurfaces, BlocPower raises $155M + Arcadia CEO Kiran Bhatraju | E1692

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