All-In Podcast

Bestie

Founder University

Teacher 

This Week in Startups

Host 

ANGEL, the Book

angelthebook.com 
angelthebook.com/audible

Author

Uber

Angel Investor

Inside.com

Inside.com provides business intelligence in the form of events, newsletters, and an online SLACK community.

CEO & Founder

LAUNCH

Founder & CEO

Sequoia Capital

Entrepreneur in Action

Weblogs, Inc.

CEO and Co-founder of The Weblogs, Inc. Network with Brian Alvey. More information at http://www.weblogsinc.com.

We publish www.engadget.com, www.tvsquad.com, www.cinematical.com, www.joystiq.com, www.autoblog.com, and 70 other leading blogs. 

Acquired by TimeWarner/AOL Oct. 2005.

CEO & Co-Founder

VentureReporter.net

founder.university 
launch.co
https://linktr.ee/calacanis
email jmc@launch.co
visit thisweekinstartups.com for my podcast

Hear my WARNING for ANY APP using OpenAI’s API…

On an urgent new This Week in Startups clip, I'm warning founders that Sam Altman is ALWAYS WATCHING.

Sure, companies that use the most OpenAI tokens get thank you emails and handsome plaques. But I suggest there’s a masterful scheme happening behind the scenes…

In fact, Altman & Co are WATCHING which apps are getting the most use of OpenAI… so they can design their own versions of those products! Thus drinking the founders’ milkshake.

It’s a pattern we’ve previously seen play out with giants like $MSFT and $META, creating playgrounds for other startups, which they then mine for data, ideas and inspiration. Don’t get caught in the same pattern, founders!

Jason Calacanis

https://linktr.ee/calacanis
email jason@calacanis.com
visit thisweekinstartups.com for my podcast


I invest in 100 new startups a year... get a meeting with my team at launch.co/apply, or learn how to start a company by joining founder.university (our 12-week course). watch thisweekinstartups.com if you love startups

Why would a hugely successful company change its name?

Grammarly is now Superhuman. The writing coach app purchased the AI email helper, and now they’re swapping out the brands. But WHY?

Helpfully, CEO Shishir Mehrotra stopped by TWiST to give us the answer himself! One of my favorite startups has planned a whole suite of AI agent helpers with a shared mission to help make humans more productive and efficient. (Or in other words… SUPER.) So the new name seemed to just fit.

Hear all about the company’s big plans — including their brand new AI assistant, Superhuman Go, on this exclusive TWiST clip.

Smart founders are always looking ahead. Here’s why you need to “skate to where the puck is going.”

Zachary Handshoe of SpatialGen joined This Week in Startups to talk about building the “spatial cloud” that will one day power streaming video for immersive AR and VR devices (like Apple’s Vision Pro X).
While today, the company has a “champagne customer base” — the kinds of early adopters and wealthy elites who can afford Cupertino’s costly headsets — it won’t be long before many more people are eager to experience the thrill of live 16K immersive video.

That’s why I was eager to invest in SpatialGen, and praise Zachary Handshoe for building today what his customers are going to love tomorrow.

Big news from LAUNCH! Yesterday on This Week in Startups, I announced that we're bringing Founder University and Angel University to Tokyo in partnership with JETRO - Japan External Trade Organization for The Cross-Border Venture Exchange. This collaboration bridges Japanese founders and investors with the global startup community, opening cross-border opportunities between Japan and Silicon Valley.

The first event is on November 14th in Tokyo. I'm keynoting. There will be a fireside chat with Steve Satoru Naito - CEO of Anyplace, and, of course, startup pitches! Registration is open now for:

 Japanese founders ready to scale globally
 Angel investors expanding into international deal flow
 Press & ecosystem leaders covering Japan’s innovation story.

Link in the comments 👇

How to produce your own bangers in just MINUTES with Suno.

Producer Oliver Korzen, hard at work on our upcoming spinoff — This Week in AI — swings by the studio to show us the Suno app, which he’s been using for the past few weeks to churn out dozens of original songs.

The app basically recreates a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), but without requiring any kind of background in playing an instrument or understanding music production.

Watch as Oliver Korzen shows us how to use simple prompts to create complete, customizable, original songs… that are actually pretty catchy!

Immersive 16K spatial video is here… but where’s the killer app?
On this TWiST highlight, Zachary Handshoe of SpatialGen, and I consider high-end VR and AR headsets like Apple’s Vision Pro, and what it’s going to take to convince mainstream consumers to invest in this cutting-edge new technology.

In the past, VR headsets have faced what Zach and I call the “Try, Oh My, Goodbye” syndrome; people are CURIOUS about the possibilities of immersive video, but ultimately don’t stick around and become everyday users.

Will spatial video shot at live sporting events be what it takes to get the normies on board? And what kind of cloud infrastructure will be required to power this future, when millions are accessing the massive files required to stream in 16K? 

Watch this clip and find out!

Finally, an app that’s JUST for chess MASTERS

In another TWiST @Gamma pitch, Alex Wilhelm and I meet Grandmaster Vasif Durarbayli of Chessever, the first chess app designed exclusively for “serious” players.

Why aim for such a niche market, instead of the millions of chess fans worldwide? As Vasif explains, the masses are already served by popular apps like Chess.com, while the game’s upper elite have no dedicated product of their own.

Is this niche big enough to sustain a growing startup? Is it possible to first appeal to the grand masters of the world, and then spider out to everyone else? Hear Jason and Alex’s thoughts, and evaluate ChessEver’s chances! 
(REMEMBER: The winning startup gets a $25K check thanks to our friends at Gamma!)

TWiST Live: Ramp CEO Eric Glyman, Friday’s Sell-off, YC drama & More |E2192

Jason and Alex break down the latest in tech, startups, and venture.

Top Stories:

- Ramp’s Eric Glyman Joins The Show
- Microsoft, SoftBank Could Put $2B Into Wayve, The Self-Driving Company
- Founder/Startup Questions
- Strava Eyes IPO
- Broken Handshakes in Silicon Valley, YC Drama
- & more

Join us live today! 

⏰ LIVE today at:

- 11:00 AM PT
- 12:00 PM CT
- 1:00 PM ET

Follow along with our docket that we post LIVE here:
https://lnkd.in/e5P63mhZ

Jason Interviews Elad Gil! Amazon Robots, OpenAI’s Atlas Browser | E2197

**On today’s episode, Jason interviews Elad Gil of Gil Capital!**

Elad Gil is one of Silicon Valley’s most influential thinkers, investors, and entrepreneurs. He founded **Mixer Labs** and **Color Genomics**, and has invested in many of the world’s leading technology companies — including **Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase, Figma, and Pinterest**. He’s also the author of the acclaimed ***High Growth Handbook***.

In this episode, Elad joins Jason to discuss:

- **Amazon’s new robotic warehouse**
- **OpenAI’s new browser, Atlas**
- **Polymarket vs. DraftKings**

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Join us live today! 

⏰ LIVE today at:

- 9:00 AM PT
- 11:00 AM CT
- 12:00 PM ET

Follow along with our docket that we post LIVE here:
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Why did Roelof Botha exit his post as Sequoia Capital steward after just a few years?

In this TWiST highlight, Alex Wilhelm and our guest investors Deedy Das and Jay Eum discuss a “seismic shift” in the venture world: Botha will step down and hand over the reins to Alfred Lin and Pat Grady.

But WHY? Media reports are full of speculation, from the “$KLAR board seat scrap” to the controversy over Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire's tweets.

The panel also notes that transitions tend to take a long time at Sequoia, so Botha may not be ready to leave the building and never come back, regardless of his motives.

Take a deep dive into the hidden world of venture investing with a group of insiders, in a brand-new TWiST clip.

Why Huxe thinks you want to talk to your AI, not type

In this exclusive TWiST clip, Alex Wilhelm chats with Huxe co-founder Raiza Martin about her audio-forward AI assistant. She feels that voice interactions make the AI more personalized, and allow it to behave proactively.

Huxe listens in and takes initiative, creating content and providing feedback for its users without direct prompting.

Some may want their AI to exclusively help with productivity, but others are looking for a combination of helper and companion. For those folks, Huxe seems to offer an intriguing balance.

AI startup Mercor continues growing at an impressive rate… but can these numbers be trusted?

Around 70-80% of the revenue brought in by Mercor goes back out the door, to outside contractors. Does that mean its $500 million annual run rate is somehow less impressive than it sounds?

My argument… not so much. The 70-80% figure is comparable to other marketplaces, like $UBER, $ABNB and other marketplaces, and the demand for more and better data training is not likely going to end any time soon, but just continue growing.

Both Alex Wilhelm and I agree that Mercor’s already-massive size and long-term vision gives them an edge against other competitors in the space.

AI Earnings week! Sequoia raises two new funds and Mercor hits $10B!

Jason and Alex break down today’s top news, and gamma pitch competition guest, Vasif Durarbayli, joins the show to pitch ChessEver on today’s episode of TWiST!

Top Stories:

- Hyperscaler AI earnings week
- Sequoia raises two new funds
- Mercor raising at $10B valuation
- Founder Question on ARR
- Tiktok deal could finish soon.

Join us live today! 

⏰ LIVE today at:

- 11:00 AM PT
- 12:00 PM CT
- 1:00 PM ET

Follow along with our docket that we post LIVE here:
https://lnkd.in/e5P63mhZ

You’re Not Working Hard Enough, 996 Work Culture & Reddit Sues Perplexity!

Jason and Alex break down today’s top news, and SpacialGen founder joins the show to discuss the future of Immersive video on today’s episode of TWiST!

Top Stories:

- AI-storyboarded launch video for Tempo
- Reddit Sues Perplexity
- Anthropic taps Google for 1M TPUs
- Microsoft takes on OpenAI’s consumer power
    - Clippy is back!
- OpenAI buys Software Applications Incorporated
- & SpacialGen Founder Joins The Show to Discuss the future of Immersive video.

Join us live today! 

⏰ LIVE today at:

- 11:00 AM PT
- 12:00 PM CT
- 1:00 PM ET

Follow along with our docket that we post LIVE here:
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“Work-life balance” is a load of nonsense. Elite performance requires an intense commitment.

The 9-9-6 work week — working 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week — has been criticized by many as too intense, and a way to burnout and mental and emotional collapse essentially inevitable. (The practice led to widespread protests in China, and has now been outlawed there.)

Winning in a very competitive market — and being compensated accordingly — sometimes requires personal sacrifice, and this is really comes down to an individual choice.

Would you ever work a 9-9-6 schedule?

There’s more money flowing around tech than ever before… so why is it still so hard to get FUNDING?

In this TWiST clip, Alex Wilhelm, and our guest investors Deedy Das, and Jay Eum, discuss the counter-intuitive state of venture funding, where some founders are overwhelmed with investors and have to turn them away, while others struggle just to get a meeting.

What’s the explanation?
1. Investors are seeing way more deals and can afford to be picky
2. The money folks expect more bang for their buck than in years past
3. There’s a higher bar for pre-seed funding than ever before

That all adds up to a tough environment for early-stage founders, despite the apparent frothiness of the AI bubble.

GPUs in Space! Altman defends OpenAI’s valuation

Join us live today! 

- Viral AI killing jobs chart.
- Sam Altman defends OpenAI’s spending commitments and valuation
- Forward Deployed Engineers, Critical or unscalable?
- Founder Questions on handling down rounds and tracking runway.

⏰ LIVE today at:

- 11:00 AM PT
- 12:00 PM CT
- 1:00 PM ET

Follow along with our docket that we post LIVE here:
https://lnkd.in/e5P63mhZ

Jason talks with Shishir Mehrota, CEO of Grammarly, on Big Rebrand!

Jason and Alex break down today’s top news, and interview Shishir Mehrotra to talk about Grammarly’s rebrand to superhuman on today’s episode of TWiST!

Top Stories:

- Nvidia pushes market cap to $5B
- OpenAI’s new corporate structure
- AI productivity gains
- NEO Robot announcement and Uber’s self driving plans

Join us live today! 

⏰ LIVE today at:

- 11:00 AM PT
- 12:00 PM CT
- 1:00 PM ET

Follow along with our docket that we post LIVE here:
https://lnkd.in/e5P63mhZ

Was Sam Altman getting a little testy with AltCap on that Bg2 pod clip? Or was this all in good fun?

In this TWiST highlight, Alex Wilhelm and I check out Sam Altman’s appearance (with Satya Nadella) on Brad Gerstner, and a widely-shared clip of one particularly spicy exchange.

When Gerstner compared OpenAI's $13 billion in revenue vs. their trillions in spending on compute over the next few years… Altman took issue with the premise. He argues that the $13 billion figure underestimates OpenAI’s revenue… but also that most investors would GLADLY purchase Gerstner’s shares in the company if he no longer wants them.

While some online have read the exchange as truly combative, I think it was merely jokey and cheeky, noting that tech podcasting can be a full contact sport.

What do you think… Is this just a cheeky back and forth, or did Gerstner strike a nerve?

Deedy Das and Jay Eum Join the VC Roundtable! 

Join us live today! 

Topics:

- Deedy Das of Menlo Ventures, and Jay EUM of GFT join the roundtable!
- Amazon Sues Perplexity on ecommerce
- VC State of Play: Founder Density and Pre-seed Fundraising
- Founder Qs!

⏰ LIVE today at:

- 11:00 AM PT
- 12:00 PM CT
- 1:00 PM ET

Follow along with our docket that we post LIVE here:
https://lnkd.in/e5P63mhZ

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