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This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis
This Week in Startups
Latest episode

1391 episodes

  • This Week in Startups

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

    2026-03-14 | 1h 30 mins.
    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 popular social media accounts, a line of merch, a pop-up café, and let’s face it, an entire lifestyle.
    PLUS we’ve got Mog and Dubs from Subnet 75 — Hippius! Hear how they’re using the blockchain for decentralized storage, and providing server space much cheaper than their famous hyperscaler rivals.
    This Week In Startups is made possible by:
    Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist
    LinkedIn Jobs - https://LinkedIn.com/twist.
    Wispr Flow - https://wisprflow.ai/twist
    Northwest Registered Agent  - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

    Timestamps:
    00:00:00 Intro

    00:01:28 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!

    00:03:22 What is "decentralized cloud storage"?

    00:05:42 How Hippius came together

    00:09:57 LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at https://LinkedIn.com/twist.
    00:11:38 Incentivizing miners
    00:14:25 How many people are contributing?
    00:18:42 But where does the value accrue?
    00:20:18 Wispr Flow - Stop typing. Dictate with Wispr Flow and send clean, final-draft writing in seconds. Visit https://wisprflow.ai/twist to get started for free today.
    00:29:55 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://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
    00:35:53 The best places to eat in Dubai
    00:38:06 The inspo behind "Flat White or F Off"
    00:42:16 From social media to IRL business
    00:53:06 The secrets of experiential marketing
    00:57:28 Hospitality's "Rule of 3s"
    00:59:33 Inside the Flat White London pop-up
    01:13:11 Lon and Jason's Oscar picks
    01:26:06 Lon went "Inside the Manosphere"
    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 Week in Startups

    The Global Expansion of Self-Driving Vehicles

    2026-03-11 | 1h 9 mins.
    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, and Nathan Parker of EdgeCase.

    What’s going on in the world of self-driving? How has the reliability of autonomous vehicles improved? What challenges are we still facing in the industry? Will the US reign victorious, or is China sneaking up? Let’s find out on TWiST!

    Timestamps:

    00:00 intro

    02:21 Uber teams up with Zoox!

    03:02 Does EdgeCase work with Zoox?

    03:03 Operational design domains

    06:47 The challenges of bringing self-driving to new environments.

    00:10:53 Circle: The easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand. TWiST listeners get $1,000 off the Circle Plus Plan by going to http://circle.so/twist.

    00:13:26 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

    00:17:19 How has reliability of autonomous cars improved?

    00:19:18 How Ben Seidl came up with the idea for Autolane!

    00:21:08 Sentry: New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST

    00:27:47 How Moove helps autonmous vehicles go to market!

    00:30:49 Deel: Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.

    00:33:28 The logisitcs of managing fleets.

    00:37:08 Why is it called Autolane and not multi-modal lane?

    00:40:50 Does EdgeCase work with smaller self-driving vehicles as well?

    00:41:52 How autonomous systems will interact with one-another!

    00:43:14 Why AV’s should not talk to other AV’s on the road

    00:45:07 The state of the self-driving market

    00:49:12 Why Tesla isn’t involving themselves in California

    00:50:34 Why the US is leading the way with regulatory clarity in autonomous vehicles

    01:02:51 Ben Seidl says federal regulation is a necessity

    01:05:20 What is holding back self-driving growth in the US?

    01:06:26 What companies make the most money in self driving
    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 Week in Startups

    How agents will change banking forever | E2260

    2026-03-10 | 1h
    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 that it is possible — in certain contexts — to allow AI agents to run successive coding experiments to improve specific elements of LLM performance. Call it an early demonstration of the future.
    OpenClaw is exploding in China, while here in the United States, AI is polling somewhere underneath the basement. AI in the United States is about as popular as ICE, which could create a political issue for the technology in the coming elections.
    Next? Three demos. First, NetXD’s Suresh Ramamurthi showed off how he has built OpenClaw functionality to move money, Rohan Arun showed off PhoneClaw automation on Android devices from an AR headset, and Eugene Stuckless gave us a taste of what Eir is building. Our takeaway? OpenClaw is still boring its way into our digital lives, one new skill or tool at a time!
    GUESTS:
    Suresh Ramamurthi: ⁠⁠https://x.com/sureshr7⁠⁠
    Rohan Arun: ⁠⁠https://x.com/Viewforge/⁠⁠
    Eugene Stuckless: ⁠⁠https://x.com/eugene_eir_inc⁠⁠

    Timestamps:
    0:00 — ‘Autoresearcher’ and the future of AI improvements
    6:52 — Why people around the world are flocking to OpenClaw
    7:57 — Plaud - If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!
    9:46 — Gusto - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.
    12:57 — The changing American social contract
    20:15 — Quo - 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 quo.com/TWIST
    23:50 — Why China is all-in on AI (and Europe isn’t)
    26:26 — How to keep your job in the AI era
    28:05 — 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 www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
    29:38 — Athena - Get $2,000 off your first EA at https://www.athena.com/jcal
    34:42 — Demo: Suresh Ramamurthi of NetXD
    42:47 — Demo: Rohan Arun of PhoneClaw
    47:35 — Why bringing OpenClaw to your smartphone is what’s next
    49:49 — Demo: Eugene Stuckless of Eir
    56:45 — How can we make smarter, more efficient agents?

    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

    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 Week in Startups

    Wisdom of the $TAO: the future is decentralized AI

    2026-03-06 | 1h 8 mins.
    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?
    On TWiST, we welcome Ala Shaabana of Crucible Labs, one of the co-founders of Bittensor. It’s an open-source protocol powering a blockchain-based machine learning network. What does that mean? Users mine a crypto token — $TAO — but rather than using up their compute on solving extremely long equations, they devote it to actually powering a range of innovative AI apps (aka subnets).
    Plus we’ve got Mark Jeffrey, co-founder of the Bittensor Fund Stillcore Capital, to show us some of his favorite subnet projects, and walk us through how he trained his AI agent to mine crpyto.
    All that AND two amazing new OpenClaw demos.
    Mark Jeffrey: https://x.com/markjeffrey
    Stillcore Capital: https://stillcorecapital.com/
    Ala Shaabana (Crucible Labs): https://x.com/CrucibleLabs
    Michael Ryaboy (Setup Claw): https://setupclaw.com/
    Pete and Maddie Reese (Bizzby AI): https://bizzby.ai/
    Timestamps:
    00:00 Intro01:28 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!04:11 The booming intersection of crypto, and AI agents05:49 Mark Jeffrey joins the show!06:13 Bittensor explained — how TAO subsidizes AI products07:37 Mark’s top Bittensor projects00:10:40 https://Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io.00:12:20 How subnet tokens work00:17:34 How the Crucible Labs wallet simplifies subnet token allocation00:19:33 https://Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist00:22:42 The importance of private inference and encrypted AI prompts00:29:36 Wispr Flow: Stop typing. Dictate with Wispr Flow and send clean, final-draft writing in seconds. Visit https://wisprflow.ai/twist to get started for free today.00:33:07 How AI is restoring old movies and media!00:40:57 SetUpClaw’s “set it and forget it” AI agents00:45:50 https://Ro.co: Ro’s insurance checker will let you know if your coverage includes GLP-1s for FREE. Go to https://Ro.co/Twist for your free insurance check.00:54:35 “Off-duty” with Lon and Jason

    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 Week in Startups

    Is Anthropic Making the Biggest Mistake in AI History | E2258

    2026-03-05 | 1h 20 mins.
    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? How will agents transact? And what does privacy look like in a world with omnipresent AI?
    Stick around for some demos! We’ve got George Pickett to demo OpenClaw studio and David Kaufman to show us what he’s building at Siteline!

    Timestamps:

    00:04:31 What was Logan’s original thesis in Circle?

    10:08 LinkedIn Jobs - Thanks to our partners at @LinkedIn! Post your job for free at https://⁠linkedIn.com/twist⁠ then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs’ new AI assistant.

    00:11:52 Logans thoughts on Open vs. Closed Source

    00:15:33 How to maintain privacy in AI

    20:02 Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit https://⁠deel.com/twist⁠ to learn more.

    00:23:29 Why LAUNCH’s token usage is trending higher than payroll!

    00:25:05 How Fin capital uses personality types and AI to assess investments

    00:29:45 Why Erik thinks Anthropic’s defiance of the federal gov. is bravery!

    32:10 Iru - 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!

    00:42:23 How Siteline is helping understand companies and their agent traffic.

    00:57:15 OpenClaw Studio makes OpenClaw as user friendly as possible.

    01:10:09 The layers and layers of Microstrategy’s business model.

    01:11:44 Which AI tools are the most indispensable?

    01:12:25 How Jason uses the Grok button on threads

    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

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About 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.
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