1:03 Jason intros Garry Tan and checks in on how his quarantine has been going 4:39 How does Garry look at Initialized's portfolio companies? What are his 3 groups of companies dealing with COVID? 8:04 How will VCs react to the crisis? Why does Initialized specifically focus on Seed-stage companies? 11:13 How does Initialized contact downstream investors about their companies, and how has that changed during COVID? 14:12 Thoughts on Posterous, data-storage singularity & more 18:04 Losing tho...
May 29, 2020•1 hr 38 min
0:43 Jason intros TechStars CEO David Brown 4:47 TechStars leading the virtual accelerator trend 10:21 Will TechStars go with a hybrid model going forward and what key points should remote accelerators focus on? 15:27 How did TechStars settle on the number of 10 companies per cohort? 17:28 What has TechStars seen across their portfolio since COVID started? 21:21 Sustained changes vs. temporary changes due to COVID, will COVID lead to more entrepreneurs? 31:58 How to explain edge-case funding sce...
May 27, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Slice CEO Ilir Sela answers questions from founders: tips on selling into scattered markets (like Mom & Pop shops), COVID's impact on the restaurant industry, scaling Slice's $43M Series C & more! Join the TWiST Slack: https://launchevents.typeform.com/to/kLq5Bi Check out Slice: https://slicelife.com/ Follow Ilir: https://twitter.com/IlirSela 1:05 Knyck: You mentioned Slice being a platform to provide the technology and buying power of scaled companies to small pizza businesses. Do you t...
May 21, 2020•49 min
0:51 Jason intros Zach Coelius & Sam Parr 2:28 Barstool Sports vs. Call Her Daddy 6:49 Penn National Gaming stock soaring, Dave Portnoy winning this controversy 13:17 SoftBank reports $17.7B annual loss, worst figures in 39-year history 17:19 Does SoftBank's involvement typically include a loss of focus for the founder? 21:43 TikTok’s parent co. Bytedance trades at a $140B valuation, poaches Disney’s former Head of Streaming as new CEO of TikTok 25:08 Was Kevin Mayer wrong to take this role?...
May 21, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Angel investor Jason Calacanis (Uber, Calm, Robinhood) interviews the world’s greatest founders, operators, investors and innovators. Get an insider’s look into venture capital, learn how to start and scale your own startup, and ride the cutting edge of technology in today's headlines and beyond.
May 21, 2020•50 min
0:35 Jason intros Capital Factory CEO & Founder Josh Baer 1:47 What is Capital Factory in its current iteration? How are they transitioning to remote? Loss of serendipity of random in-person connections 5:38 Josh takes Jason through the SXSW cancellation 10:29 Issues conceptualizing COVID's impact 15:35 Transitioning to rolling cohorts & optimizing their Slack community 21:36 Capital Factory's standard deal terms, why founders join, how returns are divvied up 27:30 Starting Capital Facto...
May 20, 2020•1 hr 12 min
0:31 Jason intros today's news roundtable guests Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal 6:54 Clubhouse raises Series A from a16z at a $100M valuation pre-launch 11:12 How do $2M in secondary shares play into Clubhouse's situation? 14:08 How Clubhouse achieved "VC-Market Fit" 18:49 Was this investment worth it considering massive former outliers in the consumer social space (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat)? Or did a16z pay too high of a price? 26:08 Bull/bear cases for founders selling secondary shares p...
May 20, 2020•1 hr 57 min
Hustle Fund Co-Founder & General Partner Elizabeth Yin answers 50 questions from founders!
May 18, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Range CEO & Co-Founder Dan Pupius answers questions from founders: meeting & collaborating with Evan Williams, divvying up time while building a remote team, product development advice, benefits of co-founders & more Join the TWiST Slack: https://launchevents.typeform.com/to/kLq5Bi Check out Range: https://www.range.co/ Questions: 0:50 Laura: Interested in learning more about what made you want to build a company that focused on remote work? Do you personally find it challenging not ...
May 14, 2020•38 min
0:42 Jason intros SOSV's Sean O'Sullivan 4:19 How is operating in China during COVID? 5:22 Origin of SOSV, thoughts on in-person accelerators over remote accelerators, why hardware/life-science accelerators need in-person cohorts 9:02 Sean describes SOSV's typical deal terms, unique follow-on strategy & cohort size 14:27 What stage company are SOSV accelerators looking for? Does it vary by industry? 17:58 Sean describes SOSV portfolio company Memphis Meats & how they utilize bioreactors ...
May 13, 2020•1 hr 5 min
0:36 Jason shares thoughts on his portfolio activity, getting back to work, leadership & more 4:20 Jason intros Slice Founder Ilir Sela 7:14 How has Slice been helping local pizzerias and front-line workers during the pandemic? https://sliceouthunger.org/pandemicpizza 9:12 What are the economics of an average privately-owned local pizzeria? How are the majority fairing during COVID-19? 13:24 What is Ilir building at Slice? What is their "reverse-franchise model" that helps local pizzerias co...
May 12, 2020•1 hr 18 min
0:56 Jason intros Keith Rabois and checks in on his quarantine, Zoom's heightened exhaustion factor & more 5:46 What will the lasting impact of COVID be on Silicon Valley & the startup funding landscape? 8:18 How the early 2000's dot-com bust paved way for a generation of new founders & why the PayPal mafia of outsiders thrived in chaos & became the establishment 14:23 What has happened to intellectual debate during COVID-19? What are first principle thinkers and why are they imp...
May 12, 2020•1 hr 25 min
StartX & Nexus Events Founder Cameron Teitelman answers questions from founders: how universities with no entrepreneurial culture can mimic Stanford, building flexible & sustainable culture during COVID, scaling Nexus Events rapidly & more! Join the TWiST Slack: https://launchevents.typeform.com/to/kLq5Bi Mentioned during the AMA: Cameron's new startup: https://mixer.nexusevents.io/login_mixer Cameron's most recent TWiST appearance: https://youtu.be/zsNqOLs-NVI Questions: 0:37 Camero...
May 12, 2020•37 min
0:50 Jason opens the show with some thoughts on livelihood, getting back to work as a lose-lose situation and approaching the situation with kindness and empathy 5:47 Jason intros Hustle Fund's Elizabeth Yin and they discuss the process of raising Hustle Fund I and targeting first-time LPs 10:25 Why high net worth individuals would look to become venture LPs 14:26 What's the deal with Elizabeth & hippos? Where can you find Jason as his alter-ego "CyberSurfer" 15:49 What is Hustle Fund's port...
May 08, 2020•1 hr 4 min
All Turtles CEO Phil Libin answers questions from founders: should early-stage founders prioritize data or instincts, building global products, ML risks, thoughts on remote work Join the TWiST Slack: https://launchevents.typeform.com/to/kLq5Bi Mentioned during the AMA: Phil's First appearance on TWiST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSYdwNHCmJA Phil presents his state machine that answers all growth questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjyhDOb_j1I All Turtles Product Taxonomy podcast: htt...
May 08, 2020•56 min
Hosted by Jason Calacanis & Michael Savino, Angel.University is a workshop for individuals interested in becoming professional angel investors. The curriculum is designed for angels who have done 0 to 100 angel investments and focuses on five key topics: sourcing deals, evaluating startups, negotiating deals, portfolio and bankroll management, and post-deal efforts. Register: https://www.angel.university/events
May 07, 2020•2 min
0:42 Jason intros MassChallenge CEO Siobhan Dullea 3:09 What is MassChallenge & how is it different from a typical accelerator? 5:48 How many startups do they accept across their different programs? 11:33 How does their prize money situation work? How are the winners selected? 19:05 How is MassChallenge sustainable as a non-profit 22:55 How is MassChallenge funded & how do they track portfolio success, what government & corporate sponsors looking for out of MC? 29:22 MC's top acceler...
May 06, 2020•1 hr 5 min
0:01 Jason intros today's questions! 2:18 Kate asks what founders & investors often overlook while pitching/being pitched, and what they should focus more closely on 6:58 Daniel asks about Jason's next book 8:59 Avery asks for advice on performing customer research 14:27 Dan asks what common traits Jason sees in the best founders and tangible steps to gain these traits 19:55 Shahpar asks what kind of cold emails catch Jason's eyes 22:10 Amy asks for the top 5 books Jason would recommend to a...
May 05, 2020•51 min
Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/transportationpodcast Featuring Sandy Munro (CEO of Munro & Associates), Jason Calacanis (Angel investor, LAUNCH, Inside.com) and Johan Moreno (Inside.com). Subscribe to Inside Transportation newsletter: inside.com/transportation Subscribe to Inside Electric Vehicles newsletter: inside.com/evs Follow Inside Transportation: https://twitter.com/TranspoPod
May 02, 2020•21 min
0:56 Jason intros the show & talks about the impact the TWiST Slack has had on him 4:47 Jason intros Dan Pupius of Range 6:13 What is Range and why is it asynchronous & who types of companies is it made for? 10:48 What is the core feature of Range? 15:19 Dan's time at Google, working on Google+ & Google Buzz 21:16 Competing against Facebook's product velocity 24:28 Why did Google+ fail? 29:22 How adoption patterns & network effects played into Google+ not taking off like Facebook...
May 02, 2020•1 hr 12 min
freeCodeCamp Founder Quincy Larson answers questions from his exclusive AMA only on This Week in Startups' Slack! If you’d like to participate in exclusive AMAs, jam sessions, and discuss all aspects of startup life with Jason and our community of 20,000+ founders, join us at: https://launchevents.typeform.com/to/kLq5Bi Watch Quincy on E1049: https://youtu.be/OgxTDl2Z9II Follow Quincy: https://twitter.com/ossia Check out freeCodeCamp: https://www.freecodecamp.org/ Thanks to Klaviyo, Fiverr and M...
Apr 30, 2020•41 min
1:00 Jason intros Power of Accelerators Episode 2! 3:07 Jason intros StartX Founder Cameron Teitelman: What is StartX, how do they invest, when and how was it started? 6:54 How does StartX exist? Are they profitable? 8:43 Why would a growth stage founder join StartX? 13:28 What is the process for selecting founders/companies for StartX? What is unique about Stanford students? 16:28 Difference between arrogance and confidence, StartX's "No A**hole" rule, Cohort size 20:47 What does StartX look fo...
Apr 29, 2020•59 min
0:42 Jason intros PlayVS CEO & Founder Delane Parnell 2:59 What is PlayVS, how do they make money & how fast are they growing? 5:37 Attracting investors, leveraging an exclusive contract to scale across US high schools & average hours spent on the platform by players 13:26 Delane shares his backstory, from flipping shoes to owning cell phone stores in high school to getting tickets to the LAUNCH Festival in SF 26:38 How Delane turned LAUNCH Festival networking to deal flow & a jo...
Apr 28, 2020•1 hr 43 min
2:42 — Electric vehicle startups receive PPP loansAs thousands of small business owners struggle to pay rent and keep their employees on staff, two high-profile electric vehicle startups have applied and received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Apr 27, 2020•14 min
0:50 Jason thanks the front-line workers & intros freeCodeCamp's Quincy Larson 7:45 Why & how did Quincy start freeCodeCamp? What is freeCodeCamp? 12:16 Jason & Quincy discuss starting & running large online communities, benefits of Discord & Slack 15:36 Can you jump right in on freeCodeCamp.org? What types of certifications do they offer? 17:38 COVID-19's impact on user growth & why Quincy is emulating Red Cross, YMCA & other non-profits 21:19 Do they track outcomes ...
Apr 24, 2020•58 min
1:00 Jason thanks all frontline workers and intros Dreamit Ventures’ Steve Barsh 3:33 How did Dreamit start, what is the goal and how is their program structured? 9:43 How often does Dreamit follow-on with their portfolio companies, how do they think about pricing, valuation & leading rounds? 15:15 Steve goes over some of Dreamit’s top portfolio companies: SeatGeek, LevelUp & Houseparty and explains how SeatGeek pivoted while going through Dreamit’s program 18:20 How early will Dreamit V...
Apr 22, 2020•1 hr 2 min
0:01 Jason intros today's #AskJason and talks about the This Week in Startups Slack! 4:04 Ethan asks where and how Jason gets his news for general industry knowledge 6:43 Sean asks Jason how to acquire talent during a crisis 9:54 Vik asks Jason about building strong corporate culture while working remotely 15:44 David asks about SF mayor London Breed capping fees for delivery companies 19:32 Craig asks for Jason's perspective on investing in fully distributed startups 23:52 Mayur asks which audi...
Apr 22, 2020•50 min
0:37 Jason intro Alex Wilhelm & Sam Lessin & checks in on how their quarantines are going 5:59 Are they all working more during quarantine then they were beforehand? 9:58 Will we see a birthrate drop due to the crisis? 15:45 Having & raising children in the digital age/COVID crisis 18:24 How are Apple & Google helping with tracking COVID-19, and when do their efforts become a privacy risk? 27:29 For how long would big-tech need personal health data? 31:54 Differences between Face...
Apr 17, 2020•1 hr 17 min
0:51 Jason intro 15Five's David Hassell & checks in on how his company is doing 4:23 What does a great leader need to do in a crisis? 8:26 How to share information with your team about potential layoffs 10:27 What is 15Five? What have they set out to accomplish? 15:22 Tips on transitioning an in-person team to fully remote 22:24 Defining trust in terms of business & how 15Five keeps their employees engaged 32:16 How increasing trust has resulted in hardly any employee turnover at 15Five ...
Apr 15, 2020•1 hr 4 min
0:01 Jason & Chamath catch us up on their quarantines 1:20 Chamath intros David Sacks 4:40 David explains what their poker group chat has been like since COVID-19 started, and how Jason, Chamath & himself fall on the optimistic/pessimistic spectrum 6:58 How have the past few months defined David's view on the world, and what is his reaction to the US government's response? 12:22 Did the US health apparatus do its job? How could it improve? Why aren't masks already mandated? 19:33 Culture...
Apr 11, 2020•30 min
