WeRide IPO, Polymarket + Perplexity, the Trump Bump and more! | E1992
This Week in Startups
Intro
This chapter explores the addictive nature of sensational news coverage, likening it to the highs and lows of drug use and rock star fame. The speakers also celebrate the return of a key host while acknowledging the resilience and efforts of the team in overcoming challenges.
This Week in Startups is brought to you by…
Google Cloud. Accelerate your startup journey with the Google for Startups Cloud Program. Get up to $200K in Google Cloud credits – or up to $350K for AI startups – plus training and guidance. Apply at https://startups.google.com/twist
Vanta. Compliance and security shouldn't be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 report fast. TWiST listeners can get $1,000 off for a limited time at https://www.vanta.com/twist
AssemblyAI. Get maximum value from voice data with AssemblyAI. Build powerful products and features for your end users on the industry’s leading speech-to-text models. Get 100 free hours to start building at https://www.assemblyai.com/twist
*
Todays show:
Alex Wilhelm joins Jason to discuss the evolution of startup costs and media aggregation (3:17), media's addiction to Trump coverage (13:46), Polymarket and Perplexity partnership (40:08), and more!
*
Timestamps:
(0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show
(3:17) Evolution of startup costs and media aggregation (7:47) Jason and Alex discuss Trump and Elon conversation (10:09) Google Cloud - Accelerate your startup journey with the Google for Startups Cloud Program. Apply at https://startups.google.com/twist (13:46) Media's addiction to Trump coverage
(20:04) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist (21:18) Trump's media strategies and speech analysis
(30:04) AssemblyAI - Get 100 free hours to start building at https://www.assemblyai.com/twist (31:17) Societal resistance to tech and the rise of self-driving cars (37:14) Self-driving technology's impact on Uber and Lyft (40:08) Polymarket and Perplexity partnership (47:34) Hacking capitalism and the FIRE movement (54:12) Perplexity's AI competition and the value of proprietary data (1:00:45) Reddit's traffic and monetization (1:07:35) European venture capital and the rise of unicorns (1:13:00) Work culture: Europe vs. US (1:16:11) Investing in AI startups and consulting opportunities
*
Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/
Check out the TWIST500: https://twist500.com
*
Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
*
Mentioned on the show:
- Trump/X conversation transcript: https://turboscribe.ai/transcript/share/4422534834081521519/HWE18owsC2u8E5u2HpZNikyBdermlV2YSwGlTEPKJJw/donald-trump-and-elon-musk-full-transcript-august-12-2024-https-x-com-i-spaces-1nakepnklwoxl
- Jason’s argument concerning the Trump Bump: https://x.com/Jason/status/1823381839647756392
- WeRide IPO filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1867729/000119312524197868/d343706df1a.htm
- Alex’s notes on WeRide: https://www.cautiousoptimism.news/p/inside-werides-ipo-filing-and-the
- Perplexity + Polymarket deal: https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/12/prediction-market-polymarket-partners-with-perplexity-to-show-news-summaries/
- Polymarket Dune data: https://dune.com/rchen8/polymarket
- Balderton raises $1.3B: https://sifted.eu/articles/balderton-1-3bn-fundraise-news
- PitchBook data concerning recent European VC activity: https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q2-2024-european-venture-report
Follow Alex:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/
*
Follow Jason:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
*
Thank you to our partners:
(10:09) Google Cloud - Accelerate your startup journey with the Google for Startups Cloud Program. Apply at https://startups.google.com/twist
(20:04) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist
(30:04) AssemblyAI - Get 100 free hours to start building at https://www.assemblyai.com/twist
*
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
*
Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916
The AI-powered Podcast Player
