Refining the Twist 500: A Competitive Landscape for Venture-Backed Companies

Today’s show:

WHY DOES @SUBSTACKINC NEED $100M IN NEW FUNDING?HOW DO THEY PLAN TO STAY AHEAD OF @BEEHIIV?Jason and Alex are debating the future of indie publishing on an all-new TWiST, considering the future of these rival platforms, plus Patreon and more.PLUS they’re digging into Lovable’s latest raise and what it says about the current economics of vibecoding, surveying the automated driving landscape in light of Uber’s new agreement Lucid and Euro, explaining Jason’s “meme processing” theory of internet humor, AND looking ahead to Christopher Nolan’s IMAX epic “The Odyssey.”Join us for the longest-running and most in-depth podcast on Earth for startup founders.

Timestamps:

(0:00) Intro - Everyone is getting hyped for Nolan’s “The Odyssey”

(03:49) “Meme Processing,” the Astronomer saga, and giving people a little grace

(10:07) INBOUND - Use code TWIST10 for 10% off your General Admission ticket at https://www.inbound.com/register (Valid thru 7/31)

(18:49) Substack vs. Patreon vs. Beehive: Who ya got?!

(19:43) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(29:39) Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twist.

(37:58) Lovable, vibecoding, and how much AGI might one day be worth

(01:00:36) Uber’s Lucid/Nuro deal: Alex did the math

(01:08:03) Is autonomous driving about to change EVERYTHING? Jason says… YES.

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

Thank you to our partners:

(10:07) INBOUND - Use code TWIST10 for 10% off your General Admission ticket at https://www.inbound.com/register (Valid thru 7/31)

(19:43) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(29:39) Public - Take your investing to the next level with Public. Build a multi-asset portfolio and earn 4.1% APY on your cash—with no fees or minimums. Start now at public.com/twist.

All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Brokerage services for US-listed, registered securities, options and bonds in a self-directed account are offered by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA & SIPC. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1890144), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC.
Alpha is an experimental AI tool powered by GPT-4. Its output may be inaccurate and is not investment advice. Public makes no guarantees about its accuracy or reliability—verify independently before use.
*Rate as of 7/18/25. APY is variable and subject to change.

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