M&A Mania, Palantir Meme Crash + Office Hours with Hookhub | E2105
This Week in Startups
Intro
This chapter delves into the strategic considerations of mergers and acquisitions, focusing on prominent companies like Uber and DoorDash. It also examines the potential for acquiring platforms like Substack, while analyzing business models, revenue structures, and market dynamics.
Today’s show: Circle gears up for its IPO and the stablecoin wars heat up, Palantir’s meme stock status gets a reality check, and they riff on a possible Uber + DoorDash merger and whether AI should train on Substack content. They react to Sequoia partner Andrew Reed’s inside take on fund dynamics, laugh at a brutal VC meme, and wrap with “Office Hours” featuring Caylee Harrington, founder of Hookhub — the Airbnb for RV parking — to talk vanlife, growth, and building in an unsexy market.
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Timestamps:
(0:00) Alex and Jason kicks off the show!
(1:29) Palantir's stock and market dynamics
(5:43) Meme stocks and reversion to the mean
(6:57) X and XAI merger
(10:01) Squarespace - TWiST listeners: use code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain: https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST
(12:05) M&A trends in tech and AI content acquisitions
(17:22) Valuation strategies for acquisitions
(22:05) Oracle - TWiST listeners can try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at https://www.oracle.com/twist
(23:31) Circle's IPO and stablecoin regulations
(30:46) Fidelity Private Shares - Visit https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com! Mention our podcast and receive 20% off your first-year paid subscription.
(32:26) Crypto community and anti-money laundering in stablecoins
(37:43) IPO and SPAC updates in tech
(41:20) Deep tech investment risks and lessons from SPACs
(44:03) Hookhub's journey and RV market insights
(49:27) Growth and challenges in RV market
(52:01) Hookhub's social media and content strategy
(58:48) Hookhub's investor pitch and growth strategy
(1:04:11) Van life business model potential
(1:06:16) Sequoia's internal culture and investment strategy
(1:13:03) Sequoia vs. Andreessen Horowitz and VC indexing
(1:15:32) Venture capital humor and closing remarks
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Links from the show:
Hookhub: https://www.hookhub.co/
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Follow Caylee:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariano-apodaca-45b07a16a/
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Follow Alex:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm
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Follow Jason:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
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Thank you to our partners:
(10:01) Squarespace - TWiST listeners: use code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain: https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST
(22:05) Oracle - TWiST listeners can try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at https://www.oracle.com/twist
(30:46) Fidelity Private Shares - Visit https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com! Mention our podcast and receive 20% off your first-year paid subscription.
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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
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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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Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916
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