This Week in Startups M&A Mania, Palantir Meme Crash + Office Hours with Hookhub | E2105
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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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com
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