This Week in Startups Zoox Crash Fallout, COATUE’s $1B Open Fund, and Office Hours with FusionAds | E2122
Today’s show: Jason, Lon & Alex discuss the day’s hottest tech and startup news. Zoox’s robotaxi crash and voluntary recall, COATUE’s innovative open-ended venture fund that could democratize private tech investing, the NSO Group's massive $167M fine for spyware abuse, Uber’s record-setting earnings and in-person work push, and a candid AI wake-up call from Fiverr’s CEO urging employees to embrace automation or fall behind. From regulatory shakeups to funding innovation and the rise of AI productivity, this episode captures the chaos and opportunity of tech in 2025.
Timestamps:
(1:09) Show Intro
(2:43) Will Coatue's new low buy-in fund replace or supplement traditional VC investments?
(9:55) OpenPhone - Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/twist
(13:38) Zoox issues recall: why this might be the best case scenario for self-driving cars.
(20:18) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST
(22:39) Meta wins settlement against NSO: do spyware companies even need to exist?
(25:45) Uber bests expectations in Q1! Why their future is looking bright.
(29:48) Notion - Try it for free today at https://notion.com/twist
(33:10) How scared should we be of AI replacing us? Fiverr's CEO says VERY.
(40:57) In Office Hours, Evan from FusionAds wants to know: how to make clients feel more confident in with AI-generated marketing?
(50:03) The Founder Friday Tournament's Final Four is now... a FINAL FIVE?!
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Links from episode:
Do Things That Don’t Scale: https://paulgraham.com/ds.html
FusionAds: https://www.fusionos.ai/ai-generative-advertising
Follow Evan:X: https://x.com/EG_Fusion
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evangraj/
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Follow Alex:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
Thank you to our partners:
(9:55) OpenPhone - Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.co
(20:18) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST
(29:48) Notion - Try it for free today at https://notion.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
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