This Week in Startups

Molly breaks down Google’s $300M investment in Anthropic and how this deal compares to Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI. (2:00) Then, she dives deep into a former Google executive’s paid search engine and ShiftMed raising $200M to solve the nursing shortage. She wraps the show with an interview featuring the CEO of dating app So Syncd, Jessica Alderson. (13:44) (0:00) Molly kicks off the show (2:00) Google invests $300M in Anthropic (12:15) LinkedIn Marketing - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups (13:44) Neeva’s new approach to search (21:33) Acquire.com - Sign up for FREE at https://try.acquire.com/twist (22:58) AI’s data problem (28:27) ShiftMed raises $200M (33:18) LMNT - Get a free sample pack with any purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/twist (34:45) Seed/Series A Interview: Jessica Alderson, CEO of So Syncd FOLLOW Jessica: https://twitter.com/jesssalderson FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Molly is off for the day, so Producer Rachel joins Jason to break down Google, Amazon, and Apple’s latest earnings report. (1:29) Then LA26 graduate Perrin Davidson, CEO of EATERCLUB, joins Molly. (46:05) Lastly, we end the week with another edition of Ok Boomer, where Rachel interviews Eerika Savolainen, the CEO of Slush. (1:02:16) (0:00) Jason and Rachel kick off the show! (1:29) Google earnings (11:19) MasterClass - Get 15% off an annual membership at https://masterclass.com/startups (12:44) Amazon earnings (23:28) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist (24:30) Apple earnings (33:36) Fitbod - Get 25% off at https://fitbod.me/twist (34:36) The US jobs report (46:05) LA26 Founder: Perrin Davidson of EATERCLUB (1:02:16) OK Boomer with Eerika Savolainen, the CEO of Slush FOLLOW Perrin: https://twitter.com/LAeats FOLLOW Eerika: https://twitter.com/EerikaSav FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Jason and Molly kick off the show by discussing Meta’s Q4 earnings and the news that the Fed is raising rates by only 25 basis points (3:06), which leads to a discussion on unemployment, automation, and generative AI updates. (11:24) Then, Lon Harris joins to discuss Oscar nominations, Spotify earnings, “peak podcasting,” and more. (37:51) (0:00) M+J kick off the show (3:06) Meta Earnings (7:56) The Fed raises rates by 25bps (9:57) House of Macadamias - Get 20% off at https://houseofmacadamias.com/twist by using code TWIST20 (11:24) Unemployment and Automation (21:59) Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub - Apply in 5 minutes for six figures in discounts at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups (23:30) ChatGPT hits 100M MAUs + Google’s Apprentice Bard (36:46) Anyplace - Get $250 off your booking with the code TWIST250 at https://www.anyplace.com/twist (37:51) Oscar Nominations with Lon Harris (44:06) Spotify earnings (55:35) The Last of Us is another hit for HBO (1:00:58) James Gunn reveals chapter one of the DC Universe FOLLOW Lon: https://twitter.com/lons FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Jason is joined by FirstMark Capital’s Rick Heitzmann, who started his investment career in 1999. They discuss “sobering up” after the 14-year bull run (1:55), Airbnb’s response to the downturn (7:38), how senior leaders must act as shock absorbers for their founders (26:30), and more! (0:00) Jason kicks off the show (1:55) Rick’s experience of the “Speculative Asset Bubble” (7:38) Airbnb’s reaction to the downturn (11:33) LinkedIn Jobs - Go to https://linkedIn.com/angel and post your first job for free (12:58) Rick’s memory of the Dot Com bubble (19:39) Advice for founders in a downturn (22:27) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist (23:29) How CAC and LTV have changed (26:30) The emotional state of Founders and keeping them focused (35:09) Term sheets in the Dot Com era and today (40:06) Letterhead - get 50% off their first year at tryletterhead.com/twist (41:21) Different forms of exits + Key attributes in founders FOLLOW Rick: https://twitter.com/rick FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Jason and Molly kick off the show with a quick third-rail story about Area 51. (1:56) They then cover Instagram co-founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom’s new startup, Artifact. (10:44) Finally, Gabi Lewis of Magic Spoon joins Molly for an awesome interview about their latest raise, launching in big box stores and more. (41:56) (0:00) Molly Kicks off the show (1:56) Conspiracy Theories with Molly and Jason (9:37) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist (10:44) Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom’s new venture: Artifact (20:16) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist (21:19) Monetizing news aggregators + content moderation (40:42) Letterhead - get 50% off their first year at tryletterhead.com/twist (41:56) Gabi Lewis of Magic Spoon joins Molly (1:13:51) Jay Trades, immigration and TikTok ideas FOLLOW Gabi: https://www.instagram.com/gababoutgabi FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Jason and Molly kick off the week with a generative ai update! (5:00) Then, they cover Mr. Beast’s latest video and “stunt culture” (35:21), some more third-rail topics (49:40), and Billy McFarland being back in the news! (59:50) (0:00) M+J kick off the show (2:10) Apply to Founder University 2-Day Workshop at https://intensive.founder.university/ (5:00) Anthropic raises at a $5B valuation (9:31) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://linkedin.com/twist (11:01) More on Anthropic (18:01) Notion - Sign up for FREE at https://notion.com/jason (19:21) Semafor reports OpenAI has contracted 1000 developers (27:06) Baidu is developing their own AI Chatbot (33:53) CAST AI - get a FREE cloud cost audit AND a personal consultation at cast.ai/twist (35:21) MrBeast’s latest video + Stunt culture (49:40) Third-rail topics (59:50) Billy McFarland is back in the news FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Please take our 90-second audience survey for a chance to win a $50 amazon gift card at www.thisweekinstartups.com/survey Molly and Jason chop it up about New York Attorney General Letitia James probing into MSG's alleged use of facial recognition to identify and target specific patrons (1:46). This segues into a great discussion about Meta's $10M deal with BuzzFeed and The Creator Economy as a whole (21:41). We cap off the week with two great interviews, one with LA26 graduate Nevsah Karamehmet of Breath Hub (36:17) and another with Brett Bauman, the creator of PlaylistAI (48:09). (0:00) M+J kick off the show (1:46) WLITF WTF: Facial recognition software at MSG (8:33) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist (10:03) More on the NYAG case regarding MSG's facial recognition software (20:11) Linode - Apply to Linode's Rise program for up to six figures in discounts at https://linode.com/twist (21:41) BuzzFeed's lucrative deal with Meta + Revenue share with creators (35:07) Crowdbotics - Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowdbotics.com/twist (36:17) LA26 Founder: Nevsah Karamehmet of Breath Hub (48:09) Ok Boomer with Brett Bauman FOLLOW Nevsah: https://twitter.com/nevsahf FOLLOW Brett: https://twitter.com/brettunhandled FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Please take our 90-second audience survey for a chance to win a $50 amazon gift card at www.thisweekinstartups.com/survey Vinny and Sunny are back for our first crypto-roundtable of 2023. Vinny breaks down the macroeconomic variables affecting Bitcoin’s price (1:39), plus they all predict whether Bitcoin will hit $30K or $16 first (11:43) (This is not financial advice). They delve into the ongoing controversy involving DCG, Gemini and Genesis (26:54), as well as the news that the SEC has charged both Gemini and Genesis with offering and selling unregistered securities (35:12). We wrap up the show with a great discussion about Porsche’s failed NFT drop and how brands should approach entering Web 3.0 (44:38). (0:00) Jason kicks off the show (1:39) Vinny’s macroeconomic breakdown (10:18) Acquire.com - Sign up for FREE at https://try.acquire.com/twist (11:43) Bitcoin’s price action + will it hit $30k or $16K (17:35) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/TWIST (18:59) Gluttony and the lack of consumer savings (26:54) DCG, Genesis and Gemini controversy (33:40) Fitbod - Get 25% off at https://fitbod.me/twist (35:12) The SEC has charged Gemini and Genesis for selling unregistered securities (44:38) Porsche’s NFT drop FOLLOW Vinny: https://twitter.com/VinnyLingham FOLLOW Sunny: https://twitter.com/sundeep FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Please take our audience survey!: https://launchevents.typeform.com/to/K5RhKaEH Jason sits down with Bryan Roberts of Venrock for another episode of Angel Season 7! They discuss Bryan’s first bets (2:22) and his perception of the dot com bubble. (14:38) The two also dive into topics like creating optionality as a startup (21:24), bad habits in VC (28:49) and Theranos. (36:18) To wrap the show, Bryan and Jason discuss disagreeing with founders (39:07) and the psychology of placing bets! (44:33) (0:00) Jason kicks off the show (2:22) Bryan’s first investment: Illumina (8:52) LinkedIn Jobs - Go to http://linkedin.com/angel and post your first job for free (10:16) Bryan’s second investment: Athena Health (14:38) Bryan’s experience during the dot-com bubble (19:54) Merge - Get started by integrating up to 5 linked accounts for free today at merge.dev/twist (21:24) Creating optionality in a startup (25:30) Understanding your leaders (28:49) Bad habits in venture (34:55) Velocity Growth - Get $500 off your first growth audit or monthly package now with promo code TWIST at velocitygrowth.com/twist (36:18) Bryan’s thoughts on Theranos (39:07) Diligence and disagreements with founders (44:33) The psychology of placing bets + advice for founders FOLLOW Bryan: https://twitter.com/brobertsvc FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Please take our audience survey!: https://launchevents.typeform.com/to/K5RhKaEH Molly goes solo today to cover the DOJ joining eight states to file an anti-trust lawsuit against Google (2:04) before covering Ticketmaster taking the stand in a Senate hearing today. (15:37) Producer Rachel then joins to discuss the latest on user-friendly ticket competitors. (23:07) Then, Molly is joined by two different LA26 founders: Rhian Beutler of Govalo (32:47) and Daniel Sakhai of HeyHire! (44:44) (0:00) Molly kicks off the show (2:04) the DOJ’s lawsuit with Google (9:16) AgeTech Collaborative - Find out more and apply at https://agetechcollaborative.org/twist (10:51) Google and Microsoft’s prior lawsuits with the DOJ (15:37) Ticketmaster’s senate hearing (21:30) AgeTech Collaborative - Find out more and apply at https://agetechcollaborative.org/twist (23:06) Rachel joins Molly to discuss the latest on user-friendly ticket competitors (31:18) Nutrisense - Use code TWIST and get $30 off at nutrisense.io/twist (32:47) Rhian Beutler of Govalo joins Molly (44:44) Daniel Sakhai of HeyHire joins Molly FOLLOW Rhian: https://twitter.com/rhiankatie FOLLOW Daniel: https://www.heyhire.com/ FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood