This Week in Startups

Molly had a big board meeting today, so we had our guy Zach Coelius join for another version of Ask an Angel (1:32). Zach and Jason share their thoughts on remote work (4:40), the downturn (22:10), and then they answer audience questions (41:22). It’s a solid episode for founders and investors! (0:00) Jason intro’s today’s Ask an Angel episode with Zach Coelius (1:32) Ask an Angel with Zach Coelius (4:40) Zach’s thoughts on remote work (13:19) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/TWIST (14:37) Managing a company post-COVID (17:00) Who shines in the remote work era? (20:51) Notion - Get $250 off by using code TWIST at https://notion.so (22:10) The downturn: will people cancel or review their SaaS bills? (26:09) How many of Zach’s founders have prepped for the downturn? (30:50) Odoo - Get your first app free and a $1000 credit at https://odoo.com/twist (32:02) Don’t try to invest in pre-product market fit companies when you’re first starting out (unless you know the founder’s awesome) (41:22) Q&A: How do you think about competition in the same market in the early stages? (46:43) What are the top buzzwords you’re staying away from as investors right now? (59:00) Would you invest in SF? (1:04:00) How much dilution after seed rounds turns into a red flag? (1:06:14) Should the equity grant occur during financings or the board meeting? (1:09:15) What does Zach focus on in terms of diligence? (1:19:30) As a founder, when should you provide pro rata to angels and when not? (1:25:10) Have you ever advised a founder to leave the CEO role? (1:32:29) How long do you think the down market is going to be and what’s your strategy?

Today, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is celebrating his one-year anniversary, and the NYT published an interesting profile that has a lot to do with regulatory scrutiny (3:01). Then we cover the boom of remote work incentive programs all over the US to attract remote tech workers (27:00). And, we get into an awesome new company called Phaidra in our Series A segment… some former DeepMind engineers started an awesome machine learning company (40:16). And we wrap with a great story about retail investors who have the same thesis as Jason (47:51). (0:00) Jason and Molly tee up today’s show (3:01) NYT published a profile of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on his one-year anniversary of becoming CEO, and it had some interesting tidbits (12:28) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://linkedIn.com/twist 13:44 More on the legislation discussed in the NYT article (21:37) Microsoft for Startups Hub - Apply in 5 minutes, no funding required, sign up at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups (22:54) Bezos is running for president (prediction) (27:00) WSJ reported 71 cities and towns in the US are now offering remote work incentive programs (37:19) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist (38:33) Producer Nick chimes in on remote workers in Manhattan (40:16) Series A: Phaidra s a startup selling machine learning software that regulates temperatures at power plants and industrial factories (47:51) WSJ reported some amateur investors see the declining state of the stock market as a chance to double down  (56:08) Over the weekend Jason tweeted, “Terrify your investors in 5 words.” These were the best replies

On today's episode of VC Sunday School, Molly asks Jason about taking the leap on valuation (2:10) and best practices for strategic retreats (11:41). Then, Molly speaks with Meiling Gao and David Lu of Clarity Movement, to talk about their hardware for measuring air quality (33:25). (0:00) Jason and Molly intro today’s show! (2:10) VCSS: Taking the leap on valuation (10:28) Embroker - Get an extra 10% off insurance for your business at https://Embroker.com/twist (11:41) VCSS: strategic retreats (27:44) Microacquire - Sell your business with no fees at https://try.microacquire.com/twist (29:01) VCSS Bonus Round: Does age matter in founders? (32:15) Molly tees up This Week in Climate Startups (33:25) TWiCS: David Lu + Meiling Gao of Clarity Movement (38:00) Brave - download Brave today at https://brave.com/twist to browse faster, search privately and so much more. (39:17) TWiCS: More on Clarity Movement’s air pollution measurement hardware (57:49) Outro + Plugs

Today, we cover the WSJ reporting on Amazon thinking of exiting the private-label business entirely (2:26). Then, Jason talks to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr about banning TikTok in the US (15:23). And of course, we wrap with another episode of OK Boomer from Producer Rachel (56:17). Check out BuzzFeed's report on TikTok: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access (0:00) Jason and Molly tee up today’s show (2:26) WSJ spoke to anonymous sources who told them Amazon is talking about exiting the private-label business entirely (14:09) Vanta - Get $1,000 off automating your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist (15:23) Jason speaks with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr about potentially banning TikTok in the US (21:56) Prometheus - Go to Prometheusalts.com or download it on the App Store and use the access code TWIST to sign up! (24:14) Reciprocity with a potential TikTok ban (31:55) UserTesting - Get real human insights from customers, try for free today at https://usertesting.com/twist (33:06) Should the military ban on TikTok mean it should be banned by Google and Apple? (44:40) Concerns over DJI drones (56:17) Producer Rachel tees up this week’s OK Boomer segment (1:01:10) OKB: Producer Rachel speaks with Eric Button, co-founder of Contrast (1:20:42) Outro + Plugs

Today, Jason makes his first investment in our new Jay Trading segment (which is not investing advice), and Jason and Molly break it down (3:22). Then, we do a little segment called “Series A & M&A” (24:40)! We also cover Stripe’s 409A valuation (37:52). And of course, we have to cover the Netflix + Microsoft partnership (45:50). Finally, we wrap with Peloton outsourcing their hardware manufacturing (57:00). (0:00) Jason and Molly tee up today’s show! (3:22) Jay Trading: Bill Gurley bought ~1M shares of Stitch Fix yesterday for a total of $5.4M and the stock popped as much as 15% on the news (14:17) Liquid I.V. - Feel better faster. Get 25% off at https://liquid-iv.com using promo code TWIST (15:30) Talking revenue and profit (23:18) Wealthfront - Get your first $5,000 managed for free, for life at https://wealthfront.com/TWIST (24:40) Series A and M&A: You.com (35:59) Harmonic - Get $4000 off at harmonic.ai/twist (37:52) WSJ reports that Stripe just cut its internal valuation by 28% (45:50) Netflix named Microsoft as its global advertising technology and sales partner  (57:00) Peloton is going to stop making its own bikes and tread machines, opting to outsource all manufacturing to Taiwan  (1:06:00) M&A: Battery Ventures announced a $3.8 billion raise (1:15:07) Outro + Plugs

Today we kick off our new series, "The Blueprint." Jason gives practical advice on how to brand yourself (1:33). Then, Jason sits down with Stanford professor and author Jeffrey Pfeffer to talk about his new book, "7 Rules of Power: Surprising--but True--Advice on How to Get Things Done and Advance Your Career" (14:36). (0:00) Jason tees up today’s show! (1:33) The Blueprint E1: branding yourself (13:39) Visa. Learn more about Visa’s online Small Business Hub at Visa.com/smallbusinesshub. (14:36) Jeffrey Pfeffer speaks about his book “7 rules of Power” (28:26) LinkedIn Marketing -  Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups (29:56) Break the rules: Why are people so uncomfortable breaking the rules? (37:41) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist (38:58) Show up in a powerful fashion: body language (41:45) Building a brand (50:12) Use your power (53:53) Trump using his power  (56:46) Once you have power, what you did will be forgiven forgotten or both (1:01:42) Q&A: how do introverts exert power? (1:02:46) Best networking tips

First, we break down the 3AC situation where the founders were reportedly MIA for about 12 hours (1:52). It’s a complex situation, and we try and make sense of it. Then, we cover Matt Taibbi’s deep-dive article on Circle (8:10). Jason also gives his thoughts on a recent Twitter thread about how to succeed as a low-level startup employee (33:27). And we wrap with a little M&A story from Spotify (40:50)! (0:00) Jason tees up today’s topics! (1:52) Bloomberg reported that liquidators in charge of handling Three Arrow Capitals bankruptcy have NOT been able to locate the founders (8:10) Investigative reporter Matt Taibbi spent time researching the Crypto Crash, and warns against investing in Circle’s stablecoin USDC (11:51) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist (13:08) Red flags Taibbi found (24:11) Embroker - Get an extra 10% off insurance for your business at https://Embroker.com/twist (25:25) Making sense of the crypto crash (32:16) Assure - To get 20% off your first Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) visit https://Assure.co/twist (33:27) Zach Weinberg had an interesting thread about how to stand out as a low or mid-level startup employee (40:50) Spotify has acquired a Wordle-like daily game for your ears called: Heardle! (46:56) Previewing the week ahead (53:17) Outro + Plugs!

Today we talk about the Elon Musk & Twitter deal-or-no-deal (2:14). Then we get into two big pieces of Uber news today: first, over a hundred thousand leaked documents about Uber’s aggressive expansion efforts back in the early days (20:47), and second, present-day Uber under Dara is testing out geo-located ads (33:18). Finally, we’ve also got some insider dirt from Apple’s autonomous car efforts (49:20). (0:00) Jason and Molly intro today’s show (2:14) Elon Musk calls off the Twitter deal (12:49) Dell For Startups - Apply for Dell for Startups and get an additional 10% off of all Dell Latitude products at http://dell.com/twist (13:58) Is Twitter a niche product? (19:28) This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp - Get 10% off your first month at https://betterhelp.com/twist (20:47) The Guardian obtained 124,000 leaked internal documents from Uber’s global expansion phase under Travis (32:04) Thorne - Personalized, science-back wellness. Get 10% off your first order at thorne.com/u/TWIST (33:18) Uber is testing its ad business (49:20) Apple Car project has faced repeated setbacks (58:39) Outro + Plugs

For today's VC Sunday School, Jason asks Molly what she's learned in her first six months as a venture capitalist (1:59). Then, on This Week in Climate Startups, Molly speaks with siblings Steven and Zora Chung of ReJoule about EV battery recycling (18:52). (0:00) Jason and Molly intro the show (1:59) VCSS: Molly’s first 6 months as an investor recap (14:06) Bubbles - Get your point across with unlimited screen and video recordings for free at https://usebubbles.com/twist (15:24) Toss to TWiCS (18:52) TWiCS: Zora and Steven Chung, co-founders of ReJoule (22:51) Brave - Download Brave today at http://brave.com/twist to browse faster, search privately and so much more (24:08) Explaining the ReJoule technology like we’re 10 (30:03) iTrust Capital - Visit https://itrust.capital/twist to create your Crypto IRA today (31:06) What’s ReJoule’s business model? (44:18) Outro + Plugs

Today, Jason sits down with Frost Giant CEO Tim Morten to discuss the gaming business models, Esports, and more (1:50). Then, on this week's OK Boomer segment, Producer Rachel speaks with Richard Mensah, co-founder of Salley, about being an international founder (1:09:45). (0:00) Jason and Molly introduce today’s show (1:50) Jason speaks with Production Director & CEO of Frost Giant, Tim Morten (11:15) PolicyGenius - Head to https://www.policygenius.com to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save (12:25) Running a game studio as a startup (21:54) Vanta - Get $1,000 off automating your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist (23:09) Business model changes in the gaming industry (30:40) Intercom - Get advanced Intercom features and Early Stage Academy at a 95% discount https://www.intercom.com/early-stage (32:56) Raising money as a gaming startup (1:09:45) Producer Rachel tees up this week’s OK Boomer (1:12:37) OKB: Richard Mensah, Co-Founder of Salley, on being an international founder (1:36:51) Outro + Plugs