

This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
Jason Calacanis covers startups, tech, markets, media, and all the hottest topics in business and technology. He also interviews the world’s greatest founders, operators, investors, and innovators.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 18, 2021 • 57min
Head of Instagram comments on teen impact, Jay-Z’s NFT lawsuit + Sourcegraph’s Quinn Slack | E1285
First, Jason reacts to comments from Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri on the impact of Instagram on teen girls and comparing the risks of social media to the automobile industry (1:50). Then, Jason breaks down OpenSea's update on their front-running employee (11:55), and Jay-Z's NFT lawsuit (15:40). Finally, Sourcegraph CEO Quinn Slack joins to discuss growing his universal code search engine, selling a high-ticket SaaS product and more (21:48)!

Sep 17, 2021 • 59min
Rapid Fire News: App Annie fraud, Instagram’s negative impact, Discord valued at $15B & more | E1284
Full news show! First up, Jason covers the App Annie fraud (1:59), then he shares thoughts on Facebook's leaked documents showing they knew Instagram was detrimental to teen girls' mental health despite claiming the contrary (13:55). He also touches on Discord's $15B valuation (25:56), Mailchimp selling for $12B (33:40), and answers some livestream questions (40:35)!

Sep 15, 2021 • 1h 18min
OpenSea admits employee was front-running featured NFTs + Goldbelly CEO Joe Ariel on food e-commerce | E1283
First, Jason breaks down NFT platform OpenSea admitting one of their employees was front-running featured items (2:02). Could this tip off the SEC that NFTs might be securities rather than collectibles (12:01)? Then, Jason talks to Producer Rachel about TWiST Meetups (18:24). Finally, Goldbelly CEO Joe Ariel joins to talk about his high-end food marketplace, being the first mover in a blossoming category, the food e-commerce market & more. (30:15)

Sep 14, 2021 • 1h 6min
“Amazon Unbound” author Brad Stone on the mind of Bezos, the future of Amazon & more | E1282
Brad Stone, the author of "Amazon Unbound", joined to talk about Elon Musk (09:44), Amazon's workplace environment (23:25), the importance of Prime (27:17), which tech companies are most dangerous for society (51:13), & more!

Sep 10, 2021 • 1h 13min
Growth stocks, Inflation impacts, SPACs & more with Beth Kindig & Knox Ridley from I/O Fund | E1281
Beth Kindig and Knox Ridley from the I/O Fund came on to discuss with Jason their top growth stocks, market indicators, how to manage risk in an all tech portfolio, potential big tech spin outs, Roku's incredible expansion and more!

Sep 10, 2021 • 58min
News! Fireproof homes, Amazon’s college plan, Facebook copies Snap, Notion Acquires Automate.io & more | E1280
Rapid fire news episode. First, Jason covers how a fire proofed home survived the Caldor fire, Amazon's plan to provide college for all its employees, Facebook copying Snap's glasses, Notion acquiring Automate.io & more. At the end, Jason takes a few questions from listeners and shares a story from when he ran Silicon Alley Reporter.

Sep 9, 2021 • 1h
Coinbase battles SEC over Lend + How DeFi interest rates work with Genesis’ Matt Ballensweig | E1279
Coinbase CEO Brain Armstrong took to Twitter to call out the SEC for what Coinbase considers unclear guidance & hostility around their Lend product, Jason breaks down the situation (1:43). Then, to better understand how DeFi lending works Jason interviews Matt Ballensweig the Head of Institutional Lending at Genesis, a crypto prime brokerage (9:51). We close with three "Ask Jason" questions (50:23).

Sep 7, 2021 • 1h 20min
BAYC at Sotheby’s, Loot, Tether Canada ban + 8VC’s Joe Lonsdale: Palantir, China, Cicero | E1278
First Jason covers the $19M Bored Ape Yacht Club bid on Sotheby's & the Loot NFT collection launched by a Vine co-founder (1:42), and briefly covers Tether being banned from Canadian exchanges (11:07). Then serial founder and investor Joe Lonsdale joins (19:53) to discuss his companies (Palantir, Addepar, OpenGov), his new podcast "American Optimist," what regulations need to be fixed in the US, China's bold moves & more.

Sep 3, 2021 • 57min
Adrian Grenier: launching a new fund + FounderU: balancing product vision & customer feedback | E1277
First, Jason discusses how to balance product vision with customer feedback in a FounderU segment (0:57). Then, actor and investor Adrian Grenier joins to discuss the launch of his new fund DuContra Ventures (20:52), the importance of saying "No" (33:24), acting (41:23) and more!

Sep 2, 2021 • 1h 5min
Next Unicorns: Miso Robotics’ Mike Bell, $3 an hour fry cooks + MorningBrew’s Dan Toomey on TikTok | E1276
Jason chats with Miso Robotics CEO Mike Bell (1:07), about automating food preparation, filling the labor gap, the consequences of robots, growing with crowdfunding and more. Then, TWIST Producer Rachel Braun interviews Dan Toomey about the strategies he uses to run the Morning Brew TikTok account.


