logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2023
1h 2m

AI-Powered "Tools for Thought": Explorin...

Jason Calacanis
About this episode

This Week in Startups is brought to you by…

DevSquad. Most dev agencies only offer developers. Why? Because product management is hard. Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist

LinkedIn Marketing. To redeem a $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups

Fitbod. Tired of doing the same workouts at the gym? Fitbod will build you personalized workouts that help you progress with every set. Get 25% off your subscription or try out the app for FREE when you sign up now at fitbod.me/TWIST

*

Today’s show:

Steven Berlin Johnson joins Jason to demo Google’s NotebookLM, a new AI-powered research assistant he helped create at Google Labs. They dive into Steven’s journey to Google Labs (1:28), NotebookLM's unique features (14:09), the rights of authors in the digital age (40:22), and more!

*

Timestamps:

(0:00) Author Steven Berlin Johnson joins Jason

(1:28) Early experiences with the internet and Google’s Project Starline

(8:01) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist

(9:00) The significance of document organization, the concept and features of "sources" in NotebookLM, and the impact on writing (14:09) Steven demos Google NotebookLM

(28:06) LinkedIn Marketing - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups

(29:36) Steven’s NotebookLM demo continued

(33:47) Jason showcases how he utilizes NotebookLM for TWiST's Business Breakdowns segment

(38:56) Fitbod - Get 25% off at https://fitbod.me/twist

(40:22) The rights of authors in the digital age

(52:01) Superintelligence and the trajectory of language models

*

Links: https://stevenberlinjohnson.com/writing-at-the-speed-of-thought-21dfb7f689e4https://stevenberlinjohnson.com/good-ideas-the-four-minute-version-7e7856e69621https://www.wired.com/story/googles-notebooklm-ai-ultimate-writing-assistant/

*

Follow Steven: https://twitter.com/stevenbjohnson Check out Steven’s website: https://stevenberlinjohnson.com/ Check out Steven’s podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/american-innovations/id1370092284

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/jason

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

*

Great 2023 interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

*

Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

*

Follow TWiST:

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

*

Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast

Up next
Today
Grok 4 Beats OpenAI + The $300 AI Agent Era | E2150
Today’s show: Grok 4 just leapfrogged OpenAI to become the top AI model—and it’s not just hype. In this episode, @Jason and @alex break down Grok’s AGI-level performance, the massive drop in LLM pricing, and why some companies are raising prices anyway. They also dive into the Mi ... Show More
1h 11m
Jul 10
Orchestrating Smarter AI Systems with AI21 Labs’ Yoav Shoham | AI Basics with Google Cloud
In this episode of AI Basics, Jason sits down with Yoav Shoham — Stanford professor emeritus and co-founder of AI21 Labs, creators of Jurassic-2, Wordtune, and the new orchestration system Maestro.They unpack:Why enterprise AI struggles with reliabilityWhat orchestration really m ... Show More
22m 26s
Jul 9
Starlink + Tesla? $4T Nvidia? Perplexity Browser? Linda Yaccarino Steps Down? | E2149
On a brand new TWiST, Jason and Alex ponder… What if every Tesla doubled as a Starlink-powered Wi-Fi hotspot? Plus, Nvidia’s historic $4T valuation, Perplexity’s fancy new AI browser that literally books flights, Linda Yaccarino steps down as X CEO, Waymo launches teen accounts, ... Show More
1h 6m
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
Making time for what matters | Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky (authors of Sprint and Make Time, co-founders of Character Capital)
Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky are the authors of best-selling books Sprint and Make Time. They have helped more than 300 teams design new products and bring them to market, including those at YouTube, Gusto, One Medical Group, and Slack. Jake and John are co-founders of the ventur ... Show More
1h 35m
Mar 2024
The happiness and pain of product management | Noam Lovinsky (Grammarly, Facebook, YouTube, Thumbtack)
Noam Lovinsky has had a distinguished career in product, leaving an indelible mark at Facebook, YouTube, Thumbtack, and currently as the chief product officer at Grammarly. At Facebook, Noam helped establish the New Product Experimentation team; at Thumbtack, he was chief product ... Show More
1h 9m
Jun 2024
Lessons from a two-time unicorn builder, 50-time startup advisor, and 20-time company board member | Uri Levine (co-founder of Waze)
Uri Levine is the co-founder of Waze, the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app, acquired by Google for over $1 billion. He’s also founded nine other companies, been on the board of 20 companies, and advised more than 50 companies. He’s most recently the auth ... Show More
1h 22m
May 2024
GPT-4o launches, Glue demo, Ohalo breakthrough, Druck's Argentina bet, did Google kill Perplexity?
(0:00) Bestie Intros: Recapping Phil Hellmuth's birthday weekend (7:38) OpenAI launches GPT-4o: better, faster, cheaper (29:40) Sacks demos Glue: How AI unlocked his Slack killer (40:12) Friedberg walks through his major breakthrough at Ohalo (1:01:35) Stanley Druckenmiller bets ... Show More
1h 41m
May 2024
Eric Siu: Building a $10m+ Marketing Agency
I’ve built a brand new community for like-minded people called Productivity Lab. We’ll have online classes, workshops, and coaching to help you double your productivity. You can find out more here 👉 https://eu1.hubs.ly/H09nfRD0 Check Out My New York Times Bestselling Book Feel-G ... Show More
45m 23s
May 2024
Unorthodox frameworks for growing your product, career, and impact | Bangaly Kaba (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Instacart)
Bangaly Kaba was an early growth PM at Facebook, head of growth at Instagram, and VP of Product at Instacart and is currently Director of Product at YouTube overseeing a global team working on creator monetization. Bangaly has also been a growth advisor to dozens of companies, in ... Show More
1h 42m
Jun 2024
Marketing Expert Reveals Secret For Building an Audience That Buys | Seth Godin
#90 How can you transform your marketing approach to create meaningful connections and lasting impact? In this episode, Seth Godin shares his wisdom on redefining marketing, emphasizing the importance of empathy, understanding customer needs, and leveraging AI as a supportive too ... Show More
57m 50s
Jun 2024
The social radar: Y Combinator’s secret weapon | Jessica Livingston (co-founder of Y Combinator, author, podcast host)
Jessica Livingston is a co-founder of Y Combinator, the first and most successful startup accelerator. Y Combinator has funded over 5,000 companies, 200 of which are now unicorns, including Airbnb, Dropbox, DoorDash, Stripe, Coinbase, and Reddit. Jessica played a crucial role in ... Show More
1h 24m
Jun 2024
How to Scale your Startup with Growth Levers: Matt Lerner
Sponsored by Brilliant - visit https://brilliant.org/DeepDive/ and the first 200 of you will get 20% off Brilliant's annual premium subscription. I’ve built a brand new community for like-minded people called Productivity Lab. We’ll have online classes, workshops, and coaching to ... Show More
2h 32m
Jun 2024
Developing technical taste: A guide for next-gen engineers | Sam Schillace (Deputy CTO at Microsoft, creator of Google Docs)
Sam Schillace is the CVP and Deputy CTO at Microsoft. Before Microsoft, Sam held prominent engineering roles at Google and Box. He has also founded six startups, including Writely, which was acquired by Google and became Google Docs.–In today’s episode, we discuss: Sam’s advice f ... Show More
1h 5m