logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2024
1h 17m

Liquidity: Recession fears, AI market sh...

Jason Calacanis
About this episode

This Week in Startups is brought to you by…

Squarespace. Turn your idea into a new website! Go to https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST for a free trial. When you’re ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

CLA. Innovation takes balance. CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors can help you get from startup to where you want to end up. Get started now at https://www.CLAconnect.com/tech

OpenPhone. Create business phone numbers for you and your team that work through an app on your smartphone or desktop. TWiST listeners can get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://www.openphone.com/twist

*

Todays show:

David Weisburd hosts Elad Gil, David York, and Jason Calacanis to discuss recession fears (2:15), new investment trends (24:44), geographic and talent concentration in the startup sector (56:48), and more!

*

Timestamps:

(0:00) David Weisburd intros Elad Gil, David York, and Jason Calacanis

(2:15) Recession fears and their effects on Silicon Valley and startups

(5:18) AI market segments, enterprise adoption, and SaaS spending slowdown

(10:55) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST

(12:19) Private equity, tech buyouts, and excess capital management

(19:35) AI-driven buyouts and efficiency improvements

(23:09) CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/tech

(24:44) New investment trends and key startup ecosystems

(28:10) Founder inspiration and the impact of competitive ecosystems

(30:06) Role of accelerators in early-stage investing and startup formation

(34:16) Layoffs, FIRE movement, and FTC ruling on non-competes

(37:21) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://www.openphone.com/twist

(38:48) Liquidity and challenges for LPs in incubators and accelerators

(56:48) Geographic and talent concentration in the startup sector

(1:02:32) Tech hub movements, office culture, and remote vs. in-office work trends

*

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://twist500.com

*

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

*

Mentioned on the show:

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/futures-slide-amazon-intel-forecasts-disappoint-jobs-data-awaited-2024-08-02

https://www.boringbusinessnerd.com/post/top-startup-accelerators

*

Follow Elad:

X: https://x.com/eladgil

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

Check out: https://eladgil.com

*

Follow David York:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-york-2407295

Check out: https://ttcp.com/

*

Follow David Weisburd:

X: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/DWeisburd⁠⁠

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

Check out: ⁠⁠https://10xcapital.com

*

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

*

Thank you to our partners:

(10:55) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST

(23:09) CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/tech

(37:21) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://www.openphone.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

*

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

*

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

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

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

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

*

Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Up next
Aug 22
Do Kwon Guilty, Powell Pivot & OpenAI’s $12B Run Rate | E2168
Today’s show:Terra’s collapse, Powell’s pivot, and OpenAI’s explosive growth all collide in this TWiST deep dive.Do Kwon has pled guilty after Terra/Luna’s $60B implosion, Fed Chair Powell hints at a September rate cut, and OpenAI has officially crossed $1B in monthly revenue (on ... Show More
1h 16m
Aug 20
Is Chalk.ai the ‘Next Databricks’? + Tollbit’s Bot Paywall for AI Agents | E2167
Today’s show:In this TWiST 500 double feature, Alex sits down with two breakout founders: Chalk’s Marc Freed-Finnegan & Tollbit’s Toshit Panigrahi!First, Chalk’s CEO Marc Freed-Finnegan is tackling one of AI’s biggest bottlenecks—data freshness. Instead of relying on stale batch ... Show More
59m 15s
Aug 19
Scaling AI Photo Editing to 300M Users with Photoroom’s Matt Rouif | AI Basics with Google Cloud
In this AI Basics episode, Jason sits down with Matt Rouif, Co-founder & CEO of Photoroom — the AI photo editing app with 300M+ downloads and 5B images processed annually.They break down:Why Photoroom built its own specialized AI modelsHow they grew from a scrappy startup to $50M ... Show More
31m 2s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
Insiders React: SpaceX’s Big Win + Kamala Backs Crypto, Dubai’s Tech Rise, Replit AI Changes Coding
What if you could build and deploy a full app in minutes, without writing a single line of code? In this episode, Chris Saad and Ray Dargham, Co-Founder and CEO at Step, discuss the latest tech news shaping the future for founders and investors.  From crypto policy shifts to grou ... Show More
51m 44s
Jun 17
Jay Hoag - Keys to Successful Growth Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.429]
My guest today is Jay Hoag. Jay is the co-founder of Technology Crossover Ventures, known as TCV, which pioneered the growth investing category and has backed legendary companies like Netflix, Spotify, and Expedia over three decades. Jay explains how macro factors like regulation ... Show More
44m 59s
Jun 2024
SaaS Implosion? NVIDIA Eats OpenAI's Lunch, AI Doomsday Predictions, Silicon Valley Revisited (Reacts)
What's happened to B2B SaaS – and will NVIDIA eat OpenAI's lunch? Learn the latest movements in tech startups from industry insiders. In this week's episode, Chris, Emil and Yaniv discuss: B2B, Or Not To Be: Disappointing guidance from industry giants like Salesforce, ... Show More
48m 44s
May 13
Elad Gil: How to Spot a Billion-Dollar Startup Before the Rest of the World
What if the world’s most connected tech investor handed you his mental playbook? Elad Gil, an investor behind Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase and Anduril, flips conventional wisdom on its head and prioritizes market opportunities over founders. Elad decodes why innovation has clustered ... Show More
1h 38m
Dec 2024
E117: What Will Family Offices Invest into in 2025? w/Hansen Ringer
Hansen Ringer, Managing Director at Sepio Capital sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the asset class that delivers equity-like returns without the market risk, what distressed credit reveals about market cycles and investor behavior, and what happens when stocks and bonds m ... Show More
42m 10s
Apr 2025
Next-Gen Founders: Startups in the Age of AI (Edu)
Is AI making startups easier—or just changing the rules of the game?In a world where execution is cheap and accessible, building a successful startup is more competitive than ever. In this episode, Chris Saad and Yaniv Bernstein unpack the reality of every business having access ... Show More
53m 2s
Mar 2025
Insiders React: Return of Digg + Wall Street Panic, Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, Apple Delays AI
Is the stock market's recent nosedive just the beginning of a larger economic shift? As tariffs and political uncertainty rock Wall Street, tech giants like Apple are facing unexpected hurdles in the AI race. Meanwhile, an old internet favorite is poised for a surprising come ... Show More
55m 54s
Feb 2025
A founder’s guide to crisis management | Uri Levine (Waze co-founder, serial entrepreneur)
Uri Levine is a co-founder of Waze (which was acquired by Google for $1.3 billion in 2013), along with nine other companies (including another company he sold for over $1 billion). He’s also been on 20 boards and has been an advisor to over 50 startups. He recently released a new ... Show More
1h 23m
Aug 17
Why ChatGPT will be the next big growth channel (and how to capitalize on it) | Brian Balfour (Reforge)
Brian Balfour is the founder of Reforge, the former VP of Growth at HubSpot, and a student (and teacher) of product growth. Brian has studied every major platform shift—from Facebook to Apple to Google—and he’s spotted a pattern that’s about to repeat with ChatGPT.In this convers ... Show More
1h 29m