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This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis
This Week in Startups
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  • This Week in Startups

    Pregame Your Launch Before Your App Exists (w/ Amanda Bradford) | E2355

    26/10/2026 | 56 mins.
    This Week In Startups is made possible by:

    Odoo: https://odoo.com/twist

    G2i: https://g2i.co/twist

    Rippling: https://rippling.ai/twist

    Plaud: https://plaud.ai/twist

    Today’s show:

    Amanda Bradford’s “launch party” for her dating app The League actually extended for months.

    She “pre-gamed” the app’s formal launch with months of mixers, boat parties, and free events, where the only ticket required for admission was having the app on your phone.

    By launch day, she had a massive wait list, and still just let in 500 people, who ensure maximum buzz (and FOMO).

    At LAUNCH’s first-ever Tactical & Practical live event from San Francisco, Amanda walks the crowd through how she built a vetted, two-sided dating marketplace as a solo founder, eventually getting prominent enough to attract the attention of Match Group. (She sold The League for ~$30 million in 2020.)

    Hear exclusive tips you won’t get anywhere else, like how Amanda used a “fake paywall” to gauge willingness to pay for subscriptions, and how to time your rate of expansion into new markets.

    Plus, an all-new Flashback segment, featuring Alex and Lon looking back at a classic 2017 interview between Jason and Stripe’s Patrick Collison.

    Guests

    Amanda Bradford on X: https://x.com/amandabradford

    Book a Call with Amanda: https://intro.co/amandabradford

    The League: https://www.theleague.com/

    Patrick Collison on X: https://x.com/patrickc?lang=en

    Stripe: https://stripe.com/

    Relevant Links:

    The League was called "elitist." Its founder says that was never the case (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/20/founder-of-the-league-on-dating-ambition-and-that-viral-ad-campaign.html

    Alex Wilhelm’s Cautious Optimism: https://www.cautiousoptimism.news/

    TWiST E723: Patrick Collison (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-NepiMQGvY

    Timestamps:

    0:00 Amanda Bradford on building The League

    4:30 Hand-reviewing early applications

    6:40 Building an MVP with a rented co-founder

    8:56 The VIP approach

    13:10 Why Amanda only let in 500 people

    15:44 The “Heavy Hitter” fake paywall test

    16:44 Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://odoo.com/twist

    17:46 Why live events are the real unlock

    21:35 Controversy as a hook

    24:22 Flashback to Patrick Collison in 2017

    25:13 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

    28:13 Stripe: Then vs. Now

    30:53 G2i has been recruiting software engineers for over a decade. Go to https://g2i.co/twist to find out how G2i vets engineers, and can help you hire them in days, not weeks.

    32:17 Why did PayPal stay PayPal?

    37:50 Problem, not a product

    44:33 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.

    45:46 The outage nobody noticed

    51:00 Why persistence beats pivoting

    52:13 What’s left before a Stripe IPO?

    Subscribe to our newsletters on Substack:

    TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/

    TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/

    TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/

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

    Follow Lon:

    X: https://x.com/lons

    Follow Jason:

    X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

    Thank you to our partners:

    Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://Odoo.com/twist

    G2i has been recruiting software engineers for over a decade. Go to G2i.co/twist to find out how G2i vets engineers, and can help you hire them in days, not weeks.

    Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://Rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.

    Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

    Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/
  • This Week in Startups

    OpenAI’s $1.25T Raise, Starlink Mobile & Zuck’s Tax Deal | EP 2354

    24/10/2026 | 1h 33 mins.
    This Week In Startups is made possible by:

    Plaud - https://plaud.ai/twist

    Sentry - https://sentry.io/twist

    Lightfield - https://lightfield.app

    Rippling - https://rippling.ai/twist

    Today’s show:

    Is OpenAI finally priced correctly? Jason argues that the reported $30 billion raise at a $1.25 trillion valuation is finally “right-sized.” He also says that he’d put money in at that price, while walking through the risks that could still sink the investment.

    It’s a Friday all-news episode with Jason and Lon, covering OpenAI’s latest round, SpaceX’s push to become America’s fourth major carrier, Zuck and Meta’s creative move around the proposed California billionaire tax, and some of Lon and Jason’s favorite documentaries.

    Plus we’re asking the timely question: who watches the AI watchdogs?

    Relevant Links

    OpenAI nears up to $30B round at $1.25T valuation, led by UAE investors (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/22/openai-funding-round-uae-investors.html

    Anthropic investors eye a $2T IPO (Nasdaq): https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/move-over-spacex-anthropic-targets-2-trillion-valuation

    Uber puts all 30,000 employees on ChatGPT Work (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/22/uber-puts-all-30000-employees-on-chatgpt-work/

    Telecom stocks fall as SpaceX eyes 80,000 cell sites (Yahoo Finance): https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/telecom-stocks-fall-spacex-eyes-134838815.html

    Verizon launches simpler plans and drops activation and upgrade fees (Fox Business): https://foxbusiness.com/markets/verizon-launches-simpler-plans-new-loyalty-program-drops-some-fees

    Amazon Leo's launch slips past early 2026 (ITdaily): https://itdaily.com/news/network/amazon-leo-faces-delays/

    METR and Redwood Research's write-up on red-teaming OpenAI's agent monitoring: https://metr.org/blog/2026-10-22-red-teaming-openai-agent-monitoring/

    Open Philanthropy is now Coefficient Giving: https://coefficientgiving.org/research/the-story-behind-our-new-name/

    Court documents show the alleged FSU shooter's ChatGPT chats (AOL): https://www.aol.com/news/court-documents-show-florida-state-233829466.html

    Meta's 8-K filing on the Founder Alignment Agreement (SEC): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001326801/000162828026066700/meta-20261019.htm

    Polymarket: will California's billionaire tax pass?: https://polymarket.com/event/billionaire-one-time-wealth-tax-passes-in-california-election-2026

    Mark Cuban vs. Ro Khanna on the billionaire tax (Fortune): https://fortune.com/2026/08/17/mark-cuban-california-billionaires-tax-wealth-ro-khanna/

    Elizabeth Holmes: The Theranos Deception (60 Minutes archive): https://cbsnews.com/video/elizabeth-holmes-the-theranos-deception-60-minutes-archive

    “The Act of Killing” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3FcB1UZHlg

    “Grizzly Man” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWA7GtDmNFU

    “Hoop Dreams” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf9Nq2ju0t0

    “The King of Kong” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5XvArGGIzk

    “A Short Stay in Hell” by Steven L. Peck: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0983748446

    “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges [PDF]: https://sites.evergreen.edu/politicalshakespeares/wp-content/uploads/sites/226/2015/12/Borges-The-Library-of-Babel.pdf

    “The Eureka Machine” by Richard Socher: https://www.amazon.com/dp/154170570X

    Timestamps:

    0:00 Jason’s in SF with the LAUNCH Accelerator 37 cohort

    2:40 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

    6:34 Tactical & Practical talks live at Salesforce Tower

    10:21 Using Claude for brainstorming, not writing

    19:26 Sentry - New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST26

    20:42 OpenAI closing $30B at a $1.25T valuation

    26:04 Why OpenAI could still lose

    30:25 Would you put 30% of your retirement into OpenAI?

    32:34 Lightfield - Name one person who's ever enjoyed updating a CRM. Exactly. Lightfield's AI agent does it for you - it even prospects and books your meetings. Used by thousands of startups. Free at https://lightfield.app

    34:27 Every Tesla becomes a Starlink hotspot

    43:06 What would be the ultimate SpaceX domain name?

    45:00 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.

    46:10 Is METR a fair watchdog for OpenAI?

    54:03 Jason’s “Know Your Customer” plan for AI models

    1:03:34 Meta’s deal to keep Zuckerberg in Cali

    1:14:35 Why Jason would raise the minimum wage

    1:18:42 Does Nathan Fielder give Liz Holmes a pass?

    1:30:59 “A Short Stay in Hell” and “The Eureka Machine”

    Subscribe to our newsletters on Substack:

    TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/

    TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/

    TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/

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

    Follow Lon:

    X: https://x.com/lons

    Follow Jason:

    X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

    Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

    Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

    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
  • This Week in Startups

    We asked 3 VCs: would you invest in Elizabeth Holmes’ next startup? | E2353

    22/10/2026 | 1h 41 mins.
    This Week In Startups is made possible by:

    DigitalOcean - Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today — and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%

    Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://odoo.com/twist

    Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.

    Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

    Today’s show:

    Elizabeth Holmes remains in prison for defrauding Theranos investors, even as she stars in the hit Nathan Fielder/Lance Oppenheim documentary “You Can See Everything.” But we’re asking the real question: After all the very public accusations… the hit pieces in the press and the Hulu drama series picking apart the scandal… would tech investors and VCs be willing to back her NEXT startup, if the numbers were right?

    On today’s TWiST roundtable, Jason Calacanis is joined by Sam Lessin (Slow Ventures), Paige Finn Doherty (Behind Genius Ventures), and Jenny Fielding (Everywhere Ventures). In addition to reviews of the movie tech insiders can’t stop talking about, they cover why every seed portfolio needs a little bit of fraud, how diligence scales with check size, having trademark rights to your own voice, and the pro rata rights debate that’s still raging over Valar Atomics’ lawsuit with seed investors Day One Ventures.

    Guests

    Sam Lessin on X: https://x.com/lessin

    Slow Ventures: https://slow.co/

    Paige Finn Doherty on X: https://x.com/paigefinnn

    Behind Genius Ventures: https://www.behindgeniusventures.com/

    Jenny Fielding on X: https://x.com/jefielding

    Everywhere Ventures: https://www.everywhere.vc/

    Relevant Links

    OpenSnow: https://opensnow.com/

    “You Can See Everything” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvW_N5p1q44

    HBO Max “The Rehearsal” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fjPFt8cpic

    Elizabeth Holmes moves to halfway house in 2027 (ABC7): https://abc7.com/story/elizabeth-holmes-scheduled-move-halfway-house-august-2027/19862832/

    Billy Evans’ blood-testing startup Haemanthus (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/10/elizabeth-holmes-partner-reportedly-fundraising-for-new-blood-testing-startup/

    Polymarket: Oscars 2027 Best Picture: https://polymarket.com/event/oscars-2027-best-picture-winner-20260727173620857

    Kalshi: Oscars 2027 Best Documentary: https://kalshi.com/markets/kxoscardocu/event/kxoscardocu-27

    Charlie Javice sentenced to 7 years (NBC News): https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/charlie-javice-sentenced-7-years-prison-fraudulent-175m-sale-financial-rcna234536

    Trump pardons Nikola founder Trevor Milton (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2025/03/28/trump-pardons-nikola-founder-trevor-milton

    Sequoia writes its FTX stake down to zero (Fortune): https://fortune.com/2022/11/10/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-sequoia-writes-down-214-million-investment-to-zero-venture-capital-crypto

    Who lost money on Theranos? (Fortune): https://fortune.com/2018/05/04/theranos-investment-lost

    “Barbarians at the Gate” on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Barbarians-Gate-Fall-RJR-Nabisco/dp/B08YP9MDHX

    a16z backs Adam Neumann’s Flow (Commercial Observer): https://commercialobserver.com/2022/08/adam-neumann-350m-backing-andreessen-horowitz/

    Martin Shkreli lifetime pharma ban (FTC): https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/01/statement-chair-lina-m-khan-ruling-judge-denise-l-cote-federal-trade-commission-et-al-v-vyera

    Isaia Taylor post announcing Valar suit: https://x.com/isaiah_p_taylor/status/2108679133467414855

    Day One Ventures response: https://x.com/mashadrokova/status/2108732979191390528

    ElevenLabs Iconic Marketplace: https://elevenlabs.io/iconic-marketplace

    Apple Corps vs. Apple Computer, a history (MacTech): https://www.mactech.com/2004/04/09/a-history-of-the-apple-vs-apple-dispute

    Cameo for Business: https://www.cameo.com/business

    Nox Metals: https://noxmetals.co

    Electric Plant Company: https://www.electricplant.co/

    Ablieration: https://abliteration.ai/

    Timestamps:

    0:00 Our new “This Week in VC” newsletter

    2:15 Panel intro: Sam Lessin, Paige Doherty, Jenny Fielding

    8:09 Why gambling loses appeal for VCs

    11:02 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

    16:18 DigitalOcean - Head to https://do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today - and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%

    17:35 Best moments from “You Can See Everything”

    21:42 Unreliable narrators and unknowable situations

    24:41 Living in a post-truth moment

    30:02 Due diligence horror stories

    32:45 Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://odoo.com/twist

    34:50 The VCs remember their fraud investments

    38:39 How LAUNCH trains founders to prep for diligence

    44:31 How Elizabeth Holmes kept raising money

    54:54 Would you invest in an Elizabeth Holmes company?

    57:27 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.

    1:02:28 Why seed funds need pro rata rights

    1:09:02 When “founder friendly” means rolling over

    1:16:25 The three investor relationships: team, founders, LPs

    1:21:02 ElevenLabs “Archer” voice controversy

    1:27:16 How NIL deals reshaped college sports

    1:33:54 Cameo for Business and long-tail celeb endorsements

    1:35:51 Portfolio company shoutouts

    Subscribe to our newsletters on Substack:

    TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/

    TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/

    TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/

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

    Follow Lon:

    X: https://x.com/lons

    Follow Jason:

    X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

    Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

    Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

    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
  • This Week in Startups

    Anthropic Gives Away 5% of Its Shares, Clone’s Muscle Robot, ElevenLabs Steals Podcaster's Voice

    20/10/2026 | 1h 34 mins.
    This Week In Startups is made possible by:
    Plaud: https://plaud.ai/twist
    Northwest Registered Agent: https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain
    Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/twist
    Rippling: https://rippling.ai/twist
    Today’s show:
    Jason can’t stop praising Nathan Fielder’s new A24 hybrid documentary about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, “You Can See Everything,” and he’s insisting that Lon check it out before the next podcast. Hear his spoiler-free review, how the film upended his expectations based on Fielder’s previous work, and why Lon also recommends Lance Oppenheim’s HBO Max series “Ren Faire.”
    Plus, we’re talking to Clone Robotics co-founder and CEO Dhanush Radhakrishnan about why he thinks robots should not just be humanoid but should look and move precisely like humans. We’re digging deep into how his hydraulic myofiber artificial muscle technology alters and even improves on the pulley-based systems being deployed by competitors, why he thinks the models that power domestic helper-bots will be commoditized, and how quickly he thinks he can put a robo-butler in every American home.
    Plus we’re comparing the potential impact of Anthropic’s new Public Benefit Fund vs. Elon Musk’s plan to give every baby a share of SpaceX, and re-considering simulation theory after Odyssey dropped an artificial fruit fly brain into an artificial landscape.
    Guest
    Dhanush Radhakrishnan on X: https://x.com/dhanushisrad
    Clone Robotics: https://clonerobotics.com/
    Related Links
    “You Can See Everything” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvW_N5p1q44
    “You Can See Everything” on Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/you_can_see_everything
    John Carreyrou’s Theranos investigation (Wall Street Journal): https://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901
    “Ren Faire” HBO Max trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHZUVTrrexE
    “Nathan for You”: Smokers Allowed clip (Comedy Central): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HttB2fYAm-8
    Anthropic: Investing in the Public Benefit: https://www.anthropic.com/news/public-benefit-fund
    Elon Musk SpaceX pledge: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2112089556615123114
    Dell’s $6.25B Invest America commitment: https://www.onedell.com/investamerica/
    Odyssey Fly Simulation X post: https://x.com/odysseyml/status/2111589148146749616
    Chris Williamson: “The ElevenLabs Situation is Crazy”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxDNHLgWInU
    ElevenLabs’ Legendary Voices marketplace: https://elevenlabs.io/iconic-marketplace
    TWiST newsletter on Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com/
    LAUNCH Careers page: https://careers.launch.co/
    Timestamps:
    00:00 Intro
    00:10 Plaud - If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!
    03:18 Jason's "You Can See Everything" reaction
    14:37 Northwest Registered Agent - Got a new business idea? Northwest Registered Agent helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more - with no purchase required! Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain
    15:27 What films max out RT's critic and audience scores
    20:08 Anthropic commits 5% equity to Public Benefit Fund
    24:28 Would equity change how Americans feel about AI?
    27:08 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist
    38:38 Rippling - Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.
    39:48 Dhanush from Clone Robotics joins the show
    42:43 How hydraulic muscle technology actually works
    54:55 When can we have our robot butlers please?
    56:55 Where will Clone get its robot brains?
    1:12:17 Odyssey trapped a fake fly brain in a simulated environment
    1:23:09 Did ElevenLabs steal a podcaster's voice?
    1:30:13 Check us out on Substack!
    Subscribe to our newsletters on Substack:
    TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/
    TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/
    TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/
    Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
    Follow Lon:
    X: https://x.com/lons
    Follow Jason:
    X: https://twitter.com/Jason
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
    Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/
    Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
    Follow TWiST:
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinstartups
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups
    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
    Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com
  • This Week in Startups

    Flying Cars, OpenAI Spies, Why AI Isn’t Sticking (Superhuman CEO)

    17/10/2026 | 1h 33 mins.
    This Week In Startups is made possible by:

    Lightfield: https://lightfield.app

    Every.io: https://every.io/

    PayPal: https://paypal.com/business

    Plaud: https://plaud.ai/twist

    GoDaddy: https://www.godaddy.com/

    Today’s show:

    Today’s college grads are showing up to work at Jason’s company unable to write three sentences. He’s asking what Shishir Mehrotra of Superhuman, the company behind Grammarly, can do to fix that.

    Shishir delves into Superhuman’s reasons for acquiring GPTZero, the most popular AI detector, and the AI notetaker Fathom, and the spreadsheet startup Rows. Plus, how Shishir responds to accusations that Grammarly helps students cheat in the classroom, why writers should disclose when they’re collaborating with an LLM, and Jason's CEO wish list for fresh Grammarly features.

    In the news, Tesla demoed its long-awaited Roadster, which used SpaceX thrusters to do some flips and propel itself over five other Teslas… And OpenAI warned staffers that spies may be trying to seduce them in order to steal company secrets… And the shutdown of Character AI prompts Jason to declare: “AI relationships are evil.”

    Guests:

    Shishir Mehrotra on X: https://x.com/shishirmehrotra Superhuman: https://superhuman.com

    Relevant Links:

    Rows, the spreadsheet startup Superhuman bought, announces the deal → https://rows.com/blog/post/rows-is-joining-superhuman

    Superhuman to acquire GPTZero (Business Wire) → https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623083788/en/Superhuman-to-Acquire-GPTZero-AI-Authenticity-Platform

    Is the Internet AI, GPTZero's live tracker of AI content on Reddit, LinkedIn and X → https://istheinternetai.com

    GPTZero AI Vision, the extension that flags AI posts as you browse → https://gptzero.me/ai-vision

    Superhuman acquires YC-backed notetaker Fathom (TechCrunch) → https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/14/superhuman-acquires-yc-backed-notetaker-fathom-as-productivity-platforms-push-for-agentic-work/

    Grammarly Authorship, which shows how much of your writing came from AI → https://www.grammarly.com/authorship

    GPTZero Authorship and Writing Replay → https://gptzero.me/authorship

    Stanley Druckenmiller says his WSJ op-ed was written with AI (NOTUS) → https://www.notus.org/media/stanley-druckenmillers-wsj-op-ed-bessent-ai

    Superhuman Go, the AI assistant that works wherever you type → https://superhuman.com/go

    Tesla reveals its new Roadster with SpaceX thrusters (TechCrunch) → https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/15/tesla-reveals-spacex-powered-roadster-that-flies-and-falls-with-style/

    OpenAI employee arrested over a hidden listening device in an executive conference room (NBC News) → https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/openai-employee-arrested-hidden-listening-device-company-says-rcna603262

    Eight states sue OpenAI over ChatGPT's alleged harm to kids (NBC News) → https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/openai-sued-eight-states-alleged-harm-chatgpt-rcna603614

    Timestamps:

    00:00:00 Intro

    00:07:14 GPTZero and the fight over what's human

    00:09:27 How much of Reddit, LinkedIn and X is AI

    00:10:56 Fathom and the 90% of work that's spoken

    00:12:05 Lightfield - Name one person who's ever enjoyed updating a CRM. Exactly. Lightfield's AI agent does it for you - it even prospects and books your meetings. Used by thousands of startups. Free at https://lightfield.app/

    00:16:27 Why Jason says every employee should use Grammarly

    00:18:04 How to test whether new hires can actually write

    00:22:08 Every - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io/.

    00:24:22 Grammarly Authorship and proving the work is yours

    00:25:53 How accurate are AI detectors

    00:30:36 Jason wants AI writing flagged by default

    00:32:34 Enforcing Grammarly and Go across a whole team

    00:36:45 PayPal - PayPal is built for all businesses. Get started at https://paypal.com/business

    00:37:28 Assist, chat and do, three kinds of AI agents

    00:41:06 Jason's feedback on the Grammarly keyboard

    01:13:27 Tesla demos the Roadster on SpaceX thrusters

    01:21:20 OpenAI engineer charged with bugging an executive conference room

    01:21:43 Why OpenAI warned employees about foreign spies

    01:27:57 Eight states sue OpenAI over harm to kids

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About This Week in Startups
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.
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