This Week in Startups

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Quadratic - http://quadratic.ai/twist

Today’s show: 

Don’t get distracted! Here are the MOST CRUCIAL aspects of running a startup, where founders need to keep their full and uninterrupted focus.

- Make sure you’re saving up your cash
- Why you need to just get started and build SOMETHING
- Trust and reliability is EVERYTHING for new products
- Why distribution should be your top priority

Download all this practical and tactical startup advice from seasoned veterans Jason Calacanis, Amanda Bradford, and William P. Barnes in this Tokyo edition of TWiST.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Amanda and Will’s big takeaways from Founder U in Saudi Arabia and now Tokyo

(3:19) Why cash flow management is so important before you find PMF

(5:57) Why first-time founders get the order of operations wrong

(6:45) Just build SOMETHING, even if it’s taped together

(11:19) “Focus is everything in the early stages”

(14:17) From a wedge to a bridge

(15:50) Quadratic - Bringing the productivity boost of AI into your spreadsheets. Visit http://quadratic.ai/twist to sign up and use the code TWIST to get one free month of their pro tier subscription.

(18:45) What to put on your “Not Right Now” list

(19:11) Embracing simplicity

(22:00) The importance of trust and reliability (especially for Uber!)

(28:12) Why innovation needs a constraining variable

(33:40) To really drive word of mouth, you have to overdeliver

(36:32) Distribution is the primary job of a founder/CEO

(38:19) Some of the panel’s favorite distribution hacks

(45:54) Why Jason respects Japan’s commitment to excellence and competency

(49:38) Looking for “high slope” in early employees

(53:11) Transitioning your team from early-stage startup to growth

(57:45) Whoever writes it down gets credit for the idea

(58:04) Q: Has the meaning of money changed for the panel now that they’ve had successful exits?

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(15:50) Quadratic - Bringing the productivity boost of AI into your spreadsheets. Visit http://quadratic.ai/twist to sign up and use the code TWIST to get one free month of their pro tier subscription.

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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Uber - http://uber.com/twist

Deel - http://deel.com/twist

Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

Today’s show: 

SpaceX is buying xAI, forming a mega-corp that plans to launch data centers into SPACE. Will Tesla also join up, fulfilling Elon’s destiny to become real-life Tony Stark, with his own Musk Industries? Jason and Alex break down the future of SpaceXAI in a breaking news report.

THEN, we’re still celebrating OpenClaw (née Clawdbot) Mania! Oliver and Lukas return to TWiST to share their Almost Top 10 (okay it’s just a Top 6) favorite Skills so far. 

Learn how they’re using Replicants to summarize TWiST episodes, surf Reddit, produce original Gamma decks, train agents to make themselves smarter, and take care of LAUNCH’s administrative and operations tasks.

Timestamps:

(00:00) BREAKING: SpaceX bought xAI!

 (1:56) Why it will be cheaper to generate compute in space than here on Earth

(8:19) Will Tesla eventually join the club, forming “Musk Industries”?

(11:36) Uber AI Solutions - Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at http://uber.com/twist

(12:37) ALSO BREAKING: We’re still obsessing about Clawdbot/OpenClaw

(14:58) So is OpenClaw and all of its various skills secure yet? NO.

(16:42) Today we’re looking at our picks for the Top 6 OpenClaw skills

(17:13) Alex’s first pick: Reddit (read only), which makes it easier to track down what you want on the aggregator

(19:35) Reddit hates bots! But maybe they’ll change their tune?

(21:47) Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit http://deel.com/twist to learn more.

(22:46) Our Replicant summarized the last few episodes of TWiST… but at what COST? (18 cents)

(26:40) Lukas taught our Replicant to make Gamma decks for us

(29:23) Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

(30:21) Our Replicant has ALL the Polymarket data now! The power!

(34:14) AI agents are also playing cards together on ClawPoker

(35:07) Oliver tested out our pal Matt Van Horn’s (@mvanhorn) self-improving “Last 30 Days” skill

(38:22) Why memory is so crucial for getting models to improve themselves over time

(40:33) Yo dawg I know you like monitoring tasks so I built you a task monitor that monitors your tasks so you can task monitor your tasks

(41:40) What makes OpenClaw so powerful is also what makes it dangerous!

(49:12) If you want to really learn about OpenClaw, you need to make your own skills

(50:03) Jason’s advice for OpenClaw’s suddenly famous creator: Peter Steinberger (@steipete)

(56:31) What would be the best way(s) to monetize OpenClaw?

(57:54) Will an OpenClaw agent sue a human in court?

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Follow Lon:

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Thank you to our partners:

(11:36) Uber AI Solutions - Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at http://uber.com/twist

(21:47) Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit http://deel.com/twist to learn more.

(29:23) Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Deel - http://deel.com/twist
LinkedIn Jobs - http://linkedin.com/twist
Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

Today’s show: 

On Today’s action packed episode of This Week in Startups, our team is going full AI!

Jason is joined by Oliver Korzen and Lukas Durand from the LAUNCH team, alongside Rahul Sood, founder/CEO of Irrevernt Labs and founder of Voodoo PC.

With the rise of Clawdbot/Moltbot, the question on everyone’s mind is how fast, how much and how safe! Lukas and Oliver show off the ways that This Week in Startups are automating the hours of research and administrative tasks that take up our days and the what this means for running a podcast and venture firm.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Why we’re so obsessed with OpenClaw (Clawdbot)

(00:47) LAUNCH’s own Lukas Durand has joined the pod for the first time… Here’s how he and Jason met…

(02:26) Oliver is also here… check out his new series, This Week in AI

(03:11)How LAUNCH has its OpenClaw bot set up (without all the details!!!)

(06:03) The first few services that LAUNCH authenticated with our OpenClaw… And why!

(6:59) How OpenClaw is helping Oliver to book the show

(11:06) Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit http://deel.com/twist to learn more.

(14:08) Why OpenClaw sometimes struggles with context and memory, and how to work around it

(16:03) Understanding how to set up “cron jobs”

(20:19) LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at http://linkedin.com/twist That’s http://linkedin.com/twist. Terms and conditions apply.

(22:23) How OpenClaw works as our virtual podcast producer, and how much time we’ll save

(24:40) Can OpenClaw also help us prep the podcast agenda (aka THE DOCKET)?

(28:32) Lon chimes in to talk about how Claude helped him prep Jason’s Davos interviews

(31:30) Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

(32:28) How many “Replicants” or AI agents does one company really need?

(36:09) Why Jason asked his OpenClaw bots to self-report on what they’re learning

(37:14) What OpenClaw WON’T do… Where did these guardrails come from?

(39:44)The hardware side… How much of this can you do from a Mac Studio?

(43:29) Zombie Staffers: How OpenClaw can “revive” long-lost employees…

(48:09) We’re putting OpenClaw in charge of the TWiST 500

(51:18) Rahul Sood joins us to talk about the dangers of OpenClaw and how to stay protected

(53:01) Why so many OpenClaw skills have major vulnerabilities

(1:00:00) Moltbook: Where bots hang out with other bots and share info

(1:06:44) Why powerful AI agents will make creative work by humans so much more important.

(1:07:22) Rahul’s final recommendations for max possible OpenClaw security

(1:14:00) Is OpenClaw going to bring hiring to a halt?

(1:21:10) Why getting comfortable with AI tools will become essential for every employee

Thank you to our partners:
(11:06) Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit http://deel.com/twist to learn more.

(20:19) LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at http://linkedin.com/twist That’s http://linkedin.com/twist. Terms and conditions apply.
(31:30) Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Gusto - http://Gusto.com/twist

Zite - http://zite.com/twist

Circle.so - http://circle.so/twist

Guest links: 

Andrew Duffy, Founder and CEO, http://sparkplug.app — Retail incentives and brand partnerships platform

Ford Smith, Founder of http://Ultranative.com — Investing in transformative startups

Socrates Rosenfeld, Founder and CEO of http://iheartjane.com — One stop shop for cannabis products

Today’s show: 

On TWiST’s first Cannabis Roundtable, Jason is joined by three top Cannabis founders and investors: Ford Smith of Ultranative, Andrew Duffy of Sparkplug, and Socrates Rosenfeld of Jane.

How will the regulatory environment and the move to Schedule III change the industry? Are those regulations shaping consumption? How are investors thinking about cannabis startups given the difficulty with exits? Most importantly, what’s the deal with the increasing potency of cannabis?

Each guest has their own perspective, Andrew sees it as a natural reaction from CPG brands to power users, Ford points to “flyover” operators unconcerned with long-term health of the industry, while Socrates refers to moonshine drinking during the prohibition to say that regulations create these problems.

Speaking of moonshine, alcohol consumption is dropping dramatically among Gen-Z, with many pointing to cannabis consumption as a substitute. Some perceive cannabis as healthier and lacking caloric nature of alcohol, which could explain why there are now more daily smokers than daily drinkers!

Timestamps:

(0:00) Guest Introductions for the Cannabis Roundtable!

(2:50) Why Jason invested in Sparkplug

(6:44) How Ford Smith got into Cannabis investing — is it Cannabis a good investment?

(11:40) Gusto - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at http://Gusto.com/twist.

(12:46) Socrates breaks down building a major cannabis marketplace

(18:13) Canadian legalization and tailwinds for cannabis.

(20:25) How Cannabis startups are pivoting to deal with high competition and regulatory pressure

(21:47) Zite - Zite is the fastest way to build business software with AI. Go to http://zite.com/twist to get started.

(27:07) Who benefits from legalization of cannabis? Healthcare? Retail? Banking?

(28:03) How the alcohol industry is getting crushed by cannabis usage

(31:27) Circle.so -  The easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand. TWiST listeners get $1,000 off Circle’s Professional Plan by going to http://circle.so/twist.

(32:47) Is new cannabis too potent? Is high potency cannabis a result of illegal rules.

(42:05) Why heavy consumers are driving CPG startups to high doses

(44:14) Cannabis psychosis and the problem with brands selling potency items.

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

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

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Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

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Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

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

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Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

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Thank you to our partners:

(11:40) Gusto - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at http://Gusto.com/twist.

(21:47) Zite - Zite is the fastest way to build business software with AI. Go to http://zite.com/twist to get started.

(31:27) Circle.so -  The easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand. TWiST listeners get $1,000 off Circle’s Professional Plan by going to http://circle.so/twist.

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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Quo - http://quo.com/TWiST

Lemon IO - https://lemon.io/twist

Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

Today’s show: 

Jason is back from Davos and Tokyo! We are jumping right back in with a group of Clawdbot power users: Alex Finn, Matt Von Horn, and Dan Penguine.

Clawdbot is a hot open source AI project that lets users automate… everything! Dan helped his automate his aging parent’s tea shop, Matt built news sourcing bots, and Alex runs his one-man SAAS startup with Clawdbot as an AI employee!

But with all of that power comes the responsibility of making sure you are not giving your AI too many authorizations that could come under fire! Whether fisching emails, “injections”, or bad decision making from incorrect information online.

Check out how these 3 experts, Jason and Alex are thinking about the bleeding edge of AI!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introducing today’s Clawdbot experts!

(04:09) How Matt Von Horn makes “Skills” with Clawdbot

(10:53) Quo (formerly OpenPhone) gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at http://quo.com/TWiST.

(13:25) Dan Penguine’s “Normy” use case: automating his parent’s tea shop

(19:50) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://lemon.io/twist

(22:23) Alex Finn breaks down how Clawdbot lets him run a one man startup

(24:28) Alex Finn on Clawdbot autonomously building apps within his business

(28:33) Security concerns with Clawdbot, can your AI get hacked?

(32:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

(35:07) Why is everyone buying Mac Minis?

(37:39) How to think about LLM Token usage

(46:02) Clawdbot will build CRMs, project management software, etc without being asked. Is this the end of SAAS?

(46:58) Matt live uploads his new Clawdbot skill on aire!

(48:22) Why was Clawdbot able to move so much quicker than Anthropic and OpenAI?

(50:17) What is Clawdbot’s business model as an open source AI?

(53:27) Matt’s recursive AI prompt loop and how AI prompts layer

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Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

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

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

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Thank you to our partners:

(10:53) Quo (formerly OpenPhone) gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at http://quo.com/TWiST

(19:50) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://lemon.io/twist

(32:46) Northwest Registered Agent. Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity —  Learn more at www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

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