2026 Starts with a bang: META AI Drama and Nvidia’s $20B Groq Acquisition | E2230

Jason and Alex are BACK on TWiST for 2026! This holiday season was anything but calm, with deca-corn acquisitions, massive Polymarket bets, and major new startups breaking from stealth! Jason talks the recent Nvidia-Groq $20B acquisition, a major exit for Chamath as the lead investor back in 2017! Jason delves into how the VC fund math shapes returns and investment considerations for pre-seed VC funds vs. Series A VC funds. Jason and Alex delve into drama swirling META’s AI team. Yann LeCun, META’s former Chief AI Scientist, announced that he would be leaving META to become Executive Chairman at AMI Labs. LeCun left the META team in the new year, calling the new Chief AI Scientist, Alexandr Wang, inexperienced. LeCun now looks to move AI beyond the era of LLM at AMI Labs.

THE 2025 TWISTY AWARDS! Biggest Trends, Best Guests, Top Name Drops, and more | E2229

We’re saying goodbye to 2025 with our annual TWISTY Awards, looking back on our favorite pod moments from throughout the year. Featured clips include Jason’s message to the members of Reddit’s r/AntiWork community… Why JCal would NEVER work with Sam Altman or OpenAI… The time that Jason got doxxed and then found the guy responsible on LinkedIn… Why LA Mayor Karen Bass earned a *disgraziad*… Alex saying “Yessir!” in a weird way… And much more classic TWiST content. See y’all next year!

Jason’s ultimate dream mega-purchase + Founder Q’s | E2228

Jason’s already a millionaire many times over… but what are the huge, blockbuster, dream purchases that he’s still holding off on? BESIDES the private jet we all know he wants? The Noti Gang has asked, and JCal finally answers, on a holiday TWiST where we’re taking questions from viewers and fans. Check out the episode for lots more intriguing queries, like how to push forward and glean useful information when your first customers aren’t using your product the way you’d envisioned. Plus, is there room for both AI agents and great SaaS startups in the coming years? Hear why Jason thinks there IS. AND we’ve got the very last Gamma Pitch Deck Competition entry before we announce our winner in the new year. Check out AskHumans, an innovative approach to improving market research.

Waymo Madness in SF! Why robotaxis clogged the streets | E2227

Why did a power outage in the Bay Area cause Waymos to pile up on city streets? Jason was actually in San Francisco to take in the spectacle of Waymos blocking traffic. But why did this happen? And can we look forward to a day when automated cars are more graceful and coordinated than ballet dancers performing “Swan Lake”? We’re asking the tough (and also culturally erudite) questions! PLUS self-driving cars are coming to London, Coinbase’s buying spree continues, another entrant in our nearly-complete Gamma Pitch Deck Competition, AND why Jason predicts that Google is going to buy UBER! You won’t want to miss this holiday TWiST!

Level up your copywriting w/ Sam Parr | E2226

DID YOU KNOW… most of the tried and true techniques devised by marketing gurus in the ‘40s and ‘50s still apply today? On TWiST, we’re joined by online marketing expert Sam Parr, host of “My First Million” and founder of Hampton. He’s sharing all of his top tips and tricks for making your writing more compelling, and converting your readers into new customers. In this essential pod for any and all founders, hear Jason and Sam run down their list of the best-ever marketing books, why there’s no such this as “too long” only “too uninteresting,” when to use AI and when to rely on your own brain, why you’re the average of your five best friends, and lots more deep insights.

INSIDE How AI Startups hire, AI Roundtable with Wade Foster, Mikey Schulman, and Ali Ansari | E2225

How do top tech CEOs hire? AI has thrown out the playbook for getting hired — so what are the most innovative firms looking for? Anyone can learn any skill and automate much of it, what is to be valued in the modern labor market? On our first AI Roundtable episode of TWiST, Jason is joined by three top tech CEOs: Wade Foster (Zapier), Mikey Schulman (Suno), and Ali Ansari (Micro1). They each give their perspective on the tech talent wars and how to get hired in 2026. The resounding answer on how to get a job? JUST START DOING THE JOB! If you want to be a designer, start sending designs to companies you want to be hired by — don’t just sit around waiting to be hired. The biggest value you can bring is a “high agency” mindset to your company and the role. Show you get after it!

Is this the end for the Roomba? Why iRobot went bankrupt | E2224

Domestic robots have never been hotter… so why is iRobot in so much trouble?! On TWiST, we’re investigating the recent troubles facing the automated vacuum robot, Roomba. We’ve all seen these little discs sweeping up our friends’ floors… but now the company behind them is running out of cash. What happened to iRobot, and would things have turned out differently if they had been sold to Amazon back in 2022? PLUS why Jason thinks you should spend your disposable income on investing… Is Alex still a journalist, and what does that actually mean for his portfolio?… Are founders and investors too cautious when it comes to signaling risk?… Why did all those internal Pipe documents leak online?… And MUCH MORE!

Disney and OpenAI sign landmark deal… and we saw it coming! | E2223

FINALLY, you can hang out with Kylo Ren and Olaf the Snowman… thanks to the magic of AI. On TWiST, we’re digging into the mega OpenAI-Disney deal. Mickey is giving Sam Altman a $1 billion investment AND will allow is copyrighted characters to appear in Sora and ChatGPT images. Of course, Jason predicted this would happen WAY BACK during the summer months and even showed off his “Darth Calacanis” creation on the “All-In Podcast.” PLUS Amazon has been launching and pulling AI features from Prime Video… what gives? Jason’s predictions on the coming AI blowback and who’s on what side. Why he’s so focused on Education, Health Care, and Housing as issues. AND why founders should always take calls from Big Companies, even if it might just be a fishing expedition. It’s a new Friday TWiST! Check it out!

“The best founders find a way to make it happen”: VC Roundtable with Bryan Kim and David Clark | E2222

Boom is still making supersonic jets but ALSO plans to start selling their turbines as power sources for AI data centers. It’s a perfect example of problem-solving on the go and how “the best founders… MAKE IT HAPPEN.” Join us for another insightful VC roundtable episode, featuring special guests Bryan Kim (a16z) and David Clark (Ven Cap). They’re discussing why Boom’s turbine announcement is about necessity AND opportunity PLUS… - Why we might NOT be in an AI bubble after all - Promoting your startup without spending your entire runway on marketing - Why founders need to be RELENTLESS - Bill Gurley’s classic response about Uber’s Total Addressable Market - AND LOTS MORE

FLASHBACK: The future of remote work, juggling APIs, and dream integrations with Wade Foster of Zapier | E2221

Today, Zapier’s a multi-billion company helping enterprises integrate AI agents and other time-saving shortcuts into their workflows… but we had the founder on TWiST when they were just getting started! In a 2016 chat, founder Wade Foster walked JCal through their 2012 seed round, running a small entirely remote team with no HQ, the complexities of building a tool that relies on third-party APIs, and why Microsoft Office was the “Holy Grail” for his integration software. PLUS we’ve got a new entrant in your Gamma Pitch Deck competition! Tour CEO/CTO Amulya Parmer tells us how his app is saving property managers time and grief, while eliminating “looky-loos” and increasing their “hit rate.” FINALLY, Alex chats with Tomas Puig of TWiST 500 marketing analysis startup Alembic. It turns out, LLMs aren’t ideal for scrutinizing marketing campaigns because they lack the requisite historical data. Find out how they’re using Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) to dig deeper than GPT and Claude can go.

What’s REALLY going on with those “ads” in ChatGPT | E2220

A screenshot showing a “Target Ad” in ChatGPT results went viral… over the weekend, but the OpenAI chatbot has NOT actually opened the advertising floodgates just yet. As ChatGPT staffers were quick to explain on social media, this was actually an invitation for a user to integrate their Target account into ChatGPT, for an easier agentic browsing and shopping experience. But it does prompt Jason and Alex to ask some intriguing questions… Is OpenAI just waiting for Google or someone else to launch AI ads first, and face the inevitable flood of backlash they’ll presumably receive? Is there someone at OpenAI already thinking DEEPLY about how these in-feed ads should work? And what does this mean for their wager on when ChatGPT is going to actually get ads? Is that already decided?

Netflix buys WB + why Jason should run Disney | E2219

Netflix wants to gobble up Warner Bros. Do they just want to own Batman and Harry Potter, or is this secretly about destroying movie theaters? Sure, this is usually a startup show, but news THIS BIG warrants attention! So Lon stops by to tell Jason and Alex about the big Netflix acquisition news, why so many theatrical movie fans are terrified for the future, and why this might face particular regulatory scrutiny both at home and abroad. PLUS… are Googlers gaming Polymarket? This is one scenario in which prediction markets are NOT exactly like stocks. THEN we’re looking at some of our favorite startups from the Fall ‘25 Y Combinator cohort (and asking Producer Claude for his picks)… Considering why Perplexity keeps getting sued and how they can stop it… and doing a victory lap for Jason’s early investment in breakout AI training project Micro1.

Getting past the “Cardinal Sins of Delegating” with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218

Delegating is its own unique skill, requiring training and a real investment of time and attention. On TWiST, Jason chats for a full hour with the founder of one of his favorite startups, Athena, which trains online assistants and pairs them with busy founders and executives. (Jason has 2!) But getting the MOST out of your executive assistants is less obvious than it looks. Jonathan unpacks some of the secrets to “Black Diamond Delegating,” and how he manages to keep 6 different high-level helpers operating at once. Plus, Jason and Jonathan look back at the Open Angel Forum days, where Jason invested in Jonathan’s previous company, Thumbtack, praise the “Checklist Manifesto,” discuss the telltale signs you’ve achieved market pull, and lots more insights.

Monumental Makes Construction Bots Play Nice Together | E2217

Did you know there’s actually a shortage of US bricklayers? It’s TRUE! So feel free to marvel at Monumental’s brick-laying robots. They’re not putting anyone out of work, but filling a much-needed gap. Join Alex and Monumental founder/CEO Salar al Khafaji for a deep-dive on how the startup is making construction robots play nice together by maintaining separate “zones” of operation, why Salar thinks startups need to focus on truly complex, real-world problems to truly blossom, and the secrets of fundraising in Europe. PLUS Alex chats with Seasats CEO Mike Flanigan about designing the next generation of autonomous marine crafts. (That is to say, ocean drones.) From their home base in San Diego, the company is trying to get completely independent of all Chinese parts.

Is $MSTR over? Jason takes his victory lap. | E2216

Michael Saylor’s Strategy play is struggling with the price of Bitcoin on a steep decline… Is his new “dollar reserve” the answer? On TWiST, we’re looking into the state of $MSTR and why Jason remains SO skeptical about this increasingly convoluted financial scheme. Is CNBC giving Michael Saylor a pass? Is that why he won’t go on “All-In”? And do investors realize that loans go BEFORE equity? We’re asking the TOUGH questions… PLUS Jason’s Four Red Flags for companies with convoluted tactics… Why S&P Global downgraded Tether, and why Jason thinks the US government waited TOO LONG to pass stablecoin regulations… Jason reacts to the NYT “hit piece” on Bestie David Sacks… we’re checking out the new Matic robot vacuum and Sunday Robotics’ Memo bot… PLUS much more of the day’s biggest tech news and stories.

SO MANY THINGS need to go right just so you can watch a TikTok! | E2215

On TWiST, Alex is chatting with Neubird CEO Gou Rao about the intricate complexity of IT Ops, and the vast amount of layers and components that have to be delivered very quickly to your phone in order to stream a simple video clip. Neubird has developed Hawkeye, an AI “engineer” that uses “context engineering” to isolate and troubleshoot problems, while still keeping costs down. Loading up a video to show your friends may SOUND straightforward, but it’s actually, as Alex notes, a miracle anything on the internet works at all. PLUS we’ve got Subject AI CEO Michael Vilardo stopping by to tell us how the app uses gamification to keep kids learning and engaged. NOTE TO FOUNDERS: Mike got invited on the show because he sends email updates to his “dream investors,” including Jason. It’s a solid best practice!

Even great startups sometimes need to pivot (feat. Francisco Cornejo of Theo) | E2214

Today’s show: The team from Familify had released a well-reviewed storytelling app for kids and parents… but it just wasn’t growing! Then they noticed that Bible stories and faith-based content was particularly popular. So they decided released a brand new app, Theo, just for these sorts of lessons and stories. And the new product overtook Storybook in just a few weeks! It’s a vital lesson for founders… Even if you succeed, you may be able to succeed EVEN MORE. Remain flexible and open to strong new ideas (especially if, like Francisco, your wife suggests them!) PLUS we’re chatting with Collin from En Vérité about how AI can make do diligence much less painful for investors AND checking out our latest Gamma Pitch Deck competitor. Find out why Jason says Jake Triton from Pitch Prfct might just be closing in on Product Market Fit.

Jason predicts a “major M&A moment” in the next six months! | E2213

Today’s show: Google and Meta had their cases dismissed (or received a slap on the wrist)… Despite all the backlash and cynicism, AI companies continue making bank and releasing hot new products… What does it all mean? For Jason Calacanis, the signs are pointing to a “major M&A moment,” with huge opportunities for increased efficiency and consolidation among America’s favorite brands and largest companies? Who will it be? Join Jason and Alex for a round of hot speculation. PLUS why Jason thinks Michael Burry is both right and wrong about GPU depreciation, why NOTHING is certain about these OpenAI mega-deals, Google’s Nano Banana Pro can make infographics and they’re VERY impressive… and much more.

Why data is the biggest AI bottleneck (feat. Arthur Mensch of Mistral AI) | E2212

Today’s show: The race for more compute gets all the headlines, but Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch tells us the REAL danger is running out of data! On TWiST, Jason and Alex are chatting with the head of France’s largest foundation AI company, Mistral AI, about how enterprises can get more out of their AI pilots, whether the West is lacking leadership on open-source, why Mistral AI isn’t pursuing every possible kind of AI application, and optimizing your models for performance rather than benchmarks (aka benchmaxxing). Find out what it’s like to run a huge AI company in today’s intense environment! PLUS… why everyone made the wrong call on OpenAI vs. Google… Kraken’s fresh $20 billion valuation… Jason’s urgent message to every company thinking about M&A… and much more!

AI Model Showdown: Grok 4.1 vs. Gemini 3 | E2211

Today’s show: Will the arrival of two hotly-anticipated, intensely powerful AI models snap the Doomer cycle? On a new TWiST, Jason and Alex consider the current AI landscape, one where cynicism about insider mega-deals, fear of job displacement, and concerns about bubble bursts seem to rule the day. Will the arrival of two powerful new models — xAI’s Grok 4.1 and Google’s Gemini 3 — help the industry to course-correct? And how do we decide how much these models have improved anyway? PLUS we’re investigating Cloudflare’s recent downtime and their acquisition of Replicate. Are we heading toward a future in which everyone runs their own models, locally? And how worried should founders get if their products or sites go down for a few hours? Finally, if you’re an investor, and want to come to Jason’s Dim Sum Demo Day in San Francisco, here’s the link: http://launch.co/dimsum