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.

Manufacturing in the US, Building in Open Source… and more | E2154

Jul 21, 2025 • 83 mins

TWiST is back with a trio of can’t miss interviews with some of our favorite TWiST 500 founders. First up, John Jeremy Harris of Harbinger Motors tells us about making his EV batteries right here in the USA, and why the loss of EV tax credits might not hurt the business as much as you’d think… THEN, we’re talking to James Hawkins of PostHog about how keeping his burn rate low opened up a wealth of new opportunities for his company… THEN Yoshi Yokokawa from Alpaca HQ stops by to talk about working in a category that’s no longer the hottest thing in the Valley (like fintech) and the importance of stable coins to his business model. You won’t want to miss this one! Tons of fresh and important insights for founders.

Key Points

Harbinger is the only company in the U.S. building its own battery modules and packs for medium-duty EV trucks, allowing it to compete at price parity with diesel trucks.
Posthog has expanded from product analytics to offering a comprehensive suite of 14 customer data-related tools, leveraging an engineering-led approach and counterintuitive pricing strategies to drive growth.
Alpaca, a brokerage infrastructure company, continues to grow by enabling fintech applications worldwide to offer U.S. equities trading and other financial services, benefiting from the sustained and diversified demand for U.S. stocks.

Speakers

John Harris

Guest • 17%

Alex Wilhelm

Host • 36%

Lon Harris

Guest • 4%

James Hawkins

Guest • 21%

Yoshi Yokokawa

Guest • 17%

Partners

Chapters

0:00	Introduction and EV market discussion
1:22	Stock market update and Figma's IPO
3:42	Polymarket's prediction markets
7:46	Interview with Harbinger on EV chassis
10:14	Sponsor: NetSuite by Oracle
11:30	Harbinger's business model and strategy deep dive
25:33	US manufacturing and component sourcing for EVs
30:08	Sponsor: .tech domains
31:07	Vehicle vs. components business balance
33:47	EV market policies and domestic manufacturing impact
36:07	Future of American manufacturing
36:53	Introduction to Postdoc and Stripe funding
38:44	Evolution of Postdoc's product offerings and AI role
41:25	Postdoc's founders' journey and open source importance
46:49	Product focus strategy in competitive markets
51:07	Financial stability and customer-friendly policies
56:15	Multiproduct strategy and marketing
59:58	Outro and guest contact information
1:00:29	Introduction to Alpaca and brokerage infrastructure
1:02:22	Alpaca's revenue model and self-clearing broker dealer benefits
1:06:43	Global demand for US equities
1:08:09	Alpaca's customer growth and fintech trends
1:11:18	Expansion into new financial products
1:14:33	Stablecoins in Alpaca's future
1:17:37	Navigating market cycles for business health
1:19:57	Business predictability and transparency
1:20:33	Alpaca's IPO and M&A prospects
1:21:39	European fintech growth and Alpaca's future plans
1:22:41	Closing remarks and episode wrap-up

Transcript

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