AI on the blockchain, Waymo's rise, and the truth about tech layoffs | E1996
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 22 August 2024
⏱️ 77 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This Week in Startups is brought to you by…
Lemon.io - Hire pre-vetted remote developers, get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist
.Tech Domains - Don’t miss our “Jam with JCal” contest! To apply and get more details go to https://jamwithjcal.tech brought to you by .tech domains.
CommandBar. Seamlessly integrate an AI-powered guide into your software, making navigation intuitive and interactive. Visit https://commandbar.com/twist to get a custom live demo.
*
Todays show:
Alex Wilhelm joins Jason to discuss AI on the blockchain (41:04), Waymo’s growth (29:27), tech layoffs (58:47), and more!
*
Timestamps:
(0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show
(2:24) Bolt's fundraising controversy and business model
(8:24) CEO loans and board conflicts at Bolt
(11:25) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist
(12:46) Public vs. private equity borrowing and media integrity
(21:18) Technology media industry reflections
(28:32) .Tech Domains - Apply for the Jam Session with JCal contest today at https://jamwithjcal.tech
(29:27) Waymo's growth and autonomous vehicle market
(39:49) CommandBar - Visit https://commandbar.com/twist to get a custom live demo.
(41:04) Story raises $80M for blockchain-based IP network
(46:23) Stablecoins and SEC investigations
(58:47) The truth behind tech layoffs
(1:07:26) Audience questions
*
Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com
Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com
*
Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
*
Mentioned on the show:
https://x.com/pitdesi/status/1826262321045610846
https://www.pymnts.com/personnel/2023/one-click-checkout-startup-bolt-laying-off-10-of-workforce
https://waymo.com/blog/2024/06/waymo-one-is-now-open-to-everyone-in-san-francisco
https://x.com/TechTekedra/status/1825910695311114384
https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/23/alphabet-to-invest-another-5b-into-waymo
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/18/cars/china-baidu-apollo-go-robotaxi-anxiety-intl-hnk
https://openai.com/index/gpt-4o-fine-tuning
https://openai.com/index/conde-nast
https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/858877/000119312524200636/d878533d8k.htm
*
Follow Alex:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm
*
Follow Jason:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
*
Thank you to our partners:
(11:25) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist
(28:32) .Tech Domains - Apply for the Jam Session with JCal contest today at https://jamwithjcal.tech
(39:49) CommandBar - Visit https://commandbar.com/twist to get a custom live demo.
*
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
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | And in fairness, in fairness, the Jessica, the job of the editor-in-chief is to always have the back of their writers. |
| 0:05.8 | So she's saying, like, we got it right. |
| 0:07.7 | What do we technically get wrong? And it reminds me of the story we talked about the other day where you know they put the |
| 0:13.6 | MAGA hats on Felicia and Ben Horowitz and I said you know they could have been |
| 0:18.2 | more clear but somebody you know like the editor-in-chief is probably like hey listen it's obvious because there's two |
| 0:23.7 | blue smurfs on there you know people that's an illustration and we put in the you know tiny |
| 0:29.4 | little minus one font size that this is an illustration. |
| 0:34.0 | So, you know, people defend themselves. |
| 0:36.6 | The truth here is the company feels like it's a little shady. |
| 0:40.8 | Oh, oh, Jason, going with the British understatement there. A little shady. Oh Jason going with the British understatement there a little shady dude this guy is this |
| 0:46.6 | firm is essentially underneath a canopy of trees there is so much required shade to discuss it. |
| 0:55.0 | This weekend startups is brought to you by Lemon.io. |
| 0:57.0 | hire pre-bedded remote developers. |
| 1:00.0 | Get 15% off your first four weeks of developer time at lemon.io slash twist. |
| 1:06.6 | Dot-tech domains. |
| 1:08.3 | Don't miss our Jam with J-Cal contest. |
| 1:11.0 | To apply and get more details, go to jam with J-Cal. Tech brought to you by dot-tech domains. |
| 1:18.0 | And command bar. |
| 1:21.0 | Seemlessly integrate an AI-powered guide into your software, making navigation |
| 1:25.6 | intuitive and interactive. |
| 1:28.0 | Visit command bar.com slash twist to get a custom live demo. |
| 1:32.4 | All right, everybody. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jason Calacanis, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jason Calacanis and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.