Anti-Work Uprising, Copyright Wars & the StreamFog Solution | E2124

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Technology

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2025

⏱️ 91 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s show: Jason, Lon & Alex are back with a spicy Monday episode of This Week in Startups. Jason goes off on unions vs capitalism, we dig into why fewer seed startups are making it to Series A, and look at OpenAI’s quiet copyright land grab. Plus: YC says Google should be broken up (then kind of walks it back), Perplexity’s wild $14B valuation, and Saudi Arabia wants its own national AI. We wrap with an Office Hours chat with Kevin Bondzio from Streamfog on the future of AR ads in livestreaming.

Timestamps:

(2:38) Why Jason’s obsessed with Reddit’s anti-work community

(10:30) Coda - Get started for free at https://coda.io/twist

(12:21) Seed Stage Graduation rates

(20:43) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/twist

(26:11) What’s going on with Tech M&A?

(30:04) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

(33:50) What’s going on with the Copyright Office?

(37:24) Licensing and competitive advantage in the AI era

(48:28) AI and the future of subscription-based content(56:42) StreamFog wants to change the way creators advertise

(1:14:13) Perplexity’s mega-valuation gets even mega-er

(1:19:13) How Saudi Arabia just became an AI startup

(1:22:05) Y Combinator pokes it’s nose in the Google antitrust case

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

Links from episode:

Check out Streamfog: https://streamfog.com/

Check out Peter Walkers post on “Graduating from Seed to Series A” https://x.com/PeterJ_Walker/status/1921288778192200087

Learn about the HUMAIN here: https://www.spa.gov.sa/en/N2316474

Follow Kev:

X: https://x.com/kevbondzio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-bondzio/

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

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

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

Thank you to our partners:

(10:30) Coda - Get started for free at https://coda.io/twist

(20:43) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/twist

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	I'm too old for this. And I'm too, like, cynical and, like, set in my ways. I just believe in
0:06.3	capitalism. I don't believe in unions. I think that, like, there's union leaders who fight for
0:10.9	folks to get the same amount of pay. I believe in meritocracy. Everybody should fight for their
0:15.1	highest salary possible. But if you set this up like this, I'm going to retire.
0:20.8	I think the anarcho syndicl would probably want guys like you to retire.
0:25.6	They would.
0:26.0	They would want to retire me, literally like a replicant.
0:28.6	They're aiming to get rid of the, the upper echelon of capitalists and instill workers as the leadership rather than owners. And they'll be called, what would
0:38.9	you call a worker who becomes a leader? What was that? It's like a fee or something. It's like a boss.
0:45.0	This weekend startups is brought to you by Coda. Coda empowers your startup by bringing words,
0:49.8	tables, and teams together. Strategize, plan, and track goals effectively with all your valuable data in one place. Go to coda.io slash twist to get started for free and get together. Strategize plan and track goals effectively with all your valuable data in one place.
0:55.3	Go to coda.io slash twist to get started for free and get six free months of the team plan.
1:00.2	LinkedIn jobs. A business is only as strong as its people and every hire matters.
1:04.6	Go to LinkedIn.com slash twist to post your first job for free. Terms and conditions apply.
1:09.3	And Northwest Registered Agent. Starting your business
1:12.1	should be simple. With Northwest Registered Agent, you can form your entire business identity in just
1:16.1	10 clicks and 10 minutes. From LLCs to trademarks, domains to custom websites they've got you covered.
1:21.1	Get more privacy, more options, and more done. Visit Northwest Registeredagent.com slash twist today.
1:26.5	Hey everybody. Welcome back. This Week in Startups, 2000 plus episodes. Thisweekendstart agent.com slash twist today. Hey, everybody. Welcome back.
1:27.9	This Week in Startups, 2,000-plus episodes.
1:30.2	This Weekend Startups.com.
1:31.8	TWA startups.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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.