Chime’s IPO, Databricks’ $1B Acquisition & Dave Rubin’s Media Empire | E2126
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 15 May 2025
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today’s show: Chime is finally going public with strong financials and a shot at matching its $25B 2021 valuation, signaling real momentum in the IPO market. Databricks just made a $1B bet on agentic AI by acquiring Neon, a Postgres-as-a-service startup riding the new database wave. Then, Dave Rubin joins to share how he built and sold Locals, his uncancellable creator platform, all while navigating the intense media landscape.
Timestamps:
(0:00) Episode Teaser(1:14) Jason and Alex open the show(1:42) Why Chime’s IPO is such a promising sign(7:22) Chime's financials and valuation(10:12) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST(12:17) So why did Databricks buy Neon?(13:22) Where is the AI Integration Desktop App?(17:29) Jason’s plan to bring Americans back to the movies(20:10) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(21:58) Make movies All-you-can-eat!(26:26) Special Guest: Dave Rubin(30:39) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist(31:41) Why Dave Rubin goes phone free for weeks at a time(45:24) Why Identity politics is killing business and sports(49:23) Can Locals reinvent subscription models?
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Links from episode:
Rubin Report on Locals: https://rubinreport.locals.com/
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Thank you to our partners:
(10:12) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST
(20:10) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!
(30:39) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When I closed my Patreon that night, the way I did it was I was on a live stream, and I said, I can't remember the exact numbers, but I was like, for every thousand subscribers we get, something like that, live while I'm on air, I'll do a shot of Patron, because I'm leaving Patreon. |
| 0:13.4 | Anyway, about 12 shots later. |
| 0:15.2 | 12,000 subs, wow, you must have been. |
| 0:17.8 | So I was, and I was really doing it. |
| 0:19.7 | So not only was I wasted, but I doxed myself live on air because when I went finally at the end of the night, when I went to delete the account, which we were showing... |
| 0:27.6 | It had your address. Oh, no. |
| 0:28.9 | You press delete, and then your email pops up. |
| 0:32.1 | Oh, your email, great. |
| 0:33.3 | It wasn't my address. |
| 0:35.3 | This week in Startups is brought to you by Squarespace. |
| 0:38.7 | Turn your idea into a new website. |
| 0:40.4 | Go to squarespace.com slash twist for a free trial. |
| 0:43.4 | When you're ready to launch, use offer code twist to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. |
| 0:48.9 | Northwest Registered Agent. |
| 0:50.2 | Starting your business should be simple. |
| 0:51.7 | With Northwest Registered Agent, you can form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks in 10 minute. From LLC to trademarks, domains to custom websites, |
| 0:58.8 | they've got you covered. Get more privacy, more options, and more done, visit northwestredgisteredagent.com |
| 1:03.6 | slash Twist today. And, lemon.io, hire pre-vetted remote developers, get 15% off your first |
| 1:10.3 | four weeks of developer time at lemon.com. |
| 1:13.6 | Hey, everybody. Welcome back to this weekend startup. Dave Rubin's going to be with us in the second half of the show. You know him from the Dave Rubin show and locals. A voice of the right. Lots to talk about with him about the media business, but we have a full docket. I gave |
| 1:29.2 | Lon some time off here so we can just ping pong and volley back and forth through this |
| 1:33.8 | do a little bit faster than we normally do because there's a lot going on, Alex, and we |
... |
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