meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
This Week in Startups

Ex-FB Diem team builds Aptos blockchain, Metamask parent ConsenSys raises $450M, Mojo's athlete betting market, Zero Grocery shutdown | E1409

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Technology

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2022

⏱️ 89 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

First, we discuss a new Layer 1 blockchain called Aptos, valued at $1B in a recent round led by a16z (2:42). Then discuss MetaMask’s parent Consensys raising 450M at a $7B valuation (39:47). Our startup of the day is Mojo, which is building a stock market-like product to “bet on athletes” (51:35). Next, we do a post-mortem for our "shutdown of the day," Zero Grocery, a grocery delivery company that closed down this month after announcing raising $12M a month ago (59:06). To wrap, Jason chats with JJ Foster, a listener who did some show notes for us (01:11:05).


Show Notes

(0:00) Jason and Molly intro the show
(02:42) Former Facebook employees raise $200M to build out blockchain
(14:55) OpenPhone - Get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://openphone.com/twist
(16:13) Thoughts on Facebook and centralized currency
(28:22) Mercury - Banking built for startups. See more at https://mercury.com/twist
(29:40) Breaking News: Bain Capital Crypto hires woman partner
(36:27) Gun.io - Get $250 off your first developer hire at https://Gun.io/twist!
(39:47) ConsenSys raised $450M Series D valued at $7B
(51:35) Startup of the day: Mojo
(59:06) Shutdown of the day: Zero Grocery
(1:11:05) 05 Jason mentors noti gang member JJ Foster about his career

Check out The TWIST Podcast Notes: https://www.thisweekinstartups.com/notes

FOLLOW JJ: https://twitter.com/j_foster_j
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, everybody. Hey, everybody. We have another all-new show for you today. And it's packed.

0:05.4

It's a thick boy. It's got a lot of crypto. We're going to talk about new layer one

0:10.9

blockchain developments from the team that almost brought you Libra and DM at Facebook.

0:17.2

Now they've got a company called Apto's valued at a billion dollars in a reason around

0:21.8

led by A16Z. Holy cow. And obviously this was founded by the former meta and Facebook

0:28.1

employees. So we'll talk a little bit about the history of that product and project.

0:32.4

And what it means that it got killed in terms of the bigger picture because it's really the

0:36.3

first time you can think of that Zuckerberg didn't knock off a product and put it in a market.

0:40.8

And what if he had? And why didn't he? There's something going on here that we need to figure out.

0:46.6

There is something going on here. And despite crypto valuations taking like crazy,

0:52.7

there's so raise the money. We'll talk about Metamask's parent consensus raising $450 million

0:57.6

at a seven billion dollar valuation. And we have our startup of the day. My favorite segment,

1:03.0

Mojo, a startup that's building a stock market-like product. So you can bet on athletes

1:09.8

fascinating idea. I love gambling. I love the market. What a great interesting idea in our

1:14.5

startup of the day. And then a little something different. A postmortem for our shutdown of the day.

1:19.6

Zero grocery, a grocery delivery company that just announced raising $12 million a month ago

1:26.3

is now shutting down. We're going to dig into what might have happened. It is all going to be

1:32.0

such a great show. It's going to be a great show. And I do a quick chat at the end, a little mentoring

1:35.9

session with a super fan of the show, one of our notegang members who wrote 10 sets of show notes

1:41.7

as part of his way of breaking into the industry. He met me. He met a bunch of other people

1:46.0

in the industry. And now he's working in the industry. So I have a JJ notegang member JJ on.

1:51.6

Talk about his career. And I think if you're looking to build your career,

...

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.