How the OpenClaw foundation bullet-proofed its future (w/Dave Morin) | E2257

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Technology

4.2 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2026

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This Week In Startups is made possible by:Circle — http://circle.so/twistHubspot Creators — http://clickhubspot.com/twist2Uber AI Solutions — http://uber.com/ai-solutionsToday’s show: *Dave Morin joined the show today to explain how the OpenClaw Foundation came into existence, and what its goals are. Fear not, Peter Steinberger retains directional control of the project. But if you want to sustain an open-source project over time, you need a corporate entity, well-heeled sponsors, maintainers and more. Morin is helping make sure that OpenClaw can stay true to itself well into the future.TWIST also put the day’s most critical AI stories to Morin for his insight: What’s his take on the Anthropic-DoW fracas? Does Morin think that OpenAI and Anthropic are catching up to OpenClaw in agentic terms? And will OpenAI cede the consumer crown to Anthropic? Next came two amazing demos: Runtools’ CTO Greg Kara showed off a 3D interface for OpenClaw that his team built, allowing ‘Claw users to watch their agents work in real time, and even read over their shoulder. Then PickelWatch founder George Yameen showed off an agnetic workflow using OpenClaw and Claude’s Chrome plugin side-by-side. The gist? Make sure that the agentic service you select is cost-effective. **GUESTS:**Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin?lang=enGreg Kara: https://x.com/GregKara6George Yameen: https://x.com/GeorgeYameen**Timestamps:** 00:00 Dave Morin Joins the Show

02:31 How Dave Morin got Claw-Pilled

05:01 Jason’s critical OpenClaw moments

08:38 How Dave showcases his OpenClaw skills

10:47 Uber AI Solutions - Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at http://uber.com/ai-solutions

14:40 How long has the OpenClaw Foundation existed?

17:21 How much authority does Peter Steinberger retain?

00:20:21 Hubspot - Check out the guide “Advanced ChatGPT Prompt Engineering: From Basic to Expert in 7 Days.” Download it for free at http://clickhubspot.com/twist2

19:20 How ‘air traffic control’ works for a project like OpenClaw

23:15 The economics of open-source maintainers

25:13 Dave’s physical OpenClaw setup

27:45 How Jason uses OpenClaw to curate his reading, fashion, and travel

30:23 Circle - Circle gives you everything you need to build and scale your community-led business. TWIST listeners get $1,000 off the Circle Plus Plan at http://circle.so/twist

32:18 Why the second wave of ideas is where things get the most interesting

34:06 Apple’s slow movement and hesitance to depricate products

39:51 How Jason uses OpenClaw to coach the next generation of executives

44:52 Are Anthropic and OpenAI catching up to OpenClaw?

49:40 Introduction to Runtools.AI

53:49 Runtools.AI demo of 3D OpenClaw environment

57:06 Introduction to PickleWatch

57:27 PickelWatch demo of Claude Chrome vs. OpenClaw

01:03:38 How PickleWatch ups your pickleball swing

32:56 Jason’s advice for founders on stumbling onto new ideas

42:16 Jason on the DoW’s handling of the Anthropic mess

01:11:08 Would Jason fund the tech that Anthropic won’t supply?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/Check out the TWIST500: https://twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp*Follow Lon:X: https://x.com/lons*Follow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis/*Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/*Follow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: [https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups](https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups/)TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: [https://twistartups.substack.com](https://twistartups.substack.com/)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody, welcome back to Twist.
0:02.3	March 2nd, 2026, A.039 in the year of our Lord, the Open Claw.
0:09.4	39 days after we first talked about OpenClaw here on the pod and cackling in the background.
0:15.6	My old friend, a true bestie, one of the great investors, human beings, entrepreneurs, commentators, podcasters
0:24.6	of our generation here. Dave Morin.
0:31.2	This week in startups is brought to you by Circle. The easiest way to build a home for your
0:36.9	community, events, and courses,
0:39.2	all under your own brand. Twist listeners get $1,000 off the Circle Plus plan by going to
0:45.3	circle.s.0 slash twist. HubSpot. Check out the guide, advanced chat GPT prompt engineering
0:52.6	from basic to expert in seven days download it for free
0:56.4	at click hubspot.com slash twist two that's click hubspot.com slash twist and then the number two and
1:04.3	uber bad data equals bad ai your ai is only as good as the data it learns from. Uber. That's right. Uber AI Solutions now
1:14.6	works with enterprises around the world to source, label, evaluate, and scale real world high
1:21.0	quality data for every industry, everywhere, so that you can focus on building the next big thing. Higher quality data means smarter and faster AI. Uber.com slash twist. How are you doing, brother? Good to be here, Jason. Thanks for having me. It's so great to have you, of course. My co-host, Alex, is here. It's been a minute. It's been a minute. Alex is here, and he's ready to rock and roll. Yep. Yes, sir. All right. Alex. Alex with the best podcasting voice. Oh, he's great. You missed out. Dave was giving me props before the show. It was the best day of my life. You know, some people are gifted with the with the with the broadcaster voice. Other ones of us, you know, not so much.
2:01.5	We just make it work.
2:02.9	We make it work with the limited resources we have.
2:05.6	Dave, I wanted to have you on because you two have been claw-pilled.
2:11.5	You first, and then, of course, when OpenClaw was aqua-hired slash, we'll get into whatever the transaction
2:20.2	was, and our friend Sam Altman bought it, sort of.
2:24.9	They said, big concerns.
2:27.0	Open source project is going to get the plug pulled on it.
2:30.8	This is a disaster.
	...

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