INSIDE How AI Startups hire, AI Roundtable with Wade Foster, Mikey Schulman, and Ali Ansari | E2225

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Technology

4.2 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2025

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

LinkedIn Ads- http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups

Squarespace - https://squarespace.com/twist

Enterpret - http://Enterpret.com/twist

Today’s show:

How do top tech CEOs hire? AI has thrown out the playbook for getting hired — so what are the most innovative firms looking for? Anyone can learn any skill and automate much of it, what is to be valued in the modern labor market?

On our first AI Roundtable episode of TWiST, Jason is joined by three top tech CEOs: Wade Foster (Zapier), Mikey Schulman (Suno), and Ali Ansari (Micro1). They each give their perspective on the tech talent wars and how to get hired in 2026.

The resounding answer on how to get a job? JUST START DOING THE JOB! If you want to be a designer, start sending designs to companies you want to be hired by — don’t just sit around waiting to be hired. The biggest value you can bring is a “high agency” mindset to your company and the role. Show you get after it!

They are also hitting on:

- How AI is getting used to make music today

- The tech industry’s communication problem

- How to raise kids in the age of AI

Timestamps:

(00:00) It’s our first ever “This Week in AI” Roundtable, and we’ve got an amazing panel

(05:50) How Meta and OpenAI skew how everyone thinks about compensation

(09:37) The importance of looking beyond SF for talent

(10:24) LinkedIn Ads: Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. Launch your first campaign and get $250 FREE when you spend at least $250. Go to http://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups to claim your credit.

(14:39) Is AI making more people seek out developer jobs?

(18:36) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://squarespace.com/twist

(19:36) When design becomes its own bottleneck… and some workarounds.

(22:37) It’s not how much you know, it’s how adaptable you are

(24:10) The best way to get hired: just start doing the job

(30:09) Why Ali says we’re entering the "Post-Training"

(31:34) Enterpret - Enterpret turns feedback noise into Customer Intelligence, so your team knows exactly what to fix and build next. Head to http://Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.

(33:32) Understanding the value of your company’s data and using it to get better outputs

(41:14) Mikey calls Suno the “GLP-1s of the music industry”: everyone uses it but no one admits it

(46:39) Mikey Talks break out AI artists like Xania Monet

(49:32) Questions raised about how AI will effect job markets

(54:43) How AI and robotics will unlock new jobs and opportunities

(58:48) Possible solutions to the AI and automation question.

(01:04:03) Technology's communication problem and how to fix it.

(01:05:24) Are people replacing their friends with AI?

(01:08:11) How CEOs are thinking about raising young kids in the world of AI.

(01:12:21) Lightning round on AI agents, workflows vs. agents

(01:16:49) Trapped value in sales calls, questions, company meetings that are unlocked by AI

(01:22:10) How Ali pitched the LAUNCH team outside of a Jeni's Ice Cream store

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/

Check out the TWIST500: https://twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

Thank you to our partners:

(18:36) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://squarespace.com/twist

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It is true that people are getting isolated and that people aren't leaving their homes.
0:03.5	I think it's a double whammy of the addictive nature of this technology and COVID just making people into home bodies.
0:10.2	What are your thoughts, Mikey?
0:11.2	Most of this isolation does not come from AI.
0:13.7	It predates it.
0:14.5	It's a lot of social media.
0:15.7	You can say there are pros and cons of social media.
0:18.4	Imagine you can give the entire world a media incompetent therapist with AI.
0:23.6	Like, that's probably good for some of the mental health crises that we face in this country.
0:28.6	To me, it's just like somewhat incongruent to say that the correct solution to that problem is to ban AI.
0:34.6	You're probably going to make things worse.
0:36.6	Human fulfillment is really important.
0:38.5	Probably working is an important part of being fulfilled. But it's actually kind of amazing when you
0:42.9	see some of the stories and you know how many people you make smile every day. How are you
0:46.0	thinking about raising kids into this crazy addictive soup? Well, I'm fortunate my kids are young enough
0:52.0	that, you know, this is not yet a problem, but I am
0:54.7	starting to think about like, you know, the kind of environment we want them to be raised in.
0:59.9	And I do think, you know, it's important that they are involved in the community. And so we want
1:04.5	them to be in person at school. We want them to be in dance and gymnastics and sports and music and all this other stuff because they think
1:12.5	they get to interact with other people and they get to learn those skills.
1:15.9	We will probably find ways to keep encouraging more of that and limit time with the phone
1:21.1	where you're just like on social media and some of these other tools.
	...

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.