Manufacturing in the US, Building in Open Source… and more | E2154
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 July 2025
⏱️ 83 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today’s show:
TWiST is back with a trio of can’t miss interviews with some of our favorite TWiST 500 founders.
First up, John Jeremy Harris of Harbinger Motors tells us about making his EV batteries right here in the USA, and why the loss of EV tax credits might not hurt the business as much as you’d think…
THEN, we’re talking to James Hawkins of PostHog about how keeping his burn rate low opened up a wealth of new opportunities for his company…
THEN Yoshi Yokokawa from Alpaca HQ stops by to talk about working in a category that’s no longer the hottest thing in the Valley (like fintech) and the importance of stable coins to his business model.
You won’t want to miss this one! Tons of fresh and important insights for founders.
Timestamps:
(0:00) INTRO, The market’s hit an ALL TIME HIGH… what does it mean for founders and smaller companies?
(2:19) Figma’s going IPO… how its success could impact other the entire landscape for the rest of the year.
(10:12) Netsuite - Download the ebook Navigating Global Trade: 3 Insights for Leaders for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twist
(11:29) Harbinger co-founder/CEO John Jeremy Harris tells us about building EVs for commercial fleet, live FROM the factory
(19:58) Retool - Visit https://www.retool.com/twist and try it out today.
(21:15) Harbinger co-founder/CEO John Jeremy Harris tells us about building EVs for commercial fleet, live FROM the factory (cont…)
(30:07) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to www.get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.
(31:07) How much of Harbinger’s product is actually manufactured in the US (and why that’s a more complex question than it sounds)
(31:39) Why the rollback of EV tax credits might NOT have a huge impact on Harbinger’s business.
(36:53) James Hawkins of PostHog explains how and why Stripe funded their most recent round.
(40:23) Will it soon be easier to build a virtual product manager than hire the right human person? MAYBE!
(42:11) Why building PostHog as open source was so vital for boosting adoption among developers
(47:45) Why James credits a low burn rate and being “multi-product” with PostHog’s success and traction
(01:00:02) Alpaca CEO and co-founder Yoshi Yokokawa explains to us how the API brokerage infrastructure co. actually makes money
(01:00:41) Why it matters that Alpaca is a “self-clearing market maker”: Yoshi unpacks how trades actually get executed
(01:07:46) The massive impact of Robinhood on the entire fintech business and how this benefits Alpaca
(01:18:06) Yoshi’s tips for founders working in categories that aren’t THE HOTTEST IN THE WORLD right now
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Thank you to our partners:
(10:12) Netsuite - Download the ebook Navigating Global Trade: 3 Insights for Leaders for free at https://www.netsuite.com/twist
(19:58) Retool - Visit https://www.retool.com/twist and try it out today.
(30:07) .TECH: Say it without saying it. Head to www.get.tech/twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp .tech domain today.
Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I mean, when it comes down to you is we actually built things here. And pretty much everyone |
| 0:04.6 | else in trucking trying to make EVs is mostly in the business of buying things out of a |
| 0:09.9 | catalog and then selling it to other people. Imagine if when you bought a Silverado, GM, like, |
| 0:16.7 | went across the street and bought all the engines from Ford. It would be really tough for GM to compete with Ford's pricing at that point, right? |
| 0:23.0 | And like, that would make no sense. |
| 0:26.0 | This is the only place in the United States where a truck OEM is building their own |
| 0:31.8 | battery modules and battery packs. |
| 0:35.0 | This week in startups is brought to you by NetSuite. |
| 0:39.3 | The business landscape is very chaotic right now. |
| 0:42.6 | That's why you need NetSuite by Oracle. |
| 0:45.0 | If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, |
| 0:47.8 | download the free e-book, Navigating Global Trade, |
| 0:51.0 | Three Insights for Leaders atseweek.com slash twist. |
| 0:56.0 | Retool. |
| 0:57.0 | Bridge the gap between AI demos and business impact with technology that's designed |
| 1:01.8 | for developers and built for the enterprise. |
| 1:04.9 | Visit retool.com slash twist and try it out today. |
| 1:08.8 | And dot tech. |
| 1:10.5 | Say it without saying it. Head to get. Dot tech slash twist or your favorite registrar to get a clean, sharp dot tech domain today. Hello and welcome back to this weekend startups. My name is Alex Wilhelm. I'm your host and I'm joined today by my comrade in arms. It's Mr. Lonne Harris. |
| 1:27.9 | Hey, everyone. |
| 1:28.6 | How you doing, baby? Doing great. Did not really think about how I was going to be on camera this week. So it's a little bit of a wild hair situation, but we're working with it. Well, I actually did not do my usual hair trim before this one. So we're going casual Monday, I feel like today. But let's start with just the |
| 1:45.0 | opening news of the day, which is that stock market hit an all-time high today, both the S&P and the NASDAQ. And so I think it's time for some champagne and caviar. But no, it really is an all-time high today. So if you are in the equities market in any capacity, it's a good day for you. also lawn a critical upswing for market comps. |
... |
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