Aug 16: Intercom's bot auto-approves PRs 5x faster
Good morning. Engineering teams are using AI to review AI-generated code.
The surge in AI-generated code has created a massive bottleneck at the human review stage. To fix this, Intercom built an internal AI agent that scores pull requests for blast radius and auto-approves low-risk changes. The result is a 3x increase in PR throughput, with AI-approved code shipping five times faster than human reviews.
Build it tonight
Intercom built this internally to auto-approve low-risk code, speeding up PRs 5x. A solo dev could ship this GitHub app this weekend.
Developer Tools
AI PR risk-scoring and auto-approval bot
An AI agent that scores pull requests for blast radius and security risk, automatically approving low-risk changes to unblock engineering teams drowning in AI-generated code.
Why now: The proliferation of AI coding tools means engineers are drowning in AI-created PRs, creating a severe bottleneck at the human review stage.
Discussing: Engineering teams using AI coding tools that generate high volumes of pull requests.
“Intercom has 2x, 3x their PR throughput... they built a PR review agent that scores their PRs and then auto approves them... AI approved PRs are approved faster, actually five times faster than their human PRs.”
OpportunityInstead of forcing humans to review the massive influx of AI-generated PRs, use AI to score risk and auto-approve low-risk changes, which actually lowers revert rates.
Build an AI code review bot in 30 minutes with Vercel Eve · Aug 5, 2026
Sanity check: What would have to be true: engineering leaders trust an LLM to accurately assess the blast radius of code changes without human oversight.
Build it without code
Traditional liquidators reject small $2,000 estates. Aggregating 15 of them into a single warehouse weekend sale creates a highly profitable $30,000 retail event.
physical-world infra
Aggregated warehouse estate sales for small estates
Aggregate 15 to 30 small estates that traditional liquidators reject into a single massive weekend warehouse sale using lot-number tracking.
Why now: Existing estate sale companies are overwhelmed with leads and actively turn away smaller estates, creating an immediate supply of unmonetized inventory.
Discussing: Small estates with $1,000 to $2,000 worth of items that do not qualify for traditional in-home estate sales.
“instead of having an estate sale for one estate that has like $2,000 worth of stuff, we would start accumulating 10, 15, 20 estates... What that evolved into is a $20,000, $25,000, $30,000 weekend sale with 30 different estates, which brought in tons of people.”
OpportunityTraditional estate sale companies reject small estates because they aren't profitable to run on-site. Aggregating them creates a highly profitable, high-foot-traffic retail event.
$25K/Weekend Business You Can Start With No Money - Ep. #324 · Aug 7, 2026
Sanity check: What would have to be true: the labor cost of moving inventory from multiple small estates doesn't erase the margin gained by aggregating them.
Today's Startup Ideas
Specific plays distilled from this week's founder/operator podcasts.
Developer Tools
AI PR risk-scoring and auto-approval bot
An AI agent that scores pull requests for blast radius and security risk, automatically approving low-risk changes to unblock engineering teams drowning in AI-generated code.
Why now: The proliferation of AI coding tools means engineers are drowning in AI-created PRs, creating a severe bottleneck at the human review stage.
physical-world infra
Aggregated warehouse estate sales for small estates
Aggregate 15 to 30 small estates that traditional liquidators reject into a single massive weekend warehouse sale using lot-number tracking.
Why now: Existing estate sale companies are overwhelmed with leads and actively turn away smaller estates, creating an immediate supply of unmonetized inventory.
vertical SaaS
Remodeler procurement and EDI automation software
Eliminate back-office headcount for residential remodelers by linking work orders directly to material vendors via EDI to automate purchase orders and invoice reconciliation.
Why now: Rising material costs (tariffs increased costs 20-30% in 2025) are forcing remodelers to aggressively cut back-office overhead to maintain their 12-15% EBITDA margins.
B2B SaaS
API-first ERP for deskless businesses
Build an accounting platform for deskless businesses like truckers and contractors that includes an API for them to build custom operational apps.
Why now: AI coding tools allow non-technical business owners to build custom apps on top of clean ERP data.
CPG growth strategy
100-mile radius CPG marketing strategy
Saturate a single drivable metro area with farmer's markets and in-store demos to build a dense proof of concept before expanding nationally.
Why now: Retail buyers require strong velocity data before committing to national rollouts; local density provides this proof cheaply.
Private Equity / Roll-up
AI-driven SaaS roll-up holding company
Acquire stalled SaaS companies at low multiples, replace 80 percent of headcount with AI tools, and double pricing to drive massive profitability.
Why now: SaaS multiples have crashed, leaving many companies with product-market fit but bloated cost structures ripe for AI automation.
gaming infrastructure
Playtesting arena for AI-generated games
A platform where AI models generate playable games and human users playtest them to provide preference signals on which ones are actually fun.
Why now: Models can now generate playable code, but lack the reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) required to optimize for entertainment value.
B2B SaaS
Asset-light AI model routing layer
Build a routing gateway that automatically directs enterprise AI queries to the cheapest capable model, cutting consumption costs by 30 percent.
Why now: The proliferation of highly capable open-source and smaller models means a rising tide of cheaper options, but enterprises lack the infrastructure to dynamically route traffic to them.
physical-world infra
Mobile restaurant oil filtration
Operate a proprietary truck that filters cooking oil on-site for restaurants, averaging $517k in revenue per territory with multiple upsell streams.
Why now: Restaurants face rising supply costs and strict waste disposal regulations, making on-site filtration a cost-saving necessity.
Robotics
Teleoperated Quadruped Forestry Robots
Deploy teleoperated quadruped robots equipped with chainsaws to handle hazardous forestry tasks, replacing human workers in an industry with massive fatality rates.
Why now: Open-source quasi-direct drive actuators have drastically lowered the cost of building capable quadruped robots.
AI Infra
Evaluation platform for internal AI agents
A platform for engineering teams to log, grade, and improve the accuracy of their internal AI agents, similar to customer-facing AI evals.
Why now: Companies are moving beyond customer-facing AI to internal operational agents, which require strict auditing and continuous improvement to maintain trust and compliance.
Physical-world infra
Single-task inspection robots for shipyards
Build single-task robots to automate mandatory safety checks, like shaking scaffold joints or scanning paint thickness, which currently takes 1,000 human hours per ship.
Why now: Labor shortages mean companies physically cannot staff mandatory compliance and inspection roles, creating immediate demand for automated alternatives.
vertical AI tooling
Context-Aware AI Agent Monitoring
Lemma monitors AI agents by understanding their intended organizational context, automatically surfacing unpredictable failures like sending 100,000 erroneous emails.
Why now: Agents are taking on longer runs and real economic work, making unpredictable mistakes highly expensive or catastrophic.
B2B SaaS
Enterprise Documentation And Design App
A solo founder hit seven-figure profit by selling an AI-coded documentation and design management app to financial services and healthcare firms for $1 monthly.
Why now: AI coding tools allow non-technical founders to build and maintain enterprise-grade software without hiring expensive engineering teams.
Movements to Watch
Patterns surfacing across multiple shows. Track these before consensus.
B2B SaaS
The Unbundling of Enterprise Back-Office Software
Founders are targeting highly specific, unsexy administrative workflows from remodeler procurement to trucking ERPs by using AI to build custom integrations that legacy platforms ignore.
Physical-world infra
Automating Hazardous and High-Friction Industrial Labor
Severe labor shortages in heavy industries are driving the deployment of single-task robotics and mobile service fleets to handle dangerous or legally mandated physical tasks.
Vertical AI tooling
Context-Aware AI Monitoring and Evaluation
As autonomous agents take on real economic work, engineering teams are building dedicated evaluation platforms and context-aware monitors to catch unpredictable, catastrophic failures.
Founder Signal
How operators are thinking — frameworks, anti-patterns, sharp moves.
The 100-Mile Radius Strategy
Instead of spreading a small marketing budget nationally, saturate a single drivable metro area with in-store demos. Retail buyers require strong velocity data before committing to national rollouts, and local density provides this proof cheaply.
Capital Flow
Where money's moving today — funding rounds, M&A, valuation signals.
AI-Driven SaaS Roll-Ups Target Stalled Growth
Private equity firms are acquiring slow-growth SaaS companies at depressed multiples, replacing up to 80 percent of headcount with AI tools, and doubling prices to drive massive profitability.
From the Conversations
AI PR risk-scoring and auto-approval bot
Build an AI code review bot in 30 minutes with Vercel Eve
Aug 5, 2026 · 24m · 2 quotes pulled
▶ Listen“Intercom has 2x, 3x their PR throughput... they built a PR review agent that scores their PRs and then auto approves them... AI approved PRs are approved faster, actually five times faster than their human PRs.”
“The proliferation of AI coding tools means engineers are drowning in AI-created PRs, creating a severe bottleneck at the human review stage.”
Enterprise Documentation And Design App
Astra Ends Math, 1 Person $1M Companies, Hank Green Is Absolutely Right | John Gruber, Shaun Maguire & Isaiah Taylor, Justin Lopas, Beau Gaston, Ron Arel
Aug 3, 2026 · 2h 36m · 2 quotes pulled
▶ Listen“She put her app online for $1 a month... Nearly three years later, Vo's company... now has 100,000 users and is on track to make seven figures in profit this year.”
“AI coding tools allow non-technical founders to build and maintain enterprise-grade software without hiring expensive engineering teams.”
API-first ERP for deskless businesses
Google DeepMind Reorgs, Rainforest Discoveries, Monkey Prices Surge | Harley Finkelstein, John J. Giamatteo, Jeremy Allaire, Mackenzie Burnett
Aug 5, 2026 · 1h 54m · 1 quote pulled
▶ Listen“We have over a thousand truckers on the platform, general contractors, property managers... give our customers access to an external API. And so we have customers now that are rolling their own apps for like hunting bookings.”
“AI coding tools allow non-technical business owners to build custom apps on top of clean ERP data.”
Sources
▶ ListenHow I AI
Build an AI code review bot in 30 minutes with Vercel Eve<p>AI writes most of my code now, and that created a new problem: a PR queue I couldn’t keep up with. In this episode, I walk through how I built Merge Mommy, a Vercel Eve agent that reads every PR after checks pass, scores it across six risk dimensions, auto-approves the low-risk ones, and pings me in Slack for anything that needs a human. I built the whole thing in one Codex session, it’s SOC 2 compatible, and it’s already cleared my backlog.</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>What you’ll learn:</strong></p><ol><li>Why AI-generated PRs create a review bottleneck and why the answer isn’t reviewing all of them</li><li>How Intercom 5x’d PR approval speed and reduced revert rates by putting AI in the review loop</li><li>Why Vercel Eve is the simplest framework I’ve found for deploying AI agents in Slack and GitHub</li><li>How I built a full PR review agent in Codex with one prompt and a few steering turns</li><li>The six components I use to score PR risk (blast radius, reversibility, data security, ops impact, verification gap, and change surface)</li><li>How I used Chrome browser use to handle Slack bot and GitHub app configuration so I never had to click through setup screens manually</li><li>Why auto-approved PRs can be SOC 2 compliant as long as the process is auditable, queryable, and in your risk policy</li><li>How to set up Slack escalation so low-risk PRs become a two-click merge with no manual review</li></ol><p>—</p><p><strong>Brought to you by:</strong></p><p><a href="https://workos.com/?utm_source=lennys_howiai&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=q22025" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WorkOS</a>—Make your app Enterprise Ready today</p><p>—</p><p><strong>In this episode, we cover:</strong></p><p>(00:00) The PR review backlog problem nobody’s talking about</p><p>(02:35) Why you don’t have to review every AI-generated PR</p><p>(05:14) How Intercom built AI-approved PRs (and proved they’re safer)</p><p>(06:10) How the Eve framework works (directory, skills, channels, connectors)</p><p>(09:16) The Codex prompt I used to build the entire bot</p><p>(11:36) What the agent actually does: read, score, approve, or escalate</p><p>(13:07) Setting up your Eve agent</p><p>(15:47) The six-component risk scoring model</p><p>(17:23) Merge Mommy in action: three live PR examples</p><p>(21:10) Recap and how to build your own version</p><p>—</p><p><strong>Tools referenced:</strong></p><p>• Vercel Eve: <a href="https://vercel.com/eve" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://vercel.com/eve</a></p><p>• Vercel AI SDK: <a href="https://sdk.vercel.ai/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://sdk.vercel.ai/</a></p><p>• Vercel Chat SDK: <a href="https://chat-sdk.dev/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://chat-sdk.dev/</a></p><p>• Codex (OpenAI): <a href="https://openai.com/codex" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://openai.com/codex</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>Other references:</strong></p><p>• AI is approving our pull requests: Here’s how we made it safe:<a href="https://www.intercom.com/blog/ai-is-approving-our-pull-requests-heres-how-we-made-it-safe/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> https://www.intercom.com/blog/ai-is-approving-our-pull-requests-heres-how-we-made-it-safe/</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>Where to find Claire Vo:</strong></p><p>ChatPRD: <a href="https://www.chatprd.ai/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.chatprd.ai/</a></p><p>Website: <a href="https://clairevo.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://clairevo.com/</a></p><p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/</a></p><p>X: <a href="https://x.com/clairevo" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://x.com/clairevo</a></p><p>—</p><p>Production and marketing by <a href="https://penname.co/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://penname.co/</a>. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].</p>
▶ ListenThe Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Deep Dives with Chris Koerner
$25K/Weekend Business You Can Start With No Money - Ep. #324<p>Check out my newsletter at <a href="https://tkopod.com/">https://TKOPOD.com</a> and join my community at <a href="https://tkowners.com/">https://TKOwners.com</a></p><p>━</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>I sat down with <strong>Braden Harman</strong> and we broke down how he built an <strong>estate sale business</strong> that can be started with almost no money and quickly became a six-figure operation. We talked about how estate sales work, what to charge, how to find your first clients, and why the aging <strong>Baby Boomer</strong> generation is creating a huge opportunity in this space. Braden also explained how he eventually realized the estate sale business was an even better <strong>lead-generation machine for off-market real estate deals</strong>, helping him acquire dozens of properties.</p><p><br></p><p>You can learn more about Braden and his strategy at <a href="FlippingCouches.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>FlippingCouches.com</strong></a>, find local estate sales at <a href="EstateSales.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>EstateSales.net</strong></a>, and check out the business-in-a-box option he mentioned at<a href="EstateSaleBiz.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"> <strong>EstateSaleBiz.com</strong></a>.</p><p>Enjoy!</p><p>---</p><p>Watch this on <strong>YouTube</strong> instead here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thekoerneroffice?sub_confirmation=1">tkopod.co/p-yt</a></p><p><strong>Ask me a question</strong> on or off the show here: <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-ask">http://tkopod.co/p-ask</a></p><p>Learn more about <strong>me:</strong> <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-cjk">http://tkopod.co/p-cjk</a></p><p>Learn about <strong>my company: </strong><a href="http://tkopod.co/p-cof">http://tkopod.co/p-cof</a></p><p>Follow me on <strong>Twitter</strong> here: <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-x">http://tkopod.co/p-x</a></p><p><a href="http://tkopod.co/p-x"></a>Free weekly <strong>business ideas newsletter:</strong> <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-nl">http://tkopod.co/p-nl</a></p><p><strong>Share this podcast:</strong> <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-all">http://tkopod.co/p-all</a></p><p><strong>Scrape</strong> small <strong>business data:</strong> <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-os">http://tkopod.co/p-os</a></p><p><a href="http://tkopod.co/p-os"></a>---</p>
▶ ListenAcquiring Minds
Acquiring Isn't Always a One-Way Door<p>Gabriel Cruz Avila bought a $1.4M remodeling business, weathered a divorce and burnout, then sold it two years later. </p><p>Register for the webinar: </p><ul><li><a href="https://bit.ly/4pY7VOX">The 3 Paths to Franchising for Acquisition Entrepreneurs</a> - Thu, Aug 6 - https://bit.ly/4pY7VOX</li></ul><p>Topics in Gabriel’s interview:</p><ul><li>Lessons learned from his dad’s business</li><li>Getting bored in the oil and gas industry</li><li>Joining ETA Circle in Houston</li><li>Leaning on his warehouse management experience</li><li>Acquiring a tile and marble company</li><li>Failing to dig deep into historical revenue</li><li>Using technology to eliminate 2 admin roles</li><li>Negative working capital in home remodels</li><li>Going through a divorce</li><li>Burnout led to selling the business</li></ul><p>References and how to contact Gabriel:</p><ul><li><a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-cruz-avila/">LinkedIn</a></li><li><a href="https://www.katytileandmarble.com/">Katy Tile & Marble</a></li><li><a href="https://www.etacircle.com/">ETA Circle</a></li></ul><p>Get a free review of your books & financial ops from System Six (a $500 value):</p><ul><li><a href="https://landing.systemsix.com/acquire">Book a call with Tim</a> or <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> and mention Acquiring Minds</li></ul><p>The ecosystem for serious acquisition entrepreneurs—education, capital, community, and post-close support to buy and grow a business:</p><ul><li><a href="https://bit.ly/3JPAYQI">The Acquisition Lab</a></li></ul><p>Work with an SBA loan team focused exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses:</p><ul><li><a href="https://bit.ly/43gVGBX">Pioneer Capital Advisory</a></li></ul><p>Connect with Acquiring Minds:</p><ul><li>See past + future interviews on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/AcquiringMinds">YouTube channel</a></li><li>Connect with host <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/willsmithsf/">Will Smith on LinkedIn</a></li><li>Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/whentheresawill">Will on Twitter</a></li></ul><p>Edited by Anton Rohozov and produced by Pam Cameron</p>
▶ ListenTBPN
Google DeepMind Reorgs, Rainforest Discoveries, Monkey Prices Surge | Harley Finkelstein, John J. Giamatteo, Jeremy Allaire, Mackenzie Burnett<p></p><ul><li>(00:18) - Google DeepMind Reorgs </li> <li>(21:08) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(23:40) - Revolut Founder Sued Over Yacht </li> <li>(29:38) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(34:12) - China Biotech Drives Monkey Prices </li> <li>(38:29) - Rainforest Discoveries </li> <li>(41:12) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(45:10) - Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify, discusses the company’s strong growth and how AI-driven agentic commerce is helping shoppers discover niche products from independent merchants. He also explains how Shopify’s AI tools, including Sidekick and Autopilot, help merchants launch, optimize, and automate their businesses more effectively. </li> <li>(01:04:19) - John J. Giamatteo discusses his leadership as CEO of BlackBerry and the company’s transformation from smartphones to secure embedded software. He highlights BlackBerry’s automotive operating systems, cautious use of AI, partnerships, industrial robotics growth, and enduring focus on security, trust, and innovation. </li> <li>(01:19:50) - Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of financial technology company Circle, discusses stablecoins’ integration into the traditional financial system, USDC’s growing role in global payments, and blockchain infrastructure’s evolution. He also highlights AI agents as a new form of digital labor, alongside the heightened cybersecurity and regulatory challenges created by powerful AI models. </li> <li>(01:40:03) - Mackenzie Burnett is the co-founder and CEO of Ambrook, a financial management software company built for farms, ranches, and other independent businesses in the real economy. Ambrook helps agricultural operators manage accounting, payments, and financial reporting, with the broader goal of strengthening rural businesses and American industry. </li> <li>(01:51:17) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions</li> </ul><p><br></p><p>TBPN is made possible by:</p><p>Ramp - https://ramp.com</p><p>Public - https://public.com</p><p>Cisco - https://www.cisco.com</p><p>Console - https://www.console.com</p><p>CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com</p><p>Figma - https://www.figma.com</p><p>MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com</p><p>NYSE - https://www.nyse.com</p><p>Railway - https://railway.com</p><p>Shopify - https://www.shopify.com</p><p>Codex - http://openAI.com/codex</p><p><br></p><p>Follow TBPN: </p><p>https://TBPN.com</p><p>https://x.com/tbpn</p><p>https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231</p><p>https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tbpn/id1772360235</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive</p>
▶ ListenHow I Built This with Guy Raz
MadeGood: Salma and Nima Fotovat Lost Their First Business.They Grew Their Next One Into a Snack Giant.What do you do when the family business you've spent decades building... gets bought out from under you? That’s what happened to Nima and Salma Fotovat.Devastated, the family rebuilt a new company from the ground up. This time they set out with a new idea: build an allergen-free, organic snack brand not just for kids, but their parents. Their new brand: MadeGood.Today, the Canadian brand’s parent company does hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. But getting there meant rebuilding from scratch, fixing 200,000 mislabeled snack bars by hand, and turning a family of co-packers into branding experts.What you'll learn:How owning manufacturing can be a competitive edgeHow they grew a national brand with almost no marketing. Why it can be a winning strategy to say "yes" before you know how Introducing new products: the tension between research and emotion The mindset that can help you rebuild after a devastating setbackTimestamps:6:05 - Growing up in Iran during wartime, and emigrating to Canada 11:55 - Their dad’s new business: “Why are North Americans not eating nougat?” 19:25 - Building the family’s first snack bar brand—and losing it overnight34:20 - The next business: going all in on healthier school snacks42:30 - Fixing a 200,000-bar production error with alcohol wipes 48:30 - Landing MadeGood’s first retail store51:10 - The 100-mile radius marketing strategy 56:50 - The lure of new products: from human treats to dog treats See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
▶ ListenThis Week in Startups
Airtable's 80% off value crash: VCs explain why it's still a win | E2321<p dir="ltr">This Week In Startups is made possible by:</p> <p dir="ltr">Vanta<br /> <a href= "https://www.vanta.com/twist">https://www.vanta.com/twist</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Agree<br /> <a href="https://agree.com">https://agree.com</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Odoo<br /> <a href="https://odoo.com/twist">https://Odoo.com/twist</a></p> <p><strong><br /> <br /></strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Today's show:</p> <p dir="ltr">*Airtable just sold for $2.25 billion, an 81% drop from its peak of $11.7 billion. On this week's TWiST VC Roundtable, Aditya Agarwal (South Park Commons), Niko Bonatsos (Verdict Capital), and Rick Heitzmann (FirstMark Capital) break down why the venture world sees this as a good outcome, not a financial disaster.</p> <p dir="ltr">By declining the deal, would Airtable's team have just been delaying the inevitable? Is the fact that they reached $400M+ ARR on its own a reason to celebrate? Find out why our investor panel prefers unwinding a stuck situation rather than chasing a growth rate that's no longer sustainable.</p> <p dir="ltr">PLUS Robinhood's booming prediction market business, the secondary market flap over Anduril shares, why so many VCs shy away from "vice" categories, and a glimpse at how insiders are talking about the Apple-OpenAI lawsuit.</p> <p dir="ltr">Guests</p> <p dir="ltr">Aditya Agarwal on X: <a href= "https://x.com/adityaag">https://x.com/adityaag</a></p> <p dir="ltr">South Park Commons: <a href= "https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply">https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Niko Bonatsos on X: <a href= "https://x.com/bonatsos">https://x.com/bonatsos</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Verdict Capital: <a href= "https://verdictcap.com/">https://verdictcap.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Rick Heitzmann on X: <a href= "https://x.com/rick">https://x.com/rick</a></p> <p dir="ltr">FirstMark Capital: <a href= "https://firstmark.com/">https://firstmark.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Relevant Links</p> <p dir="ltr">Airtable: <a href= "https://www.airtable.com/">https://www.airtable.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Bending Spoons announces Airtable acquisition: <a href="https://investors.bendingspoons.com/newsroom/bending-spoons-agrees-to-acquire-airtable"> https://investors.bendingspoons.com/newsroom/bending-spoons-agrees-to-acquire-airtable</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Constellation Software: The Anti-Conglomerate: <a href="https://www.eaglepointcap.com/blog/constellation-software-the-anti-conglomerate"> https://www.eaglepointcap.com/blog/constellation-software-the-anti-conglomerate</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Introducing Robinhood Ventures Fund II: <a href= "https://robinhood.com/us/en/newsroom/introducing-rvii/">https://robinhood.com/us/en/newsroom/introducing-rvii/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Quartz: Robinhood posted record quarterly revenue: <a href= "https://qz.com/robinhood-record-revenue-prediction-markets-earnings-073026"> https://qz.com/robinhood-record-revenue-prediction-markets-earnings-073026</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Riot Games: <a href= "https://www.riotgames.com/en">https://www.riotgames.com/en</a></p> <p dir="ltr">AngelList's USVC Fund: <a href= "https://usvc.com/">https://usvc.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Baseten: <a href= "https://www.baseten.co/">https://www.baseten.co/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">OpenEvidence: <a href= "https://www.openevidence.com/">https://www.openevidence.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Hermes Agent: <a href= "https://hermes-agent.org/">https://hermes-agent.org/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Granola: <a href= "https://www.granola.ai/">https://www.granola.ai/</a></p> <p dir="ltr"><br /> Timestamps:</p> <p dir="ltr"><br /> 0:00 VC intros & Bending Spoons buys Airtable</p> <p dir="ltr">9:19 Why growth is the only metric that matters</p> <p dir="ltr">9:45 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist</p> <p dir="ltr">20:52 Agree.com - Stop chasing invoices and automate your entire contract-to-cash stack. Go to https://agree.com and tell them Jason sent you to get 50% off for life!</p> <p dir="ltr">26:25 When should VCs sell in secondary markets?</p> <p dir="ltr">30:55 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Get started for free at https://Odoo.com/twist</p> <p dir="ltr">35:38 Robinhood's prediction markets are exploding</p> <p dir="ltr">43:13 The USVC-Anduril secondary controversy</p> <p dir="ltr">46:18 How VC firms use open source models</p> <p dir="ltr">58:43 Telling the real founders from the grifters</p> <p dir="ltr">1:02:38 Why Apple is suing OpenAI</p> <p dir="ltr"><br /> <br /> Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: <a href= "https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com">https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Check out the TWIST500: <a href= "https://www.twist500.com">https://www.twist500.com</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: <a href= "https://rb.gy/v19fcp">https://rb.gy/v19fcp</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Lon:</p> <p dir="ltr">X: <a href= "https://x.com/lons">https://x.com/lons</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Alex:</p> <p dir="ltr">X: <a href= "https://x.com/alex">https://x.com/alex</a></p> <p dir="ltr">LinkedIn: <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Jason:</p> <p dir="ltr">X: <a href= "https://twitter.com/Jason">https://twitter.com/Jason</a></p> <p dir="ltr">LinkedIn: <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Check out all our partner offers: <a href= "https://partners.launch.co/">https://partners.launch.co/</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Great TWIST interviews: <a href= "https://youtu.be/pvJa2pzuXWQ">Will Guidara,</a> <a href= "https://youtu.be/9dHN4YFkgv4">Eoghan McCabe</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-on-mod-revolt-building-a/id315114957?i=1000617333424"> Steve Huffman</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-on-early-rejection-customer/id315114957?i=1000611761112"> Brian Chesky</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/y2UMzSqX94Q">Bob Moesta,</a> <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/box-ceo-aaron-levie-breaks-down-box-ai-and-generative/id315114957?i=1000612384545"> Aaron Levie</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sophia-amoruso-on-branding-raising-a-fund-portfolio/id315114957?i=1000601352978"> Sophia Amoruso</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/reid-hoffman-on-ais-crescendo-moment-regulation-and/id315114957?i=1000612548498"> Reid Hoffman</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snowflake-ceo-frank-slootman-on-moving-the-needle-win/id315114957?i=1000602560622"> Frank Slootman</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/billy-mcfarland-on-fyre-fest-fraud-failure-hacking/id315114957?i=1000610922577"> Billy McFarland</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: <a href= "https://substack.com/@calacanis">https://substack.com/@calacanis</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow TWiST:</p> <p dir="ltr">Twitter: <a href= "https://twitter.com/TWiStartups">https://twitter.com/TWiStartups</a></p> <p dir="ltr">YouTube: <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin">https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Instagram: <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups">https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups</a></p> <p dir="ltr">TikTok: <a href= "https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups">https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Substack: <a href= "https://twistartups.substack.com">https://twistartups.substack.com</a></p>
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TBPN
Bending Spoons Buys Airtable, Snap Rips, Ads in BMW | Grace Li, Samir Kaji, John Quinn, Nikhil Reddy, Art Levy & Russell Kaplan, Brendan Carr<p></p><ul><li>(01:04) - Bending Spoons Buys Airtable </li> <li>(17:14) - Snap Earnings </li> <li>(27:02) - Apple Escalates OpenAI Lawsuit </li> <li>(31:08) - Ads in BMW </li> <li>(40:34) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(44:25) - Grace Lee, co-founder and CEO of Intelligence, discusses how Design Arena uses human preferences to improve AI-generated designs, games, and websites. She outlines the company’s vision for an intelligence marketplace and creative superintelligence that can turn ideas into real-world outputs with minimal friction. </li> <li>(59:27) - Samir Kaji, co-founder and CEO of Allocate, discusses the rapid growth of private markets, Allocate’s role connecting wealth advisors with private funds, and the risks of soaring AI valuations. He also examines emerging venture funds, solo general partners, public-market investing, and the dangers of leverage in venture capital. </li> <li>(01:20:59) - John Quinn discusses his successful appeal representing Perplexity against Amazon and the emerging legal challenges surrounding agentic AI, including contracts, liability, copyright, and unauthorized access. A prominent trial lawyer and founder of Quinn Emanuel, he also examines AI’s transformative impact on legal practice, data-center disputes, and litigation strategy. </li> <li>(01:49:31) - Nikhil Reddy discusses founding Kaizen in 2022 after working as an early engineer at Anduril, with the goal of modernizing outdated government software. He highlights Kaizen’s new counter-drone marketplace, which streamlines procurement for defense agencies, law enforcement, and allied nations while improving speed, usability, and taxpayer value. </li> <li>(01:59:06) - Art Levy & Russell Kaplan. Art discusses his new role as Cognition’s vice president of global partnerships, drawing on his experience building alliances and partner ecosystems. He explains how deep partnerships can drive sales, integrations, co-marketing, and acquisitions while helping Cognition expand globally and attract talented founders. </li> <li>(02:13:12) - Brendan Carr discusses his work as FCC chairman to strengthen U.S. technology and national security while reducing regulatory barriers. He covers restrictions on foreign-made robotics and drones, safer electronics testing, school screen time, satellite internet, and efforts to streamline FCC rules and approvals.</li> </ul><p><br></p><p>TBPN is made possible by:</p><p>Ramp - https://ramp.com</p><p>Public - https://public.com</p><p>Cisco - https://www.cisco.com</p><p>Console - https://www.console.com</p><p>CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com</p><p>Figma - https://www.figma.com</p><p>MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com</p><p>NYSE - https://www.nyse.com</p><p>Railway - https://railway.com</p><p>Shopify - https://www.shopify.com</p><p>Codex - http://openAI.com/codex</p><p><br></p><p>Follow TBPN: </p><p>https://TBPN.com</p><p>https://x.com/tbpn</p><p>https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231</p><p>https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tbpn/id1772360235</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive</p>
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TBPN
AI Viruses, OpenAI's First Device, WSJ Mansion Section | Samir Kaul, Patrick Wendell, Grant LaFontaine<p></p><ul><li>(01:31) - AI Viruses </li> <li>(08:18) - OpenAI's Device Takes Shape </li> <li>(16:39) - Meta Faces Major Child Safety Case </li> <li>(25:25) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(36:10) - WSJ Mansion Section </li> <li>(43:41) - Samir Kaul, a general partner at Khosla Ventures, discusses the firm’s investment in Jeff Dean’s Discovery Loop and its potential to apply AI to scientific research with tangible outcomes. He also shares his views on AI regulation, inflated private-market valuations, venture capital strategy, founder support, and the importance of taking bold risks to generate exceptional returns. </li> <li>(01:09:45) - Patrick Wendell discusses his role as Databricks co-founder and VP of Engineering, where he leads AI products and internal AI adoption. He explains how AI coding tools can nearly double engineering capacity while creating rapidly escalating consumption costs, and highlights model switching, intelligent routing, and optimization as key ways to control spending without sacrificing productivity. </li> <li>(01:27:30) - Grant Lafontaine discusses Whatnot’s $500 million Series E funding round at a $20 billion valuation and the live-shopping platform’s rapid growth. He explains how authentic, knowledgeable sellers can build substantial businesses with small audiences, while outlining Whatnot’s focus on customer experience, new markets, product categories, and future streaming formats. </li> <li>(01:44:17) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions</li> </ul><p><br></p><p>TBPN is made possible by:</p><p>Ramp - https://ramp.com</p><p>Public - https://public.com</p><p>Cisco - https://www.cisco.com</p><p>Console - https://www.console.com</p><p>CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com</p><p>Figma - https://www.figma.com</p><p>MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com</p><p>NYSE - https://www.nyse.com</p><p>Railway - https://railway.com</p><p>Shopify - https://www.shopify.com</p><p>Codex - http://openAI.com/codex</p><p><br></p><p>Follow TBPN: </p><p>https://TBPN.com</p><p>https://x.com/tbpn</p><p>https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231</p><p>https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tbpn/id1772360235</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive</p>
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The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Deep Dives with Chris Koerner
The Most Overlooked Way to Get Rich in America - Ep. #326<p>Check out my newsletter at <a href="https://tkopod.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://TKOPOD.com</a> and join my community at <a href="https://tkowners.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://TKOwners.com</a></p><p>━</p><p><br></p><p>I sat down with <strong>Alex Smereczniak</strong>, co-founder of <strong>Franzy</strong>, to break down why <strong>franchising</strong> might be one of the most overlooked ways to build wealth. We went through four interesting franchise models including <strong>freight brokerage, facility management, oil filtration, and mobile fuel delivery</strong>, looking at startup costs, revenue potential, royalties, and how much can potentially be financed. Alex also explains what to look for in a <strong>Franchise Disclosure Document</strong>, the red flags that should make you walk away, and why the right franchise depends heavily on the person running it. We also get into <strong>Chick-fil-A, Subway, Crumbl</strong>, boring franchises quietly making millions, and how people build large franchise portfolios without putting up all the capital themselves.</p><p><br></p><p>Check out <strong>Franzy</strong>: <a href="https://go.franzy.com/chris-koerner" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://go.franzy.com/chris-koerner</a></p><p><br></p><p>Follow <strong>Alex</strong> on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alexfromfranzy/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/alexfromfranzy/</a></p><p><br>X: <a href="https://x.com/AlexfromFranzy" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://x.com/AlexfromFranzy</a></p><p><br>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-smereczniak-40310329/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-smereczniak-40310329/</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Enjoy!</p><p>---</p><p>Watch this on <strong>YouTube</strong> instead here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thekoerneroffice?sub_confirmation=1" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">tkopod.co/p-yt</a></p><p><strong>Ask me a question</strong> on or off the show here: <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-ask" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">http://tkopod.co/p-ask</a></p><p>Learn more about <strong>me:</strong> <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-cjk" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">http://tkopod.co/p-cjk</a></p><p>Learn about <strong>my company: </strong><a href="http://tkopod.co/p-cof" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">http://tkopod.co/p-cof</a></p><p>Follow me on <strong>Twitter</strong> here: <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-x" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">http://tkopod.co/p-x</a></p><p><a href="http://tkopod.co/p-x" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"></a>Free weekly <strong>business ideas newsletter:</strong> <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-nl" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">http://tkopod.co/p-nl</a></p><p><strong>Share this podcast:</strong> <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-all" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">http://tkopod.co/p-all</a></p><p><strong>Scrape</strong> small <strong>business data:</strong> <a href="http://tkopod.co/p-os" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">http://tkopod.co/p-os</a></p><p><a href="http://tkopod.co/p-os" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"></a>---</p>
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TBPN
Astra Ends Math, 1 Person $1M Companies, Hank Green Is Absolutely Right | John Gruber, Shaun Maguire & Isaiah Taylor, Justin Lopas, Beau Gaston, Ron Arel<p></p><ul><li>(02:08) - Hank Green Is Absolutely Right </li> <li>(17:03) - Astra Ends Math </li> <li>(21:50) - 1 Person $1M Companies </li> <li>(40:33) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(51:52) - Meta Faces an AI Timing Problem </li> <li>(57:45) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(01:03:31) - John Gruber, a technology writer and founder of Daring Fireball, discusses Apple’s response to rising component costs, its move toward lower-priced products and leasing, and its delayed but practical approach to AI. He also examines Apple’s complex relationship with Google, the risks of advertising within its ecosystem, and the possibility of an AI-related silicon acquisition. </li> <li>(01:42:22) - Shaun Maguire & Isaiah Taylor. Shaun Maguire discusses Sequoia’s high-conviction $1 billion investment in Isaiah Taylor’s nuclear energy company, highlighting Taylor’s exceptional intensity, talent, and focus on simple, scalable reactor designs. Their conversation covers the company’s plans for massive nuclear “gigasites,” recruiting elite engineers, powering AI infrastructure, and eventually producing cheaper industrial commodities. </li> <li>(01:57:54) - Justin Lopez discusses Base Power’s new Texas battery factory, $1 billion funding round at a $13 billion valuation, and custom home battery system. He explains how Base provides affordable, reliable electricity through distributed energy storage and outlines its measured expansion into new markets through utility partnerships and localized operations. </li> <li>(02:11:34) - Beau Gaston discusses his passion project: a powerful, demon-like quadruped robot designed to operate dangerous tools such as chainsaws in hazardous environments. He explains that its centaur form provides stability and mobility on rough terrain, while its intimidating appearance deliberately warns people of its strength and potential danger. </li> <li>(02:26:54) - Ron Arel discusses his work as co-founder of Intology, a San Francisco company developing autonomous systems to automate scientific discovery and AI R&D. He outlines progress in automated language-model post-training, the challenges of costly verification and experimentation, and the company’s goal of deploying systems that autonomously conduct end-to-end research and produce discoveries.</li> </ul><p><br></p><p>TBPN is made possible by:</p><p>Ramp - https://ramp.com</p><p>Public - https://public.com</p><p>Cisco - https://www.cisco.com</p><p>Console - https://www.console.com</p><p>CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com</p><p>Figma - https://www.figma.com</p><p>MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com</p><p>NYSE - https://www.nyse.com</p><p>Railway - https://railway.com</p><p>Shopify - https://www.shopify.com</p><p>Codex - http://openAI.com/codex</p><p><br></p><p>Follow TBPN: </p><p>https://TBPN.com</p><p>https://x.com/tbpn</p><p>https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231</p><p>https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tbpn/id1772360235</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive</p>
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This Week in Startups
How Bespoke faked AI until it actually worked (w/ Akemi Tsunagawa) | E2320<p dir="ltr">This Week In Startups is made possible by:</p> <p dir="ltr">Odoo<br /> <a href="https://odoo.com/twist">https://Odoo.com/twist</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Quo<br /> <a href="https://quo.com/TWiST">https://quo.com/TWiST</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Northwest Registered Agent<br /> <a href= "https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist">https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist</a></p> <p><strong><br /> <br /></strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Today's show:</p> <p dir="ltr">*Before Bespoke's "travel concierge" chatbot could actually hold a conversation, founder/CEO Akemi Tsunagawa and her team quietly answered customers themselves. That "fake it till you make it" strategy paid off. Bespoke landed Narita Airport as a customer based on the strength of their "chatbot" answers, and now the team runs three companies, and is expanding into shipyard robots.</p> <p dir="ltr">In the fourth and final edition of TWiST Tokyo for Summer '26, Jason and Akemi discuss her thesis: "solve the labor gap first, [then] build the tech to math." Plus insights into Japan's tourism boom, how founders should consider the country's accelerating population decline, the economics and politics of importing foreign labor, and why AI may already be taking over more jobs than you think.</p> <p dir="ltr">Guest</p> <p dir="ltr">Akemi Tsunagawa on X: <a href= "https://x.com/AkemiTsunagawa">https://x.com/AkemiTsunagawa</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Bespoke: <a href= "https://www.be-spoke.io/">https://www.be-spoke.io/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Bebot: <a href= "https://www.bebot.io">https://www.bebot.io</a></p> <p dir="ltr">BeTrained: <a href= "https://www.be-spoke.io/en/be-trained">https://www.be-spoke.io/en/be-trained</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Relevant Links</p> <p dir="ltr">Disrupting Japan: "Silicon Valley Has Chatbots All Wrong": <a href= "https://www.disruptingjapan.com/silicon-valley-has-chatbots-all-wrong-heres-how-they-really-make-money/"> https://www.disruptingjapan.com/silicon-valley-has-chatbots-all-wrong-heres-how-they-really-make-money/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">CNN on Japan's population decline: <a href= "https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/asia/japan-biggest-population-decline-record-intl-hnk"> https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/asia/japan-biggest-population-decline-record-intl-hnk</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Paul Graham: "Do Things That Don't Scale": <a href= "https://www.paulgraham.com/ds.html">https://www.paulgraham.com/ds.html</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Wispr Flow: <a href= "https://wisprflow.ai/">https://wisprflow.ai/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">TripAdvisor: <a href= "https://www.tripadvisor.com/">https://www.tripadvisor.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">KPMG on Japan's Business Manage Visa Reforms: <a href= "https://kpmg.com/xx/en/our-insights/gms-flash-alert/flash-alert-2025-195.html"> https://kpmg.com/xx/en/our-insights/gms-flash-alert/flash-alert-2025-195.html</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Business Traveller on the "Akiya" renovation trend: <a href= "https://www.businesstraveller.com/insights/features/japan-akiya-boom-buying-abandoned-homes/"> https://www.businesstraveller.com/insights/features/japan-akiya-boom-buying-abandoned-homes/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">THR on the 2004 satirical film "A Day Without a Mexican": <a href= "https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/a-day-without-a-mexican-20-years-later-1236293209/"> https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/a-day-without-a-mexican-20-years-later-1236293209/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Founder University x Japan: <a href= "https://tokyo.founder.university/">https://tokyo.founder.university/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">JETRO: <a href= "https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/">https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Antler in Japan: <a href= "https://www.antler.co/location/japan">https://www.antler.co/location/japan</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Timestamps:<br /> <br /></p> <p dir="ltr">0:00 Founder U Japan Cohort 3: Coming in Jan 2027!</p> <p dir="ltr">1:06 Introducing Akemi Tsunagawa, founder of Bespoke</p> <p dir="ltr">3:08 Why investors passed in 2015</p> <p dir="ltr">4:49 Selling Narita Airport on Bebot</p> <p dir="ltr">6:29 The roots of Japan's tourism explosion</p> <p dir="ltr">9:27 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Get started for free at https://Odoo.com/twist</p> <p dir="ltr">14:17 Japan's population decline, by the numbers</p> <p dir="ltr">20:06 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST</p> <p dir="ltr">21:38 Training foreign workers via smart glasses</p> <p dir="ltr">27:50 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist</p> <p dir="ltr">33:06 Moving into shipyard robotics, too?</p> <p dir="ltr">37:44 Some customer development lessons</p> <p dir="ltr">48:21 Plans for even more expansion</p> <p dir="ltr">52:52 Q&A: How AI changed hiring</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: <a href= "https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com">https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Check out the TWIST500: <a href= "https://www.twist500.com">https://www.twist500.com</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: <a href= "https://rb.gy/v19fcp">https://rb.gy/v19fcp</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Lon:</p> <p dir="ltr">X: <a href= "https://x.com/lons">https://x.com/lons</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Alex:</p> <p dir="ltr">X: <a href= "https://x.com/alex">https://x.com/alex</a></p> <p dir="ltr">LinkedIn: <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Jason:</p> <p dir="ltr">X: <a href= "https://twitter.com/Jason">https://twitter.com/Jason</a></p> <p dir="ltr">LinkedIn: <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Check out all our partner offers: <a href= "https://partners.launch.co/">https://partners.launch.co/</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Great TWIST interviews: <a href= "https://youtu.be/pvJa2pzuXWQ">Will Guidara,</a> <a href= "https://youtu.be/9dHN4YFkgv4">Eoghan McCabe</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-on-mod-revolt-building-a/id315114957?i=1000617333424"> Steve Huffman</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-on-early-rejection-customer/id315114957?i=1000611761112"> Brian Chesky</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/y2UMzSqX94Q">Bob Moesta,</a> <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/box-ceo-aaron-levie-breaks-down-box-ai-and-generative/id315114957?i=1000612384545"> Aaron Levie</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sophia-amoruso-on-branding-raising-a-fund-portfolio/id315114957?i=1000601352978"> Sophia Amoruso</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/reid-hoffman-on-ais-crescendo-moment-regulation-and/id315114957?i=1000612548498"> Reid Hoffman</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snowflake-ceo-frank-slootman-on-moving-the-needle-win/id315114957?i=1000602560622"> Frank Slootman</a>, <a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/billy-mcfarland-on-fyre-fest-fraud-failure-hacking/id315114957?i=1000610922577"> Billy McFarland</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: <a href= "https://substack.com/@calacanis">https://substack.com/@calacanis</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow TWiST:</p> <p dir="ltr">Twitter: <a href= "https://twitter.com/TWiStartups">https://twitter.com/TWiStartups</a></p> <p dir="ltr">YouTube: <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin">https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Instagram: <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups">https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups</a></p> <p dir="ltr">TikTok: <a href= "https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups">https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Substack: <a href= "https://twistartups.substack.com">https://twistartups.substack.com</a></p>
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Cursor Acquisition Closes, Bezos x Liverpool, Flying Roadster, Car Week, Gen Z Trends & More<p></p><ul><li>(01:16) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(16:37) - Cami Clark's Anthropic Influence </li> <li>(31:35) - South Korea Cracks Down on ETF Frenzy </li> <li>(37:58) - Flying Tesla Roadster </li> <li>(56:42) - Mansion Section </li> <li>(01:07:50) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions </li> <li>(01:16:30) - Gen Z Makes Pickle Flavor Explode </li> <li>(01:22:12) - Gen Z Fashion Takes a Hit </li> <li>(01:24:24) - CalTech Builds a "Fraud Squad" </li> <li>(01:28:39) - Bezos Buys into Liverpool </li> <li>(01:30:38) - 𝕏 Timeline Reactions</li> </ul><p><br></p><p>TBPN is made possible by:</p><p>Ramp - https://ramp.com</p><p>Public - https://public.com</p><p>Cisco - https://www.cisco.com</p><p>Console - https://www.console.com</p><p>CrowdStrike - https://www.crowdstrike.com</p><p>Figma - https://www.figma.com</p><p>MongoDB - https://www.mongodb.com</p><p>NYSE - https://www.nyse.com</p><p>Railway - https://railway.com</p><p>Shopify - https://www.shopify.com</p><p>Codex - http://openAI.com/codex</p><p><br></p><p>Follow TBPN: </p><p>https://TBPN.com</p><p>https://x.com/tbpn</p><p>https://open.spotify.com/show/2L6WMqY3GUPCGBD0dX6p00?si=674252d53acf4231</p><p>https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tbpn/id1772360235</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/@TBPNLive</p>
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