Every day, Jason Calacanis and Molly Wood cover startups, technology, markets, media, crypto, and the all the hottest topics in business and tech. They also interview the world’s greatest founders, operators, investors and innovators.
https://thisweekinstartups.com
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 52 days 15 hours 42 minutes
E982: Karmic Bikes Founder Hong Quan on creating the “Tesla of E-Bikes” with OSLO, bootstrapping through Kickstarter, lowering costs as a strategy, insights on U.S. resistance to widespread E-Bike adoption, & why this vehicle is the future of transportati
1:10 Jason intros Hong Quan from Karmic Bikes
2:55 What is the OSLO bike?
4:10 Why are there separate classifications for e-bike laws?
9:15 What does OSLO cost?
12:35 How Karmic bikes are different
14:55 Why e-bikes haven't taken off in the US?
16:52 Is Palo Alto the most bike-friendly city in America?
17:28 Hong shows the OSLO Kickstarter Video
21:45 Why not go the scooter route?
27:34 Hong raps for Jason (yes, really)
33:06 Open...
E981: Roy Bahat, Head of Bloomberg Beta, shares the myths of venture capital, the great value of founders turned investors, why VCs reject startups, searing insights on fundraising & valuations, and predictions on the future of enterprise, AI, work & auto
1:00 Jason Demant intros Roy Bahat
3:14 Roy's thoughts on raising venture capital
4:14 Debunking the myth of pitching VCs
9:24 Two questions VCs ask themselves after hearing a pitch, and how founders can apply them
15:33 The startup paradox
18:04 Does Bloomberg Beta keep up with companies they passed on?
19:51 Selection bias in Silicon Valley
25:32 Why Angel $ from venture-backed founders is so valuable
28:30 Top reasons Roy rejects companies
E980: The Next Unicorns: Alto Pharmacy CEO & Co-founder Mattieu Gamache-Asselin is working to fix the broken US pharmacy system by removing friction & aligning incentives among patients, doctors & insurers, shares insights on trading short-term profits fo
0:51 Jason intros Mattieu Gamache-Asselin
2:52 Changing from ScriptDash to Alto Pharmacy
4:19 Meeting and working with Twitch founder Justin Kan in the early days of Alto
6:51 Message to HBO’s Silicon Valley writing room
7:26 Working out of Justin Kan’s house
8:15 Why are pharmacies broken? How is Alto fixing them?
14:25 How did Alto’s team architect a 1...
E979: Open Office Hours LIVE! Jason helps founders with their biggest challenges: Understanding investors in your market, proving a business is venture-scale, balancing growth & spend, changing consumer behavior via advertising
1:14 Jason intros Open Office Hours
2:40 Jean-Loïck from Serendipia asks Jason about understanding the investors in his market
12:44 Sophie from Resprana joins Jason and demos her air filtration nose buds
23:35 Sophie asks Jason how to prove to investors that her business is venture scale
36:34 Eugene from ZYRL asks Jason how to balance growth & spend while raising
46:50 Omar from Steps joins Jason and asks how to change consumer behavior via advertising
E978: #StartupTuneup Japan! Millennial-targeted modernized homes, SaaS for “desk-free” workers, women’s lifestyle app development, investor evaluation database, connecting space satellites & antenna owners, food services for international visitors – with
1:09 Jason intros the Kotaro Chiba, the "Jason Calacanis of Tokyo"
7:09 Ted from Homma pitches a millennial-targeted modernized homes
17:28 Dustin from Junify pitches SaaS for "desk-free" workers
28:52 Satoshi from Wondershake pitches women’s lifestyle app development
41:31 Hikaru from hackjpn pitches an investor evaluation database
50:47 Naomi from Infostellar pitches connecting space satellites & antenna owners
1:01:04 Lu from Takemepay pitches a food...
E977: The Next Unicorns: Standard Cognition CEO & Co-founder Jordan Fisher is making autonomous checkout available anywhere through camera computing, raised $86M to compete against Amazon Go, potential for other market opportunities, empowering both costu
0:52 Jordan's inspiration for Standard Cognition
1:18 How Standard Cognition works
4:45 Scaling by removing friction from shopping
5:33 What kind of cameras does Standard Cognition use?
7:46 The purpose of the Standard Store
9:02 Onboarding store items to the system
13:00 Can Standard Cognition's system recognize actions?
13:45 Expanding Standard's system to other use cases
17:15 How their cameras recognize theft
22:54 Reaction to the...
E976: Shoot My Travel CEO & Co-founder Valerie Lopez is building a global on-demand photography startup, doubling revenue YOY with minimal funding, sharing lessons from the LAUNCH Accelerator & the importance of delighting customers
0:47 Jason intros Valerie and Shoot My Travel
3:33 Valerie tells Shoot My Travel's founding story
6:00 How does Shoot My Travel help insta-husbands?
8:50 How to get on Shoot My Travel's photographer platform
12:39 How Valerie and Jason met
13:20 Valerie explains the interview process for the LAUNCH Accelerator
16:56 What Valerie learned throughout the Accelerator
19:20 Building a global business with minimal funding
23:50 Valerie rates Jason as an...
E975: Machine Zone CEO Kristen Dumont on growing her mobile gaming unicorn, journey from advisor to COO to CEO, iterating to the best business model, creating exciting content for a global market, attracting celebrity talent, & optimizing for employee pro
1:15 Jason intros Kristen
2:56 Differences between casual, mid-core and hardcore mobile games
10:40 Mobile gaming’s monetary scale
12:30 Demanding excellence at MZ
14:00 How Kristen handles work/life balance
18:00 Mobile games going international, licensing v...
E974: The Next Unicorns: Grove Collaborative CEO & Co-founder Stuart Landesberg grew his natural household goods startup to $100M+ in revenue as a B Corp, brings natural products to underserved markets, successfully competes against Amazon as a first-time
2:30 Stuart explains Grove Collaborative's mission
6:50 Bringing natural products to under-served markets
12:35 Supply-chain diligence necessary for a Certified B Corp
16:20 What is a Certified B Corporation, and how did Grove stay investable early on?
22:50 Navigating being a B Corporation while maintaining profitability
28:30 Competing against Amazon
37:00 Are traditional CPG companies starting to become more eco-friendly?
47:05 How Stuart was as a...
E973: Webflow CEO & Co-founder Vlad Magdalin shares insights on growing his no-code startup to $20M in revenue, securing recent $72M round, maintaining profitability while scaling, & pioneering the “Pegasus” movement of startups that skip funding rounds t
1:00 Jason intros Vlad Magdalin and the "No-Code Movement"
3:10 Jason explains the "Pegasus" movement
4:34 Vlad shares his founding story
14:21 Turning "No" into "Yes" from investors
18:50 How it felt when Webflow became profitable
25:45 Capitalism v. Socialism
39:55 How is Webflow planning to scale their new round?
48:30 Dad jokes