This Week In Startups - Audio

First up, Taylor Lorenz joins to talk about her newest scoop for the Washington Post: Facebook hired a lobbying firm to battle TikTok (2:18)! Then, we discuss the SEC considering cracking down on SPACs (39:40), lastly we cover Fast, a 500-person one-click checkout startup, reportedly generating less than $1M in revenue (1:01:14).

First we explain the $625M hack of Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge (1:34), then we discuss the engineers at Twilio who allegedly insider traded (17:30). Next we discuss Robinhood extending its trading window by four hours a day (29:50) and wrap with our startup of the day is Subject, a company providing high school courses for credit online (37:39).

All news show. First, we recap the Oscars, including "The Slap" and Apple winning Best Picture (02:17). Then, we discuss $32B crypto derivate exchange FTX not having investors on its Board of Directors (42:45), Apple's reported hardware subscription (01:02:12) and Jason's Hot Tub story (01:09:57).

Sunday Double-header! First, in VC Sunday School, Jason explains non-dilutive funding's impact on startups (2:18). Then, Molly interviews Continuum Ag Founder Mitchell Hora. His company helps farmers analyze their soil and create a roadmap to improve it via a holistic approach known as regenerative agriculture (21:33).

Another Friday variety show! First up, Jason and Molly break down the 16-year old hacking phenom who was allegedly behind the recent hacks at Microsoft, Nvidia and Okta, and might have just been caught (1:13). Then, the duo covers Molly's induction into LIBSYN's Podcasting Hall of Fame (6:46) and reminisces on the early days of podcasting including their first podcast together over 16 years ago (11:19). Finally, Producer Rachel is back with another edition of OK Boomer, this time with Miami Hack Week founder Ja’dan Johnson (20:19).

Lon Harris joins Molly and Jason to talk WeCrashed, The Dropout and Super Pumped! First, they play a round of "Boff, Marry, Kill" between the three shows (1:16), before breaking down the first three episodes of WeCrashed (16:15) and the two lead performances (24:25). They finish with a quick chat on The Dropout and examine the potential of a "tech cinematic universe" (34:15).

Jason and Molly take on another Five in Five! Five stories in (a little over) five minutes each: Katie Haun's record-breaking $1.5B debut web3 fund (2:50), Yuga Labs raising $450M at a $4B valuation (12:42), Apple's potential BNPL play (25:23), Worldcoin's $100M raise and privacy concerns (29:59) and Nothing's new iPhone competitor (40:13). Then, Molly talks to ChroniFI Founder & CEO Ben Miller on building a consumer software product that helps people plan for financial independence. (48:59)

Tuesday news day! Jason and Molly break down the following stories: Apple's "new" creator tools, and brainstorming on how they could dominate podcasting again (2:23), Jeff Bezos' letter to shareholders from 2000, when Amazon's share price was down ~80% from its dot-com bubble peak (16:02), understanding search funds and why elite MBA grads are raising them (38:23). Finally, they wrap with a WLiTF segment about the FDNY purchasing a couple of Boston Dynamics "robodogs" to help with search and rescue missions. (47:15)

Monday news! Jason and Molly have some big stories to discuss: Sequoia's new "catalyst" program, called Arc (2:37), SEC considering mandating climate disclosures from public companies (19:21), another Startup of the Day (33:28), and they wrap by covering some interesting ongoings at Disney regarding its new CEO and Bob Iger (41:13).

Sunday Double-header! First, in VC Sunday School, Jason discusses and defends his pro rata strategy (1:26). Then, Molly interviews ClimateCheck founder Cal Inman. His company analyzes and risk-rates real estate based on expected changes to the world’s climate (14:43)!

First, Jason and Molly rip through the news (1:44). They cover looming layoffs at two Chinese tech giants (2:31), Google getting back into the AR glasses race with a new acquisition (7:27), chaos in the instant delivery space (13:15), and Yuga Labs launching $APE coin, a BAYC token. (24:58) Then, Producer Rachel interviews Smirk founder Preston Attebery on mobile gaming, the future of social gaming, and more! (33:00)

We chat with film expert, podcaster, and Inside.com writer Lon Harris to talk about tech's latest streaming series The Dropout and Super Pumped! After that conversation, Molly sits down with LAUNCH founder Nick McHenry for a quick interview about his startup OneShop (1:08:00).

We wrap up Angel Season 6 on First Time Funds with Pharrell Williams-signed rocker turned investor D.A. Wallach of TimeBio Ventures (32:23). But first, we do 4 rapid-fire news topics: Spotify spent ~$307M on FC Barcelona naming rights (2:56), AMC acquired a 22% stake in gold miner (10:29), Ex-Disney CEO Bob Iger joins the NFT avatar company Genies’ Board (16:14) and we break down the anatomy of two alleged NFT grifts (22:35).

First, we discuss a new Layer 1 blockchain called Aptos, valued at $1B in a recent round led by a16z (2:42). Then discuss MetaMask’s parent Consensys raising $450M at a $7B valuation (39:47). Our startup of the day is Mojo, which is building a stock market-like product to “bet on athletes” (51:35). Next, we do a post-mortem for our "shutdown of the day," Zero Grocery, a grocery delivery company that closed down this month after announcing raising $12M a month ago (59:06). To wrap, Jason chats with JJ Foster, a listener who did some show notes for us (01:11:05).

It's an all-news show. We discuss Blue Origin selecting Pete Davidson to go space (2:47), Clearview AI offering their facial recognition services to the Ukrainian government (24:58), the NYT launching a Telegram channel and semiconductor slowdowns forcing Ford to ship Explorers without rear AC controls (44:00).

Sunday double-header. First, Jason and Molly discuss the impact of large funds on the startup ecosystem, how fund size influences firm strategy and why big funds often seed smaller funds (2:21). For the This Week in Climate Startups segment, Molly chats with Taj Ahmad Eldridge from Include Ventures (29:42). They discuss: 1. How Taj's experience with negative health impacts from pollution helped guide his investing focus 2. Include Ventures' unique fund of funds and direct investment strategy 3. Why Taj is not afraid of hardware investing (and how it's paying off) 4. How government branches can support climate tech progress

It’s a variety show. First Jason and Molly do six rapid fire news topics (2:10) including: Rivian’s lowered guidance, Biden briefing TikTok influencers on Ukraine, declining NFT volume, creator economy wins, Biden’s Crypto executive order and Peloton’s new pricing pilot. Then, hard-tech investor Jai Malik of Countdown Capital joins (42:22) for Angel Season 6 “First Time Funds.” Finally, producer Rachel has another edition of OK Boomer, this time she talks viral marketing and new ways of fundraising with Josh from Party Round (1:18:42).

Jason and Molly discuss Ryan Breslow's new startup Love.com (2:03), Bain Capital Crypto’s new $550M fund announcement that backfired on Twitter (14:49). Then, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman join to discuss the current real estate market and how policies are are promoting a nation of renters (54:28). Plus, Glenn turns the tables on Jason and Molly to ask them a few questions.

First Jason and Molly recap the Apple event, including the new Mac Studio release (1:53). Then they discuss Pony AI's $8.5B Series D (34:41). Next, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt joins to discuss launching their driverless service in SF (46:40), their custom-built zero-emission shared vehicle the "Origin" (1:01:06), and self-driving maturity.

"Sequoia Capital is the greatest venture capital firm of all time. It's indisputable." - Jason Jason chats with Sequoia's Doug Leone, a leader who shepherded the firm for four decades. They discuss great founders, governance, Sequoia's global expansion, mentoring the next generation of investors and more.