Tech Adoption Accelerates: From 50‑Year to Under‑7‑Year Cycles
Good question... The gasoline-powered tractor debuted in the 1890s, and by 1930, about 15% of farmers used one. It wasn't until the labor shortages of the 1940s (due to the war) that it surged. It took 50 years. PCs debuted in the early 1980s, and the internet in 1995. It took ~20 years for the IBM PC (& internet) to take over the typing pool, messengers and mail room. Waymo debuted its self-driving in Arizona in late 2020... so it's been four years, and we are going to see full-scale adoption of the technology in the next five years. Self-driving will take ~10 years from debut to massive job loss. The pattern is always faster deployment. Here's your trend: Farms: 50 years Offices: 20 years Driving: 10 years AI knowledge work: < seven years.
AI Isn't in a Bubble, Data Shows Real Demand
So ARE we in an AI bubble?! Here’s why David Clark says… NO. David Clark of Ven Cap has looked at the actual metrics and came up with a hot take on this week’s TWiST VC Roundtable. When you actually...
Outcome‑Driven Remote Work: Zapier’s Early Success Blueprint
Here’s how Zapier managed an entirely-remote workforce YEARS before COVID lockdowns made them mandatory. On our latest TWiST Flashback, Lon Harris and Alex Wilhelm check out a 2016 chat between me and Zapier mastermind Wade Foster. Back then, the automation...
PR Veterans Turn VC: Storytelling Becomes Investment Edge
Why it makes sense that PR experts are starting venture firms Veteran flack Lulu Meservey , the author of the viral “Go Direct” manifesto, is launching a VC fund. But does the industry really need comms experts funding companies? On...
M&A Pre‑Check: Fast‑Track Media Deals Over Hype
Big Picture: Does this $NFLX-$WBD “mega-deal” even matter? On TWiST, I suggest that these much-hyped media consolidation deals are essentially re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, the equivalent to a bunch of high-profile magazines and publications swapping hands just...
LAUNCH Accelerator 35 Showcases Innovative Public Demo Day
LAUNCH Accelerator 35 Public Demo Day https://t.co/3ti6Q1Qmgb
Seeking Traction-Driven Startups for 11,000 Angel Syndicate
Looking for startups with traction to syndicate to 11,000 angel investors
Prioritize Margins Over Feel‑Good Hype in Startup Investing
BEWARE, INVESTORS IN “FEEL GOOD” STARTUPS! We’ve all seen these startups… they have bold ambition and admirable goals, but lack a cutthroat business model that will guarantee future returns for investors. But it’s surprisingly easy to fall into what I...
Future‑Focused Founders: Build for Tomorrow’s Unseen Challenges
Two of our faves from the latest Y Combinator cohort : Dome and Zephyr Fusion. YC just had their Fall ‘25 Demo Day, so Alex and I are running down some of their favorite contenders. Two startups that REALLY stand...
Incubating GoAutoLane to Manage Mall Self‑Driving Fleets
Excited to have incubated @goautolane… which is going to orchestrate the dozens of self driving cars as they coming in and out of your local mall and box box retailer’s parking lot!
When Demand Outpaces Supply: From PMF to Market Pull
When does Product Market Fit turn into Product Market PULL? We all know how to spot Product Market Fit… there are real customers who are saving time and money by using your product, and they’re even evangelizing to their friends...
Drop Delegation Guilt, Unlock Massive Time
How to overcome the “Cardinal Sins of Delegation” and start saving more time for yourself. On TWiST, we’re joined by Jonathan Swanson of Athena, the startup that wants to pair you with remote assistants who can tackle all the tasks,...
Trust‑Driven Design Turned Thumbtack Into Services Amazon
How Thumbtack became “The $AMZN for Services” The iconic marketplace for home services started life as a simple idea… What if you could make the equivalent of Amazon for your random household tasks, not just products. Of course, there was...
Polymarket Expands to US Backed by Sequoia
Jason @ Sequoia in SF, Polymarket comes to US https://t.co/G3OCHJBvEI
Founder Credit Card Points: Integrity Test or Fraud?
Is using company credit card points for personal travel a perk of the job? Or is it FRAUD?! A lot of founders see spending the points accrued from a company card on a personal vacay as essentially innocent, a way...
Airport Lounge Club Could Tap $500M Market
Huge opportunity for someone to create a membership club like SOHO house for airports There are 100,000 people who would pay $5,000 a year — $500m — in the USA to have lounges at the top 100 airports I guess...
Last Ten Seats for Angel Investors at SF Dim Sum
hosting dim sum in SF on Friday for 150 investors and my latest 10 investments... have ten seats left for active angel/seed investors. please email your angellist/linkedin profile to demoday@launch.co to apply for one going to be amazing networking!
AI Boosts Student Engagement While Freeing Teachers for Personalized Support
Can AI actually help kids learn, or is it just good at giving them the answers? When we think of using AI for education, many people get visions of young people lazily using ChatGPT to do their homework or write...
80% of Founders Fail First Due Diligence, Investors Overlook It
An astounding 80% of founders fail due diligence the first time they go through the process… and many investors aren’t doing ANY confirmatory due diligence at all. On TWiST, we’re chatting with Collin Sebastian of En Vérité about the shocking...
Pivot Fast: Listen, Adapt, and Find Your Market
Sometimes founders can’t necessarily predict who will embrace their product… that’s why it’s so important to stay flexible and open-minded! On TWiST, Alex and I are chatting with Francisco Cornejo of Familify, maker of the well-reviewed storytelling app Storybook app....
Brace for a Major M&A Wave Within Six Months
Here’s why I say we’re going to see a “major M&A moment” in the next six months. There’s a business-friendly administration in the White House. (Everyone knows the President LOVES DEALS… he wrote a book about it.) $GOOG got off...
NVDA‑OpenAI Agreements Are Merely Non‑binding Letters of Intent
We’re reading the fine print on those $NVDA/@OpenAI “deals”… and they’re not EXACTLY deals. It turns out, at least according to Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, either company can essentially walk away at any time, and it’s more of an aspirational...
Empowering Year Zero Founders to Build, Fund, Acquire
In Founder University, we help Year Zero founders build MVPs, raise money, and find their first customers. After launching our first international Founder University in Saudi, we are heading to Japan for our second. We kick off in January with...
Seeking Japan‑focused Founders Ready to Go Global
We're looking for ambitious Japan-focused founders ready to go global. Apply and work with our team
Meta Escapes FTC, Data M&A Set to Surge
It seems $META dodged the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit… and I couldn’t be more pleased. Meta is certainly a major player in the world of social media, with both Facebook and Instagram hosting hundreds of millions of somewhat satisfied customers. But...
Subject AI Shifts From Video Platform to Teacher‑Assistant AI
Why Subject AI pivoted from being the “Netflix of Education.” On today’s TWiST, Mike Vilardo from Subject AI joins the show to talk about his educational tech startup, Subject AI, and explains their shift in strategy. The company first launched...
Round Robin Deals Are Optional, Non‑Guaranteed, So Drop Fast
Looking like a lot of these big round robin deals are… optional! Explains why so many dropped so quickly… they’re non-guaranteed, so no harm in signing them
Meta Wins FTC Fight; SUNO and Kraken Secure Massive Deals
META beats the FTC, SUNO and Kraken raise monster deals. https://t.co/M2JY0mIwRf
Big AI Firms Threaten Startups, Driving Shift to Chinese Open-Source
Are the largest AI model-makers a threat to smaller startups? On TWiST, I note that the competition for AI startups doesn’t just come from rivals in their space, but the companies that designed the LLMs upon which they’re building their...
AI Threatens White‑collar Jobs; Self‑reliance Is Essential
Even if we believe AI job displacement is real… what can we actually DO? Alex Wilhelm and I discuss the very real possibility — as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei suggests — that AI-related advances in productivity are leading us straight...
AI Startups Outpace SaaS Growth Tenfold, Investors Must Choose
Why are AI companies growing SO MUCH FASTER than their SaaS counterparts? On average, AI companies are growing at about 10 times the speed as startups pursuing software-as-a-service business models. Investors now face a choice… “Bet on the past” by...
Negative Sentiment Threatens AI More Than Any Bubble
How negative sentiment could be a more pressing concern for AI than any bubble… In this TWiST highlight, I consider the recent backlash against AI apps and related technologies. Pushback and cynical takes around AI are coming from a number...
Bezos Co‑Leads Secret ‘Physical AI’ Startup Project Prometheus
What is Project Prometheus and why is Jeff Bezos going to (co-)run it? On TWiST, Alex Wilhelm and I do a little digging on $AMZN founder Jeff Bezos’ latest project, the secretive AI startup Project Prometheus. We know they’re doing...
Deedy Das and Jay Eum Join VC Roundtable
Deedy Das and Jay Eum Join the VC Roundtable! https://t.co/GLAHbFKopV
Founder University Expands to Japan After Global Success
After the success of Founder University in both America and Saudi Arabia, we’re expanding to Japan! We’re hiring a researcher to help us discover the most promising startups in the region. It’s a huge opportunity to learn, grow, and get...
Join Founder University Japan: Research Top Startups
Wanna come work with me? LAUNCH is bringing Founder University to Japan, and we’re looking for a sharp, curious researcher to help us discover the most promising startups in the region! It’s a huge opportunity to learn, grow, and get...
Instant Trading Simplicity Fueled Robinhood’s Explosive Early Growth
In this TWiST Flashback from 2017, Vlad Tenev regales Jason with the early history of Robinhood, and explains the secret to their immediate runaway success. The key to Robinhood’s early success was simplifying the experience. Financial transactions were always subject...
From Gaming GPUs to AI Powerhouses
Companies like NVIDIA were creating increasingly powerful chips known as GPUs mainly to power up video games with more lifelike immersive graphics and performance. Little did they know, these same chips would one day power the trillion dollar data centers...
Cryogenic Propellants Unlock Efficient LEO-to-High Orbit Transfers
Here’s why extremely cold liquids are the key to taking us deeper into space. Meet Ben Schleuniger of Orbital Operations a startup building a new kind of space vehicle, designed to tow objects from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) into an...
Limited Seats: Join My Tokyo Founders & Investors Talk
Limited seats for founders and investors, for my Tokyo talk here: https://luma.com/cm0x90mk
Polymarket Bets OpenAI IPO at $500‑750 B
When is OpenAI going to IPO? And how much will it cost? PLACE YA BETS! In this brand new TWiST clip, me and Alex Wilhelm revisit their ongoing wager about OpenAI’s public offering, and check in on how things are...
True Product-Market Fit Means Market Pull, Not Just Value
What exactly IS Product Market Fit? And how do you know when you have it? Alex Wilhelm favorite way to define PMF: “You don't have true product market fit until it feels like you're wearing a meat suit in a...
OpenAI May Turn on Partners, Threatening Founders
Just a fair warning to founders: like Facebook and microsoft, I predict OpenAI will study their platform partners and compete with many of them in the coming years. This isn't abnormal, mind you… Microsoft built windows, then destroyed their top...
Deedy Das and Jay Eum Join VC Roundtable
Deedy Das and Jay Eum Join the VC Roundtable! https://t.co/QQlqMmKtCr
Roelof Reviews Track Record Before Passing the Keys
Roelof looking at his track record as he hands over the keys https://t.co/qIh43tCXE3
Roelof Botha’s Bold Bets Built Tech Giants
Don’t forget square, instagram, Nu bank, YouTube, Airbnb, MongoDB, unity and WhatsApp — @roelofbotha was responsible for those crazy bets as well!
Sanabil Launches Founder University in Riyadh, US Partnership
Sanabil Founder University in Riyadh 🇸🇦 🇺🇸 🤝 https://t.co/lLAXJ4kpHB
Space Data Centers: Starcloud’s Path to Cosmic Compute
Why does Starcloud have Alex Wilhelm SO EXCITED about the future of the space economy? In this TWiST highlight, Alex and I examine Starcloud, the company aiming to build data centers in space. For now, they’re starting small, putting just...
Sam Altman's Spicy Clip: Tension or Playful Banter?
Was Sam Altman getting a little testy with AltCap on that Bg2 pod clip? Or was this all in good fun? In this TWiST highlight, Alex Wilhelm and I check out Sam Altman’s appearance (with Satya Nadella ) on Brad...
OpenAI's Growth Threatened by Competitive Margin Compression
The actual risk is not that OpenAI collapses, but that they become one of five players in a highly competitive market. They will face margin compression and declining market share, which reduces a 30x+ price to sales ratio down to 5x,...
