This Week in Startups

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Todays show:Jason & Alex chat with Varun Mohan, founder & CEO of Codeium, the revolutionary AI-powered coding platform backed by Kleiner Perkins & Founders Fund. Varun shares insights on pivoting to greatness, scaling enterprise solutions, and launching Codeium's new IDE, Windsurf.

Timestamps:

(0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show (0:30) Failure examples and Star Wars character confusion (1:38) Introduction to the episode, guests, and Perplexity AI (4:36) Varun Mohan and Codium's journey in AI and IDE development (11:01) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST (12:29) The challenge of moderate success and building 10x better experiences (19:48) LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups (21:21) Alex Wilhelm's Cascade demo and Codium's capabilities (24:49) Codium's pricing and the future of no code development (31:45) PrizePicks - Run your game. Download the app today and use code TWIST to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup! (33:31) Satya Nadella on SaaS's future and AI replacing agents (36:00) AI's impact on developer jobs, salaries, and remote work (41:27) Elite developers, hiring strategies, and in-person vs. remote work (46:03) Twist 500, upcoming events, and what VCs seek in startups (53:02) Hyper competition in AI services and niche market strategies (58:26) Audience Q&A and closing remarks

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Follow Varun:

X: https://x.com/_mohansolo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varunkmohan

Check out: https://codeium.com

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LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

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Thank you to our partners:

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(31:45) PrizePicks - Run your game. Download the app today and use code TWIST to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup!

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Coda. Coda empowers your startup by bringing words, tables, and teams together. Strategize, plan, and track goals effectively with all your valuable data in one place. Go to https://www.coda.io/twist to get started for FREE and get 6 free months of the Team plan.

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Todays show:

Alex and Jason discuss Databricks’ record raise, TikTok’s big day at the Supreme Court, Shishir Mehrotra on the Coda-Grammarly merger, and more.

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show (3:38) Insights on Databricks' private fundraise and venture capital trends (8:37) Predictions on unlimited free energy, water, and food

(9:41) Coda - Empower your startup with Coda’s Team plan for free—get 6 months at https://www.Coda.io/twist (14:25) The declining costs of cloud computing (17:12) Evaluating growth rate for startup valuations (19:46) Competitive landscape: Databricks vs. Snowflake

(20:48) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist 22:07 The strategic importance of selecting the right customers 26:34 Venture capital communication and the ghosting phenomenon 28:43 TikTok's ongoing legal challenges

(31:25) Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist (32:33) Shashir Mehrotra on the Coda-Grammarly merger (37:16) Vision and applications of the Coda-Grammarly partnership (42:35) Future of AI agents and Grammarly's role (45:13) SaaS industry dynamics and AI's role in upselling (49:10) The impact of AI on job automation and workforce productivity (54:40) Team sizes and AI-driven productivity debate (57:18) The future interaction with AI agents (1:00:40) Efficiency gains from combining Grammarly and Coda (1:02:02) The role of ChatGPT and AI in social media (1:03:46) Tailoring AI tools for business needs (1:06:26) Lessons from mergers and acquisitions in the tech sector (1:08:08) Strategic acquisitions and their importance in the tech industry

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shishirmehrotra

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LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

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Thank you to our partners:

(9:41) Coda - Empower your startup with Coda’s Team plan for free—get 6 months at https://www.Coda.io/twist

(20:48) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(31:25) Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

(9:57) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(11:24) Evaluating ChatGPT 4.0 Pro limitations and robo-taxi fleet costs (12:46) Differences between ChatGPT models and future improvements

(19:57) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://www.openphone.com/twist⁠

(20:58) LLM focus shift and robo taxi cost model experimentation (23:01) Importance of prompt engineering in AI tools adoption (25:31) Workplace AI adoption challenges and generational tech differences (27:22) New productivity hacks and Gemini app's growth

(30:27) Zendesk - Get six months free at https://www.zendesk.com/twist (34:06) Startup support programs and Google Gemini's research capabilities (37:08) AI model performance evaluation and simplification (45:02) Meta's Llama 3.370b launch and AI industry impact (46:37) Infrastructure costs, competitive landscape, and AI-generated content evolution (55:44) Trust and bias in language models, news analysis startup ideas *

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Mentioned on the show:

Check out Sora here: https://sora.com/

Check out Kling here: https://klingai.com/

Check out Groq: https://groq.com/

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Follow Sunny:

X: https://x.com/sundeep

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sundeepm

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

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Thank you to our partners:

(9:57) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(19:57) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://www.openphone.com/twist⁠

(30:27) Zendesk - Get six months free at https://www.zendesk.com/twist

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

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Digital Ocean. Whether you’re just getting started with AI, or seeing your project take off, DigitalOcean is the cloud platform that lets you focus on what matters: building killer apps. Right now get up to $100k in free credits at https://www.do.co/twist. Terms and conditions apply.

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show (3:03) Government reactions to drone sightings (4:02) Theories and politicians' reactions to the drones (9:21) Ramp. Get $250 when you join Ramp today at https://www.ramp.com/twist. (10:48) Official statements on drone sightings (13:34) Speculation on drones' radiation detection capabilities (15:20) TikTok insights and Swiss startup Arctis Radiation Detectors (20:21) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist (21:52) Personal reactions and media aspects of drone sightings (26:12) Startups in drone detection and geopolitical implications (30:36) DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean is the cloud platform you need to turn your AI project into a rocket ship. Right now, approved listeners can get up to $100,000 in free credits to try us out. Visit https://www.do.co/twist - get started and view terms and conditions. (32:23) American Security Drone Act of 2023 and government coordination (39:01) Nicole Wischoff joins Alex and Jason. (40:28) Startup pitches and trend discussions (46:14) Investment strategies and AI's impact on startups (51:10) Market dynamics in various industries (52:09) Fundraising strategies and venture capital insights (57:56) Closing thoughts with Nicole Wischoff (58:05) Venture capital performance metrics (1:00:39) Challenges for large venture funds

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Mentioned on the show: Check out Wischoff Ventures: https://www.wischoff.com/

Robin Radar Systems: https://www.robinradar.com/

Arktis Radiation Detectors: https://www.arktis-detectors.com/

ApolloShield: https://www.apolloshield.com/

John Ferguson’s full post: https://www.instagram.com/thegardenstate/reel/DDnmN8oRw3T/

American Security Drone Act Of 2023: https://smartpay.gsa.gov/resources/american-security-drone-act/#:~:text=On December 22%2C 2023%2C the,Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA)

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Follow Nicole:

X: https://x.com/NWischoff

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholewischoff

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X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

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Thank you to our partners:

(9:21) Ramp. Get $250 when you join Ramp today at https://www.ramp.com/twist.

(20:21) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist

(30:36) DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean is the cloud platform you need to turn your AI project into a rocket ship. Right now, approved listeners can get up to $100,000 in free credits to try us out. Visit https://www.do.co/twist - get started and view terms and conditions.

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

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Todays show:

Alex Wilhelm kicks off the show with Cyera’s Yotam Segev to dive into the state of enterprise data security. They discuss Cyera’s impressive feat of raising $300 million just quarters after its previous mega-round and explore the company's recent nine-figure acquisition of Trail Security. Next, Alex unpacks ServiceTitan's successful IPO and Broadcom's milestone achievement of reaching a $1 trillion market cap. To close, Cake Equity’s Kim Hansen joins the conversation to share insights into his company’s growth strategy and how it’s thriving in a highly competitive market.

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Alex kicks off the show

(2:12) Cyera’s Yotam Seveg joins the show

(10:05) LinkedIn Jobs - Post your first job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/twist

(11:34) Evolution from information security to cybersecurity and automated data categorization

(20:44) Cyera's acquisition strategy and impact on the company

(28:00) Washington Post - TWiST listeners can subscribe for just 50 cents per week for your first year at https://www.washingtonpost.com/twist

(29:10) AI's impact on data security and competition in the cybersecurity market

(34:19) ServiceTitan IPO, market reaction, and implications for the industry

(37:34) Beehiiv - Get 30 days free and 20% off your first 3 months at ⁠https://www.beehiiv.com/twist

(39:05) Tech companies reaching significant market caps and IPO performances

(47:17) Texas attorney general's lawsuit against tech companies over data practices

(48:21) Cake Equity’s Kim Hansen joins the show

(49:02) Cake Equity's mission, platform, and cap table management software demo

(54:29) Cake Equity's user interface, employee engagement, and expansion plans

(58:22) Automation in onboarding and international growth challenges for Cake Equity

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Mentioned on the show:

https://www.cyera.io

https://www.cakeequity.com

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Follow Yotam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yotam-segev

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Follow Kim:

X: https://x.com/KimHansenYeah

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimhansencake

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Follow Alex:

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

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(37:34) Beehiiv - Get 30 days free and 20% off your first 3 months at ⁠https://www.beehiiv.com/twist

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916