<p>This Week In Startups is made possible by:</p><p><br></p><p>Render -<a href="http://render.com/twist"> <u>render.com/twist</u></a></p><p>Vanta -<a href="http://www.vanta.com/twist"> <u>vanta.com/twist</u></a></p><p>Northwest Registered Agent -<a href="http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist"> <u>northwestregisteredagent.com/twist</u></a></p><p><br></p><p>Have you wanted to invest in venture capital alongside your 401k contributions, but struggled to find a way to place a bet? Search no more, for the AngelList team has created USVC, a new fund that will accept investments of as little as $500 from folks who lack accreditation. USVC’s Ankur Napgal swung by the show to chat about investment strategies, access, fees, and just how illiquid the venture-like vehicle will prove to be.</p><p>Jason and Alex were then joined by Jon Durbin, core contributor at Chutes, and Yash Goenka, co-founder and CEO of Humwork. Chutes is the most valuable Bittensor subnet, focused on aggregating GPUs to offer trustless AI compute. Humwork wants to help bring a human into your agentic workflow to unstick your agent when it runs into a hitch. The show closes with a news lightning round — enjoy!</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p><p>0:00 Intro + Plaud AI sponsor read (Jason demos the NotePin S)</p><p>2:06 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!</p><p>3:50 Episode overview: USVC, Chutes, Humwork</p><p>7:41 USVC structure: $500 min, no accreditation, quarterly redemptions</p><p>10:28 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>11:39 Fee structure breakdown: 1% mgmt fee, ~2.5% net expense ratio</p><p>15:41 USVC portfolio: xAI, Anthropic, OpenAI, Crusoe, Vercel</p><p>16:17 Strategy: 1/3 emerging managers, 1/3 growth, 1/3 secondaries</p><p>19:00 $1B cap and path to expanding the fund</p><p>20:33 Vanta - Compliance and security shouldn&#39;t be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 reports fast. Get $1,000 off for a limited time at https://www.vanta.com/twist</p><p>28:00 What is sovereign compute? Permissionless GPU networks explained</p><p>30:10 Render - Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to https://render.com/twist and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers.</p><p>44:53 Usage history: 160B tokens/day peak, free-to-paid transition</p><p>46:41 GPU pricing: from $0.77/hr to $3.50/hr as shortage bites</p><p>49:13 DeepSeek censorship demo: Taiwan test on DeepSeek chat</p><p>57:27 Permissionless supply curves: Uber/Airbnb analogy for induced demand</p><p>59:20 Yash Goenka, co-founder of Humwork (YC S26)</p><p>1:00:49 Lightning Round: Ryan Cohen wants to buy eBay — Jason&#39;s hot take</p><p>1:12:36 Lightning Round: Cerebras IPO update ($27–36B valuation range)</p><p>1:14:05 Lightning Round: Spirit Airlines / JetBlue / M&amp;A regulation debate</p><p>1:19:10 OFF-DUTY: Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord</p><p>1:32:57 Alex&#39;s OFF-DUTY: Captain of Industry</p><p>Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter:<a href="https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com"> <u>https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com</u></a></p><p>Check out the TWIST500:<a href="https://www.twist500.com"> <u>https://www.twist500.com</u></a></p><p>Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple:<a href="https://rb.gy/v19fcp"> <u>https://rb.gy/v19fcp</u></a></p><p>Follow Lon:</p><p>X:<a href="https://x.com/lons"> <u>https://x.com/lons</u></a></p><p>Follow Alex:</p><p>X:<a href="https://x.com/alex"> <u>https://x.com/alex</u></a></p><p>LinkedIn:<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/"> <u>⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm</u></a></p><p>Follow Jason:</p><p>X:<a href="https://twitter.com/Jason"> <u>https://twitter.com/Jason</u></a></p><p>LinkedIn:<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis"> <u>https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis</u></a></p><p>Check out all our partner offers:<a href="https://partners.launch.co/"> <u>https://partners.launch.co/</u></a></p><p>Great TWIST interviews:<a href="https://youtu.be/pvJa2pzuXWQ"> <u>Will Guidara,</u></a><a href="https://youtu.be/9dHN4YFkgv4"> <u>Eoghan McCabe</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-on-mod-revolt-building-a/id315114957?i=1000617333424"> <u>Steve Huffman</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-on-early-rejection-customer/id315114957?i=1000611761112"> <u>Brian Chesky</u></a>,<a href="https://youtu.be/y2UMzSqX94Q"> <u>Bob Moesta,</u></a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/box-ceo-aaron-levie-breaks-down-box-ai-and-generative/id315114957?i=1000612384545"> <u>Aaron Levie</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sophia-amoruso-on-branding-raising-a-fund-portfolio/id315114957?i=1000601352978"> <u>Sophia Amoruso</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/reid-hoffman-on-ais-crescendo-moment-regulation-and/id315114957?i=1000612548498"> <u>Reid Hoffman</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snowflake-ceo-frank-slootman-on-moving-the-needle-win/id315114957?i=1000602560622"> <u>Frank Slootman</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/billy-mcfarland-on-fyre-fest-fraud-failure-hacking/id315114957?i=1000610922577"> <u>Billy McFarland</u></a></p><p>Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters:<a href="https://substack.com/@calacanis"> <u>https://substack.com/@calacanis</u></a></p><p>Follow TWiST:</p><p>Twitter:<a href="https://twitter.com/TWiStartups"> <u>https://twitter.com/TWiStartups</u></a></p><p>YouTube:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin"> <u>https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin</u></a></p><p>Instagram:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups"> <u>https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups</u></a></p><p>TikTok:<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups"> <u>https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups</u></a></p><p>Substack:<a href="https://twistartups.substack.com"> <u>https://twistartups.substack.com</u></a><br></p>

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Naval's GP, Ankur Nagpal, Breaks Down The Viral “USVC” Fund | E2284

MAY 5, 202698 MIN
This Week in Startups

Naval's GP, Ankur Nagpal, Breaks Down The Viral “USVC” Fund | E2284

MAY 5, 202698 MIN

Description

<p>This Week In Startups is made possible by:</p><p><br></p><p>Render -<a href="http://render.com/twist"> <u>render.com/twist</u></a></p><p>Vanta -<a href="http://www.vanta.com/twist"> <u>vanta.com/twist</u></a></p><p>Northwest Registered Agent -<a href="http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist"> <u>northwestregisteredagent.com/twist</u></a></p><p><br></p><p>Have you wanted to invest in venture capital alongside your 401k contributions, but struggled to find a way to place a bet? Search no more, for the AngelList team has created USVC, a new fund that will accept investments of as little as $500 from folks who lack accreditation. USVC’s Ankur Napgal swung by the show to chat about investment strategies, access, fees, and just how illiquid the venture-like vehicle will prove to be.</p><p>Jason and Alex were then joined by Jon Durbin, core contributor at Chutes, and Yash Goenka, co-founder and CEO of Humwork. Chutes is the most valuable Bittensor subnet, focused on aggregating GPUs to offer trustless AI compute. Humwork wants to help bring a human into your agentic workflow to unstick your agent when it runs into a hitch. The show closes with a news lightning round — enjoy!</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p><p>0:00 Intro + Plaud AI sponsor read (Jason demos the NotePin S)</p><p>2:06 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!</p><p>3:50 Episode overview: USVC, Chutes, Humwork</p><p>7:41 USVC structure: $500 min, no accreditation, quarterly redemptions</p><p>10:28 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>11:39 Fee structure breakdown: 1% mgmt fee, ~2.5% net expense ratio</p><p>15:41 USVC portfolio: xAI, Anthropic, OpenAI, Crusoe, Vercel</p><p>16:17 Strategy: 1/3 emerging managers, 1/3 growth, 1/3 secondaries</p><p>19:00 $1B cap and path to expanding the fund</p><p>20:33 Vanta - Compliance and security shouldn&#39;t be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 reports fast. Get $1,000 off for a limited time at https://www.vanta.com/twist</p><p>28:00 What is sovereign compute? Permissionless GPU networks explained</p><p>30:10 Render - Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to https://render.com/twist and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers.</p><p>44:53 Usage history: 160B tokens/day peak, free-to-paid transition</p><p>46:41 GPU pricing: from $0.77/hr to $3.50/hr as shortage bites</p><p>49:13 DeepSeek censorship demo: Taiwan test on DeepSeek chat</p><p>57:27 Permissionless supply curves: Uber/Airbnb analogy for induced demand</p><p>59:20 Yash Goenka, co-founder of Humwork (YC S26)</p><p>1:00:49 Lightning Round: Ryan Cohen wants to buy eBay — Jason&#39;s hot take</p><p>1:12:36 Lightning Round: Cerebras IPO update ($27–36B valuation range)</p><p>1:14:05 Lightning Round: Spirit Airlines / JetBlue / M&amp;A regulation debate</p><p>1:19:10 OFF-DUTY: Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord</p><p>1:32:57 Alex&#39;s OFF-DUTY: Captain of Industry</p><p>Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter:<a href="https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com"> <u>https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com</u></a></p><p>Check out the TWIST500:<a href="https://www.twist500.com"> <u>https://www.twist500.com</u></a></p><p>Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple:<a href="https://rb.gy/v19fcp"> <u>https://rb.gy/v19fcp</u></a></p><p>Follow Lon:</p><p>X:<a href="https://x.com/lons"> <u>https://x.com/lons</u></a></p><p>Follow Alex:</p><p>X:<a href="https://x.com/alex"> <u>https://x.com/alex</u></a></p><p>LinkedIn:<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/"> <u>⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm</u></a></p><p>Follow Jason:</p><p>X:<a href="https://twitter.com/Jason"> <u>https://twitter.com/Jason</u></a></p><p>LinkedIn:<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis"> <u>https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis</u></a></p><p>Check out all our partner offers:<a href="https://partners.launch.co/"> <u>https://partners.launch.co/</u></a></p><p>Great TWIST interviews:<a href="https://youtu.be/pvJa2pzuXWQ"> <u>Will Guidara,</u></a><a href="https://youtu.be/9dHN4YFkgv4"> <u>Eoghan McCabe</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-on-mod-revolt-building-a/id315114957?i=1000617333424"> <u>Steve Huffman</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-on-early-rejection-customer/id315114957?i=1000611761112"> <u>Brian Chesky</u></a>,<a href="https://youtu.be/y2UMzSqX94Q"> <u>Bob Moesta,</u></a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/box-ceo-aaron-levie-breaks-down-box-ai-and-generative/id315114957?i=1000612384545"> <u>Aaron Levie</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sophia-amoruso-on-branding-raising-a-fund-portfolio/id315114957?i=1000601352978"> <u>Sophia Amoruso</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/reid-hoffman-on-ais-crescendo-moment-regulation-and/id315114957?i=1000612548498"> <u>Reid Hoffman</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snowflake-ceo-frank-slootman-on-moving-the-needle-win/id315114957?i=1000602560622"> <u>Frank Slootman</u></a>,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/billy-mcfarland-on-fyre-fest-fraud-failure-hacking/id315114957?i=1000610922577"> <u>Billy McFarland</u></a></p><p>Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters:<a href="https://substack.com/@calacanis"> <u>https://substack.com/@calacanis</u></a></p><p>Follow TWiST:</p><p>Twitter:<a href="https://twitter.com/TWiStartups"> <u>https://twitter.com/TWiStartups</u></a></p><p>YouTube:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin"> <u>https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin</u></a></p><p>Instagram:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups"> <u>https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups</u></a></p><p>TikTok:<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups"> <u>https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups</u></a></p><p>Substack:<a href="https://twistartups.substack.com"> <u>https://twistartups.substack.com</u></a><br></p>