This Week In Startups is made possible by:

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Today’s show:

It’s self-driving time! We’re going deep on one of the most exciting spaces developing in the world, autonomous vehicles! We’ve got 3 experts on the show to talk to us enlighten us, Ben Seidl of Autolane, Ming Maa of Moove, and Nathan Parker of EdgeCase.

What’s going on in the world of self-driving? How has the reliability of autonomous vehicles improved? What challenges are we still facing in the industry? Will the US reign victorious, or is China sneaking up? Let’s find out on TWiST!

Timestamps:

00:00 intro

02:21 Uber teams up with Zoox!

03:02 Does EdgeCase work with Zoox?

03:03 Operational design domains

06:47 The challenges of bringing self-driving to new environments.

00:10:53 Circle: The easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand. TWiST listeners get $1,000 off the Circle Plus Plan by going to http://circle.so/twist.

00:13:26 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

00:17:19 How has reliability of autonomous cars improved?

00:19:18 How Ben Seidl came up with the idea for Autolane!

00:21:08 Sentry: New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST

00:27:47 How Moove helps autonmous vehicles go to market!

00:30:49 Deel: Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.

00:33:28 The logisitcs of managing fleets.

00:37:08 Why is it called Autolane and not multi-modal lane?

00:40:50 Does EdgeCase work with smaller self-driving vehicles as well?

00:41:52 How autonomous systems will interact with one-another!

00:43:14 Why AV’s should not talk to other AV’s on the road

00:45:07 The state of the self-driving market

00:49:12 Why Tesla isn’t involving themselves in California

00:50:34 Why the US is leading the way with regulatory clarity in autonomous vehicles

01:02:51 Ben Seidl says federal regulation is a necessity

01:05:20 What is holding back self-driving growth in the US?

01:06:26 What companies make the most money in self driving

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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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Today’s show:

How long until AI models can improve AI models? Once possible, recursive self-improvement by AI technology could accelerate — forever. Thus far, humans (and their coding agents) are still driving AI progress. But a recent project by AI developer extraordinare Andrej Karpathy, called ‘autoresearcher’, is turning heads as it shows that it is possible — in certain contexts — to allow AI agents to run successive coding experiments to improve specific elements of LLM performance. Call it an early demonstration of the future.

OpenClaw is exploding in China, while here in the United States, AI is polling somewhere underneath the basement. AI in the United States is about as popular as ICE, which could create a political issue for the technology in the coming elections.

Next? Three demos. First, NetXD’s Suresh Ramamurthi showed off how he has built OpenClaw functionality to move money, Rohan Arun showed off PhoneClaw automation on Android devices from an AR headset, and Eugene Stuckless gave us a taste of what Eir is building. Our takeaway? OpenClaw is still boring its way into our digital lives, one new skill or tool at a time!

GUESTS:

Suresh Ramamurthi: ⁠⁠https://x.com/sureshr7⁠⁠

Rohan Arun: ⁠⁠https://x.com/Viewforge/⁠⁠

Eugene Stuckless: ⁠⁠https://x.com/eugene_eir_inc⁠⁠

Timestamps:

0:00 — ‘Autoresearcher’ and the future of AI improvements

6:52 — Why people around the world are flocking to OpenClaw

7:57 — Plaud - If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

9:46 — Gusto - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.

12:57 — The changing American social contract

20:15 — Quo - Quo (formerly OpenPhone) gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at quo.com/TWIST

23:50 — Why China is all-in on AI (and Europe isn’t)

26:26 — How to keep your job in the AI era

28:05 — 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 www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

29:38 — Athena - Get $2,000 off your first EA at https://www.athena.com/jcal

34:42 — Demo: Suresh Ramamurthi of NetXD

42:47 — Demo: Rohan Arun of PhoneClaw

47:35 — Why bringing OpenClaw to your smartphone is what’s next

49:49 — Demo: Eugene Stuckless of Eir

56:45 — How can we make smarter, more efficient agents?

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: ⁠⁠https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com⁠⁠

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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

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

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This Week In Startups is made possible by:

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Today’s show:

*Sure, we all love open source models, but what about completely decentralized AI? Rather than leaving the big decision-making in the hands of a few elite CEOs, shouldn’t users have a say — and potentially even a stake — in how this incredible technology develops?

On TWiST, we welcome Ala Shaabana of Crucible Labs, one of the co-founders of Bittensor. It’s an open-source protocol powering a blockchain-based machine learning network. What does that mean? Users mine a crypto token — $TAO — but rather than using up their compute on solving extremely long equations, they devote it to actually powering a range of innovative AI apps (aka subnets).

Plus we’ve got Mark Jeffrey, co-founder of the Bittensor Fund Stillcore Capital, to show us some of his favorite subnet projects, and walk us through how he trained his AI agent to mine crpyto.

All that AND two amazing new OpenClaw demos.

Mark Jeffrey: https://x.com/markjeffrey

Stillcore Capital: https://stillcorecapital.com/

Ala Shaabana (Crucible Labs): https://x.com/CrucibleLabs

Michael Ryaboy (Setup Claw): https://setupclaw.com/

Pete and Maddie Reese (Bizzby AI): https://bizzby.ai/

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro01:28 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!04:11 The booming intersection of crypto, and AI agents05:49 Mark Jeffrey joins the show!06:13 Bittensor explained — how TAO subsidizes AI products07:37 Mark’s top Bittensor projects00:10:40 https://Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io.00:12:20 How subnet tokens work00:17:34 How the Crucible Labs wallet simplifies subnet token allocation00:19:33 https://Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist00:22:42 The importance of private inference and encrypted AI prompts00:29:36 Wispr Flow: Stop typing. Dictate with Wispr Flow and send clean, final-draft writing in seconds. Visit https://wisprflow.ai/twist to get started for free today.00:33:07 How AI is restoring old movies and media!00:40:57 SetUpClaw’s “set it and forget it” AI agents00:45:50 https://Ro.co: Ro’s insurance checker will let you know if your coverage includes GLP-1s for FREE. Go to https://Ro.co/Twist for your free insurance check.00:54:35 “Off-duty” with Lon and Jason

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

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Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

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

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

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This Week In Startups is made possible by:

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Today’s show:

It’s a packed TWiST Today! WITH US, we’ve got Erik Voorhees of VeniceAI and Logan Allin of Fin Capital on to talk agents, crypto, and… you guessed it, OPENCLAW!

Where does agentic AI meet the financial system? How will agents transact? And what does privacy look like in a world with omnipresent AI?

Stick around for some demos! We’ve got George Pickett to demo OpenClaw studio and David Kaufman to show us what he’s building at Siteline!

Timestamps:

00:04:31 What was Logan’s original thesis in Circle?

10:08 LinkedIn Jobs - Thanks to our partners at @LinkedIn! Post your job for free at https://⁠linkedIn.com/twist⁠ then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs’ new AI assistant.

00:11:52 Logans thoughts on Open vs. Closed Source

00:15:33 How to maintain privacy in AI

20:02 Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit https://⁠deel.com/twist⁠ to learn more.

00:23:29 Why LAUNCH’s token usage is trending higher than payroll!

00:25:05 How Fin capital uses personality types and AI to assess investments

00:29:45 Why Erik thinks Anthropic’s defiance of the federal gov. is bravery!

32:10 Iru - Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. TWiST listeners get 20% off when they book a demo at https://⁠iru.com⁠/twist!

00:42:23 How Siteline is helping understand companies and their agent traffic.

00:57:15 OpenClaw Studio makes OpenClaw as user friendly as possible.

01:10:09 The layers and layers of Microstrategy’s business model.

01:11:44 Which AI tools are the most indispensable?

01:12:25 How Jason uses the Grok button on threads

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

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Follow Lon:

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X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

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

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

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This Week In Startups is made possible by:Circle — http://circle.so/twistHubspot Creators — http://clickhubspot.com/twist2Uber AI Solutions — http://uber.com/ai-solutionsToday’s show: *Dave Morin joined the show today to explain how the OpenClaw Foundation came into existence, and what its goals are. Fear not, Peter Steinberger retains directional control of the project. But if you want to sustain an open-source project over time, you need a corporate entity, well-heeled sponsors, maintainers and more. Morin is helping make sure that OpenClaw can stay true to itself well into the future.TWIST also put the day’s most critical AI stories to Morin for his insight: What’s his take on the Anthropic-DoW fracas? Does Morin think that OpenAI and Anthropic are catching up to OpenClaw in agentic terms? And will OpenAI cede the consumer crown to Anthropic? Next came two amazing demos: Runtools’ CTO Greg Kara showed off a 3D interface for OpenClaw that his team built, allowing ‘Claw users to watch their agents work in real time, and even read over their shoulder. Then PickelWatch founder George Yameen showed off an agnetic workflow using OpenClaw and Claude’s Chrome plugin side-by-side. The gist? Make sure that the agentic service you select is cost-effective. **GUESTS:**Dave Morin: https://x.com/davemorin?lang=enGreg Kara: https://x.com/GregKara6George Yameen: https://x.com/GeorgeYameen**Timestamps:** 00:00 Dave Morin Joins the Show

02:31 How Dave Morin got Claw-Pilled

05:01 Jason’s critical OpenClaw moments

08:38 How Dave showcases his OpenClaw skills

10:47 Uber AI Solutions - Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at http://uber.com/ai-solutions

14:40 How long has the OpenClaw Foundation existed?

17:21 How much authority does Peter Steinberger retain?

00:20:21 Hubspot - Check out the guide “Advanced ChatGPT Prompt Engineering: From Basic to Expert in 7 Days.” Download it for free at http://clickhubspot.com/twist2

19:20 How ‘air traffic control’ works for a project like OpenClaw

23:15 The economics of open-source maintainers

25:13 Dave’s physical OpenClaw setup

27:45 How Jason uses OpenClaw to curate his reading, fashion, and travel

30:23 Circle - Circle gives you everything you need to build and scale your community-led business. TWIST listeners get $1,000 off the Circle Plus Plan at http://circle.so/twist

32:18 Why the second wave of ideas is where things get the most interesting

34:06 Apple’s slow movement and hesitance to depricate products

39:51 How Jason uses OpenClaw to coach the next generation of executives

44:52 Are Anthropic and OpenAI catching up to OpenClaw?

49:40 Introduction to Runtools.AI

53:49 Runtools.AI demo of 3D OpenClaw environment

57:06 Introduction to PickleWatch

57:27 PickelWatch demo of Claude Chrome vs. OpenClaw

01:03:38 How PickleWatch ups your pickleball swing

32:56 Jason’s advice for founders on stumbling onto new ideas

42:16 Jason on the DoW’s handling of the Anthropic mess

01:11:08 Would Jason fund the tech that Anthropic won’t supply?Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/Check out the TWIST500: https://twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp*Follow Lon:X: https://x.com/lons*Follow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis/*Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/*Follow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: [https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups](https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups/)TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: [https://twistartups.substack.com](https://twistartups.substack.com/)

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Deel - http://deel.com/twist

Wispr Flow - https://wisprflow.ai/twist

Luma AI - https://lumalabs.ai/twist

Today’s show:

*$110 billion buys you 15% of OpenAI. Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank placed their bets on ChatGPT, which now has 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paying subscribers. Find out why Jason is anticipating the wildest J-Curve swing of all time, and believes we’ve ALREADY hit AGI… it’s just not implemented yet.

Plus a visit from our roving correspondent Nick O’Neill, checking in on the Crypto Chaos in Miami Beach, and hot demos from three young founders.

GUESTS:

Nick O’Neill: https://x.com/chooserich

Everest Chris: https://openclaw.unloopa.com/

Ben Broca: https://polsia.com/

Adi Gabrani: https://makemyclaw.com/

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:33 We’re hiring a new producer!

05:42 OpenAI raised $110 billion

08:59 Understanding the LLM J-Curve

00:11:25 Deel - Founders ship faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes and get back to building. Visit ⁠https://deel.com/twist⁠ to learn more.

00:15:02 CRYPTO CHAOS IN MIAMI BEACH!

00:21:10 Wispr Flow - Stop typing. Dictate with Wispr Flow and send clean, final-draft writing in seconds. Visit ⁠https://wisprflow.ai/twist⁠ to get started for free today.

00:22:54 Mass layoffs at Block

00:30:50 Luma AI - Stop guessing and start directing with the all-in-one Dream Machine text-to-video platform. Visit ⁠https://lumalabs.ai/twist⁠ to try The Dream Machine for free.

00:32:04 AI Scott Adams: The Saga Continues

00:38:13 Make URLs for local businesses with Unloopa

00:45:36 Rent a Polsia agent to run your company

00:58:55 Deploy swarms in 60 seconds with MakeMyClaw

01:05:05 LAUNCH FEST is coming to SF

01:55:49 Will Paramount actually buy WBD?

01:06:58 Why Lon loves “Knight of the 7 Kingdoms”

01:07:21 On “Neighbors” and First Amendment Warriors

01:13:43 All about Jason’s favorite chargers

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

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

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

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

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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

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Every.io - https://every.io

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Today’s show:

We’re going behind the curtain today — it’s a packed show!

We found Tyler Yust, OpenClaw’s third EVER contributor to share his insights from within foundation! We’ve got Deedy Das, of Menlo Ventures, on the show to discuss whether SaaS is cooked! Next we met the creator of an OpenClaw instance that fits in your pocket! We’ve also got the founder of OpenBrowse showing us how he automatically detects and generates OpenClaw skills!

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro - Deedy Das Joins the Show!04:54 Anthropic’s revenue growth and valuation06:07 OpenClaw Contributor Tyler Yuts joins the show09:24 iMessage integration and Apple’s proprietary systems

00:10:07 Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist14:31 Anthropic vs. the Pentagon

00:20:02 Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io.

00:30:08 Sentry - New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST

00:35:46 The Infamous Citrini article00:32:47 Come to LAUNCH fest! https://fest.launch.co00:36:28 Why Deedy thinks the Cetrini article is a work of science fiction00:44:51 The illusion of privacy in corporate America00:41:18 Deedy thinks Enterprise SaaS apps aren’t going to be vibe coded00:49:20 Jason’s Reddit Bot00:52:01 Jason’s obsession with Singapore’s food00:55:22 How Unbrowse pulls any backend API!01:02:07 Sebastian shows off the smallest OpenClaw form factor!01:12:04 The Prolo ring — for people who doomscroll01:20:21 Deedy’s Podcast Player App!

Thank you to our partners:

(10:07) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist

(20:02) Every.io - For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit every.io.

(30:08) Sentry - New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

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Follow Lon:

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Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

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

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

Follow TWiST:

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This Week In Startups is made possible by:Caldera Lab - [calderalab.com/twist](https://calderalab.com/twist)Iru - [iru.com](http://Iru.com/twist)LinkedIn Jobs - http://linkedin.com/twist*OpenClaw is incredible at automating tasks. But what if it could also fix your startup’s internal communication problems? Give agents shared memory, and you may be able to break down information silos while ensuring that teammates have the same context.@oliverhenry and @jeffweisbein demo what they’ve actually built with OpenClaw, including marketing automations, agentic loops, and bug fixing tools. Then we dig into what agentic infrastructure means for how startups operate, and why traditional SaaS products need to quickly adapt for the agentic era.Oliver Henry: The creator of the ‘[Larry](https://clawhub.ai/OllieWazza/larry)’ OpenClaw skill, and founder of [Larrybrain](https://www.larrybrain.com/)Jeff Weisbein: The Claw-pilled founder of [WizardRFP](https://www.wizardrfp.com/) and [WhoCoversIt](https://www.whocoversit.com/), who shared his OpenClaw framework [publicly](https://weisbe.in/openclaw) and built a [getting-started guide for the tool](https://github.com/jeffweisbein/openclaw-starter-kit)**Timestamps:** 00:00 Intro

(00:01:43) Here’s why you never ski alone in a blizzard!

(00:04:22) Why everyone at LAUNCH is going to get their own Mac Mini and AI agent

(00:08:06) “OpenClaw has changed my entire solo-preneur lifestyle.” — Jeff Weinstein of Hype Lab

(00:09:06) Jason’s urgent API message to Steve Huffman of Reddit

(00:10:20) LinkedIn Jobs - Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at [LinkedIn.com/twist](http://linkedin.com/HiringProOffer).

(00:15:12) Oliver shows us his Larry Skill to make viral TikTok content with zero human intervention

(00:20:10) Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. Book a demo at [www.iru.com/twist](www.iru.com/twist).

(00:21:22) Why are platforms like TikTok still so hostile toward bots?

(00:24:45) The shift from asking a chatbot how to do things, to just telling an agent to do things

(00:26:05) How Oliver is training Larry to get better at its job

(00:30:09) Whether you’re starting fresh or upgrading your routine, Caldera Lab makes skincare simple and effective. Head to [CalderaLab.com/TWIST](http://calderalab.com/TWIST) and use TWIST at checkout for 20% off your first order.

(00:32:47) Why making your agent more PROACTIVE is more important than automating everything

(00:37:14) Why pull requests… just aren’t really a thing any more.

(00:39:40) How Jason is using his new AI assistant, “Roy,” to keep track of everything going on at his company

(00:53:00) Is the SaaS crash actually rational after all?

(00:51:48) Using AI to create “pools of excellence”

(00:54:03) The more you integrate software into AI, the less valuable the software becomes

(00:56:56) Why “Agentify Your SaaS” may become the rallying cry

(00:58:31) How has the age verification scandal impacted Discord’s IPO plans?

(01:03:10) When you want to build your own skill vs. downloading someone else’s

(01:03:53) How Larrybrain finds helpful skills and helps creators monetize

(01:08:32) When we will get true experts making verifiably top skills?

(01:11:40) Jason’s SCARY but also AWESOME new OpenClaw CEO tools

(01:18:35) Why a lot of MBAs should probably have PhD’s

Thank you to our partners:(30:09) Caldera Lab - Whether you’re starting fresh or upgrading your routine, Caldera Lab makes skincare simple and effective. Head to [CalderaLab.com/TWIST](http://calderalab.com/TWIST) and use TWIST at checkout for 20% off your first order.(20:10) Iru - Iru unifies identity, endpoint security, and compliance into one platform. Book a demo at [iru.com](http://iru.com/).(10:20) LinkedIn Jobs - *Hire right, the first time. Post your first job and get $100 off towards your job post at* [LinkedIn.com/twist](http://linkedin.com/HiringProOffer)

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Gusto - https://Gusto.com/twist

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Today’s show:

*Getting OpenClaw set up and running without destroying your bank account is one thing.

But now that you have your agent or swarm operational, how can you use them to get real work done?

We have three builders who are going to show you how to maximize your OpenClaw output!

GUESTS:

Jordy Coltman: Viral X author and creator of the WeeklyClaw newsletter

Jesse Leimgruber: Creator of the OpenHome.com smart speaker and kit

Tremaine Grant: Founder/CEO of Pulse

PLUS, on Off Duty, Lon and Jason talk “Knight of the 7 Kingdoms” and “The Pitt,” react to the “Mandalorian and Grogu” trailer, and check out some of Jason’s favorite headphones and earbuds.

Timestamps:

00:40 We’re gonna show you how to maximize your IRL OpenClaw productivity

00:50 Even AI skeptic Lon is blown away by OpenClaw’s power

01:46 Jordy Coltman’s top time-wasting mistakes made by OpenClaw beginners

03:00 Why Jordy thinks new hardware is the best home for your agents

05:38 Why Jason thinks “OpenClaw is a box” is coming soon

08:29 Tremaine Grant of Pulse demos his “virtual office” interface and the “Heartbeat Protocol”

00:10:15 Gusto - Gusto. Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.

00:15:16 What’s really happening when agents “chat” together?

00:18:53 Jesse Leimgruber’s demos his OpenHome AI smart speakers

00:19:47 Circle.so - The easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand. TWiST listeners get $1,000 off the Circle Plus Plan by going to http://circle.so/twist.

00:22:55 Freeing agents from screens and making them proactive

00:29:43 Northwest Registered Agent - 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 www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

00:30:58 Why Jason wants his agent to read Slack and emails to him

00:50:05 Who polices autonomous agents? Other agents?

00:53:32 Jason and Lon’s thoughts on “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”

00:56:20 Lon’s favorite picks from Quentin Tarantino’s Top 10 movies

01:01:13 “The Mandalorian and Grogu” trailer reaction

01:05:22 Jason’s favorite earbuds and headphones

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

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Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

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

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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

Thank you to our partners:

00:10:15 Gusto - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at Gusto.com/twist.

00:19:47 Circle.so - The easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand. TWiST listeners get $1,000 off the Circle Plus Plan by going to http://circle.so/twist.

00:29:43 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 www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

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

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

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Gusto - Try Gusto today and get 3 months free at gust.com/twist

Crusoe Cloud - Reserve your capacity for the latest GPU’s at crusoe.ai/savings

Uber AI Solutions - Book a demo today at http://uber.com/ai-solutions

Today’s show: It’s a packed show! We’ve got YouTuber and Openclaw enthusiast Matthew Berman, Ryan Yaneli, founder of Nextvisit, and Jason Grad, founder of Massive! We’re all in on Openclaw, but we have no doubts there’s still room in the market for a GIANT Openclaw consumer app to shift the paradigm. What will that look like? Will it be an app? Will it be baked into the iPhone? Let’s explore!

**Timestamps:*

00:00 Intro

02:04 Why Matthew thinks Openclaw is not ready yet to be brought to the consumer

04:45 Jason doesn’t want hundreds of different apps, and thousands of tabs

05:45 Why Ryan sees open claw giving consumers access to opportunities they couldn’t have gotten to otherwise.

07:02 Only 10% of people are technical enough to install openclaw

08:16 Would Openclaw be better off as an app?

08:27 Gusto. Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at gusto.com/twist

10:52 The killer use case that could bring Openclaw to the consumer

00:12:13 Why Meta acquired Manus.

00:15:13 How Ryan uses Openclaw in his personal life

00:18:44 Crusoe Cloud: Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit crusoe.ai/savings to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today

00:23:24 What Jason’s “Clawpod” does

00:24:38 Jason demos his Openclaw workflow

00:28:23 Uber AI Solutions - Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at http://uber.com/twist

00:30:04 How Matt used Openclaw to figure out he’s been having stomach issues

00:32:27 What will be the ultimate UX for AI?

00:38:53 Anthropic has patched the ability to use Openclaw through its pro plan!

00:42:20 Matt and Jason hope for a multi-model future — but we haven’t made progress!

00:52:21 Jason has skepticisms about the Openclaw foundation

00:52:59 Ryan predicts a new Openclaw fork coming from the shadows!

00:54:21 Peter Steinberger is going to OpenAI, NOT to work with Openclaw… Will he “orphan” openclaw

00:58:19 does raspberry AI stand a chance against Apple?

*

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp*Follow Lon:X: https://x.com/lons*Follow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis*

Thank you to our partners:

Gusto. Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at gust.com/twist

Crusoe Cloud*: Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit [crusoe.ai/savings to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.

Uber AI Solutions -*Your trusted partner to get AI to work in the real world. Book a demo with them TODAY at Uber.com/twist

Will OpenAI Tank OpenClaw? | E2251

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

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LinkedIn Jobs - http://linkedin.com/HiringProOffer

Today’s show:

*OpenAI hired OpenClaw creater Peter Steinberger. What does this mean for the future of the AI virtual assistant platform, and what can the OpenClaw community do TODAY to help protect their favorite free, open-source resource?

Jason and Alex consider the future of OpenClaw alongside guest experts and founders Hiten Shah and Jesse Genet. Plus we’re taking a look at all of their OpenClaw creations. Check out demos of Hiten’s “personal CRM” for busy investors and Jesse’s family media aggregator.

PLUS we’ve got “AI Scott Adams” creator John Arrow to talk about why he was inspired to create an AI clone of the iconic podcaster and “Dilbert” creator, and why he thinks it has so many internet commenters up in arms.

Hiten Shahhttps://x.com/hnshahhttps://crazyegg.com

Jesse Genethttps://x.com/jessegenethttps://Lumi.com

John Arrowhttps://x.com/johnarrowhttps://www.aiscottadams.com/

Timestamps:

(0:00) Introducing our guests Hiten Shah and Jesse Genet!
(2:27) The panel’s biggest concerns about OpenAI hiring OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger
(6:03) Jason gives us his most optimistic and pessimistic OpenAI takes
(7:58) Why Jason thinks OpenAI will give everyone their own closed-source assistant
(10:45) Jesse’s Mac Minis now outnumber her children!
(15:28) What the OpenClaw community can do right now
(17:08)  Can companies “hijack” OpenClaw via hosting and skills?
(20:12)  Hiten live-trains an OpenClaw skill based on Jason’s book “Angel”
(22:37)  How much is everyone spending on tokens anyway?
(25:56)  How Jesse vibe-coded an app to aggregate non-Slop videos for her family
(34:19)  Why Jason thinks Jesse’s app is a great potential business
(37:27)  Hiten built the “personal CRM” busy people have always dreamed of having
(44:12)  “We’re in an appless world.”
(45:19) Why markdown files (.md) are perfect for humans and their AI agents
(52:36)  So why are founders so obsessed with OpenClaw?
(58:47)  John Arrow, the creator of AI Scott Adams, joins the show
(1:02:44) How does AI Scott Adams get more like Scott Adams over time?
(1:04:37)  The legal and ethical considerations around posthumous AI Clones