AI Revolution Gains, Non-Consensus Startups & Prosperous AI | E2104
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 29 March 2025
⏱️ 74 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon cover everything from wild political headlines to big moves in AI and venture. They kick things off with the surprising Trump pardon of Trevor Milton, the disgraced Nikola founder, and break down CoreWeave’s rocky IPO debut. Then, Jason and Alex sit down with Mariano Apodaca, founder of Prosperous AI, to talk about AI tools for negotiating construction and aerospace material costs. Later, in a brand new segment called "Office Hours with JCal," Jason reacts to real founder feedback clips, pulls key startup lessons, and explains why building for a market that doesn’t yet exist might actually be your biggest edge. Along the way, the team explores the power of taking just 10% of the value you create — a pricing philosophy that could unlock your next big win.
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Timestamps:
(0:00) Jason kicks off the show!
(4:05) Breaking news on CoreWeave and Founder University insights
(9:21) Hubspot for Startups - Visit https://www.hubspot.com/startups and join the founders who are turning growth challenges into opportunities.
(10:57) Trevor Milton's pardon and AnySphere's Cursor success
(19:21) Pricing strategies for startups
(20:19) Vanta - TWiST listeners automate your SOC2 and get $1,000 off at http://www.vanta.com/twist
(21:38) AI sentiment and startup growth strategies
(25:14) Guest interview: Mariano from Prosperous AI
(30:21) Notion - TWiST listeners can try it for free at https://notion.com/twist
(31:52) Prosperous AI's market data integration and growth
(35:03) Founder University's impact on Prosperous AI
(40:54) Product line expansions and fundraising growth strategies
(44:20) Startup decision-making and investor feedback
(47:02) Founder University and customer feedback importance
(51:12) Canva CEO's insights and handling investor rejection
(58:17) Products creating new markets and finding outlier founders
(1:06:15) Venture success with Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham
(1:09:18) Market selection, execution, and partner-product fit in startups
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Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com
Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com
Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
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Links from the show:
Prosperous AI: https://prosperousprocess.ai/
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Follow Mariano:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariano-apodaca-45b07a16a/
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Follow Alex:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm
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Follow Jason:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
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Thank you to our partners:
(9:21) Hubspot for Startups - Visit https://www.hubspot.com/startups and join the founders who are turning growth challenges into opportunities.
(20:19) Vanta - TWiST listeners automate your SOC2 and get $1,000 off at http://www.vanta.com/twist
(30:21) Notion - TWiST listeners can try it for free at https://notion.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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Follow TWiST:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com
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Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | But the third one is the most interesting piece of feedback you got, which is you're building |
| 0:03.6 | something for somebody who doesn't currently use the product or doesn't use a product. |
| 0:08.3 | And that's very interesting. |
| 0:10.4 | That means there's a new market that will manifest. |
| 0:14.8 | The founder could manifest a new market. |
| 0:17.4 | Those are typically power law companies. |
| 0:24.5 | So let's just let that sink in. One of the pieces of feedback she got was from somebody who was so fucking dumb that they don't understand the most |
| 0:29.5 | basic aspect of venture capital, which is a non-consensus product that manifest the market |
| 0:37.3 | is the most powerful outlier of all. |
| 0:41.9 | This weekend startups is brought to you by HubSpot for Startups. Smart founders aren't |
| 0:46.4 | piecing together random tools. HubSpot is the customer platform that thousands of |
| 0:50.2 | startups used to scale efficiently. Get up to 75% off plus three months of perplexity |
| 0:54.4 | AI for free. Go to HubSpot.com slash startups. Vanta. Compliance and security shouldn't be a |
| 1:00.3 | deal breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a sock to report |
| 1:04.7 | fast. Twist listeners can get $1,000 off for a limited time at vanta.com slash twist. And, Notion. |
| 1:11.3 | Notion combines your notes, docs, and projects into one beautifully designed space with |
| 1:14.9 | AI built right in. |
| 1:16.3 | Try it for free today at notion.com slash twist. |
| 1:19.3 | All right, everybody. |
| 1:20.0 | Welcome back to this week and startups. |
| 1:21.7 | It's Friday. |
| 1:22.2 | We got a full docket. |
... |
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