About This Episode
<p><strong>This Week In Startups is made possible by:</strong></p><p><strong>Grasshopper Bank -</strong><a href="http://grasshopper.bank/twist"><strong> https://grasshopper.bank/twist</strong></a></p><p><strong>LinkedIn -</strong><a href="http://linkedin.com/twist"><strong> https://linkedIn.com/twist</strong></a></p><p><strong>Northwest Registered Agent -</strong><a href="http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist"><strong> </strong></a><a href="https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist"><strong>https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist</strong></a><strong>Plaud -</strong><a href="https://plaud.ai/twist"><strong> https://Plaud.ai/twist</strong></a><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Why raise $200 million if you are already profitable? That’s the question Jason and Alex put to Mercury’s founder and CEO, Immad Akhund, after the entrepreneur raised another massive round for his upstart, technology-friendly bank. TWiST then welcomed Kled founder Avi Patel to discuss the startup he considers a clear ripoff of his own company. Jason gavels in verdicts on all parties involved, including Y Combinator and venture capital firm General Catalyst. The show closes with a news lightning round, including OpenAI’s decision to offer $2 million in token credits to hundreds of startups.</strong></p><p><strong>Guest Links:</strong></p><p><strong>Mercury</strong><a href="https://mercury.com"><strong> https://mercury.com</strong></a></p><p><strong>Mercury funding announcement</strong><a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260520511817/en/Mercury-Raises-$200-Million-Series-D-at-$5.2B-Valuation"><strong> https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260520511817/en/Mercury-Raises-$200-Million-Series-D-at-$5.2B-Valuation</strong></a></p><p><strong>Immad Akhund on X</strong><a href="https://x.com/immad"><strong> https://x.com/immad</strong></a></p><p><strong>Kled</strong><a href="https://www.kled.ai/"><strong> https://www.kled.ai/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Avi Patel on X</strong><a href="https://x.com/avipat_/"><strong> https://x.com/avipat_/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Avi’s complaint</strong><a href="https://x.com/avipat_/status/2055384102409253056"><strong> https://x.com/avipat_/status/2055384102409253056</strong></a></p><p><strong>General Catalyst</strong><a href="https://www.generalcatalyst.com/"><strong> https://www.generalcatalyst.com/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Y Combinator</strong><a href="https://www.ycombinator.com/"><strong> https://www.ycombinator.com/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Delve</strong><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/another-customer-of-troubled-startup-delve-suffered-a-big-security-incident/"><strong> https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/another-customer-of-troubled-startup-delve-suffered-a-big-security-incident/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Discussion links:</strong></p><p><strong>Anthropic’s attack on secondary trading</strong><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/12/anthropic-warns-investors-against-secondary-platforms-offering-access-to-its-shares/"><strong> https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/12/anthropic-warns-investors-against-secondary-platforms-offering-access-to-its-shares/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Vanta</strong><a href="https://www.vanta.com/twist"><strong> https://www.vanta.com/twist</strong></a></p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p><p><strong>0:00 Welcome to This Week in Startups!</strong></p><p><strong>2:14 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!</strong></p><p><strong>3:27 Immad Akhund (Mercury) joins to discuss $200M raise</strong></p><p><strong>6:33 Mercury's origin story and path to $650M run rate</strong></p><p><strong>9:53 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</strong></p><p><strong>14:23 Stablecoins: where they work, why Mercury won't launch its own</strong></p><p><strong>20:13 LinkedIn - 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.</strong></p><p><strong>22:38 AI agents, and the future of money movement</strong></p><p><strong>27:30 Why Mercury raised less this round</strong></p><p><strong>30:11 Grasshopper Bank - Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.</strong></p><p><strong>42:48 Avi Patel (Kled) joins to discuss copycat startups</strong></p><p><strong>57:06 Jason's verdict on YC's hacker culture & "appearance of impropriety"</strong></p><p><strong>1:17:39 Sam Altman's $2M-in-tokens-for-equity offer to YC founders</strong></p><p><strong>1:24:32 NYC hotel housekeepers cross $100K in time under new union contract</strong></p><p><strong>1:30:14 Minimum wage, immigration & the case for raising it slowly</strong></p><p><strong>Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter:</strong><a href="https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com"><strong> https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com</strong></a></p><p><strong>Check out the TWIST500:</strong><a href="https://www.twist500.com"><strong> https://www.twist500.com</strong></a></p><p><strong>Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple:</strong><a href="https://rb.gy/v19fcp"><strong> https://rb.gy/v19fcp</strong></a></p><p><strong>Follow Lon:</strong></p><p><strong>X:</strong><a href="https://x.com/lons"><strong> https://x.com/lons</strong></a></p><p><strong>Follow Alex:</strong></p><p><strong>X:</strong><a href="https://x.com/alex"><strong> https://x.com/alex</strong></a></p><p><strong>LinkedIn:</strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/"><strong> https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm</strong></a></p><p><strong>Follow Jason:</strong></p><p><strong>X:</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/Jason"><strong> https://twitter.com/Jason</strong></a></p><p><strong>LinkedIn:</strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis"><strong> https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis</strong></a></p><p><strong>Check out all our partner offers:</strong><a href="https://partners.launch.co/"><strong> https://partners.launch.co/</strong></a></p><p><strong>Great TWIST interviews:</strong><a href="https://youtu.be/pvJa2pzuXWQ"><strong> Will Guidara,</strong></a><a href="https://youtu.be/9dHN4YFkgv4"><strong> Eoghan McCabe</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-on-mod-revolt-building-a/id315114957?i=1000617333424"><strong> Steve Huffman</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-on-early-rejection-customer/id315114957?i=1000611761112"><strong> Brian Chesky</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://youtu.be/y2UMzSqX94Q"><strong> Bob Moesta,</strong></a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/box-ceo-aaron-levie-breaks-down-box-ai-and-generative/id315114957?i=1000612384545"><strong> Aaron Levie</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sophia-amoruso-on-branding-raising-a-fund-portfolio/id315114957?i=1000601352978"><strong> Sophia Amoruso</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/reid-hoffman-on-ais-crescendo-moment-regulation-and/id315114957?i=1000612548498"><strong> Reid Hoffman</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snowflake-ceo-frank-slootman-on-moving-the-needle-win/id315114957?i=1000602560622"><strong> Frank Slootman</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/billy-mcfarland-on-fyre-fest-fraud-failure-hacking/id315114957?i=1000610922577"><strong> Billy McFarland</strong></a></p><p><strong>Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters:</strong><a href="https://substack.com/@calacanis"><strong> https://substack.com/@calacanis</strong></a></p><p><strong>Follow TWiST:</strong></p><p><strong>Twitter:</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/TWiStartups"><strong> https://twitter.com/TWiStartups</strong></a></p><p><strong>YouTube:</strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin"><strong> https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin</strong></a></p><p><strong>Instagram:</strong><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups"><strong> https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups</strong></a></p><p><strong>TikTok:</strong><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups"><strong> https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups</strong></a></p><p><strong>Substack:</strong><a href="https://twistartups.substack.com"><strong> https://twistartups.substack.com</strong></a></p><p></p>