About This Episode
<p>This Week In Startups is made possible by:</p><p><br /></p><p>Deel -<a href="https://deel.com/twist"> <u>deel.com/twist</u></a></p><p>LinkedIn -<a href="http://linkedin.com/twist"> <u>linkedIn.com/twist</u></a></p><p>Northwest Registered Agent -<a href="http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist"> <u>northwestregisteredagent.com/twist</u></a>Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist</p><p>Today’s show:</p><p><br /></p><p>Anthropic stabbed Cursor in the back. Then SpaceX swooped in with $60 billion. Today, TWiST connects the dots on the biggest deal in AI since the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership, and why it's a warning sign for every startup building on top of a frontier model. Jason is joined by Bling Capital’s Ben Ling, Banana Capital’s Turner Novak, and co-host Alex to go deep on the future of coding models, the current golden age of venture liquidity, OpenAI’s financials, and the ‘Four Ds’ of venture investing. The show closes with a tribute to Josh Baer, the founder of Capital Factory.</p><p><br /></p><p>Guest Links:</p><p><br /></p><p>Ben Ling<a href="https://x.com/bling0?lang=en"> <u>https://x.com/bling0?lang=en</u></a></p><p>Bling Capital<a href="https://www.blingcap.com/"> <u>https://www.blingcap.com/</u></a></p><p>Turner Novak<a href="https://x.com/TurnerNovak"> <u>https://x.com/TurnerNovak</u></a></p><p>Banana Capital<a href="https://www.bananacapital.vc/"> <u>https://www.bananacapital.vc/</u></a></p><p>Show Links:</p><p>Hanover Park<a href="https://www.hanoverpark.com/"> <u>https://www.hanoverpark.com/</u></a></p><p>SpaceX buys Cursor<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/16/spacex-spcx-cursor-acquisition-ipo.html"> <u>https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/16/spacex-spcx-cursor-acquisition-ipo.html</u></a></p><p>Cursor Composer 2.5<a href="https://cursor.com/blog/composer-2-5"> <u>https://cursor.com/blog/composer-2-5</u></a></p><p>OpenAI financials source<a href="https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/"> <u>https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/</u></a></p><p>AMD’s new deskside data center<a href="https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/desktops/ryzen/ryzen-ai-halo.html"> <u>https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/desktops/ryzen/ryzen-ai-halo.html</u></a></p><p>Perplexity Model Council<a href="https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-model-council"> <u>https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-model-council</u></a></p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p><p><br /></p><p>0:00 Guest introductions</p><p>1:15 Guest introductions</p><p>2:43 SpaceX acquires Cursor for $60B</p><p>6:13 The golden era of M&A</p><p>9:13 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>12:04 Cursor's negative gross margins & the compute problem</p><p>13:22 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>15:04 Rolling your own model: When does it make sense?</p><p>19:35 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.</p><p>22:53 The "headless product" thesis</p><p>28:31 Deel: Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.</p><p>34:22 OpenAI financials leaked: $13B revenue, $38.5B net loss</p><p>40:13 Where does AI value accumulate?</p><p>45:34 Portfolio Spotlight: Hanover Park</p><p>48:37 Seed stage graduation rates have fallen from 50% to 25%</p><p>54:59 The four Ds of venture: Deal flow, Decisions, Doubling down, Distributions</p><p>1:06:36 How to find 'undiscovered gems'</p><p>1:30:59 Snap Specs AR glasses: $2,195, and a bit chunky</p><p>1:39:29 Tribute to Joshua Baer, Capital Factory's founder</p><p><br /></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></p>