About This Episode
<p dir="ltr">This Week In Startups is made possible by:</p> <p dir="ltr">NetSuite<br /> <a href="https://netsuite.ai/TWIST">https://NetSuite.ai/TWIST</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Squarespace<br /> <a href="https://squarespace.com/twist">https://squarespace.com/twist</a></p> <p dir="ltr">YSecurity<br /> <a href="https://ysecurity.io/TWIST">https://YSecurity.io/TWIST</a></p> <p><strong><br /> <br /></strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Today's show:</p> <p dir="ltr">*America posted 400,000 farm jobs last year, and fewer than 1% got a single domestic applicant. Danny Bernstein of Reservoir believes it's time to start automating this backbreaking labor, like picking stone fruit in 110°F temperatures. So he built the world's first on-farm robotics incubator on 40 acres of California farmland. Here's why he argues that automating farms isn't just a new opportunity, it's a national security issue.</p> <p dir="ltr">PLUS Jason responded to Gal Shir's viral "AI beat me at design" tweet, got into a kerfuffle with Figma CEO Dylan Field, and wound up making a brand new J-Trade. AND we're talking about the Dept. of Education's new "do no harm" policy, the Brown University AI cheating chart that's blowing up social media, and Lon has fresh streaming recommendations in an all-new Off Duty.</p> <p dir="ltr">Guest:</p> <p dir="ltr">Danny Bernstein on X: <a href="https://x.com/bernsteind">https://x.com/bernsteind</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Reservoir Farms: <a href="https://reservoir.co/">https://reservoir.co/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Reservoir VC: <a href="https://reservoir.vc/">https://reservoir.vc/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Relevant Links:</p> <p dir="ltr">Bonsai Robotics: <a href="https://bonsairobotics.ai/">https://bonsairobotics.ai/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Root AI acquired by AppHarvest: <a href="https://www.therobotreport.com/root-ai-acquired-by-appharvest-for-60m/"> https://www.therobotreport.com/root-ai-acquired-by-appharvest-for-60m/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">John Deere: <a href="https://www.deere.com/en-us/">https://www.deere.com/en-us/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Western Growers Association: <a href="https://www.wga.com/">https://www.wga.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Tanimura & Antle: <a href="https://www.taproduce.com/">https://www.taproduce.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Naturipe Berry Growers: <a href="https://www.naturipefarms.com/">https://www.naturipefarms.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Driscoll's: <a href="https://www.driscolls.com/">https://www.driscolls.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Taylor Farms: <a href="https://www.taylorfarms.com/">https://www.taylorfarms.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">The Wonderful Company: <a href="https://www.wonderful.com/">https://www.wonderful.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Capital Factory: <a href="https://www.capitalfactory.com/">https://www.capitalfactory.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Gal Shir "quitting design" post: <a href="https://x.com/galshirart/status/2074854464729629060">https://x.com/galshirart/status/2074854464729629060</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Dylan Field response to Gal Shir: <a href="https://x.com/zoink/status/2075290218660298807">https://x.com/zoink/status/2075290218660298807</a></p> <p dir="ltr">JCal response to Field and "J-Trade": <a href="https://x.com/Jason/status/2075481565115654305">https://x.com/Jason/status/2075481565115654305</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Figma: <a href="https://www.figma.com/">https://www.figma.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Dept. of Education: "Do No Harm" policy announcement: <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-issues-final-rule-hold-all-colleges-and-universities-accountable-low-earning-programs"> https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-issues-final-rule-hold-all-colleges-and-universities-accountable-low-earning-programs</a></p> <p dir="ltr">NPR coverage on Dept. of Education earnings test: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/06/30/nx-s1-5835631/turner-camhi-do-no-harm-college-loans"> https://www.npr.org/2026/06/30/nx-s1-5835631/turner-camhi-do-no-harm-college-loans</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Paul Graham "cheating chart" post: <a href="https://x.com/paulg/status/2075031014628311236">https://x.com/paulg/status/2075031014628311236</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Off Duty Recommendations:</p> <p dir="ltr">"Lioness" on Paramount+: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNRQ0PR4a8U">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNRQ0PR4a8U</a></p> <p dir="ltr">"Mayor of Kingstown" on Paramount+: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkQzvwxOp0s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkQzvwxOp0s</a></p> <p dir="ltr">"Human Vapor" on Netflix: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xe6dRKVAb8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xe6dRKVAb8</a></p> <p dir="ltr">"Sugar" on Apple TV+: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twvPGxuEOEA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twvPGxuEOEA</a></p> <p dir="ltr">"Wind River" (now on Netflix): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZgN0dpFoaE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZgN0dpFoaE</a></p> <p dir="ltr">"Not Fade Away" by Peter Barton & Laurence Shames: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Not-Fade-Away-Short-Lived/dp/1579546889">https://www.amazon.com/Not-Fade-Away-Short-Lived/dp/1579546889</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Timestamps:</p> <p dir="ltr">0:00 Jason's ongoing World Tour</p> <p dir="ltr">1:43 Danny Bernstein joins live from Reservoir Farms</p> <p dir="ltr">3:38 What is "specialty crop agriculture"</p> <p dir="ltr">5:15 Why strawberries are the "white whale" of AgTech</p> <p dir="ltr">6:55 The labor crisis in farming</p> <p dir="ltr">9:20 Why AgTech never scaled</p> <p dir="ltr">9:51 NetSuite - For the first time, you can try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, go to https://NetSuite.ai/TWIST</p> <p dir="ltr">10:51 Inside Reservoir's business model</p> <p dir="ltr">17:44 Agriculture as national security</p> <p dir="ltr">20:09 Squarespace - Turn your idea into a beautiful website! Go to https://www.squarespace.com/twist for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.</p> <p dir="ltr">22:15 Did AI beat a designer at design?</p> <p dir="ltr">30:56 YSecurity - The on-demand security team for startups. Need enterprise-grade security without hiring a $400k CISO? YSecurity gives you 40+ expert engineers, matched to exactly what you need, by the hour, with your first six hours completely free. Go to https://YSecurity.io/TWIST</p> <p dir="ltr">37:23 The "do no harm" college earnings test</p> <p dir="ltr">43:27 Brown University students cheated on their midterms</p> <p dir="ltr">52:22 Lon's streaming recommendations</p> <p dir="ltr">59:46 Jason's new snake grabber</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: <a href="https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com">https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Check out the TWIST500: <a href="https://www.twist500.com">https://www.twist500.com</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: <a href="https://rb.gy/v19fcp">https://rb.gy/v19fcp</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Lon:</p> <p dir="ltr">X: <a href="https://x.com/lons">https://x.com/lons</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Alex:</p> <p dir="ltr">X: <a href="https://x.com/alex">https://x.com/alex</a></p> <p dir="ltr">LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Jason:</p> <p dir="ltr">X: <a href="https://twitter.com/Jason">https://twitter.com/Jason</a></p> <p dir="ltr">LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Check out all our partner offers: <a href="https://partners.launch.co/">https://partners.launch.co/</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Great TWIST interviews: <a href="https://youtu.be/pvJa2pzuXWQ">Will Guidara,</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/9dHN4YFkgv4">Eoghan McCabe</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-on-mod-revolt-building-a/id315114957?i=1000617333424"> Steve Huffman</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-on-early-rejection-customer/id315114957?i=1000611761112"> Brian Chesky</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/y2UMzSqX94Q">Bob Moesta,</a> <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/box-ceo-aaron-levie-breaks-down-box-ai-and-generative/id315114957?i=1000612384545"> Aaron Levie</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sophia-amoruso-on-branding-raising-a-fund-portfolio/id315114957?i=1000601352978"> Sophia Amoruso</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/reid-hoffman-on-ais-crescendo-moment-regulation-and/id315114957?i=1000612548498"> Reid Hoffman</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snowflake-ceo-frank-slootman-on-moving-the-needle-win/id315114957?i=1000602560622"> Frank Slootman</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/billy-mcfarland-on-fyre-fest-fraud-failure-hacking/id315114957?i=1000610922577"> Billy McFarland</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Check out Jason's suite of newsletters: <a href="https://substack.com/@calacanis">https://substack.com/@calacanis</a></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow TWiST:</p> <p dir="ltr">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/TWiStartups">https://twitter.com/TWiStartups</a></p> <p dir="ltr">YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin">https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups">https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups</a></p> <p dir="ltr">TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups">https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Substack: <a href="https://twistartups.substack.com">https://twistartups.substack.com</a></p>