About This Episode
<p dir="ltr">This Week In Startups is made possible by:</p> <p dir="ltr">Quo<br /> <a href="https://quo.com/TWiST">https://quo.com/TWiST</a></p> <p dir="ltr">PayPal Open<br /> <a href="https://paypalopen.com">https://paypalopen.com</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Northwest Registered Agent<br /> <a href="https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist">https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist</a></p> <p><strong><br /> <br /></strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Today's show:</p> <p dir="ltr">*Jason spent $11 building out PodMeme, an AI tool that tracks down the best segments from top podcasts about a specific topic, then stitches them together into a single stream. His post laying out how he did it, featuring a simple screenshot of the product, got all the way to 1.1M views in just a few days.</p> <p dir="ltr">It's a simple fact: builders love to see what other people are building, and growing your new project "in public," sharing your journey on social media, is a great way to develop buzz around your product before it even exists.</p> <p dir="ltr">Today's guest Thibault "Tibo" Louis-Lucas walks us through how he grew products like Tweet Hunter and Taplio on his social media account, using social media buzz and a focus on tools for creators to very quickly expand to over $1M ARR.</p> <p dir="ltr">PLUS why Apple would only sue OpenAI if they knew they had them dead to rights… why Uber and Waymo are fighting over DC robotaxis… Jason's response to the public backlash against surveillance startup Flock Safety… and the guys remember iconic New Zealand actor Sam Neill.</p> <p dir="ltr">Guest:</p> <p dir="ltr">Tibo Louis-Lucas on X: <a href="https://x.com/tibo_maker">https://x.com/tibo_maker</a></p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://revid.ai">Revid.ai</a>: <a href="https://www.revid.ai/">https://www.revid.ai/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Tweet Hunter: <a href="https://tweethunter.io/">https://tweethunter.io/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Taplio: <a href="https://taplio.com/">https://taplio.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Relevant Links:</p> <p dir="ltr">Lemlist: <a href="https://www.lemlist.com/">https://www.lemlist.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">GRIN influencer marketing: <a href="https://grin.co/">https://grin.co/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">TechCrunch: "Apple Sues OpenAI": <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/10/apple-sues-openai-over-alleged-trade-secret-theft/"> https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/10/apple-sues-openai-over-alleged-trade-secret-theft/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">We Must Act Now statement: <a href="https://www.wemustactnow.ai/">https://www.wemustactnow.ai/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">TechCrunch: "Uber's Robotaxi Lobbying Effort": <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/13/ubers-robotaxi-lobbying-effort-has-put-it-on-a-collision-course-with-waymo/"> https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/13/ubers-robotaxi-lobbying-effort-has-put-it-on-a-collision-course-with-waymo/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">DC Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment of 2026: <a href="https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/2003462">https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/2003462</a></p> <p dir="ltr">DoorDash: Meet Dot: <a href="https://about.doordash.com/en-us/dot">https://about.doordash.com/en-us/dot</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Flock Safety: <a href="https://www.flocksafety.com/">https://www.flocksafety.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">DeFlock: <a href="https://deflock.org/">https://deflock.org/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Gigazine: Flock accuses Deflock of being a "terrorist org": <a href="https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20260209-flock-ceo-deflock/#gsc.tab=0"> https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20260209-flock-ceo-deflock/#gsc.tab=0</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Unifi AI Security Systems: <a href="https://ui.com/physical-security">https://ui.com/physical-security</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Jason's PodMeme post: <a href="https://x.com/Jason/status/2076231055443440105">https://x.com/Jason/status/2076231055443440105</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Jason responds to Justine Bateman: <a href="https://x.com/Jason/status/2076326740050206959">https://x.com/Jason/status/2076326740050206959</a></p> <p dir="ltr">NYT Sam Neill obituary: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/movies/sam-neill-dead.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/movies/sam-neill-dead.html</a></p> <p dir="ltr">"Possession" trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLXW-oVbTxE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLXW-oVbTxE</a></p> <p dir="ltr">FanEdit: <a href="https://fanedit.org/forums/news-publisher/">https://fanedit.org/forums/news-publisher/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">"Manhunter" trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLqHlg2fAnE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLqHlg2fAnE</a></p> <p dir="ltr">HBO "The Man Will Burn" trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRhUYPtp6Ao">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRhUYPtp6Ao</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Timestamps:</p> <p dir="ltr">0:00 There's no air conditioning in Paris<br /> 7:27 Tibo Maker's "ship 1 product a week" challenge<br /> 9:24 The power of building products in public<br /> 10:59 Quo (formerly OpenPhone) - Quo gives you a clean, modern way to handle every customer call, text, and thread all in one place. Try it free at https://quo.com/TWiST<br /> 12:04 Excitement for JCal's "PodMeme" set-up<br /> 15:40 Compounding an audience and enlisting influencers<br /> 19:13 Your follower count is not important any more<br /> 20:59 PayPal - Built for payments, growth, and agentic. Paypal Open, built for all business. Visit https://paypalopen.com to get started<br /> 22:28 How Tibo got banned on LinkedIn twice<br /> 28:48 Apple sues OpenAI<br /> 30:59 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<br /> 38:44 How OpenAI should have handled the New York Times<br /> 45:10 DC's new robotaxi bill<br /> 52:06 Managing the AV and delivery-bot transition<br /> 53:23 Economists warn of AI job displacement<br /> 1:07:00 How Jason would fix Flock's messaging<br /> 1:17:26 Remembering Sam Neill<br /> 1:23:05 Lon's Dream AI edit<br /> 1:26:35 HBO's Burning Man docuseries</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> <p> </p>