Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Lightfield
https://lightfield.app
Northwest Registered Agent
northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain
Rippling
Rippling.ai/twist
Today’s show:
Bill Gates dropped a 6,000 word warning: AI will be “the greatest equalizer ever invented, or the worst sort of injustice.” The Microsoft icon has an AI agenda for the US: new national institutions, AI use taxes, and jobs legally reserved for humans only.
Our VC roundtable guests — Sheel Mohnot (Better Tomorrow Ventures), Dave McClure (Practical Venture Capital), and Hussein Kanji — push back hard. Is taxing profits a better fix for AI taking jobs than taxing the tokens themselves?
PLUS: Meta’s $17B kids safety settlement… does it go far enough? Why does Stripe want OpenRouter? A peek at the VC’s actual portfolio mark-ups. AND begun, the AI agent wars have. Our panel chooses between OpenClaw, Instinct, and Grok Bot.
Guests:
Sheel Mohnot on X: https://x.com/pitdesi
Better Tomorrow Ventures: https://www.btv.vc/
Dave McClure on X: https://x.com/davemcclure
Practical Venture Capital: practicalvc.com
Hussein Kanji on X: https://x.com/hkanji
Hoxton Ventures: hoxtonventures.com
Relevant Links
GatesNotes: “The turbulent AI era is here”: gatesnotes.com/a-turbulent-ai-era-and-critical-choices-to-make
NPR: Meta settlement coverage: npr.org/2026/08/26/nx-s1-5944781/meta-settlement-child-safety-lawsuit
TechCrunch: Stripe agrees to buy OpenRouter: techcrunch.com/2026/08/16/stripe-will-reportedly-acquire-ai-gateway-startup-openrouter-for-7b
Skild AI S1 Demo: skild.ai/blogs/s1
Instinct AI agent (waitlist): instinct.co
TechCrunch: Instinct coverage: techcrunch.com/2026/08/24/instincts-powerful-ai-assistant-is-raising-privacy-and-security-concerns
CNBC: OpenAI CFO says IPO is coming in 2027: cnbc.com/2026/08/19/open-ai-ipo-timing-2027-friar.html
Basis: getbasis.ai
TaxGPT: taxgpt.com
Cusp AI: cusp.ai
Abacus: goabacus.co
Micro1: micro1.ai
Mottu: https://mottu.com.br/
EquityBee: equitybee.com
Kiva: kiva.org
Timestamps:
0:00 It's Hussein's first time on the VC Roundtable!
1:25 Gates says "turbulent era" for AI is here
8:12 Microloans, Kiva, and "universal basic income"
8:39 Thanks to our partner, Lightfield, the AI-native CRM that updates itself, so you never have to! Try it for free at https://lightfield.app
12:16 Why sole proprietorships may be AI's biggest beneficiary
19:45 Got a new business idea? Northwest helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more, with no purchase required! Learn more at northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain
20:16 Should the gov't take a stake in AI labs?
29:40 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to Rippling.ai/twist to get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.
32:00 Meta's $17.1B settlement
44:30 Is anything still fundable outside of AI?
45:45 Stripe and SpaceX deals
55:10 Skild AI's pancake flipping demo
59:05 Sheel's Hottest Takes
1:03:53 Dave's Charts
1:08:23 Who loses money when there are no IPOs?
1:16:05 The Agent Wars heat up
1:24:12 Everyone's favorite investments
Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: ticker.thisweekinstartups.com
Check out the TWIST500: twist500.com
Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
Follow Lon:
X: https://x.com/lons
Follow Jason:
X: twitter.com/Jason
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
Check out all our partner offers: partners.launch.co
Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: substack.com/@calacanis
Follow TWiST:
Twitter: twitter.com/TWiStartups
YouTube: youtube.com/thisweekin
Instagram: instagram.com/thisweekinstartups
TikTok: tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
Substack: twistartups.substack.com
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Lightfield
https://lightfield.app
Northwest Registered Agent
northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain
Rippling
Rippling.ai/twist
Today’s show:
Bill Gates dropped a 6,000 word warning: AI will be “the greatest equalizer ever invented, or the worst sort of injustice.” The Microsoft icon has an AI agenda for the US: new national institutions, AI use taxes, and jobs legally reserved for humans only.
Our VC roundtable guests — Sheel Mohnot (Better Tomorrow Ventures), Dave McClure (Practical Venture Capital), and Hussein Kanji — push back hard. Is taxing profits a better fix for AI taking jobs than taxing the tokens themselves?
PLUS: Meta’s $17B kids safety settlement… does it go far enough? Why does Stripe want OpenRouter? A peek at the VC’s actual portfolio mark-ups. AND begun, the AI agent wars have. Our panel chooses between OpenClaw, Instinct, and Grok Bot.
Guests:
Sheel Mohnot on X: https://x.com/pitdesi
Better Tomorrow Ventures: https://www.btv.vc/
Dave McClure on X: https://x.com/davemcclure
Practical Venture Capital: practicalvc.com
Hussein Kanji on X: https://x.com/hkanji
Hoxton Ventures: hoxtonventures.com
Relevant Links
GatesNotes: “The turbulent AI era is here”: gatesnotes.com/a-turbulent-ai-era-and-critical-choices-to-make
NPR: Meta settlement coverage: npr.org/2026/08/26/nx-s1-5944781/meta-settlement-child-safety-lawsuit
TechCrunch: Stripe agrees to buy OpenRouter: techcrunch.com/2026/08/16/stripe-will-reportedly-acquire-ai-gateway-startup-openrouter-for-7b
Skild AI S1 Demo: skild.ai/blogs/s1
Instinct AI agent (waitlist): instinct.co
TechCrunch: Instinct coverage: techcrunch.com/2026/08/24/instincts-powerful-ai-assistant-is-raising-privacy-and-security-concerns
CNBC: OpenAI CFO says IPO is coming in 2027: cnbc.com/2026/08/19/open-ai-ipo-timing-2027-friar.html
Basis: getbasis.ai
TaxGPT: taxgpt.com
Cusp AI: cusp.ai
Abacus: goabacus.co
Micro1: micro1.ai
Mottu: https://mottu.com.br/
EquityBee: equitybee.com
Kiva: kiva.org
Timestamps:
0:00 It's Hussein's first time on the VC Roundtable!
1:25 Gates says "turbulent era" for AI is here
8:12 Microloans, Kiva, and "universal basic income"
8:39 Thanks to our partner, Lightfield, the AI-native CRM that updates itself, so you never have to! Try it for free at https://lightfield.app
12:16 Why sole proprietorships may be AI's biggest beneficiary
19:45 Got a new business idea? Northwest helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more, with no purchase required! Learn more at northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain
20:16 Should the gov't take a stake in AI labs?
29:40 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to Rippling.ai/twist to get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.
32:00 Meta's $17.1B settlement
44:30 Is anything still fundable outside of AI?
45:45 Stripe and SpaceX deals
55:10 Skild AI's pancake flipping demo
59:05 Sheel's Hottest Takes
1:03:53 Dave's Charts
1:08:23 Who loses money when there are no IPOs?
1:16:05 The Agent Wars heat up
1:24:12 Everyone's favorite investments
Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: ticker.thisweekinstartups.com
Check out the TWIST500: twist500.com
Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
Follow Lon:
X: https://x.com/lons
Follow Jason:
X: twitter.com/Jason
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
Check out all our partner offers: partners.launch.co
Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: substack.com/@calacanis
Follow TWiST:
Twitter: twitter.com/TWiStartups
YouTube: youtube.com/thisweekin
Instagram: instagram.com/thisweekinstartups
TikTok: tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
Substack: twistartups.substack.com
