Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Deel - deel.com/twist
LinkedIn - linkedIn.com/twist
Northwest Registered Agent - northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
Plaud - Plaud.ai/twist
Today’s show:
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.
Guest Links:
Ben Ling https://x.com/bling0?lang=en
Bling Capital blingcap.com
Turner Novak https://x.com/TurnerNovak
Banana Capital https://www.bananacapital.vc/
Show Links:
Hanover Park hanoverpark.com
SpaceX buys Cursor cnbc.com/2026/06/16/spacex-spcx-cursor-acquisition-ipo.html
Cursor Composer 2.5 cursor.com/blog/composer-2-5
OpenAI financials source https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/
AMD’s new deskside data center amd.com/en/products/processors/desktops/ryzen/ryzen-ai-halo.html
Perplexity Model Council perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-model-council
OpenRouter Model Fusion openrouter.ai/blog/announcements/fusion-beats-frontier
Exo Labs exolabs.net
Snap Specs specs.com
Timestamps:
0:35 Guest introductions
2:03 SpaceX acquires Cursor for $60B
5:33 The golden era of M&A
8:33 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 northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
11:24 Cursor's negative gross margins & the compute problem
12:42 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!
14:24 Rolling your own model: When does it make sense?
18:55 LinkedIn: Thanks to our partners at LinkedIn! Post your job for free at linkedIn.com/twist then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs' new AI assistant.
22:13 The "headless product" thesis
27:51 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 deel.com/twist to learn more.
33:42 OpenAI financials leaked: $13B revenue, $38.5B net loss
39:33 Where does AI value accumulate?
44:54 Portfolio Spotlight: Hanover Park
47:57 Seed stage graduation rates have fallen from 50% to 25%
54:19 The four Ds of venture: Deal flow, Decisions, Doubling down, Distributions
1:05:56 How to find 'undiscovered gems'
1:30:19 Snap Specs AR glasses: $2,195, and a bit chunky
1:38:49 Tribute to Joshua Baer, Capital Factory's founder
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 Alex:
X: https://x.com/alex
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm
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:
Deel - deel.com/twist
LinkedIn - linkedIn.com/twist
Northwest Registered Agent - northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
Plaud - Plaud.ai/twist
Today’s show:
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.
Guest Links:
Ben Ling https://x.com/bling0?lang=en
Bling Capital blingcap.com
Turner Novak https://x.com/TurnerNovak
Banana Capital https://www.bananacapital.vc/
Show Links:
Hanover Park hanoverpark.com
SpaceX buys Cursor cnbc.com/2026/06/16/spacex-spcx-cursor-acquisition-ipo.html
Cursor Composer 2.5 cursor.com/blog/composer-2-5
OpenAI financials source https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/
AMD’s new deskside data center amd.com/en/products/processors/desktops/ryzen/ryzen-ai-halo.html
Perplexity Model Council perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-model-council
OpenRouter Model Fusion openrouter.ai/blog/announcements/fusion-beats-frontier
Exo Labs exolabs.net
Snap Specs specs.com
Timestamps:
0:35 Guest introductions
2:03 SpaceX acquires Cursor for $60B
5:33 The golden era of M&A
8:33 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 northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
11:24 Cursor's negative gross margins & the compute problem
12:42 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!
14:24 Rolling your own model: When does it make sense?
18:55 LinkedIn: Thanks to our partners at LinkedIn! Post your job for free at linkedIn.com/twist then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs' new AI assistant.
22:13 The "headless product" thesis
27:51 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 deel.com/twist to learn more.
33:42 OpenAI financials leaked: $13B revenue, $38.5B net loss
39:33 Where does AI value accumulate?
44:54 Portfolio Spotlight: Hanover Park
47:57 Seed stage graduation rates have fallen from 50% to 25%
54:19 The four Ds of venture: Deal flow, Decisions, Doubling down, Distributions
1:05:56 How to find 'undiscovered gems'
1:30:19 Snap Specs AR glasses: $2,195, and a bit chunky
1:38:49 Tribute to Joshua Baer, Capital Factory's founder
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 Alex:
X: https://x.com/alex
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm
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
