This Week in Startups

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Today’s show:

Rama Afullo pitched orbital data centers while working at both Google and SpaceX. At the latter, he was told that the previous staffers who made the suggestion “are no longer at the company.”

So he left and started Satlyt, designing software that allows satellites from different manufacturers to run AI onboard and pool their compute into an orbital network.

Rama joins Jason Calacanis on a new AI Basics to explain why compute is headed to space, and what has to happen to make an orbital data center as cost-effective as one located firmly on the ground.

The benefits of orbital compute are clear: 24/7 solar power in sun-synchronous orbit, avoiding local opposition to new data center construction, and providing needed compute to any spot on earth within just 90 minutes.

Join us for an exclusive chat with one of the builders actually bringing this sci-fi dream to life. And get an answer to the ongoing debate: if space is so cold, why do chips in orbit still overheat?

Guest

Rama Afullo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rama-afullo

Satlyt: https://satlyt.ai/

Book your software into orbit: https://satlyt.ai/book-orbit

Related Links

SpaceX and Google both said no. Now his software is riding a SpaceX rocket next to Google’s (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/13/satlyt-founded-by-a-former-google-and-spacex-product-manager-raises-8m-to-run-ai-on-satellites/

How Satlyt is building local AI for space with Gemma (DeepMind): https://deepmind.google/models/gemma/gemmaverse/satlyt/

Gemma 3 1B: the small model Satlyt has run in orbit: https://huggingface.co/google/gemma-3-1b-pt

NASA Glenn's High-rate Delay Tolerant Networking (HDTN) software: https://software.nasa.gov/software/LEW-19897-2

Google Project Suncatcher: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/google-research/google-project-suncatcher-facts/

Planet (Planet Labs): https://www.planet.com/

Starcloud: https://www.starcloud.com/starcloud-1

SpaceX Starship Flight 15: https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/news/starship-flight-15-launch-date-how-to-watch/ *

Timestamps:

0:00 Rama's origin story

6:08 Why put compute in space?

14:12 Direct-to-cell and the end of classic telco

17:59 Demo: Satlyt's mission operations center

23:08 How will we get our data back from Mars?

27:03 The great overheated chips debate

29:51 Can off-the-shelf hardware survive a launch?

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Today’s show:

Lerer Hippeau managing partner Ben Lerer predicts that venture funds under $500M will raise less money this year than in any other year this past decade. LPs are piling into megafund platforms, while family offices skip commitments for SPVs. For everyone in between, he says, “the middle is cooked.”

On a new TWiST VC roundtable, Lerer joins Jason Calacanis, Jenny Fielding (Everywhere Ventures) and D.A. Wallach (Time BioVentures) to discuss Beezer Clarkson’s data, showing that family offices now put 34% of their VC commitments into SPVs.

OpenAI and Anthropic obviously skew those numbers a bit, but nonetheless, family offices increasingly want to “play venture capitalist” in hot late-stage deals.

What about LPs who sit in five or more platform funds? Don’t they now own all the same companies?

Plus D.A. warns about “freelance investment bankers” collecting SPV fees, Jason shares his 2% one-time SPV fee and his fights to protect pro rata, Jenny flags LPs asking managers for allocations in companies their funds don’t own, and lots more insights from our panel of insiders and experts.

Guests

Ben Lerer on X: https://x.com/benjlerer

Lerer Hippeau: https://www.lererhippeau.com/

Jenny Fielding on X: https://x.com/jefielding

Everywhere Ventures: https://www.everywhere.vc/

D.A. Wallach on X: https://x.com/dawallach

Time BioVentures: https://www.timebioventures.com/

Relevant Links

Haseeb Qureshi on founders shipping a company.md with their pitch: https://x.com/hosseeb/status/2120531493613400210

Travis Kalanick's Atoms raises $1.7B (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/travis-kalanicks-robotics-company-raises-1-7b-led-by-a16z/

Jelly, Everywhere Ventures' private market intelligence platform (beta waitlist): https://jelly.buildwitheverywhere.com/

Jack Dorsey takes on Slack with Buzz (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/21/jack-dorsey-is-taking-on-slack-with-buzz-a-group-chat-platform-for-teams-and-their-ai-agents/

Crosby raises a $60M Series B for its AI law firm (Global Legal Post): https://www.globallegalpost.com/news/cooley-backed-contract-review-start-up-crosby-raises-60m-in-fresh-funding-1011864931

Beezer Clarkson's thread: family offices put 34% of VC commitments into SPVs: https://x.com/Beezer232/status/2120231905618432314

Anthropic's IPO roadshow site and video: https://ipo.anthropic.com/us/

Anthropic sets an IPO price range of $70 to $78 per share (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/10/anthropic-sets-ipo-price-range-of-70-to-78-per-share-to-reach-an-implied-valuation-of-1-404-trillion/

Experts push back on Amodei's disease timeline (Moneywise via Yahoo Finance): https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/wildly-off-impossible-anthropics-dario-104000073.html

D.A. Wallach on TBPN: https://x.com/tbpn/status/2118838400539361298

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's GPU cluster to "cure, prevent or manage all diseases" (Engadget): https://www.engadget.com/the-chan-zuckerberg-initiative-is-building-a-massive-gpu-cluster-to-cure-prevent-or-manage-all-diseases-205454041.html

Neuralink: https://neuralink.com

LaunchPoint: https://www.launchpointhq.com

Abliteration.ai is making a business out of removing AI guardrails (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/03/abliteration-ai-is-making-a-business-out-of-removing-ai-guardrails/

Timestamps:

0:00 AI is moving the ground under every startup’s feet

7:52 Plaud - If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

8:39 Why founders are shipping a company.md with their pitch

10:40 Superhuman - Superhuman Go is an AI chat that's always there when you need it, already aware of what you're doing, and doesn't ask you to start from zero. Sign up to get the best in AI at https://superhuman.com

12:56 When you disagree with your AI

18:23 The one trait founders can’t game

19:20 Is VC still a profession in the future?

22:02 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://odoo.com/twist

31:40 Stripe - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on https://stripe.com/startups.

32:49 Distribution, data moats, and enterprise hardening

37:58 The AI law firm that charges for work, not time

47:14 Jason’s late-stage SPV program

52:02 Small funds are shrinking

59:32 Athena - Get $1,500 off your first EA at https://www.athena.com/jcal

1:00:50 Dario’s roadshow video highlights

1:09:25 Checking the panel’s P-Dario scores

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Today’s show:

Nvidia’s board is investigating CEO Jensen Huang after he admitted to an affair with Alice Huang (no relation), the leader of Singapore cloud computing and data center interest Megaspeed. US officials now believe that Alice Huang may have been recruited by Chinese intelligence to spy on the Nvidia chief or use him as an asset.

Jason’s take: benching Jensen would be the wrong move, and play precisely into the Chinese government’s hands.

On a Monday all-news special, Jason and Lon dig into the unfolding Nvidia scandal: what it means about Jensen’s past statements regarding Chinese AI, the seemingly intractable chip diversion problem, and whether or not the China hawks were actually right all along on the issue of GPU exports.

Plus: is Sequoia vs. Roelof Botha really happening, or is it just a media narrative? Why Apple CEO John Ternus wants to get more aggressive about using Siri as an agent. And why Jason thinks Democrat will focus more on slowing the spread of self-driving cars and humanoid robots rather than stalling new data centers.

Relevant Links

Nvidia investigates Jensen Huang's relationship with alleged Chinese spy (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/08/nvidia-jensen-huang-investigation-china-spy.html

What is Megaspeed? The Nvidia chip buyer at the center of the story (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/09/megaspeed-nvidia-jensen-huang-alice-huang.html

What the Nvidia board's probe could look at (Fortune): https://fortune.com/2026/11/09/nvidia-board-probe-jensen-huang-affair-suspected-china-spy-statements/

Shaun Maguire on nation-state kompromat: https://x.com/shaunmmaguire/status/2119582151985574371

Sequoia hits rewind, undoing 20 years of expansion (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/04/sequoia-hits-rewind-undoing-20-years-of-expansion/

FT: Sequoia partners blindsided by Botha's SpaceX board seat (summary): https://mlq.ai/news/sequoia-partners-were-blindsided-when-roelof-botha-joined-spacexs-board-ft-reports/

Ternus presses Federighi to move faster on an agentic Siri (The Next Web, via Bloomberg): https://thenextweb.com/news/ternus-federighi-agentic-siri-apple-ai-bloomberg

Siri chief Mike Rockwell may step down (MacRumors): https://www.macrumors.com/2026/11/09/apple-siri-boss-may-leave/

Introducing Inkling 2 Small (Thinking Machines): https://thinkingmachines.ai/news/inkling-2-small/

Thinking Machines nears a $5B round at a $40B valuation (Dealroom): https://dealroom.co/news/170334-thinking-machines-lab-nears-5b-round-at-40b-valuation-led-by-accel/

Nous Research introduces Arete-27B (X): https://x.com/NousResearch/status/2118822925445050435

Trump says deportations were "too tough" and hurt him in the midterms (NBC News): https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-says-deportations-tough-hurt-midterms-rcna608208

Democratic wave has the robotaxi industry sweating (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2026/11/05/democrat-election-robotaxi-industry

Musk bet big on keeping Texas red. What now for his companies? (CNN): https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/05/business/musk-texas-donations-midterms-spacex-tesla

ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ): https://www.ark-funds.com/funds/arkq

Tesla to wind down Cybertruck production to make room for Cybercab (Fox Business): https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/tesla-wind-down-cybertruck-production-texas-factory-next-year-make-room-cybercab

Bring a Trailer: https://bringatrailer.com

Peterson Automotive Museum: https://www.petersen.org

Julian Wasser's 1968 photo of Joan Didion with her Corvette Stingray (Danziger Gallery): https://danzigergallery.com/exhibitions/julian-wasser-joan-didion

Dueling proofs from OpenAI and Anthropic astound scientists (Scientific American): https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dueling-proofs-from-openai-and-anthropic-astound-scientists/

Timestamps:

0:00 Jason's in his Jay Gatsby era

2:05 Plaud - If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

3:22 How much damage does this scandal do to Nvidia?

5:57 Corporate espionage and Shaun Maguire's thread

10:49 Stripe - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on https://stripe.com/startups.

15:20 Winning the superintelligence race

17:43 Time to buy the Nvidia dip? (Not investment advice)

22:55 Northwest Registered Agent - Got a new business idea? Northwest Registered Agent helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more - with no purchase required! Learn more at https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twistdomain

23:44 Sequoia closes London office, but why?

27:45 Why Roelof's SpaceX board seat matters.

32:12 GoDaddy - GoDaddy helps founders seek out the perfect domain and will work through brokers if the name you want is already owned by someone else. Find out more at https://GoDaddy.com.

34:16 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.

38:04 Apple CEO wants Siri to get more agentic

42:05 Lon got a new iMac!

45:45 Upwork - Upwork helps businesses find highly skilled freelance professionals for specialized work. Post your job for free at https://www.upwork.com

46:56 New models from Thinking Machines + Nous

52:10 Local first, then on the cloud: how agent should run

57:00 Gov. Gina Hinojosa and robotaxi rules

1:01:40 Where to put the new data centers

1:16:08 Refusing the "exponential time hypothesis"

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X: https://twitter.com/Jason

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Today’s show:

Democrats swept the midterms, and a lot of their candidates ran explicitly against AI data centers. Then on Thursday, the Nasdaq fell 5%. But fear not: Jason says the panic is overblown. Back in August, he predicted that the anti-data center rhetoric on the campaign trail would transform into cutting a deal once the voters were counted.

On TWiST, Jason and Lon discuss the route to compromise that could define the next year of AI discourse. Find out why Jason still gives President Trump an A+ on AI, even as he lost touch with the country’s mood on other issues.

Plus we’re checking out some highlights from the archive, as the show followed the decline of Trump 2.0 in real time, and Jason explains his simple method for staying informed and in touch with everyday reality. (Talk to lots of different people!)

Plus: OpenAI’s post-election pledge, Anthropic’s first content licensing deal, Apple cuts engineer AI budgets, Lon’s latest This Week in AI demo, and the guys get mega-hyped for “Godzilla Minus Zero.”

Relevant Links

Voters rebuff data centers in every ballot measure except one (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/04/data-center-ballot-measures-2026-midterm.html

Hinojosa's call for a data center moratorium until the legislature acts (campaign): https://ginafortexas.com/2026/07/new-hinojosa-calls-on-greg-abbott-to-put-moratorium-on-data-centers-until-a-legislative-session-that-puts-texans-first/

Talarico defeats Ken Paxton (Texas Tribune): https://www.texastribune.org/2026/11/03/texas-ken-paxton-james-talarico-us-senate-elections-2026/

Microsoft pulls out of its UK data center deal with Nscale (Computing): https://computing.co.uk/news/2026/ai/microsoft-exits-nscale-deal-ipo-at-risk

Gavin Baker on TX data center rules: https://x.com/GavinSBaker/status/2118420042283102604

California's billionaire tax (Prop 40) goes down (Bloomberg): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-05/california-voters-poised-to-reject-first-ever-billionaire-tax

TWiST E2113 w/ Steven Borrelli of Cuts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qxDoJvzSiY

TWiST E2332 w/ Jason’s data center prediction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojSmG6xHCdI

OpenAI pledges to pay for its data centers' power and halt NDAs (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/05/openai-to-pay-for-data-center-power-after-election-shows-ai-concern.html

Anthropic strikes its first licensing deal, with the AP, for election coverage (Adweek): https://www.adweek.com/media/anthropic-licensing-deal-ap-election/

The New York Times v. OpenAI discovery fight (Bloomberg Law): https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/new-york-times-wants-access-to-top-openai-executives-documents

Apple's first touchscreen MacBook Pro, from $2,899 (Tom's Guide): https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/macbooks/apple-reveals-oled-touchscreen-macbook-pro

Lon’s Plaud demo post: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/p/record-your-ideas-with-plaud-then

Plaud MCP for ChatGPT and Claude: https://in.plaud.ai/blogs/news/plaud-mcp-for-chatgpt-and-claude

Terry Black's Barbecue: https://terryblacksbbq.com

P. Terry's: https://www.pterrys.com

Torchy's Tacos: https://torchystacos.com

Velvet Taco: https://www.velvettaco.com

”Godzilla Minus Zero” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu0pH5BuCPM

“Hope” trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYRc2Gl7geY

“Dark Matter” Season 2 trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhB6_1UbR7s

“House of the Dragon” Season 3 trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JlMjgqduVw

Timestamps:

0:00 Jason’s initial take on the Blue Wave
6:40 The data center pause was about appeasing voters
10:55 Odoo - The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://Odoo.com/twist
11:56 Corruption, Iran, and the cost of living brought down Republicans
16:18 How the Cuts CEO shifted Jason’s tariff take
21:12 Sentry - New users can get $240 in free credits when they go to https://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST26
29:06 Plaud - If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!
29:15 Lon’s Plaud Agent demo
33:40 Stripe - Stripe Startups offers early-stage, venture-backed startups access to Stripe fee credits and more. Apply today on https://stripe.com/startups.
34:48 Leadership is repetition
40:19 Why AI labs should revenue share with publishers
50:16 Pricing out the new touchscreen MacBook Pro
56:46 Income taxes, capital gains, and margin loans
1:01:17 Godzilla returns in “Minus Zero”

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Today’s show:

Democrats took the House and Senate, and overnight trading suggested a huge market drop. But in the morning, the markets went another way, and D.A. Wallach thinks he knows why. A Congress that can’t get anything done can’t do anything BAD, like start a war or a tariff fight. The only thing markets hate than gridlock is uncertainty.

On the first post-midterm This Week in VC roundtable, Jason is joined by Wallach (Time BioVentures), Elana Gold (Two Roads Capital), and Tomasz Tunguz (Theory Ventures).

Together, they work out what a split government could mean for tech and venture. Data centers are now a political target for both parties. 2027 might be the last major window for big M&A. Plus, D.A. worries that an intergenerational war could be brewing, between the people who own AI’s upside, and the young workers who fear getting replaced.

Plus thoughts on Cava’s 22% layoffs, Sequoia shutting down its Scouts and Arc program, the SPV “boiler room,” and more.

Guests

D.A. Wallach on X: https://x.com/dawallach

Time BioVentures: https://www.timebioventures.com/

Elana Gold on X: https://x.com/ItsElanaGold

Two Roads Capital: https://tworoads.vc/

Tomasz Tunguz on X: https://x.com/ttunguz

Theory Ventures: https://theoryvc.com/

Relevant Links:

NBC exit poll: 56% say AI and data centers were a crucial or major factor (DCD): https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/nbc-exit-poll-56-say-ai-data-centers-were-a-crucial-or-major-factor-in-congressional-vote-decision/

How AI backlash shaped the 2026 midterms (TIME): https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/midterm-elections-results-ai-industry-data-centers/

Musk on chips outrunning electricity in 2026, with Elon's reply: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2117649850644705591

Panthalassa raises $140M for wave-powered AI compute at sea (Tom's Hardware): https://tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/palantir-co-founder-peter-thiel-backs-usd140m-wave-powered-ai-data-center-startup-panthalassa-aims-to-run-offshore-compute-nodes-using-ocean-energy

Marvell to buy Lumentum in a $115B deal (The Next Web): https://thenextweb.com/news/marvell-lumentum-acquisition-115bn-all-stock

San Francisco mourns bodega cat killed by a Waymo (CBS SF): https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/sf-mission-district-mourns-store-cat-killed-by-waymo

Meta launches $115M program to train workers for data center jobs (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2026/06/08/meta-data-center-workforce-academy-job-guarantee

Keep track of the value you're getting from AI (TWiST): https://twistartups.substack.com/p/keep-track-of-the-value-youre-getting-da4

Meta's Muse hits 10.9M downloads (Yahoo Finance): https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/metas-muse-ai-agent-hits-109-million-downloads-as-chatgpt-slides-25-153532560.html

Curbie (Revere Robotics): https://www.revererobotics.com/

Canva lays off over 1,200 people amid slowing growth (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/04/canva-lays-off-over-1200-people-amid-slowing-growth/

Ollama raises $65M as it nears 9M developers (Startup Fortune): https://startupfortune.com/ollama-raises-65-million-as-it-grows-to-nearly-9-million-developers/

Sequoia hits rewind, undoing 20 years of expansion (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/04/sequoia-hits-rewind-undoing-20-years-of-expansion/

"The Sequoia of Tomorrow" (Sequoia): https://x.com/sequoia/status/2117961312143855764

Travis Kalanick's Atoms raises $1.7B (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/travis-kalanicks-robotics-company-raises-1-7b-led-by-a16z/

Vast: https://www.vastspace.com

SEC accredited investor exam could expand private-market access (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/01/sec-accredited-investor-exam-private-markets.html

General Compute raises a $100M Series A (DCD): https://datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/neocloud-general-compute-raises-100m-in-series-a-funding-round

Hyperliquid CEO Jeff Yan on democratizing pre-IPO access (Motley Fool): https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/10/19/hyperliquid-ceo-jeff-yan-says-perpetual-futures-ma/

Kalshi Perps: https://kalshi.com/perps

Aalo Atomics: https://www.aalo.com

Exowatt: https://www.exowatt.com

Timestamps:

0:00 The Blue Wave: Dems take Congress

0:10 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

6:42 What a split gov’t means for defense tech

9:21 Is 2027 the last big window for tech M&A?

11:04 Every.io: For all of your incorporation, banking, payroll, benefits, accounting, taxes or other back-office administration needs, visit https://every.io.

13:44 Are anti-robotaxi laws coming?

18:51 The need for positive AI stories

24:12 Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist

25:59 How AI can make voters smarter

31:22 Self-driving and the future of car insurance

40:17 G2i has been recruiting software engineers for over a decade. Go to https://g2i.co/twist to find out how G2i vets engineers, and can help you hire them in days, not weeks.

45:00 Jason’s $12K Mac Studio

50:12 Sequoia retires its Scouts and Arc programs

58:21 Jason’s barbell: Zipline, Atoms, and Vast

1:01:19 When VC firms go public

1:08:42 Scrap the accredited investor rule

1:14:26 Hyperliquid and permissionless synthetic markets

1:17:17 Kalshi perps and Anthropic price discovery

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