ICYMI: Billy McFarland, Big Tech Earnings, Text-to-Pitch Deck, and more! | TWiST Weekly Recap
Hi everybody!
We had a huge week last week.
Here are some quick highlights:
Monday (E1727) - Tome CEO Keith Peiris on his generative AI text-to-pitch deck software.
Tuesday (E1728) - Jason breaks down Grimes’s fascinating new AI-powered business model, which might change the music industry.
Wednesday (E1729) - Sunny and Vinny are back for another AI roundtable. Highlight: what’s going on with OpenAI’s source code?
Thursday (E1730) - Billy McFarland approaches the Fyre Fest fraud from a founder/startup perspective.
Friday (E1731) - TechCrunch’s Alex Wilhelm joins to break down big tech earnings week.
Producer’s Picks:
Nick:
One of my personal favorite recurring guests, TechCrunch’s Alex Wilhelm, joined E1731 on Friday to break down big tech earnings week!
Some major storylines covered:
Alex was great as usual, check it out!
Jon:
My top episode of the week was E1729 featuring Vinny Lingham and Sunny Madra, who led another engaging discussion around AI.
Sunny noted a key difference between developing AI tools and developing mobile apps:
impactful app-building does NOT require a heavy focus on unique data, whereas the efficacy of AI tools is mostly reliant on how valuable a company’s unique datasets are (14:36).
The trio also highlighted some unique challenges of developing defensibility against aggregators.
Overall, E1729 was an eye-opener into the current state and future of AI!
Brian:
For me, last week's standout episode is a little controversial! It was E1730, featuring the infamous Billy McFarland, of Fyre Fest fame.
While this episode sparked a bunch of spirited debate in the YouTube comments, it holds some REALLY valuable lessons for founders, both active and aspiring.
The conversation dives into McFarland's upbringing, revealing the roots of his entrepreneurial passion and helping us understand the incentives that led to him being okay with breaking rules.
But the main takeaway was the impact a strong supporting cast of teammates, board members, and advisors could have on a founder, and what it might have done for Billy.
This episode emphasizes the significance of facing adversity with integrity and embracing failure honestly.
Partners:
Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub - Apply in 5 minutes for six figures in discounts at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups
Clumio - Start a free backup, or sign up for a demo at https://clumio.com/twist
Mercury - Apply in minutes and get up to $5M in FDIC insurance at https://mercury.com
Squarespace - Use code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://Squarespace.com/TWIST
LinkedIn Marketing - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups
Brilliant.org - Get 20% off an annual subscription at brilliant.org/twist
CacheFly - Get 10 terabytes free by signing up at https://twist.cachefly.com
House of Macadamias - Get 20% off and a free bottle of cold-pressed macadamia oil at https://houseofmacadamias.com/twist by using code TWIST20
Notion - Apply for Notion for Startups at https://notion.com/jason
Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist
Pilot - Get 20% off your first 6 months of accounting services at https://pilot.com/twist
Hyperice - Get $50 off your order of $150 or more with code TWIST50 at http://hyperice.com
Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist
Miro - Sign up for a free account at https://miro.com/startups
Crowdbotics - Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowdbotics.com/twist