AI Rebuilt Every YC W26 Startup. Should Founders Be Scared? | E2271
This Week in Startups
Intro
Jason Calacanis and Lon Harris set the 2026 show agenda around tactical advice, expert guests, and distribution, while integrating sponsor reads.
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Deel - deel.com/twist
Grasshopper Bank - grasshopper.bank/twist
Render - render.com/twist
Plaud - Plaud.ai/twist
An AI “holding company” rebuilt dozens of YC Winter ‘26 startups in one weekend. Now we’re bringing the founder responsible into Jason’s Courtroom to defend himself.
PLUS a live demo of Boardy, the AI that acts like a virtual board member and makes crucial introductions. Find out why he gets to have so much agency, how creator Andrew D’Souza used him to raise his own $17 million round, and how this company ever plans to actually make money.
Plus Jason celebrates Apple’s 50th anniversary with a fiery rant about milking the ghost of Steve Jobs… Why OpenAI is acquiring a tech podcast… Jason’s favorite weighted vest for rucking… AND Lon’s Off Duty weekend streaming picks.
Guests
Marik Hazan: https://x.com/MarikHazan
Feltsense: https://feltsense.com/
Andrew D’Souza: https://x.com/andrewdsouza
Boardy: https://www.boardy.ai/
Timestamps:
0:00 Jason's direction for TWiST and thoughts on legacy media
5:14 Marik of Feltsense joins the show
6:10 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!
7:10 Marik's viral YC replicator stunt
9:45 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.
20:39 Grasshopper bank - Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account.
21:33 Feltsense founder goes on trial!
25:26 Jason dunks on Bank of America's app
27:59 TBPN acquired by OpenAI
29:28 The All In Podcast is worth $1B!
30:13 Render - Find out why 5 million developers are already using the all-in-one cloud platform, Render. Go to https://render.com/twist and apply for the Render Startup Program to get $500-$100,000 in free credits, depending on your stage and backers.
33:02 Andrew D'Souza joins the show along with his agent, Boardy!
43:17 So how does Boardy make money?
48:32 Lon is becoming more and more "AI-pilled."
50:41 Tactical/ practical: "If we have data, let's look at data. If all we have are opinions, let's go with mine." -Jim Barskdale, former CEO of Netscape
1:01:00 Tactical/ practical: hire a PR firm to report on your competitors' wrongdoings.
1:02:58 Jason calls out Apple for being DISGRAZIAD!
1:15:09 Lon's TV pick of the week: "Something Very Bad is Going to Happen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMc_pWm7G7o
1:19:52 Become an Angel Investor at https://thesyndicate.com/
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