DiscoverThis Week in StartupsFact-Checking Mark Rober, and the Fall of TechCrunch | E2101
Fact-Checking Mark Rober, and the Fall of TechCrunch | E2101

Fact-Checking Mark Rober, and the Fall of TechCrunch | E2101

Update: 2025-03-21
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Today’s show: Jason, Alex, and Lon break down a subreddit question: A founder builds 100% of the product, is promised equity—and now he’s being pushed out. We break down exactly what he should do next. Plus, YouTuber Mark Rober’s viral Tesla test gets fact-checked by a small creator, and the results don’t look great for Mark. Finally, TechCrunch gets quietly sold to Regent in what looks like a fire sale. Is this the end of an era for tech media?


Timestamps:

(0:00 ) Episode Teaser(1:25 ) Jason's memories of Tony Hsieh

(4:09 ) High stakes poker stories with Tony Hsieh

(7:28 ) Reflecting on joy and fun in life

(9:45 ) Atlassian - Head to ⁠https://www.⁠⁠atlassian.com/startups/twist to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.(11:46 ) Founder question from Reddit

(20:12 ) Fidelity Private Shares℠ - Visit ⁠https://fidelityprivateshares.com⁠! Mention our podcast and receive 20% off your first-year paid subscription.

(21:52 ) Subreddit question: Stealth vs. building in public(27:33 ) Update: Mark Rober's Looney Tunes wall experiment

(31:21 ) Lemon.io - Get $2000 off your first hire at http://lemon.io/hire

(37:50 ) Lessons from the Mark Rober experiment

(40:24 ) The future of tech journalism and subscription models

(47:34 ) Jason’s idea for a gadget museum

(50:12 ) Updates on CoreWeave and Klarna IPOs

(51:43 ) Bipartisan bill to amend Section 230

(56:29 ) Algorithms and their impact on Section 230

(59:00 ) Global perspectives on online speech and anonymity

(1:00:00 ) Podcast closing and call for social media engagement

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp


Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm


Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis


Thank you to our partners:

(9:45 ) Atlassian - Head to ⁠https://www.⁠⁠atlassian.com/startups/twist to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.

(20:12 ) Fidelity Private Shares℠ - Visit ⁠https://fidelityprivateshares.com⁠! Mention our podcast and receive 20% off your first-year paid subscription.

(31:21 ) Lemon.io - Get $2000 off your first hire at http://lemon.io/hire


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: https://substack.com/@calacanis


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Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com


Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

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Fact-Checking Mark Rober, and the Fall of TechCrunch | E2101

Fact-Checking Mark Rober, and the Fall of TechCrunch | E2101

Jason Calacanis