TWiST News: Face Robots, Solar's Growth, The Polymarket Mess, and YC's Latest Call for Startups | E2044

This Week in Startups is brought to you by…

Fundrise provides access to diversified portfolios of private real estate to all investors with their industry leading, easy to use platform. Sign up today at https://www.fundrise.com/TWIST

OpenPhone. Create business phone numbers for you and your team that work through an app on your smartphone or desktop. TWiST listeners can get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://www.openphone.com/twist

Linear. Linear helps product teams focus on what they do best: Planning and building great products. Streamline issues, projects, and product roadmaps in a tool your team will actually enjoy using. Get 25% off at https://www.linear.app/twist

*

Todays show:

Jason and Alex host Phil Deutch, CEO of NGP Energy Tech Partners, to discuss solar power’s potential in the energy crunch fueled by data center growth. They then explored the FBI's raid on Polymarket’s CEO, and wrapped up with Y Combinator’s latest startup requests, including Alex’s space venture dreams and Jason’s interest in AI-proof jobs.

*

Timestamps:

(0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show

(1:09) Robotic demo from Columbia University and the future of human interaction

(3:09) Population declines and changing societal norms

(5:38) NGP Energy Technology Partners’ Phil Deutch joins the show

(6:28) Fundrise - Sign up today at https://www.fundrise.com/TWIST

(8:02) Global Solar Energy Trends and Impact of Regulations

(17:27) Historical Energy Fears and Future Energy Predictions

(21:39) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://www.openphone.com/twist⁠

(22:40) Nuclear energy in the United States and data center demand

(30:07) The impact of energy on geopolitics

(34:48) Historical energy crises and solutions

(37:38) Linear - Streamline issues, projects, and product roadmaps in a tool your team will actually enjoy using. Get 25% off at https://www.linear.app/twist

(38:35) EV tax credits, political implications, and air pollution statistics

(50:14) The Polymarket mess and prediction market regulation

(1:09:55) Y Combinator's latest startup requests

(1:13:05) Stablecoins, government software, and public safety technology

(1:22:26) Gig economy and AI's impact on platforms like Fiverr and Uber

*

Mentioned on the show:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2024/oct/01/amid-australias-chaotic-climate-politics-the-rooftop-solar-boom-is-an-unlikely-triumph

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/technology/polymarket-shayne-coplan-fbi-search.html

https://berkeleyearth.org/air-pollution-and-cigarette-equivalence

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 Phil:

X: https://x.com/pdeutch

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-deutch-21a76a6

*

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:

(6:28) Fundrise - Sign up today at https://www.fundrise.com/TWIST

(21:39) OpenPhone - Get 20% off your first six months at https://www.openphone.com/twist⁠

(37:38) Linear - Streamline issues, projects, and product roadmaps in a tool your team will actually enjoy using. Get 25% off at https://www.linear.app/twist

*

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

*

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

*

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