Hold your, uh, Plauds

Author

Alex Wilhelm
September 02, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Top News

  • Plaud sells 1M units: While some AI gadgets promised a bit more than they could deliver, one diminutive gadget is putting up big numbers. Plaud’s ‘NotePin’ costs $159 and records you conversations, transcribing them for you in the process. Think of it like Granola, but for real life. Plaud also offers a subscription service to cover the cost of transcription, naturally. Plaud has sold more than one million devices, Forbes reports. Better still, the company is profitable and sitting comfortably on a $250M run rate.

  • Phone hacking is so in: The Trump administration reactivated a deal to purchase phone hacking software from Paragon, an Israeli technology company. (It had been on hold pending review of government rules regarding use of spyware.) Spyware providers like NSO and Paragon are controversial, as authoritarian regimes often use their technology to spy on journalists and dissidents. Per documents, it appears that the government’s immigration enforcement arm intends to use Paragon’s phone cracking software.

  • OpenAI buys Statsig for $1.1B: Product analytics is the work of making technology products — like apps, websites, and software — easier to use. You want to know how users interact with your active code so that you can make your tools even better and more helpful. It’s a big enough business that Amplitude went public on the back of its product analytics work. Now, OpenAI is getting into the game by buying Statsig. The company raised $150 million while private, including a $100 million round earlier this year that valued it at $1.1 billion. That sale price is a bit weird, but perhaps Statsig’s backers were content to convert their holdings into OpenAI shares? Ironically, ICONIQ — a big backer of Anthropic — led that nine-figure round. Double dipping!

TWiST500

Speaking of Anthropic, the TWiST500 champion closed its long-expected Series F today, adding $13 billion to its coffers at a $170 billion pre-money valuation. Its lead investors? Fidelity, Lightspeed, and ICONIQ. Yep.

The Anthropic announcement included a few choice financial details to boot:

  • As reported, Anthropic’s ARR was around $1 billion to start the year, and reached $5 billion in August

  • The company’s Claude Code product has reached $500 million ARR in mere months

  • Anthropic has 300,000 business customers, and the number of six-figure accounts grew 7x in the last year

That’s an impressive mix of metrics. Sure, Anthropic isn’t cheap at a $183 billion post-money valuation when we consider it on a price/sales basis. But once you factor in its growth rate, the company is somewhere between fairly priced, and incredibly cheap.

For fun, Anthropic is now worth more than half of OpenAI’s $300 billion, but with less than half the revenue. Certainly Sam Altman won’t take that lying down, so perhaps the $500 billion price tag floated for an OpenAI tender offer will come together quickly.

It’s whimsical to call Anthropic a startup, as many are wont to do. It isn’t REALLY at this point. But it is a high-growth, private market company with lots of venture backing that is going to go public eventually. And we’ve run the term ‘unicorn’ into the ground. So, what is it? [email protected]. Best answer gets a free high-five. — Alex

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This Week in Startups

E2171: On an all-new TWiST, Jason, Alex, and Lon ponder the mega-success of Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters,” whether it will change the company’s strategy regarding theatrical releases, and how Sony — which produced the film, then sold it off for pennies on the dollar — missed out on a huge potential payday. PLUS Grok is counting on speed to outpace its rivals, Nvidia’s massive latest earnings report, and Polymarket attempts to predict the future of OpenAI.

E2170: On Wednesday’s new TWiST, Jason and Alex survey the flood of AI-powered note-taking apps and debate whether there’s any more need for Granola now that Notion has its own native version. PLUS another death has been linked to ChatGPT… is it too easy to get around OpenAI’s safeguards? Is it time for Apple to just buy its way to AI success? Will the US Navy clear a path for more defense tech startups? PLUS a check-in with Colin Russ, whose viral X thread suggested companies may be posting fake jobs to manipulate the H-1B visa process. Check it out!

E2169: It’s an all-new TWiST! Jason and Alex start off by talking about cycles of cynicism, and how even the most amazing technological innovations are always greeted by raised eyebrows, doubt, and trepidation. Then it’s on to a huge news day, with updates about Intel, AirBnB’s co-founder joining the government, the Netskope IPO, Perplexity’s rev share deal with publishers, and much much more.

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Angel University is Back!

Jason and Mike Savino are hosting our next virtual Angel University workshop on Tuesday, October 7. Jason will share proven strategies he’s used to invest $200M+ in over 500 startups. Whether you’re new to angel investing or looking to sharpen your skills, this is your chance to learn directly from one of the most active angel investors in the world. Register now at angel.university!

Founder U is Coming to the MENA Region!

Our 12-week pre-accelerator—designed to help early-stage founders build and grow—kicks off this fall in Saudi Arabia. The first cohort launches in Riyadh on November 3rd, followed by in-person and virtual sessions throughout the program. Founders in MENA: this is your chance to turn your idea into a business and get world-class insights on building a successful startup. Apply today: https://mena.founder.university/

SF Live-Work Space Now Available

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