This Apple ruling is EPIC

Author

Alex Wilhelm
May 02, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Top News

  • Great news for mobile startups: Apple was finally told by a court to get on with it and allow developers to offer other checkout methods sans a risible 27% fee. The move should lower the cost basis for making money on mobile — which is great news for startup founders in the market slinging iOS or Android code. Naturally, Apple is incensed and plans to keep pressing its legal case. But the industry appears to be moving on from the era in which Google and Apple helped themselves to 30% of mobile app revenues. Startups, go crush it!

  • eToro’s IPO is back on: The IPO pause that took hold in the first quarter and persisted nearly to the halfway mark of Q2 is coming to an end. Perhaps. Bloomberg reports that consumer trading service eToro is considering “launching its US initial public offering as soon as next week” after hitting pause “amid tariff-related stock volatility.” Heck yes. Startups benefit from healthy venture players having ample cash to invest. And those same VCs won’t if they can’t recycle their prior investments into raw cash for their own backers. So go public, eToro, and help shake loose the logjam. Please, and thank you.

  • Apple taps Anthropic! Big news for TWiST500 member company Anthropic after news broke that Cupertino is working to integrate its Claude models into Xcode, Apple’s IDE. The AI-predicated coding helper will at least get released internally if all goes according to plan, but an external release is still a question mark. Recall that OpenAI (another TWiST500 concern) is considering buying a vibe-coding service of its own — and that Anthropic has built a coding-specific version of its popular Claude model family. Expect more crossovers and competition in this space in the coming quarters as everyone chases Cursor’s growth.

TWiST500

As promised, Lon and I have a new set of TWiST500 companies. No, they are not uploaded yet because we had a two-recording day and ran out of time. That said, who am I to not give you at least some of the names?

From just over twenty new TWiST 500 entrants, a sampler:

  • Slate.auto: The new EV truck company that wants to build stripped-down, simple cars that aren’t as large as WWII tanks caught our eyes, and captured our hearts when it detailed its upcoming vehicle. I intend on buying one, truth be told, and think that the Slate has found a real, open niche in the car business that the majors aren’t filling. Talk about a huge TAM, right?

  • Alpaca: A fintech that I’ve covered for a very long time, Alpaca helps other companies offer equity trading to their customers. What tipped it from ‘interesting startup that I am tracking’ to ‘shoe-in for TWiST500 inclusion’ was a tidbit from its Series C that it closed earlier this month. From TechCrunch, in the last 18 months the company’s revenue and assets under custody have tripled, and its trading volume has quadrupled. More, please.

  • Timescale: This is another startup I have had an eye on for some time. What I had forgotten was just how long. Timescale was founded back in 2015, so it’s been a decade. Well, its focus on time-series data management has paid off. Last year the company noted that in a two-year window it had grown its revenue by 20x. That, melded with our view that data management — broadly — is going to soar on the back of AI-led demand, and Timescale is a must-have for our list.

The full slate — ha — will get uploaded Monday! — Alex

A message from OpenPhone

Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/twist⁠

This Week in Startups

E2119: Jason, Alex, and Lon are joined for today’s full episode by crypto insider and “Hash Rate” host (and long-time friend of the pod) Mark Jeffrey. He’s here to walk us through Bittensor and TAO, which some are calling the third “great coin” after Bitcoin and Ethereum. Plus the latest from Meta’s first-ever LlamaCon for developers, Alexis Ohanian’s advice for cold email marketing, AND a chat with LayerNext CEO Buddhika Madduma about the secret to onboarding new customers.

E2118: On an all-new TWiST, Jason, Alex, and Lon are SHOCKED by Meta’s celebrity-voiced chatbots, which were caught flirting with underage users by Wall Street Journal reporters. Then they’re considering Palo Alto Networks’ purchase of Protect AI, debating another exciting match-up in our Founder Friday bracket competition, AND Alex sits down with Formulate founder Osmaan Shah.

E2117: On Friday’s TWiST, Jason, Alex, and Lon checked out Slate Auto’s customizable $25K EV truck, considered whether Discord is circling an IPO, and gauged Uber’s new collaboration with Volkswagen. Plus aggressive moves from Perplexity, another Founder Friday bracket matchup, AND Alex sits down with Tailscale CEO Avery Pennarun to talk internet networking: what it is and why it may just fuel the next huge wave of innovation.

TWiST Partner Offers

  • Hubspot for Startups: Smart founders aren't piecing together random tools. Hubspot is the customer platform that thousands of startups use to scale efficiently. Get up to 75% off plus 3 months of Perplexity AI for free. Go to hubspot.com/startups.

  • Squarespace: Turn your idea into a new website! Go to https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST for a free trial. When you’re ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

  • Oracle: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. Save up to 50% on your cloud bill at ⁠https://w⁠⁠⁠⁠ww.oracle.com/twist

Want to Work for This Week in Startups?

We’re looking to fill two in-person sales positions at our Austin, Texas HQ! First, a high-performing Sales Executive to help us seek out and promote clients, sponsorships, branded content, and more. Plus an experienced Sales Manager to lead, coach, and scale our sales executive team, while setting performance goals. Love the podcast and have B2B sales experience? We want to hear from you!

SF Live-Work Space Now Available

Need a flexible living and working environment in San Francisco? This thoughtfully designed loft-style residence at 787 Bryant St., the heart of the vibrant SOMA district and the city’s creative hub, is now available for rent or purchase. Check the listing for more details.

Founder University

Applications are open for Founder University Cohort 11, a 12-week remote pre-accelerator program tailored towards navigating early-startup practices, building an MVP, and growing traction. Submit your application at Founder University— Cohort 10 will kick off Summer 2025!

LAUNCH Accelerator

Are you a pre-Series A founder with a product in the market? Applications are now open for LAUNCH Accelerator's 35th cohort—starting Summer 2025—where you'll perfect your pitch, grow your business, and connect with top Silicon Valley investors. Apply here and take your startup to the next level!

The TWiST500 newsletter is the new, updated, and improved TWiST Ticker.