TikTok Amongst Yourselves...

Top News

• China’s stays mum on TikTok deal: As the world sorts out the published and less-public details of the TikTok spinoff deal in the United States — $14 billion valuation as far as we know, and the chance of material profit share back to Bytedance — one party to the agreement is staying quiet: China. The government will still need to approve of the deal that’s already been announced by the American government. Jason pegs the chances of this agreement falling apart at one or two percent, but until we get final word from Beijing, there are going to be a lot of traders waiting with itchy twitter fingers.

• Perplexity, Ollama launch search APIs: Consumer AI search startup Perplexity released a search API service this week. Now, other companies can put the company’s search prowess to work in their own context, as Perplexity makes a play to become a platform as well as a service. Earlier this week Ollama, best known for helping individuals run AI models locally, launched a search service of their own that’s also delivered via an API. Of course, startups like Glean and Alogolia are also playing for a chunk of the private search market.

• These are the droids you are looking for: Factory is building AI agents, which it calls droids. These agents can run in groups to take on large coding tasks, and can operate wherever the human user is working. With a $50 million round under its belt, the company is more than well capitalized. It also faces even better-capitalized competition, with companies like Cognition, Anysphere, and Replit competing for the same coding-assit market. Even more, vibecoding services like Lovable are scaling to the rafters. The FT reports that more than $5 billion has been invested in “AI software development start-ups “ in the third quarter thus far.

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Closing out this week, let’s talk about Anthropic. While OpenAI (and more recently, xAI) is a proven headline magnet, Anthropic has always been a little bit quieter. As we’ve discussed on the show, that modest reticence has not come at the cost of growth, with the company scaling from around a $1 billion run rate to start the year to $5 billion mere quarters later.

In a blog post, Anthropic put up some hard figures: From a run rate of $87 million at the start of 2024 to $5 billion in August of 2025. That’s around 5650% growth!

Perhaps more impressively, Anthropic shared that its global customer base grew from “under 1,000 business customers two years ago to over 300,000 today,” or just under 30,000% growth in eight quarters.

I raise the above not to simply crow about one of the most valuable companies that’s a part of our TWiST500 index, but instead to underscore a point Jason made on the show today. I asked him about Factory, its recent $50 million round, and the incredibly competitive AI coding market. Should startups chase large TAM when there are already a host of companies vying for market share? Fly towards the flame, is the gist of Jason’s response.

Anthropic is a good example of this point. OpenAI is the best-known AI in the world. xAI has the most famous founder in the world. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon all have their own models, their own enterprise sales channels, and their own compute footprint. And despite all of that, Anthropic is doing incredibly well.

This isn’t to say that Factory with its coding AI agents it calls ‘droids’ are going to best Cursor or the rest of its rivals. But it does make clear that being a little bit later than other players is far from a death knell. Uber was late to ridesharing, Jason argued, and look where it ended up! — Alex

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This Week in Startups

E2183: What is “workslop”? In this TWiST, Jason, Alex, and Lon consider a new study out of Harvard and Stanford that finds many workers are using AI tools, but lazily and ineffectively, ending up creating MORE work for their colleagues. Could this explain the OTHER studies showing a lack of productivity gains from AI adoption? Maybe! Plus YouTube invites back banned creators, Stripe buys back its own shares, and much more.

E2182: We’re Alex-free this Monday, so Jason and Lon work their way through the day’s biggest tech and startup news. First up, did the Trump administration borrow and then super-size Jason’s H-1B visa proposal? It sure sounds like it. PLUS the latest on TikTok USA, the explosion of Scandinavian data centers, a new launch video for AI virtual assistant startup Howie, and much more.

E2181: Lovable CEO Anton Osika joins us for a blockbuster new TWiST, going deep on his journey developing the app that taught the world how to vibecode. Hear Anton discuss how people are using Lovable, how he balances accessibility with driving revenue, why Stockholm has become such a major tech hub, and much more. PLUS Alex and Jason check out Meta’s latest Ray Bans, Beehiiv’s team-up with Discord, and 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

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.

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