Apple’s App Store Loss, AI Persuasion, and an Interview with Tyler Denk of Beehiiv | E2120

Today’s show: Jason, Lon, and Alex break down a loaded week in tech: Apple’s 27% App Store “link-out” fee gets shut down by a judge—unlocking margin for startups and slashing CAC; AI bots on Reddit’s r/ChangeMyView are now 6x more effective than humans at changing minds, signaling a seismic shift in online discourse; and Beehiiv CEO Tyler Denk joins to discuss building in public, rapid product iteration, and the irony of being critiqued like a market leader for innovating too fast. The big takeaway? AI is evolving fast, gatekeepers are falling, and founders who build through chaos are best positioned to win. Timestamps: (0:00) Episode Teaser(1:20) Introduction and venture capital power law(4:14) Economic data and labor market trends(8:19) Mimicking trades and Dub's Series A funding (10:05) Kyte - TWIST Listeners: Go to https://kyte.com/ and download the Kyte app today. Use code JASON to save 10% on your first rental.(14:48) Apple App Store ruling and startup implications (19:44) Atlassian - Head to https://www.atlassian.com/startups/twist to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months.(21:44) App store fees and antitrust concerns(27:34) Fivetran's acquisition and Lena Khan's impact on VC(29:58) LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups (32:02) Venture capital scenarios and M&A future(37:23) Jason’s Starbucks tweet and union perspectives(45:02) Reddit's AI experiment and online discourse(48:16) Interview with Tyler Denk from Beehiiv(49:52) Beehiiv overview and customer base(51:02) Beehiiv's revenue strategy and Boost feature(57:06) Balancing revenue streams and feature quality(1:04:30) MRR growth and founder transparency(1:08:05) Brand marketing impact and staying focused(1:11:44) Hiring challenges and platform comparisons(1:14:01) Twist 500 initiative update 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 Links from episode: Beehiiv: https://www.beehiiv.com/ Follow Tyler:X: https://x.com/denk_tweets Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons 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: (10:05) Kyte - TWIST Listeners: Go to https://kyte.com/ and download the Kyte app today. Use code JASON to save 10% on your first rental. (19:44) Atlassian - Head to https://www.atlassian.com/startups/twist to see if you qualify for 50 free seats for 12 months. (29:58) LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups 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