TWiST News: Skydio's Drones, High-Skill immigration, and M&A Unleashed | E2040

This Week in Startups is brought to you by… 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 Notion. Notion combines your notes, docs, and projects into one beautifully designed space with AI built right in. Try it for free today at https://notion.com/twist AssemblyAI. Get maximum value from voice data with AssemblyAI. Build powerful products and features for your end users on the industry’s leading speech-to-text models. Get 100 free hours to start building at https://www.assemblyai.com/twist * Timestamps: (0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show (3:55) Skydio’s Adam Bry joins the show (4:22) Overview of Skydio's autonomous drones and public safety applications (9:31) Oracle - Try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at https://w⁠⁠⁠⁠ww.oracle.com/twist (11:07) Skydio as the largest US drone producer and Chinese sanctions impact (17:36) Risks of Chinese-made drones and Skydio's cybersecurity measures (21:28) Drones in defense and combat applications (25:15) Notion - Try it for free today at https://notion.com/twist (27:24) Drone light shows and military implications, Skydio's mission and hiring (31:44) Future applications of drone technology and hardware startup challenges (39:31) Geopolitical tensions and impact on American companies (39:43) AssemblyAI - Get 100 free hours to start building at https://www.assemblyai.com/twist (41:36) Presidential election results and implications for entrepreneurship (48:49) Tariffs, immigration policies, and economic impact (57:41) Prediction markets (1:00:07) High-skilled immigration and antitrust policies (1:04:35) Political influence on business dynamics and media (1:07:02) Mergers, acquisitions, and startup liquidity post-Lena Khan (1:11:26) Secondary markets, Lyft and DoorDash valuation trends (1:15:15) The future of search engines * 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 * Mentioned on the show: Check out Skydio: https://www.skydio.com/ Check out Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/ Article on Amazon’s purchase of MGM: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a36543339/james-bond-amazon-mgm-deal-explained/ Article on election ad spending in 2024: https://www.afaqs.com/news/advertising/harris-and-trump-spent-nearly-10-billion-on-ads-in-2024-us-elections-7452195 Trailer for 1982 Doc “Buried”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4NpOlJ_O-I * Follow Adam: X: https://x.com/adampbry Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adambry/ 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: (9:31) Oracle - Try OCI and save up to 50% on your cloud bill at at https://w⁠⁠⁠⁠ww.oracle.com/twist (25:15) Notion - Try it for free today at https://notion.com/twist (39:43) AssemblyAI - Get 100 free hours to start building at https://www.assemblyai.com/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