TWiST News: $100k Veteran Pitch Winner EMPEQ, US Unicorn Dominance, and T500 Updates | E2055

This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Gusto. Gusto is easy online payroll, benefits, and HR built for modern small businesses. Get three months free when you run your first payroll at ⁠https://www.gusto.com/twist *Gusto pricing shown in ad is based on pricing prior to March 2025 Fundrise provides access to diversified portfolios of private real estate to all investors with their industry leading, easy to use platform. Sign up today at https://www.fundrise.com/TWIST DevSquad. Most dev agencies only offer developers. Why? Because product management is hard. Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist * Todays show: Alex Wilhelm joins Jason to discuss breaking news on Paul Atkins and SEC leadership transitions into discussions on corporate security concerns. Then, Mike Sherbakov and Herbert Dwyer share insights on veteran leadership and EMPEQ's equipment management technology. The conversation highlights technology applications in military contexts and Empeq's dual-use tech. The episode also covers SaaS growth, touches on crypto's influence on elections, economic growth, and more! * Timestamps: (0:00) Jason and Alex kick off the show (1:54) Paul Atkins and SEC leadership (6:36) Corporate security concerns (12:18) Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist (13:24) Mike Sherbakov and Herbert Dwyer join the show (20:37) Herbert Dwyer on EMPEQ (24:21) Fundrise - Sign up today at https://www.fundrise.com/TWIST (25:44) Technology applications in military and equipment management (30:15) SaaS growth, funding, and customer profiles (34:42) EMPEQ's dual-use technology and contact information (36:33) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist (38:01) Launch CloudKitchens incubator and food delivery tech (44:28) Twist 500 database and Hugging Face spotlight (53:07) Live events for Twist 500 and EU startup culture (1:02:28) Crypto's impact on elections and economic growth (1:17:02) Safety nets and basic needs in capitalism * Apply for the Launch CloudKitchens Incubator here: https://ck.launch.co 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 * Follow Mike: X: https://x.com/mikesherbakov LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikesherbakov * Follow Herbert: X: https://x.com/herbertdwyer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbdwyer * 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: (12:18) Gusto - Get three months free when you run your first payroll at http://gusto.com/twist *Gusto pricing shown in ad is based on pricing prior to March 2025 (24:31) Fundrise - Sign up today at https://www.fundrise.com/TWIST (36:33) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.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