Apple’s Tariff Trouble, Anthropic’s New Models, and Our Founder Friday Finale | E2130

Today’s show: Trump takes aim at Apple with a potential 25% iPhone tariff, Anthropic releases two powerful new Claude models claiming top performance in coding tasks, and two founders go head-to-head in the final round of Founder Fridays. In this packed episode, Jason, Alex, and Lon unpack what Trump’s latest trade threat really means, why Anthropic’s AI progress could reshape the dev landscape, and which startup—an AI ad network or industrial automation platform—comes out on top. A fast-paced look at the volatility, breakthroughs, and ambition defining today’s startup ecosystem.

(0:00) Episode Teaser(3:41) MORE tariffs, this time on Apple… is this just a message to Tim Cook?
(7:08) Potential impact of tariffs on Apple
(10:09) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!
(14:14) Anthropic’s new models are topping the LLM charts but are they REALLY self-aware
(20:07) LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups
(24:35) Who should buy OnlyFans? Jason, Alex, and Lon each have ideas
(30:03) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist
(35:10) Gut health is important but do we need SMART toilets?
(40:34) Which TWiST 500 companies are blowing up on secondary markets?
(47:27) The Founder Friday city competition FINAL ROUND: see which startup wins!


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:
Throne One: https://www.thronescience.com/product?
Arcana: https://arcana.ad/
TACTUN: https://tactun.com/


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:

(10:09) Northwest Registered Agent. Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit http://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!

(20:07) LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups

(30:03) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist


All rights for the video shared and linked below belong to the original copyright holder, and we are using the footage under the principle of fair use.


Listen here:
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-startups-audio/id315114957
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ULQ0ewYf5zmsDgBchlkr9
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes315114957/this-week-in-startups-audio

More from us:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/twistartups
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups
Official site: https://thisweekinstartups.com

Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkkhmBWfS7pILYIk0izkc3A?sub_confirmation=1

Subscribe to TWiST Clips for all the best moments:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS7tJlcUA6PzVHEMo-X7ddg?sub_confirmation=1

#startups #entrepreneurship #investing #angelinvesting #tech #news #business