Weekly Recap June 27-July 3: Crypto crash continues, The Compound collab, digital surveillance in a post-RvW world

Hey Everybody, Happy Fourth of July weekend!

Candidly, the TWiST team thought we might be headed for a bit of a "summer slowdown" in the news, but we couldn't have been more wrong. Private markets, public markets, crypto, and the state of the world are pretty crazy right now -- so we're here to try and make sense of it all for you!

Here’s a quick recap of the most important moments from last week:

• Crossover alert! Jason synced up with The Compound’s Josh Brown and Michael Batnick to break down the current state of the markets, Disney vs. Netflix as an investment, audience Q&A, and of course some takes on the Knicks!
• Legal Voice senior attorney and angel investor Kim Clark joined Jason and Molly on Monday to break down what the Roe v. Wade reversal means for the state of digital privacy and surveillance regarding women’s health apps.
• Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto bailout saga was extensively covered this week. Molly and Jason broke down the news as it unraveled through the week on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday!

Producer’s Pick(s):

• Jason and Molly covered the newest addition to the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List: Ruja Ignatova (aka the “Cryptoqueen”) allegedly stole more than $4B from investors via OneCoin, a crypto company she helped start in 2014.
• Our dynamic duo also broke down the SPAC market's alarming slowdown: there is now more than $100B sitting in SPACs looking for acquisitions as SPAC registrations are down ~94% year over year.

Episode and interview recaps:

VC School: What's a venture scale business + Matt Duesterberg of OhmConnect | E1499

During this week’s VC Sunday School, Jason and Molly break down what it means to be a venture-scale business. Jason also gets into how to decide on the edge cases: What are the toughest types of businesses to evaluate, and what are some signals that a market might not be big enough to warrant a venture investment?

Then, Molly sits down with Matt Duesterberg of OhmConnect, a startup that helps consumers make better energy choices for their homes. Interestingly, OhmConnect launched at LAUNCH Festival 2014, with Jason hosting!

Crypto crash updates, Sequoia’s structure, $ZM product expansion, Starlink & more | E1498

Molly and Jason break down a full slate of news: CoinFlex’s investor feud, “Cryptoqueen” added to the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List, BlockFi’s acquisition price, Klarna’s reduced valuation, Sequoia’s fund structure, and more!

Then we have another edition of OK Boomer as Producer Rachel sits down with Jared Downing, co-founder and CEO of Stages, a livestreaming platform focused on lowering the barriers to entry in the space.

FTX buys BlockFi for $25M, Sequoia raising $2.25B, AI Umpires for MLB, Substack layoffs | E1497

Our hosts cover the reported news of BlockFi’s reduced acquisition price, SBF’s strategy, robo umpires, and more!

Plus, they cover the recent layoffs at Substack, and Jason does a business model breakdown and tries to answer the question: “Does Substack's current model make sense long-term?”

Downtown Josh Brown & Michael Batnick: Disney+, Peloton, Knicks, podcasting, markets, & more | E1496

The Compound co-hosts Josh Brown and Michael Batnick join Jason to cover current market dynamics and how to invest in a downturn. They also answer a couple of questions from the live audience!

SBF buys the crypto dip, hedge funds short Tether, VC funding down, & more | E1495

In this episode, Molly and Jason do a deep dive on the hundreds of millions of dollars in short positions that have been taken against Tether. They try and answer the following questions: Who is shorting Tether? Why are they doing it? Who is taking the other side of the trade?

They also cover the “flippening” happening with USDT and USDC, as investors seemingly flock to more transparent stablecoins.

Digital surveillance risks post-Roe v. Wade ruling with Legal Voice’s Kim Clark | E1494

Kim Clark, a senior attorney at Legal Voice and angel investor, joins the show to help break down what the Roe v. Wade reversal means for digital privacy and data protection, especially regarding women's health apps.

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Thanks for reading!

-- Producer Nick