This Week in Startups - Video

The world has become flooded with data over the past 10 to 20 years. Hadley Wickham, Professor of Statistics at Rice University and Chief Scientist at RStudio, explains the most efficient ways to sort through the oceans of useless data and find what you’re looking for. Hadley became a rockstar in the world of data science by creating a package called ggplot2, which turns data into visualisations. Jason and Hadley also discuss the process of “open writing” in modern technical journals. Then, Jason shares his desire to make predictions, and hopes that Hadley can share some advice on how to utilize statistics to make accurate predictions as an investor. But the conversation pivots towards the big philosophical questions… “Is God in the data?”

Are Millennials too entitled? Is Artificial Intelligence going to destroy the workforce? What if you had to choose between two presidential candidates you don’t like … ? (Hypothetically, of course.) On today’s News Roundtable, Episode 633 of This Week in Startups, Jason discusses all of these and much more with Ben Parr, author of Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention, and Lon Harris, Producer and Writer at Inside.com. With topics ranging from the boundaries of free speech and privacy to Jason’s plans for a transportation overhaul as the future mayor of San Francisco, this is an episode you won’t want to miss!

In episode 632 of This Week in Startups, Jason sits down with Parker Thompson, creator of popular parody Twitter account @StartupLJackson, current partner at AngelList, and previous partner at 500 Startups. Topics of conversation range from the inspiration behind Startup L. Jackson to having ‘sharp elbows’ on the internet, from diversity in entrepreneurship and investment to how AngelList syndicates and equity crowdfunding rules are changing the venture capital landscape.

If you’ve ever experienced frustration in the face of the U.S. higher education system and mounting student debt, you’re not alone. In episode 631 of This Week in Startups, filmed at LAUNCH Festival 2016, Jason guides a fireside chat with Sebastian Thrun, CEO and co-founder of Udacity, and George Zachary, general partner at CRV and heavy investor in Udacity. They discuss the broken system for higher education, MOOCs, and how Udacity continues to help workers adjust and succeed in a rapidly shifting job market. Then, at the LAUNCH Angel Summit, Jonathon Triest from Ludlow Ventures provides inspiration and examples on how authenticity is crucial to success.

Keith Rabois on his home-buying disruptor Opendoor, the political storm, advice for founders, & the rules of innovation; bonus: Cyan Banister on investing with purpose

Today, Jason is joined on the LAUNCH Festival stage by Shervin Pishevar and Brogan Bambrogan, Co-founders of Hyperloop Technologies. The Hyperloop is happening and we learn all about it! How it works, costs, location, government support (here and abroad), infrastructure, potential affects of the current Presidential race, the nature of ‘new cities’ and all the incredible innovation surrounding it.

At 2016 LAUNCH Festival, Jason sits down with Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder and CEO of Social Capital. It's classic, candid Chamath sharing his insights on the changing morality in America (for better and worse), the insanity of Donald Trump, the critical importance of diversity in venture capital, income inequality, why we should hope that Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes will prevail, the four things you should look for when choosing your investors, predictions on self-driving cars, which will be the next $300b company -- and much more. You don't want to miss this!

Casey Winters, Pinterest, gives a crash course in growing a startup (or, WTF is growth?)

In episode 626 of This Week in Startups, Jason sits down with Zapier CEO and co-founder Wade Foster. Through the lens both of their experiences with Zapier – Jason as a user and Wade as a founder – they discuss the origins of Zapier, how Wade and his fellow co-founders have navigated the tricky waters of incubators and raising capital in the past five years, and the future of the company. They also spend time talking about the power of automation, the future of work, and managing distributed teams. Read below for some of the highlights from the episode.

Jason talks to founders of two very different, emerging markets: solar energy and artisanal mixers. His first guest is Jonah Greenberger, whose company Bright is bringing affordable solar power installation to developing countries. It’s a great conversation about the state of solar, both in the US and abroad, and the power of brand ambassadors and providing an entirely new career opportunity to hundreds of students in Mexico. Next up is Jennie Ripps, the creator of the first tea cocktail mixer, Owl’s Brew.

In episode 624 of This Week in Startups, Intercom cofounder Des Traynor returns to the LAUNCH Incubator with another powerhouse talk. “Thinking Through the Funnel,” Des leads founders through different issues they should consider when trying to acquire users. Des lays a foundation by saying that most companies have no difficulty getting their first hundred, thousand, or sometimes even million users; it’s keeping those users that is the truly challenging task for companies. Read on for a quick walkthrough of the four main steps of getting — and keeping — users.

Scheduling a simple coffee meeting can take days and countless emails to complete, but Dennis Mortensen wants to change all that -- and more. In episode 623 of “This Week in Startups,” the founder of x.ai show us his AI assistant, which sets meetings for you like an actual human. He also shares his thoughts on Siri, Echo, the Danish tax system, his vision for x.ai’s AI assistants conquering other tasks, and the future of artificial intelligence.

In episode 622 of This Week in Startups, Jason sits down with Alec Ross, author of The Industries of the Future to discuss technology, employment, and the future of the United States economy (as well as the world). Their conversation ranges from Alec's experiences working as Senior Advisor for Innovation for Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State, to how unemployment rates in the U.S. differ from elsewhere, to robots and technology replacing jobs in the future.

Science rules! Rowbots transforms agriculture with robotic farming & Experiment.com crowdfunds cutting-edge research

Sprig co-founder & CEO Gagan Biyani scales sustainable, on-demand healthy food up to the next level