This Week in Startups Episode 13 Recap
Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 1:53AM I’m going to start out by saying that I tried to write a “Professional” review and it turns out that’s harder than it would seem. So in an effort to write this review in a timely manner I’m just going to write it imperfections and all.
The show format seems to be coming together and despite some technical difficulties in the beginning, the show moved smoothly. Personally, I like it when these technical bumps happen, in a weird way it feels as if your watching friends, rather than some over produced show.
If you’ve haven’t seen the show, it’s pretty much a 3 part show fragmented into segments. In an effort to keep it simple I’ve broken Episode #13 down below:
Part 1:
Announcements:
Jason takes some time in the beginning of the show to update the audience on what’s been going on in his life, behind the scenes at This Week in Startups (TWiST) and any other housekeeping issues.
There were a few items of note Jason brought up in this segment.
Go and see the new movie “We live in Public” and the first 100 people who email a copy of the ticket stub to contact@thisweekingstartups.com will receive a Mahalo prize pack.
Write a review of TWiST Episode 13 and when a $500.00 Apple gift card. Email a link of the review to contact@thisweekinstartups.com.
TWiST will be filming a few episodes at Sequoia Capital in Menlo Park, CA.
Ask Jason:
Jason takes 2 to 3 calls from entrepreneurs, he answers questions, gives advice and offers up his opinion. The calls were solid and informative but nothing extraordinary.
Jason’s Shark Tank:
The premise is similar the BBC show Dragons Den or ABC’s show Shark Tank, viewers pitch their idea and Jason chooses to fund them or not. I loved this segment, it’s was fun and informative to watch the pitch and hear the follow up questions. While I understand why they’re calling this segment Jason’s Shark Tank I think a better name would be Viper Pit or something like that.
I also liked this segment because it felt like Jason was giving Mark Burnett and ABC the middle finger. To be quite honest I’ve seen the ABC’s Shark Tank and it lacks the charm of the Dragons Den and not nearly as interesting as Jason’s Shark Tank. (That’s some good butt kissing)
Part 2:
The Interview: Matt Mickiewicz
Matt Mickiewicz is the founder of Sitepoint.com, Flippa.com and 99Designs.com. Matt sat in on the Ask Jason and Jason’s Shark Tank and provided some decent feedback to the callers. I have to admit at first I wasn’t sure I was going to like Matt but as the interview went on I found him to be very insightful. It either took some time for him to loosen up or Jason finally hit on the right questions, because toward the end I found that I enjoyed the interview. This was certainly not the best interview on TWiST, I would say it was just average.
Part 3:
The News: Andrew Warner
In this segment the Jason, Tyler, Matt and Andrew go over the weeks news. As a bonus to the audience Jason gives some relationship advice. The take away is make the time you spend with you significant other EPIC.
This is always a fun segment.
Side Note: Lon, we missed you. Andrew did a great job in your absence but we hope to have you back soon.
Homework:
Next week, read the Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook. If you can’t or don’t like to read you can get the audio version on AudiblePodcast.com/TWiST. If you’re a new member you will get the gold account half off for 3 months, Send your receipt to contact@thisweekinstartups.com and the folks at TWiST will send the first 50 people a Mahalo pack and Jason will drop and extra 20 bucks into the Mahalo pack.
Dead Pool:
The dead pool spotlights companies that are sadly not around anymore. Jason gives his thoughts on why the company failed. This is Taurus and Fondues favorite segment.
TipJoy we speak you name.
Well, thats the podcast in a nutshell. I’d like to give one piece of advice, please stop playing “Insights from Tyler”, I suggest “Mr. Crowley” by Ozzie.
Look forward to seeing show next Friday
-Bodie
