Avi Patel on the startup that copied Kled and why he called out General Catalyst by name | E2291

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Grasshopper Bank - https://grasshopper.bank/twist LinkedIn - https://linkedIn.com/twist Northwest Registered Agent - https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Plaud - https://Plaud.ai/twist Why raise $200 million if you are already profitable? That’s the question Jason and Alex put to Mercury’s founder and CEO, Immad Akhund, after the entrepreneur raised another massive round for his upstart, technology-friendly bank. TWiST then welcomed Kled founder Avi Patel to discuss the startup he considers a clear ripoff of his own company. Jason gavels in verdicts on all parties involved, including Y Combinator and venture capital firm General Catalyst. The show closes with a news lightning round, including OpenAI’s decision to offer $2 million in token credits to hundreds of startups. Guest Links: Mercury https://mercury.com Mercury funding announcement https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260520511817/en/Mercury-Raises-$200-Million-Series-D-at-$5.2B-Valuation Immad Akhund on X https://x.com/immad Kled https://www.kled.ai/ Avi Patel on X https://x.com/avipat_/ Avi’s complaint https://x.com/avipat_/status/2055384102409253056 General Catalyst https://www.generalcatalyst.com/ Y Combinator https://www.ycombinator.com/ Delve https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/another-customer-of-troubled-startup-delve-suffered-a-big-security-incident/ Discussion links: Anthropic’s attack on secondary trading https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/12/anthropic-warns-investors-against-secondary-platforms-offering-access-to-its-shares/ Vanta https://www.vanta.com/twist The ‘Industry’ show https://www.hbo.com/industry The New Yorker’s Sam Altman article https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trusted New NYC hotel housekeeper contract https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/nyregion/nyc-hotel-housekeepers-pay.html Sam Altman’s token offer for Y Combinator startups https://x.com/sama/status/2056933166875857290 Timestamps: 0:00 Welcome to This Week in Startups! 1:38 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin. You can check it out at https://Plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off! 2:51 Immad Akhund (Mercury) joins to discuss $200M raise 5:57 Mercury's origin story and path to $650M run rate 9:17 Northwest Registered Agent - Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist 13:47 Stablecoins: where they work, why Mercury won't launch its own 19:37 LinkedIn - Thanks to our partners at LinkedIn! Post your job for free at https://linkedIn.com/twist then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs' new AI assistant. 22:02 AI agents, and the future of money movement 26:54 Why Mercury raised less this round 29:35 Grasshopper Bank - Time is money. Don't waste either. Go to https://grasshopper.bank/twist and get an exclusive $500 cash bonus just for opening an account. 42:12 Avi Patel (Kled) joins to discuss copycat startups 56:30 Jason's verdict on YC's hacker culture & "appearance of impropriety" 1:17:03 Sam Altman's $2M-in-tokens-for-equity offer to YC founders 1:23:56 NYC hotel housekeepers cross $100K in time under new union contract 1:29:38 Minimum wage, immigration & the case for raising it slowly 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 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 Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/ 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

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