If you’re not working 9-9-6, are you working hard enough? | E2198
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this episode of This Week in Startups, hosts Jason Calacanis and Alex Wilhelm dive deep into two major scandals rocking the sports and entertainment worlds. They explore the NBA gambling investigation involving high-profile coaches like Damon Jones and the sophisticated poker fraud schemes that allegedly netted $7 million through rigged games using face cards and NBA celebrities. (06:49) The conversation shifts to examining the controversial "9-9-6" work culture model—working 9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week—and its growing adoption in American AI startups. (25:09) The hosts also showcase how former Launch team member Presh Kumar leveraged AI tools to create compelling marketing videos for his wellness startup Tempo, demonstrating the democratization of high-end creative production. (38:00) Finally, they analyze Anthropic's surprising decision to purchase compute from Google's TPUs despite being direct competitors, highlighting the complex partnership dynamics in the AI infrastructure space. (48:03)
- Main themes: Sports betting fraud detection, work culture extremes in competitive markets, AI-powered creative democratization, and strategic partnerships in AI infrastructure
Speakers
Jason Calacanis
Jason Calacanis is a prominent venture capitalist, angel investor, and entrepreneur who founded Launch and hosts the popular This Week in Startups podcast. He has invested in numerous successful startups and is known for his insights on technology, entrepreneurship, and market trends. Calacanis previously co-founded TechCrunch events and has been an influential voice in Silicon Valley for over two decades.
Alex Wilhelm
Alex Wilhelm is a seasoned technology journalist and former TechCrunch reporter who co-hosts This Week in Startups. He currently writes the "Cautious Optimism" newsletter and brings deep expertise in startup financing, market analysis, and technology trends. Wilhelm is known for his data-driven approach to covering the startup ecosystem and venture capital landscape.
Key Takeaways
The Gray Area of Information Advantage in Modern Sports
The NBA gambling scandal reveals how traditional insider information concepts are being challenged in the new sports betting landscape. (22:59) As Jason explains, there's a significant difference between maliciously selling injury information (like Damon Jones allegedly did with LeBron James' status) versus casually mentioning something to friends. The context shows how technology companies are now monitoring unusual betting patterns across platforms, creating a surveillance system that catches these schemes but also raises questions about what constitutes fair information sharing. This creates opportunities for startups to build educational platforms and compliance tools for sports organizations navigating this new reality.
Elite Performance Requires Elite Commitment
The 9-9-6 work model (9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week) is becoming more common in American AI startups as competition intensifies. (25:09) Jason draws parallels to Olympic athletes and NBA stars like Kobe Bryant, who naturally work more than 72 hours per week to achieve excellence. The key insight is that this level of commitment should be voluntary and come with appropriate compensation—both financially and through equity participation. Companies are now being upfront about these expectations in job postings, allowing people to make informed choices about trading intense work periods for potentially life-changing financial outcomes.
AI Tools Are Democratizing Creative Production
Presh Kumar's demonstration of creating a professional-quality marketing video using AI tools shows how the gap between amateur and professional creative work is rapidly closing. (38:00) By using ChatGPT for scripting and storyboarding, 11 Labs for voiceover, and Suno for music, he created content that would have previously required a substantial budget and team. This represents a fundamental shift where individual creators can achieve results comparable to established professionals, potentially transforming entire industries and creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs who can master these tool chains.
Strategic Partnerships Trump Infrastructure Investment
Anthropic's decision to purchase Google's TPUs despite being direct competitors illustrates a crucial strategic principle: focusing on core competencies while partnering for infrastructure needs. (48:03) Rather than raising billions to build their own compute infrastructure like xAI and OpenAI, Anthropic is leveraging partnerships with both Amazon and Google to access world-class infrastructure without the massive capital requirements. This approach allows them to focus resources on their AI model development while potentially achieving better long-term stability through diversified infrastructure partnerships.
The Money Printer Advantage in AI Competition
Among the major AI players, only Google and Meta have existing profitable business models that generate consistent cash flow to fund massive infrastructure investments. (52:14) This creates a significant long-term competitive advantage over companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI that must continuously raise capital to fund their operations. While the funded companies currently have superior products and market position, the companies with existing revenue streams can potentially outlast them in the infrastructure arms race, suggesting that sustainable business models may ultimately prove more valuable than temporary product leadership.
Statistics & Facts
- The sophisticated poker fraud schemes netted approximately $7 million over an extended period, involving four of the five famous New York crime families as enforcement, according to the FBI investigation. (07:43)
- 37signals saved $3.4 million annually by moving off AWS and investing in their own infrastructure, with total cloud spending between 2017-2025 reaching $21 million before making the switch. (57:33)
- Anthropic is purchasing up to 1 million Google TPUs in a deal worth tens of billions of dollars, bringing over a gigawatt of capacity online by 2026. (48:03)
