Naval’s $500 VC fund, the Maduro Polymarket scandal, and NYT defends theft and murder | E2280

Naval’s $500 VC fund, the Maduro Polymarket scandal, and NYT defends theft and murder | E2280

From This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

April 25, 2026 · 50 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the USVC fund, military betting on Maduro's capture, and a controversial NYT podcast on shoplifting.

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent - https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist LinkedIn Jobs - https://LinkedIn.com/twist Today’s show: It’s a News and Off-Duty weekend roundup! AngelList’s USVC fund is open to anyone with $500, but it’s getting pushback on social media. Do the critics have a point? A Special Forces soldier made $409K betting on the military’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Is the world just a big casino now? And a NYT podcast defends shoplifting and explores “social murder.” Find out why Jason says they crossed the line. Plus: Why you should teach your kids about investment and more, Off-Duty streaming and book recommendations. Related Links USVC: https://usvc.com/ AngelList: https://www.angellist.com/ Naval Ravikant on X: https://x.com/naval “Don’t Listen to the Peanut Gallery; USVC is a Watershed Moment” by Hari Raghavan: https://x.com/haridigresses/status/2047503944839016681 @Covered_Call USVC tweet: https://x.com/covered_call/status/2047020060900733306 Forge Global: https://forgeglobal.com/ Calm: https://www.calm.com/ Full DOJ indictment of Gannon Ken Van Dyke…

People in this episode

Host: Jason Calacanis

Topics covered

  • venture capital
  • social media criticism
  • military betting
  • shoplifting
  • investment education

Keywords

  • venture capital
  • Naval Ravikant
  • Nicolas Maduro
  • social media
  • investment education

Sponsors

Northwest Registered Agent, LinkedIn Jobs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AngelList, NYT

Books & works: The Opinions

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