Equity

This week, Mary Ann and Alex had the pleasure of having TC reporter extraordinaire Dominic Madori-Davis as a guest on the show.   Here’s what we got into: A quick update on the SBF trial, which quite frankly, has us all riveted. An Atlanta-based fintech startup called Rainforest’s $8.25M equity raise and how it is hoping to take market share away from the likes of Stripe. A bunch of new fund raises this week, including At One’s $375M climate-focused raise; Section 32’s $525M fund close and Greylock’s $1 billion haul.  With so much capital flowing to VCs, it is more than a little mind-boggling that venture funding declined for yet another quarter in the three-month period ending September 30. But it did.  Dom came on to talk about Fearless Fund’s being barred from awarding grants to Black women founders and how how data can help improve social impact investing.  Equity is back next week bright and early on Monday. And we have a lot of really cool interviews coming up. So make sure that you are tuned in a

This time, we teamed up with the Chain Reaction podcast and Jacquelyn Melinek to talk about the ongoing trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF. The rise of FTX and its later implosion rocked the crypto world when the formerly massive crypto exchange went under last year. In the aftermath, the company's executives have been charged with financial crimes. Many have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the government. SBF is not. Here's TechCrunch's reporting on the trial thus far that we went over on the show: SBF’s trial has started, this is how he and FTX got here SBF’s trial promises to be just as riveting as the rest of the FTX drama US government confirms it didn’t offer any plea deals to Sam Bankman-Fried Meet the 12 jurors on Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial Was FTX an empire ‘built on lies’ or a startup that ‘grew too quickly’? That last entry goes over the opening statements, which we got into during the show. Jacquie, of course, hosts TechCrunch's Chain Reaction podcast, which

Welcome to Q4 2023, the period in which we are all going to pretend to have gotten enough done this year. Here’s what we got into on the show today: Stocks are mixed around the world while crypto tokens are enjoying a nice price-upswing in recent days. A recent article argues that Apple has all the ingredients it needs to build a search engine to take on Google and Microsoft. At issue? The fact that Apple makes so much money not having a search engine. For startups, more competition here could be good. EU telcos want to get paid twice, unsurprisingly. While the Amazon-FTC case is still big news, this week we’ll see the trial of former FTX maven SBF kick off. TechCrunch is ready. And to close out, why are we seeing so many Seed-stage fintech deals? Here’s the answer. Stick close to TechCrunch this week, it’s going to be busy. For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, 

Here's what Mary Ann, Alex and Kirsten  got into this week: The writer’s strike is over, and we have thoughts about its implications on AI. OpenAI is allowing some shareholders to sell stock, and the resulting valuation could be pretty darn high. Electric boat startup Arc has raised about $70 million? We aren’t about to drop the coin needed to buy one of those, but the idea is neat nevertheless. Alex wanted to talk about fluctuations in the venture and stock markets. Is the mini-tech recovery already fading after a dismal September? Mary Ann wanted to talk about YC. Kirsten broadened the conversation to include the role of accelerators in the startup world more generally. Are the vibes shifting? Finally, the tech labor market: As layoffs subside — though new cuts are still being announced — it may be a great time for startups to hire key talent. And before we go: check out the UpFlip Podcast  where you get to unravel how great businesses are built, how they are run behind the scenes and how their succ

This week on Equity, Alex was joined by Nathan Baschez, the CEO and founder of Lex, an AI-infused online writing tool that recently raised capital. Together, we're talking through a few key topics that have been top of mind in recent months: How many AI-powered, or AI-using writing tools can the market support? How far into the generative AI moment we are, and how much we should anticipate in the form of technology improvements? And then we discussed the nuts and bolts aspects of pricing an AI-powered service and other financial matters related to building a service today that leans on artificial intelligence. The last question is far from idle. Recall that back in 2020 there was conversation amongst venture players about the economics of AI startups, with the perspective at the time indicating that while the cohort might have more difficult early economics, that their numbers (gross margins, really) would improve over time. But what about when a startup is using, say, an OpenAI API for its core AI work?

Equity is back from Disrupt and  fired up for the rest of the year. Here’s what Alex got into today: Stocks are not peppy to start the week, while crypto prices have also moderated in recent days. Alex could not not talk about the Cisco-Splunk deal, mostly to promise that he’ll finish that post today come hell or high water. The Amazon + Anthropic news is the biggest item of the day. A $1.25 billion deal that could stretch to $4 billion is no small fee. And with Google and Amazon and Anthropic tied up and Microsoft buddied to OpenAI we could be seeing big tech choosing sides in the LLM model war. Meta is building AI chatbots, while Apple is working to build more stuff in India. To close out, Correcto’s neat round, and the finalists from Startup Battlefield 2023 — more on the winner of Battlefield here. For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the ca

The Equity crew is back with another live recording from the Moscone Center in San Francisco for TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. Alex, Kirsten and Becca sat down to recap a very busy (and dare we say successful) event, and walk through our favorite moments for the listeners who couldn't make it out this year. Here's what we got into: Providing early liquidity to founders and employees What advice VCs are giving their early stage founders  Why Cruise might join the call to ban human drivers in city centers And why Shaq can do whatever he wants. We recorded shortly before the winner of Startup Battlefield was announced, but you can get caught up on that here. Now, it's time to fly back home. Equity will be back to our regularly scheduled programing bright and early Monday morning! Talk then. For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also

We were live at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023! Yes, even though our dear friend and colleague Mary Ann had to handle a family emergency, the larger Equity family rallied to put on a rollicking early-morning show at the venue. From the Builders' stage where Alex had to introduce himself, Kirsten Korosec and Becca Szkutak rounded out our hosting crew and we had a blast. Here's the rundown: Instacart went public! Finally, at last, at long last, Instacart is a public company. It priced at $30, the top-end of its raised range, and then went on to trade higher. More here, but a solid result. Joby is all-in on the Buckeye state: What has batteries and goes straight up? EVTOLs, apparently, even if that acronym is a big of a mouthful. Kirsten reports that a TechCrunch scoop was born out when Joby picked Ohio for its manufacturing hub. A lot of state-derived help did not hurt, either. Eldertech is a growth market: Becca wanted to talk about her latest Deal Dive, which was all about getting senior citizens to move for.

Here's what Mary Ann, Alex and Kirsten got into: More layoffs at Divvy Homes: More cuts at a company that was once richly valued and heavily venture-backed. Rising interest rates are having a ripple effect across startup-land. Databricks is big, and now richer: With $500 million in a new Series I, Databricks is now worth more money and has fresh capital to continue working on AI. Lime, just go public already: What is profitable and private and a tease? Lime. Well, that last bit is a stretch, but really you can only ring us up and tout profits and growth so many times before we expect an S-1. More data is good: Venture capital firms, however, seem to disagree. If you want groceries in 15 minutes, here's where to live: Brazil, for one. Or India. Differing labor costs around the world appear to be the axis around which quick deliveries are feasible, or a financial mess. We are back next week for a busy run at Disrupt! We'll see you there! For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast w

This week, we brought TechCrunch+ senior climate reporter Tim De Chant on to talk climate tech, hardware breakthroughs, and why we have a whole stage this year at Disrupt focused on sustainability. On that last point, perhaps you have gone outside recently. Extreme weather around the world, warming oceans, fires — it's a mess out there. That's the bad news. The good news is that a number of startups are working hard to build new technologies that could shoothe our struggling planet. And perhaps make a lot of money in the process. Here's what we got into on the show: Climate tech venture capital activity. Why aren't we seeing more capital despite some interesting activity. The question of fusion. Is it really around the corner (this time)? Why we're both excited about potential hardware breakthroughs, even if LK-99 was not the real deal. Dread about our changing world. Tim is not only a great journalist, he's also very good at the whole science thing, so he was a treat to talk to! We're back on Friday fo

Here's what we got into on the show today: Instacart IPO: We have a first price range for Instacart! And the company is going to take a roughly $30 billion haircut on the valuation it raised at back in 2021. Still worth north of $7 billion by our math , Instacart is set to raise a lot of money at a multi-billion price. Hard to get too worried about that. (Even more, the company's fully-diluted valuation range is, if we are doing our sums correctly, $8.6 billion to $9.3 billion.) Klaviyo IPO: Also taking a price cut is Klaviyo, which also dropped its first IPO price range this morning. It is taking a smaller cut in both absolute and percentage terms, but in aggregate the two companies show just how much room there is for 2021 prices to come down. What we worry about is what less-strong startups will have to endure, as Instacart and Klaviyo are both very healthy. Coinbase and India: Coinbase is not leaving India, contrary to reports. What it is doing is shuttering some accounts in the country. Crypto and

Here's what Mary Ann, Alex and Kirsten got into: Mentra wants to help neurodivergent jobseekers find ideal jobs: We love a startup that is doing good for itself and doing good for others. This deal that Mary Ann wanted to chat through seems to check both boxes. SimpleClosure raises $1.5 million: What happens if your startup dies, and you need to wind down? You might need a simple way to close things up, right? Enter SimpleClosure. Argo AI founders are building something new: What just raised more than $1 billion to take another crack at self-driving trucks? This company. All Things YC: You can find demo day favorites from day one here, and day two here. And, for an overview of sectors, here you go. EU x Regulation: We wrapped with a quick look at regulation from the EU that will impact a bunch of major tech companies. It led to a conversation of what sort of market regulatory structure is most conducive for startup growth. For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equit

While the Equity crew prepares for another Y Combinator Demo Day, we're throwing it back to when Natasha and Alex caught up with current YC Partner and Managing Director of YC Early Stage, Michael Seibel. The main question on the pair's mind was how is YC evolving to meet a changed market?  Seibel doesn't often do press -- and neither does YC -- so the interview was used to connect the dots on news from the accelerator, cross check top trends from the 2022 summer batch and ask about some of the biggest critiques people have about the institution. We went a bit long, but figured it was worth it given the way the conversation was going. As always, we'll be back with our weekly roundup on Friday, and don’t forget that Equity is opening this year’s Disrupt. We’ll see you there! For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great sho

Here's what Alex got into this morning: Earnings Season Never Ends: Gitlab, Asana, UiPath, Docusign, Rent the Runway and others will report this week. Crypto Down Bad: Prices for major cryptoassets are flat this morning, while the crypto venture picture is looking up to some degree. Arm Sets IPO Range: Shares of Arm are expected to sell for $47 to $51 per share, according to the company. The question for investors is whether to value the company on its trailing results, or future profits. More on the impact (or lack thereof) of Arm's upcoming debut can be found here. The Catalyst Fund: The Africa-focused venture fund has reached a first close, and intends to invest in climate-focused startups on the continent. Elon Musk Is Mad And to close out, a new Chinese semiconductor fund is potentially coming, while India wrestles with net neutrality. Don’t forget that Equity is opening this year’s Disrupt. We’ll see you there! For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equity dro

Here’s the show rundown: Teamshares: Here’s an interesting one. Teamshares has raised a lot of money and is buying a lot of SMBs. But that’s just the start. It also plans to allow employees of those companies to buy most of their stock over time, while serving up centralized fintech services to all its sub-companies. Who doesn’t love to chat about a new model? MoonPay’s new venture arm: Crypto payment infra company MoonPay is getting into the venture game, with a focus on crypto, gaming, and fintech. The union of those three is crypto games, of course, but we have two eyes fixed on what MoonPay decides to invest in. New crypto-thematic, or crypto-adjacent funds are rarer these days, making the MoonPay news exciting. Rent Butter and Kiki: Now that the zero interest rate period is over, and the experiment in building new iBuying and mortgage service startups has partially concluded, renting is hot again. And thus, so too are rental-focused startups. The IPO drought has lasted longer than you anticipated

This week, Alex spoke to Anu Hariharan, who’s previously worked with a16z, sits on Brex’s board, and more recently has been investing in later-stage companies at Y Combinator. She's also working on something new. Hariharan recently tweeted about how "great" founders were successfully guiding their companies towards cash flow positivity. Since that very interesting post, both Instacart (a former Y Combinator company) and Klaviyo have filed to go public. And both have super strong cash flows. Our chat could not have come at a better time. We dug into how early- and late-stage startups should approach growth and cash conservation (in her view), the future of venture as an asset class, and how healthy the unicorn herd really is. We had a blast recording this one! Enjoy! For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on cry

As a small heads up, we had a bonus show over the weekend that is well worth your time! Alright, here’s what’s on the show this morning: Stocks are up around the world: A good note to start the week on, of course. In the meantime, the crypto market is still dragging. We’re back to minimal week-over-week price movements. Tech IPOs are back: After a drought that will be talked about for years, it’s raining tech IPOs again! Instacart and Klaviyo have filed their Form S-1s to go public, and we are busy digesting the numbers. On the Instacart front, read our first impressions here. In short, the company’s trailing performance is super solid, but the question is, how much it can scale total transaction volume in the future. We are still getting our boots on when it comes to Klaviyo, but the business seems strong. Is it the champion that software companies have waited for? We’ll have to see. More to come on the site later today. And Didi is selling part of its business to Xpeng. This is not the first time we’

Why the extra edition? Because Battery Ventures dropped an interesting report on Gen-Z and we wanted to talk about it. Alex got Courtney Chow, a vice president at Battery and one of the report's authors to chat about it. You can read the report itself here. This is what we got into: The fracturing of culture: Gen-Z is large, and very diverse. The trend away from monolithic cultural primacy that began years ago has accelerated with the generation, making culture itself more personal, and more distinct. For startups, this means branding will become a different challenge if they want to reach this demographic slice. Everything is short-form video: Given massive usage of TikTok by Gen-Z and the popularity of other platforms that feature short-form video, we were curious how smaller companies can compete with incumbents that already have a Reels strategy, if you will. Ethical capitalism: One of the most interesting areas of the Battery report was its notes on how entrepreneurial Gen-Z is, and how diverse the

This is our Friday show, and we’re talking about the week’s biggest startup and tech news. Here's what Mary Ann, Alex and Kirsten Korosec got into: Nvidia blew the doors off with its earnings report. We talked through some of the high-level numbers and marveled at the company's growth. TechCrunch has more on the matter here. Ramp raises $300M: In this market, a multi-billion-dollar valuation is a win for a fintech, even if Ramp's new price tag is a bit lower than it was previously. So, while Ramp likely doesn't love that it raised a down-round, it does have fresh capital and is worth $5.8 billion. That's simply not that bad. Lex raised $2.75M: Alex covered AI-powered writing tool's Lex seed round. Kirsten got to give the app a try, and we all had nice things to say about the nascent startup. Northvolt is bringing its volts to North America: The global battery-building boom includes Swedish company Northvolt building a new facility in the United States. The company raised $1.2 billion from BlackRock.

This week, Mary Ann spoke with Mercedes Bent, Partner on the early stage team at Lightspeed Ventures and co-lead of Lightspeed’s LatAm region and angel fund. The pair chewed through a number of topics, including: How and why Mercedes started investing in Latin America, and why she thinks the region is more resilient than others Why we're early in the hype cycle when it comes to the intersection of AI and fintech Why generative AI and fintech aren't always the best combination and much more. Equity is back on Friday with our weekly news roundup! Talk to you then! For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders and more! Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development te