Equity

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.Stocks are mixed around the world, notably lower in China on the back of some negative economic data, and down in the United States ahead of what is expected to be another rise in interest rates thanks to the Federal Reserve. Crypto prices have held onto recent gains.A busy weekend of Twitter leaks lead the news cycle. Precisely if, and if yes, how much, Twitter can charge for verified accounts to keep their badge is now a point of conversation. Other reports of development deadlines with termination held as a threat if they are not met are likely doing great things for staffer morale.It turns out that self-driving cars are still far away. I am crying.Startups Zebra Labs and Invygo raised money, showing that the global startup investment market has not frozen, and that there is still funding for more future-facing efforts like Zebra in the metaverse.Finally, we're keeping clo

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.We hope that you are in good form this Friday, alive, well and ready to rock. We certainly were. And in a change of pace, as our dear Mary Ann was off this week, the excellent Anita Ramaswamy joined Natasha Mascarenhas and Alex Wilhelm on the mics. (Theresa, as per usual, held down the production front!)What did we merry three get into? The following:Quick Hits: Launch House is shaking up its legal team as it sifts through what is left of its reputation; Sequoia India is still making big edtech bets; and BeReal is wealthy and, in our view, pretty cool. But does it have the staying power it will need?Twitter layoffs: When we prepped for the show, it seemed that massive Twitter layoffs could impact up to 75% of the company's staff. Since then, the figure has come down some. How much? That's not clear, but what is is the fact that Twitter's new chapter is supposed to begin, and

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha is bringing one of her favorite Disrupt panels to your ears. She sat down with Chief co-founders Lindsay Kaplan and Carolyn Childers to talk about the future of their private membership club for women in leadership positions. (Shout out Bryce for this amazing live illustration he did while we were all on stage!).The conversation touches on outlasting competitors, pandemic-defined community, the duality unicorn valuations and the word girlboss. If you love the conversation, share it with a friend. And if you want more on Chief, read a recap post that my colleague Ron Miller wrote about all things membership community and waitlists. Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Ove

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.We are back from Disrupt, which means we're picking up the pieces of our work lives, getting back on track. Equity is now on its regular schedule, which is good. A big thanks to the entire podcast production crew for making last week happen.Now! What did we get into this morning? The following:Stocks rallied around the world, but fell in China. Chinese equities suffered under investor pessimism at the cementing of Xi Jinping's authority over the country's economy. Elsewhere, hope that central bank policies would not carry as much teeth in the future as we have seen in recent months sent stocks higher.The finalists from the recent Startup Battlefield competition were all pretty freaking great, especially the focus that several had on making our home planet a bit cleaner, or better. Commercial solutions will be required for us to do any damn thing about the planet, so, here's t

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.While the crew recovers from an incredible week in SF for TechCrunch Disrupt, we dug through the archives for a conversation you may have missed. Natasha was joined by TC+ reporter Rebecca Szkutak to wade through the news of the week. It was frantic, it was full, and forgettable it was not!Here's what we got into:Quick note from Becca on Neumann's return and if follow-on funding will be a possibility for Flow -- given some investors reactions.Our two deals of the week include an innovative step for hearing aid startups and a new take on international money transfer.For hearing loss tech, a new FDA ruling allows hearing aids to be sold over the counter. We dove in to how this regulatory change helps open the door for startups to innovate in the category.Speaking of regulatory pains, we spoke about how employee-benefits startups might escape cost cuts as companies seek to retai

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. And for the first time in the history of the show, the TechCrunch pod that opened up Disrupt on the big stage. Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann got to be together to record in person for the first-time ever, and it went exactly as wild as you thought it would (we forgot this is what make up feels like!).We started with a deal of the week, which, in typical Equity style, had to be about a snarky comeback story and inequity. Then we spoke about our three themes of the year, ranging from reputation checks to scrappy requests to, of course, grace as a leadership style.Natasha wanted to talk about, in her own words, the nuance of reputation but more importantly when it matters versus when it’s ignored.Alex wanted to riff on starting being forced to learn how to be scrappy, after a long period of being perhaps over-stuffed.And, finally, Mary Ann wanted to discuss the importance of humil

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.Don’t forget that the code “EQUITY” can save you money on Disrupt tickets and TechCrunch+ access. And it makes us here on the show look good!Hell yeah, this is our Monday show. And heck yes, we are recording Equity live tomorrow morning at Disrupt. Get super stoked, because we are hype. That said, we did have a lot to get news done for you this morning. Here's what Theresa and Alex went through this morning:Stocks are up in many parts of the world, including the United States, where software shares are ripping north as the week begins. Very kind of the market to kick off Disrupt with some good news.Crypto is quieter, with prices not changing much and the general vibe of the market not evolving a whit.Kanye West, also known as Ye, is buying niche social network Parler in a deal that will see the musician, fashion mogul, and controversy generator buy the service — but not the i

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Before we get into this week’s show notes, some programming items:First up, use code “EQUITY” for a special listener discount for Disrupt tickets. We’re mere days away, and you should come hang out with us when we record on opening day!We also have a special for those impacted by layoffs. If you were laid off, go here to get a free ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt’s Expo!That behind us, what did Mary Ann, Natasha and Alex get into today? A whole host of things. Here's the rundown: Getaway and Pacaso: What happens if you mix Airbnb, vacation homes, timeshares, and REITs? A very interesting startup cluster, it turns out. These two companies brought Mary Ann and Natasha into the same reporting space and gave us a good chance to discuss the luxury market.The Muse gets acquisitive: One of the most interesting deals we saw in the last week was The Muse buying Fairygodboss, a recruitin

Sarah Guo isn't late to the AI party, but she did just raise a $101 million fund to bet on the appetizers.Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single person, think about their work, and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha and Alex interviewed Guo, who worked at Greylock for nearly a decade, and her launch of Conviction. We spoke about the self-correcting venture market, what made her leave Greylock, and even rewound to her last episode with us (recorded almost exactly three years ago). There was also an especially fruitful conversation about the opportunity in artificial intelligence right now, and how she's defining Software 3.0. (Warning: We talk about SaaS!) We also dug into why she started a fund, the LP market, and more. The conversation ran a bit long, but it felt reasonable to keep going given the sheer breadth of stuff that we wanted to get through.Do

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.Don’t forget that the code “EQUITY” can save you money on Disrupt tickets and TechCrunch+ access. And it makes us here on the show look good!We're gearing up to take the show on the road in short order, but don't worry about that this week. Service will continue as usual until we kick off Disrupt next Tuesday!Today, we got into the weeds about:Markets: Stocks are down in most of the world, albeit somewhat mixed in Europe. Crypto is mostly flat, with the XRP breaking the trend by being interesting. The Block reports that crypto volumes ticked higher in September, which could bode well.Startups: Clerkenwell Health just raised a couple million pounds for testing alternative medications for mental health conditions. We're excited about that. And Trendsi raised a $25 million Series A, which is no small deal, as we had expected to see smaller early-stage rounds this year. Good on T

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Before we get into this week’s show notes, some programming notes:First up, use code “EQUITY” for a special listener discount for Disrupt tickets. We’re mere weeks away, and you should come hang out with us when we record on opening day!We also have a special for those impacted by layoffs. If you were laid off, go here to get a free ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt’s Expo!Alright, throat clearing aside, here's what we got into this week: $700M water? Yeah, the Liquid Death round was a big deal in the news this week because everyone had an opinion on the matter. Us included. While there's good reason to doubt the DTC model today -- cough cough, public markets -- Alex was on hand to stand up for the, er, near unicorn.How much should you pay your staff? From there it was time to chat about fair compensation, and how a startup called Comprehensive wants to take a crack at the questi

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Alex asked: How are platforms responding to the new creator landscape? (Don't worry, the Wednesday show is still Natasha's to lead, she was just a little under the weather this week!)Happily, Alex was not running solo, as TechCrunch's own Amanda Silberling was with the show this week -- not for the first time! -- to chat through the key questions we wanted to parse our way through:What is the new creator landscape?How did we get to today from the go-go 2020/2021 period of creator-focused venture deals?What are creator-focused platforms focused on today?And, finally, what options do creators have today, based on our understanding of the market?The idea for the episode stems in part from our reporting, including this recent look at the amount of money that c

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.Don’t forget that the code “EQUITY” can save you money on Disrupt tickets and TechCrunch+ access. And it makes us here on the show look good!Markets: Stocks are largely down around the world, yet set to rise here on American exchanges. Perhaps the domestic selloff is pausing? Elsewhere in the world of money, cryptocurrencies are boring in the last week.Startups: Big news from TikTok, including notes on how quickly it has been adding revenue in Europe and the fact that the social network is forging ahead with a new social shopping effort in the United States. And, Talk360 added even more dosh to its recent funding round, which TechCrunch dug into here.Quick Hits: Kim Kardashian is in trouble for crypto promotions past, to the tune of a seven-figure settlement. That's a lot of capital, frankly, and we're curious who will be next under the SEC's hammer. Oh, and Tesla delivery nu

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Before we get into this week's show notes, some programming notes:First up, use code “EQUITY” for a special listener discount for Disrupt tickets. We’re less than one month away!We also have a special for those impacted by layoffs. If you were laid off, go here to get a free ticket to TechCrunch Disrupt’s Expo.Ok, now to the show. This week, Natasha, Mary Ann and Rebecca took the mic, with Theresa on production duty, to talk through quite a diverse news cycle. Our deals of the week were Scout, HopSkipDrive and Hustle Fund's new fund (so I think you finally get the headline of this show).Then we jumped into the human side of the layoff story, as Mary Ann and Christine dug into four stories of those impacted by the Better.com layoff spree.https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/28/better-com-employees-detail-their-experiences/ After that, we debated whether or not the Adobe/Figma deal

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha asked: How does the "build in public" mindset impact the way that startups are built? Alex and Natasha chatted through the difference between building in public, going direct, startup PR, and just straight-up hype.We spoke about the challenges in community and recent examples that show the difficulty of building in public (and then clamming up).The conversation included Launch House, Copy.ai, On Deck, Egnyte, and even Databricks. While we have very biased reasons for more companies to build in public -- we love to learn things! -- we tried to expand the conversation to include more perspectives.We'll be back on Friday with our regular news roundup, an episode that may include a voice that you'll hear more frequently in the coming months!Before we g

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.Don’t forget that the code “EQUITY” can save you money on Disrupt tickets and TechCrunch+ access. And it makes us here on the show look good!Markets: Stocks are mostly down around the world today, taking especially large hits in Asia. U.S. shares are set to fall as well when they begin to trade. Major cryptos are also off in the last 24 hours, but not enough to make a fuss about.Startups: Today we took a look at new fundraises at Vendease, an African logistics company in the food space, and Disperse, a U.K-based construction tech company that wants to map building sites. That market, it turns out, is huge.Quick Hits: Do Kwon has been hit with a red notice, which means that he will likely soon be in custody. However, some are irked that he's in trouble for causing a financial meltdown and losing a lot of folks' money. What's the argument there? That he wasn't being malicious,

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.Coming to hang with us at Disrupt, where Equity is kicking off the entire event? Use code 'EQUITY' to save 15% on your tickets. Hell yeah, and see you there!Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann jumped on the mic, with Theresa running production, to talk through the biggest headlines from the week!Deals of the Week! This time 'round we had Polywork raising $28 million, Block Party raising $4.8 million, and Remofirst and its own recent fundraise. Naturally we had to leave 234 deals on the cutting room floor, but these were the ones we could not wait to chat more about. Also, don't Polywork, Block Party and Remofirst sound like fun people to get dinner with? Just us?Insurtech goes Niche: From there it was time to riff on a series of stories from Mary Ann, focused on specialized insurtech companies, and the fact that Pie just proved that it is still possible to raise nine-figures as an ins

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha asked: What does breaking into venture capital look like today, and how is it changing? Alex and Becca jumped on the mic to discuss this and start with a refresh on our latest op-ed: "4 views on unpaid venture internships." We talked through three buckets of venture onramps: the traditional route, the new wave and the tourist strategy. Each has their own pros and cons, and includes everything from rolling funds to the real definition of partner.We also covered more on the value of certain on ramps, and if network is the right thing to disrupt (or if its more track record based)We tried not to gang up on Dorm Room Fund too much, but did chat about why their $12.5 million fund that's run by unpaid students irked us and other initiatives we thought we

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.Don’t forget that the code “EQUITY” can save you money on Disrupt tickets and TechCrunch+ access. And it makes us here on the show look good!Here's what we got into this Fine Monday Morning:Stocks are down around the world, while crypto-assets are down even more; post-Merge you might have anticipated better performance from tokens, but it has not yet come to be.The WSJ has some juicy notes on the upcoming Instacart IPO, namely that it is not expecting to sell a lot of its own stock in the transaction. Why does that matter? It tells us that the company is not burning that much cash -- a useful thing to know ahead of an anticipated IPO filing coming this year.From startup-land: Ola is cutting jobs, two delivery logistics startups are merging in Sweden, and Byld Ventures is putting together a venture capital fund to watch.Finally, Do Kown is a wanted man, shares of TakeTwo are d

If you are into web3, the biggest news of the week in tech was not the massive Figma-Adobe deal. No, the leading story of the last few days -- arguably even the last few weeks -- has been the Ethereum Merge.The Merge, an upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain that moved it from a proof of work (PoW) to a proof of stake (PoS) system of consensus was a long-awaited shift that finally took place this week. And as the change in technology is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of the popular blockchain by ~99%, we had lots to get into.https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/15/now-that-the-ethereum-merge-is-behind-us-whats-next/But we didn't just want to riff on the startup angle, or the web3 perspective, because the Merge had huge implications for crypto as an industry and its place in the world of emerging tech. That's why we got together our startup and blockchain podcast teams for a collab episode to hit both angles: Anita and Jacquie from Chain Reaction, and Natasha and Alex from Equity. This also gave us a 50-50 Tec