Equity

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 o

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 — bu

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 Fairygodb

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

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.

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 a

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

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 d

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 Ado

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

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 m

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 a

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 tho

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 Tak

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

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann jumped on the mic, with Theresa on backup, to talk through the biggest headlines. We started with a look at the Figma-Adobe deal, worth some $20 billion. TechCrunch's news coverage is here, and Alex has more notes here. Deals of the Week: Maven, Patreon, and Modulous. We also spoke about the Launch House issue, and what to make of the model, and management of the company. The conversation naturally landed us on just what community is. From there, Europe! Which is seeing a wave a new venture funds, leading to some notable intra-continent competition. And then we wrapped with a short note on the latest on the Twitter-Musk deal. If you are coming to Disrupt, use the code “EQUITY” to save 15%. It makes us look good internally, and gets you a cheaper discount to our first Disrupt live show in the history of the podcast. Equity drops every Monday a

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 and Alex asked: How is YC evolving to meet a changed market? The question is fresh off of Demo Day last week, where Team TC and TC+ banded forces to cover the twice-a-year event that sees hundreds of startups launch to the public. These days, Seibel doesn't often do press -- and neither does YC -- so the interview was used to connect the dots on recent news from the accelerator, cross check top trends from this past batch and ask about some of the biggest critiques people have about the institution today. We went a bit long, but figured it was worth it given the way the conversation was going. Equity has a live show on Thursday, and lots more to come. Chat soon! Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so sub

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 ticketsand TechCrunch+ access. And it makes us here on the show look good! Now, what did we get into today? Stocks are higher around the world, while major cryptos have risen sharply in the last week. The Ethereum update known as the 'Merge' is just around the corner. The change in consensus model at ETH is a big darn deal. How the tech change goes, and what the market reaction is to it, will be key events this week. And speaking of crypto, the SEC is getting even busier in its efforts to have more oversight of the space. From the startup front, Gotham Greens and Diveplane both raised money, $310 million and $25 million respectively. Each are a part of neat, growing sectors in startup-land, making their fundraising a bit more impactful than individual rounds tend to be. And then quick takes: Everyone's wo

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. As you can tell by the headline of this episode, this is a bonus episode all about Y Combinator Demo Day (and the terms we heard most often during the two-day affair). Natasha and Alex jumped on Twitter Spaces to talk through our favorites of the batch, geography changes, and diversity shake-up that included less women getting funded batch over batch. Below are some of the posts we pulled from: The biggest moonshots in YC’s S22 batch Our 11 favorite companies from YC’s S22 Demo Day: Part 1  Our 10 favorite startups from YC’s S22 Demo Day: Part 2 Delving into YC’s diversity data following a category shakeup Where is Y Combinator startup-hunting in 2022? Y Combinator week is busy, but we made it through! Talk Monday! Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. What. A. Week. Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann jumped on the mic, with Theresa on backup, to talk through the biggest headlines. For our Apple coverage, click here. For our YC coverage, click here. All that aside, here's what we got into on today's episode: Kim Kardashian surprised us all -- yet again -- with the news that she is co-founding a private equity firm. We also talked about how Userpilot raised $4.6 million to help SaaS companies offer a more personalized user experience and Varjo - an early mover in building XR headsets and software for enterprises - landing $40 million in new funding. We pivoted to riff on a couple of acquisitions in the grocery delivery space, both of which thought were pretty cool and made sense. Instacart acquired Rosie (gotta love the name) in an example of not putting all its eggs in one basket, and Misfit Markets announced it is buying Imperf