Equity

This week Gené Teare from Crunchbase and Crunchbase News joined the podcast. She's a well-known analyst of the global venture capital market, and was instrumental to Crunchbase's early life and remains one of its more tenured staffers.So, what did the three of us get into? Here's the rundown:The big picture: What should we think about when we consider the Q3 2023 venture capital market as a whole. (More on Latin America here, Canada here, and global data here from TechCrunch+.) Here's Gené on Q3 data as well.Stage-level health. Which level of startup maturity is seeing the most capital? The least?And, venture capital flows around the world. As always, where venture dollars land is nearly as important as their total number for any particular period.Equity is back on Friday with our weekly news roundup. Chat 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 c

Here's what we got into today:Earnings season is here, and we'll hear from Tesla and Netflix this week. Expect a lot of new data to drop in the coming weeks.If we bundle a number of headlines together, it's clear that running a social media company in the modern era can be a very expensive proposition. Though, what you think about regulation may color how you view the situation.Funding to web3 gaming companies declined in Q3, but it's not all that bad.The U.S. may not see IPOs happening, but the rest of the world is not similarly bereft.Creative Force's Series A was too cool to not mention.Equity will be back Wednesday with a killer episode on all things venture capital in Q3. See 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 T

This week, we have a bonus mini episode where Jacquelyn talks with TechCrunch+ editor-in-chief Alex Wilhelm to dive back into the Sam Bankman-Fried trial and what has transpired in its second week. Major witnesses who were involved in the downfall of FTX and its sister company Alameda testified like Gary Wang, CTO and cofounder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda. The two of them plead guilty to a number of charges and could face maximum sentences of 50 to 110 years, respectively. It’s also worth noting Wang and Ellison testified as part of a cooperation agreement for pleading guilty. Jacquelyn and Alex talk about key points from the trial, anecdotes that you can’t read on a transcript and what she anticipates from both the prosecutors and defense going forward. Want more? Here’s the latest on the SBF trial: Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison explains how FTX hid losses, sandbagged lendersAlameda Research allegedly paid Chinese officials around $150M to regain $1B worth of exchange accountsAlameda R

Mary Ann and Alex were joined by Kirsten once again to parse the week’s news and call out the biggest stories in startups and venture:California passed a law that will require venture firms to disclose certain market data concerning whom they are investing in. Some investors and venture groups are opposed to the law.ALIAVIA Ventures has put together a new fund to invest in women building tech companies in Australia and the United States, with a focus on helping Aussie companies reach the American market.Canopy Servicing raised a $15.2 million Series A1. Alex caught up with the company, hoping to learn what it took to raise a fintech round in 2023. Things have changed since the go-go days of 2021 when every round felt like a fintech round and every fintech round felt like a pre-IPO deal.And rounding out our deals of the week, Kirsten brought a fascinating $200 million deal between a private equity group and EVPassport. If the world is going to move more toward electric cars, then we’re going to need more plugs

This week we had Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine, the CEO of Medium.com, a publishing platform that he has helmed for more than a year.Medium has gone through a number of versions over the years. Pivots, if you will. But what has been a steady focus in Medium's life in recent years has been its subscription business. Medium offers a paid membership tier that costs $5 per month or $50 per year. And, Tony was willing to share, it's growing once again and is heading toward a pretty key milestone.We also got into:The business of the written word.Medium's stance on AI and what its posture says about how the company views the value of writing. (More on the matter from TechCrunch here.)Why Medium thinks that everyone has something worth saying.There's a little bit of media insider chat during this podcast, which we hope you enjoy. As always, we're back with our weekly roundup on Friday. Talk then!For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and F

This time around we had a bit of a theme. See if you can spot it:Stocks are down around the world in the wake of Hamas' attack in Israel. Crypto is similarly in the red.China is working to bolster its national computing and data infrastructure. You know, the things that make AI function. In other words: the AI race between China and the United States is far from over.This Anthropic paper is a potentially big deal. The more that we understand LLMs, the better we can use them, right?Changes at YC!And from Startup Land: Wanda Fish Technologies just raised $7 million to make fake fish, and Lottie raised $21 million to keep tackling the UK care home market.That's our show for today! We have some really fun interviews coming up, so make sure to tune in on Wednesday!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 s

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 and caught up!

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 hereSBF’s trial promises to be just as riveting as the rest of the FTX dramaUS government confirms it didn’t offer any plea deals to Sam Bankman-FriedMeet the 12 jurors on Sam Bankman-Fried’s trialWas 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 is focused on

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, Spotify and all

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 success can be repl

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? Will sim

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 casts. TechCrunc

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 employeesWhat advice VCs are giving their early stage founders Why Cruise might join the call to ban human drivers in city centersAnd 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 has a great sho

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. Exercise i

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 website.Equity drop

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 for our last rec

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 regulatio

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.Equity drops at 7 a.m.

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 show on

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 MadAnd 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 drops at 7 a.m. PT every