Now that we are finally past Y Combinator’s demo day — though our Friday show is worth listening if you haven’t had a chance yet — we can dive into the latest news. So, this morning on Equity Monday we got into the chance that the United States might pass a real data privacy law. There’s movement to report, but we’re still very, very far from anything becoming law. Elsewhere, the U.S. and TSMC have a new deal, there’s gaming news to consider (and a venture tie-in), and Spotify’s latest AI plans, which I am sure will delight some and annoy others. Hit play, and let’s talk about the news!

Today on Equity, Alex is joined by TechCrunch's Dominic-Madori Davis and Kyle Wiggers to discuss their ongoing Women in AI interview series. The pair set out to interview the women working in AI to learn more about their work, how they got into the world of artificial intelligence, and more. Thus far they have interviewed folks like Irene Solaiman, head of global policy at Hugging Face, Sarah Kreps, professor of government at Cornell, and Heidy Khlaaf, safety engineering director at Trail of Bits.

What a week, everyone. Two full days of Y Combinator demo day activity kept us busy, but the latest accelerator cohort’s launch was far from the only big story in startup-land. Today on the Equity’s Friday news roundup, Mary Ann, Becca, and Alex gathered to dig into favorites from the hundreds of new YC companies that pitched, and a new venture capital fund that wants to become “the investment and innovation arm of the autism community.” Becca wanted to talk about Seso and its fascinating fintech play in the agricultural space, while Alex brought Home From College and its recent Seed round to the mix. Then to close out, we chatted through the impending Ibotta and Rubrik IPOs. The latter deal could provide a fascinating heat-check for unprofitable unicorns that need to find some sort of exit, and quickly.

On the podcast this morning we have BlaBlaCar's new credit facility and how it managed to land it, how PipeDreams could be onto a new model of startup construction, GoStudent's rebound and profitability, Hailo's chip business and massive new funding round, and the two new brands that GGV calls home as it divides up its operations on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Equity has what you need to know to kick off Q2! Alex is talking through the latest in stocks and crypto, Discord's new ad push and AT&T's passcode resets. We'll also take a look at a big shift impacting fans of Google Podcasts, a startup round concerning trucking and more.

As the week comes to a close, we're also shutting the book on the trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the erstwhile crypto baron who is heading to prison for 25 years. But while the SBF news was a big deal, there was so very much more to cover on today's news roundup episode of Equity. With Kirsten Korosec, Mary Ann Azevedo, and Alex Wilhelm aboard this week, the crew dug into Robinhood's new credit card and what it can tell us about the strategy of major tech companies, Fisker's latest woes, and even Databricks' new AI model that it spent $10 million to spin up. We also dug into two companies building startups focused around kids. One wants to help tots learn how to produce music, while the other is working to reduce waste and help parents care for their kids on a budget. Then, to wrap up, a look at just who unicorn founders really are, and a new $100 million fund that to back climate tech.

This is our interview show, where we sit down with guests, think about their work, and unpack the rest. This week, Wonderschool, a startup that works with individuals and local governments to spin up more childcare businesses by providing software and other support, has acquired EarlyDay. EarlyDay, another venture-backed startup, operates a early childhood educator marketplace. Alex caught up with EarlyDay’s two former CEOs, Emma Harris and Melissa Tran, and their new boss, Chris Bennett at Wonderschool, to chat through the deal, what’s ahead for their sector, and more.

Today on Equity, Alex is catching you up on stocks around the world, crypto prices, and the weekend's biggest news. We're talking about the exit of Stability AI's CEO, the EU's Digital Markets Act, Spotify's edtech push, why Liquid Death is crushing it, and more.

The Equity crew is closing out the week with a look at Onyx's pivot to B2B, a climate incubator set up by the former co-founder of Casper, Wonder's $700 million raise and how Ethos Fund is fostering cross-border investing. We were also curious about Saudi Arabia's AI investment push and how some VCs are holding back an IPO rush.

On today's episode, Astera Labs is going public after pricing above-range, and Microsoft scoops up Inflection AI talent. We'll also dig into mega rounds from TigerEye and Pocket FM, as well as why one pension fund’s move to lower its venture allocation isn’t as worrying as it might sound.

Here’s what we got into this morning: Apple may tap Google for AI: Sure, Apple is working on its own AI tech, but Google’s Gemini model could be headed for an iPhone near you. Bloomberg broke the news. Grok goes open source: As promised, xAI’s LLM Grok is out for people to play with. Most importantly, startup founders seem excited. Reddit’s IPO makes progress: Oversubscription is always a good signal, but is also no promise of IPO riches to come. Gumroad says ‘no thanks’ to NSFW content: Another year, another platform booting adult creators. It’s a tale as old as time! Gaming is coming to LinkedIn: Look I don’t know what to tell you other than that all platforms eventually become one.

It's Equity Friday! Today our beloved Mary Ann was off on well-deserved break, so our friend and fellow-podcaster Rebecca Szkutak was kind enough to bring her insight and humor to the podcast. We got into the progress being made on the possible TikTok ban, audio-focused AI-startups, why so many late-stage startups are seemingly avoiding the IPO.

Equity is back with your mid-week startup check-in! We have new data from Carta on how startup compensation is changing, raises from Empathy & Bear Robotics, and more from Bluesky, Brave, and Chamath Palihapitiya’s VC Firm.

Today on Equity, we're kicking off another week with a look at Reddit's new IPO filing, the potential impact of Grok being open sourced, and why Bobby Kotick wants to buy TikTok.

This week, Mary Ann interviewed Roger Lee, an entrepreneur who’s spent the better part of a decade building tools for employees and employers alike. Lee is an angel investor as well the creator of Layoffs.FYI and co-founder of Comprehensive and Human Interest. Roger joined us on the show last year in the wake of 2022’s tech layoffs, but this week we’re focusing on the business of shutting down and why investors are lining up to back startups in the space, including Roger.

Today on Equity, Alex and Mary Ann are highlighting deals of the week including Mews' massive new round and how a South Korean startup aims to take on Carta. Also this week, Deel is snapping up more companies while Remofirst takes steps to become more competitive, and VCs are exploring other avenues.

Alex hopped back on the mic this morning to talk about OpenAI bringing receipts to its tussle with Musk and what's happening with OpenView. Equity is also digging into Monzo's big fundraise, a big startup deal in the AI space, and new climate regulations.

This is our Monday show, in which we take a look back at the weekend and what’s ahead in the week. This time, Apple is hit by a massive fine in the EU, India has new rules when it comes to AI, Waymo reaches more markets, and Salla raises a huge pre-IPO round.

This week, Mary Ann talked to David Vélez, the co-founder and CEO of Nubank. The pair dove deep into why some investors are sticking it out in LatAm, why it’s a great place to still put venture dollars, which startups in LatAm have been the most resilient and what other regions can learn from them.

Alex and Mary Ann are sending you off into the weekend with news on Stripe's recovered valuation, Fervo Energy's $200M round, why VCs are investing in startups that shut down companies, and what happens when AI goes up agains the law.

For Equity's mid-week update, we're talking through startup news from Microsoft and Mistral AI, Thrasio and Glean. We're also covering the lates from COTU Ventures and Zacua Ventures.

Equity is back with another Monday morning recap of the weekend and look ahead at the week to come. We're talking through the latest in stocks and crypto, how Google is working to bring Gemini to a host of hardware endpoints, why some venture capitalists are backing out of the European market, Byju's CEO, and more.

Weekend team, we have something both short and sweet for you: A dig into the Reddit IPO filing that came out just after we recorded our final, regular episode of the week. Since we could not wait until Monday to talk about the numbers, we have an overview here for your delectation.

This week Mary Ann, Kirsten, and Alex gathered to chat through a massive sheaf of news including deals of the week from PermitFlow, Cake and Match Group, Klarna's board, and why video game startups could be a surprise 2024 winner. A note before we get to the rundown that Reddit filed to go public after we had recorded this episode, so notes on its IPO filing are not included in this particular episode. Don’t think that we won’t discuss its S-1, it just came too late for this particular entry. More to come!

On today's episode, we're talking about Reddit's upcoming IPO (again), along with some impressive raises for edtech startup Loora, Bioptimus and Dili. As usual, we'll wrap up with the latest in Venture Land, including a new foodtech fund and the largest African venture fund out there!