Equity
The intersection of technology, startups, and venture capital touches everything now. That’s why Equity, TechCrunch's flagship podcast, digs into the business of startups for entrepreneurs and enthusiasts alike. Every Wednesday and Friday, TechCrunch reporters keep you up-to-date on the world of business, technology, and venture capital. Equity is ranked the No.2 podcast in the Top 100 Venture Capital All time leaderboard on Goodpods—As well as No.17 for the Top 100 Finance All time chart and No.32 for the Top 100 Business News All time chart.
301
Cruise layoffs, exosuits, and why French startu...
Today on Equity, we kicked off our recording with a breaking story from Cruise which announced it will be cutting 24% of its staff. Steering away from layoffs, we turned to Prevu's $6 million Series A and why Verve Motion just raised $20 million for supportive lifting suits, what's bubbling up in the French venture ecosystem, and how a few mega-deals are changing the numbers for AI.
32 min
302
Why Automattic spent $50M on Texts.com
This week, Equity brought Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic and co-founder of WordPress onto the show, along with Kishan Bagaria, the founder of Texts.com. Automattic bought all-in-one messaging app Texts.com for $50 million back in October, and today, we're digging into the transaction and what it means, and also the state of the written word online.
30 min
303
Equity Monday: TikTok loves ecommerce and VCs t...
Today on Equity, the end of tech earnings is in sight as Adobe and Oracle report this week. Elsewhere, Mistral raises again while the EU gets its regulatory plan in place for AI, TikTok loves ecommerce, and fintech is far from dead.
10 min
304
Chain Reaction: Crypto VC space may be on the c...
Over on Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn interviewed David Pakman, managing partner and head of venture investments at CoinFund. Before CoinFund, David spent 14 years at the venture capital firm Venrock. He also led the Series A and B rounds at Dollar Shave Club which was acquired by Unilever for $1 billion.
33 min
305
SaaS goes to space as some software startups ar...
This week on Equity, Simply Homes raised $22 million for an interesting property play, SoftBank bought majority share of connected-vehicles company Cubic Telecom, and OurSky raised $9.2 million for its space-viewing software system. The crew also parsed through troubles in Fintech from ZestMoney and Navan and how tech earnings are sending mixed signals to startups and VCs.
34 min
306
No-code for creators and how regular folks can ...
Today, we’re bringing you another conversation from TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, when Alex sat down with Serhii Bohoslovskyi, the founder of no-code app-builder Trible. Trible is a no-code software product that helps folks construct online courses. The pair are catching up on the state of the creator economy, the use of no-code tooling today and how it is received by non-technical creators, and the state of startups that have roots in Ukraine.
15 min
307
Equity Monday: Bitcoin is on the move as Spotif...
Equity is covering the latest in tech news from the weekend and what’s making headlines early in the week. We're talking through CoreWeave's new $7 billion valuation, what's happening in crypto, delays at Google's AI project and Spotify cutting staff in light of economic conditions.
10 min
308
Big wins for Latin America, climate tech moment...
The Equity crew is kicking off the last month of 2023 with a look at the latest in startups and VC. This week, Webull snapped up Flink, Uber teamed up with London's black cabs and Rover dug up $2.3 billion. We also chatted through IPOs heating back up with Reddit and Shein, and why venture downturns are not death sentences.
36 min
309
What founders can escape venture's no-man's lan...
Anu Hariharan, who previously led YC Continuity, has partnered with two of her former colleagues and former Brex executive Lucas Fox to launch a new fund, Avra. The fund aims to raise about $350 million and operate a program that some are referring to as a “YC for growth.” In light of the news, we’re throwing it back to a conversation we had with Anu earlier this year: Alex and Anu dug into what makes a "great" founder and how those founders are successfully guiding their companies towards cash flow positivity.
37 min
310
How soon can I get a computer-brain implant?
Today on Equity, Alex has the latest on how things are shaping up for SaaS startups in the back-half of 2023, Neuralink raising more capital, gaming layoffs coming in hot and heavy, ecommerce updates, and why Meta is once again in regulatory hot water.
11 min
311
Special Episode: Who's betting on fashion tech?
Is sustainable fashion possible? Today, we’re bringing you two bonus conversations all about sustainability in fashion from TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. First up you’ll hear Harri Weber sit down with three powerhouses in sustainable fashion: Jim Ajioka from Colorifix, Beth Esponnette from unspun and Julie Willoughby from Circ. In part two, you'll hear from TechCrunch’s Morgan Sung and Jemima Bunbury, the co-founder of the curated fashion app, BLEND.
39 min
312
Will the OpenAI chaos boost open-source models?
Unsurprisingly, we're discussing the recent turmoil in the AI market today. OpenAI has kept the journalistic corps busy, but we also need to consider what the latest twists and turns may bring for startup founders. To talk through it all, we're joined by TechCrunch's own Kyle Wiggers, and Supervised founder and former Equity host Matthew Lynley.
31 min
313
Catching up on OpenAI’s wild weekend
This past weekend was all about the massive shakeup at OpenAI, and the high-impact machinations that the last few days brought. Today on Equity, we're discussing the timeline that brought us to today, from the firing of Sam Altman through all the latest activity.
11 min
314
The future of M&A and why founders are getting ...
Today on Equity, Ramp and Brex are levering AI while Sunnyside is raising funds to help folks cut back on drinking, the Getir-FreshDirect deal had us wondering what's ahead for the startup M&A market and a recent Battery Ventures report had Alex thinking about how AI-powered automation could help startups spend less as they grow.
31 min
315
What you need to know about Google's search ant...
This week, TechCrunch’s own Rebecca Bellan is on the podcast to help us better understand Google’s search-related anti-trust case that is currently ongoing in the United States and what this could mean for startups.
28 min
316
Equity Monday: Are we at the start of a new cry...
Today on Equity, crypto's melt-up is continuing, AI training is going to stay expensive for a long while - although Microsoft is probably not worried about the costs - Didi's earnings are kicking off a busy week for Chinese tech companies, and Dave.com is finding a new way to promote its growth.
10 min
317
OpenAI's DevDay, reinventing the REIT and good ...
The Equity crew is looking at deals of the week from May Mobility and Mogul Club as well as Microsoft’s latest startup wooing trend. We also dove deep into WeWork's bankruptcy, Zeus Living's shutdown, OpenAI's developer day and why 2024 might be raining IPOs.
34 min
318
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen such pos...
The Equity crew is diving deep into encouraging signs from the fintech startup market, starting with Klarna's Q3 results. The company’s ability to continue growing while staying profitable is a reminder that one down-round does not a company kill. From there, we're taking a look at BNPL consumer behavior and fintech fundraising results with a 2021 flavor.
30 min
319
Equity Monday: The race to build tomorrow’s AI ...
Equity is back with a look at what's making headlines early in the week. TechCrunch is tracking 01.AI in China, which is now a unicorn, and we're curious about what Elon Musk’s X.AI service has to offer, how a former Sequoia group is racking up impressive results in India, why OpenSea cut staff and the latest chip firm to get a big check from China's government.
10 min
320
'Buy now, pay later' is just another way of say...
The Equity crew is rounding up the week’s biggest startup and tech news, starting with WeWork's struggle to stay alive before diving into deals from around the world. Mary Ann wanted to chat about Charlie, which is building a neobank for seniors; Alex wanted to talk about an interesting non-profit-ish model to get startups and others access to H100s; Becca brought Almouneer to the table, an interesting health tech play in the Middle East. From there we dug into massive fintech rounds and what to do when founding teams break up.
36 min
321
When does a startup know it’s time to spread it...
This week, Alex and Mary Ann were joined by co-founder and managing partner at ALIAVIA Ventures, Marisa Warren. ALIAVIA invests in startups based in the US and Australia that have at least one female founder, and also helps their portfolio companies tackle new markets. Together, we're diving into the current state of venture investment in women, when startups should target their second market and how.
32 min
322
Equity Monday: Governments are getting their AI...
Equity is covering the latest in tech news from the weekend and what’s making headlines early in the week. We're looking at a massive earnings week, the Biden administration's executive order regarding AI, Web Summit's new CEO, and why X users now have to avoid getting hit with community notes.
10 min
323
Bonus episode: What we learned from SBF's testi...
Happy Saturday! We have a special bonus episode for you from our sister pod, Chain Reaction. Alex joins Jacquelyn Melinek to go over Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial so far before getting into his testimony on Thursday and Friday.
24 min
324
AI is going to make Big Tech even bigger, and r...
Today on Equity, Mary Ann and Alex were lucky enough to have Kirsten aboard for the roundup, which means we got to tackle an even wider array of stories than usual. We covered a few deals of the week including news from I Own my Data and AgentSync. The big news we talked about included, Carta's CEO major comms floor where he alerted customers to some bad press by trying to tell them to ignore it, the recent roadblock for Cruise driverless taxis and why Waymo appears to be winning, and a few notes on Alphabet and Microsofts earnings.
37 min
325
The Theory Ventures venture theory with Tomasz ...
This week, Alex talked to Theory Ventures founder Tomasz Tunguz on the show. As long-time readers of his work, having the former Redpoint investor on the show was a no-brainer. They got into Why Tunguz left Redpoint and started his own fund and the thesis that underpins Theory Ventures’ investments and the future of machine learning, why Tunguz is bullish on Ethereum and the value of software, the health of software companies, and why venture math still holds up at lower valuation multiples.
30 min