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.
351
Venture's Q2 was calm (and that's not good)
So, what happened in venture capital-land during Q2 2023? A lot, and not very much. We got PitchBook venture guru Kyle Stanford to come back on the podcast to riff with us on the good, the bad, and the late-stage.
33 min
352
Equity Monday: Intel backs robotics startup, Tw...
Hello, and welcome back to Equity. Here’s the rundown from this morning: Stocks are largely down around the world following weak Chinese economic data for the second quarter, the XRP/Ripple partial victory drove a short-lived boomlet for many crypto tokens, Twitter is cash-flow negative, per its CEO, but the company intends to double-down on paying individual tweeters for their high-view activities while Threads continues to grow like a weed, and startupThunes is nearly a unicorn.
7 min
353
We're in the pruning phase of tech layoffs
This week, A new Chinese AI model had us wondering who is really going to win the AI war, Founders Fund's scooped up a new partner, Connetic Ventures is using AI models to create a less biased landscape for entrepreneurs, and tech layoffs and inflation are cooling down.
32 min
354
Is ChatGPT the iBeer of LLMs?
We're digging into AI's iPhone moment with a very special guest: Matthew Lynley, one of the founding hosts of Equity and a former TechCruncher. Since his Equity days, Lynley went off and started his very own AI-focused publication called Supervised. We brought him back on the show to ask him questions about recent acquisitions from Databricks and Snowflake, what it means for the LLM stack, and where startups sit in the current AI race.
32 min
355
Equity Monday: People like Threads
Alex is back from a well-deserved vacation and ready for your Monday rundown. We're talking about Ant's new valuation, Threads' rapid growth, FrontRow shutting down, and the latest raise from Propel.
8 min
356
Hey, stuck startups, reducing growth could make...
Mary Ann took the lead this time, and she sat down (virtually) with Immad Akhund, the CEO and co-founder of Mercury. The fintech made headlines earlier this year for how it stepped in to help fill the business banking void left in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. We're digging into the company's growth post-SVB, Immad's angel investing, and how to escape the "Startup Death Spiral."
28 min
357
Steering through venture's global correction wi...
To cap off the second quarter and get our claws into what is going on around the world, we had Cate Ambrose, the CEO of the Global Private Capital Association (GPCA) on the show to riff with us about Asia and Africa and Latin America and Central and Easter Europe, how wild the 2021-era venture peak was in less mature startup markets and where the rebound might be kicking off.
36 min
358
Well done, Pismo and Visa! You gave SoftBank a win
Mary Ann and Alex are back for another busy news week chock full of deals to chew through. We kick things off with Honey Homes' recent funding and Gusto teaming up with Remote then dive deep into the latest wave of M&A from Visa's purchase of Pismo to Databricks' deal with MosaicML. Stay 'til the end for an early Q2 review on why our unicorns are starving.
37 min
359
Nubank's CEO explains what the US could learn f...
Mary Ann is taking over today's interview with David Vélez, the co-founder and CEO of Nubank, digging into how the company achieved -- and maintained profitability -- in this challenging macroeconomic environment, and what U.S. fintech startups could learn from their LatAm counterparts.
27 min
360
Equity Monday: Crypto ticks higher, fintech get...
For the last Monday of Q2, Alex is getting into crypto's mini-boom, IRL's digital fraud, Vanta's quick ARR growth, TreasurySpring making fintech interesting again, Japan's plan to buy more domestic chip companies and more.
8 min
361
Dropbox hearts AI, the creator-platform wars an...
The summer slowdown is far from happening yet, so Mary Ann and Alex are back with TechCrunch's mobility lead, Kirsten Korosec. We're digging through deals of the week from Robinhood, Dropbox and Cruise, what's going on with Twitch, and just how big the non-alcoholic drinks market is.
33 min
362
The startup boom failed to build a creator utopia
Alex had Eric Silver, Head of Creative at the podcast collective Multitude on the show to help us sort through what the hell happened with Spotify's big podcast push, why tech platforms have not yet found a way to make creative work lucrative enough to engender a new 'creator middle class,' and the state of the ad market, and its impacts on creative work more generally.
32 min
363
Alibaba shakes up its leadership, OpenAI lobbie...
And we're back! After a week off and an America holiday yesterday, there was much to get to. Alex is taking a look at mixed stocks around the world, Alibaba's leadership shakeup, OpenAI working to limit the impact of EU AI regulation, the late-stage market mess, and more.
10 min
364
Sequoia does to itself what the Biden administr...
It was a hectic week, with little in the way of the traditional Summer Slowdown making itself known. So, here's what Alex and Mary Ann covered with some help from our dear friend Jacquie Melinek: WWDC in a nutshell, Affirm's partnering with Amazon (again), Cava's IPO, all things SEC and crypto, Sequoia's split, and how real estate can affect the climate crisis.
31 min
365
Charting the future of the early-stage venture ...
This week, we had Carta CEO Henry Ward on to chat through the early-stage market with us, from the quality of startups that are raising today - and how much pain is coming for young tech companies that can't quite attract more capital - to Carta's new method of closing Seed and Series A rounds.
30 min
366
Equity Monday: Revenge of the Mutual Funds
This fine Monday we are celebrating the start of June, and the fact that there are still earnings rounds for us to cover and enjoy! Here’s the show rundown: we're taking a look at stocks, which are mixed around the world while crypto stays pretty flat, Reddit’s proposed API changes, Twitter’s revenues, Canva’s valuation - slashed by a mutual fund - and WWDC.
10 min
367
Okay startup names and why fintech is rebounding
Mary Ann and Alex were a busy pair this week, so much so that they tagged in Dominic-Madori Davis from the TechCrunch+ crew to help out. We're taking a look at the latest from Web Roulette, Stripe's acquisition of Okay, what Klarna's Q1 means for the fintech market, QED and a16z's early-stage strategies, and a chat through the Atlanta startup scene ahead of Dom's City Spotlight.
27 min
368
SecureSave's secret weapon: Suze Orman
This week, Mary Ann hopped on the mic with number one New York Times best selling author, producer, personal finance thought leader, and host of the Women & Money podcast, Suze Orman. We’re following up on Suze’s not-so-surprising-startup debut with SecureSave, what the company’s been up to and how Suze is thinking about protecting employees in today’s economy.
37 min
369
Equity Monday: AI can do everything, but can cr...
This week, crypto prices are static, unlike a particular valuation and Alex is still mad about SPACs. We're talking about muted trading volumes, Blackrock cutting its holdings in Byju's, Serve Robotics, and some data on SPACs that's driving us nuts.
8 min
370
Daylight's sunset and Meta's year of focus
Mary Ann and Alex were a dynamic duo this week, and we took a look at the future of online shopping via Checkmate, why Cava's IPO won't save the IPO market, Daylight calling it quits, Anthropic's massive funding round, and layoffs, layoffs, layoffs.
31 min
371
When will the paper unicorns fold?
The idea that all unicorns are in trouble is wrong; some late-stage startups got it right. Alex sat down with GGV Capital's Jeff Richards to talk through the diverging fates of late-stage startups, the unifying characteristics of these startups that are doing well, and how to note early signals that the venture climate is about to molt.
36 min
372
Equity Monday: Meta and data, chips and dips, ...
Our Monday show covers the latest in tech news from the weekend and what’s making headlines early in the week. Today, we are talking about Meta’s latest fines, what’s new in chips, and a few startup rounds that caught our eye!
8 min
373
The billionaires are trying to live longer… again
This week Mary Ann, Becca, and Alex gathered to chew through the biggest news of the week. They cover Vice going bankrupt, Twitter's first acquisition with Elon Musk at the helm, what the future of venture debt could look like, and more of the week's most interesting deals.
36 min
374
In a more conservative venture capital market, ...
This week, Alex spoke to two guests from the world of Microsoft for Startups - the program's GM, Hans Yang, and Senior Director, Tom Davis. We're working to figure out how big tech corporations are playing in the startup sandbox, starting with the launch of Microsoft's Pegasus program for startups.
34 min
375
Equity Monday: Vice files for bankruptcy, Foxco...
Alex has your Monday kickoff with media, startup rounds and some Big Money Moves. We start things off with a look at the markets before diving into Vice's bankruptcy filing, Foxconn investing more in India, Brex's reported shot at buying part of SVB's portfolio, and startup rounds in the UK and Kenya.
8 min