Equity

Latest Episodes:

Apple’s €1.84B fine, new AI rules in India, and the latest pre-IPO round Mar 04, 2024

Show notes

This is our Monday show, in which we take a look back at the weekend and what’s ahead in the week. Over the weekend we had a great chat with Nubank’s CEO, which you can find here. Ok, onto the show notes!

Stocks and Crypto: With some indices reaching fresh record highs, the good times are also rolling along in crypto where token prices are also on the ascent.
Apple and the EU: Apple has been hit by a massive fine in the EU, which it intends to appeal. Spotify, which was the progenitor of the complaint, hailed the choice.
New AI rules in India: The Indian government has a new tune when it comes to AI regulation. Big tech companies are now going to need its nod to launch models in the country, which could shake up how quickly new €1.84BN artificial intelligence products reach the massive market.
Self-driving wins: Waymo is able to charge for its self-driving service in more markets, and can now do airport runs in San Francisco for a fee. I cannot wait to try this out.
Other key news: Salla raised a huge pre-IPO round, and with the market improving, why aren’t folks in tech walking with more swagger?

We are back Wednesday, 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 Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

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The tourist VCs in LatAm have gone home Mar 02, 2024

Show notes

This week, Mary Ann talked to David Vélez, the co-founder and CEO of Nubank, the $50 billion São Paulo, Brazil-based digital bank that offers credit cards, checking accounts and life insurance to consumers.

How Nubank has managed to increase its market cap by over 40% in eight months’ time.
Why some investors are sticking it out in LatAm, and 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.

All right, sit back, hit play and have some fun with us. Equity will be back next Tuesday due to a U.S. holiday on Monday. See you then!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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Will we reach AGI before Stripe goes public? Mar 01, 2024

Show notes

Here’s what Mary Ann and Alex got into:

Stripe’s valuation recovers: As part of a tender offer, Stripe is now worth $65 billion. The company’s valuation has been on an up-and-down path in recent years as the company works to make its massive bulk fit into the private markets. Alex has thoughts on when it should go public, as you might imagine.
Fervo Energy’s $200M+ round: What if the solution to our energy problems was not in the stars, but beneath our feet? And no, I am not talking about carbon-based fuels. No, instead, what if geothermal energy is what we’ve been waiting for? Fervo wants to make that question into a reality.
Why VCs are investing in companies that shut down companies: With more startups than usual heading for closure, there’s a mountain of work ahead for founders and backers to shutter companies. Now some angels and other investors are putting their own capital into several companies that specialize in helping other firms close. Grim, but necessary.
AI and the law: Microsoft’s move to invest in French AI company Mistral is not a bad way to spread its bets. Or to potentially fend of regulatory scrutiny that is building. AI in general is having a bit of a time sorting out rights — or lack thereof — that some training data may retain.

Coming up this weekend we have an interview with Nubank’s CEO, and we have another great interview planned for the weekend after! Chat soon!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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Microsoft invests in yet another AI company Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

This is our Wednesday show, focused on startup and venture capital news that matters. We pull the top stories from the week thus far, and give them the Equity treatment to put them into proper context.

On the show today:

Microsoft invests in Mistral AI: Sure, it's not the biggest check, but as regulatory oversight hovers over Microsoft's shoulder, the deal makes sense.
Thrasio files for bankruptcy: What happens if you raise billions to pursue a market opportunity, but the market shifts under your feet?
Glean raises $200M: It turns out that you can raise mega rounds in 2024, you just need to work in enterprise AI, have a few hundred customers, and collect checks from a host of VCs at once.
And on the venture side of things: COTU Ventures has put together a $54 million fund, while Zacua Ventures has put together a $56 million vehicle.

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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Why some VCs are pulling back from Europe, Google’s AI push, and who is the CEO of Byju’s? Feb 26, 2024

Show notes

This is our Monday show, which looks back at the weekend and ahead to the week. We are back bright and early this week, but we also had an extra episode this weekend digging into the Reddit IPO; you can find that here.

On the pod this morning, here’s what we got into:

Stocks are mixed around the world as crypto prices gyrate; it’s a big earnings week including data from Workday, Zoom, Unity, Coupang, Klaviyo, Salesforce, Snowflake, Okta, and Duolingo among other names.
Google, and its work to bring Gemini to a host of hardware endpoints.
How U.S-.based venture capitalists are taking on the European market — or not.
Interview Kickstart is the latest startup to self-fund for a long time before taking on venture capital. In its case that meant a $10 million round.
And to close, who is the CEO of Byju’s?

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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Equity Shot: All about the Reddit IPO! Feb 24, 2024

Show notes

Hello, and welcome to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.

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.

If you want to read along:

Reddit IPO filing, first look, written by Mary Ann and Alex
Inside Reddit’s AI revenues, written by Kyle Wiggers
The Reddit S-1 filing, via the SEC

The Reddit IPO could be this year’s public-offering starting gun, or it could be a wet blanket on the year’s liquidity cycle. We’ll see how it prices, and even more how it trades when it does list. For now, we’re counting down until we get an S-1/A!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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Match Group’s deal with OpenAI is just business with AI glitter on top Feb 23, 2024

Show notes

This week Mary Ann, Kirsten, and Alex gathered to chat through a massive sheaf of news. 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!

Here’s the rundown:

Deals of the Week: PermitFlow raised $31 million to bring software to the construction permitting market, one man’s plan to keep Cake ebike’s alive for just a while longer caught our eye, and we had thoughts about Match Group’s tie-up with OpenAI.
Fintech drama: With Reddit’s IPO in the hopper, eyes are turning to other companies that are expected to list this year. One such company is Klarna. And, the buy now, pay later company has been the latest recipient of governance drama. Former Sequoia leader Michael Moritz won this round, unsurprisingly.
Video game startups could prove surprise 2024 winner: While the venture market retreats and venture funding for gaming companies slows, there’s good reason to expect fortunes to turn around for the startup genre. And while venture wallets might open for gaming companies this year, some others like Frost Giant are turning to their own community to raise.

More to come, including Reddit IPO notes!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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Could Reddit’s upcoming IPO reward its power users? Feb 21, 2024

Show notes

This is our Wednesday show, in which we talk through the week’s leading startup and venture capital news. This is short week, but there’s still a lot to talk about:

Loora’s $12 million round is a reminder that AI is going to find purchase in a host of new markets. The company wants to use AI for conversational language training. Sure, humans are good at that, but they are also expensive. Software aims to be more affordable.
Dili is building an AI service to help investors handle their due diligence. Given that some accounting and financial work can be described as rote, the concept here makes good sense. The company just closed $3.6 million.
Reddit may include a neat way to get some of its power users onto its ownership docket for its upcoming IPO.
And from the venture side of the startup coin, Bluestein Ventures has a new foodtech fund, while Partech has put together the largest African venture fund out there.

We’ll be back Friday morning! Chat then!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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The regulatory clock is ticking for TikTok Feb 20, 2024

Show notes

This is our weekly kick-off show, coming to you Tuesday morning as yesterday was a holiday here in the States. Here’s the rundown:

Crypto prices are up, and we’re looking at another busy earnings week. Palo Alto Networks, Sprout Social, Nvidia and Block will report this week.
Planity has put together a $48 million Series C, which is a super neat vertical SaaS deal. Software and payments make for a tasty combo, and Planity wants to bring those benefits to salons in Europe.
The EU is after TikTok under the DSA, which could have major implications for social media regulation.
And Walmart is buying Vizio; LockBit got smashed; and MariaDB has a buyer on the horizon.
In closing, this WSJ piece on San Francisco is worth your time.

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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Foundry is shutting down in slow motion Feb 16, 2024

Show notes

On today's news round up, Alex, Mary Ann and Karyne are looking at:

Deals of the Week: Rasa’s $30 million Series C had our tongues wagging. The startup is building finservice-focused conversational AI tools. Karyne wanted to talk about the latest round at the intersection of AI and crypto, while Alex wanted to riff on Hippo Harvest’s $21 million round for indoor robot farming.
Venture capital’s year of transition: After OpenView called it quits, and Countdown Capital returned funds to LPs it became clear that venture is evolving. New news that Foundry is not going to raise another fund after its current $500 million vehicle added another name to our roster of venture firms that are taking a different direction in the future.
YC’s new call for startups: Well-known startup accelerator Y Combinator has a new request for startup list. Given the weight that YC carries in startup-land, we had to dig into what it’s proposing. Though we’re a little skeptical of the near-term impact of spatial computing, the other updates made good sense to our minds.

We’ll be back on Monday!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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