Equity

Latest Episodes:

When does a startup know it’s time to spread its wings? Nov 01, 2023

Show notes

This is our Wednesday show, where we sit down with a guest, talk about their work and dive deep into the rest. Mary Ann and Alex invited Marisa Warren onto the show. You may remember that we discussed her new fund — ALIAVIA Ventures’ first — on the show the other week.

We wanted to talk with her to go over a few key topics that we care a lot about:

The current state of venture investment in women; why the numbers aren’t changing, and what she thinks could make a difference.
When startups should target their second market, and how.

The two themes are not as far apart as they may initially seem. 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. It was a really interesting, and fun conversation. Enjoy!

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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Equity Monday: Governments are getting their AI-regulating boots on Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

Our Monday show covers the latest in tech news from the weekend and what’s making headlines early in the week. Here’s what we got into today:

It's a massive earnings week, unlocking a massive wave of new data concerning the performance of tech public tech companies. We're hoping to learn more about the market that startups are selling into in the process.
The recent crypto rally is helping bolster spot trading results, good news for Coinbase ahead of its own earnings report.
The Biden administration's executive order regarding AI is out, as G7 countries look to create a code of AI conduct for companies.
X users that want to make a little money from their engagement will now have to avoid getting hit with community notes.
And Web Summit has a new CEO.

That's all for today! We have notes coming on Wednesday all about international startups and selling cross-border! Talk then!

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

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Bonus episode: What we learned from SBF's testimony with Jacquelyn Melinek from Chain Reaction Oct 28, 2023

Show notes

Happy Saturday! We have a special bonus episode for you from our sister pod, Chain Reaction. Alex joins Jacquelyn Melinek go over the FTX/Sam Bankman-Fried trial before getting into his testimony from Thursday and Friday. They talked about:

Why the judge had the jury leave the courthouse for SBF’s testimony Thursday
The general feeling of the courthouse on the fourth week of the trial
A possible timeline for next week and what to look out for as the prosecution gets a chance to cross examines defendant

Keep up to date with Jacquie's coverage at techcrunch.com

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

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AI is going to make Big Tech even bigger, and richer Oct 27, 2023

Show notes

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

This is our Friday show, and we’re talking about the week’s biggest startup and tech news. 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:

Updates from the trial of former FTX CEO SBF, more here from our own Jacquie.
Deals of the Week: Mary Ann was very interested in I Own My Data, while Alex wanted to talk more about AgentSync's latest venture round.
Carta's CEO tried to beat back criticism, but wound up making more noise about his company's missteps.
Cruise hit a roadblock with its self-driving program; we dig into how to handle a crisis and how not to handle a crisis.
And to close out, notes on earnings from Alphabet and Microsoft and what they may portend for startup-related AI software demand.

Equity comes out thrice-weekly for your delectation. We are back early on Monday with our weekly kickoff, see you there!

P.S. Pay attention to our sister podcast Chain Reaction, we have more coming on the FTX trial that you will not want to miss.

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

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The Theory Ventures venture theory with Tomasz Tunguz Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

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

This is our Wednesday show, where we sit down with a guest, talk about their work and dive deep into the rest. This week, we had 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.

While it would have been fun to spend our time chatting about the ups and down of writing or the Internet, we instead explored a wide range of topics:

Why Tunguz left Redpoint and started his own fund;
Why seed deals do not get smaller over time;
The thesis that underpins Theory Ventures’ investments and the future of machine learning;
Why Tunguz is bullish on Ethereum;
The value of software, the health of software companies, and why venture math still holds up at lower valuation multiples.

And more! It was a great chat; Equity will be back on Friday!

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

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Equity Monday: Here’s hoping genAI can make Siri better Oct 23, 2023

Show notes

Hello, and welcome back to Equity, the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.
Our Monday show covers the latest in tech news from the weekend and what’s making headlines early in the week. Here’s what we got into today:

Stocks are down around the world, while the value of crypto tokens is heading higher. Crypto trading volume is also trending north.
It’s a huge week for earnings with names like Microsoft, Alphabet, Spotify, Snap, Meta, IBM, Amazon and Mobileye reporting, among others.
Apple is spending big on generative AI, and TechCrunch has notes on just where the company intends to bring the tech.
ZenML is proof that startups are not dropping the ball when it comes to generative AI more generally.
Foxconn is under investigation, which is notable for its timing.
And venture capital raised by Black American founders has fallen sharply in recent quarters.

And that’s that! We have a cracking episode coming on Wednesday, so stay tuned!

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!

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We're sending a cake to the next fintech startup that goes public Oct 20, 2023

Show notes

This is our Friday show, and we’re talking about the week’s biggest startup and tech news. Mary Ann and Alex ran as a pair this week, and here's what they got into:

Deals of the Week: Allara raised $10 million for women's hormonal health, Agnikul raised $26.7 million for its orbital launch technologies.
Beef in the (leased) boardroom: WeWork is irked by Codi, which is hammering the well-known shared-office giant in an advertising campaign. Meanwhile, Anyplace raised more capital to fund its digital-nomad friendly home rental business.
Plaid wants to get Paid: News that Plaid hired a CFO kicked off a predictable cycle of speculation that it will go public. Yes, but when is the question, and our view is not for a while.
Finally, ChatGPT is online, and VCs are pretty darn bullish about the current AI wave.

In case you missed it, we had a great chat with a Crunchbase analyst earlier this week about all things Q3 VC! As always, Equity is back on Monday, but you can keep up with us in the meantime on X and Threads.

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

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The venture market is overcorrecting Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

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.

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Equity Monday: Investors have not given up on web3 gaming Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

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.

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The FTX co-founder and Alameda CEO didn’t hold back at SBF’s trial (Chain Reaction) Oct 14, 2023

Show notes

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:

Chain Reaction comes out every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. ET, so be sure to subscribe to us on

Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the action.

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