Equity

Latest Episodes:

Equity Monday: Unpacking the Twitter blues Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

Today Alex Wilhelm is talking about Twitter Blue, Lyft, a few startup rounds, and what could kick off the next crypto supercycle.

Several major tech companies are reporting earnings this week, strap in for some big news and perhaps even bigger share price movements.
The Twitter Blue saga took new turns this weekend, with Musk's personal social network staying in the news once again. If the overall result of said news for the company is good or not remains to be seen.
Alex had a few thoughts on what has happened to a number of tech-enabled companies that went public, and have since seen their value evaporate. More here.
And then it was time to check in on Super.com's big new round, and the latest from Span!

Equity is back Wednesday and Friday! Chat soon!

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, Spotifyand all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, one that details how our stories come together 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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Early Stage 2023: IRL is B-A-C-K Apr 21, 2023

Show notes

This week we recorded at Early Stage, TechCrunch's event for founders who are building startups from the ground up.

Sadly, our dear friend Natasha Mascarenhas took ill, and we had to lean on Alex for the episode. Happily, though, Darrell from the TechCrunch team was sitting next to us on the show floor so we tagged him in for some rocket knowledge.

Anyhoo, here's the run of show!

All things Early Stage: Notes from the show floor, what we can infer about attendance and a vibe check.
Elon's new, larger rocket went up (very good) and then went "boom" (not as good). Happily for the space race, the overall result of the launch was good. Rockets have a tendency to go boom when they are new, and it's a bit of the, well, testing process to have them do so. Sure, a non-boom result would have been better, but SpaceX wasn't planning on trying to reuse the parts anyway.
Tesla's earnings came out and investors are not that pleased. While there was some good stuff in the numerical set, price cuts at the company and moderating cash flow indicate that profitability gains could be harder to reach in the future.
And layoffs. Meta is cutting staff. Insider is cutting staff. BuzzFeed is cutting staff. It's a mess out there.

We are back at full strength next week — and no longer on the road — so expect regular service to resume. Hugs!

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

Equity drops at 7:00 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotifyand all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, one that details how our stories come together and more!

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Who captures the most value after the SaaS-acre? Enterprises or Startups? Apr 19, 2023

Show notes

Alex invited Janelle Teng from Bessemer Venture Partners on the program to riff with us on the state of the cloud.

That's also the title of Bessemer's latest data dump concerning cloud stocks, startups, AI, and more. Teng, a co-author on the report, walked through some of key bits with us to better explain her firm's perspective, and to answer our critical commentary regarding Figma and why startups should always kill Goliath, instead of joining him for a round of grapes and lounging.

You can find the report that we chatted about here, and our early notes thereof here. Finally, a rundown of topics:

Is the valuation massacre that startups have survived since late 2021 finally over?
Why is investor preference swinging back towards growth from profitability?
What is the state of runway at late-stage startups?
Is the M&A pause nearly over?
And, naturally, AI and SaaS and where VCs see the pair heading!

See you at Early Stage tomorrow!

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 onApple Podcasts,Overcast, Spotifyand all the casts. TechCrunch also has agreat show on crypto, ashow that interviews founders, one thatdetails how our stories come together and more!

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Equity Monday: What's an Angry Bird worth? Apr 17, 2023

Show notes

Today we are talking about space, birds and startups! Here’s what Alex got into:

Earnings season is coming back! That means Netflix and Tesla this week, and a huge number of big tech companies next week. Data cometh.
We were very excited about the launch of SpaceX's massive rocket. It got scrubbed after we recorded, but you can still enjoy our hype about the potential event. We'll have more on the matter when the rocket actually does go up.
Rovio is selling to Sega. Yeah, we had to digest that one as well. The sale price shows just how tough it is to be a games company.
There's a lot of regulation going on out there in the world.
And we wrapped with notes on Loopin and Fleet!

See you at Early Stage later this week!

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

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Unicorns are rare, but what about real? Apr 14, 2023

Show notes

This week Mary Ann, Natasha and Alex enjoyed the warming climate and the fact that there are some positive vibes in the venture market as well. Hell, we even had a nine-figure round to chew on!

Here's the show rundown:

Alex wanted to discuss the latest FTX docs and the recent X.com (formally known as Twitter) news.
Natasha brought a new edtech venture fund to the table.
Mary Ann wanted to talk about Clear Street's impressive fundraise.
From there, we discussed that while the pace at which unicorns are being funded is in freefall, there are still some mega-IPOs coming from select late-stage startups. We will relish the return of S-1 season when it comes.
From there it was time to chat AI. Natasha recently went to an AI event in San Francisco, helping us grok the on-the-ground dynamics at play. That, when crossed with different regulatory postures around the world made for a pretty darn interesting segment.
And we closed with the opportunity that opportunity funds may afford venture firms. While Lux is still pursing a multi-stage approach, other firms are taking a more focused tack.

Lastly, there are just a couple days left to place your Webby Awards votes for our friends at Found and Chain Reaction.

We are back Monday morning, see you all at Early Stage!

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

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Founders shouldn't have to choose between mental health and grit Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha spoke with a founder, a psychiatrist and a venture capitalist about founder mental health, a topic that has been a conversation in Silicon Valley for as long as we can remember. The theme has gained renewed momentum due to the startup and venture downturn in general, and exacerbated by a bank failure that still has some folks reeling.

It's time for a check-in. Here's who we spoke with for today's show:

Pioneer Mind's Naveed Lalani gave us the founder perspective on how to "hustle responsibly" with The Founder Mental Health Pledge, a call to action for investors to support founders in looking at their mental health as a business priority
Psychiatrist Dr. Saumya Dave reminded us of the differences between - but also overlap of - therapy, executive coaching and group sessions
Graham & Walker's Leslie Feinzaig helped us close out the show with the VC perspective and her own tools for wellness

This is, of course, a conversation we want to continue. If you have a story you want to share, or if there's an angle that you think we missed when it comes to talking about mental health in the entrepreneurial world, you can email us at equitypod@techcrunch.com.

As always, Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann will be back for our weekly news roundup on Friday, but follow us on Twitter @EquityPod for live updates and more!

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

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The petty shall inherit the pennies Apr 10, 2023

Show notes

Today, we are talking about crypto, Uber, and how to be petty at scale. Here's what Alex got into:

Around the world of capital, we're most confused at certain bits of price stability in the cryptocurrency markets. It feels a bit faux, if that makes sense.
Where prices are less steady is the world of YC startups, where, once again, there's complaints amongst venture investors about the valuations that some of the earliest-stage tech companies out there are commanding. Perhaps a greater discount given the state of the world was anticipated.
Uber is selling part of Careem in a deal worth $400 million. Uber wants to do things on wheels. A super app company, at least in the Middle East, it is not. But it is about to have a huge new bankroll.
The Musk v. Substack battle took up much weekend oxygen, showing that it is often hard to retain one's free speech bonafides when you just don't want to anymore.

All that and there are new FTX docs! Huzzah! Let's have a good week, y'all.

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

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Don’t ever leak data, but especially if you’re building this type of startup Apr 07, 2023

Show notes

This was Y Combinator week in a sense, with the well-known accelerator showing off hundreds of startups over a two-day period. We had some thoughts about that. But! There was a lot more for Mary Ann, Natasha and Alex to dig into, so we have a little something for everyone today.

Here's the show notes, enjoy:

First, support our sibling podcasts Found and Chain Reaction in the Webbys! They deserve it, and we're voting for them too.
For our Deals of the Week, we had: Monument and Tempest shared patients’ private data with advertisers, Acorns buys GoHenry, and Alex has notes on how the Q1 venture capital market is shaping up.
Looking for all the Y Combinator notes your heart could desire? You can find our favorites from days one and two at those links, and read this Natasha piece on why the Bay is Back.
We also took the time to discuss the term 'demo day' for an event where there are no, you know, demos.
Latin America was back on the show thanks to Mary Ann, giving us a good reminder that we have not spent enough time lately looking at the region.
We closed with Frank, a frank chat that frankly had us shaking our heads. Fraud is bad, and nearly doubly so when it comes to startups, where trust plays such a critical role.

Equity will return to your ears Monday morning, cheers until then!

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

Equity drops at 7:00 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, one that details how our stories come together and more!

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How hard was it to raise venture capital in Q1? Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

Alex filled in for Natasha as host this week, and to celebrate the end of Q1 2023 and the start of another earnings cycle, we invited PitchBook Senior Analyst Kyle Stanford onto the show. Stanford and his company are key providers of data concerning the domestic and global venture capital markets making him a perfect guest to help kickstart our look at recent venture results, and trends.

We had a lot to talk about:

Where early-2023 venture aggregates are trending, including a chat about different stages of startup size and how investors are approaching those groups.
Sectors that are hot and sectors that are, well, not.
When we might get an exit market that actually exists, again. And why Stanford popped our fading optimism that we could get more IPOs later this year.

And we had a good time. We hope that this episode helps you form an informed posture towards fundraising for, and operating your company.

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

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Welcome to Q2, Equity family Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

Alex is back with the first episode of our Q2 run. Welcome to the new tranch of 2023!

On the show today we riffed through the stock market and crypto sector. The gist? Shares are mixed here in the United States while major crypto tokens are not doing too much.
In startup news, Paris is cracking down on e-scooters after a vote, Zamp Finance raised nearly $22 million for a neat way to keep startup cash safe and yield-friendly, and Fourthline reminded us that applied AI is a sentence that we are going to say again and again this year.
Tesla's Q1 delivery and production numbers are out, and while the beat certain expectations the results come after price cuts. It will be curious to see what the new figures translate to in financial terms when we get the company's financial results.
And then this a16z-Saudi Arabia thing that was a bit weird to chat about, but we took a stab at regardless.

The show is back Wednesday and Friday, we'll 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, one that details how our stories come together and more!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices