Equity

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Burn, community, burn Mar 31, 2023

Show notes

AI? Crypto? Equity crowdfunding and former startup founders trying to bribe China? We had it all this week, friends, so please strap in and get ready for another catchup with your besties Mary Ann, Natasha and Alex. Here's the show rundown in case you want to play along as you listen:

Deals of the Week: How Seed Checks could disrupt early-stage fundraising, notes on StellarFi's latest capital raise, and the end of the Lyft founders' operational saga.
All about Substack and its equity crowdfunding round, an event that we have lots of good things to say about, and one complaint.
Then there was crypto. Let's see: We WTF'd about the latest from FTX's SBF, CZ is in trouble, and more.
And we closed with notes on an open letter asking for AI development work to pause — ha -— and had some fun with ChatGPT!

It was a hell of a week. We do it again starting Monday!

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!

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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AI's moral compass with the responsible AI expert behind CredoAI Mar 29, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha interviewed a Jack of all trades in the AI world with a focus on governance: Navrina Singh. Navrina is the founder and CEO of CredoAI, a governance platform helping organizations monitor, measure and manage AI-introduced risks.

We're talking about:

Navrina's wedge into the world of AI, and when governance went from a lonely conversation to a global focus.
Her experience with Microsoft, observing how the EU AI Act's legislation is coming together, and her work as a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC) - which advises President Biden and the National AI Initiative Office
Regulation, responsible AI and getting over "AI hypocrisy"
Casting fear aside as a motivator for change
Navrina's thoughts on recent news in AI, including GPT-4's launch and Microsoft's ethical AI team layoffs.

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

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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Not all unicorns are in trouble, just a lot of them Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

Alex had a lot of ground to cover from the weekend, so let's get started. Here's the rundown:

The global stock market is mixed today, if leaning positive. Some concerns about global banks appear to be settling. In contrast, things are quiet on the crypto front.
Salesforce is getting a reprieve from certain activist pressure after it took a cleaver to its staffing.
The Silicon Valley Bank crisis is slowly coming to a close. TechCrunch has the latest on the sale of the former startup-friendly bank's commercial banking operations.
In other tech news: France is cracking down on TikTok and other social apps, and some of Twitter's source code made its way onto GitHub.
Finally, Turo is doing fine and could, ahem, drive us toward a reopening of the IPO market. Maybe more unicorns than we thought are going to be ok?

How about we have a relaxed week? That would be nice. Something slow and calm to end the quarter? We deserve it, after all!

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!

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Not-so-fake dry powder, AI and the future of DAOs Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

What did Mary Ann and Natasha and Alex dive into? Here's the rundown:

A quick update on TikTok: The CEO of the popular social media service went before Congress today. It was a pretty darn hostile meeting. Alex caught a chunk of it live, and also has a few thoughts on the matter.
From there it was time for our 'deals of the week' section, which today included Duolingo's new music product, a new DAO fund, and the latest eToro investment.
Then it was time to talk payroll. We started with the Rippling deal to raise $500 million during the SVB crisis, and then discussed the larger HR tech space, which is both bigger and valuable than we realized.
We closed with AI. So, so much AI. Everyone and their least favored parental unit is building a large language model, and TechCrunch is busy covering in all their glory, or lack thereof.

Whew! What a week. The show is back Monday morning. We'll see you there.

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

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One of venture’s most iconic duos wants to have a word with you Mar 22, 2023

Show notes

Natasha interviewed one of venture's most iconic duos: Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein of Kapor Capital. The investors recently published a book, "Closing the Equity Gap: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing," connecting scrappy stories of entrepreneurs to their investment thesis to the returns that other venture capitalists are clamoring to land.

In today's episode, we're talking about:

Their book and why the pair chose to do it now
Mitch and Freada's broader thoughts on impact investing
criteria for success and investor due diligence.

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!

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

As banks totter, crypto is busy racking up gains Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

Alex is here to do our Monday show, a kickoff for the week that covers startup news, tech news and a little bit of the money that powers both. After a hectic few weeks, are we done with banking news? No, but there's some good news in the offing, at least.

Banking stocks are whipsawing this morning, in the wake of the UBS-Credit Suisse deal, and First Republic's continued woes.
The crypto markets have had a good few weeks, leading to asset price appreciation that has reignited crypto-Twitter.
News that TikTok is now more popular than ever is compounded by massive gains in the popularity of other Bytedance apps in the United States. The CEO of TikTok goes before Congress this week.
Parker is taking on the corporate card market with a focus on ecommerce, and neat repayment periods, while PitchBook wants to predict which startups are going to exit.
And, interest rate hikes could cool in the coming quarters, which could help tech companies recover some value.

We're off! Another week stretches before us. Get your dancing shoes on, surely the surprises are still coming.

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

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday and Wednesday, and at 6 a.m. PT on Fridays, 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!

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

Don’t use Sam Altman and AI hype in the same sentence Mar 17, 2023

Show notes

This week, Alex and Natasha took the mic to talk about the slowest news cycle we've had since the beginning of the grocery delivery wars and WeWork. Just kidding.

Here's what we got into:

The M&A spree that includes updates from Qualtrics, Cvent, and Mint Mobile. We're happy to see some M&A, even if we'd rather see more startup deals and IPOs.
GPT-4. GPT-4. GPT-4. What's in a name and more from the world of AI, including where we're seeing companies race to build the new tech into their products.
SVB collapse update, including what we are looking for next.
And what Y Combinator's round of layoffs tells us about the accelerator scaling back from late stage. (More on the trend here.)

Busy few weeks, yeah? Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @EquityPod for live updates, and Alex will be back bright and early Monday morning with the latest.

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

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One founder's account of what is left behind from SVB's crash Mar 15, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha interviewed Series CEO Brexton Pham, who has been building a full-stack enterprise platform for institutions and enterprises since March 2021. Brexton was pushed out of stealth this week in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's crash, which of course was the main topic of our conversation. What else did you expect?

Here's what we got into:

How much trust do our banks deserve today, and how much has reasonable trust fallen in recent weeks?
How startups can (and should) start diversifying their banks
What questions Series and its competitors are getting from investors today
The long-term impacts beyond SVB

Brexton also did a fantastic job of helping us zoom out and take a look at the past week from a refreshingly non-tech angle.

Follow us on Twitter @EquityPod for live updates, and as always, the Equity crew will be back to unpack the week's headlines on Friday.

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!

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

The one where Alex and Natasha catch the Equity audience up on SVB Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

This is Alex and we are here to do our Monday show, a kickoff for the week that covers startup news, tech news and a little bit of the money that powers both. Given how bonkers the last few days have been, this is not a normal show. Sure, we're talking money up top, but I also dragooned Natasha into running us through her amazing reporting from over the weekend on all things SVB. (Please excuse the Friends joke in the headline, we are very tired!)

Here's what we got into:

The stock market is suffering around the world, kinda. In the United States things when we recorded were somewhat positive. Since, shares have sank some. Put simply, the equity markets don't know how to trade the news. And it shows.
Cryptos, in contrast, have had a great last day.
From the news docket, Qualtrics' deal to sell for $12.5 billion is a go, and Rivian might get a little bit of breathing room from Amazon.
And then Natasha and I dug into SVB. The first warning signs, the fear, the takeover, and the resolution. And then there's this. The story continues, expect a busy week and perhaps a few more to boot.

Equity will be back shortly, but in the meantime check out our upcoming TechCrunch Live that just got a bit more spicy.

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

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Flat is the new up, down is the new flat, dead is the new down Mar 10, 2023

Show notes

This week Mary Ann Azevedo, Natasha Mascarenhas and Alex Wilhelm gathered to riff through the week’s biggest startup and venture news:

At the top of the show, we riffed about the situation at Silicon Valley Bank - which, of course, kicked off a little more after we wrapped our recording. So, more to come there. But we had other stories to get into:

Deals of the Week: Roami (taking on Airbnb), Qualtrics (will it finally find its forever home?), the latest on the VC-AI affair (Upfront Summit recap).
ADHD startups are a big thing now: From a browser to gamified help with to-dos, there's a host of startups in the market today looking to help folks get their work done, and life organized. We're big accessibility tech fans here at Equity, so this was right up our alley.
How fintech investors are coping in the new venture climate: Mary Ann spoke to seven different fintech investors about the coming year, and where they are putting capital to work. The answer from many of them? B2B payments. It does look rough out there for fintech companies generally, but some VCs are still bullish.
Bias, women, and how to brand in venture: We then discussed Natasha and Becca's excellently reported piece tracking how women VCs navigate bias through branding.

That's it for this week! Thanks, as always, for listening in. Until next time, you can catch us on Twitter @EquityPod.

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!

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

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