Equity

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**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.

Latest Episodes:

Outsized seed rounds, neobanks and booming M&A? Well hello, 2023 Feb 17, 2023

Show notes

Natasha, Mary Ann and Becca got on the mic to talk startups, pet peeves and focaccia. What else did you expect?

Here's what we got into:

Descope landed a $53 million (!) seed round, a Phenomenal new venture fund and a neobank out to make credit more accessible to young people in Mexico.
Then we pivoted to talk about buy now, pay later (BNPL), which included some chatter about Affirm's recent woes and which areas of BNPL that do seem to be growing despite questions around whether this is the end of the BNPL boom as we know it.
Tech layoffs are as widespread as ever so we talked about what advice some VCs have for those laid off workers considering launching their own startups, and what we thought of that advice.
Finally, we ended with a jump over the pond to talk about EU's tech scene. Mostly about the fact that it is far more put together than the U.S., and all that jazz.

With that, we'll be skipping the upcoming week's Equity Monday due to the holiday and back with more on Wednesday, led by Becca!

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

Equity drops at 10:00 a.m. PT every Monday and at 7:00 a.m. PT on Wednesdays and Fridays, 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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Caretakers, ageism and other topics venture needs to stop overlooking Feb 15, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha interviewed Elana Berkowitz, founding partner at Springbank Collective and an early-stage investor working to close the gender gap.

Following with our theme of covering the silent changemakers in tech, Berkowitz has done much more than invest: she’s an advisor at Eric Shmidt’s office, a social entrepreneur who was a former innovator in residence at CARE, former Obama Administration technology policy official across the Obama-Biden Transition Team.

We spoke about:

Building a venture firm that wants to disrupt the way the world thinks about care
What people are missing when they talk about women's health
The big opportunities out there to keep women in the workforce (and the low hanging fruit that we should all be thinking about)

As always, the full Equity crew will be back on Friday, but you can keep up with us in the meantime on Twitter @EquityPod.

For more on Plume, check out Found's interview with the company's co-founders Jerrica Kirkley and Matthew Wetschler!

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Bonus Episode: The Startup Battlefield Basics Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

Check out the newest podcast from the TechCrunch Podcast Network: Inside Startup Battlefield, the four-part series that takes you behind TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield competition. In this episode, our host and Startup Battlefield Editor Neesha Tambe breaks down how the Battlefield companies are selected for the TechCrunch Disrupt stage. Then we take a deep dive into what makes a pitch perfect with pitch coach and TechCrunch writer Haje Jan Kamps and Startup Battlefield judge and VC Nisha Dua. You’ll also hear from: Julia Somerdin from Labby, Young-Jae Kim and Tara Peters from Anthill, Quddus Pativada from Digest AI, Blessing Adesiyan from Mother honestly, Hikari Senju from Omneky, Mitch Tolson from Ally robotics, Elizabeth Lawler from App map, Aaron Hall from Intropic materials. Sheeba Dawood from Minerva.

New episodes of Inside Startup Battlefield drop every Monday. Be sure to check out all of the other podcasts in the TechCrunch Podcast Network: Found, Equity, The TechCrunch Podcast, Chain Reaction, and The TechCrunch Live Podcast.

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Wait a secondary Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha, Mary Ann, and Becca got on the mic about:

Our deals of the week included a look at a large new fund focused on Africa, a startup raising big bucks to address the nursing shortage and Rebellyous raising in a crowded and struggling space toward its effort to 'rethink the nugget.'
We took a few to chat through the latest around FTX, which is attempting to take back its political donations at the same time Robinhood is trying to buy back the 7.6% stake that an SBF entity acquired last year. We also marveled at how low Twitter Blue numbers really are.
To throw it back for a second, Mary Ann walks us through the latest with Stripe AND all of our questions around its financial backing at the current moment. Becca reminds us that secondaries, dear friends, may be quiet but are livelier than ever.
We end with notes on AI and inclusion, based on Dom's recent piece looking at the data behind the disparities. Reminder to use code EQUITY for 50% off annual TC+ memberships!

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The individual mistake that tech startups are collectively making Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha interviewed Cleo’s former CEO and current chief business officer, SJ Sacchetti. We spoke about nearly every theme most founders and chief executives are too scared to talk about: ego, setting boundaries, stepping down and becoming a "statistic" and why a company needs to succeed without you.

We talk about failure - or the fear of it, at least - and really, where things go wrong when we talk about how success is celebrated in tech.

As always, the full Equity crew will be back on Friday, but you can keep up with us in the meantime on Twitter @EquityPod!

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Equity Monday: SoftBank's vibe shift is using silence loudly Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

Here's what Natasha got into:

Big tech: SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will be skipping the Japanese conglomerates' earnings call, reports the Economic Times. We knew the flashy presentations were going away, but the silence may signal just how seriously SoftBank wants to shift its external perception. Speaking of perception, there's nothing quite like a delisting warning to get people talking about you. I talk about Getaround's less than $1 trend, and why it may be off the public markets if it doesn't get its act together in the next six months.
Big idea: It's time to gamify benefits, and then think about wellness in more than just silo'd ways. At least that's how I imagine Minu's founding story to have played out - the startup is an HR tech meets edtech meets fintech meets health tech tool. Interesting stuff.
Big innovation: The serial entrepreneur spree, in which notorious founders return to the early stage stomping grounds with fresher ideas, is a tried and true part of the tech world. Still, it surprises me to see just how many recent examples we have. Natasha talks about Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta's new health tech company, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek's new health tech company, as well, and the return of co-founders from Instagram and Zenly making their way back into the social consumer space. We end with a nod at Natasha's latest Startups Weekly column, which looks at the data behind startup offices.

Ok, that's all. Let's have a good time this week. And by that we mean, tell us all your secrets!

Equity drops at 11:00 a.m. PT every Monday and at 7:00 a.m. PT on Wednesdays and 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!

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The impact investor and climate correspondent walk into a bar Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

This week Natasha Mascarenhas and Becca Szkutak took to their mics to sing a duet about this week's startup news. Just kidding! But we did highlight some fun companies raising capital and talked through some VC themes that look likely to be relevant throughout 2023.

Here's what we got into:

For our deals of the week we talked about Artifact, the new startup from the previous co-founders of Instagram, Spill, a new Twitter alternative that raised pre-seed funding, and Disclo, a startup looking to make it easier for individuals to seek accommodations for their disabilities at work.
Then we chatted about the recent flurry of new venture funds and what the timing of these announcements says about where the VC market is at right now.
Last, we talked climate tech and how the recent wave of startups in the sector is a promising sign.

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Be relevant, or get downturned Feb 01, 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 Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single person, think about their work and unpack the rest. This week, Mary Ann interviewed Hans Tung, prolific investor and managing partner of GGV, a venture firm with more than $9 billion in assets under management.

The pair had a great conversation on:

How Hans is advising portfolio companies to weather this downturn
What he’s looking for in new investments
How startups can stay relevant no matter the economic environment
What he’d be if he weren’t a VC (hint: Mark Cuban follows a similar playbook)
His new initiative around embedded fintech

With two decades of experience in investing in companies such as Affirm and Airbnb, Hans has been through more than one cycle and his calm, steady approach to handling challenging macro environments comes through.

We're excited to share this conversation with you, but please note: there were technical issues and the audio quality is not up to our usual standard. Thanks for your understanding, and we hope you enjoy the conversation anyway.

As always, the full crew will be back on Friday, but keep up with Equity in the meantime @EquityPod on Twitter!

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Equity Monday: If (and only if) McDonald's had an appetite for acquisitions Jan 30, 2023

Show notes

Here's what Natasha got into on today's Equity Monday:

Big tech: Marqeta's nine-figure acquisition of a two-year-old fintech, and which bucket of deals I think it falls into. Plus, Stripe's whole 12-month timeline thing and my edit for your incoming thought pieces.
Big idea: Natasha's latest Startups Weekly column is all about the latecomer advantage. She talks about the idea, and its nuance, in the context of building startup rivals.
Big innovation: We end with a look at Atomos, which landed $16 million to tug vehicles through space, and a bright spot of an analysis, coming from the TC+ world, on Black Web3 founders.

As always, follow us on Twitter for more @equitypod!

Equity drops at 10:00 a.m. PT every Monday and at 7:00 a.m. PT on Wednesdays and 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

You could be Wasted and not even know it Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha, Mary and Becca got into:

For our deals of the week, we talked about why tracking app Strava's purchase of Fatmap, a high-resolution 3D global map platform for the great outdoors, seems like a smart move, how Wasted wants to make port-a-potties less gross and more useful and All Raise CEO's decision to step down after less than one year in the role.
Then we got into how the feds are scrutinizing Google's alleged ad tech monopoly and the implications for startups, before moving into different ways the downturn is impacting the way companies are hiring.
And lastly, we discussed femtech's very good 2022 (even though we all agreed we don't love the term 'femtech').