Equity

Latest Episodes:

All is fair in love and moderation Jan 25, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha interviewed Sarah Oh, the co-founder of T2, a Twitter rival, and Twitter's former Human Rights advisor.

We get into a lot, not limited to but including:

What her job title really encompasses
The danger of going viral
Re-building a clone
Generative AI
We also talk about what moderation 3.0 looks like and T2 daring to dream when building a Twitter-like company with safety at its core. Oh is clearly is a change maker, considering that the 30 minutes Natasha spent with her already expanded our understanding of how platforms think about - and invest in - trust at scale.

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.

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

Equity Monday: All that VC dry powder is damper than you think Jan 23, 2023

Show notes

Here's what Natasha got into now that she's back in The Bay:

Big tech: Real quick, you should know that Elliott Management took a multi-billion stake in Salesforce, while Thoma Bravo scooped up a digital forensics company for $1.34 billion. Beyond that, the big tech news this week is Microsoft's multi-billion dollar, multi-year investment in Open AI. The extended partnership comes with lots of resources, quirks and legal headaches.
Big idea: we're still thinking about this Anna Heim analysis, "The mirage of dry powder." Natasha talks about wet capital and failed capital calls, as to contextualize (not shut down!) some of the optimism in the market right now. (Use code "EQUITY" for 50% an annual TC+ membership).
Big innovation (or in this case, reductions): Google's in-house incubator, Area 120, was severely impacted by Alphabet layoffs and Spotify cut 6% of staff, two layoff stories that had us thinking all about the fact that tech seems to have forgotten its umbrella. We end with tongue-twister note on Quordle, which just got scooped up by Merriam-Webster.

As always, you can support Natasha by following her on Twitter and Instagram. The show also tweets from @equitypod, so follow us there!

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

Gas, Slay, what’s next? Fire? Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

Natasha Mascarenhas, Mary Ann Azevedo and Rebecca Szkutak had fun on this week's recording:

Deals of the week included a new Trust Fund, a $29M raise from a proptech started by the co-founders of cloud computing company DigitalOcean and a $27M bet by some U.S.-based VCs on an African gaming startup, Carry1st.
Then we got into the state of fintech funding in 2022. Spoiler alert: It wasn't pretty. We compared fintech's year to that of global startups as a whole, and Becca gave us a lesson on the difference between structured rounds and down rounds.
We had a blast discussing a new trend of compliment-based teen social media apps, including Gas, which recently got acquired by Discord, and Slay, a German startup that just raised $2.63 million.
And finally, we discussed Microsoft's latest round of layoffs, which we found both unfortunate and a bit perplexing.

On that note, we appreciate you all and thank you for the refreshing flood of feedback and compliments to start off the year. It always makes our days, and we hope we can lighten up and inform yours.

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

What's next for the entrepreneur behind Layoffs.FYI Jan 18, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha interviewed Roger Lee, an entrepreneur who's spent the better part of a decade building tools for employees and employers alike. Lee is the creator of Layoffs.FYI and co-founder of Comprehensive and Human Interest.

Here's what we got into:

Roger's introduction to entrepreneurship during the dot-com bubble
How the pandemic de-stigmatized layoffs
How Comprehensive - described as the inverse of Layoffs.FYI - is helping employees level-up
The importance of crowdsourcing and to monetize, or not to monetize...transparency
We ended, as usual, with a lightning round and learned where Lee's career could have gone if he didn't take the founder path (hint: it's not VC).

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

Equity Monday: Twitter rivals, unicorn trivia and valuation homework Jan 17, 2023

Show notes

Here's what Natasha chatted about today:

Big tech: Good news for Bitcoin and Ethereum, even as late-stage companies in the space cut to stay afloat.
Big idea: I had two ones to get through. First, Africa had no new unicorns last year, despite record fundraising raising. What's that all about? Second, I want to talk about Stripe's internal valuation cut, yet again, and what that news means on the outside.
Big innovation: I talk about yet another Clearco executive shake up and yet another Clearco round of layoffs, as well as the energy for the fintech moving forward. We end with a look at freshly-backed T2, which is opening up its game plan in a spreadsheet format. We love to see a Twitter rival, love even more to see one utilize the beauty of read-only spreadsheet features

As always, you can support me by following me on Twitter and Instagram. The show also tweets from @equitypod, so follow us there and turn on notifications to never miss a new update from your favorite podcast team in tech (ugh, you shouldn't have).

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

Frank-ly, the Kardashian method won’t work for SBF Jan 13, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha was joined by Mary Ann Azevedo and Rebecca Szkutak to talk about the latest and greatest in tech:

Deals of the week include Inflow, which has developed a self-help app designed to help people manage their ADHD, Cartograph Ventures, a new venture fund run by an ex-Juul operator, and the latest lawsuit and layoffs happening over at Carta
The plethora of fintech M&A that took place this week, including Fidelity's acquisition of a startup called Shoobx (we couldn't pronounce its name either) and Deel's buyout of Capbase.
Microsoft's deal with ChatGPT OpenAI which, we'll admit, has a structure that stumps even us. Plus, we talk about how Pittsburgh's expertise in AI may help give its startup scene a boost.

There's Sam Altman, and then there's Sam Bankman-Fried, which brings us to our last theme. We talk about SBF's new Substack, the Kardashian method of distraction and why the legal world isn't a fan of levity. As Becca said so aptly, maybe billionaires (or former billionaires) should stop trying to be cute.

We'll end with a reminder that the TechCrunch podcast network is now a machine that produces content, daily, from the most diverse slate of hosts in the tech pod world. Proud of our fellow co-hosts, and for those of you who may be starting a resolution or habit-stacking to start 2023, consider giving our other shows a try.

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

Will what happened at CES stay at CES? Jan 11, 2023

Show notes

This week, Natasha chatted with Haje Kamps and Brian Heater about CES which took place last week over in the ever-exciting Las Vegas area. All of our fantastic CES coverage can be found on the site, but for the purposes of today's show, we tried to keep it analytical, chatty and, at times, even a bit robotic. (You'll see what we mean).

Here's what we got into:

Post-CES feelings and why the show has stayed relevant after all these years
How expectations of the show compared to the reality, robot pillows and all
Who did and didn't show up
Brian's new suggestion for what the conference should be called
The energy of innovation on the showroom floor, from sustainability to big swings to over-engineered blenders
Batteries!
And finally, how the downturn and COVID-19 may have impacted the way startups are pitching themselves to the public. Selection bias, it's a thing!

You can follow Haje through his work on the Daily Crunch, Brian through his work on Actuator and as always, catch up with us on Twitter @EquityPod.

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PT, 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, a show that details how our stories come together and more!

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

Equity Monday: Generative AI's Magic Leap Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

Here's what we got into for this week's Monday episode:

Big Tech: Vista Equity Partners scooped up Duck Creek for $2.6 billion, and that's not the only billion-dollar figure we've seen from them over the past twelve months. Enterprise deals to start off the year? Take notes, startups.
Big Idea: I'm thinking all about generative AI, especially thanks to Rebecca Szkutak's latest piece: "Whoops! Is generative AI already becoming a bubble?" I talk through the thesis of the piece, why venture always needs a buzzword, and why that's not necessarily a bad thing.
And Big Innovation: We end with our roots in the world of startups. I'm talking Magic Leap's comeback story and a can't miss Dominic-Madori Davis piece tracking Black founder funding trends.

And with that, goodbye until Wednesday! You can follow me on Twitter @nmasc_ or on Instagram @natashathereporter. And, as always, follow Equity on Twitter @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

CES, NYE, SBF and FTX. Lol. Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

To start off the year, we are welcoming Rebecca Szkutak as a returning host who will be joining us while Alex is out on paternity leave. We're lucky to have her for a few months, so give her a warm welcome!

With that, Natasha, Mary Ann and Becca returned to the mic to unpack the latest and greatest on this first week back. 2022 was a dreary, relentless storm at times, but it also surprised us with how much innovation continues to brighten up this downturn. The start of 2023 has been no different.

Here's what we got into:

Some early standouts from CES, the annual consumer electronics show that is taking over Las Vegas right now. Yep, we're talking comfort pillows that are even more comfortable than you think, a smarter smart laundry machine and a security dash-cam for ride-sharing drivers.
Then we jumped into deals of the week, which included Doorstead and USV's $200 million climate fund.
Our first theme got into the latest development in the FTX and SBF saga. If you're like us, there's been so much happening that it's hard to keep track of all the twists and turns. But it's also evermore important to, as Becca gives us a Real Housewives angle to consider.
We end with a conversation about layoffs, which rolled in this week to impact employees at Stitch Fix, Amazon, Salesforce and others. We dug into Natasha's latest feature story, in which she explores how laid off talent is rethinking risk for their next jobs.

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

Equity Monday: Remember how this whole working thing works? Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

Happy New Year and welcome to 2023! As promised, Natasha is taking over Equity Monday for the beginning of this year as Alex is out on paternity leave. Big hugs to his growing family!

We're starting the year with big post-PTO energy, because there's no other way we know how to do it. Here's what we chatted:

Tesla missing expectations, Meta doing its let's-just-acquire-smart-talent thing, and a debut in the S&P 500 that caught our attention.
A big idea that is running around over at Matrix. TC's Paul Sawers looks into how messaging apps may become more interoperable thanks to a fascinating new protocol. To us, this screams the ideas of decentralization from crypto last year, but with a more understandable pitch. Catch me Slacking you on WhatsApp!
Finally, we end with a look ahead at CES this week. We have reporters on the ground catching the moonshots, and we'll have updates for you with the full crew on Friday!

As always, there's more to come, so follow us on Twitter @EquityPod

Equity drops at 10 a.m. PT every Monday and at 7 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