Equity

Latest Episodes:

A niche facet of startup employee pay, explained Jul 27, 2022

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 topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha and Anita asked:

When is a company taking internal valuation cut a good thing?

Normally, when we hear about valuations going down, that's a red flag that things aren't going well at a given company or in the market at large. We wrote about Stripe's 28% internal valuation cut earlier this month and as we listened to different reactions to the news, we noticed some people had an unexpected take -- that this downward revision was actually a positive for the company's employees.

That's because the cut came from an internal 409A valuation appraisal, which is totally different from the investor-led valuations we normally hear reported on in the news. So we brought on two experts -- Phil Haslett of EquityZen and Sumukh Sridhara of AngelList -- to help us unpack what this valuation cut actually means for startup employees and what else they need to know about their equity compensation heading into a market downturn. For more information, you can also check out our TechCrunch+ piece about the matter, "Stripe’s new and lower internal valuation, explained."

Let us know if you want more Chain Reaction x Equity crossover episodes by tweeting at either of us or just sharing this episode with a friend. Numbers speak for themselves :)

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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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Why you have to pay attention to the public markets this week Jul 25, 2022

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.

Alex and Grace are back to cover the biggest and most interesting technology, startup and markets news. Sitting as we are on the precipice of a huge data dump, we had lots to chat through!

Stocks are mixed around the world, while crypto selloff modestly after some recovery gains. In general, the value of securities are down in recent weeks and months, and now, frankly, quarters.
This is Earnings Week: Yes, friends, get ready to hear from Alphabet and Amazon and Meta and Microsoft and Apple. The Big Five are reporting this week, providing us a glimpse into the health of a host of businesses. Recall that we have seen the major slow hiring lately, perhaps a harbinger of the (meager) feast to come?
Cartona is building something neat in Egypt, TechCrunch reports. And there is still venture capital money flowing in China, despite, you know, all the stuff going on there.
Zomato is sinking, Voyager is biting the hand that wants to feed it at least a little, and it turns out that the grocery delivery war is only heating up.

No live show this week, just three episodes! Hang in there we got you!

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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Thanks to Amazon, One Medical and Whole Foods are on the same dang shelf Jul 22, 2022

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.

Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann got together with Grace once again this week for our weekly roundup show, and as often happens, news broke as we were gearing up to record. So we had to touch on the huge Amazon-One Medical deal to get started. Naturally we all had thoughts.

What else did we get into? The following:

Crunchbase raised $50 million! Yes, our former employer has raised a new, large round that had us all thinking about its health, our history thereof, and our love for its news team and other parts of the company we remember fondly.
Just what is Arkive building, and are we in favor of its work to build a sort of NFT-powered, decentralized IRL library. There is a DAO involved as well.
ForSight is building eye-surgery robots, just raised a stack itself, and we are hype about it. It reinforces a key learning from Natasha's recent robotics panel, which was part bullish, part bearish.
From there, it was time to talk the bevy of new venture funds that came out, the end of Modsy -- or is it? -- and a few stories that touch on the Ukraine situation, including a huge Russian fine of Google, Preply's latest funding round, and how solar power can combat fascism.

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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OK, don't fear: the long shots are still getting venture funding Jul 20, 2022

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 topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha and Alex asked: How do founders hold two ideas in their heads: both that there is an economic downturn, but also that things are looking up for many industries?

After a series of episodes about the tensions within the downturn, this is a "good news, despite" episode.

We started with a vibe check based on recent interviews with recently venture-backed founders, before getting into the bright spots from Q2 2022 data.
Then we spent some time talking about specific sectors enjoying fresh cash right now, including climate and European edtech.
Geographically, Africa continues to be one to watch. The continent is set to have its best year yet.
In the second half of the show, lean back and enjoy the riffing: we talk VC vacation homes, good news, and somehow end with tater tots.

We had a great time, and hope you like this show. We’re back Friday with our regular news roundup!

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts,Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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When will India make up its mind about crypto? Jul 18, 2022

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.

Alex and Grace are back to cover the biggest, and most interesting technology, startup, and markets news. Today was a fun day in that we didn't start off with just bad news -- what a change!

Stocks are up around the world, and cryptos have rallied in the last week. The positive price movement in crypto-land, however, doesn't appear to be lighting a fire underneath the NFT market, for example.
Robots! Yes, our robotics-themed event -- Free! And online! -- is this week, which means that I have robots on the brain. That made the Syrius round all the more interesting. It appears that ecommerce will remain a key driver of robotic innovation for some time to come.
Podcast deals are still happening, kinda. Acast is buying Podchaser, which may or may not mean a lot to you. What does matter in this deal is that Spotify wasn't involved. That's a change!
Quick Hits: India may ban crypto, at least if its leading bankers get there way, Missfresh's implosion got a small lifeline, and Modsy is no more -- and the way that it is going out leaves quite a lot to be desired.

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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Building the future of robotics Jul 16, 2022

Show notes

Hello and welcome to a special edition of Equity!

Today, Alex sat down Brian Heater, a long-tenured TechCrunch denizen, our hardware editor, podcast extraordinaire, and genial chap. He also put together a really neat robotics-focused event that we're hosting next week. The event is online, and free, which means that everyone can come and hang (that means you!)

The confab was also a good excuse to snag time with Heater, and have a bit of a natter about robotics, how the self-driving hardware stack has an impact on more than just automobiles, and why we are going to need AGI for robotics to, you know, become the thing we know from the Jetsons.

In short, robotics is improving rapidly, but we might continue to see more industrial applications than personal for some time. Still, there's still a lot of activity in the market, including labor policy, e-commerce applications, and a host of other topics.

Enjoy! Equity is back Monday morning, and if you want to come hang at the TC Sessions: Robotics 2022, you can sign up here for free. See you there!

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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Wordle, hurdles and Sally’s early retirement Jul 15, 2022

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.

Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann enjoyed yet another edition of Equity Live this week, hopping on Twitter Spaces to chat everything from Musk’s meme suit to a new take on Wordle that landed Spotify’s attention. When we stopped recording the episode, news broke that Stripe is cutting its internal valuation by 28%. Luckily, we do this three times a week to stay tuned for our take soon.

In the mean time, here’s what we got to in today’s episode:

Spotify acquired Heardle, which felt like a throwback to trivia and of course a nod at its famous predecessor, NY Times-owned Wordle. Only one of us has played the music guessing game so far, so tweet @equitypod your thoughts on if it’s actually fun.
We also spoke about a startup that is trying to address male infertility in a personalized, engaging way. It caught investors attention, and ours too.
Our last deal of the week, Continuum, gave us a chance to talk about productizing one of the worst jobs in startups: laying folks off. The fractional work play feels even more important given the volatility of startups across all stages right now. Hopin, for example, conducted its second layoff within four months this week and parted ways with its COO, CFO and other executives. Medium had an executive shake up, with Ev Williams stepping down.
The last two themes of the episode were built around Instacart and the future of grocery delivery, as well as the latest of the Twitter and Elon Musk saga.

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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Roe's reversal will shake up how startups are built Jul 13, 2022

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 topic, think about a question and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha asked: How does Roe’s reversal impact the ways that companies are built?

The question was inspired by a recent TechCrunch+ column, "Roe reversal weighs heavily on emerging tech cities in red states." The reporters behind the piece, Dominic-Madori Davis and Becca Szkutak, joined Equity to talk about the story and help us get more of the nuance behind this huge setback.

We chatted about the reappearance of geographic boundaries, selective silence from the money behind the money, and how founders need to rethink their growth strategy if they're coming from red states. We also chatted about how some founders have already started to react to the overturn of Roe vs. Wade and their sentiments revolving the legality of what happens next.

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts,Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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Cost cutting, layoffs remain leading startup themes Jul 11, 2022

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.

Alex and Grace are back to cover the biggest, boldest and baddest technology news. After some holiday weeks, we are back on an actual Monday! What a treat. Here's what we got into:

Stocks are off around the world, partially due to government action, partially due to the complex web of negative factors that we've discussed for months now.
Cryptos are more staid; if you like bitcoin at $20,000 this is your moment.
Tiger's slowdown is no mere blip, TechCrunch reports. The investing powerhouse is going to slow its roll for the rest of 2022, and is looking to raise a new fund.
Unacademy is looking to cut costs, go public in two years per TechCrunch. And Kadamos raised more capital, marking a pretty quick reload after raising a few months ago.
Quick Hits: The Uber Files are a mess, layoffs aren't solving a talent crunch in Southeast Asia, and fintech staffing cuts are starting to pile up.

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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Cauldrons, Bolts and sour markets: Welcome to Halloween in July Jul 08, 2022

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.

It doesn't feel like a short week, does it? Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann got on the mic to bring an especially packed episode full of big news, fire transitions and even a pun or three.

Deals of the week: Maolac raises $3.2 million to bring breast milk nutrition to adults, Peakflo raises a few million to scale its billpay tech in South East Asia, and Cauldron raises $6.6 million for its web3-themed gaming push.
Declining drama at Bolt? A major lawsuit involving Bolt, the online checkout service, has been settled. We chatted through the company's numbers, and noted one more challenge ahead of the company.
The unicorns aren't alright: Layoffs at Outschool and Loft are cutting staff, just as some venture capitalists reload. It's going to be a fascinating year.
And we closed with some notes on the Q2 venture capital cycle!

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PDT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PDT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

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