Equity

By TechCrunch, Rebecca Bellan, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, Sean O'Kane, Theresa LoconsoloBusiness Entrepreneurship News Technology Business News

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Equity episodes

March 21, 2022When is an accelerator not an accelerator?
Every Monday, Grace and Alex scour the news and record notes on what’s going on to kick off the week.
Markets! The stock market is a bit up and down around the world, but nothing to cause too much concern. Crypto is neutral as well, but with some gains made in the last week.
Big news! Anaplan is selling to PE for more than $10 billion. Notably the deal is not cheap, which means that we're seeing private equity get its checkbook out as software company prices come down and become, well, targets.
Unicorns! FTX is heading to Australia, more indication that some crypto trading platforms are going to every market that they can. What will happen to smaller crypto platforms? And when does that consolidation land?
Startups! Powered by People raises $5 million, CommerceIQ raises $115 million, and Sequoia debuts Arc, which is a non-accelerator accelerator.
Our live show is this week! Which means you can come hang out while we record our Friday episode on Thursday. Snag a free ticket here, or tune in on Twitter spaces!
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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11 min
March 18, 2022Series B is the attention-seeking middle child of financing rounds
This week our comrade Mary Ann was off, so Natasha and Alex teamed up with Grace on the dials to chat through the week's biggest news. Here's what our dynamic got into:
Webflow's new round: Nine-figures of capital at a revenue multiple north of 40x? What is this, 2021? Nope, just the latest capital infusion for the no-code website company.
All Raise's new CEO: The work of diversifying the venture capital market is far from over, and one group working to move the needle not only has plans to change the industry -- but also her own team.
Funds: Natasha's coverage of fund-of-funds fit into news that SoftBank is turning one if its funds into an evergreen-vehicle, and Alex chatted through the numbers about Series A, B, and C rounds in the United States. Funds are maturing, experimenting and evolving into interesting vehicles. Maybe it's time we start covering them more on the show again (and check out our latest Wednesday episode for a Tiger Global-themed chat)
What to know about China: From crashing stock prices to rocketing stock prices, it's been a week for Chinese equities. And startups appear increasingly caught in the crossfire.
And then, crypto: From news about a hot new crypto deal to NFTs coming to Instagram, it feels impossible to avoid the blockchain world these days.
We are back next week with our full team, and a live show. So, chat you Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday live!
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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37 min
March 16, 2022If Tiger Global shows up, will there be new stripes in early-stage?
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: Will Tiger's second act live up to its first?
The question comes after Natasha's latest Startups Weekly column, where she looked into one example of how Tiger Global's stamp of approval is coming for the early stage. Today's conversation is a continuation of that topic, but broadened with examples, context, and of course, some jokes as well.
Before digging into the question, we walked through some historical venture shakeups, looking specifically at Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank and ultimately Tiger Global's own jolt to the startup ecosystem. Remember when we weren't numb to mega-funds, and due diligence was contrarian?
Then we get into why Tiger is turning to invest in early-stage companies, now of all times (hack: listen to our episode on market re-correction for some background).
We spoke about Tiger cutting a new check into AngelList, and the resulting window it gets. A new-ish AngelList fund has hella Tiger vibes, notably.
There's also a conversation to be had about how Tiger's late-stage playbook scales to the early-stage, which made us talk about due diligence, ownership, and fund structures.
And speaking of evergreen funds, here's an evergreen reminder to take advantage of code “EQUITY” when subscribing to TechCrunch+ for a hefty discount, and gratitude from your favorite trio of tech nerds.
We somehow fit YC in too, because why not.
All told the 2022 venture capital market is shaping up to be a very different beast than what we saw in 2021, and not only because Tiger is changing up its own posture. What we saw last year might prove a high-water mark for venture for a long time to come. So, stay tuned.
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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30 min
March 14, 2022The inevitable codification of Silicon Valley's relationships
This week, Natasha is running the show, which means we're returning to our private market focus and, for the fun of it, reminding you all that Pete Davidson is getting high soon.
This is going to be a busy week for the team, so expect our sassiness to only increase as the days roll forward. Here's what I got into today:
Markets have mixed feelings, thanks to the war in Ukraine, COVID-19, supply chain delays, inflation, and all around high tensions. This includes crypto, mind you.
Instead of big tech, I talked about a big idea: Everyone is launching a fund to fund other funds, which is a reminder just how much relationships in VC have changed (and how much the appetite for emerging fund managers is growing). Experiments aren't just fun, they could bring big returns.
I got into two top of mind deals: Sayso, which wants to change your accent, and Moove, which wants to bring car ownership from luxury to reality across the entire continent of Africa.
And of course we have to end with the fact that it is Mary Ann's birthday, so follow her on Twitter but definitely don't e-mail her. We are so thankful to have you as part of the show, and a go-to friend for all things fintech and existential. You can find me on Twitter @nmasc_ and the show @equitypod.
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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8 min
March 11, 2022SPAC is a four-letter word again
This was saw Equity back on the live-taping game, with Mary Ann, Natasha, and Alex gathering with Grace and the TechCrunch video team (shoutout Julio and Yashad!) to chat through the week's news. Naturally we had to cut like all hell, but we had a simply terrific time traipsing through the following items:
AngelList Ventures raising a $100 million round, and what the deal seems to mean. Mara snagging $6 million for a business that had us all hype, and the Public-Otis tie-up from earlier in the week were also on the docket.
Then we worked through the history of the Better.com rolling fiasco, which took a fresh turn through well-trod ground this week by messing up layoffs. Can Better.com get better at being a dotcom? We wrote up a whole thread of what went down on our Twitter.
Then we nattered on the recent Acorns and Kin Insurance rounds, following what happens when a company decides that a SPAC is no longer the proper fit for its fundraising and exit plans. Alex has more here. It reminded us of our recent Wednesday episode, when we asked if fintech is playing offense or defense these days.
And we closed on a grip of news from Africa, where startups are raising more money, more quickly, and taking part in more accelerators than ever before. Make sure you follow Tage Kene-Okafor and Annie Njanja for fresh reporting on startups across the continent.
We do live tapings every two weeks, so come to the next one! This time, we gave away a SXSW ticket, next time, who knows!
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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38 min
March 09, 2022 You can't buy a community, so make it worth it
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 connected a slew of seemingly-unrelated news items to answer a big question:
How do we balance community and capitalism?
The original question we sought to explore was "can you buy a community?" The answer to that question, after further exploration, felt obvious enough: no, so no what? Combining Epic Games' recent acquisition of Bandcamp, Commsor's latest raise, and Lolita Taub's new venture firm, community has a set of sharper standards around it. And nobody wants to let the buzzword go unchecked.
Evergreen reminder to take advantage of code “EQUITY” when subscribing to TechCrunch+ for a hefty discount, and gratitude from your favorite trio of tech nerds.
We're really enjoying using our Wednesday show to chat through trends and major topics. Tweet us with things you want us to hit on, if you have a particular bee in your bonnet!
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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26 min
March 07, 2022Is the AR and VR market only for trillion dollar companies?
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Every Monday, Grace and Alex scour the news and record notes on what’s going on to kick off the week.
As before, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was top of mind, but lots of other things were going on so we had more than plenty to yammer about:
The global stock market is taking more body-blows in the wake of rising oil prices and geopolitical instability.
EA and Epic are pulling titles from Russia, as other companies have made similar moves; the tech industry has made its stance clear that doing business in Russia is off-limits for some time.
FTX is moving into Europe, which struck me as big news, while Klarna reported earnings (more to come on that front).
Circular.io raised $10 million for tech talent recruiting, and Founders Fund put together $5 billion for new funds.
Closing out, there's an Apple event tomorrow!
So, yeah, it's busy out there. Our live show is this Thursday, mind, and if you want to hang out with us while we record, head here to get a free ticket.
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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11 min
March 04, 2022 As Equity turns five, we send our dear friend Chris Gates onto his next adventure
Since the birth of Equity in mid-March of 2017, Chris Gates has been part of the team. Indeed, he helped found the show, and over the next half-decade produced and edited hundreds of episodes. He was, in short, a pillar of the team, and a key driver of how show operated day to day. Which is to say that he brought kindness, and warmth, and care to our work. As one of our colleagues put it, TechCrunch's podcast history can't be written without his name as a huge part of it.
Sadly for the Equity team, but equally good news for his new employer, Chris's last day was last Friday. So we gathered to record a special episode of sorts.
Natasha, Alex, and Chris sat down and played back a number of clips from the show, including our first-every episode, the first time that Natasha was on the podcast. That sort of thing. And we said some nice things about Chris at the same time.
Technically Equity's birthday isn't for a week or two, but we decided to hybridize our look-back with Chris's exit. After all, we're an earnest team that needed a minute (or 30) to sit and be earnest.
If you are an Equity listener, don't worry too much. We still have Grace Mendenhall on the production team, so we are in good hands. And we've added Maggie Stamets in recent weeks as well, who has been doing an ace job thus far helping us write and record. Finally, Kell is helping edit our babble down into usable content.
So as with prior Equity exits -- Matthew Lynley, Katie Roof, Connie Loizos, Kate Clark, Danny Crichton -- we are hugging it out, and getting back to work.
More to come! We're not going anywhere! But we will miss Chris. A lot.
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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41 min
March 02, 2022 Fintech TAM explained by dating apps
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 brought on Mary Ann for a special fintech episode, perhaps our spiciest of the year so far. We asked:
Are fintech startups playing offense or defense today?
To start, we spoke about Ramp and Pipe's latest moves (here, here), which include moving into the travel space and branching out into media and entertainment, respectively, and how they reflect the broader fintech competitive landscape.
We even played out a scenario in which we decide if two of the buzziest fintechs will ever compete with each other. (Answer: Yes.)
Before you go, make sure you subscribe to Mary Ann's new fintech newsletter and check out her recent TechCrunch+ investor survey from top investors in this noisy sector. Evergreen reminder to take advantage of code "EQUITY" when subscribing to TechCrunch+ for a hefty discount, and gratitude from your favorite trio of tech nerds.
Equity drops every Monday at 7:00 a.m. PST, Wednesday, and Friday at 6:00 a.m. PST, 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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
29 min
February 28, 2022Equity Monday: Fintech consolidation could be picking up
Every Monday, Grace and Alex scour the news and record notes on what’s going on to kick off the week.
This weekend was yet another that was full of news from Ukraine, which meant that the tech market was slightly quieter than usual. But not so quiet that we didn't have lots to chat about, so here's the latest:
The Russian startup market isn't huge -- data here -- but when we consider the number of startups in Ukraine as well, the impact of Russia's war and the world's sanctions will bite. Russia is also tangling with American tech giants, which isn't going well.
Over the weekend, the American Republican Party bashed large American tech companies. Gone are the days when the GOP was a reliable simp for corporate power. Today it's more fashionable to pump SPACs like TMTG, or Rumble.
Weee! raised a huge sum from the second Vision Fund, we report, and OneCard is set to raise a massive round in short order, despite how recently it announced its preceding round. (Oh, and this looks very neat.)
And Zip is buying Sezzle, in more BNPL market consolidation. A sign of the times, we decide.
That is our show! Lots more to come this week, so get ready!
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
11 min

About Equity

From the publisher's feed

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…