It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for—the winner is announced! In this episode, we get to know the winner of the 2022 Startup Battlefield competition. We’ll hear what’s next for their company and get insight from TechCrunch staff, VCs, and audience members on why they were the right choice. 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 . Credits: Equity is produced by...
Mar 06, 2023•33 min•Ep. 638
Mary Ann, Becca , and Alex gathered to riff through the week's biggest startup and venture news. A big thank you to Becca for stepping in while Alex was on leave, and a note before we dive into topics that Natasha Mascarenhas will be back on the podcast next week! Now, here's what we got into: Deals of the Week: Divert's $100 million round to tackle food waste , Trust & Will's $15 million round , and what's happening in the land of NFT sales . Boston: TechCrunch held a Boston City Spotlight ...
Mar 03, 2023•35 min•Ep. 644
Mary Ann is taking over while Natasha attends a summit in LA, and this week, she interviewed Mark Goldberg , partner and fintech lead at Index Ventures . Since 2015, Mark has spent his time investing in - and sitting on the boards of - financial services companies including Plaid, Persona, Lithic, Cocoon, and Pilot. The duo talked about: The party that was 2021 and the hangover that was 2022 Mark's Twitter prediction that raised some eyebrows on Twitter Why 2023 will be a survival of the fittest...
Mar 01, 2023•30 min•Ep. 643
Inside Startup Battlefield is back in our feed with episode three. There are 180 companies solving crucial problems that didn’t make it to the Disrupt stage, but that doesn’t mean they’re making any less of an impact. TechCrunch writers Devin Coldewey and Harri Weber take us on a walk through the Expo Hall and let us listen into their conversations with a handful of the most interesting companies in the Battlefield 200. New episodes of Inside Startup Battlefield drop every Monday. Be sure to che...
Feb 27, 2023•15 min•Ep. 638
Alex is back! After taking some time to learn how to care for tiny humans, he's returned and is more than fired up to get back to podcasting. That means early mornings to get the Monday show off the page, and into your ears, made worth it thanks to the startup economy proving incredibly interesting thus far in 2023. Now, what did we get into? The following: Stocks are largely up today, but only after a terrible week last week. So, a little plus/minus there. Cryptos are not too changed in the las...
Feb 27, 2023•9 min•Ep. 642
This week Natasha, Mary Ann , and Becca Szkutak were joined by the returning Alex Wilhelm , back from paternity leave. Yes, we had the whole gang back together today to dig through the week's pile of news -- and you can definitely tell how exciting it was by how fast we all talked through news (sorry to our dear producers!) Now, the news. Here's what we got into: Amazon has invested heavily in an Indian meat delivery company. No, not lab grown meat or plant-based meat. Just meat, delivered. Also...
Feb 24, 2023•37 min•Ep. 641
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, Natasha interviewed Kaisa Snellman , an economic sociologist and an associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Academic Director of the INSEAD Gender Initiative. We know, we know, it's a flex. We’re going to talk about: Kaisa’s rec...
Feb 22, 2023•35 min•Ep. 639
Inside Startup Battlefield is back in our feed with episode two. In the second episode of Inside Startup Battlefield, we take a trip to TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 to hear pitches from the top five companies: Aaron Hall from Intropic Materials , Elizabeth Lawler from App Map , Chad Mason from Advanced Ionics , Sheeba Dawood from Minerva Lithium, Tim Lichti from Swap Robotics . We get to know the companies and the unique problems they’re solving through their pitches and the judges’ follow-up questio...
Feb 20, 2023•32 min•Ep. 638
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...
Feb 17, 2023•32 min•Ep. 637
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 v...
Feb 15, 2023•32 min•Ep. 636
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....
Feb 13, 2023•32 min•Ep. 635
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...
Feb 10, 2023•32 min•Ep. 634
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 ...
Feb 08, 2023•35 min•Ep. 633
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 does...
Feb 06, 2023•10 min•Ep. 632
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 ...
Feb 03, 2023•33 min•Ep. 631
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 ...
Feb 01, 2023•30 min•Ep. 630
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 ...
Jan 30, 2023•11 min•Ep. 629
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 movin...
Jan 27, 2023•33 min•Ep. 628
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...
Jan 25, 2023•32 min•Ep. 627
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, ...
Jan 23, 2023•12 min•Ep. 626
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 ...
Jan 20, 2023•32 min•Ep. 625
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 m...
Jan 18, 2023•32 min•Ep. 624
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 Clearc...
Jan 17, 2023•12 min•Ep. 623
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...
Jan 13, 2023•33 min•Ep. 622
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 , robo...
Jan 11, 2023•35 min•Ep. 621
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...
Jan 09, 2023•9 min•Ep. 620
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 differen...
Jan 06, 2023•32 min•Ep. 619
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. T...
Jan 03, 2023•8 min•Ep. 618
In honor of 2022 finally coming to a close, the Equity crew is getting reflective. We dug through the archives, and this week, we're listening back to Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann's coverage of the biggest stories of the year as they unfolded. Here's what the trio got into with help from guest hosts, Becca Szkutak and Anita Ramaswamy : How Alex jinxed us from the start when he asked for more tech drama (TC+) back in January Early signs of the downturn to come with Better.com and the human cost of ...
Dec 30, 2022•52 min•Ep. 617
Following a parade of headlines and news that Fast shut down back in April, Natasha and Alex asked: What are we missing when we talk about startup failure? The question comes after one of Natasha’s Startups Weekly columns, where she looked into the complexity of startup failure , fallacy of takedown stories, and importance of diversity in newsrooms. Here's an excerpt: "There’s the argument that startup tensions are inevitable and common, so should we spotlight every time something bubbles to the...
Dec 28, 2022•27 min•Ep. 616
