TechCrunch
Are we tokenmaxxing our way to nowhere? | Equity Podcast
- Title
- Are we tokenmaxxing our way to nowhere? | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 36:54
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- The gap between AI insiders and everyone else is widening, and the spending, suspicion, and even new vocabulary are starting to show it. While OpenAI is busy buying up everything from finance apps to talk shows, a certain shoe company just rebranded as an AI infrastructure play, and Anthropic unveiled a model it says is too powerful to release publicly ...but apparently not too powerful to demo to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into what's actually being built in AI infrastructure, who's winning the enterprise battle between OpenAI and Anthropic, and more of the week's headlines.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:25 Allbirds is now an AI company, apparently
04:48 Why c...
- Title
- The Secrets of Gecko Materials' 36-Hour Pre-Seed Round │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:34
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- What's the secret to a 36-hour pre-seed round? Always take that networking opportunity.
Listen to the full episode of Build Mode to hear how founder and CEO of Gecko Materials Capella Kerst, convinced investors on the spot with a mobile demo: http://spr.ly/6052B6f5r2
- Title
- What It Takes to Turn Academic Research into a Venture-Backed Startup l Build Mode
- Runtime
- 30:23
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Deep tech founders face a unique challenge: turning breakthrough science into a scalable startup. From navigating academia and IP to fundraising, manufacturing, and product-market fit, the path from research lab to real-world impact is anything but straightforward.
This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Capella Kerst, founder and CEO of @geCKoMaterials and 2024 Startups Battlefield runner up. geCKo Materials is building a bio-inspired adhesive with applications across robotics, manufacturing, and even space. In this episode, they explore how she turned a Stanford PhD breakthrough into a venture-backed deep tech company.
This conversation covers:
🧩How to turn academic research into a scalable startup
🧩The challenges of moving from Stanford PhD to founder and CEO
🧩What it takes to raise capital as a deep tech and hardware startup
🧩Why commercialization and manufacturing are the hardest parts of innovati...
- Title
- Musician Aloe Blacc is Booststrapping a Platform Targeting Cancer │ Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:45
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- What happens when a Grammy-nominated artist enters biotech?
Aloe Blacc tells the Equity Podcast getting the initial idea isn’t the hard part. It’s regulators, clinical trials, and a system where celebrity doesn’t matter.
Catch the full convo here: http://spr.ly/6056B64e9e
- Title
- Aloe Blacc’s fame means nothing in biotech (and that’s the point) | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 27:28
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- When Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc got COVID despite being vaccinated and boosted, he tried to fund research for a better solution and quickly ran into a hard truth about biotech: you can’t just write a check and move science forward. Regulatory requirements, commercialization plans, and university IP rules mean even well-intentioned philanthropy doesn’t easily translate into clinical progress.
Now? Aloe is bootstrapping a cancer drug platform targeting pancreatic cancer and deliberately waiting to raise outside capital until peer-reviewed research can make the case for him.
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Aloe Blacc to talk about what happens when a creator steps into biotech, how AI is reshaping both drug discovery and music, and who actually stands to win in each industry’s transformation.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. Yo...
- Title
- Startups Are Messing Up Layoffs │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:48
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Layoffs are one of the hardest parts of leadership...and most people get them wrong.
If you have to let someone go, it’s not just about severance. It’s about how you show up for additional support.
From opening your network, to helping them land their next role, the impact you leave matters.
Listen to the latest episode of Build Mode with Anjuna CEO Ayal Yogev: https://bit.ly/4aCcUNZ
- Title
- Building beyond LLMs with Luma AI’s Amit Jain (Live at Web Summit Qatar) | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 19:53
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- LLMs may have kicked off this AI boom, but the ceiling is closer than the hype suggests. As models run out of text data to train on, the companies and investors paying attention are already moving on. The next wave isn't better chatbots; it's machines that can understand the physical world. Luma AI, the Bay Area lab that raised over $1.4 billion from a16z, Nvidia, and Amazon, is betting on exactly that.
On episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, we’re bringing you a conversation Rebecca Bellan sat down with Amit Jain, co-founder and CEO of Luma AI, at Web Summit Qatar. Together, the pair dug into where the next trillion-dollar AI opportunity actually gets built, and whether the companies chasing it even know what they're building yet.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:13 Why LLMs a...
- Title
- How to handle layoffs with compassion with Ayal Yogev, Anjuna
- Runtime
- 44:14
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- This week’s guest is Ayal Yogev, co-founder and CEO of Anjuna Security, who has experienced both sides of the startup journey: scaling quickly during the boom years and then making the incredibly difficult decision to lay off a significant portion of his team when the market shifted.
From growing to 75 employees to scaling back and rebuilding, Yogev learned firsthand that the hardest part of leadership isn’t hiring fast, it’s making tough decisions with care, transparency, and integrity.
In this episode, Isabelle Johannessen and Yogev unpack what it really means to lead through layoffs with compassion and how founders can support their teams even in the most challenging moments. They also explore the lessons learned from scaling too quickly and how to build a more resilient company the second time around.
Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.c...
- Title
- Why Snowflake is no longer just a data warehouse | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 25:36
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Snowflake is betting that the future of AI isn’t just analyzing data, it’s acting on it. That means a shift away from chatbots and toward autonomous agents that can actually get work done. And Snowflake is reorganizing fast to keep up, from shipping hundreds of AI features to restructuring teams along the way.
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy to unpack the company’s transformation and what it signals about where AI is headed next.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:17 Snowflake’s AI shift and agentic future
01:45 Why 2026 marks the end of chatbots
04:09 Cortex Code, Snowflake Intelligence, and new products
06:09 Who benefits: non-technical users & enterprises
07:35 Adoption challenges and why ...
- Title
- Why Taskrabbit’s Founder Prioritizes Diversity Early │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:51
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- As a founder or any team builder, diversity is best built at the start. As Taskrabbit founder Leah Solivan learned, procrastination leads to weaker teams and a harder effort later.
We dive into all of her expert tips for builders and founders in the latest episode of our podcast Build Mode right here: https://bit.ly/4aCcUNZ
- Title
- Are orbital data centers all hype, or an actual AI infrastructure solution? l Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 32:31
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Tech companies are racing to build data centers in space, pitching orbital compute as the next frontier for AI infrastructure, even as the technical and economic realities remain far from clear. Add in OpenAI’s massive $122 billion round and Bluesky’s latest AI backlash, and the message is clear: The future of AI is being shaped as much by ambition and hype as it is by real-world constraints.
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane unpack these massive capital bets, user backlash, and off-world compute plans along with Whoop’s major valuation and the literal downfall of robot Olaf.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:20 A humanoid Olaf robot collapses at Disneyland Paris
03:30 OpenAI raises $122B at an $852B valuation
11:...
- Title
- Taskrabbit’s Founder on Why a Lack of Diversity is Hurting Your Market Share │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:52
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- Taskrabbit founder Leah Solivan makes an obvious case for diversity at your startup: it drastically expands who knows how to reach a wider market.
Get more of her expert insights in the latest episode of our Build Mode podcast right here: http://spr.ly/6059B6UVxH
- Title
- When it Comes to Pitching, Don’t be Nice, Just Slay │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:58
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- For women entering the founding and startup ecosystem, Taskrabbit founder Leah Solivan has a wealth of insights, especially on why you shouldn’t hold yourself back.
Listen in on the latest episode of Build Mode for our full interview with her: http://spr.ly/6053B6UVqP
- Title
- A diverse team will make your startup more successful with Leah Solivan, Taskrabbit l Build Mode
- Runtime
- 45:22
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- If one thing has become clear this season, finding the right talent for your team isn’t as easy as picking from a pile of resumes This week’s guest is Leah Solivan, the founder of Taskrabbit and now an early-stage investor who has seen that the power to change a homogenous startup exosystem comes from empowering diverse VCs to fund underrepresented founders who will hire the hidden tech talent.
From bootstrapping TaskRabbit on credit cards to scaling it into one of the defining companies of the gig economy, Leah learned firsthand that the hardest part of building a company isn’t the product, it’s selecting the right people to build it.
In this episode, Isabelle Johannessen and Leah unpack what it really takes to build diverse teams from day one and why most companies get it wrong by waiting too long. They also explore how the lack of diversity in venture capital directly shapes who gets funded, and ultimately, who gets hired.
Apply to Sta...
- Title
- The new competition for your cap table | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 30:28
- Date posted
- 2 months ago
- Description
- The VC middleman is getting cut out faster than anyone expected. Family offices and private wealth firms are going direct: writing checks, taking board seats, even incubating companies from scratch. And more founders are starting to notice. In February alone, family offices made 41 direct investments, including one Midwest-based firm that led a $230 million Series B into an AI chip startup.
On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan caught up with Mitch Stein and Ari Schottenstein, founder and head of alternatives at ARENA Private Wealth, to find out what this shift means for founders, cap tables, and the future of AI investment.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
03:13 Why family offices are going direct now
06:03 The gen 2 & gen 3 family offi...
- Title
- Sora's End Highlights How Unique ChatGPT's Success Really Was │ Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:59
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- OpenAI has pulled the plug on Sora just months after launch.
And the @EquityPod crew outlines the big lesson: ChatGPT's success was a stroke of luck and timing as much as it was the release of a product people actually want to use 👉🎧 http://spr.ly/6051B69M9L
- Title
- OpenAI shuts down Sora while Meta gets shut out in court | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 35:11
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- When an 82-year-old Kentucky woman was offered $26 million from an AI company that wanted to build a data center on her land, she said no. Sure, that same company can try to rezone 2,000 acres nearby anyway, but as AI infrastructure stretches further into the real world, the real world is starting to push back.
That tension is everywhere this week, from OpenAI shutting down its Sora app to courts finally starting to hold social platforms accountable. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into what it looks like when the AI hype cycle meets reality.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:30 Would you turn down $26M for your farm?
03:56 Rivals Kalshi & Polymarket CEOs are investing together
10:28 Deals fo...
- Title
- Why it’s Impossible to Outsource Team Culture │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:49
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- You can outsource HR.
You can’t outsource culture.
At an early-stage startup, culture is what you tolerate and what you call out.
In the latest episode of Build Mode, Isaiah Granet, co-founder of Bland, breaks down why founders have to own culture from day one.
- Title
- It Can’t Be Said Enough: Don’t Waste Time on Bad Hires │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:36
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Time is the most valuable resource in an early stage startup.
And hiring the wrong person can cost invaluable weeks, as Isaiah Granet, co-founder of Bland, told our Build Mode podcast.
Listen in to the latest episode, and subscribe to the rest, here:https://bit.ly/4aCcUNZ
- Title
- Hiring during hypergrowth with Bland AI CEO l Build Mode
- Runtime
- 48:32
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- If one thing has become clear this season, it’s that there is no formula to building the perfect team. But no one breaks the mold quite like this week’s guest, Isaiah Granet, the co-founder and CEO of Bland. The voice AI startup has been growing at a breakneck speed but the founding team has taken their time to prioritize passion over pedigree and find their team members in places many might not think to look.
In this episode, Isabelle Johannessen and Isaiah Granet unpack a radically different approach to hiring that prioritizes aligned work ethic, curiosity, and flexibility rather than resumes and connections. So far, that approach has worked for Bland. The scrappy team has gone from pre-seed to series B in less than a year.
They discuss:
🧩 How to identify “hidden gem” talent in unexpected places
🧩 The role of cold inbound and unconventional sourcing
🧩 When to hire ahead of need and when not to
🧩 How hiring philos...
- Title
- How soap opera-TikTok hybrids became a billion-dollar market | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 34:56
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Over the past few years, a new category of mobile apps has quietly exploded into a multi-billion dollar business. They're called “micro dramas” — short-form, mobile-first scripted shows designed to be watched vertically on your phone. Think soap opera meets TikTok, complete with secret billionaire romances, disapproving werewolf mothers-in-law, and cliffhangers engineered to keep users tapping. The leading app, ReelShort, made $1.2 billion in consumer spending last year alone.
On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan and TechCrunch senior reporter Amanda Silberling sit down with Henry Soong, founder of Watch Club, who thinks the micro drama industry is still "in its MySpace era." He has a vision for what the Facebook moment could look like.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro...
- Title
- What Nvidia's OpenClaw Reveals at GTC Really Mean │ Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:41
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Nvidia's embrace of OpenClaw during GTC may have been less about your need for a strategy to make use of its potential, and more about their need to have a solution of their own for an even greater enterprise foothold.
Listen in on the rest of the Equity Podcast team's GTC analysis: http://spr.ly/6052B6kHKe
- Title
- Nvidia and Disney's Robotic Vision Has a Problem: The Real World │ Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:58
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Nvidia and Disney's robotics partnership is impressive, until you realize poor robot Olaf would have to deal with actual humans.
Listen in and subscribe to Equity for the rest of our GTC debrief: http://spr.ly/6059B6kGsX
- Title
- What happened at Nvidia GTC: NemoClaw, Robot Olaf, and a $1 trillion bet | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 36:30
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Jensen Huang took the stage at Nvidia's GTC conference this week in his signature leather jacket to deliver a two-and-a-half-hour keynote, projecting $1 trillion in AI chip sales through 2027, declaring that every company needs an “OpenClaw strategy,” and closing with a rambling Olaf robot that had to get its mic cut. The message was hard to miss: Nvidia wants to be foundational to everything, from AI training to autonomous vehicles to Disney parks.
On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane breaks down hat Nvidia's growing web of AI infrastructure partnerships actually means for startups. Plus Travis Kalanick's complicated comeback and Uber's $1.25B bet on Rivian.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:20 Garry Tan's Claude Code setup ...
- Title
- Conflict Within a Startup Isn’t Always a Bad Thing │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:47
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Conflict between founders isn’t always a bad thing. When handled well, it can lead to breakthroughs, as Ian Schmidt, strategic advisor at Trimergence, explores in the latest episode of Build Mode: http://spr.ly/6059B6nsoN
- Title
- Why You Should Use Coaching to Prevent, Not Solve, Problems │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 1:02
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Don’t think of coaching as a solution to a problem. Instead, as Trimergence strategic advisor Ian Schmidt notes, think of it as a way to grow your skills, get ahead of challenges, and ultimately as a Founder, do what’s expected of you and grow your business.
Check out the latest episode of our Build Mode podcast for more tips on coaching and conflict resolution: http://spr.ly/6058B6ns1E
- Title
- How to fight with your co-founder
- Runtime
- 47:06
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Every founding team is a mix of personalities, communication styles, and strengths. That can be a superpower or cause founders to butt heads. Without a clear framework for navigating conflict, even the strongest teams can fall apart before they really get started.
This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Ian Schmidt, strategic advisor at Trimergence, to unpack the “personal operating system” behind every founder. As a coach, consultant, and occasionally a bouncer, Ian helps teams build the self-awareness and relational tools they need to scale without unnecessary friction.
They discuss:
🧩 Why founders should invest in coaching before conflict escalates
🧩 How to repair after conflict goes sideways
🧩 The importance of understanding your own triggers as a leader
🧩 How to create space for the self-work that actually saves time long-term
Following last week’s episode on family co-f...
- Title
- How Arena Keeps its AI Model Rankings Objective │ Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 1:05
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Arena ranks frontier LLMs...while also being backed by companies vying to top the leaderboards.
How do they stay neutral? Co-founder Anastasios Angelopoulos breaks it down on their claims of algorithmic neutrality on our Equity Podcast.
- Title
- The leaderboard 'you can't game,' funded by the companies it ranks | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 24:38
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Artificial intelligence models are multiplying fast, and competition is stiff. With so many players crowding the space, which one will be the best — and who decides that? Arena, formerly LM Arena, has emerged as the de facto public leaderboard for frontier LLMs, influencing funding, launches, and PR cycles. In just seven months, the startup went from a UC Berkeley PhD research project to being valued at $1.7 billion.
Watch as Equity host Rebecca Bellan catches up with Arena co-founders Anastasios Angelopoulos and Wei-Lin Chiang about how their platform became the go-to leaderboard for frontier AI models, and how they’re trying to build a neutral benchmark even as companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic back the project.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
...
- Title
- Disney’s Olaf Joins Jensen Huang at Nvidia GTC 2026
- Runtime
- 2:43
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- A robotic Olaf from Frozen brings #NVIDIAGTC’s keynote with CEO Jensen Huang to a close, showcasing a partnership between Nvidia, Disney, and DeepMind AI.
- Title
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Reveals NemoClaw at GTC 2026
- Runtime
- 1:09
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Watch the reveal of NemoClaw, part of the embrace of OpenClaw at #NVIDIAGTC, which adds security to the platform with the goal of increasing adoption within enterprises.
- Title
- Every company ‘needs an OpenClaw strategy’: Jensen Huang claims at Nvidia GTC 2026
- Runtime
- 1:04
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- “Every company in the world today needs an OpenClaw strategy.” Nvidia is going big on OpenClaw at #NVIDIAGTC through what CEO Jensen Huang calls a “reinvention” of enterprise IT.
- Title
- Nvidia Plans to Put Data Centers in Orbit With its Space-1 Initiative
- Runtime
- 0:44
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- CEO Jensen Huang’s space ambitions get a speedy rundown at #NVIDIAGTC. Simply put: “We’re going to build data centers in space.”
- Title
- Nvidia’s Next $1T in Orders Revealed at GTC 2026
- Runtime
- 0:27
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- A trillion dollars in purchase orders through 2027 comes in as one of the biggest claims from CEO Jensen Huang at #NVIDIAGTC 💰💰💰
- Title
- What’s in Store for an Era of AI Native Companies at Nvidia GTC 2026
- Runtime
- 0:49
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Yes, the major players and partners got their shout-outs at #NVIDIAGTC, but CEO Jensen Huang also called out the next crop of AI natives who could make major impacts in years to come, and your startup might be among them.
- Title
- Nvidia Shows off DLSS 5 Graphic Rendering at GTC 2026
- Runtime
- 0:43
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- At #NVIDIAGTC, CEO Jensen Huang showed off its AI-powered DLSS 5 rendering model, and we’ll let you decide if it’s actually improving these graphics 🤔
- Title
- Why Nvidia Sees GeForce as its 'Greatest Marketing Campaign' for AI
- Runtime
- 0:23
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Your need to run Crysis in 2007 helped fuel Nvidia’s rise into an AI superpower, as CEO Jensen Huang calls out at #NVIDIAGTC.
- Title
- Nvidia Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of CUDA at GTC 2026
- Runtime
- 1:11
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- #NVIDIAGTC kicks off this year with some kudos to CUDA, the platform and model that has become instrumental to the company’s ubiquity amid the AI boom, from CEO Jensen Huang.
- Title
- Why Founders Need to Embrace the Value of Embarassment
- Runtime
- 1:28
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Before her viral TikTok and a $1.95B exit, Poppi co-founder Allison Ellsworth had a folding table and some apple cider vinegar.
She tells @EquityPod why founders need to embrace a little embarrassment (and pay attention to what customers are saying) http://spr.ly/6057B6MGJH
- Title
- Wiz’s first investor breaks down Google’s $32B acquisition │ Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 1:03
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- VC Shardul Shah's hot take on acquisitions: Go big, or go small, it's the medium-sized deals that get messy.
Catch the latest Equity Podcast episode for more on that and Google's $32B Wiz deal here: http://spr.ly/6058B6ME1s
- Title
- The $32B acquisition that one VC is calling the 'Deal of the Decade' | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 38:49
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- According to Index Ventures Partner Shardul Shah, cybersecurity startup Wiz sits “at the center of three tailwinds: AI, cloud, and security spend.” Those tailwinds powered what just became the largest venture-backed acquisition in history — Google's $32 billion deal, finalized after a declined 2024 offer, antitrust review on both sides of the Atlantic, and an extra $9 billion to sweeten the pot.
On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Anthony Ha, Rebecca Bellan, and Sean O'Kane sit down with Shah to dig into what made Wiz worth that price tag and more of the week's headlines. From DOGE data concerns to Palmer Luckey's retro gaming startup and Meta's acquisition of viral AI agent social network Moltbook. Plus, the latest in the Anthropic vs. DoD saga as tech workers at OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft sign on to a legal brief in support of Anthropic.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can fol...
- Title
- Why VCs Are Looking For Founder-Idea Fit │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:56
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- At the earliest stages, investors focus on two things: Is the idea big enough, and are you the best person to build it? Everything else comes down to trust in the founder to make the right decisions along the way.
Listen to Hala Jalwan and Alessio Tresanti, co-founders of Rivio on Build Mode: http://spr.ly/6052B6Kdun
- Title
- The Number One Rule For Hiring (And Dating!) │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:42
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- When hiring, only bring people onto your team if it’s an obvious “yes.” No maybes, no hoping they’ll grow into the role. Great teams are built with clear conviction.
Listen to Hala Jalwan and Alessio Tresanti, co-founders of Rivio on Build Mode: http://spr.ly/6051B6KbX1
- Title
- Hire Slow to Keep Your Culture Strong │ Build Mode Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:43
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Here's a crucial founder tip: intentionally grow you team one great hire at a time to help protect culture, raise the bar, and build long-term trust.
Listen to Anna Sun, co-founder of Nowadays, for more expert advice on Build Mode: https://bit.ly/4aCcUNZ
- Title
- When startups become a family business
- Runtime
- 39:55
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- In startups, choosing a co-founder is often compared to choosing a spouse. But what happens when your co-founder actually is family?
In this episode of Build Mode, host Isabelle Johannessen explores how founders navigate co-founder relationships that come with built-in trust and unique challenges. First up is Hala Jalwan and Alessio Tresanti, the married co-founders of AI procurement startup Rivio. They discuss building a company from the same household and why clear roles and communication matter when both your personal and professional lives are on the line.
Then Isabelle talks with Anna Sun, co-founder of Nowadays, an AI co-pilot for corporate event planning that she launched with her sister Amy shortly after graduating from MIT. Sun explains how their sibling dynamic shapes decision-making, team culture, and the way they move quickly as founders.
They discuss:
🧩 How trust shapes strong co-founder partnerships
🧩 The benefits and challenges ...
- Title
- What Founders Should Learn From Poppi's Shark Tank Experience │ Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:57
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- A successful Shark Tank appearance doesn't create a deal the next day. For Poppi co-founder Allison Ellsworth, it took much longer for "I'm in" to become "I'm funded."
Equity Pod explores Poppi's ascent in our latest episode: http://spr.ly/6051B6J61H
- Title
- Poppi founder on TikTok, Super Bowl ads, and her return to Shark Tank | Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 26:06
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- For years, venture capitalists have been skeptical of beverage startups, citing thin margins and brutal distribution as reasons most brands never break out. But a new wave of “functional soda” companies has been challenging that assumption, including Poppi, the prebiotic soda brand that grew from a kitchen experiment into a $1.95 billion acquisition by PepsiCo.
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan is joined by Poppi co-founder Allison Ellsworth to talk about building a beverage startup in a venture world dominated by SaaS and AI. From pitching on Shark Tank while nine months pregnant to going viral on TikTok and buying a last-minute Super Bowl ad, Ellsworth breaks down what it really takes to build a category-defining consumer brand — and what she looks for now that she's back on Shark Tank as an investor herself.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity ...
- Title
- Why the Chevy Bolt is the McRib of EVs
- Runtime
- 0:48
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- After disappearing for a few years, the Chevy Bolt is back.
It's like the McRib of cars: gone for a while, now back for a limited run...but with a new battery, faster charging, and a familiar price tag.
We have the review here: http://spr.ly/6057B6GtAL
- Title
- The Siren Call of Warner Bros. Strikes Again┃Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:39
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- HBO Max + Paramount=? ParaMax? HBO Mount?
The Equity podcast team has the latest on Paramount's merger with Warner Bros and a reminder that maybe competition is better than consolidation: http://spr.ly/6052B66gqj
- Title
- Anthropic Puts the Risk of Chasing Government Contracts on Full Display┃Equity Podcast
- Runtime
- 0:30
- Date posted
- 3 months ago
- Description
- Contracts take forever to get baked in at the government level. So terms changing mid-contract? Not normal.
The Equity podcast team explains why startups chasing defense dollars should pay attention to Anthropic vs the Pentagon: http://spr.ly/6052B66g6n
