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19 DIC

Hardware's brutal week: iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power go bankrupt

The hardware world had a brutal week, with iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes all filing for bankruptcy. Each company faces its own mix of tariff pressures, supply chain issues, and shifting markets, but together they tell a larger story about the challenges of building physical products in an era of global trade tensions and cheap overseas competition. From the Roomba maker that almost got acquired by Amazon to the e-bike company that couldn't escape its Chinese supply chain, this week's bankruptcies are a warning sign for hardware startups everywhere. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts Anthony Ha, Rebecca Bellan, and Sean O'Kane discuss what went wrong for three once-promising hardware companies, plus Amazon's massive OpenAI bet and Trump's new approach to AI regulation. Listen to the full episode to hear more news from the week, including: How "slop" became Merriam-Webster's word of the year — and why it's become bigger than just AI-generated content Why Databricks raised $10 billion at a $134 billion valuation (in a Series L!) instead of just going public already The Coursera-Udemy merger and whether online course platforms can survive the AI era Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 00:24 - AI slop is Merriam-Webster's word of the year 06:07 - Amazon's $10 billion OpenAI investment 10:43 - Databricks raises $10 billion in a Series L 14:14 - Coursera acquires Udemy 19:17 - Hardware bankruptcies: iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes 26:21 - Trump's AI executive order targets state regulation Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 dic

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33 min
17 DIC

Eclipse's Jiten Behl thinks the next unicorns won't be built in software

Jiten Behl, partner at Eclipse Ventures and former chief growth officer at Rivian, thinks we're entering an era of major re-industrialization in the US — one where factories run on AI-powered robots, not cheap overseas labor. Behl, who helped scale Rivian from a conference room idea in 2015 to a publicly traded EV maker, is now investing in the next wave of industrial and mobility startups, including two Rivian spinouts: Also and Mind Robotics. It's part of Eclipse's larger bet that the physical world is finally ready for the kind of disruption software saw a decade ago. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec sat down with Behl to talk about why Rivian keeps spinning out companies, what founders in the "physical world" need that software founders don't, and why automation is becoming necessary if the US wants to compete without Chinese supply chains. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why Behl looks for founders who are both "hyper-optimistic" and grounded in reality, and why that combination is surprisingly rare, even in Silicon Valley. How vertical integration worked for Rivian but won't work for most startups today. Behl's prediction that autonomy will become "real and something we can touch and feel" in the next five years. Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 dic

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30 min
4 DIC

Your network is your first go-to-market strategy

Alltroo co-founders Kyle Rudolph and Jon Walburg share how they transformed their pro-athlete star power into a fundraising platform that allows their community the ability to donate to a variety of organization and win high-value prizes. In this episode of Build Mode, they reveal how they leveraged their networks to disrupt the charitable giving industry, from raising half a million dollars for the NFL in their first year to learning hard lessons about scaling too fast. They discuss the pivot from $10,000 golf tournaments to $10 sweepstakes entries, building trust with both celebrities and fans, and why your network is your greatest competitive advantage. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:58 Meet the Founders: From NFL to Tech Startup 03:53 The $10,000 Golf Tournament That Sparked Everything 06:14 Navigating the Nonprofit-Tech Startup Hybrid Model 11:44 Leveraging Star Power: The NFL Partnership Win 15:34 Getting Athletes to Say Yes: The Trust Factor 19:06 When Identity Crisis Hits: Scaling Too Fast 27:59 The Mistake of Outsourcing Your Vision 30:00 Founder Market Fit: Your Network Is Your Net Worth 32:52 Key Takeaways: Building Thought Leadership Without Celebrity Status New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Isabelle Johannessen is our host. Build Mode is produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience Development is led by Morgan Little. And a special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

4 dic

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36 min
2 GG FA

Equity's 2026 Predictions: AI Agents, Blockbuster IPOs, and the Future of VC

TechCrunch's Equity crew is bringing 2025 to a close and getting ahead on the year to come with our annual predictions episode! Hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan were joined by Build Mode host Isabelle Johansson to dissect the year's biggest tech developments, from mega AI funding rounds that defied expectations to the rise of "physical AI," and make their calls for 2026. The group tackles everything from why AI agents didn't live up to the hype in 2025 (but probably will in 2026), to how Hollywood will push back against AI-generated content, to why VCs are facing a serious liquidity crisis. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why world models are the next big thing in AI and how they're different from large language models The death of "stealth mode" for AI startups and the rise of alternative funding sources Predictions on regulatory chaos around AI policy and what Trump's recent executive order means for startups Hot takes on IPOs: Will OpenAI and Anthropic actually go public in 2026? Rapid-fire predictions including Johnny Ive and Sam Altman's inevitable public breakup, the return of dumb phones, and why everyone will be calling themselves "AI native" What's coming in Build Mode season 2: A deep dive into team building, hiring, and finding co-founders 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 - Introduction 01:43 - Rating our 2025 predictions 04:19 - Funding in the bubble era 06:35 - World models and the future of AI 09:05 - The year of AI agents (for real this time) 11:58 - Physical AI everywhere 15:19 - AI meets Hollywood 16:25 - Regulatory chaos and federal preemption 18:34 - The liquidity crisis and LP direct investing 22:19 - IPO predictions for 2026 23:57 - Startup trends for 2026 27:06 - Buzzwords we're sick of hearing 28:15 - Rapid fire predictions 32:50 - What's next for Build Mode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 gg fa

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35 min
12 DIC

AI dating, data center jet engines, and the circular economy

A baby was born in a Waymo this week, and it wasn't even the first one. What started as a novelty story quickly became a reminder of how autonomous vehicles have quietly become part of everyday life, complete with all the messiness that entails. The real coming-of-age story this week, however, wasn't happening in San Francisco's robotaxis. It was playing out in Hollywood, where Netflix made an $82 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming and studio business. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec and Anthony Ha discuss what happens when the startup that used to mail you DVDs grows up and tries to buy a legacy entertainment empire as well as the other headlines that caught their eye. Listen to the full episode to hear about: How Boom Supersonic is selling jet engines to data centers to fund its supersonic flight dreams Why Hinge's CEO is leaving to start an AI dating app, and whether AI can actually fix dating The rise of AI circular deals and what CoreWeave's CEO says about companies investing in their own customers A fertility startup using AI-designed antibodies to expand beyond ovulation tracking Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 dic

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28 min
10 DIC

ElevenLabs just hit $6.6B, but its CEO says the real money isn't in voice anymore

ElevenLabs has made a name for itself building realistic AI voices. What started as two Polish engineers annoyed by terrible movie dubbing has grown into a profitable company now valued at $6.6 billion, doubling its valuation from just nine months ago. The company recently announced a $100 million tender offer led by Sequoia and ICONIQ, with participation from a16z and others, as its tech powers everything from Fortnite characters to customer service bots and goes toe-to-toe with OpenAI to become the default voice of AI. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, we’re bringing you a conversation with CEO Mati Staniszewski from this year's Disrupt, where he made a surprising admission: he thinks voice models will be commoditized in just a couple of years. So what's ElevenLabs' plan when everyone else catches up? Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why ElevenLabs is pivoting from just voice models to building a conversational AI agent platform How the company is tackling deepfakes with watermarking, AI detection, and device authentication Why Staniszewski believes there will soon be more AI-generated content than human content ElevenLabs' push into music generation and partnerships to fuse audio with video models Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 dic

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24 min
12 NOV

What startups are building next, according to OpenAI’s Head of Startups

Many see OpenAI as the ChatGPT company while rivals like Anthropic and Cohere eye the enterprise space. Marc Manara, OpenAI's head of startups, says the reality looks different: AI-native companies are hitting $200 million in ARR, and product cycles have shrunk from two-week sprints to single days. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Russell Brandom sat down with Manara at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 to explore how OpenAI is serving the startups building on its platform. Listen to the full episode to hear about: The shift from two-week sprints to one-day development cycles, and what that means for how startups should structure their engineering teams Why some startups are customizing models for specific tasks in healthcare, finance, and other verticals that seemed out of reach Where AI still hasn't fully integrated with companies, and why longer-horizon autonomous tasks remain the next frontier for both models and startups Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 nov

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32 min
10 OTT

AI goes enterprise, AltStore raises $6M, and Tesla's FSD investigation

AI companies are making their much-anticipated enterprise plays, but the results are wildly inconsistent. Just this week, Deloitte announced it's rolling out Anthropic's Claude to all 500,000 employees. On the very same day, the Australian government forced Deloitte to refund a contract because their AI-generated report was riddled with fake citations. It's a perfect snapshot of where we are: companies racing to adopt AI tools before they've figured out how to use them responsibly. On this episode of Equity, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into the messy reality of AI in the workplace, plus funding news and regulatory drama across tech and transportation. Listen to the full episode to hear more news from the week, including: AltStore's $6 million raise and its plan to integrate with the Fediverse, making app updates part of your social feed Base Power's massive $1 billion Series C to deploy home batteries across Texas and beyond NHTSA's investigation into Tesla FSD after 50+ traffic violations, plus the new "cheaper" models that strip out Autopilot and basic features Zendesk's claim that its new AI agents can handle 80% of customer service tickets autonomously, and what happens in the other 20% Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 ott

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34 min
29 OTT

Startups should rethink how they pursue sales and traction, according to VC Tim Chen

After a small startup exit and being turned down by every VC firm he applied to, Tim Chen began angel investing and eventually stumbled into raising his own fund. Now, as the solo investor behind Essence VC, he just closed his fourth fund at $41 million "without even trying." Chen's secret weapon? Being technical enough to debate PhD founders on implementation details while understanding the market dynamics that turn scrappy startups into category leaders. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Julie Bort sat down with Tim Chen to explore the rise of solo VCs and who's rewriting the traditional venture playbook. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why the YC playbook of "revenue at all costs" doesn't work for infrastructure startups, and what Chen tells technical founders to focus on instead The strategic pivot Chen pushed one portfolio company to make that completely changed their trajectory What being a "small exit founder" taught Chen about venture capital, and why he thinks the industry has it backwards Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

29 ott

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31 min
15 NOV · CONTENUTI EXTRA

Introducing TechCrunch's new podcast: Build Mode

TechCrunch has new podcast! Build Mode brings you candid startup wisdom from the people who build, break, and build again. Build Mode is hosted by our very own Startup Battlefield Editor, Isabelle Johannessen who is joined by founders, investors, and operators to dig into the uncomfortable truths about startup life. Think cap table drama, co-founder breakups, and pivot panic.We're sharing their first episode with Forethought AI co-founder, Deon Nicholas as a weekend bonus to your feed. He shares how he built a company that puts customers (not hype) at the center and unpacks his “7-Failure Rule,” the early experiments that shaped Forethought’s success. Episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday, and you can subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And be sure to check out the video version on TechCrunch’s YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15 nov · Contenuti extra

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47 min

TechCrunch podcasts cover the business of technology, startups, venture capital funding, crypto, and the humans behind it all.

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TechCrunch

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Hardware's brutal week: iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power go bankrupt

Eclipse's Jiten Behl thinks the next unicorns won't be built in software

Your network is your first go-to-market strategy

Equity's 2026 Predictions: AI Agents, Blockbuster IPOs, and the Future of VC

AI dating, data center jet engines, and the circular economy

ElevenLabs just hit $6.6B, but its CEO says the real money isn't in voice anymore

What startups are building next, according to OpenAI’s Head of Startups

AI goes enterprise, AltStore raises $6M, and Tesla's FSD investigation

Startups should rethink how they pursue sales and traction, according to VC Tim Chen

Introducing TechCrunch's new podcast: Build Mode

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