Equity

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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 enthusiasts alike. Every Wednesday and Friday, TechCrunch reporters keep you up-to-date on the world of business, technology, and venture capital. Equity is ranked the No.2 podcast in the Top 100 Venture Capital All time leaderboard on Goodpods—As well as No.17 for the Top 100 Finance All time chart and No.32 for the Top 100 Business News All time chart.

  1. 3 HR AGO

    The musician-turned-biotech-founder waiting to fundraise

    When Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc got COVID despite being vaccinated and boosted, he tried to fund research for a better solution. What he quickly found out? You can't just write a check in biotech. Regulators require a commercialization plan, and philanthropy doesn't move science through clinical trials or get you a license on university IP. Now, he's bootstrapping a cancer drug platform targeting pancreatic cancer, a disease that kills 90% of its patients, and intentionally waiting to raise from his network until peer-reviewed papers can make his case.  On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Aloe Blacc to talk about what happens when a creator decides to build instead of just invest, how Aloe is watching AI reshape both the biotech and music industries in real time, and his thoughts on who actually wins.  Listen to the full episode to hear:  How he’s navigating a world where credibility is earned in data, not fame  How a University of Houston molecule discovery platform could cut years off drug development timelines  Why he thinks record labels, not artists or AI companies, will ultimately control the economics of AI-generated music  What Suno taught him about prototyping, and why his next album will still be recorded with live musicians  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

    29 min

  2. 5 DAYS AGO

    Luma AI's Amit Jain on why most world model companies are getting it completely wrong

    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.  Listen to the full episode to hear about:  Why video, audio, and images are the real frontier for AI training data, not text  What an "intelligent world model" actually is, and why Jain thinks most companies building them are getting it completely wrong  The case for why AI won't kill creative jobs, and why Jain thinks studio heads are the real problem  How the path from video generation to robotics to AGI is simpler than anyone's making it sound  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 are hitting a ceiling  02:43 The data problem & what comes after LLMs  04:30 What actually makes a world model a world model  06:05 Why 3D data is a dead end  07:39 What Luma is building next  09:08 How much humans stay in the loop  10:00 Near-term use cases for agentic video  11:22 Will AI kill jobs in film & production?  13:30 Why the entertainment industry is already dying  15:27 Why we actually need more content, not less  17:46 Luma's roadmap: generation, understanding, and robotics  19:54 Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    22 min

  3. 8 APR

    Snowflake’s transition from storing data to shipping with it

    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. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why Ramaswamy believes the chatbot era is ending and the agentic era is beginning. How Snowflake is evolving from a data warehouse into an AI and applications platform. What “shipping with your data” actually looks like in practice. Why the company is making big internal changes to support its AI push. 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 AI pilots fail 12:11 How AI is reshaping jobs and skills 14:39 Layoffs, automation, and the future of documentation 18:37 Snowflake’s evolution into an AI platform 21:04 Competition: Databricks, hyperscalers, and AI giants 25:01 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    27 min

  4. 3 APR

    Space: the final frontier of AI infrastructure

    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.   Listen to the full episode to hear about:  OpenAI’s $122 billion fundraise and what its near-trillion-dollar valuation says about expectations for AI.   Whoop’s $575 million raise and the shift toward “wearables 2.0” (and what happens to all that data).   Bluesky’s AI-powered feed builder and why it triggered a major user backlash.   The rise of data centers in space and whether they are financially or physically feasible.   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 11:30 Whoop lands $575M and bets big on wearable data  18:50 The risks (and value) of personal health data 23:00 Bluesky’s AI feed builder sparks backlash 30:00 Can Bluesky keep growing — and compete with X? 36:30 The race to build data centers in space 44:30 SpaceX, Starlink, and the business of orbital compute 49:30 Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    34 min

  5. 1 APR

    Why private wealth is cutting out the VC middleman

    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.    Listen to the full episode to hear:  How Arena landed the lead on Positron's $230 million Series B, and why the CEO specifically wanted them on his cap table  How Arena does due diligence on technical companies  What "tourist capital" actually looks like, and the red flags founders should watch for as family offices flood into AI deals  Why some VCs are quietly unhappy about this trend (and why Arena thinks that's their problem)  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 office shift  07:22 Is this strategic or just AI FOMO?  10:17 How Arena got into the Positron deal  14:30 Why founders want private wealth on their cap table  18:31 Due diligence on technical companies  21:56 Red flags founders should watch for  25:04 Are VCs threatened by this trend?  27:47 Taking board seats & level of involvement  34:17 Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    32 min

  6. 27 MAR

    VCs are betting billions on AI's next wave, so why is OpenAI killing Sora?

    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.  Listen to the full episode to hear about:  Why rival prediction market CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket are co-investing in a $35M VC fund  How drone startups like Zipline, Lucid Bots, and Brinc are finding real traction where other robotics plays have stalled  What Kleiner Perkins' $3.5B raise says about where the biggest VC firms think the next AI wave is going  Why two separate court verdicts against Meta in the same week could be the “tobacco moment” for social media  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 for drones: Zipline, Brinc & Lucid Bots  18:17 Kleiner Perkins goes all-in on AI with $3.5B raise  22:52 OpenAI shuts down Sora  28:04 Meta gets hit with dual verdicts  34:56 Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    37 min

  7. 25 MAR

    ReelShort made $1.2 billion on werewolf romances. Watch Club wants to do it better.

    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.  Listen to the full episode to hear:  Why micro dramas took off in China while Quibi burned through $2 billion and failed in the U.S., and what that gap reveals about content, product, and business model.  How Watch Club is targeting a completely different audience than ReelShort and Drama Box.  The tension between building an intentional social experience and optimizing for engagement the way TikTok does.  Whether AI is coming for the werewolf billionaire romance script. Amanda has thoughts.   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  01:11 Why micro dramas, and why now?  04:25 What makes Watch Club different  07:29 The monetization model problem  18:52 Optimizing for intentionality, not engagement  24:23 Why Quibby failed (content, product & business model)  28:22 Defensibility: tech company or studio?  31:36 AI, the WGA, and the future of storytelling  33:44 Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    37 min

  8. 20 MAR

    Nvidia has an OpenClaw strategy. Do you?

    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 break down what Nvidia's growing web of AI infrastructure partnerships actually means for startups, and more of the week's headlines.  Listen to the full episode to hear about:  Travis Kalanick’s return building a "wheelbase for robots" with his new startup Atoms, and the crew has questions about Kalanick’s acquisitions along the way  Rivian’s partnership with Uber to build robotaxi versions of its R2 in a deal worth up to $1.25 billion, while pushing back its EBITDA target to do it  Frore landing a $1.64 billion valuation for its AI chip cooling systems  xAI rebooting, again, with only two of its original eleven co-founders still standing  Garry Tan's Claude Code setup went viral at SXSW (Spoiler: the crew is not impressed).  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 goes viral at SXSW  03:37 Travis Kalanick is back with a new startup  12:51 Uber and Rivian's $1.25B RoboTaxi deal  20:54 Chip cooling startup Frore becomes a unicorn  22:56 Nvidia GTC recap: $1 trillion in sales projections  31:42 Elon Musk is rebooting xAI...again  36:37 Outro  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    38 min
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Hosts & Guests

About

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 enthusiasts alike. Every Wednesday and Friday, TechCrunch reporters keep you up-to-date on the world of business, technology, and venture capital. Equity is ranked the No.2 podcast in the Top 100 Venture Capital All time leaderboard on Goodpods—As well as No.17 for the Top 100 Finance All time chart and No.32 for the Top 100 Business News All time chart.

Information

  • Channel
    TechCrunch
  • Creator
    TechCrunch, Rebecca Bellan, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, Sean O'Kane, Theresa Loconsolo
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    746
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Equity

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