TechCrunch podcasts roundup: Aaron Levie on web3, more from WWDC and the LatAm startup scene

174 Episodes • Last Episode: March 29, 2024

TechCrunch is more than just a site with words. We’re also building a growing stable of podcasts focused on the most critical topics relating to the startup and venture capital worlds. Embedded below are the latest from the TechCrunch Podcast from Darrell who talks to TC writers about their own stories of the week; Chain Reaction, our crypto-focused podcast hosted by Lucas and Anita; Found, a long-form bit of work that goes deep on the real saga of company formation from Jordan and Darrell; and Equity, our long-running, Webby-award-winning podcast focused on venture capital and the latest startup news, hosted by Natasha, Mary Ann and Alex. TechCrunch Live took this week off. Be sure to subscribe where you listen to podcasts!


The TechCrunch Podcast

This week, Darrell mixes it up and talks with Kurt Knight who isn’t a TC writer but is the senior director of Platform Product Marketing at Apple who comes on to talk about WWDC and updates to Apple’s Continuity. We also talk with Lucas Matney about the former OpenSea exec whose arrest has the crypto world worried. And as always, you’ll get a rundown of the week’s top news on TechCrunch.

Articles from the episode:

Other news from the week:


Chain Reaction

This week Anita and Lucas discuss another stressful week for crypto markets, which has pushed even bullish investors into bearish territories. They also chatted about growing crypto regulation efforts and Jack Dorsey’s latest effort called “web5.” They also spoke with Aaron Levie, CEO of enterprise software company Box. While his day job doesn’t have anything to do with the blockchain, he has attracted the ire of plenty of crypto VCs for sharing thoughts on Twitter about why web3 won’t work. They spoke to Levie about some of his biggest complaints and what it would take for him to angel invest in a crypto startup.

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Found

This week Darrell and Jordan talk to two founders who had just come off stage from the TC Sessions: Mobility Pitch-Off. First up is Eloa Guillotin, co-founder and CEO of Beyond Aero, which is making long-range electric aircraft possible by using hydrogen-electric propulsion. Then they spoke to Jim Gibbs, co-founder and CEO of Meter Feeder, which is on a mission to provide a low-cost payment and enforcement solution for small to mid-sized governments for parking through an API.

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Equity

This is Equity Monday by Alex and Grace who kicked off the week with a quick rundown of the biggest stories. This week:

  • Stocks are down around the world, with nearly every major index that we checked falling 2% or more.
  • Crypto prices are in the tank, with bitcoin and ether losing double-digit percentage points in the last day; the mess in crypto land is deep this morning.
  • Celsius Network is falling apart, despite huge recent fundraises. Precisely what happens next is not clear, but it doesn’t look good for the company judging by its imploding token price.
  • In better news, the Latin American startup scene re-upped its capital reserves right before the world went risk-off, implying that the region could be well capitalized heading into the rest of the year.
  • The Coinbase CEO’s Twitter rant after some of the company’s employees expressed displeasure was notable, in tone, and also in terms of PR strategy.

    On Equity Wednesday, the crew focuses on a single topic, thinks about a question and unpacks the rest. This week, Natasha and Alex welcomed TechCrunch reporter Haje Jan Kamps, who, prior to and in between his journalism careers, spent years as a founder and a venture capitalist. Together, the trio asked: How might companies use math in the coming months to make our lives harder and complicate their finances, aka the truth?


    Mary Ann and Alex are back with you for their Friday episode of Equity, and while much of the news in startup land is a bit lacking these days — you may have noticed a sentiment shift on Twitter! — they did find some good tidings as well.

    Here’s the rundown:

Chain Reaction, Equity, Found, The TechCrunch Podcast Hosts

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Episodes

Get ready for a jam-packed episode of Equity, TechCrunch’s flagship podcast about the business of startups! This week, co-hosts Mary Ann Azevedo and Haje Kamps…

Ilya Sutskever’s new AI venture, and time to BeReal about bankruptcy
Startups

Do co-CEOs make sense?

In this week’s episode of Equity, Haje Kamps and Mary Ann Azevedo delve into the recent decision by fintech company Brex to abandon its co-CEO…

Do co-CEOs make sense?

Steve Case is no stranger to how policy can help aid innovation. His former company AOL would have been dead in the water if not…

Steve Case on why policy is crucial to make sure AI success isn’t concentrated to a few players

This week on Equity, we discussed some big news that really matters: How Black founders are addressing the diversity gap in AI chatbots. We’ve all…

Black founders are customizing ChatGPT as crypto makes a comeback

In today’s episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Mary Ann Azevedo, Becca Szkutak and Haje Kamps dug into three very different but all interesting deals of the week. Haje…

Raspberry Pi goes public, Musk drops his OpenAI lawsuit and startups compete with Apple Intelligence

Vanessa Larco, a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), believes that generative AI’s impact on the world of SaaS could be huge. The investor joined…

NEA’s Vanessa Larco says generative AI will change the SaaS pricing model – and that’s a good thing

Perhaps it is not surprising to hear that many of the pots and pans we use are coated in a poisonous chemical called Teflon that…

Creating cookware that won’t poison you

Apple’s WWDC is just hours away, and we’re gearing up for big announcements on — you guessed it — AI. TechCrunch’s Brian Heater tells us…

Byju’s valuation shakeup and what’s ahead for WWDC

As always, there was a lot happening in startup land this week, and the Equity team had so much fun breaking it down for you.…

Robinhood’s crypto bet, AI-powered healthcare, and Fisker’s fall 

Consumer startups have taken a hit when it comes to venture funding. But according to Eurie Kim, partner at Forerunner Ventures and founding member of…

Every startup has AI in its pitch deck and it should

There is estimated to be 40 million acres of lawn or turf grass in the U.S., making the grass in people’s backyards one of the…

Sunday is helping people take better care of their lawns — and the environment too

We’re kicking off the week with a deep dive from this weekend into the demise of electric vehicle startup Fisker at the hands of its…

Inside the demise of EV startup Fisker, and X’s new rules allow adult content

Welcome back to Friday Equity! We kick things off with the Deal of the Week. First up, xAI. Elon Musk has once again proven that…

Who’s (not) IPO-ing, and what’s going on with BaaS?

It’s no secret that the bar for startups to land a Series A has risen, but has it risen too high? According to Jenny Fielding,…

Peering into the ‘Series A chasm’ with Everywhere Ventures’ Jenny Fielding

What’s one to do after creating a billion-dollar startup? Well, if you’re Rubrik co-founder Arvind Jain, you simply start another one.  Jain co-founded Glean, an…

Arvind Jain created AI that actually makes your job easier

We’re kicking off the short week with news about Elon Musk, and no, it’s not about X or Tesla. Instead, we’re talking about Musk’s other…

Musk’s xAI raises fresh capital while Synapse’s bankruptcy could impact millions

It was an event-filled week in startup land, and the Equity crew had a blast breaking it down for you. On today’s episode of TechCrunch’s…

The proposed AI ‘kill switch,’ and why it’s rough out there for emerging fund managers

For this episode of Equity, we spoke to two Aussie VCs: Dan Krasnostein of Square Peg and Gabrielle Munzer of Main Sequence.

How Australian startups can crack the US market

Last week was a big one for AI news, and one thing that stood out to us was OpenAI’s deal with Reddit. Per the terms of…

Maven takes the clout-chasing out of social media as Reddit teams up with OpenAI

If there was one thing we heard about this week, it was AI. As a matter of fact, there were so many AI updates to…

AI’s busy week, and why the heck are so many VCs leaving their firms?

When Newchip, an online accelerator promising to help startups, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2023, it was revealed that the company had just…

Newchip’s bankruptcy serves as a cautionary tale to founders

OpenAI gears up for a big announcement, and Apple Store workers authorize a strike

Last week was a busy one for some Apple Store employees. Over the weekend, workers at Apple’s Towson, Maryland, store — the first Apple retail store to have a formally recognized union — voted to authorize a strike. While the date of the strike is still being determined, the union has been negotiating with Apple…

OpenAI gears up for a big announcement, and Apple Store workers authorize a strike

Finally, some good news! This week, we were pleasantly surprised to see that FTX’s fraud victims would be getting some money back — even if…

Acquisitions are heating up, and Mercury eyes the fintech crown

Good news, crypto founders! Venture capital activity is picking up in the sector, recovering from the multiyear lows investments fell to in late 2023. Put…

$450M for Noname, two billion-dollar rounds, and good news for crypto startups

News that Jack Dorsey is out at Bluesky caused a stir this weekend. After all, Dorsey is a former Twitter co-founder and CEO, so his investment of…

Dorsey leaves Bluesky, tech giants do more with less, and the next IPO

The downturn in venture capital funding has impacted startups, VC firms, and accelerators alike. One company in the final category, Techstars, has been shaking up…

Inside TC’s Techstars investigation and how AI is accelerating disability tech

A new venture capital supergroup is forming

Startups are not shying away from big projects. That’s my takeaway from news that The Browser Company’s Arc browser is now generally available for Windows users, just as Island raised a massive grip of capital for its enterprise-focused browser tool. It’s very encouraging to see startups going after core pieces of technology and not just…

A new venture capital supergroup is forming

Hans Tung, a managing partner at Notable Capital, formerly GGV Capital, has a lot of thoughts on the state of venture capital today. With $4.2 billion…

Notable Capital’s Hans Tung on why founders need to play the long game

We’re off to an AI-heavy start to the week. OpenAI has a new deal with the Financial Times that caught our eye. Sure, it’s another…

Musk’s xAI shows there’s more money on the sidelines for AI startups

Good news for Rubrik, bad news for TikTok and medium news for early-stage startups

Rubrik’s strong IPO pricing and warm reception by the public markets after its listing add more weight to the perspective that the public markets are not as closed to tech startups as some thought. If Rubrik’s result isn’t enough to break the logjam, well, maybe there’s something else going on. But there was a lot more that…

Good news for Rubrik, bad news for TikTok and medium news for early-stage startups