The hosts tackle the tug-of-war in the startup market, with some companies thriving while others face layoffs. Monte Carlo impresses with a unicorn funding round, while Bolt grapples with tough times. Venture capital sentiments are mixed, as Sequoia warns of downturns even as a16z raises significant funds for web3. They discuss the dramatic competition in fintech, with Stripe and Plaid preparing for a confrontation. Amidst all this, the narrative sees underrepresented founders navigating unique challenges in turbulent times.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Monte Carlo's Big Raise
Monte Carlo raised $135M at a $1.6B valuation despite the downturn.
Their success is attributed to rapid growth in the data observability space.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Transparency in Fundraising
Series D companies should share hard revenue numbers, not just growth percentages.
VCs are becoming more disciplined, so solid ARR is important.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Bolt's Downfall
Bolt laid off 100+ employees after alleged revenue inflation and controversial employee loans.
This mirrors the Fast fiasco and highlights the risks of hype-driven growth.
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You can tell from the topic list today that we are in an odd time. There are myriad signals that the startup market is slowing down. And there are some counter-narrative data points that paint a more complex picture. Where do you stand in your own viewpoint? Well, read on for some data to consider:
Natasha gave us a brief update on All Raise's annual VC summit, but she'll get into more on an upcoming Wednesday show (stay tuned!)
Monte Carlo just raised a unicorn round, worth $135 million at a $1.6 billion valuation. On the other hand, Bolt is laying off staff amidst a correction in the larger startup market, and perhaps its own space.
If startup news is pointing in two directions, so too are data from the venture capital world. While Sequoia is warning founders about a downturn, a16z just raised a king's ransom to pour into the web3 market. Parse that as you will.
There were other bits of news to consider as we work to understand where the startup world truly is today, including news from Zip and Nowports -- two newly-minted unicorns that Mary Ann recently profiled.
And we closed on, what else, drama in fintech. As Stripe and Plaid gear up to battle, Finix is either in the fray, or about to jump in, depending on your perspective. What's clear is that increasingly overlapping fintech giants are going to rub up against one another. You can read more about that in The Interchange, out on Sunday.
Hugs from us to you, and we will talk to you next week!
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Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.
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