Kirsten Korosec, a regular guest host, joins the show this week. They discuss various topics including FTX's former CEO heading to jail, Better.com going public, Vinfast's SPAC deal, the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on American manufacturing, and new venture funds raised by women. They also touch on Monday.com's growth, the pre-seed market, leaked diaries, and General Motors' investment in a battery materials startup.

Mary Ann and Alex are back, and once again this week they tapped the TechCrunch roster for expert input. This week were lucky enough to have Kirsten Korosec back on the podcast. She's TechCrunch's mobility lead, hosts a podcast of her own, and is one of our favorite humans.Here's the rundown: Deals of the Week: Mary Ann wanted to talk about Robinhood buying X1, a deal that seemed inexpensive but we lack enough numbers for full confidence; Alex wanted to riff on Dropbox's new AI fund, even if it does feel a little small; and Kirsten had notes for the team on Cruise's latest app rollout. Even if Mary Ann and Alex cannot find a way to agree on self-driving cars, we all thought that the Cruise bus is cute. Twitch and Reddit try to balance corporate requirements with community power: Building off our recent show digging into the creator economy, the crew tackled the latest from Twitch (a new creator-corporate revenue split of sorts) and Reddit (where the battle between the company and its power-users continues to blaze). It's feeling more hot war than cold war lately on the Internet, with platforms struggling to find a way to keep revenue growth coming while not estranging the folks who make their services tick. The power of Not Boozing: How big is the market for non-alcoholic drinks? Smaller than the market for vodka, certainly, but we're curious. Also there's a new app in the market that is helping folks find non-booze bevies, which we dig. Before we let you go, don't forget to fill out the Equity listener survey. We want to hear from you! A big thanks to Kirsten for swinging by, and we'll chat with you Monday morning.For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, one that details how our stories come together and more! 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.

Kirsten Korosec, a tech innovator and co-founder of Cohere, joins tech journalist Devin Coldewey and startup expert Rebecca Bellan. They dive into a fascinating conversation about a groundbreaking helmet designed to prevent hair loss during chemotherapy. The trio also discusses Flink's surprising fundraising success and the dynamics of the quick commerce sector. Notably, they explore the bizarre pivot of the autonomous trucking startup TuSimple into AI-generated animation, raising eyebrows about its viability and strategic direction.

The Equity crew, including Alex Wilhelm, Mary Ann Azevedo, Kirsten Korosec, and Becca Szkutak, share their predictions for 2024, including startup trends, consolidation in fintech, changing VC landscape, and the potential decrease in the number of VCs. They discuss recent layoffs, shifts in the venture industry, and express uncertainty in late stage valuations.

We had our friend and colleague Kirsten Korosec on the podcast this week, meaning that Mary Ann and Alex got to stretch their legs a bit and talk things that move and beep and boop. Here's what we got into: Deals of the Week: AngelList bought Nova, taking the well-known venture service into the more traditional private equity realm; Waymo is focusing on self-driving cars instead of trucks, which has Mary Ann worried; and Alex wanted to talk about interest rates. On the subject of Earnings: Guess what? AI costs are here, AI revenues are coming as the ad market recovers. For big tech earnings thus far have generally gone well, though not perfectly. Do not miss GM news from the transit desk, of course! And we wrapped with some interesting analysis from the TechCrunch+ team on how funds of funds might be one way to get more LP capital into diverse venture funds. Whew, what a week y'all. It's hot and we are tired, but we had a blast recording this for you. Talk more Monday!For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews foundersand more! 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.

This week's podcast features Kirsten Korosec, an expert in the startup world, discussing major funding deals in autonomous trucking, fintech, and AI ventures. They delve into Waabi's AI-first approach, Gynger's buy-now-pay-later model, and Safe Superintelligence's goal of developing ethical superintelligent AI. The hosts also touch on challenges faced by EV and fintech startups, acquisition strategies, and ad blocker challenges in the industry.

Financial journalist Mary Ann Azevedo, transportation reporter Kirsten Korosec, and tech journalist Alex Wilhelm discuss FTX compensating crypto fraud victims, the growth of in-person mental healthcare startup May Health, Motional's robotaxi plans, Mercury's expansion into software, and recent tech acquisitions. They also bid farewell to Alex Wilhelm after 7 years with the podcast.

Tech journalists and writers Mary Ann Azevedo, Kirsten Korosec, and Alex Wilhelm discuss deals in the property play, SoftBank's majority share purchase of Cubic Telecom, and OurSky's space-viewing software system. They dive into troubles in fintech with the shutdown of ZestMoney and layoffs at Navan, and explore mixed signals in the software market. The podcast also delves into the challenges faced by startups, the rise of connected cars, telescope data collection, and struggles and layoffs at Navan (formerly Trip Actions).

Guests Kirsten Korosec, Mary Ann Azevedo, and Alex Wilhelm discuss news on Affirm's results, deals of the week, WeWork's bankruptcy, OpenAI's latest news, and the rise of IPOs. They also explore the potential of autonomous vehicle systems and fractional real estate investing on the blockchain. The podcast examines the challenges faced by WeWork and other prop tech companies.

TechCrunch contributors Mary Ann and Alex, along with startup reporter Kirsten Korosec, discuss Nvidia's impressive earnings report and the growth of the company. They also cover funding news for Ramp, Lex, and Northvolt, as well as the public listing of Better.com. The hosts highlight the presence of startups focused on excrement in this year's TechCrunch Battlefield 200 companies. The podcast covers various topics including fintech, AI-powered writing tools, battery-building, and challenges faced by startups in a tough market.