LinkedIn wants a piece of Wordle’s success

03/18/24 • 12 min

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This is our Monday show, in which we take a look back at the weekend and what’s ahead in the week. We’re coming to the end of earnings season, which means that there are just a few weeks left in the first quarter.

With spring in the air, here’s what we got into this morning:

Apple may tap Google for AI: Sure, Apple is working on its own AI tech, but Google’s Gemini model could be headed for an iPhone near you. Bloomberg broke the news.
Grok goes open source: As promised, xAI’s LLM Grok is out for people to play with. Most importantly, startup founders seem excited.
Reddit’s IPO makes progress: Oversubscription is always a good signal, but is also no promise of IPO riches to come.
Gumroad says ‘no thanks’ to NSFW content: Another year, another platform booting adult creators. It’s a tale as old as time!
Gaming is coming to LinkedIn: Look I don’t know what to tell you other than that all platforms eventually become one.

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 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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With spring in the air, here’s what we got into this morning:

Apple may tap Google for AI: Sure, Apple is working on its own AI tech, but Google’s Gemini model could be headed for an iPhone near you. Bloomberg broke the news.
Grok goes open source: As promised, xAI’s LLM Grok is out for people to play with. Most importantly, startup founders seem excited.
Reddit’s IPO makes progress: Oversubscription is always a good signal, but is also no promise of IPO riches to come.
Gumroad says ‘no thanks’ to NSFW content: Another year, another platform booting adult creators. It’s a tale as old as time!
Gaming is coming to LinkedIn: Look I don’t know what to tell you other than that all platforms eventually become one.

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

How to avoid all the IPO work without annoying investors

Hello, and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. The podcast turns seven this week, so in honor of its birthday drop us a review? More, newer reviews helps more folks discover the show, and makes our corporate parent happy!

Today our beloved Mary Ann was off on well-deserved break, so our friend and fellow-podcaster Rebecca Szkutak was kind enough to bring her insight and humor to the podcast this fine Friday. Here’s what we got into:

The latest in legal: The push to force a divestment of TikTok or ban it in the United States is making progress, as the EU finishes hammering out its new AI regulations.
Deals of the Week: Peak XV’s new, fascinating fund vehicle and what it may tell us about the Indian startup market. And, Ad Ventures’ new $80 million fund that felt rather contra-narrative in the best possible way.
AI, privacy: In the wake of AI getting booed at SXSW, we took a look at several new AI startups that are raising rounds for their audio-focused projects. These included Nijta and Tavus, not to mention a host of startups from the current Y Combinator cohort.
What to do when there’s no liquidity? Becca has the answer, and the answer is not going public. That’s the bad news. The good news is that secondary transactions might be a way to resolve lots of founder-investor tension regarding exit timing.

And with that, we are back on Monday! Chat then!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next Episode

Astera Labs going public and the Inflection-Microsoft AI saga

Today we have a grip of startup stories, and a venture capital item that isn’t as bad of news as it seems at first blush. Here’s the rundown:

Astera Labs is going public after pricing above-range. We’ll see how it trades today, but it’s good news that the first real tech IPO of the year set its share price at $36, higher than even its raised price interval.
TigerEye’s $35 million round for business intelligence gives us a peek at how tech could help businesses navigate the future. There’s a YC connection as well, which is worth keeping in mind.
Pocket FM’s mega round shows that consumer-focused technology plays can still pay handsomely. Even more notably, Pocket FM’s business model is contra-subscription, which is delightfully different.
And then there’s the Inflection AI-Microsoft-saga, which is part startup story, part corporate venture capital story, and part antitrust story.
We also touched on the boom in two-wheel electric vehicle companies in India, and why one pension fund’s move to lower its venture allocation isn’t as worrying as it might sound.