Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. Natasha and Alex and Grace and Chris were joined by none other than TechCrunch’s own Mary Ann Azevedo, in her first-ever appearance on the show. She’s pretty much the best person and we’re stoked to have her on the pod. And it was good that […]
Workstream’s text-based recruitment tool gets a $48M bet from BOND and beyond
It isn’t only tech giants that are struggling to fill open roles with talented individuals, it’s your local Jamba Juice, too. Since 2017, San Francisco-based Workstream has been working on an answer to recruitment for the hourly worker. The subset of employees are in high demand right now by employers managing high turnover, as the […]
OnlyFans’ policy change is a tale as old as the internet
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. For our Wednesday show this week, Natasha and Alex and Danny had colleague Amanda Silberling on the show to help us parse through OnlyFans‘ precedent-setting move to ban sexually explicit content on its service. The decision was a bolt from the blue for […]
Flockjay cuts at least half of its workforce as it pivots away from bootcamps into B2B SaaS
Flockjay, a bootcamp startup that helps laid off people and job seekers break into tech, cut half of its own employees amid a broader pivot to a B2B SaaS platform, TechCrunch has learned from sources close to the company. The layoffs impacted every nontechnical team at Flockjay, including admission advisers, biz ops and development, partnerships, […]
NoRedInk raises $50 million Series B to help students become better writers
“In order to become a better writer, read your written words out loud.” That’s one of the first, and best, writing tips I ever received. I always found the advice ironic because it required me to change the medium of my writing to become a better writer. Still, all these years later, it’s true: vocalizing […]
‘How to hire’ is the new ‘how to conserve runway’
Thanks for reading Startups Weekly. Want the weekly digest in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. When COVID-19 first began to infect the world, my interviews with venture capitalists all somewhat fit into the same mold. Investors would tell me that they’re “triaging” their own portfolio to understand how to help startups rocked by […]
Men are a niche demographic
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. Danny was back, joining Natasha and Alex and Grace and Chris to chat through the week’s coming and goings. But, before we get to the official news, here’s some personal news: Danny is stepping back from his role as co-host of the Friday show! Yes, Mr. […]
Launch House raises millions to launch houses (and the next big startups)
In May 2020, a trio of friends rented a home in Tulum, Mexico and invited their internet friends. The project was dubbed The Launch House, and the 18 entrepreneurs who came to live there had to do the following: pay rent, launch projects, and build their company in public. Other homes began popping across the […]
KaiPod Learning thinks ‘learning pods’ are here to stay
Since launch, “learning pods” have been controversial in the world of edtech. The term, somewhat synonymous with micro-schools, pandemic pods and small-group learning, describes small clusters of children within the same age range who are paired with a private instructor with the goal of replacing, or supplementing, school learning. The concept took off last year […]
Maven’s comprehensive approach to women’s health earns it unicorn status
For Kate Ryder, the founder of women’s health clinic and benefits platform Maven, business is personal. During the first year of building her company, Ryder experienced a miscarriage. Maven began offering support for pregnancy loss and high-risk care management as the founder herself waded through the emotions and confusion of it. Ryder was then a […]