Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
How are you holding up? Are you keeping up? And most importantly, are you hydrating yourself? There’s so much news lately that we’re all falling a bit behind, but, hey, that’s what Equity is for. So, Natasha, Danny, and Alex got together to go over a number of the biggest stories in the worlds of private companies.
A warning before we get into the list, however. We’re going to be covering layoffs for a while. Don’t read more into that beyond a note to this unfortunate situation. We try to talk about the most important news, not what brings delight or joy to our hearts (because if that was the case, we would be all over mega-rounds). That in mind, here’s this week’s rundown:
- The heart-stopping rise in American unemployment claims, underscoring the scale of the economic damage that the COVID-19 infection and its constituent shutdowns is causing the economy.
- Layoffs are a topic that we’re writing about; you can find an overview of some cuts here, and a scoop on Modsy’s cuts here.
- We got into two companies with similar growth (and eventual loss) profiles: Oyo’s recent cuts, and WeWork’s recent loss.
- The emerging fraud at Luckin Coffee, a recent IPO and famous unicorn that is apparently full of it; the firm’s earnings since going public are suspect. We wanted to know if there are even more roaches hiding in the walls.
- Of course, we had to mention Zoom’s growth, and the cracks that have started to emerge as its become a staple past 9 to 5 meetings.
- Notion rang up a $2 billion valuation for a shares sale of just $50 million. The productivity company’s new price tag implies epic growth, and underscores how investors are valuing startups that don’t lose money.
- And, to end on a forward looking note, we talked about two new funds from Arch Venture Partners and General Catalyst.
And that’s what we got through. The Equity crew is doing its best to bring you the news, but make sure to let us know what you think. We’re at equitypod@techcrunch.com every day of the week. And we’re thankful for it. Take care of yourselves.
Equity drops every Monday at 7:00 AM PT and Friday at 6:00 am PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.
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