The billionaires are trying to live longer… again

@alex / @bayareawriter / @rebecca_szkutak / 8:17 am PDT • May 19, 2023

Hello, and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.

This week Mary Ann, Becca and Alex gathered to chew through the biggest news of the week. Here’s what the gang got into today:

Vice goes bankrupt: Now is not a great time for media companies. The advertising market is in the toilet, layoffs are rampant and the end of Vice is like a cherry atop a trash sundae. Mary Ann points out during the show that some operational difficulties were at play at the company. Here’s a real unicorn death for us to stare at.
Deal Dive: AI. AI coaching. AI human relationship coaching? It’s a thing, and whether or not it is the future, we have questions.
Freshly-Nestlé: How often do you see a venture firm sue an acquirer? Not very often. We dig into the what and why of the Freshly suit.
Why is Musk buying other companies? What do you do if you buy a company and fire most of its staff? You buy a tech jobs platform, it turns out.
NewLimit and the limits of life: NewLimit is a company that Alex likes. Why? Because he doesn’t want to die before he can go to space. Mary Ann and Becca noted that the company’s setup is more than non-traditional. For NewLimit, the proof will be in the pudding.
What’s ahead for venture debt? Becca’s work on the venture debt landscape has been critical reading since the SVB crisis unfolded earlier this year. Her latest venture survey helped us understand where founders will be hunting up capital in the back half of 2023 and beyond.