Okay startup names and why fintech is rebounding

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

Mary Ann and Alex were a busy pair this week, so much so that they tagged in Dominic-Madori Davis from the TechCrunch+ crew to help out.

Before we get into what we covered on the episode, Equity is holding its annual listeners’ survey. If you listen to the pod, we’d love to hear from you. The questions are here, and you have our thanks.

Here’s the show rundown:

• Fraud is bad: Elizabeth Holmes is in jail, and the SEC wrapped insider trading charges against a former Coinbase staffer. Our take? Breaking business law is bad and perhaps people should not do it. Controversial, we know.
• Deals of the Week: Alex is enamored with Web Roulette, while Mary Ann wanted to talk about Stripe’s deal to buy Okay.
• Klarna’s Q1 2023 results led Alex to share some enthusiasm that the fintech market could be rebounding, a topic that he’s been going on about for some time.
• QED’s plans to invest its new funds carefully is a clear example of the new investing climate, Mary Ann argued. The show also touched on our latest check-in on the a16z early-stage strategy.
• And we closed, thanks to Dom, with a chat through the Atlanta startup scene in advance of our upcoming City Spotlight.

Whew, and with that, we are done for the week! Chat with you Monday!