Natasha Mascarenhas
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Natasha Mascarenhas
A downturn is nothing new for diverse founders
Some investors say that the crackdown on tech companies isn’t impacting diverse founders as harshly as their overly funded, homogeneous counterparts because of pre-existing biases.
This is not (just) another roundup of tech layoffs
After a month that saw nearly 16,000 tech workers lose their jobs, June is off to a similar tumultuous start. Startups across all sectors, from healthcare to enterprise SaaS to crypto, are laying off
Sheryl Sandberg, Substack and the art of still raising money for groceries
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This was another live week from the Equity crew, meaning that
Social app IRL lays off 25% of team, says it has enough cash to last well into 2024
“We have all seen the state of the market,” IRL CEO and co-founder Abraham Shafi wrote in a company-wide memo where the social app announced it would be dramatically cutting staff. Similar to doze
Gemini lays off 10% of workforce as the ‘crypto revolution’ enters its ‘contraction phase’
Crypto platform Gemini has cut approximately 10% of its workforce, per co-founders and twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. In a post announcing the news, the duo attributed the layoffs to “t
a16z-backed Loom lays off 14% of staff, one year after becoming a unicorn
Loom, an enterprise collaboration video messaging service, has laid off 34 employees, or 14% of its total staff, sources say. Employees across product and people operations were impacted. The venture-
How investors are playing offense right now (their words, our two cents)
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single to
Precursor Ventures’ first hire just spun out to start her own venture firm
Sydney Thomas, who was the first hire at Precursor Ventures, a seed and early-stage focused fund that backs first-time founders, is starting her own venture firm. The investor is going from principal
Felt’s $15 million chance to prove that maps are the next big medium
Despite economic turmoil in the tech world, an Oakland-based startup shows that moonshots are still getting funded. Felt, co-founded by Sam Hashemi and Can Duruk, wants to disrupt the role of maps in
Footnotes on Sequoia’s startup memo
Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh human-first take on this week’s startup news and trends. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. Sequoia takes things seriously. The storied venture firm is kn
Sequoia is the latest VC firm telling you to take the downturn seriously
Sequoia’s advice largely followed the same script that other venture firms have been using: extend runway, focus on sustainable growth and recognize that an economic recovery may be a ways away.
Tech layoffs top 15K in a brutal May
It’s been a rough month in the tech sector. We’ve rounded up week after week of layoffs, and according to aggregator layoffs.fyi, more than 15,000 tech workers have lost their jobs this month. Hop
A ping-pong match between bulls and bears
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. Happily we were once again at full strength this week, with Al
Announcing the TechCrunch+ Stage Agenda at Disrupt 2022
2022 is the year that we are returning to in-person events here at TechCrunch, which means that after a few years running remotely, our flagship Disrupt event is back. But while we are shaking up the
Fintech Bolt just laid off over 100 employees across engineering, sales and marketing
One-click checkout startup Bolt has laid off at least 100 employees and counting across go-to-market, sales and recruiting roles, sources say. CEO Maju Kuruvilla confirmed the workforce reduction in a
We think founders need a quick Heart to Heart about the market
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single to
Sequoia Capital plays Nostradamus (again)
Sequoia Capital, the storied, 50-year-old venture firm, has become known over the years for using sweeping memos to warn the founders in its portfolio about market shifts after the shift has become so
PayPal laid off 83 employees as it reduces Bay Area presence
PayPal laid off dozens of employees from its San Jose headquarters, filings show. As first reported by The Information and later confirmed by Techcrunch, the layoffs impacted 83 employees. PayPal’s
Latch, a proptech meets SaaS play, conducts two consecutive weeks of layoffs
Latch, a proptech smart lock company that raised $152 million in known private capital before debuting on the stock market through a SPAC last year, is conducting another round of layoffs. Earlier thi
MainStreet’s valuation could fall 60% to $200 million amid investor recapitalization pursuit
Weeks after laying off about 30% of its staff, MainStreet is said to be raising another round of funding at a $200 million valuation, sources tell TechCrunch. The news is significant in that MainStree