CES, NYE, SBF and FTX. Lol. • TechCrunch

Hello and welcome to Equity, a podcast about startup activity, where we unpack the numbers and nuances behind the headlines. To start the year, we welcome Rebecca Szkutak as a returning guest who will join us for alexander is on paternity leave. We are lucky to have her for a few months, so welcome her warmly!

With that, Natasha, Mary Ann and Becca returned to the mic to unpack the latest and greatest from this first week back. 2022 has been a dreary and relentless storm at times, but it has also surprised us with the amount of innovation that continues to brighten up this downturn. The start of 2023 was no different.

Here’s what we got ourselves into:

• A few early stars from CES, the annual consumer electronics show that’s taking over Las Vegas right now. Yes, we’re talking comfy pillows that are even more comfortable than you might think, a smarter smart washing machine, and a safety dash cam for carpool drivers.
• Then we got into the deals of the week, which included Doorstead and USV’s $200 million climate fund.
• Our first theme entered the latest development of the FTX and SBF saga. If you’re like us, so much has happened that it’s hard to keep track of all the twists and turns. But it’s also increasingly important, as Becca gives us a Real Housewives angle to consider.
• We end with a conversation about the layoffs, which took place this week and impacted employees at Stitch Fix, Amazon, Salesforce and others. We dug into Natasha’s latest feature, in which she explores how laid-off talent is rethinking risk for their next jobs.

As always, we’ll be back to chat with you on Monday! In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter @EquityPod.

Equity drops at 10:00 a.m. PT every Monday and 7:00 a.m. PT on Wednesdays and Fridays, so subscribe to us on Apple podcast, Covered, Spotify and all castings. TechCrunch also has a great crypto show, a show that interviews the founders, one that details how our stories come together, and more!