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It took three days after I roasted our M&A season to prove me wrong. This week we saw Naver acquire Poshmark, Duolingo buy its first company, Spotify acquire content moderation tech company Kinzen, and, of course, the close of a deal with Musk.
The human response when we see high-profile acquisitions is to think of a trend. It's good. What does the acquisition of Poshmark tell us about the state of the marketplace startup market? What does that mean for the company's priorities and expansion plans? Does the recent layoffs and the shuttering of some original podcasts have anything to do with the acquisition of the streaming service?
I was told that I was not wrong for thinking things have slowed down. The United States has seen a decline in M&A over the last five quarters. $212 billion worth of deals were announced in the last three months, the lightest period since the second quarter of 2020. Tech is a good place to be. The tech sector is up 39% year over year despite the fact that deals are slowing. Adobe's acquisition of Figma is a big one.
After an especially busy week, I am always here to provide a bit of context. Let me know what you think by following me on social media. If you missed it, you can read it here.
In today's newsletter, I'll talk about liquid death and cryptocurrencies.
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The numbers and nuances behind the top tech headlines were discussed on Equity. Who doesn't like a weekly deep dive into top news? Equity Monday is best with a cup of coffee and a catch up on the week ahead, Equity Wednesday is a deep dive into a question or thought, and Equity Friday is a look back at what happened this week.
The highlight of the week for me was our discussion about Liquid Death. Haus, a low-ABV alternative to traditional alcohol, is putting itself up for sale after a funding round fell apart. If Alex is going to get his baby a Substack, then come for the Liquid Death.
The image is called Liquid Death.
More and more VC firms are dedicating a portion of carried interest to people who refer successful deals to them. Mary Ann examined how a cross-border VC firm is sharing profits.
Gumroad founder and CEO Sahil Lavingia announced a new type of scout program a year ago. It's hard to argue against more transparency and distribution in entrepreneurship but it's also hard to pull off those goals in a way that actually helps those who need it most.
The image is called Say-Cheese.
I'm experimenting with a new section in Startups Weekly where we follow up with an old story or trend to see what's changed since we first looked. We are going to follow up on KimKardashian this week. We talked about the financialization of trendsetters after she announced her private equity firm.
She is back in the news, but not with a shout out on social media. The SEC imposed a $1.26 million fine on the reality TV star for advertising a new type of securities. She made a mistake. She should have mentioned that she was paid $250,000 to write a post about the Emax token.
I will place this link here for people who want to read about how datememe datememe datememe works and how datememe can be used.
The image is from the streaming service.
We are less than a month away from the event. It will be a blast, a pep talk, a realization, and a week not to be missed. You can get your tickets here.
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Let's talk a bit more. Equity goes out three times a week and is the longest running show. The founder focused show that goes by Found is one of the besties that we have. The good shows that they are putting out is something that can be missed by anyone.
It was seen on a website.
There is a long way to go in supporting Africa's digital economy.
The Scout delivery robot program has been scaled back.
Climate change is shaping investors' strategies if it's agtech.
Artificial intelligence could be a boon for artists.
It was seen on a website.
Most VCs don't care about your path to profitability.
There are 5 key intellectual property considerations for the creation of artificial intelligence.
These companies are all in.
Vori's $10 million Series A deck was tear down.
Politics won't save you from antitrust laws.
Next week, the same web page?
It's N.
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