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, Alex and Natasha discussed the latest and greatest of this consuming news cycle. Our goal with the episode, as always, is to go beyond what you may see in a 140 character-take on [insert big story here]. And in today's recording? That wasn't hard at all.

We started with our good news segment: 1) Maven, now valued at $1.35 billion, is answering a countrywide demand: More fertility benefits and 2) Alibaba eyes logistics growth in LatAm as China commerce slows. We love a chance to talk about growth, despite all odds and even trends!
Then, right off the heels of our amazing debut crypto conference, we take a minute to talk about the FTX Fall out. Yep, we're talking about how one African Web3 startup got screwed over and why SoftBank joined Sequoia in marking down its investment in the crypto exchange.
We then turn to the latest in layoffs: Amazon's 3% cut, cuts at Morning Brew and Protocol, and Musk's latest attempt to recruit (or retain?) Twitter employees. We still don't know what's happening there, don't ask us. Ok fine, you can.
And we'll end by throwing this gem here, with little to know context: I volunteer as tribute.

And that's wrap. As always you can follow the show on Twitter, leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts and, most importantly, be kind to your people. Talk soon!

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday and Wednesday, and at 6 a.m. PT on Fridays, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, one that details how our stories come together, and more!

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

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