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The new competition for your cap table | Equity Podcast

The VC middleman is getting cut out faster than anyone expected. Family offices and private wealth firms are going direct: writing checks, taking board seats, even incubating companies from scratch. And more founders are starting to notice. In February alone, family offices made 41 direct investments, including one Midwest-based firm that led a $230 million…

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The VC middleman is getting cut out faster than anyone expected. Family offices and private wealth firms are going direct: writing checks, taking board seats, even incubating companies from scratch. And more founders are starting to notice. In February alone, family offices made 41 direct investments, including one Midwest-based firm that led a $230 million Series B into an AI chip startup.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan caught up with Mitch Stein and Ari Schottenstein, founder and head of alternatives at ARENA Private Wealth, to find out what this shift means for founders, cap tables, and the future of AI investment.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

03:13 Why family offices are going direct now

06:03 The gen 2 & gen 3 family office shift

07:22 Is this strategic or just AI FOMO?

10:17 How Arena got into the Positron deal

14:30 Why founders want private wealth on their cap table

18:31 Due diligence on technical companies

21:56 Red flags founders should watch for

25:04 Are VCs threatened by this trend?

27:47 Taking board seats & level of involvement

34:17 Outro

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Science & Technology

Why So Many Companies Are Now Chasing Neoclouds

While OpenAI is busy building its own chips, Groq, SpaceX, and even companies that used to make shoes are racing to lease out compute. The Equity Podcast crew asks: Are neoclouds the new oil? And how long will the demand last?

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June 26, 2026

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While OpenAI is busy building its own chips, Groq, SpaceX, and even companies that used to make shoes are racing to lease out compute.

The Equity Podcast crew asks: Are neoclouds the new oil? And how long will the demand last?

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Bloomberg Technology

iPhone Price Hikes Will Come, Says IDC

Apple announced price hikes across its hardware products, citing unprecedented price gains in memory chips. Missing from that price hike list, for now, is the iPhone. Nabila Popal, Senior Research Director at IDC, joins Ed Ludlow on “Bloomberg Tech.” ——– Like this video? Subscribe to Bloomberg Technology on YouTube:   Watch the latest full episodes…

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June 26, 2026

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Apple announced price hikes across its hardware products, citing unprecedented price gains in memory chips. Missing from that price hike list, for now, is the iPhone. Nabila Popal, Senior Research Director at IDC, joins Ed Ludlow on “Bloomberg Tech.”
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Bloomberg Technology

OpenAI Weighs IPO in 2027 | Bloomberg Tech 6/26/2026

Bloomberg’s Ed Ludlow breaks down OpenAI’s decision to potentially hold off on an IPO until next year – sending shares of SoftBank falling. Plus, global tech stocks drop after Apple hikes hardware price due to a memory crunch, and SpaceX’s $25 billion bond sale is off to a rocky start. ——– Like this video? Subscribe…

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June 26, 2026

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Bloomberg’s Ed Ludlow breaks down OpenAI’s decision to potentially hold off on an IPO until next year – sending shares of SoftBank falling. Plus, global tech stocks drop after Apple hikes hardware price due to a memory crunch, and SpaceX’s $25 billion bond sale is off to a rocky start.
——–
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Watch the latest full episodes of “Bloomberg Technology” with Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow here:

 
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