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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

The Musk v. Altman case is in the jury’s hands. The trust verdict is still out. | Equity Podcast

The Musk v. Altman trial came to a close this week, and the final arguments kept circling back to one question: can we trust the people in charge of AI? All of this is playing out as SpaceX charges toward what could be one of the largest IPOs in American history, with a whole generation…

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The Musk v. Altman trial came to a close this week, and the final arguments kept circling back to one question: can we trust the people in charge of AI? All of this is playing out as SpaceX charges toward what could be one of the largest IPOs in American history, with a whole generation of founders already spinning out of the Musk empire.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane break down the trial’s closing stretch and what the growing Elon Musk founder ecosystem looks like on the ground, and the other deals that caught our eye this week.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:16 Claude learns how to blackmail (Anthropic’s AI safety report)

03:20 Anduril’s $5B Series H

08:43 Mind Robotics and why investors can’t say no to RJ Scaringe

15:03 Vapi’s $50M Series B and the AI customer service moment

20:25 The Elon Musk founder machine: Tesla and SpaceX alumni

30:12 The startups stepping up to build data centers in space

32:50 The OpenAI trial wraps: Who trusts Sam Altman?

38:11 Outro

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CNET

First Look at Segway’s $5,299 Xaber 300 Electric Dirt Bike

Segway’s newest e-dirt bike, the Xaber 300, is now available in the U.S. and features a top speed of 60-mph, and a virtual clutch that gives you more control like you would on a gas powered dirt bike. Do you think the future of dirt bikes is electric? CNET Senior Video Producer Dillon Lopez is…

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Segway’s newest e-dirt bike, the Xaber 300, is now available in the U.S. and features a top speed of 60-mph, and a virtual clutch that gives you more control like you would on a gas powered dirt bike. Do you think the future of dirt bikes is electric? CNET Senior Video Producer Dillon Lopez is here to give you a first look at this $5,299 electric dirt bike. ⚡️🏍️ #segway #segwayxaber300 #electricdirtbike #edirtbike #dirtbike

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CNET

Please, Apple, Don’t Use Gemini This Way | One More Thing

Much of Android’s new AI features focus on ways to spend your money faster. Is this what we have to look forward to in the new Siri updates? CNET’s Bridget Carey looks at the Gemini Intelligence news and what Apple should (and shouldn’t) copy for iPhone users. Read more about it on CNET.com Apple Picks…

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Much of Android’s new AI features focus on ways to spend your money faster. Is this what we have to look forward to in the new Siri updates? CNET’s Bridget Carey looks at the Gemini Intelligence news and what Apple should (and shouldn’t) copy for iPhone users.

Read more about it on CNET.com
Apple Picks Google Gemini to Power Siri
Google I/O 2026: What Google’s AI Past Tells Us About Its Future

0:00 Does Google think everyone’s rich?
0:12 Gemini Intelligence announced in the Android Show IO Edition
0:36 Gemini is going to be in your iPhone
0:55 Will Gemini Intelligence live up to the hype?
1:17 Apple’s delayed promise of a more personal Siri
1:26 Buying concert tickets agentic AI in Android
1:57 Buying concert tickets with Apple Music
2:29 Android AI giving real-time ETAs in messages
2:46 Apple Calendar time-to-leave notifications
3:07 Using Gemini Intelligence to find late-night pizza
3:13 Using Siri to find late-night pizza
3:23 Gemini Intelligence being tested with food delivery and rideshare apps
3:31 All of Google’s Android agentic AI examples make spending money easier
3:49 Booking an Expedia tour with Gemini Intelligence on your Android device
4:19 Things I actually want from an AI assistant
4:26 New Android widget builder
4:45 Google really wants you to buy things and shop
4:59 Building an Android recipe widget
5:23 Rambler brings conversational awareness to speech-to-text on Android phones
5:34 Android Rambler in action
6:20 Android green screen recording for video creators
6:29 Android Screen Reactions
7:03 How will Gemini influence the new Siri?
7:17 New Android interface looks a lot like Liquid Glass
7:26 RCS messages between Android and iPhones are now encrypted

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#siri #google #gemini #ai #intelligence #androidai

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