Welcome to Startups Weekly, a nuanced take on this week\u2019s startup news and trends by Senior Reporter and Equity co-host <\/em>Natasha Mascarenhas.<\/em><\/a> To get this in your inbox, subscribe\u00a0<\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n First off, hello to all the new Startups Weekly subscribers who joined us after last week\u2019s newsletter. I\u2019m glad we all still <\/em>resonate with a comeback story.<\/em><\/a> Second, here are some basics on what to expect.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I start off most of these newsletters with a mini-essay on what is top of mind to me, sometimes pointing toward one of my longer-form pieces from the week or just to share some extra thoughts at the end of the news cycle. Then I jump into three themes that stand out from the week, with extra reading for those that want to dig in more. I end with notes to know from around the tech blogosphere, TC events and, if you look closely enough, personal anecdotes that often have to do with coffee and food. Ok, now onto the aforementioned essay!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n It all started with a sound. More specifically, an SEC filing from Sound Ventures<\/a>, actor and entrepreneur Ashton Kutcher\u2019s venture firm, confirmed plans to raise an artificial intelligence-focused venture firm. Bloomberg estimates that the new investment vehicle could total around $200 million dollars upon close.<\/a><\/p>\n While Kutcher\u2019s firm has been around for a long time and has lived through enough hype cycles to not be easily swayed one way or another, the filing made me curious. Are we going to see more celebrity-led venture firms jump onto the AI bandwagon? Especially since crypto, the hype train\u2019s ol\u2019 favorite sector, has sputtered and struggled in recent months?<\/p>\n If you ask me, I\u2019d bet that we won\u2019t see the same rush of celebrities looking to promote AI products on their Instagram stories the way they promoted [insert coin offering here]. It\u2019s complicated, and I may be entirely wrong. Read my full take on TC+: \u201cWill AI receive the same celebrity-fueled hype as crypto once did? It\u2019s complicated.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In the rest of this newsletter, we\u2019ll talk about eggflation, thorny integration and breaking tradition. As always, you can follow me on Twitter<\/a> or Instagram<\/a> to continue the conversation. I\u2019m also writing on my personal blog, if you\u2019d like to follow along with the 1,835 other people who come to hang and be too wordy.<\/a><\/p>\n One of my favorite pastimes is going to the supermarket, so you can imagine that I am aggressively attuned to the changing prices of eggs these days. Luckily, there\u2019s a startup angle to tell us more. TC\u2019s Christine Hall wrote about how higher egg prices have burst open a bigger demand for alternatives.<\/a> If you\u2019re like me and just know about Just Egg, this story is illuminating for so many reasons.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why it\u2019s important, Hall tells me: \u201c<\/strong>There wasn\u2019t a definitive yes or no about pushing the gas pedal on [alternative egg startups] getting more product out there. I was hoping someone would say, yes, startups should go for it, or no, this is just a passing thing and they should wait. So perhaps this kind of environment presents a very scrambled opportunity<\/a>, pun intended.\u201d<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Paolo Farinella \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The DOJ is getting ready to file suit to block the $20 billion Adobe-Figma deal<\/a> announced last year on the grounds it is anti-competitive, early reports from Bloomberg say. If the DOJ succeeds, it may be shattering to both large and small tech companies that were taking notes on what a massive exit could look like.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why it\u2019s important:<\/strong> It\u2019s not a surprise, but more a confirmation of some early worries. At the time of announcement, the deal was largely seen as Adobe taking out one of its biggest rivals in the design world. Immediately, folks including TC\u2019s Ingrid Lunden rang some alarm bells<\/a> around Adobe\u2019s future dominance, as both a platform and tooling leader in the space.<\/p>\n Also, Ehab Bandar, founder at design consultancy Bigtable.co, told TechCrunch back in September<\/a> that \u201cdesigners, and especially cross-functional teams, hate to switch software. Any new tool would need to excel at so many things that Figma is currently doing that it\u2019s hard to imagine any new competitors coming out of the woodwork.\u201d Others saw a potential liquidity event as an opportunity to usher in a new generation of creative, and perhaps entrepreneurial, designers.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Haje Kamps \/ TechCrunch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Remember when the IPO market was a bonanza meets party meets nerd stampede? We\u2019re following up on past public market conversations with our latest episode of Equity, titled Scooters and social media companies are surprising IPO candidates.<\/a> Come for our analysis, stay for our anger at the term \u201cproficorn.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why it\u2019s important:<\/strong> Both Reddit and Lime are reportedly eyeing public market debuts this year, which completely took your dear hosts by surprise. We\u2019ve been much more focused on Stripe, which is eyeing an exit over the next 12 months<\/a>, and Instacart, which has delayed its IPO before.<\/a> The growing list of potential candidates tells us that some companies believe they are doing well enough that the Nasdaq isn\u2019t a scary acronym. Only FTX, now.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> TechCrunch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Seen on TechCrunch<\/em><\/p>\n Sensitive US military emails spill online<\/a><\/p>\n Modernizing 911 calls with Michael Chime from Found<\/a><\/p>\n SignalFire\u2019s founder says his VC firm lost staffers who \u2018thought we were too cheap\u2019 in prior years<\/a><\/p>\n Elon Musk suggests Twitter could open source its algorithm \u2018next week\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Seen on TechCrunch+<\/em><\/p>\n Pitch Deck Teardown: Uber\u2019s $200K pre-seed deck from 2008<\/a><\/p>\n Is ocean conservation the next climate tech? 7 investors explain why they\u2019re all in<\/a><\/p>\n The $100M venture round is going extinct<\/a><\/p>\n 5 questions emerging managers should ask before selecting LPs<\/a><\/p>\n And with that, thank you for being here. If you\u2019re reading this on a browser, get this in your inbox too! subscribe here<\/a> and share it with your friends.<\/p>\nEggflation<\/h2>\n
Figma about it<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nThe follow-up<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nEtc., etc.<\/h2>\n