Adam Neumann’s bid for WeWork’s scraps

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Hello, and welcome to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.

Good news, everyone! Mary Ann is back! Yes, and Kirsten Korosec was with us again so we had a lovely trio for this week’s show. And it was good that we had three voices on because we had a lot to get through, so much in fact that we went over our usual time limit for the first time in ages. (Sorry, Theresa!)

Here’s the rundown:

Deals of the Week: Adam Neumann wants to buy WeWork from bankruptcy, Starship Technologies raised $90 million for a product that 100% of the crew love, and Ambience Healthcare’s massive $70 million round also got a warm reception for its target market.
LatAm Rising: We love Latin America here at Equity, but have been a bit puzzled why its venture capital totals have fallen as far as they have. New data makes it plain that startups in the region are doing rather well. What gives?
And to close out, earnings, ad spend, and the state of the economy. Advertising can operate a bit as a ‘canary in the coal mine‘ for economic health, Kirsten points out. Alex also brought up AI as a potential growth catalyst for tech companies. All told? Things aren’t perfectly sunny, but when we consider the tech forecast there’s no rain to be found.