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Women getting their wings as angel investors

Jan 9, 2024
The practice of personal investment in startup companies is becoming more diverse. That’s influencing which startups get funded.
Tech executives Allison Barr Allen, Deidre Paknad and Adriana Roche speak on a panel at a TechCrunch gathering in 2022.
Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for TechCrunch

After the podcast industry boom and bust, what's next?

Dec 6, 2023
"All of these companies, new and old, public radio and private, threw a bunch of money into podcast departments. And I think they quickly learned that the economics of this high-quality journalism is complicated," said Micah Loewinger of "On the Media."
Barriers to entry are low in the podcasting world, but turning a profit is a different story.
Jason Davis/Getty Images

How “age tech” is creating opportunities for older adults

Growing numbers of entrepreneurs and their financial backers are starting to see aging as an opportunity for innovation and profit.
An aging population, especially in Asia, is getting investors excited, says senior economics contributor Chris Farrell. Above, an older man uses his phone in Beijing.
Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images

Legal challenges could have chilling effect on workplace diversity efforts

Oct 3, 2023
It's possible that employers will roll back racial diversity initiatives even if they’re perfectly legal.
Above, portraits of Black women entrepreneurs at an event co-hosted by the Fearless Fund. A federal appeals court temporarily blocked a contest hosted by the Fearless Fund that awards grants to businesses that are majority-owned by Black women.
Shannon Finney/Getty Images

These startup health insurers tried to disrupt the market. Now, their customers are scrambling

Sep 15, 2023
Bright HealthCare and Friday Health Plans were part of a new class of health insurance startups, but both have imploded in recent months.
Lauren Gibbs penciled out math equations to manage the complex transition from her now-defunct Friday Health Plans insurance plan to a new insurer.
Andrew Kenney/CPR

Startups pitch banks as alternative to VCs

As venture capital becomes scarce, demand is rising for venture debt — the kind of loan Silicon Valley Bank provided before it collapsed.
Venture debt is a specialized bank loan that doesn’t involve an ownership stake. Silicon Valley Bank was a leader in the field.
Ong-ad Nuseewor via Getty Images

Chinese investment in U.S. startups under scrutiny for espionage

Jun 21, 2023
The difficult relationship between the U.S. and China has many economic contours to it. One of the complaints on the U.S. side for years has been about theft of intellectual property. That tension is now extending into the world of investment, particularly startups.
“Unlike American companies, Chinese-owned companies are required by their government to support the military," said Andy Weber, a senior fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Silicon Valley Bank's collapse reveals deeper flaws in the venture capital industry

Mar 16, 2023
VCs have been among the loudest voices calling for government insurance amidst SVB’s collapse, after pulling their funds out of the struggling bank.
Prominent venture capitalists were quick to call for government insurance of all Silicon Valley Bank's deposits after its collapse Friday.
Michael Cohen/Getty Images

How female leadership can uplift companies — and why it's so undervalued

Oct 13, 2022
Female-led companies tend to outperform those led by men, yet women are a small minority among CEOs and startup founders.
Female-led companies tend to outperform those led by men, but women are underrepresented in upper management.
John Phillips/Getty Images for IPG

A glimpse into the current startup landscape

Early-stage startups saw a rocky second quarter. What the founder and CEO of Prisms of Reality, a tech startup, is seeing from her vantage point.
Anurupa Ganguly's tech startup focuses on math education.
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