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

Today is February 2nd, 2024. Welcome to our Friday show, where we sit down with a group of friends and then we talk about

the news that's been going on in the last couple of days.

So I have brought several friends along with me today.

One is Kirstenkorsec, Tech Wrench's transportation editor and senior reporter,

Hi. Hi, so happy to be here today.

Most excellent. And in a surprise and a lovely little bit of news, we have Corinne Leave you with us today. She's been on the show before but this is her first time ever

sitting down with us for an entire news roundup. Kereen you are a managing editor on the

Tech Ranch Plus team. How are you? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on the show again.

Absolutely. And if you're thinking to yourself, where is our dear friend Mary Ann Asaveto? Well, she is off taking

care of family this week. She shall return. She has all of our love and support, and we'll have her back in your ears before you know it.

But on the show today, we have an absolutely jam-packed episode.

We are going to talk up top about the social media Senate hearing. Then deals of the week we have

Zoom, rampant venue, and metronome. And then for themes today we're talking about

layoffs in the world of FinTech and what happens when you infuse AI into VC. But first my friends

yesterday I don't know if you were glued to C-SPAN as I was but a number of

social media-ish CEOs were dragged before Congress and then I don't know how to describe it

shout that for hours I think might be the fair way to say did you guys watch this I didn't

actually watch it but I have seen these before and from what I got off of other news reporting

it was much more of the same, which is nothing.

Nothing happened.

Yes, so I caught a little bit of it,

...