{"id":1219216,"date":"2022-10-08T18:03:14","date_gmt":"2022-10-08T18:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/10\/08\/toil-and-trouble-and-startup-acquisitions\/"},"modified":"2022-10-08T18:03:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-08T18:03:14","slug":"toil-and-trouble-and-startup-acquisitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/10\/08\/toil-and-trouble-and-startup-acquisitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Toil and trouble and \u2026 startup acquisitions! \u2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Welcome to Startups Weekly, a fresh human-first take on this week\u2019s startup news and trends. To get this in your inbox, <\/em>subscribe here.<\/em><\/p>\n

I think it took maybe three days after I roasted our rather dry M&A season for the news cycle to prove me wrong. This week we saw Naver acquire Poshmark, Duolingo buy its first company, Spotify acquire content moderation tech company Kinzen, and, um, Twitter got closer and closer to striking a deal with Musk.<\/p>\n

When we see high-profile acquisitions happen in close proximity, the human response is to think that there\u2019s a trend forming. Eh. I\u2019d rather ask questions: Poshmark\u2019s acquisition is at somewhat of a discount, so what does that tell us about the state of marketplace startups and their valuations? Duolingo is finally becoming an acquisition-friendly company; what does that tell us about their priorities and expansion efforts? How does Spotify\u2019s acquisition play a role, if any, in its recent layoffs and shuttering of some original podcasts?\u00a0 Musk is readying to buy Twitter, after saying he wants to buy Twitter, but that\u2019s somehow news because, wait, does anyone know what\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n

Bloomberg tells me that I\u2019m not entirely wrong for thinking things have slowed down. M&A in the United States has fallen for the past five quarters. The same report says that \u201croughly $212 billion worth of deals were announced in the past three months, the lightest period since the second quarter of 2020.\u201d At the same time, tech is a bright spot. Despite the fact that deals are slowing, the tech sector\u2019s total deal value is up 39% year over year, Bloomberg data claims. It\u2019s the big ones weighing out, such as Adobe\u2019s $20 billion acquisition of Figma.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always here to provide nuance, especially after an especially eventful week. Do let me know what you\u2019re thinking about by tweeting at me or responding to this post. If you missed last week\u2019s newsletter, read it here: \u201cWelcome to spooky season in startups.\u201d<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s newsletter, I\u2019ll talk to you about Liquid Death and crypto advertising.<\/p>\n

If you like this newsletter, do me a quick favor? Forward it to a friend, share it on Twitter and tag me so I can thank you for reading myself!<\/a><\/p>\n

Your favorite tech podcast<\/h2>\n

On Equity this week, your favorite podcast trio spoke to the numbers and nuance behind the top tech headlines. I mean, we\u2019re biased, but who doesn\u2019t love a weekly deep dive into top news? Remember that we have three podcasts a week: Equity Monday is best paired with a cup of coffee and a catch up on the week ahead; Equity Wednesday is a deep dive into a question or a thought; and Equity Friday is a look back at what the heck happened this week.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why it\u2019s important: <\/strong>\u00a0This week, the highlight of the podcast for me was our discussion about Liquid Death\u2019s $700 million valuation. It\u2019s especially interesting when you consider recent news that Haus, a low-ABV alternative to traditional alcohol, is putting itself up for sale due to a funding round falling apart. Listen to our whole conversation here, come for the Liquid Death, stay for if Alex is going to get his future baby a Substack.<\/p>\n

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Image Credits:<\/strong> Liquid Death<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dear carry, carry me?<\/h2>\n

Flag this for a future trend for me to look into: We\u2019re seeing more and more VC firms dedicate a portion of carried interest to people who refer successful deals to them. This week, Mary Ann looked into how a cross-border VC firm is sharing profits in its 20-founder LP base.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why it\u2019s important:<\/strong> This trend first emerged on my radar around a year ago, when Gumroad founder and CEO Sahil Lavingia announced a new type of scout program. Longtime Startups Weekly readers will remember this evergreen take from back then: It\u2019s hard to philosophically argue against more transparency and distribution in entrepreneurship, but it\u2019s also hard to pull off those goals in a way that actually helps those who need it most.<\/p>\n

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Image Credits:<\/strong> Say-Cheese \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The follow-up<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m experimenting with a new section in Startups Weekly, where each week we follow up with an old story or trend to see what\u2019s changed since our first look. This week, we\u2019re following up on Kim Kardashian. A few weeks ago, we spoke about Kardashian and the financialization of trendsetters after she announced the debut of her private equity firm.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s new:<\/strong> She\u2019s back in the news, but without congrats Twitter. Kardashian was fined $1.26 million by the SEC for advertising crypto without a disclosure. Her mistake? She should\u2019ve mentioned that she was paid $250,000 to publish a post about EthereumMAX\u2019s EMAX tokens on her Insta story.<\/p>\n

Anita and Dom say it best, so I\u2019ll just place this link here for people who want to keep reading: \u201cLet\u2019s not defend Kim Kardashian for shilling crypto.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kim<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A few notes<\/h2>\n

We\u2019re less than one month away from Disrupt, and I\u2019m already emotional. It\u2019s going to be a blast, a pep talk, a realization and a week not to miss. Here\u2019s the full agenda, and here\u2019s where you can get your tickets.<\/p>\n