Remember how this whole working thing works?

Welcome back to Equity, the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. As promised, I’m taking over Equity Monday for the beginning of this year as Alex is out on paternity leave. Big hugs to his growing family!

We’re starting the year with big post-PTO energy, because there’s no other way I know how to do it. Here’s what we chatted:

•  Tesla missing expectations, Meta doing its let’s-just-acquire-smart-talent thing, and a debut in the S&P 500 that caught my attention.
•  A big idea that is running around over at Matrix. TC’s Paul Sawers looks into how messaging apps may become more interoperable thanks to a fascinating new protocol. To me, this screams the ideas of decentralization from crypto last year, but with a more understandable pitch. Catch me Slacking you on WhatsApp!
•  Finally, we end with a look ahead at CES this week. We have reporters on the ground catching the moonshots, and we’ll have updates for you with the full crew on Friday!

More to come! You can follow me on Twitter @nmasc_ or on Instagram @natashathereporter. 

Equity drops at 10 a.m. PT every Monday and at 7 a.m. PT on Wednesdays and Fridays, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, one that details how our stories come together, and more!