What’s up with tiny checks at giant valuations?

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

Are you a regular Equity listener? Take our survey here! We talk about it on the show, and it’s embedded below in case you don’t want to click a link.

From home once again this week, Danny, Natasha, Alex and Chris got together to pull the show together. But unlike last week’s episode (catch up here if you are behind), this week’s show features a game that actually worked. It’s at the end, as you’ll see.

But before that piece of the puzzle, there was a bunch of news to go over. We had to leave SaaS valuations, the Liftoff List, Brex and FalconX on the floor, but there was still so much good stuff to cover:

• Slice raised $43 million from KKR, making us all rather hungry — and curious. Where does Slice fit into the food-delivery market, and does its restaurant-friendly model give it enough room to grow revenue so that its new valuation makes sense?
• The Uber Eats-Grubhub deal was an unavoidable topic this week, given that it has the chance to remake the food delivery landscape. What room would be left in the market for Postmates? And would it pass regulatory scrutiny? We’re curious.
• Sticking to the on-demand theme, Instacart has grown bonkers-quick in the last few months, even making some money in the process. We’re impressed.
• It’s not the only thing out there growing like hell — Shopify is also putting up insane numbers, as reflected in its share price. TechCrunch took a look back through its history the other day.
• The secondary markets saw some consolidation this week, which brought back some fond memories.
• Quizlet raised $30 million at a $1 billion valuation, causing some consternation among the hosts. And Vise raised a more modest $14.5 million in a round that Danny covered.

Then we played our game. Please hold us to account. And if you have listened to the show for a while, take our survey! It’s right after this next sentence.

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