From Air Force officer to space defense CEO: Why Even Rogers left to build weapons for orbit
Even Rodgers spent a decade as an Air Force weapons officer watching China and Russia build space weapons while the U.S. had "nothing in our arsenal." So he left the military to solve the problem himself.
Now, as co-founder and CEO of True Anomaly, he's building the first exclusively defense-focused space superiority company, developing autonomous spacecraft, sensors, and software designed specifically for military engagements in orbit. With $418 million raised and a growing team, Rogers is racing to field capabilities the Space Force desperately needs.
Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sat down with Rogers to explore the emerging business of space defense and why the U.S. is playing catch-up.
Listen to the full episode to hear about:
How the space industry has shifted away from a service domain as threats in space evolve, and what other countries are already deploying.
The biggest bottleneck slowing down space defense development.
How True Anomaly's "Jackal" spacecraft is designed to evolve from surveillance to multi-role missions.
Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
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Equity Live: From $300M seed rounds to data center builds, AI is feeling bubbly
The Equity crew was live at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025! Hosts Kirsten Korosec, Max Zeff, and Anthony Ha took over the Builders Stage on Monday morning to kick off the event with the question everyone's asking: are we in an AI bubble?
Between valuations that have tripled in months, $300M seed rounds, and $100B commitments flying around, the money is moving fast — maybe too fast. The Equity team breaks down what peak bubble looks like, where the actual business models are (spoiler: a lot of companies are betting on AI datacenters), and why some founders are betting against the scaling race entirely.
Listen to the full episode to hear:
Why this feels like peak bubble territory, and what the wildest funding rounds of the past month tell us about where AI is headed
How the AI data center boom is reshaping infrastructure investing, and which unexpected players are getting in on the action
Why Cohere's former AI research lead is going against the grain and betting against the scaling race
What happens when a startup's viral demo becomes its entire business model (and whether that's sustainable)
Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
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Startups should rethink how they pursue sales and traction, according to VC Tim Chen
After a small startup exit and being turned down by every VC firm he applied to, Tim Chen began angel investing and eventually stumbled into raising his own fund.
Now, as the solo investor behind Essence VC, he just closed his fourth fund at $41 million "without even trying." Chen's secret weapon? Being technical enough to debate PhD founders on implementation details while understanding the market dynamics that turn scrappy startups into category leaders.
Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Julie Bort sat down with Tim Chen to explore the rise of solo VCs and who's rewriting the traditional venture playbook.
Listen to the full episode to hear about:
Why the YC playbook of "revenue at all costs" doesn't work for infrastructure startups, and what Chen tells technical founders to focus on instead
The strategic pivot Chen pushed one portfolio company to make that completely changed their trajectory
What being a "small exit founder" taught Chen about venture capital, and why he thinks the industry has it backwards
Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
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OpenAI wants to power your browser, and that could be a security nightmare
The browser wars are heating up again, this time with AI in the driver’s seat.
OpenAI just launched Atlas, a ChatGPT-powered browser that lets users surf the web using natural language and even includes an “agent mode” that can complete tasks autonomously. It’s one of the biggest browser launches in recent memory, but it's debuting with an unsolved security flaw that could expose passwords, emails, and sensitive data.
On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Max Zeff, Anthony Ha and Sean O’Kane break down Atlas’s debut, the broader wave of alternative browsers, and more of the week’s startup and tech news.
Listen to the full episode to hear about:
Why Rivian spinoff Also just landed a massive deal with Amazon for thousands of pedal-assist cargo vehicles (and why the name is a nightmare to say in conversation)
How Sesame, the conversational AI startup from Oculus founders, raised $250M for a product that doesn't really exist yet
The AWS outage that broke much of the web, turned Eight Sleep mattresses into temperature nightmares, and exposed just how fragile the internet really is
The alternative browsers that either embrace or push back against AI-everything, from privacy-focused options like DuckDuckGo and Brave to "mindful" browsers like Opera Air
Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
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Sam Altman’s eye-scanning startup wants to prove humanity in the age of AI bots
Ever wonder if you’re talking to a real person online or just another bot? As bots increasingly outnumber humans online, leading to an explosion of deepfakes and AI-driven fraud, one company has a solution straight out of sci-fi: scanning your iris to verify your identity.
Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan spoke with Adrian Ludwig, Chief Security Officer and Chief Architect at Tools for Humanity, the company behind World’s eye-scanning Orbs appearing around the globe. Bellan and Ludwig discuss building privacy-first identity verification, the open-source approach to biometric tech, and why proving humanity matters now more than ever.
Listen to the full episode to hear:
How zero-knowledge proofs verify that you're over 18 (or human) without revealing your location, browsing history, or other identifying information.
Why Tools for Humanity open-sourced the entire Orb — from hardware to firmware and software.
How Match Group, Event Pop, and other major platforms are partnering up to combat bot abuse.
Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
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The intersection of technology, startups, and venture capital touches everything now. That’s why Equity, TechCrunch's flagship podcast, digs into the business of startups for entrepreneurs and enthusiasts alike. Every Wednesday and Friday, TechCrunch reporters keep you up-to-date on the world of business, technology, and venture capital. Equity is ranked the No.2 podcast in the Top 100 Venture Capital All time leaderboard on Goodpods—As well as No.17 for the Top 100 Finance All time chart and No.32 for the Top 100 Business News All time chart.
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