Will rising interest rates decimate startup valuations?

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

This is Saturday, which means it’s not a usual day for us to drop an episode. But what are we if not try-hards at heart? So, we’re back today.

What do we have on store for you? I brought Anshu Sharma onto the podcast — and a Twitter space, so make sure you are following the podcast, yeah? — to chat interest rates, technology growth, startup valuations, and how they all tie together. Sharma was the right person to have on the show because he’s been a big tech employee (Oracle, Salesforce), an investor (Storm Ventures, and as an angel), and he’s a founder to boot. So he’s been around not just the block, but several in the world of technology over time.

TechCrunch has covered SkyFlow, his startup, a few times including its most recent fundraise.

Sharma finds some of the in-market worry about rising rates harming tech stocks silly. His thesis boils down to the value of growth on a longer time-horizon than what a DCF-tuned spreadsheet might tell you. That said, rising rates will impact some startup inputs, like venture funds in the medium-term, so there was a lot to chew on.

We try to keep Equity pretty high-level, and focused on discrete events. But why have a show if you can’t use it to scratch your own itches from time to time?

The pod is back on Tuesday due to an American holiday this Monday. Chat soon!