Alex is back! After taking some time to learn how to care for tiny humans, he's returned and is more than fired up to get back to podcasting. That means early mornings to get the Monday show off the page, and into your ears, made worth it thanks to the startup economy proving incredibly interesting thus far in 2023.

Now, what did we get into? The following:

• Stocks are largely up today, but only after a terrible week last week. So, a little plus/minus there. Cryptos are not too changed in the last day, but NFT trading results are rising again which is good news for folks into the tokens.
• News broke recently that the United States is also taking a hard look at the Adobe-Figma deal, more evidence that the mega-transaction could fail to consummate. This is notable as we have some historical notes regarding what happens when a huge deal falls apart before it can get done. Hello, Plaid.
• In more business-friendly news, the fintech market is not dead and two venture firms are taking pole position.
• Moving along to startup rounds, we took a look at ProsperOps and Flock.
• And to close, more layoffs at Twitter.

More soon, as we are back Wednesday and Friday!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity's Simplecast website. 

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday and Wednesday, and at 6 a.m. PT on Fridays, so subscribe to us onApple Podcasts,Overcast, Spotifyand all the casts. TechCrunch also has agreat show on crypto, ashow that interviews founders, one thatdetails how our stories come together, and more!

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.