Wiz's first investor breaks down Google's $32B acquisition
Equity breaks down the largest venture-backed acquisition in history, a DOGE data breach, and the growing battle between Anthropic and the Trump administration.
Full Story
Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SpotifyAccording to Index Ventures Partner Shardul Shah, cybersecurity startup Wiz sits “at the center of three tailwinds: AI, cloud, and security spend.” Those tailwinds powered what just became the largest venture-backed acquisition in history — Google’s $32 billion deal, finalized after a declined 2024 offer, antitrust review on both sides of the Atlantic, and an extra $9 billion to sweeten the pot.
On this episode of ’s Equity podcast, Anthony Ha, Rebecca Bellan, and Sean O’Kane sit down with Shah to dig into what made Wiz worth that price tag, and also cover more of the week’s headlines.
Listen to the full episode to hear about:
- Why allegedly walked out of the Social Security Administration with a thumb drive full of personal data, and the questions it raises about access to sensitive systems
- Taya and Sandbar, the latest startups betting voice is the next big AI interface — but do normal consumers agree?
- Palmer Luckey raising for a retro gaming startup at a $1 billion valuation
- , the viral AI agent social network
- The latest in the Anthropic vs. DoD saga, including tech workers at OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft signing their names on a legal brief in support of Anthropic
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.