Welcome back to another episode of Equity, TechCrunch’s weekly podcast that works to put the ‘fun’ in ‘venture capital.’ This week from our SoMa studio, Katie Roof, Matthew Lynley and Alex Wilhelm were joined by Sequoia’s Roelof Botha. Sequoia, as you might know, was an early backer of companies like Google and Apple. Celebrating the continuing… Read More

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 Fender’s second app, Tone, is far more ambitious than its predecessor. In fact, it’s the first smartphone app I can recall that’s launched alongside a trio of amplifiers. It’s not necessary to operate them, of course, but it’s certainly a big part of their appeal, opening up access to a seemingly infinite range of guitar tones in the way only a smartphone can. The… Read More

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 Amazon is expanding its R&D facilities in Cambridge, UK, with a plan to move into a new 60,000sq ft site in the city with capacity for more than 400 staff. Read More

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 It looks like there’s more trouble round the corner for Uber. Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into the company’s controversial “greyball program” which helped it sidestep law enforcement officials and regulators. The existence of the program was made public in early March following an explosive report from The… Read More

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Go-Jek raises $1.2 billion, Soylent raises $50 million, wheelchairs get a makeover from Izzy Wheels and Uber attempts to make UberPOOL a little less like a game of Russian roulette. All this on Crunch Report. Read More

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 YouTube wrapped up tonight’s BrandCast event for advertisers by announcing seven new shows. Some of them come from YouTube stars like Rhett and Link, who are creating a longform expansion of Good Mythical Morning, and The Slow Mo Guys, who are launching something called The Super Slow Show. The other shows feature stars from beyond YouTube. There’s Ellen’s Show Me More Show,… Read More

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 Entrepreneurs don’t pour all their energy into building startups just to have a patent troll attack them with patents of questionable quality. The patent troll problem is big and growing, posing a threat to startups and established companies alike, costing companies millions in defensive litigation fees and diverting money that would be better spent on innovation. Read More

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 Facebook gets a lot of flack for just reinforcing your world views in its News Feed echo chamber instead of challenging your opinions. That’s because you choose exactly which friends and Pages to follow. But Facebook’s newest feature could bring a wider range of sources to your News Feeds. Read More

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 Earlier this week, Docker made the surprise announcement that its long-time CEO Ben Golub was stepping down and that former Concur CEO Steve Singh was stepping into his shoes. While this move surely came as a surprise to many, it was actually in the making for a while. Read More

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 Virtual reality may be in desperate need of some content, but Facebook’s Oculus will now be focusing its efforts on investing in rather than creating virtual reality. Oculus VP of Content Jason Rubin announced today that the company will shut down its award-winning cinematic VR division, Oculus Story Studio. Read More

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