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Newsletters

The Weekend
What a Brazilian Steakhouse Says About the Tech Economy
Sept. 23, 2023
The Briefing
SpaceX, Klaviyo, LLMs: Highlight Stories From This Week
Sept. 22, 2023
Pro Weekly
Pro Weekly: Readers Temper Their Optimism About Tech
Sept. 22, 2023
Creator Economy
YouTube Ushers in Fresh Wave of Creator AI Tools
Sept. 21, 2023
Dealmaker
The New VC Mantra: It's ‘Time to IPO’
Sept. 21, 2023
AI Agenda
Nvidia Engineer’s Message to Google AI Researchers: Leave Your Company
Sept. 21, 2023
The Electric
The Electric: Lower Metals Costs Invite Risky Forecasts of More-Robust EV Sales
Sept. 21, 2023
Crypto Global
Behind the Scenes at Paradigm
Sept. 20, 2023

Briefings

Cybersecurity Venture Firm Cyberstarts Closes $480 Million Fund
Sept. 23, 2023
Apple Adds New Option to Switch From Google Search in Safari Browser
Sept. 22, 2023
Unity Technologies Issues Apology, Revises New Business Model
Sept. 22, 2023
Biden Administration Wants to Know Cloud Providers’ AI Customers
Sept. 22, 2023
Snap Ad Executive Rob Wilk Exits After Short Tenure
Sept. 22, 2023
FTC to File Long-Awaited Amazon Lawsuit Next Week
Sept. 22, 2023
Amazon to Put Ads on Prime Video, Charge $3 For Ad-Free Tier
Sept. 22, 2023
Snapchat’s Subscription Product Has 5 Million Paying Users
Sept. 21, 2023
Apple Pushes Back In-House Designed 5G Modem to 2025
Sept. 21, 2023
Broadcom Shares Slide After Google Considers Taking AI Chips In-House
Sept. 21, 2023
TikTok Shop Plans Expansion in Seattle, Grows Order Volume
Sept. 21, 2023
ByteDance Retaliated after Racism Complaints, Black Ex-Employees Allege
Sept. 21, 2023
Microsoft to Release AI Features For Windows Users Next Week
Sept. 21, 2023
Cisco to Buy Splunk in $28 Billion Cybersecurity Deal
Sept. 21, 2023
Rupert Murdoch Steps Down as Chair of Fox and News Corp.
Sept. 21, 2023
Instacart Shares Lose Nearly All IPO Gains
Sept. 20, 2023
Klaviyo Shares Rise 9% in Public Debut
Sept. 20, 2023
Apple, Goldman Scuttled Stock-Trading App
Sept. 20, 2023

Subscriber comments

Pano anthos

on Why Dave Clark and Ryan Petersen Butted Heads at Flexport

Pano anthos

on A Tangled Mess of Tech: JPMorgan’s Tall Task to Integrate First Republic

Tech is the least of their issues. They have essentially disavowed the commitments and strategy that FRB executed with the private equity and startup community. The defections in the key banking roles testify to this. We had high hopes for Chase but better systems do not compare to relationships and networking, which is how the startup world works, unfortunately. Chase is treating FRB clients like SMB accounts. Good luck!

Jud Valeski

on OpenAI Considers Creating an App Store for AI Software

Reckoning is coming for OpenAI… they’d be smart to get the marketplace going in earnest. Playing with what mostly amounts to a hallucinating NLP engine is losing steam quickly. Time for thousands of adjacent flowers to bloom.

Joseph Bohrer

on Investors Say They’re Fed Up With Amazon’s Big Bets

I feel like I've been waiting 15 years to read an article like this. Aside from the lack of discipline and transparency on unrelated investments, the retail business has never delivered the consistent profits that were promised years ago and that were the reason investors held a profitless company all those years.

Brad Templeton

on SoftBank’s Onetime Pizza-Robot Darling Shuts Down

It was a silly investment for the time. One obvious flaw is that the pizza tasted terrible. Which is odd because we should start seeing foods that robots make flawlessly -- if given a great formula and training from a great chef, allowing that food to scale in a way it could not before. But pizza already scales.

Yutaka Okura

on Google Invests in AI Startup Runway to Wrest Cloud Business From AWS

Google used to always aim high - like B-HUG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) as they call it internally. But their recent investment looks like just following social technical trend, rather than setting the trend. I would like them to regain dynamism of leading the society, further investing in moonshot type of activities such as they used to do it at GoogleX.

Carsten Schmidt

Carsten Schmidt

on TikTok Is Not the Enemy

While TikTok is certainly shady, there hasn’t been any clear evidence that shows they are guilty. I think the government owes it to the people to provide clear evidence of this being a clear security threat before banning a service.

Latest Articles

Art by Clark Miller

The Big Read

Europe Has Figured Out How to Tame Big Tech. Can the U.S. Learn Its Tricks?

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Sept. 22, 2023 11:00 AM PDT · 19 comments

Late last month in Belgium, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had a pressing question for Paul Tang, a Dutch politician and member of the European Parliament. How had they done it, she asked him. How had the EU managed...

Image: Art by Clark Miller

Meta's EMEA headquarters in Dublin. Photo via Getty.

Meta, Under Fire From Regulators, Dials Back Ad Targeting

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Sept. 15, 2023 6:00 AM PDT

Meta Platforms built a $114 billion-a-year advertising juggernaut by tailoring ads to Facebook and Instagram users based on what they liked, posted or bought on the company’s apps. Now, under mounting pressure from regulators around the world, Meta is backing away from that approach. In the EU, users can now choose to see ads based... Meta Platforms built a $114 billion-a-year advertising juggernaut by tailoring ads to Facebook...

Photo by Getty

Google Nears Release of Gemini AI to Challenge OpenAI

By Jon Victor · Sept. 14, 2023 4:52 PM PDT · 2 comments

Google has given a small group of companies access to an early version of its highly anticipated conversational artificial intelligence software, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter. Giving outside developers access to the software, known as Gemini, means Google is getting close to incorporating it in its consumer... Google has given a small group of companies access to an early version of its highly anticipated...

Flexport founder, Ryan Petersen. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Flexport’s Revenue Dropped 70% in First Half of 2023

By Maria Heeter, Aaron Holmes, Ann Gehan and Theo Wayt · Sept. 14, 2023 12:40 PM PDT · 9 comments

Flexport’s revenue fell nearly 70% in the first half of the year to $700 million and the company burned through cash, people familiar with the company’s financials said. The decline shows how the SoftBank- and Andreessen Horowitz-backed logistics startup’s performance has been deteriorating rapidly amid a broader freight market... Flexport’s revenue fell nearly 70% in the first half of the year to $700 million and the...

Paradigm co-founders Fred Ehrsam (left) and Matt Huang (right). Photos via Flickr and AP

The Paradigm Shift in Crypto That Wasn’t

By Aidan Ryan · Sept. 14, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 4 comments

Paradigm co-founders Fred Ehrsam (left) and Matt Huang (right). Photos via Flickr and AP

The Paradigm Shift in Crypto That Wasn’t

By Aidan Ryan · Sept. 14, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 4 comments

Earlier this year, as some of the less die-hard crypto investors and entrepreneurs began distancing themselves from that turbulent sector, Paradigm—one of the largest venture firms specializing in crypto—also seemed to wobble. In May, Paradigm scrubbed any mention of crypto from the homepage of its website and Twitter bio, changing... Earlier this year, as some of the less die-hard crypto investors and entrepreneurs began...

venture capital startups

Why the Two Biggest Winners in Instacart’s IPO Clashed

By Cory Weinberg · Sept. 13, 2023 5:57 PM PDT · 5 comments

By far, the two biggest winners of Instacart’s long-awaited initial public offering next week will be the grocery company’s largest individual shareholder, co-founder and former CEO Apoorva Mehta, and its largest venture backer, Sequoia Capital. Mehta’s profit from the listing stands to be more than $780 million, while Sequoia... By far, the two biggest winners of Instacart’s long-awaited initial public offering next...

Arm CFO Jason Child. Art by Mike Sullivan.

startups semiconductors

The Startup ‘Adrenaline Junkie’ Trying to Break Open the IPO Market

By Cory Weinberg · Sept. 13, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 2 comments

When bankers working on Arm’s impending initial public offering wanted to talk to one of the executives in charge of the SoftBank-owned chip designer, they sometimes heard heavy breathing on the other end of the phone. It was the sound of Jason Child, a longtime Amazon executive who is now Arm’s chief financial officer, running up a... When bankers working on Arm’s impending initial public offering wanted to talk to one of...

Deel CEO and co-founder Alex Bouaziz. Photo by Getty.

startups venture capital

Deel Changes Terms of Service, Cuts Off High-Risk Trading Sites

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sept. 12, 2023 7:13 PM PDT

Human resources startup Deel revamped its terms of service, banning several additional types of transactions and effectively ending support for some retail trading websites whose activities have lately drawn the scrutiny of securities regulators. The four-year-old startup, best known for services that help companies hire remote workers, had... Human resources startup Deel revamped its terms of service, banning several additional types of...

Art by Clark Miller.

Can Yahoo Be Saved? How Apollo Is Rebuilding an Internet Icon

By Rachel Graf · Sept. 12, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 9 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

media/telecom Finance

Can Yahoo Be Saved? How Apollo Is Rebuilding an Internet Icon

By Rachel Graf · Sept. 12, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 9 comments

When speaking about the company he inherited in September 2021, Jim Lanzone is remarkably blunt. “I always knew these products had seen better days,” said Lanzone, the CEO of Yahoo, over a video call in late August. “Even though they still have large audiences, they needed to be modernized—pretty much every single one of... When speaking about the company he inherited in September 2021, Jim Lanzone is remarkably blunt....

Photo by Getty.

Deel Halts Services to Several Prop Trading Firms Pending Compliance Review

By Natasha Mascarenhas and Jessica E. Lessin · Sept. 11, 2023 6:19 PM PDT

Deel, the human resources startup embroiled in a government crackdown on online trading sites, has paused providing payout services to several businesses in the category, as it conducts a review of their operations. An executive at MyFundedFX who identified himself as the firm’s chief operating officer said on Discord that for the next 24... Deel, the human resources startup embroiled in a government crackdown on online trading sites,...

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi. Photo via YouTube/Databricks.

Inside Databricks’ Contrarian Playbook: Burn $1.5 Billion to Buy Big Growth

By Cory Weinberg · Sept. 11, 2023 3:54 PM PDT · 4 comments

Much of the startup world has gotten a clear message from investors: Stop bleeding cash. Databricks, one of the software startups trying to benefit most from rabid corporate interest in artificial intelligence, is taking a different tack—and getting rewarded for it. Databricks, on the verge of raising a new round of funding at a $43... Much of the startup world has gotten a clear message from investors: Stop bleeding cash....

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty

Nvidia Muscles Into Cloud Services, Rankling AWS

By Anissa Gardizy and Aaron Holmes · Sept. 11, 2023 1:17 PM PDT · 6 comments

Last year, Nvidia made an unusual proposal to Amazon Web Services and other cloud providers that have long been the biggest buyers of Nvidia’s specialized artificial intelligence server chips. Nvidia wanted to lease Nvidia-powered servers in the cloud providers’ data centers so it could turn around and rent the same servers to AI... Last year, Nvidia made an unusual proposal to Amazon Web Services and other cloud providers that...

Apple CEO Tim Cook at the site of the TSMC plant in Phoenix in December. Photo by AP.

The Flaw in Apple’s Plan to Make Chips in Arizona

By Wayne Ma · Sept. 11, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 18 comments

Apple CEO Tim Cook at the site of the TSMC plant in Phoenix in December. Photo by AP.

apple semiconductors

The Flaw in Apple’s Plan to Make Chips in Arizona

By Wayne Ma · Sept. 11, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 18 comments

In December last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook traveled to Phoenix, stood with President Joe Biden in front of a high-profile factory Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was constructing and said the facility would produce chips for the iPhone maker. The comments seemed to commit Apple to aid Biden’s goal of lessening reliance on foreign... In December last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook traveled to Phoenix, stood with President Joe Biden in...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Venture Capitalist Who Was Attacked by Orcas

By Margaux MacColl · Sept. 9, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 4 comments

Adventurer: James Currier, founding partner at NFX, co-founder of Tickle, Wonderhill, IronPearl Escapades: Long-haul sailing, Himalayan treks, snow camping It was 10:40 p.m. one night this June when NFX founding partner James Currier’s 30-foot-long sailboat suddenly lurched sideways, shoved by an unknown force beneath the Mediterranean... Adventurer: James Currier, founding partner at NFX, co-founder of Tickle, Wonderhill, IronPearl...

Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of Social Capital; Deven Parekh, managing director of Insight Partners; and Scott Shleifer, managing director of Tiger Global. Photos via Getty.

startups venture capital

Venture Firms Hang the ‘For Sale’ Sign on Portfolios

By Maria Heeter, Natasha Mascarenhas and Kate Clark · Sept. 8, 2023 1:03 PM PDT · 4 comments

Some of the most active startup investors have been hanging a “for sale” sign on their portfolios at a time when venture investors are finding it increasingly difficult to raise new venture funds. Insight Partners has considered selling a stake valued at $400 million in Left Lane Capital, a consumer-focused venture capital firm... Some of the most active startup investors have been hanging a “for sale” sign on...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Instant Oral History of ‘Trench Foot Burning Man’

By Annie Goldsmith, Margaux MacColl, Natasha Mascarenhas, Akash Pasricha and Erin Woo · Sept. 8, 2023 11:00 AM PDT · 1 comment

Burning Man 2023 began on Sunday, August 27, as it normally does: with several days of blistering sunshine, pounding bass and playa dust. Then, between Friday and Saturday, a surprise deluge hit northwest Nevada—dumping two months’ worth of rain in 24 hours—and things really began to get interesting. Justin Kan, general partner... Burning Man 2023 began on Sunday, August 27, as it normally does: with several days of blistering...

Why There Will Never Be Another 200 Million Subscriber App

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sept. 8, 2023 10:31 AM PDT

startups venture capital

Why There Will Never Be Another 200 Million Subscriber App

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sept. 8, 2023 10:31 AM PDT

There aren’t many business books that tell you to fire your customers. But there should be. Enterprise value > revenue was a big theme on this week's pod along with more conversation about the huge shifts happening in how consumer startups make money and get financed. I even got a John Malone fax story in. Hope you enjoy, and please... There aren’t many business books that tell you to fire your customers. But there should be....

Art by Clark Miller

The Head of the Anti-Defamation League Wants to Make Peace With Elon Musk

By Jon Steinberg · Sept. 8, 2023 9:00 AM PDT · 4 comments

By the time Jonathan Greenblatt jumped on the phone at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time this Wednesday, he had already made the rounds on CNN, CNBC and MSNBC. It had been a high blood pressure day for the CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League. And that was before X owner Elon Musk fired off the latest in a barrage of tweets taking... By the time Jonathan Greenblatt jumped on the phone at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time this Wednesday, he...

Joe Ravitch (left) and Jeff Sine, co-founders of The Raine Group. Photos via Getty.

semiconductors Finance

The SoftBank Ally Pulling the Strings Behind Arm’s IPO

By Rachel Graf · Sept. 8, 2023 6:00 AM PDT · 1 comment

For more than a decade, the Raine Group has wielded its connections—especially to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son—to land big deals and punch above its weight on Wall Street. Next week, one of the most hotly anticipated initial public offerings in years will serve as the latest test of their partnership. Raine holds a flagship position on... For more than a decade, the Raine Group has wielded its connections—especially to SoftBank...

Alex Bouaziz, CEO of Deel. Photo by Getty.

Deel, Coinbase Handled Tens of Millions in Payments for Frozen Prop Trader, Government Says

By Natasha Mascarenhas, Aidan Ryan and Jessica E. Lessin · Sept. 7, 2023 6:50 PM PDT

A U.S. government probe of a high-risk “trading site” called MyForexFunds, which the government has accused of operating a Ponzi scheme, has entangled others from the fintech industry. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, during an investigation of MyForexFunds that covered a period between late 2021 and late 2022, subpoenaed... A U.S. government probe of a high-risk “trading site” called MyForexFunds, which the...

Dave Clark. Photo by AP

Dave Clark’s Last Days at Flexport

By Nick Wingfield · Sept. 7, 2023 3:52 PM PDT · 5 comments

Dave Clark. Photo by AP

startups e-commerce

Dave Clark’s Last Days at Flexport

By Nick Wingfield · Sept. 7, 2023 3:52 PM PDT · 5 comments

Dave Clark knew something was off when the executive chairman of Flexport, Ryan Petersen, showed up on the video call on Wednesday with Robert Swan, a board member at the freight forwarder. Clark—a former star Amazon executive whom Petersen had lured to Flexport to become its CEO last year—had expected Petersen to be on the call by... Dave Clark knew something was off when the executive chairman of Flexport, Ryan Petersen, showed...