The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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Recent Editions

Ben Horowitz, Martin Casado and Marc Andreessen. Photos by Getty and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Andreessen Horowitz’s AI Crusader Emerges as a Confidant of the Founders

By Kate Clark · Jun 30, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

“Will AI kill us all?” Andreessen Horowitz general partner Martin Casado asked his boss Marc Andreessen in early June. The bleary-eyed Casado had dialed in from a desk in a dimly lit hotel room in Washington, D.C., where he’d been meeting with regulators. His boss grinned, retorting, “I have good news!…AI is not... “Will AI kill us all?” Andreessen Horowitz general partner Martin Casado asked his...

Why Beauty Company Oddity is Poised For a Hot IPO

By Ann Gehan · Jun 30, 2023 5:00am PDT · 1 comment

Cosmetics company Oddity Tech, which filed to go public last week, doesn’t need the stock market to continue rallying for its public debut to take off. Instead, Oddity can ride a tsunami of investor enthusiasm for other beauty and skin care stocks whose businesses have been lifted by TikTok popularity. One of the best stock market... Cosmetics company Oddity Tech, which filed to go public last week, doesn’t need the stock...

The U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Getty.

What Supreme Court Ruling Means for Tech Hiring

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jun 29, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 3 comments

For any folks in Silicon Valley who don’t often pay attention to what is happening in Washington, today is a day they should.As the country digests the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of race-based admissions in colleges, my mind turned to what the ruling could mean for companies’ efforts to diversify their ranks. After talking to about half a... For any folks in Silicon Valley who don’t often pay attention to what is happening in Washington,...

Chart by Shane Burke

The Decline of #Pride

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 29, 2023 3:12pm PDT · 1 comment

Chart by Shane Burke

Creator Economy

The Decline of #Pride

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 29, 2023 3:12pm PDT · 1 comment

Fewer brands are posting about Pride month on Instagram and Facebook this year, according to new data from Emplifi, a provider of customer engagement software for social networks and companies like McDonald’s. The number of U.S. brands using Pride-related hashtags on Instagram declined 16% year-over-year, while interactions, meaning... Fewer brands are posting about Pride month on Instagram and Facebook this year, according to new...

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, arriving at federal court in San Francisco on June 28. Photo by Getty.

Microsoft’s Cloud Server Business in 2022 Was Less Than Half of AWS, New Document Reveals

By Aaron Holmes · Jun 29, 2023 1:36pm PDT · 7 comments

For years Microsoft has kept a lid on details about the true size of its Azure cloud server rental business, making it impossible for investors to know how Microsoft’s cloud operations unit stacked up against industry leader Amazon Web Services. But this week, thanks to antitrust regulators, the world got a peek under the lid. Azure... For years Microsoft has kept a lid on details about the true size of its Azure cloud server...

Photo by Getty

Three Reasons to Look Past the 40% Drop in VC Funding

By Kate Clark · Jun 29, 2023 12:23pm PDT

To my surprise, the recent boom in artificial intelligence investments has done little to dig U.S. venture capital funding out of its hole.VC funding decreased in the second quarter, which ends tomorrow, according to new data provided to The Information by Crunchbase. U.S. startups raised just $27.6 billion compared to $45.2 billion in the first... To my surprise, the recent boom in artificial intelligence investments has done little to dig...

Coatue co-founder Thomas Laffont. Photo by Juan Pinnel

‘Pressures Remain’: Coatue Prepares Tech Founders for the Road Ahead

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jun 29, 2023 11:26am PDT · 8 comments

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend a founder and investor conference hosted by Coatue, called East Meets West. While the conference, held in Montecito, Calif., was off the record, I asked the firm for permission to share one of my favorite parts of the event: the keynote its partners gave on the state of the finance and tech... Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend a founder and investor conference hosted by...

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. Photo by Getty.

Stripe Lays Off Dozens, Mostly in Recruiting

By Cory Weinberg and Maria Heeter · Jun 29, 2023 11:08am PDT · 1 comment

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison. Photo by Getty.

Stripe Lays Off Dozens, Mostly in Recruiting

By Cory Weinberg and Maria Heeter · Jun 29, 2023 11:08am PDT · 1 comment

Stripe has laid off a few dozen employees, most of them recruiters, in its human resources department. The staff cuts, while affecting a tiny percentage of the company’s roughly 7,000-person workforce, are part of a broader wave of belt tightening in tech, even as the pace of larger layoffs has abated. Stripe’s cuts in the recruiting... Stripe has laid off a few dozen employees, most of them recruiters, in its human resources...

Illustration by Laurent Hrybyk.

How Amazon Is Taming Its Customers’ Returns Addiction

By Theo Wayt · Jun 29, 2023 6:04am PDT · 1 comment

When Amazon announced Wednesday that customers could soon start dropping off items they wanted to return at nearly 1,000 Staples stores, it touted the partnership as part of its decadeslong quest to make online shopping as easy as possible for consumers. In reality, the Staples partnership is the result of a years-long effort by a team inside... When Amazon announced Wednesday that customers could soon start dropping off items they wanted to...

Amid "production hell," Tesla built a gigantic tent outside its Fremont, Calif. headquarters for Model 3 manufacturing overflow. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: The EV Industry Confronts the Valley of Death

By Steve LeVine · Jun 29, 2023 4:30am PDT

Two years ago, a wave of electric vehicle, battery and mining companies went public with boasts of coming profits. Today, things look very different. Just this week, Lordstown Motors filed for bankruptcy protection, the U.K.’s Cornish Lithium warned that it might go bust, and Ford, whose EV division will lose $3 billion this year, reportedly... Two years ago, a wave of electric vehicle, battery and mining companies went public with boasts...

President Joe Biden holds a microchip. Photo by Getty.

The Risks of Cutting Off China

By Martin Peers · Jun 28, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 3 comments

The Great Wall dividing the U.S. from China is about to get higher. A Wall Street Journal report that the Biden administration is considering further tightening exports of artificial intelligence chips to China triggered a sell-off in chip stocks on Wednesday. Shares of Nvidia, the dominant provider of chips for generative AI, fell 1.8%. To be... The Great Wall dividing the U.S. from China is about to get higher. A Wall Street Journal report...

Naveen Rao (left), CEO of MosaicML, and Ali Ghodsi (right), CEO of DataBricks. Photos by Getty.

How Databricks CEO Justifies Paying $1.3 Billion for a Young AI Startup

By Aaron Holmes · Jun 28, 2023 3:31pm PDT · 5 comments

Naveen Rao (left), CEO of MosaicML, and Ali Ghodsi (right), CEO of DataBricks. Photos by Getty.

How Databricks CEO Justifies Paying $1.3 Billion for a Young AI Startup

By Aaron Holmes · Jun 28, 2023 3:31pm PDT · 5 comments

When enterprise software firm Databricks revealed on Monday it would pay $1.3 billion for a two-year-old artificial intelligence startup, MosaicML, the deal looked overpriced. Databricks is paying 65 times Mosaic’s $20 million in annual recurring revenue, a measure of customer commitments to pay for its software, according to Databricks... When enterprise software firm Databricks revealed on Monday it would pay $1.3 billion for a...

Alex Cooper, host of Call Her Daddy, at Spotify's Art of the Interview Session on June 20 in Cannes, France. Photo by Getty.

Creator Economy

Spotify’s Video-Podcast Surge

By Isabelle Sarraf · Jun 28, 2023 2:23pm PDT

For the past three years, Spotify has been trying to beef up its video podcasts as it tries to keep up with the TikTok-driven explosion in short-form video. The efforts are starting to show some progress. The music streaming service now hosts more than 100,000 podcast shows that publish video episodes, a 40% increase from March though still a... For the past three years, Spotify has been trying to beef up its video podcasts as it tries to...

Art by Clark Miller.

Bargain Hunting in the Legacy Media Aisle

By Andrew A. Rosen · Jun 28, 2023 10:06am PDT · 10 comments

Last month Netflix poached the co-heads of AMC Networks’ Scripted Programming, responsible for spinoffs of the hit series “The Walking Dead” and “Interview With the Vampire,” as well as Apple TV+’s new drama “Silo.” Executive poaching is nothing new or unusual. But the move raises a provocative... Last month Netflix poached the co-heads of AMC Networks’ Scripted Programming, responsible...

Chart from FTX court filings.

Big Winners of the Bitcoin Boom; FTX’s Messy Web

By Aidan Ryan · Jun 28, 2023 9:00am PDT

Bitcoin is having a moment. Since the start of June, the most popular cryptocurrency by market capitalization has surged 12%. That jump has coincided with traditional financial firms, which have long been wary of crypto, embracing bitcoin in a big way. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, applied for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund... Bitcoin is having a moment. Since the start of June, the most popular cryptocurrency by market...

Paul Singer, president and co-CEO of Elliott Management. Photo by Getty.

The Busiest Activist Investors in Tech

By Maria Heeter · Jun 28, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Paul Singer, president and co-CEO of Elliott Management. Photo by Getty.

The Busiest Activist Investors in Tech

By Maria Heeter · Jun 28, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

It's not surprising that an analysis of activist investors shows Starboard Value and Elliott Management are among the most, well, active of activists. Both feature frequently in high-profile fights ranging from Salesforce to eBay. What is more surprising is that some smaller firms, such as Engaged Capital and Legion Capital Management,... It's not surprising that an analysis of activist investors shows Starboard Value and Elliott...

Photo by Shutterstock

Musk v. Zuckerberg and Silicon Valley’s Dangerous Road

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jun 27, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 4 comments

I’ll just say it: Things are starting to look ridiculous in Silicon Valley again. Two of our most at times admired, at times reviled tech leaders are getting ready to fight each other in a mixed martial arts cage match. And, as The Wall Street Journal reported today, boards and businesses across tech are dealing with a new problem: workplace... I’ll just say it: Things are starting to look ridiculous in Silicon Valley again. Two of our most...

Photo via Shutterstock

Creator Economy

Bloomberg to Publish More Audio on YouTube

By Alex Perry · Jun 27, 2023 3:18pm PDT

The term “pivot to video” has become a shorthand for the ill-fated strategic shifts undertaken by digital media companies such as Buzzfeed and Mic in the middle of the past decade to capitalize on Facebook’s prioritization of videos. Fast forward to 2023, and there’s a new pivot happening—this time with audio. The latest is Bloomberg, the... The term “pivot to video” has become a shorthand for the ill-fated strategic shifts undertaken by...

Jason Auerbach. Photo via Silicon Valley Bank, Getty and Foursquare.

The Software Banker With Private Equity on Speed Dial

By Michael Roddan and Maria Heeter · Jun 27, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

When Josh Rogers, CEO of data integrity firm Precisely, was looking for a buyer in 2021, he tapped Jason Auerbach, then a top investment banker at UBS. Auerbach ended up helping sell Precisely to private equity firms Clearlake Capital Group and TA Associates. Twelve months later, when Precisely needed to raise money, Auerbach—by this time... When Josh Rogers, CEO of data integrity firm Precisely, was looking for a buyer in 2021, he...

Photo by Getty

Deal Monday Returns With Spate of AI and Enterprise Acquisitions

By Martin Peers · Jun 26, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Photo by Getty

Deal Monday Returns With Spate of AI and Enterprise Acquisitions

By Martin Peers · Jun 26, 2023 5:00pm PDT

The deal market lives. For the second time this month, we woke up Monday morning to a big enterprise software acquisition. This time, it was IBM (remember that company?) buying data management firm Apptio for $4.6 billion from Vista Equity Partners. People with long memories of obscure enterprise software firms (you know who you are) will recall... The deal market lives. For the second time this month, we woke up Monday morning to a big...