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

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

Art by Clark Miller

Silicon Valley’s Realtors, Like Its Bankers, Are Having a Tough Month

By Zara Stone · Mar 24, 2023 12:00pm PDT · 2 comments

In early March, Ken DeLeon, founder of DeLeon Realty, a Silicon Valley–based brokerage that sold more than $1 billion in homes in 2021, called one of his venture capitalist clients to discuss the purchase of a $20 million–plus megamansion. The client was flip-flopping between a cash offer and a loan. “First Republic Bank has a... In early March, Ken DeLeon, founder of DeLeon Realty, a Silicon Valley–based brokerage that...

Block chairman and co founder Jack Dorsey. Photo by Getty

Fintech’s Big Wakeup Call

By Ann Gehan · Mar 24, 2023 10:20am PDT · 4 comments

Fintechs were supposed to transform banking by making it dead simple for users to open savings accounts or pay their bills. But a series of recent high-profile setbacks with both fintechs and the traditional banking sector is setting off alarm bells. This month’s series of bank collapses has shined a spotlight on the health of small banks,... Fintechs were supposed to transform banking by making it dead simple for users to open savings...

Art by Clark Miller.

Caffeinated Capitalists

Venture Capital’s 25 Favorite Cafes

By Annie Goldsmith · Mar 24, 2023 9:00am PDT · 10 comments

Coupa Cafe in Palo Alto. Buck’s of Woodside. The Creamery in SoMa (RIP). Silicon Valley’s coffee shops have undoubtedly seen more dealmaking than any one fancy office building or members’ club. Now a new guard of cafes, spread throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, New York and Los Angeles, is growing in popularity among... Coupa Cafe in Palo Alto. Buck’s of Woodside. The Creamery in SoMa (RIP). Silicon...

Pro Weekly: Insights From The Information 50 Database

Pro Weekly: Insights From The Information 50 Database

By Scott Thurm · Mar 24, 2023 8:00am PDT

Pro Weekly: Insights From The Information 50 Database

Pro Weekly: Insights From The Information 50 Database

By Scott Thurm · Mar 24, 2023 8:00am PDT

Welcome back! The Information 50 is our guide to promising startups, which we’ve published each year since 2020. Now we’ve brought together the 150 startups we’ve identified over the past three years, with added information about how they’ve fared since. The Information 50 Startups Database, which we published Thursday, details each... Welcome back! The Information 50 is our guide to promising startups, which we’ve published...

Art by Jesús Escudero

‘This Is Going to Be a Blip’: Investors, Founders Move On After Bank Crisis

By Kate Clark · Mar 24, 2023 6:00am PDT

On Monday, David Garner rose at 5 a.m. to sign the final documents required to finish setting up an account for his startup at JPMorgan Chase, following a two-week ordeal that began with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Garner’s Seattle-based startup—CalmWave, which develops software for hospital intensive care units—had... On Monday, David Garner rose at 5 a.m. to sign the final documents required to finish setting up...

Jack Dorsey, head, chairman and cofounder of Block. Photo by Bloomberg.

Let’s Talk About Jack Dorsey

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 23, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Well, it’s been a minute since Jack Dorsey has been in the news. But lest you think that Elon Musk—and Congress’s favorite punching bag, TikTok—get all the fun, today short seller Hindenburg Research sent Block’s stock down 15% with a report saying the payments company, formerly known as Square, had been inflating its user metrics by serving... Well, it’s been a minute since Jack Dorsey has been in the news. But lest you think that Elon...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Photo by Getty

Creator Economy

TikTok CEO Keeps His Cool, But Scores Few Points

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 23, 2023 4:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Well, that was something. For roughly five hours on Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew responded to a grilling by representatives from both major political parties who bombarded him with questions and accusations related to national security, TikTok’s data practices, and its Chinese parent company ByteDance’s alleged relationship with the Chinese... Well, that was something. For roughly five hours on Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew responded...

A Silicon Valley Bank branch in Santa Monica, Calif. Photo by Getty.

Breaking Up SVB Is Hard to Do

By Michael Roddan · Mar 23, 2023 1:14pm PDT

A Silicon Valley Bank branch in Santa Monica, Calif. Photo by Getty.

Breaking Up SVB Is Hard to Do

By Michael Roddan · Mar 23, 2023 1:14pm PDT

With bids for the entity formerly known as Silicon Valley Bank due Friday, potential buyers and regulators are running into an interesting reality: Breaking up—and salvaging—SVB is hard to do. Nearly two weeks after SVB failed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has yet to find a buyer for the so-called bridge bank that took over... With bids for the entity formerly known as Silicon Valley Bank due Friday, potential buyers and...

Photo via Good Eggs

The Coming Wave of Cram Downs

By Kate Clark · Mar 23, 2023 12:44pm PDT · 3 comments

What do Good Eggs, a startup that delivers $4.99 broccoli bunches, and Tonal, a fitness startup that sells $3,995 exercise equipment, have in common—other than a business model subsidized by venture capital? They’re both engaged in a painful type of financing known as a “cram down.” If you grew up in the era of easy money, ultralow interest... What do Good Eggs, a startup that delivers $4.99 broccoli bunches, and Tonal, a fitness startup...

Shivon Zilis. Photo: GeekWire/YouTube.

Shivon Zilis, Musk Associate, Leaves OpenAI Board

By Becky Peterson · Mar 23, 2023 8:22am PDT · 4 comments

Shivon Zilis, director of operations at Elon Musk’s Neuralink, has stepped down from the board of OpenAI, according to a person familiar with the move and Zilis’ LinkedIn profile. Her departure follows public criticism of OpenAI from Musk, who aside from being her boss at the brain-computer interface startup Neuralink is also the ... Shivon Zilis, director of operations at Elon Musk’s Neuralink, has stepped down from the...

Bill Gurley in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg

Good Eggs Cuts Its Valuation 94% in Lifeline Financing as More Startups Get Desperate

By Amir Efrati · Mar 23, 2023 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

As more startups struggle to raise money from venture capitalists and approach bankruptcy, they are going to extreme lengths to stay afloat. The latest example is Good Eggs, which delivers fresh produce and other groceries. The company this month raised around $7 million from Greenwich, Conn., investment firm Glade Brook Capital Partners at a... As more startups struggle to raise money from venture capitalists and approach bankruptcy, they...

Phosphate deposits in the Western Sahara near Morocco. Photo: Peter Turnley/Corbis/Getty

The Electric: A Phosphate Mine in Canada Could Feed a Rising U.S. Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Mar 23, 2023 4:30am PDT

Phosphate deposits in the Western Sahara near Morocco. Photo: Peter Turnley/Corbis/Getty

The Electric: A Phosphate Mine in Canada Could Feed a Rising U.S. Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Mar 23, 2023 4:30am PDT

As auto manufacturers increasingly choose lithium-iron-phosphate batteries to power their electric vehicles, a phosphate project under development in Canada marks another step in building a U.S.-led battery metals industry to compete with China’s.The project, launched by Vancouver, British Columbia-based First Phosphate, appears to be the first... As auto manufacturers increasingly choose lithium-iron-phosphate batteries to power their...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Photo by Bloomberg.

U.S. Tech Should Support TikTok at This Moment

By Martin Peers · Mar 22, 2023 5:00pm PDT · 15 comments

If Steve Martin were to remake his 1984 film “Lonely Guy” this year, he could center it around Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok. It’s a paradox that the executive leading one of the most popular apps in the U.S. is basically on his own as he fights the threat of a ban from both the Biden administration and congressional opponents. The few people who... If Steve Martin were to remake his 1984 film “Lonely Guy” this year, he could center it around...

Brian Freeman, CEO and founder of Creatorland. Art by Shane Burke.

Creator Economy

A Startup Wants to Help Creators Network and Hire

By Isabelle Sarraf · Mar 22, 2023 3:20pm PDT

Creators need to mingle. To market themselves and their work, they need to constantly connect with their peers, professionals supporting creators and advertisers. But traditional networking and recruiting sites such as LinkedIn and Fiverr can come up short for creators, especially when it comes to finding industry-specific opportunities... Creators need to mingle. To market themselves and their work, they need to constantly connect...

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk last August. Photo by Bloomberg

SpaceX Plans New Funding With Backing From Saudi, UAE Investors

By Becky Peterson · Mar 22, 2023 3:07pm PDT

A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s investment fund and an Abu Dhabi investment firm are planning to invest in a multibillion-dollar funding round for SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, according to people familiar with the investor discussions. Representatives of SpaceX and Morgan Stanley, which is organizing the ongoing funding effort,... A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s investment fund and an Abu Dhabi investment firm are...

Brian Armstrong, chairman and chief executive officer of Coinbase Global Inc., during an interview in New York, US, on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Best and Worst Time for Coinbase

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 22, 2023 1:00pm PDT

Brian Armstrong, chairman and chief executive officer of Coinbase Global Inc., during an interview in New York, US, on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Best and Worst Time for Coinbase

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 22, 2023 1:00pm PDT

Bitcoin has been on a tear in recent days following the collapse of banks including crypto-friendly Silvergate and Signature. Crypto bulls take the bitcoin rally as a sign investors are seeking a safe haven in crypto, while skeptics are pointing out the gains likely have more to do with macro trends like inflation and interest rates. ... Bitcoin has been on a tear in recent days following the collapse of banks including...

U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Governor Jared Polis. Background: TikTokers Naomi Hearts (@naomiheartsxo), Kristine Thompson (@trendycurvy), Duncan Joseph (@duncanyounot) and Grace Amaku (@grace_africa). Photos via Bloomberg, Getty and TikTok. Collage by Shane Burke.

TikTok CEO Goes to Washington With a Disparate Band of Allies

By Kaya Yurieff and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 22, 2023 10:55am PDT · 1 comment

TikTok is one of the most popular entertainment services in the U.S., used monthly by nearly half of the population. Yet as the app battles for its life, it has remarkably few allies to provide support. Even those that directly benefit from TikTok, such as music labels and creators, have mixed feelings about TikTok, largely because they say it... TikTok is one of the most popular entertainment services in the U.S., used monthly by nearly half...

The entrance to Indeed.com's office in Dublin. Photo by Shutterstock.

Indeed Lays Off 2,200 People, or 15% of Staff, as Job Postings Drop

By Theo Wayt · Mar 22, 2023 10:00am PDT · 3 comments

Job listings site Indeed.com told employees on Wednesday that it’s laying off 2,200 people, representing 15% of its headcount, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision. Indeed CEO Chris Hyams broke the news to employees in an all-hands meeting on Wednesday morning, saying that the cuts would affect teams across the... Job listings site Indeed.com told employees on Wednesday that it’s laying off 2,200 people,...

Nick Grudin. Photo by Dapper Labs.

Meta Rehires Partnerships Executive After Vowing to Shrink Management

By Sahil Patel and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 22, 2023 7:16am PDT · 2 comments

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s effort to cut back on middle managers isn’t stopping the company hiring more middle managers. Meta has re-hired a veteran manager, Nick Grudin, to oversee its relationships with media companies and other creators, just seven months after Grudin quit to join Dapper Labs, an NFT startup. Grudin will... Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s effort to cut back on middle managers isn’t...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon Faces Moment of Truth on Alexa as ChatGPT Steals Its Thunder

By Theo Wayt · Mar 22, 2023 6:05am PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon Faces Moment of Truth on Alexa as ChatGPT Steals Its Thunder

By Theo Wayt · Mar 22, 2023 6:05am PDT

At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, Amazon announced one of its biggest partnerships yet to help make its Alexa voice assistant ubiquitous: a deal with Toyota to integrate Alexa into the auto giant’s cars. “Our vision for Alexa is that she should be everywhere a customer might need her—at home, in the office, on... At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, Amazon announced one of its biggest partnerships yet to...