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

‘Fix It—or Go Surfing’: Jessica Lessin on What She’d Tell Her Younger Self

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 5, 2023 6:00am PDT · 84 comments

Ten years ago, almost to the day, my husband Sam took a video of me curled up in bed, convinced I had food poisoning. I was so nauseous, I felt like I couldn’t move. It turned out it was just nerves. I had just told my parents I was going to leave a plum reporting job at The Wall Street Journal to start something new. It was the moment my... Ten years ago, almost to the day, my husband Sam took a video of me curled up in bed, convinced I...

The Superconductor of the Summer

The Superconductor of the Summer

By Jon Steinberg · Aug 5, 2023 6:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Culturally, it’s been a very Barbie-Taylor-Tom (Cruise) summer. A season of mega-popular, mega-lucrative, four-quadrant entertainments that have returned us, however briefly, to the pre-internet days of the monoculture. So imagine my surprise when the online discourse shifted abruptly this week to the very niche... Hi, welcome to your Weekend.Culturally, it’s been a very Barbie-Taylor-Tom (Cruise) summer. A...

Photo via Clutter

A Week of Trouble in the Valley

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 4, 2023 2:00pm PDT

M&A has finally picked up—only it’s not the kind of dealmaking investors want. The Information was the first to report on two deals this week—the fire sale of storage company Clutter and the impending sale of troubled internet underwear company Parade. You know who gets screwed the most on these kinds of deals? It’s not the... M&A has finally picked up—only it’s not the kind of dealmaking investors want. The...

Where’s the Barbie Business Pop? Taylor Swift and Why Brands Beat Marketplaces

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 4, 2023 11:56am PDT

Where’s the Barbie Business Pop? Taylor Swift and Why Brands Beat Marketplaces

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 4, 2023 11:56am PDT

I was recently talking to a potential leadership coach and asked a few—I guess pointed—questions. “That’s why you are a journalist,” she remarked. “You are so skeptical.” I suppose I am. But this week, after taping More or Less, I momentarily wanted to join the optimistic camp. Sometimes... I was recently talking to a potential leadership coach and asked a few—I guess...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, IRL co-founder Abraham Shafi. Photos by Getty and IRL

SoftBank Sues Former IRL CEO For Fraud

By Amir Efrati and Mark Matousek · Aug 4, 2023 11:11am PDT · 6 comments

SoftBank sued former IRL CEO Abraham Shafi and five siblings and cousins for allegedly misleading the investor about the messaging app’s growth, prompting the Japanese conglomerate to buy $150 million worth of shares in the company in 2021 at the height of a pandemic-fueled consumer internet boom. SoftBank said Shafi and his family members... SoftBank sued former IRL CEO Abraham Shafi and five siblings and cousins for allegedly misleading...

The poetry-minded Runway founder Cristóbal Valenzuela. Art by Clark Miller.

‘Not Everyone Is Trying to Build God’: Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela Tries to Dampen the Doomerism

By Julia Black · Aug 4, 2023 10:36am PDT · 1 comment

It might have been a moment lost in translation, or perhaps a willful reinterpretation, but when I asked Cristóbal Valenzuela who in the tech world inspires him most, he named a Chilean poet. “Nicanor Parra came up with this idea of ‘anti-poetry,’” explained Valenzuela, co-founder and CEO of Runway, a generative AI... It might have been a moment lost in translation, or perhaps a willful reinterpretation, but when...

Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan has recently turned regulators' attention to the deceptive use of "dark patterns" by tech companies. Art by Clark Miller

Lina vs. the Dark Arts: The FTC Wants Big Tech to Know It’s Watching

By Nancy Scola · Aug 4, 2023 9:00am PDT · 7 comments

Lina Khan was hauled before the House Judiciary Committee one morning in mid-July to discuss a favorite Republican topic of the moment: the 34-year-old chair’s supposed mishandling of the Federal Trade Commission and its $430 million budget. Seated at the sprawling witness table next to a bevy of Deer Park water bottles—a sign of the... Lina Khan was hauled before the House Judiciary Committee one morning in mid-July to discuss a...

Elad Gil, Sam Altman and Mamoon Hamid. Photos by Getty.

Pro Weekly: Our Top Enterprise Investors Flock Together

By Kalley Huang · Aug 4, 2023 8:00am PDT

Elad Gil, Sam Altman and Mamoon Hamid. Photos by Getty.

Pro Weekly: Our Top Enterprise Investors Flock Together

By Kalley Huang · Aug 4, 2023 8:00am PDT

Welcome back!This week, to help readers follow the shifting playing field of enterprise software, we published The Information’s Enterprise Tech Power List. For this second edition of the list, we identified 10 of the most powerful executives, 10 emerging executives and 13 investors who exert the most influence over the enterprise software... Welcome back!This week, to help readers follow the shifting playing field of enterprise software,...

Graphic by Mike Sullivan.

‘Tidal Wave’ of Down Rounds Hits Startups

By Cory Weinberg and Kate Clark · Aug 4, 2023 6:01am PDT · 13 comments

Turntide Technologies, a maker of electric motor systems backed by Bill Gates–founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, was one of the more than 300 private companies that passed the $1 billion valuation threshold last year, putting it firmly into unicorn status. It’s not worth close to that anymore. The Sunnyvale, Calif., firm is... Turntide Technologies, a maker of electric motor systems backed by Bill Gates–founded...

Photo by Getty

Apple Services Salvage a Blah Quarter

By Akash Pasricha · Aug 3, 2023 5:11pm PDT

Apple services to the rescue! The part of Apple’s business that includes the App Store and various subscription services was the star of the show in the company’s fiscal third quarter, which ended July 1. It’s a star the company badly needed, too. Total revenue at Apple dropped for the third consecutive quarter, shrinking 1% year over year. At... Apple services to the rescue! The part of Apple’s business that includes the App Store and...

Photo by Shutterstock. Graphic: Shane Burke

Creator Economy

Snafus on Patreon, Facebook Stymie Creator Payouts

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 3, 2023 3:27pm PDT

What is going on this week? In two separate instances, creators on membership site Patreon and Facebook-owner Meta Platforms report they’ve had issues with payments. These snafus highlight the precarious nature of creators’ income, particularly when multiple companies are involved in payouts.Let’s start with Patreon. The San Francisco startup on... What is going on this week? In two separate instances, creators on membership site Patreon and ...

Photo via Midjourney.

The Unicorn Fire Sales Ahead

By Kate Clark · Aug 3, 2023 11:19am PDT · 4 comments

Photo via Midjourney.

The Unicorn Fire Sales Ahead

By Kate Clark · Aug 3, 2023 11:19am PDT · 4 comments

Welcome back! Hopin, one of the most iconic startups of the pandemic era, said this week it sold its virtual event and webinar hosting business to RingCentral, and that its founder and CEO, Johnny Boufarhat, is stepping down. The sale marks a pitiful finale for the once-heralded startup.Similar to Clubhouse, the chat app valued at $4... Welcome back! Hopin, one of the most iconic startups of the pandemic era, said this week it...

Photo via Parade.

Gen Z Underwear Startup Nears Sale, Highlighting New Phase of Retail M&A

By Ann Gehan and Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 3, 2023 10:47am PDT · 1 comment

Gen Z–founded underwear startup Parade, a size- and gender-inclusive brand that built an avid fan base on Instagram and was valued at nearly $200 million last year, is nearing a deal to be acquired, according to three people familiar with the talks. The company recently held talks with lingerie manufacturer Ariela & Associates... Gen Z–founded underwear startup Parade, a size- and gender-inclusive brand that built an...

Photo via Shutterstock/Shane Burke.

Developers Ask GPT-4 What it Thinks About Google’s AI

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Aug 3, 2023 9:22am PDT

It’s a question on the mind of every artificial intelligence startup founder and developer: Can I trust my large-language model?This deceptively simple inquiry has become more difficult to answer, as recent research shows OpenAI’s GPT-4 and other LLMs can improve in some ways over time but also get worse too.For startups using these models, it... It’s a question on the mind of every artificial intelligence startup founder and developer: Can I...

MoonPay's booth at the Bitcoin 2021 Convention in Miami. Photo by Getty.

How MoonPay Employees Missed Out on the Crypto Boom

By Aidan Ryan · Aug 3, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

As the crypto investing boom was reaching a fever pitch in 2021, crypto payment startup MoonPay—known for its flashy celebrity endorsements—was barreling toward a blockbuster fundraising. Investors including Tiger Global Management and Coatue Management invested $555 million at a whopping $3.4 billion valuation in a deal that allowed... As the crypto investing boom was reaching a fever pitch in 2021, crypto payment startup...

One sailor died and seven were injured jumping overboard when the car carrier Fremantle Highway, ferrying 498 EVs and more than 3,000 other vehicles, caught fire last week near the Netherlands. Photo: Dutch Coast Guard/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: A New Concern for EVs: Fires Aboard Transport Ships

By Steve LeVine · Aug 3, 2023 4:30am PDT

One sailor died and seven were injured jumping overboard when the car carrier Fremantle Highway, ferrying 498 EVs and more than 3,000 other vehicles, caught fire last week near the Netherlands. Photo: Dutch Coast Guard/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: A New Concern for EVs: Fires Aboard Transport Ships

By Steve LeVine · Aug 3, 2023 4:30am PDT

Shipping companies have urged international maritime regulators to create safety rules for transporting electric vehicles after a spate of fires aboard freighters carrying EVs, including one last week near the Netherlands that killed a crew member and injured seven others. In the latest accident, the 650-foot Fremantle Highway caught fire... Shipping companies have urged international maritime regulators to create safety rules for...

Photo via Shutterstock

DoorDash and Shopify Offer E-commerce Bright Spots

By Nick Wingfield · Aug 2, 2023 5:00pm PDT

Anybody hunting for dark signs about consumer spending will have to look somewhere other than a couple of earnings reports from e-commerce companies today. DoorDash, for example, said its food-delivery business hit all-time highs in terms of revenue, gross value of orders on its marketplace and total orders. The company said revenue jumped 33%... Anybody hunting for dark signs about consumer spending will have to look somewhere other than a...

At Pinterest, Talk of Creators Fades as AI Rises (Chart)

Creator Economy

At Pinterest, Talk of Creators Fades as AI Rises (Chart)

By Alex Perry · Aug 2, 2023 3:58pm PDT

The buzzwords that executives drop during their companies’ quarterly conference calls provide a window into management’s interest at the moment, or at least what they want investors to hear. At Pinterest, executives led by CEO Bill Ready have been effusive about artificial intelligence lately—and as the chart above shows, they’ve spent much less... The buzzwords that executives drop during their companies’ quarterly conference calls provide a...

Photo via Clutter.com.

Storage Startup Clutter, Running Out of Cash, Sells Itself at Steep Discount

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Aug 2, 2023 10:56am PDT · 13 comments

Late last month, the CEO of storage and moving startup Clutter emailed some of the company’s investors to say the firm was in dire straits: Clutter, which had been valued at a reported $600 million in 2019 and garnered investments from SoftBank and Sequoia, had essentially run out of cash. To stay alive, it struck a deal to be sold for... Late last month, the CEO of storage and moving startup Clutter emailed some of the...

Photo by Shutterstock

Why CZ Wanted to Shut Down Binance.US

By Aidan Ryan · Aug 2, 2023 9:00am PDT

Photo by Shutterstock

Why CZ Wanted to Shut Down Binance.US

By Aidan Ryan · Aug 2, 2023 9:00am PDT

Changpeng Zhao really wants to cut off all ties to the U.S.I scooped yesterday that Zhao pushed to shut down Binance.US, the U.S. offshoot of the global exchange Binance. The decision shows just how far Zhao is willing to go to help preserve the image of the global exchange, which is the largest in the world. A spokesperson for Binance.US... Changpeng Zhao really wants to cut off all ties to the U.S.I scooped yesterday that Zhao pushed...