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

Photo via live shopping startup Firework

Creator Economy

Live Shopping Startup Firework Lays Off 10% of Staff

By Erin Woo · Nov 30, 2022 3:16pm PST

Firework, a startup building technology to enable livestream shopping, has laid off 10% of its staff just months after SoftBank led its $150 million Series B round at a $750 million valuation, according to an email sent to employees on Tuesday, which was viewed by The Information. The layoffs come as more tech companies introduce live shopping,... Firework, a startup building technology to enable livestream shopping, has laid off 10% of its...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Marc Lore’s Kitchen on Wheels Startup Cuts Staff, Dials Back Delivery Ambitions

By Theo Wayt and Erin Woo · Nov 30, 2022 2:24pm PST · 2 comments

Wonder, a mobile kitchen and food-delivery startup led by Jet.com founder Marc Lore, has laid off 7% of its workforce, a company spokesperson said, as it attempts to overhaul its business. The startup landed a $3.5 billion valuation when it raised $350 million this summer and planned to add more than a thousand kitchens around the tri-state area... Wonder, a mobile kitchen and food-delivery startup led by Jet.com founder Marc Lore, has laid off...

John Curtius. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Ex-Tiger Partner Curtius Targets $1 Billion Fund After Sudden Exit

By Erin Woo and Kate Clark · Nov 30, 2022 1:52pm PST · 2 comments

John Curtius, the former Tiger Global Management partner who became a key Silicon Valley dealmaker for the investment firm before his hasty exit two months ago, plans to raise $1 billion for his debut fund, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. It will focus on early-stage enterprise software investments. If successful,... John Curtius, the former Tiger Global Management partner who became a key Silicon Valley...

Chart by Mike Sullivan.

Electric Vehicle Startups Face Cash Crunch

By Mark Matousek · Nov 30, 2022 6:16am PST · 2 comments

Chart by Mike Sullivan.

Electric Vehicle Startups Face Cash Crunch

By Mark Matousek · Nov 30, 2022 6:16am PST · 2 comments

Startup makers of electric vehicles were one of the biggest beneficiaries of the SPAC party of 2020–21—and that fete is now well and truly in the hangover phase. At least a dozen EV startups have gone public since 2020, mostly by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, with grand ambitions to reinvent the way people and... Startup makers of electric vehicles were one of the biggest beneficiaries of the SPAC party of...

Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s Supply Constraints Could Set Off a Stock Correction

By Akash Pasricha · Nov 29, 2022 5:00pm PST

The bluest of the blue chip tech stocks, Apple, is having a rough month. The company said earlier in November its main iPhone 14 manufacturing facility in China was facing supply restrictions thanks to Covid-19 lockdowns. One measure of how bad things are: A new report published on Tuesday from an Asia-based Apple analyst estimated iPhone... The bluest of the blue chip tech stocks, Apple, is having a rough month. The company said earlier...

Tim Cook and Elon Musk. Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Twitter Blue Relaunch Adds Pressure to Musk’s Apple Fight

By Erin Woo · Nov 29, 2022 2:40pm PST · 3 comments

Twitter’s impending relaunch of its subscription product, Twitter Blue, could bring Elon Musk’s fight with Apple to a head. Twitter Blue Verified, as the product is called, had been scheduled to roll out on Friday but only on Apple’s iOS mobile software, according to a person briefed on the plans. (Late Tuesday, Twitter ... Twitter’s impending relaunch of its subscription product, Twitter Blue, could bring Elon...

Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

Pinterest Ends Creator Rewards Program; Anonymous App Fizz Raises Series A

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 29, 2022 2:12pm PST

Pinterest is ending its creator rewards program, which offered cash bonuses when creators completed goals such as hitting certain engagement metrics, The Information is first to report. It’s the latest example of a social media company pruning initiatives designed to attract creators as tech companies rethink products in the face of an economic... Pinterest is ending its creator rewards program, which offered cash bonuses when creators...

Photo by Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Employees Aren’t the Only Ones Suffering From Burnout

By Arianna Huffington · Nov 29, 2022 9:00am PST · 11 comments

Photo by Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Employees Aren’t the Only Ones Suffering From Burnout

By Arianna Huffington · Nov 29, 2022 9:00am PST · 11 comments

We’re living in a split-screen world when it comes to burnout and the employee experience. On one side are all the investments CEOs and human resources executives have been making in recent years—and especially since the pandemic began—to support employee well-being and mental health. This is not just a warm-and-fuzzy... We’re living in a split-screen world when it comes to burnout and the employee experience....

From left to right: Mysten's founders, Sam Bankman-Fried, Aptos's founders.

Aptos, Mysten Valuations Look Sky-High With FTX Out of the Picture

By Aidan Ryan · Nov 29, 2022 7:00am PST

Before it spiraled into bankruptcy, FTX spent hundreds of millions of dollars splashing out on investments in crypto startups. That spending spree likely saddled those startups with inflated valuations—raising questions about what those stakes will fetch when FTX tries to sell them. Blockchain startups Mysten Labs and Aptos Labs, for... Before it spiraled into bankruptcy, FTX spent hundreds of millions of dollars splashing out on...

Charlie Bell. Photo via Microsoft

A Former Amazonian Hits Bumps in Push to Make Microsoft More Secure

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 29, 2022 6:00am PST

When Microsoft last year recruited Charlie Bell, a top product engineering executive at Amazon Web Services, it was a major coup for the software giant. Bell had spent 23 years at Amazon—15 of them at AWS, the retailer’s cloud computing unit—where he earned a reputation for being able to bulldoze through departmental politics,... When Microsoft last year recruited Charlie Bell, a top product engineering executive at Amazon...

Photo courtesy of Getty

Musk Is Biting Off More Than He Can Chew By Picking a Fight With Apple

By Martin Peers · Nov 28, 2022 5:00pm PST · 3 comments

Elon Musk appears to be taking a page out of Donald Trump’s presidential playbook: If in doubt, pick a fight—with everyone. Having alienated a large group of Twitter’s advertisers, while risking Twitter's relations with regulators and simultaneously mocking the news media, Musk today started a public brawl with Apple, even threatening... Elon Musk appears to be taking a page out of Donald Trump’s presidential playbook: If in doubt,...

A meme tweeted by Musk about Apple’s App Store fees. Graphic: Shane Burke

Musk’s Fight With Apple Is One He’s Likely to Lose

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 28, 2022 2:46pm PST

A meme tweeted by Musk about Apple’s App Store fees. Graphic: Shane Burke

Creator Economy

Musk’s Fight With Apple Is One He’s Likely to Lose

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 28, 2022 2:46pm PST

Tensions are bubbling up between Apple and Twitter, rekindling familiar gripes from tech companies that have bemoaned the iPhone maker’s 30% commission on in-app purchases and the power it wields over apps in its App Store. On Monday, the social network’s new owner Elon Musk shot off a series of tweets aimed at Apple and its dominance.My take: ... Tensions are bubbling up between Apple and Twitter, rekindling familiar gripes from tech...

Where Google Has Grown

By Jon Victor · Nov 28, 2022 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Alphabet has doubled the headcount in its Google Cloud unit since early 2019, according to data obtained by The Information, outstripping Alphabet’s overall hiring growth. The rapid growth helps explain why Google Cloud’s losses continue to widen even as its revenue grows rapidly. Google’s hardware unit and YouTube also each... Alphabet has doubled the headcount in its Google Cloud unit since early 2019, according to data...

Shou Zi Chew, chief executive officer of TikTok. Photo by Bloomberg.

ByteDance Investors Struggle to Sell Shares at Discounted $240 Billion Value Amid IPO Uncertainty

By Juro Osawa · Nov 28, 2022 4:40am PST · 1 comment

Investors in TikTok owner ByteDance are struggling to sell their shares in the secondary market, even at current asking prices valuing the company at around $240 billion, 20% below where ByteDance recently bought back stock, according to brokers and investors with knowledge of the matter. The price drop reflects a lack of investors... Investors in TikTok owner ByteDance are struggling to sell their shares in the secondary market,...

Joby Aviation is likely to have the first certified electric flying taxi in the U.S. Photo: Courtesy Joby

The Electric: One Step Forward for Air Taxis, but a Long Road Ahead

By Steve LeVine · Nov 27, 2022 2:00pm PST

This Thursday: The U.S. is putting down hundreds of billions of dollars on one of the biggest technological bets in the world—that it can establish its own battery industry, and halt its dependence on China. To hear the inside story of how the U.S. is doling out the money, I'm excited to host Jigar Shah, director of the $250 billion... This Thursday: The U.S. is putting down hundreds of billions of dollars on one of the biggest...

Long Holiday Gifts, Short FTX Tokens

Long Holiday Gifts, Short FTX Tokens

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 26, 2022 7:00am PST

Long Holiday Gifts, Short FTX Tokens

Long Holiday Gifts, Short FTX Tokens

By Jon Steinberg · Nov 26, 2022 7:00am PST

Hi, welcome to your Weekend!The official opening of holiday gifting season is upon us, so we meet the moment as we always do—by shaking down our colleagues for gift suggestions. Our subscribers are obviously discerning, so we take gift tips seriously. I was able to knock off half of my list already by following our staff’s recommendations.... Hi, welcome to your Weekend!The official opening of holiday gifting season is upon us, so we meet...

Art by Clark Miller. Photo courtesy of Alexander Gallego.

The Founder Who Turned His Love of Tinkering Into a Data-Processing Gold Mine

By Arielle Pardes · Nov 26, 2022 6:00am PST · 6 comments

When Alexander Gallego started his first company in 2014, he approached it with the same determination he’d used to learn English as a teenager, or to navigate the admissions process as a first-generation college student: “I just had to figure it out,” he said. “I had no backup plan.” Gallego, who was born in... When Alexander Gallego started his first company in 2014, he approached it with the same...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Information’s Top Tech-Adjacent Gifts for 2022

By The Information Staff · Nov 25, 2022 9:00am PST · 2 comments

After the roller-coaster ride of the past month, everyone needs a little retail therapy. So, in honor of Black Friday and the upcoming holiday season, we’ve put together our annual gift guide, asking The Information’s staffers to share their favorite tech and tech-adjacent purchases of the last year. The results range from the... After the roller-coaster ride of the past month, everyone needs a little retail therapy. So, in...

Art by Clark Miller

‘I’m Licking My Chops. I Know It’s Going Down’: The Pissed-Off Crypto Traders Who Predicted—and Profited From—the FTX Implosion

By Margaux MacColl · Nov 25, 2022 7:00am PST · 8 comments

Ishan Bhaidani had been patient for over a month, waiting for blood in the water. Now was his moment. It was the late hours of Nov. 7 and he was in his home office in San Antonio, Texas, staring at a chart on TradingView. The price of the FTT token—the cryptocurrency created by FTX—had been fluctuating oddly on the futures market all... Ishan Bhaidani had been patient for over a month, waiting for blood in the water. Now was his...

Erin Yuan of Zoom. Photo by Bloomberg.

Zoom Could Draw Suitors Even Though Customers Are Balking at Software Bundles

By Martin Peers · Nov 23, 2022 5:00pm PST · 5 comments

Erin Yuan of Zoom. Photo by Bloomberg.

Zoom Could Draw Suitors Even Though Customers Are Balking at Software Bundles

By Martin Peers · Nov 23, 2022 5:00pm PST · 5 comments

Spare a thought for Covid-19 sufferers this Thanksgiving who have to spend the holiday connecting with friends and family on Zoom. Spare another thought for Zoom Video Communications shareholders, who’ve watched while the stock has plummeted 87% from its pandemic highs as the company’s revenue growth has decelerated like a car hitting a sudden... Spare a thought for Covid-19 sufferers this Thanksgiving who have to spend the holiday connecting...