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

Garry Tan, managing partner of Initialized Capital. Photo: Oliver Covrett

Creator Economy

The YouTube Advice MrBeast Gave Initialized’s Garry Tan; TikTok Eyes Podcasting

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 11, 2022 2:44pm PDT

Garry Tan, the co-founder and managing partner of early-stage venture firm Initialized Capital, was chatting on live audio app Clubhouse early last year when YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson offered a critique of Tan’s YouTube channel. Donaldson, who goes by MrBeast, said Tan’s “thumbnails and titles were garbage” and “they effing sucked,” Tan... Garry Tan, the co-founder and managing partner of early-stage venture firm Initialized Capital,...

Minifigure faces, likely to be a fixture of Epic and Lego's joint metaverse venture. Photo: Bloomberg.

A $2 Billion Round for Epic; Can Meta Catch Up to Apple on Chips?

By Mathew Olson · Apr 11, 2022 11:00am PDT

Sony and Lego’s controlling shareholder are putting a total of $2 billion into Epic Games, the biggest single investment in the gamemaker yet, Epic announced today. The investment suggests that Epic’s metaverse partnership with The Lego Group announced on Thursday might be more ambitious than just a simple, more kid-friendly offshoot of... Sony and Lego’s controlling shareholder are putting a total of $2 billion into Epic Games, the...

Images by Bloomberg and Shutterstock. Art by Mike Sullivan

12 Charts That Show How Life Has Returned to Normal—or Not

By Mahira Dayal · Apr 11, 2022 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

As people ease off their couches and back to office desks after a two-year hiatus, there’s a lot to get used to. The internet has become even more essential, for commerce, communication and entertainment. Social media platforms such as TikTok and OnlyFans saw jumps in viewership. Remote workers left city apartments to rent houses in scenic... As people ease off their couches and back to office desks after a two-year hiatus, there’s...

A fast-charger in Mesa, Ariz. Photo: Alexandra Buxbaum/Sipa/AP

Meet the Cottage Industry Trying to Make EV Charging Faster

By Steve LeVine · Apr 10, 2022 2:00pm PDT

A fast-charger in Mesa, Ariz. Photo: Alexandra Buxbaum/Sipa/AP

Meet the Cottage Industry Trying to Make EV Charging Faster

By Steve LeVine · Apr 10, 2022 2:00pm PDT

Welcome back to The Electric! For well over a century, people around the world have fueled their automobiles with ease, filling up at will at any nearby gasoline station. This history lies behind the drive to develop fast-charge technology for electric vehicles, and duplicate the gas station experience. This week, we look at the surprisingly... Welcome back to The Electric! For well over a century, people around the world have fueled their...

Tech Workers Return to the Office, With New Norms and New Expectations

Tech Workers Return to the Office, With New Norms and New Expectations

By Jon Steinberg · Apr 9, 2022 8:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend! Our company returned to three days of in-person work this week, and we clearly weren’t alone. Downtown San Francisco, where The Information’s headquarters are located, was noticeably less of a ghost town, with salad joints, coffee bars and bike lanes all back to bustling (the hot spring weather may have... Hi, welcome to your Weekend! Our company returned to three days of in-person work this week,...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Twitter Should Make Musk CEO

By Martin Peers · Apr 8, 2022 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Question: When will Elon Musk get himself appointed CEO of Twitter? It has been only a few days since he joined the board, after buying 9% of the company, but already Twitter has arranged for him to talk to employees in a question-and-answer session, as The Washington Post reported. That’s an extraordinary move for Twitter to make. It’s hard to... Question: When will Elon Musk get himself appointed CEO of Twitter? It has been only a few days...

Art by Clark Miller

‘Buckle Up, the Next Four Weeks Are Going to Suck’: Silicon Valley’s Return-to-Office Survival Guide

By Annie Goldsmith · Apr 8, 2022 2:00pm PDT · 1 comment

“Whenever I have friends who are going back to the office, I’m like, OK, buckle up,” says Abigail Tisch, an investor at RRE Ventures in New York. “The next four weeks are going to suck and then you’ll be glad.” Returning to the office after more than two years away will pose new challenges, from the practical (“What do I do with my quarantine... “Whenever I have friends who are going back to the office, I’m like, OK, buckle up,” says Abigail...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

No Timeouts, No Yelling: The Gentle Nonsense of a TikTok Parenting Meme

By Emily Dreyfuss · Apr 8, 2022 12:00pm PDT

Art by Mike Sullivan.

No Timeouts, No Yelling: The Gentle Nonsense of a TikTok Parenting Meme

By Emily Dreyfuss · Apr 8, 2022 12:00pm PDT

Pop quiz: Are you a gentle parent? Last year, before I had ever heard this phrase, I would have answered yes, because it sounds like the kind of parent I at least try to be to my two kids. But then, starting in August 2021, TikTok’s algorithm began to bombard my For You Page with videos hashtagged #gentleparenting. According to Google trends,... Pop quiz: Are you a gentle parent? Last year, before I had ever heard this phrase, I would have...

Art by Clark Miller.

The Cult of Company Culture Is Back. But Do Tech Workers Even Want Perks Anymore?

By Flora Tsapovsky · Apr 8, 2022 12:00pm PDT

Just a couple of years ago, Jesse Ditson, then a software engineering architect at Quip, a subsidiary of Salesforce, was living in San Francisco. Every day he came into the office, where he’d enjoy spontaneous interactions with his colleagues and, sometimes, their adorable pets. He used to attend holiday parties at Foreign Cinema and participate... Just a couple of years ago, Jesse Ditson, then a software engineering architect at Quip, a...

Art by Mike Sullivan

‘The Dropout’ Is a Knockout

By Jillian Goodman · Apr 8, 2022 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

Of the three prestige TV shows based on real-life tech-world scandals lately gracing streaming services, including Showtime’s “Super Pumped” and Apple TV’s “WeCrashed,” Hulu’s “The Dropout,” which aired its season finale on Thursday, is far and away the best. And the competition isn’t even close. It’s not just the acting that sets “The Dropout”... Of the three prestige TV shows based on real-life tech-world scandals lately gracing streaming...

A store sign promoting Meta's Ray Bans smart glasses in New York. Photo by AP

Meta Platforms is Struggling to Develop Its Own Device Chips

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Stephen Nellis · Apr 8, 2022 9:15am PDT · 1 comment

In late 2021, a team of Meta Platforms employees building a key chip for the second version of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses was notified that the company had decided to go with an alternative chip from Qualcomm, according to two people familiar with the matter. The custom chip would power a variety of functions, such as taking high-quality... In late 2021, a team of Meta Platforms employees building a key chip for the second version of...

Tech Talent Flocks to Young Startups as Late-Stage Valuations Tank

By Mark Matousek · Apr 8, 2022 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Tech Talent Flocks to Young Startups as Late-Stage Valuations Tank

By Mark Matousek · Apr 8, 2022 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

The recent pressure in startup valuations and a clogged pipeline of initial public offerings has upended the recruiting landscape. Big stock packages from firms backed by billions of dollars in capital now look less likely to result in lucrative payoffs. That’s led early-stage startups to swoop in, poaching tech workers with equity that... The recent pressure in startup valuations and a clogged pipeline of initial public offerings has...

Elementus CEO Max Galka. Photo: Joseph Spiteri Photography. Art by Mike Sullivan

Elementus Wants to be the Google of Blockchain; Bolt Gets Serious About Crypto

By Aidan Ryan · Apr 7, 2022 6:16pm PDT

Just like Google helps users navigate the internet, and Yellow Pages’ directories help people find businesses, Elementus CEO Max Galka thinks his startup can be the universal search engine for blockchains.“Google, in some sense, is like the Yellow Pages for the web, right?” Galka told me Thursday morning at his startup’s offices near Manhattan’s... Just like Google helps users navigate the internet, and Yellow Pages’ directories help people...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Throws Its Own Apps Under the Bus

By Nick Wingfield · Apr 7, 2022 5:00pm PDT · 1 comment

For most of the year, Apple won’t stop reminding people how in-house services like Apple Music, Apple Maps and Apple TV+ are crushing it. On Thursday though, Apple sent a very different message about how its own apps are being crushed by competitors.It published a 48-page report on its website by an economic consultancy, the Analysis Group,... For most of the year, Apple won’t stop reminding people how in-house services like Apple Music,...

Catherine Coddington Credit: Meta Art: Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

Facebook Gaming Tests Cross-App Streaming; TikTok to Stream a Musical

By Mahira Dayal · Apr 7, 2022 4:46pm PDT

Since its launch four years ago, Facebook Gaming has been trying to establish itself as a competitor to Twitch and YouTube, the two dominant sites for video gamers who livestream their playing and commentary to fans. In April 2020, spurred by demand for online gaming brought on by the pandemic, the gaming division of Meta Platforms launched a... Since its launch four years ago, Facebook Gaming has been trying to establish itself as a...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on stage at F8 2019. Photo: Bloomberg.

Does Meta Need the F8 Developer Conference Anymore?

By Mathew Olson · Apr 7, 2022 11:00am PDT

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on stage at F8 2019. Photo: Bloomberg.

Does Meta Need the F8 Developer Conference Anymore?

By Mathew Olson · Apr 7, 2022 11:00am PDT

Meta Platforms’s decision to skip its annual developer conference F8 this year raises a question: given the rising importance of AR/VR, does Meta even need its spring conference at all anymore? Maybe the Connect conference in the fall, which is focused on AR/VR, will take over as Meta’s premier developer event.Notably, CEO Mark Zuckerberg used... Meta Platforms’s decision to skip its annual developer conference F8 this year raises a question:...

Art by Mike Sullivan

The Solo Venture Capitalist Who Doubles Down Like Andreessen

By Berber Jin · Apr 7, 2022 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Somebody forgot to send Oren Zeev the memo about how Silicon Valley venture capitalists are supposed to act. The investor has fewer than 3,000 followers on Twitter, where he rarely opines on the kinds of trending topics that light up venture land. He conducts meetings with startup founders at a two-story coffee shop in Palo Alto, Calif., Cafe... Somebody forgot to send Oren Zeev the memo about how Silicon Valley venture capitalists are...

Bill Qian, head of Binance Labs. Photo: Binance Labs. Art by Mike Sullivan

Binance’s VC Arm Wants to Raise an Outside Fund

By Aidan Ryan · Apr 6, 2022 6:19pm PDT

As the head of Binance Labs, the venture arm of crypto exchange Binance, Bill Qian is already quite busy. Using Binance’s balance sheet, the venture team has led deals such as Wednesday’s $150 million funding round for Axie Infinity-developer Sky Mavis. But it has set its ambitions on doing much more. In a video interview from Dubai, Qian... As the head of Binance Labs, the venture arm of crypto exchange Binance, Bill Qian is already...

WarnerMedia Cleans House Ahead of Discovery Liberation

WarnerMedia Cleans House Ahead of Discovery Liberation

By Martin Peers · Apr 6, 2022 5:00pm PDT

The de-AT&Tification of WarnerMedia is underway. All but two members of the entertainment company’s executive team are departing as it gets swallowed up by Discovery, Warner said today. The two survivors are holdovers from Warner’s pre-AT&T era. Nearly all the others either came from the telecom giant or were installed by it. The shakeup... The de-AT&Tification of WarnerMedia is underway. All but two members of the entertainment...

Lydia Hylton. Credit: Bain Capital Crypto Art: Mike Sullivan

Bain Capital Crypto’s New Partner on How to Tell if NFT Hype Is Real

By Mahira Dayal · Apr 6, 2022 4:20pm PDT · 1 comment

Lydia Hylton. Credit: Bain Capital Crypto Art: Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

Bain Capital Crypto’s New Partner on How to Tell if NFT Hype Is Real

By Mahira Dayal · Apr 6, 2022 4:20pm PDT · 1 comment

A week after Bain Capital Ventures unveiled a new fund that will pour $560 million into crypto investments, Lydia Hylton joined the venture firm as a partner from Redpoint Ventures, where she previously invested in Web 3 infrastructure startups. In an interview with The Information, Hylton discussed how she and her colleagues are doing due... A week after Bain Capital Ventures unveiled a new fund that will pour $560 million into crypto...