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

Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings. Photo by Bloomberg.

How Netflix Can Regain Momentum

By Martin Peers · Jul 1, 2022 3:00pm PDT

We’re now just a couple of weeks away from the second-quarter earnings reporting season. And if history is any guide, first out of the gate will be Netflix’s report on July 19, which is likely to be one of the most closely watched tech earnings updates of the quarter. Netflix’s first-quarter report, revealing a tiny drop in subscribers and... We’re now just a couple of weeks away from the second-quarter earnings reporting season. And if...

Photo Bloomberg. Art by Clark Miller.

‘Our Aspiration Is to Be the First $100 Billion Cybersecurity Company’: Nikesh Arora on Making Palo Alto Networks a Juggernaut

By Adam Lashinsky · Jul 1, 2022 2:00pm PDT · 4 comments

When Nikesh Arora and I met in mid-June near the windswept entrance of his Palo Alto Networks offices in Sunnyvale, Calif., he was feeling a lot less Covid cautious than I was. That’s because the 54-year-old chief executive had gotten infected the previous month at the World Economic Forum. “My big takeaway from Davos was Covid,” he quipped,... When Nikesh Arora and I met in mid-June near the windswept entrance of his Palo Alto Networks...

Bessemer partners Jeremy Levine, left, and David Cowan. Photos by Jerry Yoon.

Bessemer Renounces VC Status, Following Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia

By Kate Clark · Jul 1, 2022 1:43pm PDT · 3 comments

Bessemer Venture Partners, one of the oldest venture capital firms, is now a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulatory designation historically reserved for hedge funds and other asset managers will allow the VC firm to hold investments other than direct stakes in private... Bessemer Venture Partners, one of the oldest venture capital firms, is now a registered...

Photos Brianne Kimmel. Art by Clark Miller.

Once Upon a Time in Brianne Kimmel’s Hollywood

By Annie Goldsmith · Jul 1, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Photos Brianne Kimmel. Art by Clark Miller.

Once Upon a Time in Brianne Kimmel’s Hollywood

By Annie Goldsmith · Jul 1, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 2 comments

It was a sunny June day in Los Angeles, and “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon Chu was setting up a shot. The aerialswimming pool arrangement was reminiscent of Chu’s work on “In the Heights,” directing the “96,000” sequence—a musical number so complex it called for 500 to 700 people on set, according to Vulture. This art direction, however, was... It was a sunny June day in Los Angeles, and “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon Chu was setting up a...

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Partner Content

How Creators Should Think About the Coming Web3 Transformation

By The Information Staff · Jul 1, 2022 11:39am PDT

One of the biggest potential benefits of Web3 is the chance for artists and other creators to cut out the middlemen and capture more value for themselves. A team of experts went deep into the topic during The Information’s Creator Economy Summit. Web3 is based largely on a technology called blockchain that has given rise to cryptocurrency.... One of the biggest potential benefits of Web3 is the chance for artists and other creators to cut...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in 2019

Microsoft Cloud Computing System Suffering From Global Shortage

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 1, 2022 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

In March 2020, Microsoft’s Azure cloud buckled under the strain of companies around the world shifting to remote work, causing service outages and forcing some customers to wait to launch and update applications. Microsoft put a positive spin on the situation, characterizing it as a temporary issue that stemmed from the surging usage of... In March 2020, Microsoft’s Azure cloud buckled under the strain of companies around the...

Ron Johnson. Photo by Bloomberg.

Ugly Quarter for Crypto and Tech Stocks Ends; No Joy for Ron Johnson

By Martin Peers · Jun 30, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Tonight we’re closing the books on the second quarter of 2022, a period no one is likely to mourn. The stock market’s slide turned into a collapse. Bitcoin prices tumbled off a cliff. Layoffs took off. SPAC mergers fell apart. And even the lively business news event that started the quarter, Elon Musk’s investment in and subsequent bid for... Tonight we’re closing the books on the second quarter of 2022, a period no one is likely to...

Photo by AP

TikTok Expands Livestreaming Ambitions; Instagram Tests Sharing Videos as Reels; India Warns on Influencers

By Mahira Dayal · Jun 30, 2022 3:14pm PDT

Photo by AP

Creator Economy

TikTok Expands Livestreaming Ambitions; Instagram Tests Sharing Videos as Reels; India Warns on Influencers

By Mahira Dayal · Jun 30, 2022 3:14pm PDT

TikTok is growing its Twitch-competitor livestreaming business, TikTok Live. In a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, Xiaowei Yan, a strategy lead at the short-form video app, posted job descriptions for two TikTok Live strategy roles based in San Francisco and Los Angeles. People in these roles will be responsible for monetization and operations... TikTok is growing its Twitch-competitor livestreaming business, TikTok Live. In a LinkedIn...

Yoni Assia, chief executive officer of eToro Ltd. Photo: Bloomberg.

EToro to Abandon Deal to Go Public via SPAC Merger

By Maria Heeter · Jun 30, 2022 1:48pm PDT

Online brokerage EToro and the special purpose acquisition company that agreed to take it public are planning to let the deadline for their merger pass without closing the deal, according to a person familiar with the matter. EToro is joining other tech and media companies that have backed off SPAC deals that would take them public amid a tech... Online brokerage EToro and the special purpose acquisition company that agreed to take it public...

Nate CEO Albert Saniger. Art by Mike Sullivan

Coatue-Backed Shopping Startup Lays Off 20% of Staff After Exaggerating Tech Capabilities to Potential Investors

By Malique Morris · Jun 30, 2022 11:49am PDT · 1 comment

Shopping startup Nate, which touted its use of artificial intelligence–powered checkout technology while it was actually relying on overseas workers to power transactions, has laid off at least 30 of its nearly 150 employees, according to an employee who was at an internal meeting to inform the laid-off workers. The previously unreported... Shopping startup Nate, which touted its use of artificial intelligence–powered checkout...

A Pokemon Go stage presentation from Niantic in 2018. Photo: Bloomberg.

Layoffs at Unity and Niantic; Croquet.io’s Web-First Metaverse Vision

By Mathew Olson · Jun 30, 2022 11:00am PDT

Forget the euphemistic term “belt-tightening.” News yesterday of layoffs at Unity and Niantic, affecting around 4% and 8% of their respective workforces, has demonstrated starkly how the present economic downturn is making things tougher for companies building toward the metaverse and resulting in real pain for employees. The recent turmoil and... Forget the euphemistic term “belt-tightening.” News yesterday of layoffs at Unity and Niantic,...

Bloomberg Beta partner Roy Bahat. Photo: Roy Bahat.

Bloomberg VC Arm Adds $150 Million to Investing War Chest

By Kate Clark · Jun 30, 2022 10:00am PDT · 3 comments

Bloomberg Beta partner Roy Bahat. Photo: Roy Bahat.

Bloomberg VC Arm Adds $150 Million to Investing War Chest

By Kate Clark · Jun 30, 2022 10:00am PDT · 3 comments

Roy Bahat, head of venture firm Bloomberg Beta, has a sticker on his laptop that reads TTFM—a quippy acronym for “take the f–ing money.” It’s the advice Beta’s founding partners—Bahat, Karin Klein, a former SoftBank vice president, and James Cham, a former Bessemer Venture Partners vice... Roy Bahat, head of venture firm Bloomberg Beta, has a sticker on his laptop that reads...

TuSimple headquarters in San Diego. Photo by Bloomberg

Makers of Self-Driving Trucks Face a Long Haul to Profitability

By Juro Osawa · Jun 30, 2022 6:00am PDT · 6 comments

The frustrated co-founder of robotruck pioneer TuSimple demanded answers from his executives at a tense meeting in late January. The company, which went public last year and rode the global tech boom to a $15 billion market capitalization, was facing a relentless sell-off. It had hoped that its first driverless truck run, an 80-mile trip from... The frustrated co-founder of robotruck pioneer TuSimple demanded answers from his executives at a...

Sequoia Capital global managing partner Doug Leone. Photo: Bloomberg

Sequoia Capital Targets $2.25 Billion for Two U.S. VC Funds

By Kate Clark · Jun 29, 2022 5:57pm PDT

Sequoia Capital, defying the tech market sell-off that’s chilled startup fundraising, is asking investors to commit money to two new U.S.-focused funds, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm behind Airbnb and DoorDash expects to dedicate $1.5 billion to a U.S. growth fund... Sequoia Capital, defying the tech market sell-off that’s chilled startup fundraising, is...

Uber's San Francisco office. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber’s Blast from the Past

By Martin Peers · Jun 29, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Get ready. We may soon be taking a trip down memory lane for Uber, revisiting the era of co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick. That will come via the trial of the company’s former chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, on three counts of wire fraud as well as a count of obstruction of justice, among other charges. The charges relate to his... Get ready. We may soon be taking a trip down memory lane for Uber, revisiting the era of...

Three Arrows Capital Co-Founder and CEO Zhu Su. Photo: Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

What’s Next After the Three Arrows Meltdown

By Aidan Ryan · Jun 29, 2022 3:12pm PDT

Three Arrows Capital Co-Founder and CEO Zhu Su. Photo: Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

What’s Next After the Three Arrows Meltdown

By Aidan Ryan · Jun 29, 2022 3:12pm PDT

Hopes of a near-term recovery in crypto prices have all but vanished. Now, all eyes are on liquidity crises playing out at crypto lending firms like Celsius and BlockFi as well as the crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.The latest: Sky News reported on Wednesday that a court in the British Virgin Islands has ordered the liquidation of Three... Hopes of a near-term recovery in crypto prices have all but vanished. Now, all eyes are on...

Chart: Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

Substack Joins Lists of Creator Economy Layoffs (Chart); FCC Snipes at TikTok

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 29, 2022 2:31pm PDT

Substack on Wednesday said it was laying off 13 employees, or 14% of its total workforce, citing an uncertain macroeconomic outlook. The newsletter subscription site is just the latest creator economy startup to cut workers, as our latest chart shows. The list ranges from celebrity video shoutout app Cameo to fan texting app Community to online... Substack on Wednesday said it was laying off 13 employees, or 14% of its total workforce, citing...

Mojo Vision CEO Drew Perkins wearing an AR contact lens prototype. Credit: Mojo Vision.

A New Milestone for AR Contacts; Snapchat’s Subscription Service

By Mathew Olson · Jun 29, 2022 11:00am PDT

My time with Mojo Vision CEO Drew Perkins was limited, so I didn’t have time to ask him if he had seen this year’s The Batman, where the title character makes regular use of AR contact lenses to augment his nighttime detective work. As the first person to wear a functional prototype of Mojo’s in-development AR contacts—a major milestone for Mojo... My time with Mojo Vision CEO Drew Perkins was limited, so I didn’t have time to ask him if he had...

Art by Haejin Park

A Girl Killed Herself. It Took TikTok Six Months to Remove Her Account.

By Amy Challenger · Jun 29, 2022 9:05am PDT · 5 comments

Nina is the name I’ll use for the girl who loved my 16-year-old son. Until recently, when he wanted to think about her, he could still find her videos on TikTok, including the ones she posted under a false name while she was a patient in a psychiatric hospital. He could see her smeared makeup and tears. He could watch her zoom in on the... Nina is the name I’ll use for the girl who loved my 16-year-old son. Until recently, when...

The People with Power in Amazon’s Retail and Operations Teams

By Paris Martineau · Jun 29, 2022 6:00am PDT

The People with Power in Amazon’s Retail and Operations Teams

By Paris Martineau · Jun 29, 2022 6:00am PDT

This Friday, Doug Herrington will replace Amazon’s Dave Clark as CEO of the e-commerce giant group previously dubbed Worldwide Consumer, which served as the center of power for Amazon’s retail and operations businesses over the past few years of explosive growth. Under Herrington, the group will look quite different—thanks to a... This Friday, Doug Herrington will replace Amazon’s Dave Clark as CEO of the e-commerce...