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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

A prototype nine-seat electric jet made by Eviation, an Israeli company. Photo: Courtesy Eviation

The Electric: A Search For a Powerful New Battery To Help Electric Planes Fly

By Steve LeVine · Jun 29, 2022 4:00am PDT

A prototype nine-seat electric jet made by Eviation, an Israeli company. Photo: Courtesy Eviation

The Electric: A Search For a Powerful New Battery To Help Electric Planes Fly

By Steve LeVine · Jun 29, 2022 4:00am PDT

Save the date: For three centuries, Prussian blue has been the hue behind some of the world's most famous paintings, including Gainsborough's The Blue Boy and Picasso's Blue Period works. Now, it's the material in one of the most inventive new batteries. For the next Live Chat With The Electric, I'm excited to welcome Colin Wessells, CEO of... Save the date: For three centuries, Prussian blue has been the hue behind some of the world's...

Ben Silbermann. Photo by Bloomberg.

Pinterest’s Tardy CEO Shakeup

By Martin Peers · Jun 28, 2022 5:00pm PDT

What timing! No one could say they were surprised that Ben Silbermann is stepping down as CEO of Pinterest—that’s something we’ve expected for a while. After all, while he and his co-founder, Evan Sharp, built the business into a public company worth $13 billion—even after the stock plunge of recent months—Silbermann lately has been grappling... What timing! No one could say they were surprised that Ben Silbermann is stepping down as CEO of...

Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann, who will be replaced as CEO by former Google exec Bill Ready. Photo: Bloomberg.

Creator Economy

Pinterest Bets Big on Commerce With CEO Hire; A Science Creator Shuns YouTube Ad Share

By Mahira Dayal · Jun 28, 2022 3:37pm PDT

Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann is stepping down from the CEO role after more than a decade leading the company. E-commerce executive Bill Ready, who led commerce initiatives at Alphabet’s Google, will replace Silbermann. Prior to joining Google, Ready was the chief operating officer at PayPal. We already knew commerce was top of mind... Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann is stepping down from the CEO role after more than a decade...

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Photo: Bloomberg

Coinbase Pulls Back Its Startup Investing as Others Weigh Options

By Aidan Ryan · Jun 28, 2022 12:11pm PDT · 2 comments

Investors are fleeing crypto as the markets collapse. So will big crypto companies keep pumping money into startups to help the fledgling industry stay afloat? So far, the data is mixed. On one hand, industry giant and once prolific investor Coinbase has been tapping the brakes. Its venture arm, Coinbase Ventures, invested in just eight... Investors are fleeing crypto as the markets collapse. So will big crypto companies keep pumping...

Screenshots from NBA All-World. Credit: Niantic, HypGames, NBA, and NBPA.

Niantic’s Shot at Mixing AR and Basketball; HTC’s Metaverse Phone

By Mathew Olson · Jun 28, 2022 11:00am PDT

Screenshots from NBA All-World. Credit: Niantic, HypGames, NBA, and NBPA.

Niantic’s Shot at Mixing AR and Basketball; HTC’s Metaverse Phone

By Mathew Olson · Jun 28, 2022 11:00am PDT

If you squint, sports fandom doesn’t look all that different from video game fandom. In each, people have their favorite players (or larger-than-life characters), there are stats to pore over endlessly. Anyone with an impulse for collecting things can likely be drawn in by either pastime. It’s easy to see, then, how Niantic ended up landing an... If you squint, sports fandom doesn’t look all that different from video game fandom. In each,...

From left: Brooke Hainey & Keith George, co-founders of Cortina; Bennett Carroccio, co-founder of Canal; Conner Sherline, founder of Disco.

Startups to Watch

Three Startups That Help Online Retailers Cut Out Facebook Ads

By Malique Morris · Jun 28, 2022 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Direct-to-consumer brands that rely heavily on Facebook and Instagram ads have been reeling ever since Apple’s 2021 privacy changes made it harder and more expensive to land new customers. But a small group of e-commerce software startups is looking to help DTC sellers work together to showcase their goods in new ways—without... Direct-to-consumer brands that rely heavily on Facebook and Instagram ads have been reeling ever...

Sam Bankman-Fried. Photo by Bloomberg.

Who Else Will FTX Founder Rescue?

By Martin Peers · Jun 27, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Has there ever been a more aptly named entrepreneur than Sam Bankman-Fried? Not only is his FTX turning out to be a lender of last resort for crypto lenders such as BlockFi and Voyager Digital, both of which are caught up in a chain reaction of missed margin calls triggered by the crypto slide, but it could also emerge as a savior for Robinhood.... Has there ever been a more aptly named entrepreneur than Sam Bankman-Fried? Not only is his FTX...

TikTok was the lead sponsor of VidCon this year, edging out YouTube. Photo: Kaya Yurieff

Creator Economy

Lessons from VidCon on Surviving the Downturn; MrBeast’s Advice to Creators; Charli D’Amelio on Being Dethroned as No. 1 TikToker

By Kaya Yurieff · Jun 27, 2022 2:11pm PDT

A looming recession did little to damper the buoyant mood at VidCon, the annual conference for creators, their fans and industry professionals, which wrapped up on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif.. Attendees schmoozed at cocktail parties and stood in hours-long lines to be lowered via a harness into a giant pool full of soft plush toys called... A looming recession did little to damper the buoyant mood at VidCon, the annual conference for...

Apple CEO Tim Cook posing next to a line of new M2 MacBook products. Photo: Bloomberg.

The Importance of Apple’s M2 Chip; Meta’s New AI Audio Tricks for AR

By Mathew Olson · Jun 27, 2022 11:00am PDT

Apple CEO Tim Cook posing next to a line of new M2 MacBook products. Photo: Bloomberg.

The Importance of Apple’s M2 Chip; Meta’s New AI Audio Tricks for AR

By Mathew Olson · Jun 27, 2022 11:00am PDT

What’s in a name? In the case of Apple-designed silicon, not much: from the A-series of chips designed for iPhones through to the M1 and new M2 chips, Apple’s only revision to each new name is updating the number.So, when Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says he expects that Apple’s mixed reality headset will use the M2 chip—which lines up with what The... What’s in a name? In the case of Apple-designed silicon, not much: from the A-series of chips...

Tesla's Fremont factory, in a photo taken in May 2020.

At Tesla, Returning to the Office Creates New Problems

By Becky Peterson · Jun 27, 2022 6:00am PDT

On the evening of June 8, speaking from Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif., Elon Musk addressed a few dozen of the electric car maker’s employees in person, and thousands more in a livestream. It was the first time Musk had spoken to the entire staff since announcing the prior week that all white-collar staff would be required to... On the evening of June 8, speaking from Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif., Elon Musk...

Byd's cell-to-pack Blade battery, clashing with the typical boxy or cylindrical cell shape. Photo: Kyodo/AP

The Electric: China Engineers a Lead on an Important Battery Technology

By Steve LeVine · Jun 26, 2022 2:00pm PDT

Welcome back to The Electric! For years lithium-iron-phosphate was a has-been battery—once heralded by automakers but then left behind by nickel-based chemistries that delivered greater electric vehicle range. Then Chinese companies figured out how to pack LFP densely into cells, and the iron-based chemistry staged a comeback. This week, we... Welcome back to The Electric! For years lithium-iron-phosphate was a has-been battery—once...

Truth or Consequences: Would You Take an AI-Powered Polygraph Test to Prove You Hadn't Cheated on a Spouse?

Truth or Consequences: Would You Take an AI-Powered Polygraph Test to Prove You Hadn't Cheated on a Spouse?

By Jon Steinberg · Jun 25, 2022 8:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend! Even before the Supreme Court’s earth-shaking rulings this week that struck down states’ gun restrictions and ended women's right to an abortion, Americans were losing faith in the highest court in the land. On Thursday, Gallup reported that trust in the Supreme Court has never been lower, with only 25% of... Hi, welcome to your Weekend! Even before the Supreme Court’s earth-shaking rulings this week...

Art by Clark Miller.

As a Kid, Samantha John Recoiled From Videogames. Now She’s Teaching Kids to Code Them

By Annie Goldsmith · Jun 25, 2022 7:00am PDT

Art by Clark Miller.

As a Kid, Samantha John Recoiled From Videogames. Now She’s Teaching Kids to Code Them

By Annie Goldsmith · Jun 25, 2022 7:00am PDT

This is “My Life’s Work,” a series about the unique life experiences that influenced the careers of tech founders and executives. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. For the past decade, Samantha John, 35, and her co-founder, Jocelyn Leavitt, have been helping kids learn to code. Their app, Hopscotch, teaches children... This is “My Life’s Work,” a series about the unique life experiences that influenced the careers...