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

Drew Forman, Head of Cowen Digital. (Photo courtesy of Cowen. Art by Mike Sullivan)

Cowen’s Crypto Launch Highlights Growing Role of Crypto Custodian Startups

By Akash Pasricha · Mar 23, 2022 5:45pm PDT

Every week, Wall Street warms up a little more to crypto. On Wednesday, New York investment bank Cowen Inc. launched a digital assets arm dubbed Cowen Digital to trade 16 different cryptocurrencies on behalf of its clients. It tapped its former head of derivatives sales and trading, Drew Forman, to run the group. And like a growing number of... Every week, Wall Street warms up a little more to crypto. On Wednesday, New York investment bank...

Google's Mountain View campus. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Pressured by Google-Spotify Deal

By Martin Peers · Mar 23, 2022 5:00pm PDT

It may only be a matter of time before the Berlin Wall of the mobile app ecosystem, Apple’s rigid App Store rules, falls. Google’s announcement today that its Google Play app store will allow a “dual billing option” in U.S. apps, starting with Spotify, puts pressure on Apple to follow suit. Giving consumers a choice about the payment systems... It may only be a matter of time before the Berlin Wall of the mobile app ecosystem, Apple’s rigid...

Drake Rehfeld, Day One Ventures. Credit: Deanie Chen. Art: Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

Day One’s Rehfeld: Creators’ Embrace of Crypto is Years Away

By Mahira Dayal · Mar 23, 2022 3:32pm PDT · 1 comment

Drake Rehfeld, a principal at Day One Ventures, has had a ring-side seat on the rise of the creator economy. He joined the early-stage venture firm two years ago from NTWRK, a video-shopping startup that had bought his startup Demeanor.co, which helps creators build digital and physical brands. Rehfeld had also led product and engineering at ... Drake Rehfeld, a principal at Day One Ventures, has had a ring-side seat on the rise of the...

Fidji Simo, chief executive officer of Instacart Inc.

Instacart to Open Gopuff-Like Warehouses for 15-Minute Delivery

By Berber Jin · Mar 23, 2022 12:24pm PDT · 1 comment

Fidji Simo, chief executive officer of Instacart Inc.

Instacart to Open Gopuff-Like Warehouses for 15-Minute Delivery

By Berber Jin · Mar 23, 2022 12:24pm PDT · 1 comment

Instacart plans to launch a 15-minute–delivery service for grocery retailers including Publix as early as next month, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. For the initiative, Instacart would operate its own network of warehouses, which it calls nano-fulfillment centers, that supermarket chains could use to store their... Instacart plans to launch a 15-minute–delivery service for grocery retailers including...

Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook Advertisers Unexpectedly See Recovery After Apple Mess

By Sarah Krouse and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 23, 2022 11:19am PDT · 4 comments

Beginning last May, Samuel Gherman, creator of a drawing app called Da Vinci Eye, cut his spending on Facebook ads targeting iPhone users by about 90% to less than $100 per day. The move cratered his revenue, but he had no choice: Apple implemented privacy changes that made it harder for Facebook advertisers to target ads to certain iPhone users... Beginning last May, Samuel Gherman, creator of a drawing app called Da Vinci Eye, cut his...

Two NextMind developer devices, fitted with arrays of EEG sensors. Photo: NextMind.

Snap Makes a Brain Interface Bet; Yuga’s Ape Hype Meets the Metaverse

By Mathew Olson · Mar 23, 2022 11:00am PDT

Snap’s hunger for hardware acquisitions evidently hasn’t been satiated, as is clear from today’s news of the purchase of NextMind, a small Paris-based startup focused on brain computer interface tech. But this deal goes beyond Snap’s near-term AR glasses goals.Snap’s other recent hardware purchases have concerned highly sought-after AR display... Snap’s hunger for hardware acquisitions evidently hasn’t been satiated, as is clear from today’s...

Illustration by Jesus Escudero

Congress’s Big Antitrust Bills Have a Problem: The Happy Customer

By Adam Kovacevich · Mar 23, 2022 9:00am PDT · 4 comments

A pair of bills that take aim at vertical integration in Big Tech—regulating app stores and prohibiting the highest-profile platforms from favoring their own services (a practice known as self-preferencing)—is lying in wait in Congress. While it’s still in dispute how much of an impact the laws would have on the marketplace,... A pair of bills that take aim at vertical integration in Big Tech—regulating app stores and...

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photos by Bloomberg; Amazon. Art by Mike Sullivan

The Four Amazon Projects Jassy Might Cut Next

By Paris Martineau, Mark Di Stefano and Nick Wingfield · Mar 23, 2022 6:18am PDT

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Photos by Bloomberg; Amazon. Art by Mike Sullivan

The Four Amazon Projects Jassy Might Cut Next

By Paris Martineau, Mark Di Stefano and Nick Wingfield · Mar 23, 2022 6:18am PDT

Earlier this month, Amazon said it would close dozens of bookstores, pop-up shops and other brick-and-mortar outlets, ending a detour into a part of physical retailing that had caused some head-scratching in recent years. Those aren’t likely to be the last of the quixotic Amazon experiments that the company’s CEO, Andy Jassy, scales... Earlier this month, Amazon said it would close dozens of bookstores, pop-up shops and other...

Image: Good Luck Games

FTX’s New Gaming Exec Aims to Develop ‘Crypto as a Service’ for Publishers

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 22, 2022 5:39pm PDT

Steve Sadin, the former vice president and studio head at WB Games Boston, joined FTX earlier this month to lead gaming partnerships for the fast-growing crypto exchange. I spoke to Sadin via Zoom about the news Tuesday that FTX’s U.S. affiliate was buying Good Luck Games, the publisher of digital card game “Storybook Brawl.”Sadin said one of... Steve Sadin, the former vice president and studio head at WB Games Boston, joined FTX earlier...

BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti. Photo by Bloomberg.

It’s Déjà Vu at BuzzFeed

By Martin Peers · Mar 22, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Greetings!So, BuzzFeed executives are talking about making the company’s news division profitable. And they’re pivoting part of its business after realizing it was too reliant on Facebook to drive traffic. No, you didn’t just wake up in 2018. BuzzFeed executives are really saying the same things they were saying four years ago about some of the... Greetings!So, BuzzFeed executives are talking about making the company’s news division...

Ronak Trivedi, Co-Founder and CEO of Pietra, Rushir Parikh, Co-Founder and CEO of Popchew

Creator Economy

The Startups Helping Creators Sell Food and Goods IRL; What Happens After a Youtube Channel Is Demonetized

By Mahira Dayal · Mar 22, 2022 3:49pm PDT

Creators are making their mark outside social media apps. Probably the best known is Jimmy Donaldson, better known by his YouTube name MrBeast, whose MrBeast Burger sells fast food through delivery apps like UberEats, DoorDash and GrubHub. Donaldson, YouTube’s highest paid creator, uses restaurant services company Virtual Dining Concepts to run... Creators are making their mark outside social media apps. Probably the best known is Jimmy ...

A photo of Worldcoin operators and the orb device in Chile. Photo: Worldcoin.

Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Back Worldcoin in Deal Valuing Tokens at $3 Billion

By Kate Clark and Berber Jin · Mar 22, 2022 3:30pm PDT · 3 comments

A photo of Worldcoin operators and the orb device in Chile. Photo: Worldcoin.

Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Back Worldcoin in Deal Valuing Tokens at $3 Billion

By Kate Clark and Berber Jin · Mar 22, 2022 3:30pm PDT · 3 comments

Worldcoin, the cryptocurrency startup co-founded by former Y Combinator president Sam Altman, is raising $100 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, a previous backer, and Khosla Ventures through the sale of its Worldcoin tokens, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The new investment values the total... Worldcoin, the cryptocurrency startup co-founded by former Y Combinator president Sam Altman, is...

A close-up view of the X-Craft AR device, designed for industrial use. Credit: Rokid.

Two Upstarts, Rokid and Nimo, Push Forward With AR Glasses; Epic’s Latest Unreal Partner

By Mathew Olson · Mar 22, 2022 11:01am PDT

The past few years in AR tech have seen plenty of acquisitions and more than a few startups shut down. Still, there are a few small hardware companies hoping to make it big with AR before the tech giants and major gadget brands swoop in.One of those companies, China manufacturer Rokid, just announced that it raised an additional $110 million for... The past few years in AR tech have seen plenty of acquisitions and more than a few startups shut...

Aart de Geus, chairman and co-CEO of Synopsys. Photo by Bloomberg.

Q&A

Synopsys CEO Sees Downsides in Tech’s ‘Deglobalization’

By Stephen Nellis · Mar 22, 2022 10:00am PDT

Synopsys is one of two key American companies that dominate the global market in software for designing advanced chips. The Mountain View, Calif.–based company is a choke point that U.S. regulators turn to when they seek to cut off a country’s or company’s ability to create its own chips, as American officials did with Huawei... Synopsys is one of two key American companies that dominate the global market in software for...

Illustration by Danielle Davis.

Tech Companies Want HR Execs in the C-Suite. Finding Them Is the Hard Part

By Mark Matousek · Mar 22, 2022 6:00am PDT

Lynne Oldham was impressed when Stash CEO Brandon Krieg flew from Dallas to Santa Barbara just to have lunch with her. Oldham, who was then chief people officer at Zoom, was weighing taking the same job at Stash. And the personal touch sealed the deal—she started at the fintech startup in March. “The gesture to fly to me was... Lynne Oldham was impressed when Stash CEO Brandon Krieg flew from Dallas to Santa Barbara just to...

Robert Leshner, chief executive officer of Compound Labs. Photo: Bloomberg

Compound Labs CEO on How Interest Rate Hikes Will Buoy Crypto Lending

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 21, 2022 5:25pm PDT

Robert Leshner, chief executive officer of Compound Labs. Photo: Bloomberg

Compound Labs CEO on How Interest Rate Hikes Will Buoy Crypto Lending

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 21, 2022 5:25pm PDT

Federal Reserve interest rate hikes should do more than just raise the costs of credit card loans. They should also boost investors’ demand to earn money from lending their crypto holdings to other investors. Crypto lending, or yield farming, is already a booming activity offered by startups specializing in decentralized finance. It’s also... Federal Reserve interest rate hikes should do more than just raise the costs of credit card...

Thoma Bravo founder Orlando Bravo. Photo by Bloomberg

Private Equity Feasts on Software Bargains

By Martin Peers · Mar 21, 2022 5:00pm PDT

If there’s one group of deal makers that hasn’t been slowed by market volatility, it’s those private equity folks buying up much of the enterprise software industry. Thoma Bravo’s $10.7 billion deal on Sunday to buy Anaplan, a maker of business planning software, follows Vista Equity Partner’s $16.5 billion purchase of Citrix Systems in January.... If there’s one group of deal makers that hasn’t been slowed by market volatility, it’s those...

Kale’s co-founders Isha Patel and Luis Molina met while working at LinkedIn. Photo: Kale

Creator Economy

Kale, a Startup That Makes Influencers Out of Customers, Raises Funding from Forerunner

By Kaya Yurieff · Mar 21, 2022 3:00pm PDT

Kale, a New York-based startup, is taking a different approach to influencer marketing. It works with loyal customers of a brand who generally have between 1,000 and 10,000 followers, rather than going for creators with hundreds of thousands—or millions—of followers. These super fans are then eligible for cashback rewards on items they’ve... Kale, a New York-based startup, is taking a different approach to influencer marketing. It works...

A depiction of a Snapdragon-branded plaza in the metaverse. Credit: Qualcomm.

Qualcomm’s $100 Million AR/VR Fund; A Startup Fighting Toxicity in Virtual Worlds

By Mathew Olson · Mar 21, 2022 11:30am PDT

Qualcomm made two announcements on Monday morning, one launching a $100 million metaverse developer fund and the other revealing a gaming collaboration with Japanese publisher Square Enix. Considered in tandem, the moves show Qualcomm putting its money where its mouth has been—first expanding its focus to include software and developer tools for... Qualcomm made two announcements on Monday morning, one launching a $100 million metaverse...

Illustration by Josh Brill.

The Amazon Rollup Model Starts to Show Strain

By Mark Di Stefano · Mar 21, 2022 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

Illustration by Josh Brill.

The Amazon Rollup Model Starts to Show Strain

By Mark Di Stefano · Mar 21, 2022 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

It was not long ago that Factory14, a Luxembourg-based startup focused on buying small firms that sell directly to consumers on Amazon and other online marketplaces, was flying high. The company came out of stealth mode in May with a $200 million war chest in equity and debt and announced its first acquisition: U.K.-based Pro Bike Tool, a seller... It was not long ago that Factory14, a Luxembourg-based startup focused on buying small firms that...