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

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber Stock Rebounds But Investor Optimism May Be Temporary

By Martin Peers · Sep 21, 2021 5:00pm PDT

When a stock is as down as Uber’s has been, a little dose of good news can work wonders as an antidepressant. Uber shares jumped nearly 12% today after the company disclosed it was closer to profitability than previously thought. The rally put DoorDash, a smaller company that rose above Uber’s market valuation last week, back in its place. You... When a stock is as down as Uber’s has been, a little dose of good news can work wonders as an...

An NFT launched by Xoogler, a community of former Google employees. Photo courtesy of Rally

Xoogler NFT Shows Google Alumni Crypto Connections Run Deep

By Hannah Miller · Sep 21, 2021 4:43pm PDT · 1 comment

A non-fungible token launch on Tuesday by Xoogler, a network of more than 10,000 former Google employees, shows the deepening involvement of the tech giant's alumni with blockchain technology.The non-fungible token, which is a digital, blockchain-based asset also known as an NFT, will be distributed to the more than 200 people who virtually... A non-fungible token launch on Tuesday by Xoogler, a network of more than 10,000 former Google...

Spring CEO Chris Lamontagne Photo: Spring

Creator Economy

Custom ‘Merch’ Maker Spring Eyes $165 Million in Revenue, Future IPO

By Kaya Yurieff · Sep 21, 2021 3:58pm PDT

Spring, formerly known as Teespring, was one of the first companies to offer a way for social media creators to sell custom merchandise like hoodies, phone cases and hats to their fans. Its focus on creator-customized products has been paying off. After 53% growth last year, the company expects to generate $165 million in revenue this year.CEO... Spring, formerly known as Teespring, was one of the first companies to offer a way for social...

Sarah Guo, a general partner at Greylock Partners. Photo by Bloomberg.

Greylock Raises $500 Million in Battle for Seed Deals

By Kate Clark · Sep 21, 2021 11:57am PDT · 2 comments

Sarah Guo, a general partner at Greylock Partners. Photo by Bloomberg.

Greylock Raises $500 Million in Battle for Seed Deals

By Kate Clark · Sep 21, 2021 11:57am PDT · 2 comments

Greylock Partners has raised $500 million to focus exclusively on seed deals, a pool of funds that will give the 56-year-old venture capital firm the ability to write large checks at “lean-in valuations” and emphasize its commitment to early-stage investing, said general partner Sarah Guo. The money is part of an expansion of a... Greylock Partners has raised $500 million to focus exclusively on seed deals, a pool of funds...

The main characters of "Eden," a Netflix-produced anime. Credit: Netflix

What to Make of Netflix’s New VR Game

By Mathew Olson · Sep 21, 2021 11:00am PDT

Netflix quietly released a VR game on Oculus Quest—so quietly, in fact, that it may well have been sitting under people’s noses for a while. We know the streaming behemoth is keen on getting into videogames, but the closer you look at this VR surprise, the less it looks like something that’s part of Netflix’s new gaming strategy.Anyone with a... Netflix quietly released a VR game on Oculus Quest—so quietly, in fact, that it may well have...

Illustration by Josh Brill

More Startup CEOs Are Moonlighting as VC Investors

By Berber Jin · Sep 21, 2021 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

Late last year, Lattice CEO Jack Altman started an unusual side gig for a startup founder: He raised $20 million from investors for a venture capital fund he was launching while continuing to run Lattice, the developer of human resource management software he co-founded six years ago. Altman’s feat reflects a new trend in startup... Late last year, Lattice CEO Jack Altman started an unusual side gig for a startup founder: He...

Twitter's former CFO Anthony Noto. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Twitter’s $809.5 Million Legal Payout Tells Us

By Martin Peers · Sep 20, 2021 5:00pm PDT

It’s tempting to view Twitter’s $809.5 million settlement today of a shareholder lawsuit—which alleged that top executives misled investors with overly optimistic statements about user growth—as a meaningful development. The news media spends much of its time obsessing over the massive gulf between company executives’ public statements and... It’s tempting to view Twitter’s $809.5 million settlement today of a shareholder lawsuit—which...

Coinbase and Bitcoin signage in New York this April. Photo by Bloomberg

Coinbase Backs Down Against SEC; Robinhood Tests Wallet

By Hannah Miller · Sep 20, 2021 4:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Coinbase and Bitcoin signage in New York this April. Photo by Bloomberg

Coinbase Backs Down Against SEC; Robinhood Tests Wallet

By Hannah Miller · Sep 20, 2021 4:00pm PDT · 2 comments

Coinbase has decided not to launch its lending product after CEO Brian Armstrong said earlier this month that the Securities and Exchange Commission threatened to sue the cryptocurrency exchange if it released Lend, which planned to offer a 4% annual yield to people who lent their USD Coin cryptocurrency to Coinbase.The move is a big win for the... Coinbase has decided not to launch its lending product after CEO Brian Armstrong said earlier...

What’s Hot and Cold in the SPAC Market

By Aidan Ryan · Sep 20, 2021 9:01am PDT

After a frenetic beginning to 2021, the special purpose acquisition company market has cooled off in recent months, with fewer SPACs filing to go public and many pre-deal shares trading below their $10 issue price. And we’re now seeing the aftereffects of the SPAC meltdown: in particular, an evaporation of SPACs looking to combine with... After a frenetic beginning to 2021, the special purpose acquisition company market has cooled off...

Asia Innovations Group co-founder and CEO Andy Tian. Photo by Asia Innovations Group

More TikToks? Consumer Apps Developed in China Find Customers Overseas

By Shai Oster · Sep 20, 2021 6:01am PDT

For years, it seemed China’s mighty consumer app giants couldn’t figure out how to expand overseas. Alibaba, Tencent and many others famously failed. That changed when ByteDance turned TikTok into a global hit. But it’s not just TikTok. China’s software engineers and product managers are starting to crack the code and are... For years, it seemed China’s mighty consumer app giants couldn’t figure out how to...

Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg

Why Elon Musk Should Refund $2.3 Billion to Customers of Full Self-Driving

By Steve LeVine · Sep 19, 2021 2:00pm PDT

Welcome back to the paid beta of The Electric. We're building this for you, so please do let us know what you think. We're eager to hear your feedback, as we aim to create the best source of insight into EVs and battery technology available. Just reply directly to this email. I am always reachable at [email protected]. Why... Welcome back to the paid beta of The Electric. We're building this for you, so please do let...

Why the Press Could Fail

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 18, 2021 7:45am PDT · 11 comments

Why the Press Could Fail

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 18, 2021 7:45am PDT · 11 comments

As a news entrepreneur, I’ve spent most of the last eight years focused on the business model challenges to our industry, which have been seismic. I’ve argued, again and again, that quality journalism won’t survive unless publishers stop trying to game algorithms for ad dollars and start holding themselves to a higher bar: journalism worth... As a news entrepreneur, I’ve spent most of the last eight years focused on the business model...

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. Photo by Bloomberg

Zoom Video’s Stock Decline Raises Questions About Five9 Deal

By Martin Peers · Sep 17, 2021 5:01pm PDT · 1 comment

How Zoom Video’s star has fallen. The videoconferencing hit of the pandemic is on the outs with investors, not horribly but enough that it may have trouble winning over shareholders of Five9. That’s the contact-center software firm Zoom proposed buying in July for a price then estimated at $14.7 billion. A 20% drop in Zoom’s stock price since... How Zoom Video’s star has fallen. The videoconferencing hit of the pandemic is on the outs with...

Chart by Mike Sullivan

The Information Investigation: Amazon Delivery Stations Have More Than Double the Injury Rate of Other Warehouses

By Paris Martineau · Sep 17, 2021 11:26am PDT

Working at an Amazon warehouse is more dangerous than working at the typical warehouse. But working at an Amazon delivery station, a small shipping hub where delivery vans whiz in and out daily, appears to be the most hazardous warehouse job of all. In 2019 and 2020, injury rates at Amazon delivery stations were more than double the... Working at an Amazon warehouse is more dangerous than working at the typical warehouse. But...

Insight Partners, Venture Capital’s ‘Sleeping Giant,’ Wakes Up

By Kate Clark · Sep 17, 2021 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

In 2009, a 23-year-old analyst at Insight Partners walked out of the private equity and venture capital firm’s New York headquarters for the last time—with heaps of proprietary data in tow. The junior deal maker had downloaded information from Insight’s database of private company information dating back to its 1995 founding,... In 2009, a 23-year-old analyst at Insight Partners walked out of the private equity and venture...

DoorDash CEO Tony Xu talking at a conference in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg.

DoorDash Passes Uber in Market Cap—And What That Means

By Martin Peers · Sep 16, 2021 5:00pm PDT

DoorDash CEO Tony Xu talking at a conference in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg.

DoorDash Passes Uber in Market Cap—And What That Means

By Martin Peers · Sep 16, 2021 5:00pm PDT

DoorDash shares today hit their highest level since the company went public last December. At $221.50, DoorDash shares are worth more than double the IPO price, valuing the company at $74.8 billion in market cap. For those who see life as a contest, that means DoorDash is worth a tad more than Uber, which is a significantly bigger and more... DoorDash shares today hit their highest level since the company went public last December. At...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Coinbase to Expand Into Derivatives; China Snuffs Out More Miners; Revolut Pays WeWork in Bitcoin

By Hannah Miller · Sep 16, 2021 2:59pm PDT

Coinbase is going even further to distinguish itself from other cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S. The company said in a tweet late Wednesday that it plans to offer futures and derivatives trading. It filed an application that day with the National Futures Association to register as a futures commission merchant under the name Coinbase... Coinbase is going even further to distinguish itself from other cryptocurrency exchanges in the...

Sweden's Hallwyl Museum, digitized as a 3D puzzle made for VR. Credit: Realities.io

How VR Puzzle Makers Realities.io Pieced Together a Hit Game

By Mathew Olson · Sep 16, 2021 11:01am PDT · 1 comment

The origin story behind the VR game Puzzling Places is a fun one. Realities.io, the game’s creators, experienced a bug that jumbled the various parts of a 3D photogrammetry scan like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Looking at the results, one team member joked it could be a game.That epiphany was just the start of a larger puzzle for the team. Even... The origin story behind the VR game Puzzling Places is a fun one. Realities.io, the game’s...

Photo by Bloomberg

Apple Poised to Gain More Market Share Amid Chip Crunch, New Survey Shows

By Sarah Krouse · Sep 16, 2021 8:20am PDT · 1 comment

As Apple prepares to release the latest generation of its iPhone this fall, it is starting to feel the pinch Android makers have been feeling for months from the global chip shortage. Still, new survey results suggest the chip crunch is hitting other manufacturers of high-end phones such as Samsung Electronics much harder, and the problems are... As Apple prepares to release the latest generation of its iPhone this fall, it is starting to...

Didi Global's offices in Hangzhou, China. Photo by Bloomberg

Could Didi List in Hong Kong to Stop Bleeding for Shareholders?

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Sep 16, 2021 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

Didi Global's offices in Hangzhou, China. Photo by Bloomberg

Could Didi List in Hong Kong to Stop Bleeding for Shareholders?

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Sep 16, 2021 6:01am PDT · 1 comment

Could the path to relief for Didi Global’s beleaguered shareholders run through Hong Kong? It’s a pressing question as Full Truck Alliance, a U.S.-listed Chinese commercial freight company, which like Didi is under cybersecurity investigation by Chinese authorities, explores with bankers the possibility of listing its shares in Hong... Could the path to relief for Didi Global’s beleaguered shareholders run through Hong Kong?...