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

Art by Haejin Park

The Information 50

What We Got Right and Wrong on Last Year’s The Information 50 List

By Amir Efrati · Nov 11, 2021 10:59am PST

A year ago, our inaugural list of the most promising startups in tech highlighted 50 companies to watch based on their financial and other metrics. A majority of them had breakout, banner years. Others, not so much. The biggest winners from our list included bill payment firm Melio Payments, whose valuation rose by roughly six times to $4... A year ago, our inaugural list of the most promising startups in tech highlighted 50 companies to...

The port of Houston this week. Photo by Bloomberg.

Online Merchants Squeezed by Surging Freight Costs, Slower Demand

By Malique Morris · Nov 11, 2021 10:01am PST

In August, Steven Borrelli, founder of online apparel brand Cuts Clothing, faced a tough decision. Demand for the hoodies and T-shirts that Cuts sells was skyrocketing. Yet shipping the merchandise into the U.S. from factories in China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Peru was no longer an option, as a shortage of trucks, containers and drivers had... In August, Steven Borrelli, founder of online apparel brand Cuts Clothing, faced a tough...

Art Mike Sullivan; Shutterstock

New York, Miami and the Future of Crypto Cities

By Dror Poleg · Nov 11, 2021 9:09am PST · 1 comment

The rising mayor of New York has crypto on his mind. Barely a day after his election last week, Eric Adams tweeted, “In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin.” Adams was responding to a similar declaration from Miami’s mayor, Francis Suarez. Over the past year, Suarez used... The rising mayor of New York has crypto on his mind. Barely a day after his election last week,...

Rapper Lil Nas X, whose career got a lift from TikTok. Photo by AP

Can TikTok Owner ByteDance Challenge Spotify, Apple in Music Streaming?

By Juro Osawa and Wayne Ma · Nov 11, 2021 6:01am PST

Rapper Lil Nas X, whose career got a lift from TikTok. Photo by AP

Can TikTok Owner ByteDance Challenge Spotify, Apple in Music Streaming?

By Juro Osawa and Wayne Ma · Nov 11, 2021 6:01am PST

ByteDance may have built the blockbuster TikTok—the first Chinese-owned app to really threaten Facebook and YouTube—but most of its other international forays in areas like news, work collaboration and social networking have flopped. The Chinese internet giant’s latest attempt to go global, with a music-streaming app designed... ByteDance may have built the blockbuster TikTok—the first Chinese-owned app to really...

Disney CEO Bob Chapek. Photo by Bloomberg.

Disney’s Streaming Slowdown Shows Pitfalls Ahead

By Martin Peers · Nov 10, 2021 5:00pm PST

The streaming wars are starting to get interesting. Today, Disney reported a dramatic slowdown in subscriber growth at its Disney+ service—it added just 2 million subscribers in the September quarter, the weakest growth since the service’s launch two years ago. More strikingly, Disney executives indicated that Disney+ won’t return to meaningful... The streaming wars are starting to get interesting. Today, Disney reported a dramatic slowdown in...

Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Twitter Builds a Crypto Team; Most Promising Crypto Startups

By Hannah Miller · Nov 10, 2021 4:22pm PST

Twitter is getting more enmeshed in the cryptoverse. Though “crypto twitter” is shorthand for the vibrant chatter about digital currencies on the social media network, “Twitter Crypto” is the name of the company’s new team focused on blockchain, digital currencies and decentralized technology.Tess Rinearson, head of Twitter Crypto, tweeted about... Twitter is getting more enmeshed in the cryptoverse. Though “crypto twitter” is shorthand for the...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Creator Economy

YouTube Makes Dislike Counts Private to Protect Creators; Our Most Promising Startups

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 10, 2021 2:58pm PST

Engagement metrics on social media, such as likes, started as an easy way for users to interact with posts. Who has the time to always write out a comment? But as time went on, they took a toll on some people, particularly young people, who used them to measure their popularity. That led Instagram to test dropping likes altogether. On... Engagement metrics on social media, such as likes, started as an easy way for users to interact...

Jamie Hector and Titus Welliver at a premiere for Amazon Prime Video's Bosch, a spin-off of which is destined for IMDB. Photo by AP.

Amazon Discussing Renaming IMDb TV to Help Draw More Viewers

By Jessica Toonkel · Nov 10, 2021 11:09am PST · 1 comment

Jamie Hector and Titus Welliver at a premiere for Amazon Prime Video's Bosch, a spin-off of which is destined for IMDB. Photo by AP.

Amazon Discussing Renaming IMDb TV to Help Draw More Viewers

By Jessica Toonkel · Nov 10, 2021 11:09am PST · 1 comment

First it was called Freedive, then it was dubbed IMDb TV. Now, less than three years after launching its free ad-supported video-streaming service, Amazon is looking to rename it, according to people familiar with the situation. Amazon executives believe the existing name is too hard for people to pronounce, which hurts its popularity, said... First it was called Freedive, then it was dubbed IMDb TV. Now, less than three years after...

Weta's Peter Jackson. Photo by AP

The Big Idea Behind Unity’s Weta Purchase; Life at Google’s Owlchemy

By Mathew Olson · Nov 10, 2021 11:00am PST

Unity is framing its $1.625 billion purchase of visual effects house Weta Digital as a metaverse play, and there’s enough of a vision there to justify the use of tech’s current favorite buzzword. To better understand why the deal matters, though—and why Epic might wish it had been the one signing papers with Peter Jackson—it’s better to focus on... Unity is framing its $1.625 billion purchase of visual effects house Weta Digital as a metaverse...

The Information 50

What We Learned From The Information’s 50 Most Promising Startups of 2021

By Amir Efrati · Nov 10, 2021 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Spotting an under-the-radar startup that could be the next Shopify, Coinbase or Snowflake has never been more difficult: A company doesn’t need to show much business progress to earn a billion-dollar valuation, or higher, from investors these days. That means finding up-and-coming startups below that threshold has never been more valuable... Spotting an under-the-radar startup that could be the next Shopify, Coinbase or Snowflake has...

A Wolt delivery courier in Norway in August. Photo by Bloomberg.

In Buying Wolt, DoorDash Has to Prove Benefits of Global Presence

By Martin Peers · Nov 9, 2021 5:00pm PST

DoorDash is plunking down $8 billion of its stock to buy Finland-based food delivery service Wolt, underscoring the U.S. company’s ambition to become a global operator. But that ambition begs a very real question: Is there any reason to think there are global economies of scale for a business focused on local delivery of restaurant meals and... DoorDash is plunking down $8 billion of its stock to buy Finland-based food delivery service...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo: Bloomberg

Tim Cook’s Crypto Nibbles; Coinbase Plans Instagram-Like NFT Marketplace

By Hannah Miller · Nov 9, 2021 4:30pm PST

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo: Bloomberg

Tim Cook’s Crypto Nibbles; Coinbase Plans Instagram-Like NFT Marketplace

By Hannah Miller · Nov 9, 2021 4:30pm PST

Apple isn’t taking a bite out of the growing crypto market just yet—but it could let its customers get a taste. CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday said he owns crypto and is considering adding crypto capabilities to its Apple Pay service. Cook, in an interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Online Summit, said that he has been interested in crypto... Apple isn’t taking a bite out of the growing crypto market just yet—but it could let its...

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook-parent Meta. Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

What I Learned About Facebook’s Creator Problem; Dropbox Gets Into Creator Tools

By Kaya Yurieff · Nov 9, 2021 2:33pm PST

Much has been written about Facebook’s struggle to attract young people to its services, but journalists have spent less time unraveling how closely those efforts dovetail with attracting social media personalities. Inside the company, however, the relationship has been obvious—and represented a clear call to action. That was one of the... Much has been written about Facebook’s struggle to attract young people to its services, but...

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this month. Photo by Bloomberg

Does Facebook Make the World Better? Half of Polled Employees Say Yes

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Jessica Toonkel · Nov 9, 2021 1:20pm PST · 2 comments

After months of blistering headlines and late-night TV jokes about Facebook’s struggles to control hate speech and other abuses on its apps, employees don’t seem to feel much worse about the company’s impact on the world. A semi-annual “Pulse Survey” of Facebook employees, which the company is preparing to share... After months of blistering headlines and late-night TV jokes about Facebook’s struggles to...

Hugo Swart, VP of VR and AR at Qualcomm. Photo: Qualcomm. Illustration: Mike Sullivan

A Q&A With Qualcomm’s VP of VR and AR; Roblox’s Age-Up

By Mathew Olson · Nov 9, 2021 11:00am PST · 1 comment

This morning, Qualcomm announced Snapdragon Spaces, a new set of software tools for developers of AR experiences (and yes, if you’re having deja vu from Monday, Niantic debuted its own AR developer tools yesterday, and they can be used with Spaces). Best known for its mobile chips, the San Diego company has been investing heavily in AR and VR, a... This morning, Qualcomm announced Snapdragon Spaces, a new set of software tools for developers of...

Instagram head Adam Mosseri, left, and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photos by Bloomberg; art by Mike Sullivan.

Inside Facebook’s Struggles to Attract Creators and Their Young Fans

By Kaya Yurieff, Sarah Krouse and Sahil Patel · Nov 9, 2021 6:00am PST

Instagram head Adam Mosseri, left, and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photos by Bloomberg; art by Mike Sullivan.

Inside Facebook’s Struggles to Attract Creators and Their Young Fans

By Kaya Yurieff, Sarah Krouse and Sahil Patel · Nov 9, 2021 6:00am PST

In early May, days after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors the company wanted to be the best platform for millions of digital content creators to make a living, researchers at the company spotlighted a major obstacle for its flagship app. Public figures and creators “lack a reason to be on FB,” according to a more than... In early May, days after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors the company wanted to be the...

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Amazon-Rivian Self-Funding Electric Van

By Martin Peers · Nov 8, 2021 5:01pm PST

Rivian shareholders should strap on their seatbelts. The Amazon-backed electric truck maker raised its proposed IPO pricing range 23% today—from what it disclosed last week—to a level that implies a market capitalization of $67 billion. That’s 84% of the market cap of Ford, for those keeping score—not bad for a startup that has yet to produce... Rivian shareholders should strap on their seatbelts. The Amazon-backed electric truck maker...

Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan.

Coinbase Earnings Preview; Infrastructure Bill’s Crypto Reporting Rules

By Hannah Miller · Nov 8, 2021 4:34pm PST

Coinbase will report its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, likely giving more insight into its new offerings, such as its recently announced non-fungible token marketplace. The company, which is the largest crypto exchange in the U.S. by trading volume, could also announce new ventures as it expands further into financial services. Here’s what... Coinbase will report its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, likely giving more insight into its...

Credit: Roblox

Creator Economy

Roblox’s Good and Bad News; Clubhouse Is No Longer Just Live

By Mahira Dayal · Nov 8, 2021 3:31pm PST

Roblox’s third-quarter financial results were a mixed bag for creators, including the millions of developers who earn money from the virtual worlds they make for the gaming platform. On the upside for everyone whose fortunes are yoked to the online economy, the kids have clearly not backed away from their video games. That’s even though... Roblox’s third-quarter financial results were a mixed bag for creators, including the millions of...

Niantic CEO John Hanke. Photo: Bloomberg. Illustration: Mike Sullivan

Niantic CEO John Hanke on AR, the Metaverse and Why He’s “Fascinated” With the Crypto World

By Mathew Olson · Nov 8, 2021 10:00am PST

Niantic CEO John Hanke. Photo: Bloomberg. Illustration: Mike Sullivan

Niantic CEO John Hanke on AR, the Metaverse and Why He’s “Fascinated” With the Crypto World

By Mathew Olson · Nov 8, 2021 10:00am PST

Niantic, makers of Pokemon Go, launched a new platform for AR developers called Lightship today. The company is taking the set of iOS and Android AR tools out of beta and offering worldwide access, with a model that’s initially free to use for all developers through to summer 2022.John Hanke, Niantic’s CEO and formerly the leader of the Google... Niantic, makers of Pokemon Go, launched a new platform for AR developers called Lightship today....