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

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg

Where Have All Amazon’s Investor Fans Gone?

By Martin Peers · Aug 13, 2021 5:00pm PDT

This week concluded the bulk of tech’s summer earnings season (although Zoom Video and Snowflake are among the stragglers still to report). We’ve learned a lot about how robust the digital ad market is (very), the state of play in ride-hailing (so-so) and food delivery (still strong). It’s notable that some of the newly public crop of tech... This week concluded the bulk of tech’s summer earnings season (although Zoom Video and Snowflake...

YouTube's office building in San Bruno, Calif. Photo by AP.

YouTube Poses Rising Competition—for Publishers on YouTube

By Sahil Patel · Aug 13, 2021 6:01am PDT · 2 comments

YouTube’s ad business is booming. But one group of YouTube program producers—media companies that sell their own ad spots on the platform—are finding the boom isn’t quite as bountiful. The Google-owned video giant has become so adept at selling ad space through automated auctions that it is now massively underpricing... YouTube’s ad business is booming. But one group of YouTube program producers—media...

Disney's Burbank studio. Photo by Bloomberg

Disney’s Hulu Deserves More Respect

By Martin Peers · Aug 12, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Disney’s quarterly earnings tonight made clear that the company’s flagship streaming service Disney+ is getting most of its growth out of cut-priced Asian markets such as India. That’s a long term problem for the entertainment giant, which has to figure out a way to get Disney+ growing more strongly in richer, more lucrative markets, most... Disney’s quarterly earnings tonight made clear that the company’s flagship streaming service...

Stationhead CEO Ryan Star. Photo: Stationhead

The Startup Where Superfans Turn Into Streaming DJs; Reddit’s Boffo Quarter

By Sylvie Venuto · Aug 12, 2021 4:54pm PDT

Stationhead CEO Ryan Star. Photo: Stationhead

Creator Economy

The Startup Where Superfans Turn Into Streaming DJs; Reddit’s Boffo Quarter

By Sylvie Venuto · Aug 12, 2021 4:54pm PDT

As an independent rock musician, Stationhead CEO Ryan Star recalls getting frustrated every time he tried to convince a radio station program director to play his songs. “We don’t break the hits, we play the hits,” was the common response. Six years later, the startup Star co-founded—a form of fan-organized radio for the streaming age—has become... As an independent rock musician, Stationhead CEO Ryan Star recalls getting frustrated every time...

At the White House, announcing a national goal to sell 50% electric vehicles by 2030. Photo: AP/Evan Vucci

The Electric Flash Analysis: Democrats Have Suddenly Gone Vague on EVs and Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Aug 12, 2021 3:51pm PDT

Only last week, President Joe Biden yet again put a buildout of the U.S. lithium-ion–battery supply chain and electric vehicle industry at the center of federal policy, lining up with auto industry and labor leaders to push for a surge of EV sales by the end of the decade. But such explicit messaging—and spending—is not clearly spelled out in... Only last week, President Joe Biden yet again put a buildout of the U.S. lithium-ion–battery...

Lionel Messi. Credit: AP; Mike Sullivan

Stablecoin Shakeup; Messi’s Crypto Compensation

By Hannah Miller · Aug 12, 2021 2:30pm PDT · 3 comments

Two news items are adding to doubts over whether stablecoins—a digital currency supposedly tied to a hard asset such as the U.S. dollar—can live up to their name. Tether, the Hong Kong-based company that manages tether, the biggest of these cryptocurrencies by market cap, gave more details on just how much of its holdings are tied to... Two news items are adding to doubts over whether stablecoins—a digital currency supposedly tied...

An image from Warplanes: WW1 Fighters, the first App Lab game to later be released on the official Quest store. Credit: Home Net Games

Oculus’s App Lab Overload

By Mathew Olson · Aug 12, 2021 11:00am PDT

Facebook’s approach to the Quest’s VR app store is intended to make sure that users see a wide variety of vetted, quality VR releases. For many VR developers, though, the bottleneck between them and the store seems impassable. One result is that the App Lab, a sort of shadow app store Facebook launched in February, is piling up with games and... Facebook’s approach to the Quest’s VR app store is intended to make sure that users see a wide...

Illustration by Danielle Davis

The Dark Side of the Funding Boom: Skimpy Due Diligence, Burnout

By Kate Clark · Aug 12, 2021 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Illustration by Danielle Davis

The Dark Side of the Funding Boom: Skimpy Due Diligence, Burnout

By Kate Clark · Aug 12, 2021 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Eye-popping valuations. Mega rounds. Lawyers so busy they’re turning away clients. It may seem like the greatest moment in history to be a venture capitalist, founder or one of the many service providers that caters to startups. But a grim reality underlies the pace of such a frenetic market: burnout. Many venture capitalists,... Eye-popping valuations. Mega rounds. Lawyers so busy they’re turning away clients. It may...

A DoorDash delivery person. Photo by Bloomberg

What Instacart’s Failed Deal Outreach Reveals

By Martin Peers · Aug 11, 2021 5:00pm PDT

It’s becoming clear that Instacart over the past six months or so has been a company in an almost constant state of turmoil. Our story today that Instacart initiated talks both with DoorDash—looking for a merger—and Uber—looking for a sales partnership—is an extraordinary insight into the challenges Instacart faces.We already knew that Instacart... It’s becoming clear that Instacart over the past six months or so has been a company in an almost...

Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo. Credit: Quora

Creator Economy

Quora CEO D’Angelo On Paying its Writers; High Schoolers Love Shared Calendars

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 11, 2021 4:00pm PDT

Question-and-answer sites can feel like a forgotten era of an older internet. Yahoo Answers, founded in 2005, shut down this year. But Quora, started four years later, is chugging along—and reinventing itself. Last week the company announced new subscription products aimed at creators, or the popular writers, on its site. On Tuesday, I... Question-and-answer sites can feel like a forgotten era of an older internet. Yahoo Answers,...

Instacart founder Apoorva Mehta. Photo by Bloomberg.

DoorDash Recently Held Talks to Buy Instacart

By Josh Sisco, Martin Peers and Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 11, 2021 3:36pm PDT · 2 comments

DoorDash held talks to buy Instacart over the past two months, say people familiar with the situation, for a price that likely would have been between $40 billion and $50 billion. It would have combined a leading restaurant-delivery service with one of the leading grocery-delivery services. But the talks fell apart in recent weeks, at least... DoorDash held talks to buy Instacart over the past two months, say people familiar with the...

SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Photo: Bloomberg

Inside the $600 Million DeFi Hack; Gensler’s Crypto Power Push

By Hannah Miller · Aug 11, 2021 3:07pm PDT · 1 comment

SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Photo: Bloomberg

Inside the $600 Million DeFi Hack; Gensler’s Crypto Power Push

By Hannah Miller · Aug 11, 2021 3:07pm PDT · 1 comment

A $600 million theft in crypto assets, one of the biggest exploits in cryptocurrency history, made a surprise twist on Wednesday: an unnamed hacker returned almost half of the stolen money.While that’s good news for PolyNetwork, the platform hit by the hack, as well as its users, the hacker’s give-back does little to soften the ‘buyer beware’... A $600 million theft in crypto assets, one of the biggest exploits in cryptocurrency history,...

Unity CEO John Riccitiello. Photo by Bloomberg

Unity’s Parsec Purchase; John Hanke’s Metaverse Alternative

By Mathew Olson · Aug 11, 2021 11:00am PDT

Unity Technologies’s $320 million purchase of desktop streaming company Parsec, unveiled yesterday, may one day shape videogames or AR/VR apps built with Unity. But in the near term, the deal gives Unity more of an opportunity to capitalize on a shift to remote work.Amongst the many streaming products that let users access and control a PC... Unity Technologies’s $320 million purchase of desktop streaming company Parsec, unveiled...

Illustration by Jesus Escudero

How Three Startups Are Racing to Beat Amazon in One-Click Checkouts

By Malique Morris · Aug 11, 2021 10:55am PDT

For more than a decade, Amazon’s one-click–checkout feature gave it an edge over other online retailers by eliminating the hassle of reentering passwords and payment information. Then four years ago, the patent for that process expired. That has opened the door to a cluster of startups that have developed similar technology for... For more than a decade, Amazon’s one-click–checkout feature gave it an edge over...

Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

How Ruth Porat Tamed Google’s Spending Binge

By Sarah Krouse · Aug 11, 2021 6:01am PDT · 8 comments

For several years, a team inside X—the secretive research lab within Alphabet, Google’s parent company—has been working on a gadget to give people augmented-hearing abilities that would let them listen to select voices in a crowd. Recently, though, X told the team that they would no longer be pursuing the project, known as... For several years, a team inside X—the secretive research lab within Alphabet,...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Photo by Bloomberg

SoftBank’s Son Doubles Down on Personal Risk Exposure

By Martin Peers · Aug 10, 2021 5:00pm PDT

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Photo by Bloomberg

SoftBank’s Son Doubles Down on Personal Risk Exposure

By Martin Peers · Aug 10, 2021 5:00pm PDT

Investing in tech is, by definition, a risky endeavor, given the high failure rate of new enterprises. But SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, whose tolerance for risk has always been unusually high, is doubling down on his personal exposure. Son revealed on Tuesday that he plans to invest $2.6 billion personally in the company’s Vision Fund 2, which he... Investing in tech is, by definition, a risky endeavor, given the high failure rate of new...

Photo credit: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

How YouTube’s Crackdown on Unboxing Videos Could Play Out

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 10, 2021 4:27pm PDT

New moves by YouTube to better protect minors could have consequences for social media creators who create toy-focused videos for children. On Tuesday, YouTube and its parent company Google announced new safety features for users under 18, following a similar move by Instagram last month. Changes include allowing minors to ask for their... New moves by YouTube to better protect minors could have consequences for social media creators...

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. Photo by Bloomberg

FTC Investigating Uber’s Gopuff Partnership Alongside Drizly Deal

By Josh Sisco and Mark Di Stefano · Aug 10, 2021 3:45pm PDT

The Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing a partnership struck in May between Uber and Gopuff that allows people to order items from Gopuff through the Uber Eats delivery app, according to two people familiar with the matter and a document seen by The Information. The FTC is looking to see whether the agreement could hamper competition in... The Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing a partnership struck in May between Uber and Gopuff...

An image from ZED RUN, an online game that allows players to race, breed and sell NFT horses. Photo: Virtually Human Studio

The Rise of NFT Gaming; Infrastructure Bill Passes the Senate

By Hannah Miller · Aug 10, 2021 3:01pm PDT

The bipartisan infrastructure bill passed the Senate on Tuesday without any changes to language surrounding new tax-reporting requirements for cryptocurrency businesses. Despite two competing amendments that aimed to narrow and clarify which types of companies would have to follow these proposed rules, neither made it to the final bill, which is... The bipartisan infrastructure bill passed the Senate on Tuesday without any changes to language...

Kat Harris, a developer, wearing Snap's AR Spectacles. Photo by Snap

Snap Hires AR Leader From Facebook; Niantic’s Scanning Acquisition

By Mathew Olson · Aug 10, 2021 11:00am PDT

Kat Harris, a developer, wearing Snap's AR Spectacles. Photo by Snap

Snap Hires AR Leader From Facebook; Niantic’s Scanning Acquisition

By Mathew Olson · Aug 10, 2021 11:00am PDT

Snap’s hiring on Monday of Facebook AR executive Joe Darko to oversee AR Developer Relations demonstrates just how much Snap and Facebook are vying for not only the same consumers but even the same pool of AR developers and creators.Darko helped launch the Spark AR Partner Network in his time as the global lead for Facebook’s AR ecosystem. His... Snap’s hiring on Monday of Facebook AR executive Joe Darko to oversee AR Developer Relations...