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

BlockFi Chief Security Officer Adam Healy. Photo: BlockFi. Art by Mike Sullivan

BlockFi Security Chief on the State of Cybersecurity Hiring; Celsius Hires New CTO (Exclusive)

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 29, 2022 5:19pm PDT

Security is a top concern for crypto companies, particularly as high-profile hacks and data breaches lead to billions of dollars in stolen assets. Tuesday, the Ronin Network—the blockchain protocol and network that powers the popular video game Axie Infinity—said hackers had stolen more than $600 million in one of the largest crypto hacks ever.... Security is a top concern for crypto companies, particularly as high-profile hacks and data...

Microstrategy chairman Michael Saylor, on the left, at a bitcoin conference last year. Photo by Bloomberg.

Microstrategy’s All-or-Nothing Bitcoin Bet

By Martin Peers · Mar 29, 2022 5:00pm PDT

Question: What is today’s best definition of a gambler? Answer: someone who buys shares in Microstrategy. That's the analytics software firm which in the past two years has decided to put almost every cent it can find into bitcoin. As of Feb. 14, its total BTC investment amounted to $3.77 billion, about 20 times the cash Microstrategy’s software... Question: What is today’s best definition of a gambler? Answer: someone who buys shares in...

Credit: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

The Startups Taking on Creator Taxes; OnlyFans’ SPAC Plans

By Mahira Dayal · Mar 29, 2022 3:22pm PDT

The April 18 tax deadline could mean a last-minute scurry by creators to upload dozens of payment forms from brand sponsorships and advertising payouts from social media apps. About five startups in our Creator Economy Database—including FlyFin, Lili, Collective, KeeperTax and Catch—address the particular challenges facing online creators by... The April 18 tax deadline could mean a last-minute scurry by creators to upload dozens of payment...

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. Photo: Bloomberg.

Adobe Buys Brio XR; VR Game Studio nDreams Raises $35 Million

By Mathew Olson · Mar 29, 2022 11:00am PDT

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. Photo: Bloomberg.

Adobe Buys Brio XR; VR Game Studio nDreams Raises $35 Million

By Mathew Olson · Mar 29, 2022 11:00am PDT

Adobe isn’t wasting any time implementing its metaverse growth strategy. We learned Monday that Adobe is buying Toronto-based startup Brio XR, maker of a set of no-code cloud-based tools for presenting 3D content on the web or with AR/VR. The deal could help Adobe pair its growing set of 3D tools with publishing tools suited to social media and... Adobe isn’t wasting any time implementing its metaverse growth strategy. We learned Monday that...

Photo by Fast.

Why Stripe’s ‘Fast’ Horse Is Losing the One-Click Checkout Race

By Malique Morris · Mar 29, 2022 6:00am PDT · 7 comments

Several startups have been racing to sell software known as one-click checkout to retailers such as The Honest Company and Forever 21 to speed up how their customers pay for products online. But Fast, the only startup in the field backed by payments provider Stripe, has been slow to grow its business and is far behind rivals. The San... Several startups have been racing to sell software known as one-click checkout to retailers such...

Arcade Co-Founder and CEO Gabe Frank. Photo: Fred Marcus Studio. Art by Mike Sullivan

How a NFT-Backed Loan Startup Is Like a Pawn Shop; Biden’s Crypto Plan

By Aidan Ryan · Mar 28, 2022 5:27pm PDT

Gabe Frank, the co-founder and CEO of NFT-backed loan provider Arcade, likens his startup to the pawn shops, owned by his dad in El Paso, Texas, that he worked at growing up.“What they do is they enable liquidity, they take custody of the asset, they make a loan. If the borrower doesn't come back, then the pawn shop keeps the asset and they can... Gabe Frank, the co-founder and CEO of NFT-backed loan provider Arcade, likens his startup to the...

Apple CEO Tim Cook at Sunday's Academy Awards. Photo by AP

Apple is Playing a Different Streaming Game To Netflix

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

Get me Zack or Jamie! You can bet there was a mad rush among Hollywood agents trying to get Apple TV+ chieftains Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht on the phone today. To imagine the scene, just picture those lines that used to wrap around Apple stores on iPhone release days. Yes, Sunday night’s Best Picture Oscar win for “CODA” will put the... Get me Zack or Jamie! You can bet there was a mad rush among Hollywood agents trying to get Apple...

Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy Investors Grow More Discerning; Pinterest Expands Its Creator Fund

By Mahira Dayal · Mar 28, 2022 2:56pm PDT

Photo: Bloomberg

Creator Economy

Creator Economy Investors Grow More Discerning; Pinterest Expands Its Creator Fund

By Mahira Dayal · Mar 28, 2022 2:56pm PDT

Today we released an update to the Creator Economy Database, which now features 175 global startups and more than $6 billion in venture capital raised by U.S. startups since January 2021. There’s a lot that changed.For a start, we took eight categories and divided them into 12 to reflect growth in certain niches. Creator platforms (38) and... Today we released an update to the Creator Economy Database, which now features 175 global...

A concept image of how mixed reality with Mesh and HoloLens 2. Credit: Microsoft.

Microsoft’s Metaverse Security Stance; Sony’s VR Eye-Tracking Gains

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

Every new boom in internet tech comes with security risks—just ask all the crypto adherents who’ve had their NFTs pilfered and wallets drained. Microsoft’s new vice president of security, former Amazon Web Services executive Charlie Bell, says the potential security threats posed by the metaverse “could be deal-breakers for enterprises if we don... Every new boom in internet tech comes with security risks—just ask all the crypto adherents who’...

Apple CEO Tim Cook in a video promoting new privacy features in June 2021. Credit: Apple

Apple’s Next Blow to the Ad Industry May Be Hiding in Plain Sight

By Sarah Krouse · Mar 28, 2022 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Nearly a year after Apple implemented privacy changes that make it harder for digital advertisers to track how consumers use their smartphone apps, the iPhone maker has already introduced two other privacy features that mask the identity of Apple device users. Together, they threaten to further constrain the online ad industry’s ability to... Nearly a year after Apple implemented privacy changes that make it harder for digital advertisers...

Images via Shutterstock.

Creator Economy Startup Funding Drops 30% in First Quarter

By Mahira Dayal · Mar 28, 2022 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Three new creator economy unicorns. Two startups running meme accounts. Several that incorporate crypto. And $1 billion in first-quarter investments. These are some of the highlights from The Information’s newly updated Creator Economy Database. It now features 175 global private companies in this sector, ranging from services that... Three new creator economy unicorns. Two startups running meme accounts. Several that incorporate...

Illustration: Haejin Park/The Information

The Electric Quarterly: China Tightens Its Grip on U.S. and European EV Makers

By Steve LeVine · Mar 27, 2022 2:00pm PDT

Illustration: Haejin Park/The Information

The Electric Quarterly: China Tightens Its Grip on U.S. and European EV Makers

By Steve LeVine · Mar 27, 2022 2:00pm PDT

Welcome back to The Electric!The year is just three months old, yet a torrent of events has already happened and new trends have taken shape. To help make sense of it all and connect the dots, below you will find the first issue of The Electric Quarterly, a four-times-a-year special edition of the publication that both wraps up the most recent... Welcome back to The Electric!The year is just three months old, yet a torrent of events has...

The Information Weekend's Special Kids and Tech Issue

The Information Weekend's Special Kids and Tech Issue

By Jon Steinberg · Mar 26, 2022 8:00am PDT

Hi, welcome to your Weekend! As the father of two tween girls, I eagerly anticipated the results of The Information’s first-ever survey of tech parents. The report is fascinating, both for the questions it answers, and the new ones it raises. How many hours of screen-time per day is “normal”? Is anyone out there actually letting kids use VR... Hi, welcome to your Weekend! As the father of two tween girls, I eagerly anticipated the...

Art by Clark Miller.

Play Games, Earn Crypto: For Children of Blockchain Pros, Play-to-Earn Gaming Opens a Brave New World

By Margaux MacColl · Mar 26, 2022 7:00am PDT

Michael Bacina’s daughter knew her father worked in the crypto industry, and she wanted in. Bacina, a lawyer at Piper Alderman in Sydney specializing in blockchain law, recalled a fateful day in a cafe two years ago, when his daughter, then 7 years old, turned to him and asked, “When are you going to buy some [bitcoin] for us?” He was thrilled—... Michael Bacina’s daughter knew her father worked in the crypto industry, and she wanted in....

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, earlier this month in Brussels. Photo by Bloomberg

Why Investors Shrugged Off Europe’s Big Tech Rules

By Nick Wingfield · Mar 25, 2022 4:55pm PDT

Greetings!Go figure. Late Thursday, European policymakers agreed on new competition rules that could soon force the most powerful tech companies on the planet to make big changes to their businesses. What was the reaction from investors in Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple—four of the “gatekeepers,” in EU parlance, who could face the... Greetings!Go figure. Late Thursday, European policymakers agreed on new competition rules that...

iStock. Art by Haejin Park.

The Technology 1,000-Plus Tech Leaders Do (and Don’t) Give Their Kids

By The Information Staff · Mar 25, 2022 12:11pm PDT

iStock. Art by Haejin Park.

Subscriber Survey

The Technology 1,000-Plus Tech Leaders Do (and Don’t) Give Their Kids

By The Information Staff · Mar 25, 2022 12:11pm PDT

Silicon Valley’s children spend far less time on screens than the average American kid, according to the Information’s first-ever Kids and Technology Survey. However, many get access to tablets and log onto social media younger than their peers across the nation. Surprising? Yes and no. Between privacy concerns, health risks to teenagers, and... Silicon Valley’s children spend far less time on screens than the average American kid, according...

A scene from the 1998 teen flick "Can't Hardly Wait" that probably couldn't happen today. Art by Clark Miller.

‘You’re Grounded’: Home Security Cams and GPS Trackers Are Killing the Teenage House Party

By Zoe Bernard · Mar 25, 2022 11:39am PDT · 2 comments

It was 10:30 p.m. in San Francisco, and Nick V., 33, noticed a strange notification on his phone. Some 1,700 miles away, the Ring camera outside his Dallas home had captured footage of two shadowy, unfamiliar figures walking out of his front door. Odder still, the Ring camera hadn’t recorded anyone entering the home all night, aside from his... It was 10:30 p.m. in San Francisco, and Nick V., 33, noticed a strange notification on his phone....

Art by Clark Miller.

Parental Guidance

The iPhone Abstinence Movement Has Failed. Is There a Better Way to Keep Kids Off Smartphones?

By Rachel Levin · Mar 25, 2022 11:38am PDT · 7 comments

Brooke Shannon, a mother of three in Austin, Tex., was traumatized by what she witnessed one day in 2017 while driving by her local middle school. She saw dozens of tweens standing around with their heads down, phones up, glazed eyes staring into their devices: alone together. “I went home and emailed 20 moms,” Shannon said, posing a heretical... Brooke Shannon, a mother of three in Austin, Tex., was traumatized by what she witnessed one day...

Art by Haejin Park.

From CodeSpark to “Shark Tank,” the Apps, Shows and Devices Silicon Valley Parents Swear By

By Annie Goldsmith · Mar 25, 2022 11:00am PDT · 1 comment

Silicon Valley’s kids—are they just like us? In our tech and parenting survey, we asked 1,053 subscribers about the technology they use with their children. We mined the survey for their specific recommendations, from kids’ shows to coding apps. Top 5 Shows on Streaming Networks or TV “Bluey” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” “Wild Kratts” “... Silicon Valley’s kids—are they just like us? In our tech and parenting survey, we asked 1,053...

Neil Shen, head of Sequoia China, in 2013. Photo: Fortune via Flickr

Sequoia Capital’s China Arm Seeks $8 Billion in New Funds, Defying Tech Rout

By Juro Osawa · Mar 25, 2022 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Neil Shen, head of Sequoia China, in 2013. Photo: Fortune via Flickr

Sequoia Capital’s China Arm Seeks $8 Billion in New Funds, Defying Tech Rout

By Juro Osawa · Mar 25, 2022 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

The Chinese affiliate of Sequoia Capital, whose vast portfolio includes TikTok owner ByteDance and online fashion startup Shein, is in early talks with U.S.-based and other institutional investors to raise more than $8 billion across four new funds, according to three people familiar with the matter. It is trying to pull off one of the biggest... The Chinese affiliate of Sequoia Capital, whose vast portfolio includes TikTok owner ByteDance...