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

‘People Follow People’ and Other Themes on the Creator Economy

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 27, 2021 7:46am PST

This week brought more moves in the slow death of the attention economy and the rise of the creator economy. Twitter—the OG attention economy company—announced a flurry of new products to help individuals gather and make money from their followers on Twitter. It is too early to say whether the upcoming Super Follow product will get... This week brought more moves in the slow death of the attention economy and the rise of the...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire during the Super Bowl earlier this month. Photo by AP.

Why NFL Deals Call Out for TV Network Mergers: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 26, 2021 5:31pm PST

Nothing sums up the creative bankruptcy of the television industry better than today’s news—which broke in Sports Business Journal—that Disney, ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal and Fox are close to wrapping up renewals of their deals to carry National Football League games on their broadcast TV networks. Disney, owner of ESPN and ABC,... Nothing sums up the creative bankruptcy of the television industry better than today’s...

The Information’s 411 — IPOs and Female CEOs

The Information’s 411 — IPOs and Female CEOs

By Tom Dotan · Feb 26, 2021 4:28pm PST

Tom talks to Zoë about the next wave of companies going public that are led by female CEOs. Then, Cory chats with Kate and Ross about the reason SPACs are looking at early-stage companies. Tom talks to Zoë about the next wave of companies going public that are led by female...

Brex co-founders, Pedro Franceschi (left) and Henrique Dubugras (center). Photo courtesy of Brex

Brex Valuation Could Reach $8 Billion in New Funding Round

By Kate Clark · Feb 26, 2021 3:09pm PST

Brex co-founders, Pedro Franceschi (left) and Henrique Dubugras (center). Photo courtesy of Brex

Brex Valuation Could Reach $8 Billion in New Funding Round

By Kate Clark · Feb 26, 2021 3:09pm PST

Brex is raising a new round of capital that could roughly triple the financial technology startup’s valuation to $8 billion, according to a person close to the company. The new financing follows Brex’s application for a banking license and would add to a string of large deals in the fintech sector. Tiger Global Management, a hedge... Brex is raising a new round of capital that could roughly triple the financial technology...

Illustration by Jeremie Claeys

How NBCU Missed Out on Billions in Gains on Snap and Peloton

By Tom Dotan · Feb 26, 2021 6:01am PST

This week Snap crossed an important symbolic milestone: The company, buoyed by an investor presentation that painted a rosy picture of its future, surpassed $100 billion in market value. Its shares are up 320% since late 2019. But one former shareholder likely isn’t so pleased: NBCUniversal. The Comcast-owned entertainment company sold out... This week Snap crossed an important symbolic milestone: The company, buoyed by an investor...

Jack Dorsey. Photo by Bloomberg

Dorsey Makes His Case to Wall Street: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 25, 2021 5:32pm PST

It’s a good thing Jack Dorsey isn’t running for public office. Promising big changes when you’ve been in the job for more than five years tends to prompt skeptical questions. But in this case, investors seem to be willing to give Dorsey the benefit of the doubt. In what was a bit of a bloodbath on Wall Street today, Twitter was... It’s a good thing Jack Dorsey isn’t running for public office. Promising big changes...

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. Photo by Bloomberg

Zoom Executives Have Discussed an Expansion Into Contact Center Market

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 25, 2021 6:00am PST

Zoom Video Communications’ pockets are full of cash after a $2 billion secondary offering of its shares last month. But where will it spend the money? One possibility: an acquisition of one or more companies in the contact center market, a fast-growing software business that helps companies field customer service requests through phone,... Zoom Video Communications’ pockets are full of cash after a $2 billion secondary offering...

Kevin Hartz, backer of the SPAC called One, which announced a merger today. Photo by Bloomberg.

Watching for Peak SPAC: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 24, 2021 5:01pm PST

Kevin Hartz, backer of the SPAC called One, which announced a merger today. Photo by Bloomberg.

Watching for Peak SPAC: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 24, 2021 5:01pm PST

Have we hit peak SPAC yet? You could have asked that question any day over the past few weeks, or months. But lately things truly seem to be hitting a new level. Four new SPAC mergers were unveiled today alone, according to SPACInsider. Adult entertainment service Stripchat said it was planning a SPAC. We reported that a Chinese private... Have we hit peak SPAC yet? You could have asked that question any day over the past few weeks, or...

Innoviz Technologies CEO Omer Keilaf, Momentus Interim CEO Dawn Harms and Nautilus CEO Sujal Patel. Photos courtesy of the subjects.

SPACs Are On the Prowl for Early-Stage Startups

By Kate Clark and Ross Matican · Feb 24, 2021 10:08am PST · 3 comments

Late last year, Nautilus Biotechnology CEO and founder Sujal Patel had a decision to make. The biotech startup backed by Jeff Bezos’ venture fund could raise a Series C round of VC funding, as a four-year-old startup would typically do. Or it could go public through a special purpose acquisition company. Patel chose the latter option. ... Late last year, Nautilus Biotechnology CEO and founder Sujal Patel had a decision to make. The...

Hony Capital founder and CEO John Zhao. Photo by Bloomberg.

SPACs Spread to China as ByteDance Investor Hony Capital Preps Listing

By Juro Osawa · Feb 24, 2021 6:38am PST

The SPAC boom is spreading to China. Hony Capital, a major private equity firm which has investments in companies such as TikTok owner ByteDance and WeWork’s China unit, is preparing to list a special purpose acquisition company in the U.S. That will make it one of the first Chinese private equity giants to jump on the global SPAC... The SPAC boom is spreading to China. Hony Capital, a major private equity firm which has...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Data Is the New Sand

By Tim O'Reilly · Feb 24, 2021 6:01am PST · 35 comments

The metaphors we use are like a map. They can guide us or lead us astray. When British mathematician Clive Humby said “Data is the new oil” back in 2006, he meant that data, like oil, must be refined and transformed to make it into useful products and services. Only then does it become valuable. Unfortunately, to too many people the... The metaphors we use are like a map. They can guide us or lead us astray. When British...

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Bloomberg

Spiegel’s Long View Pays Off For Snap: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 23, 2021 5:31pm PST

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Bloomberg

Spiegel’s Long View Pays Off For Snap: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 23, 2021 5:31pm PST

You have to hand it to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel: He took the long view and turned out to be right. A little over two years ago, Snap stock was trading as low as $4.99 and user growth was flatlining. In a memorable story in The Information, we described tensions on the board over the company’s failure to meet Wall Street’s expectations... You have to hand it to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel: He took the long view and turned out to be right. A...

Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, unveils Apple's sign-in button in 2019. Photo by AP.

Apple’s App Sign-in Button Becomes Hot-Button Issue in U.S. Antitrust Probe

By Josh Sisco · Feb 23, 2021 1:25pm PST · 1 comment

More and more iPhone apps are offering people the option of signing up by using information stored with Apple, adding to the array of quick sign-in formats that let people skip typing in their email address and other details. But how Apple is implementing this option—requiring it on all apps that offer sign-in options from other firms like... More and more iPhone apps are offering people the option of signing up by using information...

An image from the upcoming Disney movie 'Soul'. Photo courtesy of Disney

Data Reveals 40% of Disney+ Subscribers Are in the U.S.

By Wayne Ma and Tom Dotan · Feb 23, 2021 6:01am PST · 1 comment

Disney’s flagship video-streaming service, Disney+, has quickly emerged as the only true competitor to Netflix, signing up nearly 100 million subscribers globally after 15 months, about half as many as Netflix has accumulated after a decade. Now, previously unreported internal data obtained by The Information shows just how reliant Disney... Disney’s flagship video-streaming service, Disney+, has quickly emerged as the only true...

The Discovery+ home screen on a smartphone. Photo by Bloomberg

Streaming’s Fuzzy Picture: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 22, 2021 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

All those worries about the impact of cord-cutting seem to be in the rear-view mirror. The latest group of stocks to take flight are the traditional entertainment companies, proving that for media investors, it doesn’t matter how troubled your business is as long as you have a streaming story to tell. Take TV firm Discovery, whose stock... All those worries about the impact of cord-cutting seem to be in the rear-view mirror. The latest...

Katana's Kristjan Vilosius (from left to right), Priit Kaasik and Hannes Kert. Photo provided by Katana

As Shopify Surges, So Are the Software Startups Riding Its Coattails

By Mark Di Stefano · Feb 22, 2021 3:00pm PST

Katana's Kristjan Vilosius (from left to right), Priit Kaasik and Hannes Kert. Photo provided by Katana

As Shopify Surges, So Are the Software Startups Riding Its Coattails

By Mark Di Stefano · Feb 22, 2021 3:00pm PST

Shopify’s stock has more than quadrupled since shoppers began flocking at the start of the pandemic to the online stores of the smaller merchants Shopify serves. And now investors are getting interested in business tool startups that piggyback on Shopify. In the latest example, a small Estonian startup, Katana, has raised $11 million in... Shopify’s stock has more than quadrupled since shoppers began flocking at the start of the...

Clockwise from top-left: Ellen Kullman, Alyssa Ravasio, Anne Wojcicki, Melanie Perkins, Heidi Zak and Emily Weiss. Photo of Anne Wojcicki by Bloomberg; all others provided by subject.

The Next Women CEOs Who Could Take Their Companies Public

By Zoë Bernard · Feb 22, 2021 9:06am PST · 4 comments

Female founders have missed out on much of the recent market euphoria. Startups founded by women accounted for fewer than one-fifth of new U.S. stock listings last year. Startups led by women CEOs made up an even smaller portion of those public offerings. But there are modest signs of change. Bumble’s $2.1 billion initial public offering... Female founders have missed out on much of the recent market euphoria. Startups founded by women...

Aviatrix CEO Steve Mullaney. Photo provided by Aviatrix

Cloud Startup Aviatrix Raises Round at Valuation Over $700 Million

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 22, 2021 6:00am PST

A startup that helps companies avoid networking foul-ups when they run applications in the cloud is grabbing attention from investors. The startup, Aviatrix, recently closed $75 million in Series D financing in a round led by a new investor, General Catalyst. The funding values Aviatrix at more than $700 million, roughly double its $346 million... A startup that helps companies avoid networking foul-ups when they run applications in the cloud...

The Big Lesson From Google’s and Facebook’s Australia News Crisis

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 20, 2021 7:45am PST · 13 comments

As someone who worked at News Corp’s Wall Street Journal writing about Google and Facebook for nearly a decade, I’ve found the faceoff between all three companies over the future of news in Australia both fascinating and deeply frustrating. On the fascinating side, it’s been the culmination of a yearslong fight over how... As someone who worked at News Corp’s Wall Street Journal writing about Google and Facebook...

Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft’s LinkedIn Puzzle: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 19, 2021 5:31pm PST

Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft’s LinkedIn Puzzle: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 19, 2021 5:31pm PST

You might think our scoop today that Microsoft’s LinkedIn plans to enter the gig economy market of connecting businesses with white-collar freelancers would have unnerved investors in Fiverr and Upwork, the two public companies now in that market. Apparently not: Stocks of both rose about 5% on Friday. Perhaps investors see... You might think our scoop today that Microsoft’s LinkedIn plans to enter the gig economy...