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

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (l) and Apple CEO Tim Cook (r). Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook Preps Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple

By Alex Heath and Josh Sisco · Jan 28, 2021 6:00am PST · 10 comments

A long-simmering public dispute between Facebook and Apple has neared a boiling point. With the aid of outside legal counsel, Facebook for months has been preparing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple that would allege the iPhone-maker abused its power in the smartphone market by forcing app developers to abide by App Store rules that... A long-simmering public dispute between Facebook and Apple has neared a boiling point. With the...

A GameStop store in California. Photo by Bloomberg

Where Social Media’s GameStop Surge Could Lead: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 27, 2021 5:00pm PST · 2 comments

There’s no doubt the current stock market hysteria over GameStop and the like will come to a bloody end. The real question is whether the craziness, fueled by social media sites like Reddit and Discord and stock trading app Robinhood, leads those companies to clamp down on stock debate or trading. Media post-mortems are sure to blame those... There’s no doubt the current stock market hysteria over GameStop and the like will come to...

MainStreet CEO and co-founder Doug Ludlow. Art by Mike Sullivan

MainStreet, Which Finds Tax Credits for Startups, Valued at $500 Million

By Kate Clark · Jan 27, 2021 1:11pm PST · 2 comments

The cost cutting at startups during the pandemic shutdowns has led to a windfall for MainStreet, whose software promises to find “free money” for its clients by helping them obtain tax credits. The year-old startup has raised new funding in a round led by SignalFire that values it at $500 million, according to three people familiar... The cost cutting at startups during the pandemic shutdowns has led to a windfall for MainStreet,...

Bird and Lime scooters in downtown San Jose, Calif. Photo: Bloomberg

After Tough Year, SPACs Tempt Bird, Lime

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 27, 2021 6:00am PST

Bird and Lime scooters in downtown San Jose, Calif. Photo: Bloomberg

After Tough Year, SPACs Tempt Bird, Lime

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 27, 2021 6:00am PST

Dogged by questions of financial viability and then a pandemic that crippled demand for scooter rentals, Bird and Lime are taking steps to repair the damage. Bird is finalizing a deal to raise more than $100 million in convertible debt, led by existing investors Sequoia Capital and Valor Equity Partners, people familiar with the matter said. The... Dogged by questions of financial viability and then a pandemic that crippled demand for scooter...

Verizon technicians installing fiber optic cable in New York. Photo by Bloomberg

Internet Outages, Verizon and Value: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 26, 2021 5:03pm PST

If you’re on the East Coast, you might have experienced the internet outage this morning that played havoc with Zoom calls, Gmail and other everyday working tools. Unlike previous outages, this wasn’t caused by a cloud provider like AWS or a specific application like Slack but by Verizon, which owned up to a “fiber cut”... If you’re on the East Coast, you might have experienced the internet outage this morning...

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

Equity Financing for Influencers

By Sam Lessin · Jan 26, 2021 9:01am PST · 19 comments

The most valuable brands of the future are going to be people rather than companies. The shift in that direction is starting to happen right under our noses. Take the case of Elon Musk. You can’t assess Tesla’s $800 billion market capitalization against any sort of realistic view of its financial prospects. The stock isn’t... The most valuable brands of the future are going to be people rather than companies. The shift in...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

ByteDance’s Revenue More Than Doubled in 2020

By Juro Osawa and Yunan Zhang · Jan 26, 2021 6:01am PST · 2 comments

You might have thought TikTok’s owner ByteDance had a tough year in 2020, what with President Trump trying to ban TikTok and India actually taking that step. But none of that mattered to ByteDance’s actual business, which grew like gangbusters. ByteDance’s revenue last year more than doubled to about $37 billion, people with... You might have thought TikTok’s owner ByteDance had a tough year in 2020, what with...

Photo by Bloomberg

The Clubhouse Investment Boom: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 25, 2021 5:00pm PST

Photo by Bloomberg

The Clubhouse Investment Boom: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 25, 2021 5:00pm PST

Just when you think the stock market excesses couldn’t get any crazier, along comes GameStop. In the space of a few hours today the stock, which was trading at $20 two weeks ago, more than doubled to a high of $159 before collapsing back to $76.79. Like a lot of other stocks bouncing around like a yo-yo lately—video-streaming service... Just when you think the stock market excesses couldn’t get any crazier, along comes...

San Francisco in the 1850s. Images courtesy of the Library of Congress

What Today’s Tech Leaders Can Learn From 1850s San Francisco

By Roddy Lindsay · Jan 25, 2021 9:02am PST · 9 comments

A tent city in SOMA. Hundreds of people dying of infectious disease. Out-of-control crime on the streets and corruption in City Hall. Let’s talk about San Francisco…in the 1850s. Immediately after the Gold Rush, San Francisco became the home of thousands of destitute, out-of-work miners. Poverty was rampant, cholera was endemic, and... A tent city in SOMA. Hundreds of people dying of infectious disease. Out-of-control crime on the...

A truck next to an Amazon delivery station in New Jersey in October. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Expands Secretive Trucking Program

By Paris Martineau · Jan 25, 2021 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Amazon’s effort to exert control over the trucking of goods to its customers is moving quickly. In a little over a year, more than 130 small trucking companies around the globe have agreed to transport freight exclusively for Amazon, The Information has learned. Those companies have leased over 1,100 Amazon-branded tractors, the cab units... Amazon’s effort to exert control over the trucking of goods to its customers is moving...

Photos by Bloomberg; Shutterstock. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

I Helped Uncover QAnon. Failed Prophecies Won’t Kill It

By Paris Martineau · Jan 23, 2021 7:47am PST · 3 comments

I first stumbled upon the collective delusion we now refer to as QAnon in November 2017, just a few weeks after it began as a series of conspiratorial posts on one of the internet’s more untamed bulletin boards. In a sprawling discussion thread on 4chan titled “Calm Before the Storm”—a reference to a quote from the prior... I first stumbled upon the collective delusion we now refer to as QAnon in November 2017, just a...

Clubhouse Co-Founder and CEO Paul Davison. Photo: Bloomberg

Clubhouse Gets Investment Interest at $1 Billion Valuation

By Zoë Bernard, Kate Clark and Alex Heath · Jan 22, 2021 6:24pm PST · 17 comments

Clubhouse Co-Founder and CEO Paul Davison. Photo: Bloomberg

Clubhouse Gets Investment Interest at $1 Billion Valuation

By Zoë Bernard, Kate Clark and Alex Heath · Jan 22, 2021 6:24pm PST · 17 comments

Update: On Sunday, Clubhouse confirmed it raised a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Read more details in our brief. The race to invest in social audio app Clubhouse is on again. Venture capital firms have approached the startup’s founders in recent weeks about leading its potential next round of funding at a roughly $1... Update: On Sunday, Clubhouse confirmed it raised a Series B round led by Andreessen...

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Bloomberg

Google’s Threat Down Under: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 22, 2021 5:31pm PST

Google’s threat to shut down its search engine in Australia if the legislature there proceeds with a plan to require the search giant to pay publishers for linking to their news articles puts the spotlight on a little-understood question. What is the potential cost for Google, and Facebook, if they had to pay for news content on terms... Google’s threat to shut down its search engine in Australia if the legislature there...

The Information’s 411 — Self-Promotion as a Service

By Tom Dotan · Jan 22, 2021 2:25pm PST

What happens when VC firms become publishers? Tom talks with The Information’s Zoë Bernard and Newcomer.co’s Eric Newcomer about Andreessen Horowitz’s latest moves, and startups’ relationships with journalists. Then, Cory breaks down his reporting on Airbnb’s efforts to keep white nationalists and... What happens when VC firms become publishers? Tom talks with The Information’s...

The People With Power at Robinhood

By Kate Clark · Jan 22, 2021 6:01am PST · 5 comments

Last year, as Robinhood’s trading activity boomed and legal problems mounted, the $11.7 billion startup shook up the ranks of its senior staff. The turnover means many top employees will be relative newcomers at the time of its anticipated public listing this year. The Menlo Park, Calif., company saw the departures of its head of... Last year, as Robinhood’s trading activity boomed and legal problems mounted, the $11.7...

The Justice Department's sign at a press conference. Photo by Bloomberg

When Antitrust Opposition Boosts Value: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 21, 2021 5:01pm PST

The Justice Department's sign at a press conference. Photo by Bloomberg

When Antitrust Opposition Boosts Value: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jan 21, 2021 5:01pm PST

Sometimes, the government is here to help. The Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit that killed Visa’s acquisition of Plaid promises to become a windfall for shareholders in the fintech startup, as The Information reported today. Visa had agreed to pay $5.3 billion for Plaid, but there’s now investor interest in the company... Sometimes, the government is here to help. The Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit that...

Zach Perret, CEO and co-founder of Plaid, spoke during the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit in Salt Lake City last year. Photo: Bloomberg

Plaid Shareholders Field Offers at $15 Billion After Merger Collapse

By Kate Clark · Jan 21, 2021 1:47pm PST · 2 comments

Normally CEOs that opt to sell their companies aren’t happy when the government blocks the deal over antitrust concerns. But that doesn’t appear to be the case with Plaid, a fintech startup that has seen a surge in investor interest since federal regulators blocked its merger last week with Visa. So far, the prospective investors... Normally CEOs that opt to sell their companies aren’t happy when the government blocks the...

SoftWear Automation CEO Raj Rajan. Photo provided by the company

‘Made in the USA’ Apparel Gets a Tech Boost

By Malique Morris · Jan 21, 2021 6:01am PST · 1 comment

When Covid-19 began spreading in China last winter, the global apparel supply chain was thrown into disarray and overseas production in the category ground to a halt. That’s when Marta Miller—owner of Lefty Production Co., a Los Angeles–based company that manufactures clothing for clients—began seeing a surge in inquiries... When Covid-19 began spreading in China last winter, the global apparel supply chain was thrown...

Patreon CEO Jack Conte. Photo courtesy of Patreon

Patreon Considers Public Listing as Soon as This Year

By Ross Matican and Amir Efrati · Jan 20, 2021 6:45pm PST

Patreon, the online service that allows podcasters, musicians and other artists to receive direct financial support from fans, is considering a public listing as soon as this year, said a person with knowledge of discussions. The San Francisco startup has met with banks and has been approached by special purpose acquisition companies, though the... Patreon, the online service that allows podcasters, musicians and other artists to receive direct...

Anthony Levandowski. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Thinking Behind Levandowski’s Pardon: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By The Information Staff · Jan 20, 2021 5:02pm PST

Anthony Levandowski. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Thinking Behind Levandowski’s Pardon: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By The Information Staff · Jan 20, 2021 5:02pm PST

Now-former president Trump’s last minute pardon of self-driving car engineer Anthony Levandowski raises a fascinating question about crime and punishment in Silicon Valley. When a judge last year sentenced Levandowski to 18 months in prison for stealing a proprietary Google document, he said his goal was deterrence. As we reported at the... Now-former president Trump’s last minute pardon of self-driving car engineer Anthony...