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

Kuaishou Technology headquarters in Beijing. Photo by Bloomberg.

Q&A

Why China Embraced the Creator Economy Before the West Did

By Yunan Zhang · Mar 4, 2021 9:00am PST · 2 comments

Executives at Facebook, Twitter and Snap recently realized that if they don’t help the people who produce videos and other content for their apps make money, these creators will take their talents, fans and potential revenue streams somewhere else. In China, mobile video apps figured that out six years ago. That’s when Kuaishou,... Executives at Facebook, Twitter and Snap recently realized that if they don’t help the...

Art by Mike Sullivan

How Katerra’s Facade Crumbled

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 4, 2021 6:00am PST · 6 comments

Not much was going right early last year at SoftBank-backed construction startup Katerra. Money was drying up, and board meetings sometimes erupted into shouting matches. Anxious about missing financial forecasts while the company was trying to raise more money from investors, at least one Katerra employee told others in its relatively small but... Not much was going right early last year at SoftBank-backed construction startup Katerra. Money...

A sign at Google's Mountain View campus. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google’s Privacy PR Move: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Mar 3, 2021 5:31pm PST

Google made headlines with its announcement today that it is doubling down on its commitment to stop tracking people as they browse across the web, a step “towards a more privacy-first” web, as Google calls it. In many ways, though, this seems more of a PR move than anything substantive. It certainly won’t do much to guarantee... Google made headlines with its announcement today that it is doubling down on its commitment to...

Facebook vice president Dan Levy has said the company is acquiring Kustomer because more businesses are interacting with their customers on Facebook apps. Photo courtesy of Facebook.

Facebook’s $1 Billion Kustomer Acquisition Faces Extensive Antitrust Review

By Josh Sisco · Mar 3, 2021 11:07am PST · 2 comments

Facebook vice president Dan Levy has said the company is acquiring Kustomer because more businesses are interacting with their customers on Facebook apps. Photo courtesy of Facebook.

Facebook’s $1 Billion Kustomer Acquisition Faces Extensive Antitrust Review

By Josh Sisco · Mar 3, 2021 11:07am PST · 2 comments

Facebook’s planned purchase of a startup called Kustomer is the kind of deal that would barely have raised an eyebrow among antitrust regulators a few years ago. The company is small and sells customer service software, far outside Facebook’s core social media and virtual reality businesses. But now that U.S. regulators are... Facebook’s planned purchase of a startup called Kustomer is the kind of deal that would...

The People With Power at Amazon

By Mark Di Stefano · Mar 3, 2021 6:01am PST · 3 comments

Never in Amazon’s 27-year history has the internet giant seen such dramatic upheaval in its leadership. In recent days, two executives with the first name Jeff—Wilke, its longtime worldwide consumer chief, and Blackburn, a senior vice president—have left the company, while Amazon’s third and most famous Jeff—CEO and... Never in Amazon’s 27-year history has the internet giant seen such dramatic upheaval in its...

Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. Photo by Bloomberg.

Instacart’s Latest Funding Hints at High-Priced Public Debut: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Mar 2, 2021 5:30pm PST

Price expectations for Instacart’s public debut just went up, by a lot. The grocery delivery firm raised a fresh round of funding—its third since last June—at a valuation of $39 billion. That’s $9 billion above the IPO valuation some reports last November said Instacart’s bankers were planning. And of course,... Price expectations for Instacart’s public debut just went up, by a lot. The grocery...

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

Collectibles, Crypto NFTs, and the Monetization of Influence

By Sam Lessin · Mar 2, 2021 10:42am PST · 7 comments

The biggest story of the last month in the world of crypto has been the rapid rise of non-fungible tokens. For the uninitiated, NFTs are basically one-of-a-kind “artwork” or “cards” that are put on the blockchain and auctioned off to collectors or speculators. While NFTs have been around for years, the last several weeks... The biggest story of the last month in the world of crypto has been the rapid rise of...

Samsara co-founders Sanjit Biswas (left) and John Bicket. Photo provided by Samsara

Five Enterprise Software Companies on Deck to Go Public

By Kevin McLaughlin and Nick Wingfield · Mar 2, 2021 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Samsara co-founders Sanjit Biswas (left) and John Bicket. Photo provided by Samsara

Five Enterprise Software Companies on Deck to Go Public

By Kevin McLaughlin and Nick Wingfield · Mar 2, 2021 6:00am PST · 2 comments

Investors have shown a hearty appetite for the stocks of tech companies like Snowflake and Zoom Video Communications that cater to business customers. Get ready for more of them to go public soon. The coming months are likely to see a flurry of new companies in the category—broadly referred to as enterprise software—making their... Investors have shown a hearty appetite for the stocks of tech companies like Snowflake and Zoom...

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan in front of the Nasdaq the day Zoom went public in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg.

Zoom Now Printing Money: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Mar 1, 2021 5:30pm PST

Zoom Video Communications provided another reminder of why it’s been such a hot stock during the pandemic. The company, whose brand name is now synonymous with video calls, revealed it has become a cash machine over the past 12 months. Zoom generated $1.4 billion from its videoconferencing service in fiscal 2021. The fascinating question... Zoom Video Communications provided another reminder of why it’s been such a hot stock...

Illustration by Jeremie Claeys

Content Alone Will Kill the Creator Economy

By Gina Bianchini · Mar 1, 2021 6:02am PST · 14 comments

The emerging creator economy is exciting. For the first time ever, more of us can turn our expertise, interests, curiosity or craft into an ongoing income stream funded by 1,000 or even 100 true fans. There’s only one problem. While it’s easy to start a newsletter, podcast or online course, it turns out that running a content... The emerging creator economy is exciting. For the first time ever, more of us can turn our...

‘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

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 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

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

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

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...