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

ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg

ByteDance Goes From Strength to Strength: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 16, 2021 5:31pm PST

For sheer corporate drama, few episodes in recent U.S. business history can match last summer’s Trump-TikTok saga, with elements of geopolitical intrigue spliced with Trump’s unique governing style. And as is clear now, it all culminated in…absolutely nothing. The Biden administration isn’t pursuing the ban. Meanwhile,... For sheer corporate drama, few episodes in recent U.S. business history can match last...

A Changing Tide for Female Founders

By The Information Staff · Feb 16, 2021 4:33pm PST

On February 4th, The Information hosted a breakout session on what’s next for female founders at our Future of Startups event. The conversation, hosted in partnership with BCG, included several dozen female founders and investors. Funding for female founders was a main topic of conversation. Investments in female-founded startups on... On February 4th, The Information hosted a breakout session on what’s next for female...

Photo illustration by Mike Sullivan

Inside WeChat’s Struggle to Slow Down TikTok Owner ByteDance

By Juro Osawa · Feb 16, 2021 6:00am PST

A cartoon pig raps about the misery of job hunting during the pandemic. Another clip says a shortage of office toilet paper is a sign of a failing company. Both bite-size videos were posted online by Xiao Yang as part of his job marketing a company that sells online career services in China. His videos do pretty well on Douyin, a Chinese viral... A cartoon pig raps about the misery of job hunting during the pandemic. Another clip says a...

DoorDash signs outside the New York Stock Exchange at the time of its IPO in December. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why DoorDash Stock Is Too Pricey and Uber Too Cheap

By Ross Matican · Feb 15, 2021 6:00am PST · 14 comments

DoorDash signs outside the New York Stock Exchange at the time of its IPO in December. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why DoorDash Stock Is Too Pricey and Uber Too Cheap

By Ross Matican · Feb 15, 2021 6:00am PST · 14 comments

Here’s a stock market puzzle. Since DoorDash went public in early December at a higher than expected value for the food-delivery service, Uber’s stock has risen 13%. Investors realize that the premium put on DoorDash implies that Uber’s food-delivery business, UberEats, is also now worth more. But if you value UberEats based on... Here’s a stock market puzzle. Since DoorDash went public in early December at a higher than...

The Winners and Losers of the Current Venture Boom

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 13, 2021 7:46am PST · 4 comments

For those watching the private and public tech markets closely, each day—make that each hour—brings another deal that seems to defy gravity. Dating site Bumble rose 63% on its first day of trading this week to a valuation of $13 billion. Andreessen Horowitz valued Stir, a young company that helps influencers manage their businesses,... For those watching the private and public tech markets closely, each day—make that each...

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. Photo by Bloomberg

Why Comcast Should Sell NBCU: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 12, 2021 5:46pm PST · 1 comment

Walt Disney’s December quarter results on Thursday, showing how well the company is doing in streaming, provided a fascinating contrast with NBCUniversal’s more risk-averse approach to the new industry, which we wrote about this week. And it is a reminder that when your corporate parent is focused on another business—NBCU is... Walt Disney’s December quarter results on Thursday, showing how well the company is doing...

Around the World With Apple — The Information’s 411

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 12, 2021 2:45pm PST

Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel discuss their reporting on how NBCUniversal is trying to pluck its way to streaming success, and why a merger with WarnerMedia might make sense. Then, Wayne Ma explains the logistical feats that helped Apple avoid the kind of shipping delays that plagued other companies. Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel discuss their reporting on how NBCUniversal is trying to pluck its...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook Plans Smartwatch With Focus on Messaging, Health

By Alex Heath and Wayne Ma · Feb 12, 2021 1:13pm PST · 3 comments

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook Plans Smartwatch With Focus on Messaging, Health

By Alex Heath and Wayne Ma · Feb 12, 2021 1:13pm PST · 3 comments

Facebook is building a smartwatch it hopes to start selling next year, according to people with direct knowledge of the device. The watch will let wearers send messages using Facebook’s services and also offer health and fitness features, according to four of those people. Facebook’s planned foray into smartwatches would inch the... Facebook is building a smartwatch it hopes to start selling next year, according to people with...

Jannick Malling, co-founder of Public and its co-CEO (l) and Leif Abraham (r), Public's other CEO.

The Big Interview

No ‘Trader Bros’ Here: Public CEO Rides Anti-Robinhood Backlash

By Kate Clark · Feb 12, 2021 6:00am PST

These are strange times for stock-trading app Public. New customers, irate over rival Robinhood’s trading policies, have been rushing to sign up. Deep-pocketed investors are vying to back it. And the 60-person startup has just abandoned a practice of accepting payments for routing trades to big Wall Street firms, a major way it made money.... These are strange times for stock-trading app Public. New customers, irate over rival...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg

What’s Nadella Up To? The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 11, 2021 5:00pm PST · 1 comment

Is Satya Nadella getting bored? The Microsoft CEO has done an amazing job since taking the helm of the aging software giant almost exactly seven years ago. By focusing on building up Microsoft’s enterprise cloud business, he has accelerated the company’s growth rate and lifted its stock more than 500%. Now, though, he appears to be... Is Satya Nadella getting bored? The Microsoft CEO has done an amazing job since taking the helm...

Art by Mike Sullivan

China Is Winning the Digital Currency War With the U.S.

By Morgan Beller · Feb 11, 2021 9:02am PST · 9 comments

Here’s a question: You’re China. You know that over the next two decades, payments will continually be shifting to the digital realm. With ambitions to make the renminbi the world’s reserve currency, and with a strategy of surveilling your citizens and the rest of the world, what would you then do? The answer is clear: Try to... Here’s a question: You’re China. You know that over the next two decades, payments...

A worker at a cell center in South Africa last July. Photo by Bloomberg

Sales of Amazon Call Center Service Increased 150% in 2020

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 11, 2021 6:01am PST · 4 comments

A worker at a cell center in South Africa last July. Photo by Bloomberg

Sales of Amazon Call Center Service Increased 150% in 2020

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 11, 2021 6:01am PST · 4 comments

A few years ago, Amazon released a cloud service that used some of the same software smarts behind Alexa—its voice assistant—to automate customer service call centers for other companies. Amazon’s senior leaders were so bullish on the service, called Amazon Connect, that they made an internal forecast that it could reach... A few years ago, Amazon released a cloud service that used some of the same software smarts...

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg

Why Uber’s Stock Rally Calls for Fundraising: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 10, 2021 5:31pm PST · 1 comment

My, how time flies. Less than two years ago, Uber’s disastrous IPO seemed to demonstrate that investors had lost their taste for cash-hungry companies with no clear path to profitability. Today, Uber capped a months-long rally to hit a high of $63, 40% higher than its IPO price—despite reporting that it burned through $3.3 billion in... My, how time flies. Less than two years ago, Uber’s disastrous IPO seemed to demonstrate...

YouTube star Casey Neistat, who is an investor in Stir Money. Photo: AP

Andreessen Horowitz Wins Deal for Creator Economy Startup Stir at $100 Million Valuation

By Kate Clark and Amir Efrati · Feb 10, 2021 2:45pm PST · 8 comments

Andreessen Horowitz recently won a competitive deal to lead the Series A financing of Stir Money, a startup whose software helps video and audio producers, writers and performers manage the income they generate from ads on social media and via direct payments from fans. The Silicon Valley investment firm valued the young startup, which is... Andreessen Horowitz recently won a competitive deal to lead the Series A financing of Stir Money,...

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell. Photo by Bloomberg

NBCUniversal’s Streaming Strategy Raises Prospect of WarnerMedia Merger

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Feb 10, 2021 2:05pm PST · 3 comments

As Netflix and Disney cement their leads over an array of rivals in the video-streaming market, top executives at Comcast and its NBCUniversal arm are in a quandary. Only 11.3 million households regularly watch NBCU’s Peacock service, far fewer than use competing services, according to recent internal data viewed by The Information. NBCU... As Netflix and Disney cement their leads over an array of rivals in the video-streaming market,...

Gennady Golovkin celebrates his victory over Kamil Szeremeta during a middleweight title fight in December. Photo by AP

A Netflix for Sports Rolls With the Punches

By Jessica Toonkel, Tom Dotan and Mark Di Stefano · Feb 10, 2021 6:01am PST

Gennady Golovkin celebrates his victory over Kamil Szeremeta during a middleweight title fight in December. Photo by AP

A Netflix for Sports Rolls With the Punches

By Jessica Toonkel, Tom Dotan and Mark Di Stefano · Feb 10, 2021 6:01am PST

A few years ago, it seemed like DAZN had all the ingredients for fulfilling its vision of becoming a global Netflix for sports, including a billionaire backer who had already made a killing betting on media and a leader who was the onetime head of ESPN. It even had a goofy, vowel-challenged name (pronounced dah-zone) that hinted at its plans for... A few years ago, it seemed like DAZN had all the ingredients for fulfilling its vision of...

Twitter's San Francisco headquarters. Photo by Bloomberg

Twitter’s Capex Splurge: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 9, 2021 5:34pm PST

Twitter’s fourth-quarter results today were impressive, and not just because they showed the same surging revenue growth as other internet-based ad companies Google, Facebook, Snap and Pinterest. Twitter’s ad sales business had been hit harder than most by the pandemic crunch earlier in the year and hadn’t recovered as much in... Twitter’s fourth-quarter results today were impressive, and not just because they showed...

Chart by Mike Sullivan

Netflix’s Winning Formula: Cutting Ad Spending Without Hurting Growth

By Tom Dotan · Feb 9, 2021 6:00am PST · 3 comments

The race to sign up subscribers in the streaming wars is a test of marketing prowess as much as it is of programming strength. That’s what makes Netflix’s performance last year so impressive: The streaming giant added subscribers even as it cut spending on advertising and as a slew of older entertainment companies launched competing... The race to sign up subscribers in the streaming wars is a test of marketing prowess as much as...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg

Tesla’s Risky Bitcoin Bet: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Feb 8, 2021 5:32pm PST · 6 comments

No one could ever accuse Elon Musk of taking the conservative path. The minute he puts Tesla on a financially sound footing, he decides to invest $1.5 billion of the company’s cash reserves in Bitcoin, one of the most volatile assets around. Just imagine what he’d do if Tesla had the cash stockpile of an Apple, Microsoft or an... No one could ever accuse Elon Musk of taking the conservative path. The minute he puts Tesla on a...

The Europeans Deciding Tech’s Future

By Mark Di Stefano · Feb 8, 2021 9:02am PST · 3 comments

The Europeans Deciding Tech’s Future

By Mark Di Stefano · Feb 8, 2021 9:02am PST · 3 comments

The European Commission, after spending years penalizing giant tech firms with fines, has decided to step up the fight against what authorities see as abuses of power. How the battle with Facebook, Amazon and other tech titans plays out depends in part on a major policy difference brewing between the continent’s top two regulators on the... The European Commission, after spending years penalizing giant tech firms with fines, has decided...