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

The Information’s 411 — I’m a Celebrity…Get Me on Here!

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 24, 2020 10:44am PDT

Cory Weinberg interviews Steven Galanis, the CEO of Cameo, a fast-growing startup that allows major and minor celebrities to send messages to fans. Steven discusses Cameo's growth story, why this is a "new golden age" of consumer apps, and why Apple's app-store monopoly should get government scrutiny. Cory Weinberg interviews Steven Galanis, the CEO of Cameo, a fast-growing startup that allows...

A scene from "Stranger Things." Photo courtesy of Netflix

Disney+’s ‘Stranger Things’ Debate: How to Grow Up

By Tom Dotan · Jul 24, 2020 7:01am PDT

Netflix’s ’80s-inspired horror series “Stranger Things” has been one of the streaming service’s biggest hits in the past couple of years, so much so that a fourth season is in the works. That has caught the attention of Disney executives, who have lately told Hollywood producers they’d like their own version... Netflix’s ’80s-inspired horror series “Stranger Things” has been one of...

China Renaissance CEO Fan Bao. Photo by Bloomberg.

China Tech Summit

China Tech Headed for Record Year for IPOs Despite Pandemic

By Juro Osawa and Yunan Zhang · Jul 24, 2020 4:34am PDT

The head of China Renaissance Group, one of China’s most influential investment banking and private equity firms, said he expects 2020 to be a record-breaking year for Chinese tech initial public offerings. “Right now the IPO market is sizzling hot,” said China Renaissance CEO Fan Bao, at The Information’s video summit on... The head of China Renaissance Group, one of China’s most influential investment banking and...

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Photo by Bloomberg

Twitter’s Subscription Hope: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 23, 2020 5:31pm PDT

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Photo by Bloomberg

Twitter’s Subscription Hope: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 23, 2020 5:31pm PDT

Twitter very successfully changed the subject on Thursday. Most of the discussion of its second quarter earnings results could have focused on the 19% drop in revenue the company reported, which was a marked contrast with Snap’s 17% growth for the same period.Instead, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey confirmed that the company was considering... Twitter very successfully changed the subject on Thursday. Most of the discussion of its second...

A Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy Note Edge smartphone running the Android mobile operating system. Photo by Bloomberg.

Internal Google Program Taps Data on Rival Android Apps

By Alex Heath, Nick Bastone and Amir Efrati · Jul 23, 2020 3:49pm PDT · 2 comments

When YouTube was planning the rollout of its rival to TikTok in India earlier this month, employees turned to a valuable source of market research: how people in the country were using TikTok and its competitors on Android, the mobile operating system controlled by YouTube parent company Google.The research was part of an unreported Google... When YouTube was planning the rollout of its rival to TikTok in India earlier this month,...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg

Tim Cook’s Appearance Before Congress Shows How Apple’s Luck in Washington Turned

By Christopher Stern · Jul 23, 2020 7:19am PDT

Two weeks after the leaders of several big tech companies agreed to testify before a Congressional hearing on competition, one CEO—Apple's Tim Cook—was still resisting. There was a simple reason for his holdout. According to people familiar with his thinking, Cook was firm in his belief that Apple didn't belong... Two weeks after the leaders of several big tech companies agreed to testify before a...

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield. Photo by Bloomberg

Slack Ends Microsoft’s Exceptionalism: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 22, 2020 5:46pm PDT

Slack has brought to an end Microsoft’s exceptionalism amid big tech’s current antitrust moment. The business messaging company lodged a European Union complaint against its much bigger rival on Wednesday, pulling it into the broad antitrust war being waged even more aggressively by the European regulators than by the U.S. agencies.... Slack has brought to an end Microsoft’s exceptionalism amid big tech’s current...

New York Times Co's new CEO, Meredith Levien. Photo by Bloomberg

Meredith Levien Wants the NYT to be a World Class Tech Company

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 22, 2020 2:13pm PDT · 5 comments

New York Times Co's new CEO, Meredith Levien. Photo by Bloomberg

Q&A

Meredith Levien Wants the NYT to be a World Class Tech Company

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 22, 2020 2:13pm PDT · 5 comments

Imagine a New York Times where you get your music and play digital games, along with your news. That vision is a big part of what Meredith Kopit Levien, announced as the company’s new CEO Wednesday, sees as the future of the company. Even as the publication is embroiled in controversies around ideology in its coverage—and... Imagine a New York Times where you get your music and play digital games, along with your news....

TuSimple self-driving truck. Photo courtesy of TuSimple

The Biggest Self-Driving Truck Startup Stumbles in Hitting High Goals

By Amir Efrati and Yunan Zhang · Jul 22, 2020 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

In just five years, TuSimple has become the biggest and most visible developer of self-driving trucks, raising more cash and putting more robotic big rigs on the road than any rival. High-profile customers including UPS have contracted to let TuSimple haul their cargo on the highway. Executives have forecast heady revenue and predicted that... In just five years, TuSimple has become the biggest and most visible developer of self-driving...

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Bloomberg

Snap Shows the Way: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 21, 2020 5:47pm PDT

We’re finally starting to get a real sense of the impact that the coronavirus has had on tech. And it’s clear the results will be all over the map.Snap’s results on Tuesday, for instance, showed decent growth in its business, with revenue up 17%. That is admittedly a comedown for Snap, which in the first quarter had posted 44%... We’re finally starting to get a real sense of the impact that the coronavirus has had on...

ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming. Photo by Bloomberg

ByteDance Investors Discuss TikTok Purchase

By Juro Osawa and Tom Dotan · Jul 21, 2020 1:53pm PDT · 2 comments

A small group of ByteDance’s U.S. investors is discussing with the company’s top management the possibility of joining forces to buy a majority stake in TikTok, said people familiar with the situation, as it grows more difficult for the Chinese-owned company to keep control of the fast-growing video app. The talks appear to be... A small group of ByteDance’s U.S. investors is discussing with the company’s top...

Covid Slowed Startup Recruiting, but Not for Long

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 21, 2020 10:19am PDT

Covid Slowed Startup Recruiting, but Not for Long

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 21, 2020 10:19am PDT

As the coronavirus outbreak took hold in the U.S. early this spring, prompting layoffs at startups across Silicon Valley, engineers and product designers at big tech companies appeared to lose interest in making the leap to smaller firms. The presumed job security offered by Apple, Facebook, Amazon suddenly seemed more appealing, new data... As the coronavirus outbreak took hold in the U.S. early this spring, prompting layoffs at...

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

The Simple and Practical Steps the Federal Government Should Take to Fix Online Speech

By Sam Lessin · Jul 21, 2020 7:01am PDT · 27 comments

At the root of most issues we face today around digital free speech is the question of identity. If we could trust that we know exactly who is speaking in an online space, that would greatly diminish many of the speech issues we face today. With better identity in place, the mechanisms that work to moderate real-world speech would offer the same... At the root of most issues we face today around digital free speech is the question of identity....

Microsoft President Brad Smith. Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft President Met With House Antitrust Committee

By Christopher Stern and Nick Wingfield · Jul 20, 2020 5:38pm PDT

Next Monday, a House antitrust subcommittee will grill a quartet of CEOs from Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook, but the committee has already prepped for a related investigation into the sector by quizzing a top executive from another tech giant: Microsoft. Several weeks ago, the subcommittee interviewed Brad Smith, president and chief... Next Monday, a House antitrust subcommittee will grill a quartet of CEOs from Apple, Amazon,...

Mark Cuban. Photo by Bloomberg

The New Stock Market Bubble: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 20, 2020 5:31pm PDT · 1 comment

Investor Mark Cuban on Monday likened the present stock market to the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. Cuban, of course, made his fortune by selling Broadcast.com to Yahoo during that era, so he knows what he is talking about. He sold the company a year before the tech crash of early 2000.Cuban also made the point that the dot-com boom lasted... Investor Mark Cuban on Monday likened the present stock market to the dot-com boom of the late...

Illustration by J. Brill

What Private Tech Firms Should Watch Out For in SPACs

By Ross Matican · Jul 20, 2020 10:04am PDT · 3 comments

Illustration by J. Brill

What Private Tech Firms Should Watch Out For in SPACs

By Ross Matican · Jul 20, 2020 10:04am PDT · 3 comments

Blank-check companies, also known on Wall Street as special purpose acquisition companies, have become all the rage over the past few months. They’re the force behind high-flying stocks such as that of electric vehicle maker Nikola. They’re publicly traded firms whose only asset is cash and whose only purpose is to merge with a real... Blank-check companies, also known on Wall Street as special purpose acquisition companies, have...

The People With Power at Airbnb After Shakeup

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 20, 2020 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

In 2017, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky restructured the fast-growing travel company to more closely resemble Amazon, a company whose handling of diverse business lines he had long admired. Reflecting Airbnb’s expansion into new areas, he created four separate product divisions and brought in a top Amazon executive to lead home rentals, the... In 2017, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky restructured the fast-growing travel company to more closely...

Tech Is Rebounding: The Winners, Losers and Risks

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 18, 2020 7:46am PDT

Back in March, there was something particularly cruel about how the pandemic affected Airbnb. As its bankers were finishing up paperwork to file for a direct listing, a way to go public when your cash coffers are so full you don’t need more cash, travel ground to a halt. The company said revenue would likely take a 50% hit in the... Back in March, there was something particularly cruel about how the pandemic affected Airbnb. As...

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Photo by Bloomberg

Why the Netflix Sell-Off Isn’t Meaningful: The Information’s Tech Briefing

By Martin Peers · Jul 17, 2020 6:02pm PDT

Netflix’s second-quarter results on Thursday were about as good as it gets. But you could be forgiven for missing that, given some media coverage that took its cue from the stock sell-off following the earnings report. Investors were supposedly upset that Netflix wasn’t forecasting a repeat of the rip-roaring growth in the third... Netflix’s second-quarter results on Thursday were about as good as it gets. But you could...

The Information’s 411 — Haven Help Me

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 17, 2020 1:37pm PDT

The Information’s 411 — Haven Help Me

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 17, 2020 1:37pm PDT

Paris Martineau discusses her reporting on problems at the secretive healthcare initiative Haven, and what the turmoil tells us about its benefactor Amazon. Four Information reporters give their takes on which companies are ripe for acquisitions. Paris Martineau discusses her reporting on problems at the secretive healthcare initiative Haven,...