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 — We not Working

By Priya Anand · Sep 20, 2019 4:20pm PDT

Zoe discusses recent returns at venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. Cory outlines the drama at WeWork and challenges with its business model. Zoe discusses recent returns at venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. Cory outlines the drama at...

The Information’s 411 — Shaun King Admits Mistakes During Media Company Launch

By The Information · Sep 20, 2019 8:57am PDT

Jessica Lessin, editor-in-chief of The Information, interviewed Shaun King, activist and founder of The North Star, at our media business bootcamp last week. Jessica Lessin, editor-in-chief of The Information, interviewed Shaun King, activist and founder...

Illustration by Shutterstock

Cloud Providers Bet on New Encryption Technology to Woo Customers

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 20, 2019 7:01am PDT

For years, research scientists have tinkered with a new form of encryption that could improve the security of data. Now the technology is getting a boost from some of the biggest cloud computing providers, who see it as a way of getting more business from corporate customers with highly-sensitive data, such as banking and health records. ... For years, research scientists have tinkered with a new form of encryption that could improve the...

Stripe co-founders Patrick Collison, left, and John Collison. Photo: Bloomberg

Stripe Plans to Move Out of San Francisco

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 19, 2019 3:33pm PDT

Stripe co-founders Patrick Collison, left, and John Collison. Photo: Bloomberg

Stripe Plans to Move Out of San Francisco

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 19, 2019 3:33pm PDT

Stripe, one of the most successful companies to grow up in San Francisco in the past decade, is planning to leave tech’s epicenter. Executives at the payments firm have told employees and others close to the company that it likely will jettison its San Francisco headquarters for an office just south of the city, in South San... Stripe, one of the most successful companies to grow up in San Francisco in the past decade, is...

Facebook's Ime Archibong. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook’s App Factory Aims for Teens With Two New Apps

By Alex Heath · Sep 19, 2019 10:08am PDT

A new subsidiary of Facebook has quietly released two teen-oriented apps and tapped a veteran executive to lead the group behind them, The Information has learned.Ime Archibong, a high-profile executive at the company who previously led Facebook’s relationships with outside developers, recently changed roles to become head of New Product... A new subsidiary of Facebook has quietly released two teen-oriented apps and tapped a veteran...

A driver in Bengaluru, India, who accepts Paytm. Photo by Bloomberg.

Chinese VC Money Pours Into India

By Yunan Zhang and Shai Oster · Sep 19, 2019 7:00am PDT

For the last two years, Chinese venture capitalist Geng Yixuan traveled to India every month or two to meet local startups. Geng’s firm, Shunwei Capital, is backed by Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, the most popular smartphone brand in India, which gave Geng a solid entree to Indian entrepreneurs. This year, Shunwei recruited its first... For the last two years, Chinese venture capitalist Geng Yixuan traveled to India every month or...

As NBCUniversal Preps Streaming Service, Cable Firms Push Back

By Jessica Toonkel and Beejoli Shah · Sep 18, 2019 10:28am PDT · 1 comment

NBCUniversal’s planned entry into the streaming video market may prove costlier than it expected.When the Comcast-owned entertainment company in January unveiled plans to launch its own streaming service, it planned to differentiate the offering from rivals like Netflix and Disney+ by making the ad-supported service free to all cable and... NBCUniversal’s planned entry into the streaming video market may prove costlier than it...

A WeWork location in Tokyo. Photo: Bloomberg

Behind WeWork’s Struggles, a Missed Opportunity

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 18, 2019 7:01am PDT · 14 comments

A WeWork location in Tokyo. Photo: Bloomberg

Behind WeWork’s Struggles, a Missed Opportunity

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 18, 2019 7:01am PDT · 14 comments

When WeWork CEO Adam Neumann pitched private investors five years ago, he pointed to a near future where WeWork would spend less on upfront costs for the majority of its buildings. The plan included coaxing more money from landlords to pay for construction expenses, in exchange for giving the building owners a share of the profits. But the... When WeWork CEO Adam Neumann pitched private investors five years ago, he pointed to a near...

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Bloomberg

Snap Courts Publishers for News Tab

By Alex Heath and Jessica Toonkel · Sep 17, 2019 12:57pm PDT · 1 comment

Snap is in early talks with media companies about powering a dedicated news section inside the Snapchat app, according to six people familiar with the talks.The planned news section represents a do-over of sorts for its efforts to present real-time, breaking news from a handful of trusted news partners. While news from those partners is... Snap is in early talks with media companies about powering a dedicated news section inside the...

The Information’s 411 — Why Cheddar Had to Sell

By The Information · Sep 17, 2019 10:20am PDT

Bonus episode: The Information's founder and CEO Jessica Lessin interviewed Jon Steinberg, who founded and sold Cheddar to the cable news company Altice USA, at our media business bootcamp in New York last Friday. Bonus episode: The Information's founder and CEO Jessica Lessin interviewed Jon Steinberg,...

The People With Power at WarnerMedia

By Jessica Toonkel · Sep 17, 2019 7:11am PDT

When AT&T completed its purchase of Time Warner last year, one of its top priorities was to restructure the entertainment company so that its three businesses—HBO, Turner and Warner Bros—operated as one division. The hope was that by pooling its resources across children’s programming, premium entertainment, news and... When AT&T completed its purchase of Time Warner last year, one of its top priorities was to...

Art by Sam Lessin

A Solution for Gig Economy Labor: Lightning Strikes

By Sam Lessin · Sep 16, 2019 10:00am PDT · 9 comments

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

A Solution for Gig Economy Labor: Lightning Strikes

By Sam Lessin · Sep 16, 2019 10:00am PDT · 9 comments

Technology has driven us to a fascinating moment in the history of labor relations. At the very high end of the labor market, workers have never been more empowered, thanks to the internet. Open communication tools and forums inside of companies—and the increased liquidity of the job market—have given workers at companies like... Technology has driven us to a fascinating moment in the history of labor relations. At the...

Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz. Photo by Bloomberg

Andreessen Horowitz Returns Slip, According to Internal Data

By Zoë Bernard · Sep 16, 2019 7:02am PDT · 6 comments

One of Silicon Valley's best-known venture firms, Andreessen Horowitz, saw its performance slip significantly after the blockbuster results of its initial fund, internal data show, illustrating just how cutthroat venture capital has become as even big names struggle to deliver outsized returns. The funds the firm raised in 2010 and... One of Silicon Valley's best-known venture firms, Andreessen Horowitz, saw its performance...

The Lesson From AB5

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 14, 2019 7:47am PDT · 1 comment

The big news of the week was the near passage of the California law that would require Uber, Lyft and other companies that rely on contractors to treat them more like full-time employees. Amir’s sources told him the move could add an estimated 20% to Uber’s costs. Some observers hailed the move as the beginning of the end of... The big news of the week was the near passage of the California law that would require Uber, Lyft...

The Information’s 411 — Amazon’s Go Slow

By Priya Anand · Sep 13, 2019 3:41pm PDT

Wayne discusses who has power at Apple, after some high-profile departures. Priya explains how Amazon has fallen behind on its internal goals to open more cashierless Go stores. Wayne discusses who has power at Apple, after some high-profile departures. Priya explains how...

Cheddar founder Jon Steinberg. Photo by Keith MacDonald

Media Companies Need Huge Scale to Survive, Cheddar Founder Says

By Jessica Toonkel · Sep 13, 2019 11:57am PDT

Cheddar founder Jon Steinberg. Photo by Keith MacDonald

Media Companies Need Huge Scale to Survive, Cheddar Founder Says

By Jessica Toonkel · Sep 13, 2019 11:57am PDT

Media companies need to consolidate unless they have massive scale, says Jon Steinberg, founder of millennial-focused financial news network Cheddar, which sold to New York cable company Altice USA earlier this year. “Cheddar had to be sold,” he said at The Information’s annual Media Bootcamp event in New York City, in an... Media companies need to consolidate unless they have massive scale, says Jon Steinberg, founder...

Journalist and activist Shaun King. Photo by Keith MacDonald.

Shaun King Admits Mistakes in Launch of News Outlet North Star

By Carleton English · Sep 13, 2019 10:55am PDT · 3 comments

Activist and journalist Shaun King said he made “major mistakes” on his way to launching subscription-based social justice news outlet the North Star last year, but forgoing venture capital money isn’t one of them.King acknowledged Friday that the North Star’s launch had difficulties, including doing too much with too... Activist and journalist Shaun King said he made “major mistakes” on his way to...

The Information's editor in chief Jessica Lessin talks with Wired Editor in Chief Nick Thompson on Friday. Photo by Keith MacDonald

Publishers Increasingly Skeptical of Working With Tech, Says Wired Editor

By Alex Heath · Sep 13, 2019 9:08am PDT · 3 comments

Publishers have grown wary of doing deals with tech companies like Apple and Facebook, says Wired Editor-in-Chief Nicholas Thompson, aware that the terms of the deals often favor the tech companies over the news outlets. “I think that the journalism industry is appropriately wary of these platforms, and they’ve noticed that the... Publishers have grown wary of doing deals with tech companies like Apple and Facebook, says Wired...

Alibaba's office in Beijing. Photo by Bloomberg

U.S. Official Escalates China Rhetoric With Alibaba and Tencent Criticism

By Juro Osawa, Ashley Gold and Christopher Stern · Sep 12, 2019 6:07pm PDT · 1 comment

A mid-level official with the State Department asserted in a little-noticed speech on Wednesday that several huge Chinese tech companies—Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu—were effectively arms of the Chinese government. His comments raised the prospect that the Trump administration, which in May effectively barred Chinese smartphone maker... A mid-level official with the State Department asserted in a little-noticed speech on Wednesday...

The People With Power at Apple

By Wayne Ma and Aaron Tilley · Sep 12, 2019 8:40am PDT

The People With Power at Apple

By Wayne Ma and Aaron Tilley · Sep 12, 2019 8:40am PDT

Apple has undergone more changes to its leadership this year than in the past few years combined as it grapples with a slowdown of its most important product, the iPhone, the latest models of which were unveiled on Tuesday. Aside from high-profile departures, such as chief designer Jony Ive, Apple has elevated its heads of operations and... Apple has undergone more changes to its leadership this year than in the past few years combined...