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 Problem for SoftBank’s New Vision Fund

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 23, 2019 4:58pm PDT

Signs that the global economy is in trouble are mounting, yet here in Silicon Valley startups and venture capital funds are still raising record amounts. I feel the disconnect more than ever and especially when thinking about SoftBank and its Vision Fund. The mega fund, whose second vintage is slated to come in at more than $100 billion, is the... Signs that the global economy is in trouble are mounting, yet here in Silicon Valley startups and...

The Information’s 411 — The Gramily Business

By Tom Dotan · Aug 23, 2019 3:26pm PDT

Alex talks about the past year at Instagram and why Facebook has been folding the once-autonomous company into its ranks. Alex talks about the past year at Instagram and why Facebook has been folding the...

Photo courtesy of Hedone.

Chinese Online Brands Thrive as E-Commerce Grows

By Yunan Zhang and Shai Oster · Aug 23, 2019 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

In the U.S., online consumer brands backed by venture capital, including Glossier, Everlane and Allbirds, are changing how people shop. These companies, and others like them, are getting traction by selling directly to consumers, using targeted digital advertising and mostly bypassing physical stores.Now, a new breed of online Chinese brands is... In the U.S., online consumer brands backed by venture capital, including Glossier, Everlane and...

Illustration by Shutterstock.

Tech May Need New Playbook if Recession Hits

By The Information Staff · Aug 22, 2019 10:43am PDT

Illustration by Shutterstock.

Tech May Need New Playbook if Recession Hits

By The Information Staff · Aug 22, 2019 10:43am PDT

There are increasing signs that the U.S. economy may enter a recession in the months ahead. While a slowdown is by no means certain, if one does materialize, the technology and media industries won’t escape.Yesterday, we took a look at how a recession might affect mobile phones and media, two bellwether sectors in technology. Today the... There are increasing signs that the U.S. economy may enter a recession in the months ahead. While...

Illustration by Josh Brill

Growing Pains: Facebook Pushes Instagram to Earn Its Keep

By Alex Heath · Aug 22, 2019 7:01am PDT · 8 comments

Inside a conference room at Facebook headquarters in January 2018, a discussion among senior executives—a group known within the company as the “M Team”—turned to Instagram, the photo-sharing app that Facebook acquired in 2012 for roughly $1 billion.Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, congratulated... Inside a conference room at Facebook headquarters in January 2018, a discussion among senior...

Mike Sullivan

Crypto Newsletter

Why Binance Stands a Chance Against Facebook

By Jon Victor · Aug 21, 2019 12:01pm PDT

Crypto exchanges located outside the U.S. have maneuvered to avoid being subject to rules by U.S. financial regulators and law enforcement agencies, as I described last week. Now, we have one more data point to add to that conversation: A New York judge rejected Bitfinex’s claim that the New York attorney general’s office, which is... Crypto exchanges located outside the U.S. have maneuvered to avoid being subject to rules by U.S....

Cobalt Robotics co-founders Travis Deyle and Erik Schluntz. Photo: Cobalt

Startup of the Week

Robot Security Guards Roll Into More Offices

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 21, 2019 10:32am PDT

Building robots has long been a romantic pursuit for Travis Deyle. As a kid in rural Nebraska, he assembled small robots from windshield wiper motors in a shop on his grandfather’s farm. As a postdoctoral student, he developed healthcare robots that would fetch medication for elderly people. Meanwhile, he published a popular blog on the... Building robots has long been a romantic pursuit for Travis Deyle. As a kid in rural Nebraska, he...

Illustration by Shutterstock

A Recession May Be on the Way. How Will Tech Fare?

By The Information Staff · Aug 21, 2019 7:02am PDT · 3 comments

Illustration by Shutterstock

A Recession May Be on the Way. How Will Tech Fare?

By The Information Staff · Aug 21, 2019 7:02am PDT · 3 comments

The modern U.S. technology economy has experienced two recessions in its relatively short existence: the 1999 dot-com bust, and the Great Recession that began in 2008. Both transformed the technology industry, killing off companies built on unsustainable models while forcing others to adjust to changing circumstances.There are signs that a third... The modern U.S. technology economy has experienced two recessions in its relatively short...

Some images from a parody Instagram account.

Can You Meme Your Way Into Venture Capital? Maybe.

By Zoë Bernard · Aug 20, 2019 10:30am PDT · 1 comment

Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have been making fun of each other on Twitter and Instagram practically since the platforms launched. Over the years, a few parody accounts have gained fame by skewering the VC universe with an edgy mix of performative politeness, obvious aphorisms and lofty-sounding recipes for creating wealth.But recently... Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have been making fun of each other on Twitter and Instagram...

U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. Photo: AP

Tech Antitrust Battle to Test Agencies’ Leverage

By Christopher Stern and Ashley Gold · Aug 20, 2019 7:01am PDT

The U.S. government is taking its first steps to launch far-reaching investigations into Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, hiring attorneys, economists and technology analysts as they examine whether the companies abused their powerful market positions to undermine competitors. The Justice Department has asked Congress for an additional... The U.S. government is taking its first steps to launch far-reaching investigations into Amazon,...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg

Apple’s Former Siri Boss Joins Microsoft AI Group

By Aaron Tilley · Aug 19, 2019 10:51am PDT

Bill Stasior, the longtime former Apple executive overseeing its Siri digital assistant, has joined Microsoft, continuing a reshuffling of artificial intelligence leadership at big tech companies. Starting this month, Stasior, whose move to Microsoft hasn’t been previously reported, will become a corporate vice president of... Bill Stasior, the longtime former Apple executive overseeing its Siri digital assistant, has...

Andy Jassy and Adrian Cockcroft of Amazon Web Services. Photos by Bloomberg; Linux Journal/Flickr

Big Customers Pressure AWS to Step Up Open Source Support

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Aug 19, 2019 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

Andy Jassy and Adrian Cockcroft of Amazon Web Services. Photos by Bloomberg; Linux Journal/Flickr

Big Customers Pressure AWS to Step Up Open Source Support

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Aug 19, 2019 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

In some parts of the open source community—the loosely affiliated bands of developers who work on free software projects—Amazon Web Services is viewed as a mooch, a company that makes money from those projects without contributing enough to their advancement. It turns out executives at AWS, as the cloud computing unit of the internet... In some parts of the open source community—the loosely affiliated bands of developers who...

Employee Unrest and Political Neutrality at Google and the New York Times

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 17, 2019 8:01am PDT · 1 comment

Employee unrest inside big tech companies remains an important story. Wired reminded us of it this week, with this excellent piece about Google. The company is facing unprecedented pressure from employees on both the left and right who are unhappy about its business positions and the way various groups are treated inside the company. The result:... Employee unrest inside big tech companies remains an important story. Wired reminded us of it...

The Information’s 411 — Equity at a Later Date

By Tom Dotan · Aug 16, 2019 3:18pm PDT

Ross and Amir talk about the case of Toptal, a startup that dangled equity to investors and employees but never delivered. Cory dives into the WeWork IPO filing and pulls out his favorite bits. Ross and Amir talk about the case of Toptal, a startup that dangled equity to investors and...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg

Developers Call Apple Privacy Changes Anti-Competitive

By Aaron Tilley · Aug 16, 2019 12:54pm PDT

Apple has said upcoming changes to its iPhone operating system will better protect the privacy of users. But a group of app developers recently told Apple some of those changes will hurt their businesses, while accusing the company of anti-competitive behavior in the way it subjects its own software to the new rules.In an email to Apple CEO Tim... Apple has said upcoming changes to its iPhone operating system will better protect the privacy of...

JD.com headquarters in Beijing. Photo by Bloomberg.

JD.com Joint Venture in Talks to Raise $500 Million in U.S. IPO

By Yunan Zhang and Shai Oster · Aug 16, 2019 7:02am PDT

JD.com headquarters in Beijing. Photo by Bloomberg.

JD.com Joint Venture in Talks to Raise $500 Million in U.S. IPO

By Yunan Zhang and Shai Oster · Aug 16, 2019 7:02am PDT

Chinese online retailer JD.com is in talks with bankers to list shares of its online supermarket joint venture in the U.S. next May, looking to capitalize on the growth of China’s e-commerce sector, which is a bright spot in the country’s otherwise weakening economy.Dada-JD Daojia, a joint venture controlled by JD.com and 10% owned... Chinese online retailer JD.com is in talks with bankers to list shares of its online supermarket...

Women in Tech, Media and Finance

Six Questions for Greylock’s Sarah Guo

By Maria DeFelice · Aug 15, 2019 12:43pm PDT

Sarah Guo joined Greylock Partners as an investor in 2013. Her investments have included companies in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and an app for working parents called Cleo. The Information interviewed Guo for our new newsletter for women in tech, media and finance. Her slightly edited answers below. Sarah Guo joined Greylock Partners as an investor in 2013. Her investments have included...

Axios co-founder Mike Allen. Photo by Bloomberg

Axios Joins Media Push Into Software With Newsletter Product

By Jessica Toonkel · Aug 15, 2019 11:13am PDT · 2 comments

Digital media publisher Axios is planning to enter a new business that includes selling software for helping companies create newsletters for their employees. The move comes at a moment when more media businesses are seeking to diversify their revenue through software sales.Axios wants to sell the software, which it is beta testing, to... Digital media publisher Axios is planning to enter a new business that includes selling software...

Bungalow CEO Andrew Collins, left, and Keith Rabois, now general partner at Founders Fund, in 2018. Photo: Bloomberg

Housing Startup Eyes Valuation Over $100 Million With New Round

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 15, 2019 10:01am PDT · 1 comment

A host of startups have sought to build residential housing’s answer to office giant WeWork: a modern property manager that offers flexible leases and a friendly atmosphere for residents. One of the tech industry’s most prominent investment firms is backing a newer entrant to the field, even as the concept as a whole has struggled to... A host of startups have sought to build residential housing’s answer to office giant...

Toptal CEO, Taso Du Val. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Flickr

At Booming Toptal, No Stock for Employees or Investors

By Ross Matican and Amir Efrati · Aug 15, 2019 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

Toptal CEO, Taso Du Val. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Flickr

At Booming Toptal, No Stock for Employees or Investors

By Ross Matican and Amir Efrati · Aug 15, 2019 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

Toptal, a service that connects companies with freelance software engineers, is a Silicon Valley success story. Founded in 2010, it soon attracted funding from well-known investors including Andreessen Horowitz and hired scores of employees who were promised stock if things went well and the company raised more money.And things did go well. So... Toptal, a service that connects companies with freelance software engineers, is a Silicon Valley...