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

Mike Sullivan

Crypto Newsletter

(Un)stablecoins; Blockchain Games

By Jon Victor · Oct 17, 2018 12:04pm PDT · 1 comment

The price of bitcoin rose this week, but bitcoin’s gain may just have been tether’s loss. The most high-profile stablecoin, whose value is supposedly always $1, dipped as low as 90 cents this week on some exchanges as traders converted their holdings amid rumors that Bitfinex, a crypto exchange and tether’s sister company, was... The price of bitcoin rose this week, but bitcoin’s gain may just have been tether’s...

Photo: Bloomberg

A Google Diaspora Shapes China’s Tech Scene

By Shai Oster · Oct 17, 2018 10:28am PDT · 6 comments

Google has been looking for ways to re-enter China. But as The Information’s snapshot of Google’s former employees in China shows, in some ways it never left.Every few months, several dozen people who used to work for Google in China gather at a trendy Shanghai restaurant. The attendees are a veritable Who’s Who of... Google has been looking for ways to re-enter China. But as The Information’s snapshot of...

Walmart Senior Vice President Andy Dunn. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Big Interview

Walmart Builds, Buys Digital Brands in Search for Shoppers

By Priya Anand · Oct 17, 2018 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Andy Dunn, the founder and then-CEO of menswear company Bonobos, declared two years ago that big companies were nearly incapable of creating cool online brands aimed at millennials. Then a funny thing happened: He sold Bonobos to Walmart last year and became responsible for doing just that for the world’s largest retailer. At Walmart, Mr.... Andy Dunn, the founder and then-CEO of menswear company Bonobos, declared two years ago that big...

WeChat founder Allen Zhang at a company event in China earlier this year. Photo by Bloomberg

Breaking WeChat’s Grip on China’s Social Networks

By Juro Osawa and Yunan Zhang · Oct 16, 2018 10:01am PDT · 1 comment

WeChat founder Allen Zhang at a company event in China earlier this year. Photo by Bloomberg

Breaking WeChat’s Grip on China’s Social Networks

By Juro Osawa and Yunan Zhang · Oct 16, 2018 10:01am PDT · 1 comment

Imagine if Facebook’s key lieutenants quit to launch a rival product. In China, something like that just happened. Two of the people who helped develop WeChat, the nearly universal chat app run by Tencent, recently created new social networks called Pop and Echo.It comes amid signs WeChat’s grip over social networking and media... Imagine if Facebook’s key lieutenants quit to launch a rival product. In China, something...

Hulu CEO Randy Freer.

The Big Interview

Hulu Looks to Make Its Skinny Bundle Skinnier

By Jessica Toonkel · Oct 16, 2018 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

Just 18 months after launching its live TV service, Hulu is looking to winnow down its live offerings, replacing them with more on-demand programming.Hulu CEO Randy Freer told The Information in an exclusive interview that he wants to drop some live entertainment channels to be able to create smaller bundles of live sports, news and on-demand... Just 18 months after launching its live TV service, Hulu is looking to winnow down its live...

Modest Proposals

The Coming of the Human Knowledge-Work Cloud

By Sam Lessin · Oct 15, 2018 10:01am PDT · 8 comments

There have been some major moves occurring at companies focused on the future of work in the last few months. Robotic Process Automation, a technology that makes it possible to automate repetitive tasks inside businesses, is on fire. UiPath, arguably one of the standard bearers for the RPA industry, just raised a huge round that values it at... There have been some major moves occurring at companies focused on the future of work in the last...

Sources: Tesla internal organizational chart; The Information reporting

Tesla Turnover Revamps Executive Team

By Amir Efrati · Oct 15, 2018 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Tesla’s flat management structure appears to have become even flatter recently, as departures of key executives have left a larger than normal number of people answerable directly to CEO Elon Musk. Tesla’s employee organization chart, located on an internal company website and viewed by The Information, recently showed 29 managers... Tesla’s flat management structure appears to have become even flatter recently, as...

Why Product Doesn’t Win

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 13, 2018 9:37am PDT · 12 comments

Why Product Doesn’t Win

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 13, 2018 9:37am PDT · 12 comments

In the past few weeks, as some of the Valley’s most mature internet companies have faced crisis after crisis, there’s been a theme circulating that these companies, and Facebook in particular, has lost their product way.This chatter peaked when journalists and others suggested that Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom should run... In the past few weeks, as some of the Valley’s most mature internet companies have...

The Information’s 411 — Wrappers Delight

By Tom Dotan · Oct 12, 2018 4:28pm PDT

Wayne delves into the world of fraudsters in China that exploit Apple's warranty. Kevin explains Amazon’s plans to build picking robots for its warehouses. Wayne delves into the world of fraudsters in China that exploit Apple's warranty. Kevin...

Subscriber Summit

Our 2018 Subscriber Summit Roundtables

By The Information Staff · Oct 12, 2018 3:50pm PDT

We're excited to announce this year's lunch roundtables, assigned on a first-come, first-served basis at our Subscriber Summit October 18 in San Francisco. Register here and please arrive early to ensure there is space in the session you want to attend. Will the Healthcare Revolution Be Consumerized?The direct-to-consumer... We're excited to announce this year's lunch roundtables, assigned on a first-come,...

L-R: Jarrett Moreno, Wared Seger, Matthew Segal, Matt Hullum

Three Digital Media Companies to Watch

By Beejoli Shah · Oct 12, 2018 10:02am PDT · 1 comment

The search for a money-making business in digital media takes companies in many different directions. Some have tried and abandoned social media as a distribution platform in favor of their own streaming services. There are those who do the opposite. Both approaches are highlighted in our short profiles about three fast-growing digital media... The search for a money-making business in digital media takes companies in many different...

Airbnb, TripAdvisor and other companies are looking to build revenue from activities booking.

‘Experiences’ Market Remains Small for Airbnb, Rivals

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 12, 2018 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Airbnb, TripAdvisor and other companies are looking to build revenue from activities booking.

‘Experiences’ Market Remains Small for Airbnb, Rivals

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 12, 2018 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Airbnb’s years-long effort to crack the market for vacation tours and activities accelerated this year in what was known internally as the “summer of love.” After testing the service extensively, the company looked to grow its Experiences business rapidly, offering bar crawls, hat-making classes and other trip add-ons to more... Airbnb’s years-long effort to crack the market for vacation tours and activities...

Photos: Bloomberg, AP

How MTV Alumni Came to Rule Digital Media

By Jessica Toonkel · Oct 11, 2018 10:00am PDT · 4 comments

MTV is trying to re-establish itself as the network for millennials. What would help is if it could hire back just a few of the many executives it has lost over the past decade to internet firms like Facebook, Spotify and YouTube.Perhaps more than any other TV network, MTV has been a hunting ground for digital media firms looking for talent in... MTV is trying to re-establish itself as the network for millennials. What would help is if it...

A picking robot from Kindred Systems. Photo by Kindred Systems

Amazon Developing ‘Picking’ Robots for Warehouses

By Kevin McLaughlin · Oct 11, 2018 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

When Amazon announced plans last week to bump the minimum wage for 250,000 employees to $15 an hour, it avoided a related, but sensitive topic: When might machines replace those workers, many of whom work in its warehouses? Amazon already uses robots to handle some jobs in its warehouses, known as fulfillment centers, but it has... When Amazon announced plans last week to bump the minimum wage for 250,000 employees to $15 an...

Mike Sullivan

Crypto Newsletter

Bitmain Expands Mining Operations

By Jon Victor · Oct 10, 2018 12:51pm PDT · 1 comment

Happy San Francisco Blockchain Week to those celebrating. As one might expect, there have been a ton of funding and product announcements coinciding with the event, with one highlight being the launch of a $100 million crypto fund, Dragonfly Capital Partners. Thousands of miles away, though, the Chinese mining giant Bitmain has plans cooking:... Happy San Francisco Blockchain Week to those celebrating. As one might expect, there have been a...

Harvard University. Photo: Bloomberg

Harvard, Stanford, MIT Endowments Invest in Crypto Funds

By Jon Victor · Oct 10, 2018 12:32pm PDT

Harvard University. Photo: Bloomberg

Harvard, Stanford, MIT Endowments Invest in Crypto Funds

By Jon Victor · Oct 10, 2018 12:32pm PDT

The endowments of Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of North Carolina have made investments into at least one cryptocurrency fund, a person familiar with the investments said, in a sign of the asset class’ growing acceptance among institutional investors.... The endowments of Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts...

Stewart Butterfield, co-founder and CEO of Slack. Photo: Bloomberg

Tech Founders Cede Some Power to Shareholders

By Alfred Lee · Oct 10, 2018 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Founders wield outsize influence over many of Silicon Valley’s most successful public companies through their shareholdings. But lately a growing number of tech firms are setting limits on founder power, partly in response to investor backlash.Messaging service Slack, which is expected to go public next year, adopted rules in December that... Founders wield outsize influence over many of Silicon Valley’s most successful public...

Photo: Bloomberg

Costco Has Considered Video Streaming Service for Executive Members

By Jessica Toonkel · Oct 9, 2018 2:56pm PDT

Costco Wholesale had preliminary discussions over the past few months about offering a video streaming service as a perk for its top-tier customers, according to three people with direct knowledge of the discussions.The retailer has talked to at least two providers of existing streaming services about the possibility of offering such a service... Costco Wholesale had preliminary discussions over the past few months about offering a video...

Illustration by Scotty Reifsynder

Inside Apple’s War on iPhone Fraud in China

By Wayne Ma · Oct 9, 2018 7:02am PDT · 3 comments

Five years ago, Apple was forced to temporarily close what was then its only retail store in Shenzhen, China, after it was besieged by lines of hundreds of customers waiting to swap broken iPhones for new devices, according to two former Apple employees who were briefed about the matter. In May 2013, the Shenzhen store logged more than 2,000... Five years ago, Apple was forced to temporarily close what was then its only retail store in...

Todd Holmdahl, a corporate vice president with Microsoft's quantum computing project. Photo by Microsoft

Microsoft Quantum Project Grows With Ex-Qualcomm Engineers

By Aaron Tilley · Oct 8, 2018 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Todd Holmdahl, a corporate vice president with Microsoft's quantum computing project. Photo by Microsoft

Microsoft Quantum Project Grows With Ex-Qualcomm Engineers

By Aaron Tilley · Oct 8, 2018 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Microsoft’s efforts to build a futuristic computer based on quantum mechanics are getting a boost from former engineers of the chipmaker Qualcomm. Over the past few months, Microsoft has aggressively hired chip engineers from a struggling Qualcomm division devoted to building chips for the computers that power data centers, more so than... Microsoft’s efforts to build a futuristic computer based on quantum mechanics are getting a...