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

Google employees at its Mountain View, Calif., campus. Photo by Bloomberg

Google Suspends Employee Reviews as Virus Disrupts Operations

By Nick Bastone · Mar 18, 2020 9:28am PDT · 1 comment

Google will suspend company-wide performance reviews of employees, as its leaders deemed the process a distraction from more pressing challenges facing the company amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Information has learned. Google’s vice president of people operations, Eileen Naughton, announced the change in an email distributed to... Google will suspend company-wide performance reviews of employees, as its leaders deemed the...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky in 2018. Photo: AP

Airbnb’s Longstanding Ties to Hosts Frayed by Crisis

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 18, 2020 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

Airbnb won fans among travelers over the weekend when it said it would fully refund anyone who was canceling an upcoming stay due to coronavirus. For hosts, the announcement was considerably tougher to absorb. The decision meant property owners would have little chance of recouping their losses. The move risks alienating Airbnb’s... Airbnb won fans among travelers over the weekend when it said it would fully refund anyone who...

Quibi CEO Meg Whitman. Photo by Bloomberg

Stay-at-Home Lockdown a Boon for Video Services? Not So Fast

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Mar 17, 2020 11:59am PDT · 4 comments

In what may be the worst of times for most businesses, the enforced isolation of people at home is likely to make it the best of times for video-streaming services and TV networks. But it won’t necessarily be a boon for several new services that were due to launch this spring—AT&T’s HBO Max, Comcast’s Peacock and... In what may be the worst of times for most businesses, the enforced isolation of people at home...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook Plans $1,000 Bonuses to Help Employees During Coronavirus Crisis

By Jessica Toonkel and Alex Heath · Mar 17, 2020 8:03am PDT · 3 comments

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo: Bloomberg

Facebook Plans $1,000 Bonuses to Help Employees During Coronavirus Crisis

By Jessica Toonkel and Alex Heath · Mar 17, 2020 8:03am PDT · 3 comments

Facebook will pay a $1,000 bonus to every employee, one of the first big companies to offer workers cash to help them during the coronavirus outbreak. It follows a similar move by enterprise software firm Workday on Monday.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement early Tuesday in an internal company notice, saying that the company... Facebook will pay a $1,000 bonus to every employee, one of the first big companies to offer...

Bradley Tusk of Tusk Ventures in October. Photo by Bloomberg

Virus Begins Separating Strong Startups From Weak

By Kate Clark, Amir Efrati, Zoë Bernard and Kevin Dugan · Mar 17, 2020 7:01am PDT

While it will take months to understand the full impact of the coronavirus on the startup economy, evidence of its grim toll is already beginning to mount. Take Service Technologies, a Los Angeles–based online travel startup that went out of business abruptly on Monday. That followed the failure of a recent effort to... While it will take months to understand the full impact of the coronavirus on the startup...

The ride-hailing firms' logos on a car. Photo by Shutterstock

Virus Lockdowns Pose Serious Threat to Lyft, Uber

By Amir Efrati · Mar 16, 2020 7:17pm PDT · 4 comments

There’s little doubt that the coronavirus crisis will eventually subside. But it’s not as certain that the two major ride-hailing giants will survive the pandemic in their current form—particularly if it persists for more than a couple of months.Stock traders seem to think that Lyft, in particular, faces the biggest question... There’s little doubt that the coronavirus crisis will eventually subside. But it’s...

Illustration by Shutterstock

Business as Usual—Remotely

By Nick Wingfield and Kate Clark · Mar 16, 2020 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Last week, Google, Microsoft, Apple and other big tech companies began encouraging tens of thousands of their employees to work from home, in a dramatic response to help curb the coronavirus pandemic.Then there are people like Dave McJannet, whose company didn’t have to send employees home—because they were already there. McJannet is... Last week, Google, Microsoft, Apple and other big tech companies began encouraging tens of...

Ty Haney. Photo by Getty Images

The (Pink) Elephant in the Tech Press

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 14, 2020 7:47am PDT · 5 comments

Ty Haney. Photo by Getty Images

The (Pink) Elephant in the Tech Press

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 14, 2020 7:47am PDT · 5 comments

“I bet that she is next.”So read the text message from a friend as she sent me the essay The Wing CEO Audrey Gelman published about the mistakes she’s made as a founder and what she’s learned from them. It offered the kind of admirable candor that CEOs don’t often show. But in today’s climate my friend... “I bet that she is next.”So read the text message from a friend as she sent me the...

The Information’s 411 — Bear Market Necessities

By Tom Dotan · Mar 13, 2020 4:32pm PDT · 2 comments

Martin talks about the effects of the market downturn in response to the global pandemic. We discuss which companies are the most affected—in particular why Slack, Uber and Lyft have fared so poorly. Martin also looks back at the 2008 financial crisis and explains why the recent downturn is in fact very reminiscent of what took place 12... Martin talks about the effects of the market downturn in response to the global pandemic. We...

Connie Yang and friends during a recent virtual dinner party. Photo by Connie Yang

Dinner Parties in the Age of Coronavirus

By Zoë Bernard and Nick Bastone · Mar 13, 2020 2:34pm PDT · 1 comment

For her 33rd birthday later this month, entrepreneur Sherrell Dorsey planned to throw a dinner party with friends before embarking on a celebratory road trip from Atlanta to Tennessee. She even bought a bright red cocktail dress from a designer on Instagram that she planned to wear at the party.But with the coronavirus prompting people... For her 33rd birthday later this month, entrepreneur Sherrell Dorsey planned to throw a dinner...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Photo by Bloomberg

Market Crash Pressures SoftBank’s High-Risk Investment Strategy

By Amir Efrati, Cory Weinberg, Juro Osawa and Martin Peers · Mar 13, 2020 7:02am PDT

If there’s one company that is vulnerable to the fallout from a virus-inspired economic slump and the stock market crash, it is SoftBank, along with its $100 billion Vision Fund.The 27% drop in the stock market in the past three weeks, along with the sharp downturn in major industries like travel, will slash the value of Vision... If there’s one company that is vulnerable to the fallout from a virus-inspired economic...

Mississippi Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch uses hand sanitizer after voting in the party presidential primary on March 10. Photo: AP

Virus Fears Spark Calls for Online Voting

By Christopher Stern · Mar 12, 2020 12:09pm PDT · 1 comment

Mississippi Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch uses hand sanitizer after voting in the party presidential primary on March 10. Photo: AP

Virus Fears Spark Calls for Online Voting

By Christopher Stern · Mar 12, 2020 12:09pm PDT · 1 comment

The spread of coronavirus during a presidential campaign year is a potential nightmare for election officials supervising crowded voting centers, communal touchscreens and older poll workers. As concerns grow that the virus could keep people from the polls, some tech executives and government officials are looking more closely at how quickly... The spread of coronavirus during a presidential campaign year is a potential nightmare for...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg

Microsoft Turns Up the Heat on Snowflake

By Kevin McLaughlin · Mar 12, 2020 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

If data analytics startup Snowflake goes public this year, as was expected before the coronavirus-driven market downturn, investors’ demand for its stock is likely to be intense. The company, which tripled its valuation to $12.4 billion in a fundraising just last month, is growing quickly as businesses increasingly try to organize the... If data analytics startup Snowflake goes public this year, as was expected before the...

The Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md. Photo: AP.

States Advance Efforts to Tax Digital Revenue

By Ashley Gold · Mar 11, 2020 10:22am PDT · 1 comment

As tech companies fend off digital tax proposals from France and other countries looking to cash in on the success of American-grown firms, a new threat has emerged at home. A number of U.S. states, including Maryland, Nebraska and New York, have proposed their own taxes on the revenue or income companies generate from online advertising and... As tech companies fend off digital tax proposals from France and other countries looking to cash...

Ruth Porat (left), Sundar Pichai, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Photos by Bloomberg; illustration by Mike Sullivan

Google’s Parent Trap

By Nick Bastone and Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 11, 2020 7:02am PDT · 4 comments

In early 2015, Google co-founder Larry Page had a problem. His once nimble startup had become a slow-growing behemoth, missing out on big tech innovations and struggling to incubate new products. Page’s answer was Alphabet, a new corporate entity that would allow Google’s cash cow—its search engine—to coexist... In early 2015, Google co-founder Larry Page had a problem. His once nimble startup had become a...

Hulu's former CEO Randy Freer. Photo by Bloomberg

AT&T Approaches Kilar, Freer for WarnerMedia CEO Job

By Jessica Toonkel · Mar 10, 2020 5:46pm PDT

Hulu's former CEO Randy Freer. Photo by Bloomberg

AT&T Approaches Kilar, Freer for WarnerMedia CEO Job

By Jessica Toonkel · Mar 10, 2020 5:46pm PDT

A recruiter working for AT&T has approached Hulu’s recently departed CEO, Randy Freer, and Hulu’s founding CEO, Jason Kilar, about taking the top job at WarnerMedia, said people familiar with the situation. Also approached was Tom Staggs, the former chief operating officer of Disney, although that didn’t lead anywhere, the... A recruiter working for AT&T has approached Hulu’s recently departed CEO, Randy Freer,...

A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Photo by AP

As Prices Fall, Private Equity’s Deal Appetite Could Grow

By Kevin Dugan · Mar 10, 2020 1:35pm PDT · 2 comments

Monday’s market decline–the biggest one-day drop since 2008—is rattling markets and is likely to throw tech companies’ initial public offering plans into jeopardy. It may be just the moment that private equity giants have been waiting for.For years, as valuations of private and public tech companies have climbed, some... Monday’s market decline–the biggest one-day drop since 2008—is rattling markets...

Uber’s Leadership Is Stretched Thin as Departures Mount

By Amir Efrati · Mar 10, 2020 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Uber is acting more like a startup these days. For the past two and a half months, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been doing two jobs at once—overseeing the ride-hailing company while also serving as chief product officer. One of his deputies, strategic finance chief Dennis Cinelli, for months also has been running Uber’s electric bike... Uber is acting more like a startup these days. For the past two and a half months, CEO Dara...

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

How Coronavirus Epidemics Could Alter the Future of Tech

By Sam Lessin · Mar 9, 2020 10:00am PDT · 10 comments

The impact of COVID-19 on the economy and our lives has been the subject of a lot of discussions in the last several weeks. But there’s been less discussion of the potential long-term implications of how the virus—or something like it—may alter the longer-term trajectory of our society and economy.Here are some big-picture... The impact of COVID-19 on the economy and our lives has been the subject of a lot of discussions...

Shrug Capital's Niv Dror. Photo by Shrug Capital

Big Stunts, Small Checks: Shrug Capital’s Unusual Rise

By Kate Clark · Mar 9, 2020 7:02am PDT

Shrug Capital's Niv Dror. Photo by Shrug Capital

The Big Interview

Big Stunts, Small Checks: Shrug Capital’s Unusual Rise

By Kate Clark · Mar 9, 2020 7:02am PDT

Niv Dror used to ride his motorcycle up and down Sand Hill Road to ogle the entrances to Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and other iconic venture capital firms. Then working as an accountant auditing Chris Sacca’s Lowercase Capital, Dror grew obsessed with powerful people and how they worked.Today, two years after starting his own... Niv Dror used to ride his motorcycle up and down Sand Hill Road to ogle the entrances to Sequoia...