The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Five times/week

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.

By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy

Recent Editions

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Bloomberg

Snap Made Special Stock Grants to Boost Morale

By Tom Dotan · Apr 23, 2019 9:20am PDT

When Snap reports its first quarter earnings Tuesday afternoon, there will be one group of employees praying Wall Street likes the results. They’re the people, such as engineering chief Jerry Hunter, who got a special grant of stock in December. Mr. Hunter, for instance, has $1.8 million riding on the results.Snap made the grants to... When Snap reports its first quarter earnings Tuesday afternoon, there will be one group of...

A Chill for Acquisitions as Big Tech Scrutiny Intensifies?

By Nick Wingfield · Apr 23, 2019 6:31am PDT · 2 comments

Last month, Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts running for president, grabbed attention with a proposal to curb the power of big tech companies by pushing them to reverse past acquisitions. But large deals of the kind Sen. Warren targeted are rare among the Big Five—as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and... Last month, Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts running for president,...

Zap's radiosurgery device. Photo by Zap

Zap Surgical, Backed by Foxconn, Seeks New Funding

By Wayne Ma · Apr 22, 2019 10:38am PDT

Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn Technology, lost both his first wife and brother to cancer. The deaths galvanized him to invest in a radiosurgery startup founded by the American neurosurgeon who helped treat his brother. Now the startup, Zap Surgical Systems, which recently came out of stealth... Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn Technology, lost both...

Art by Sam Lessin

Why the Internet Could Help Small Businesses Regain Power

By Sam Lessin · Apr 22, 2019 6:30am PDT · 7 comments

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

Why the Internet Could Help Small Businesses Regain Power

By Sam Lessin · Apr 22, 2019 6:30am PDT · 7 comments

What is going to happen to small businesses in the U.S. in the coming years? The general thesis is that technology allows mega-companies like Amazon to scale, putting small businesses into a systemic decline. But I am not at all convinced this is the way the future needs to play out.If the last wave of the internet empowered big businesses over... What is going to happen to small businesses in the U.S. in the coming years? The general thesis...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, whose company is reporting earnings next week.

Tech Earnings Spotlight Growth Concerns

By The Information Staff · Apr 20, 2019 7:47am PDT

Many big tech companies—Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter and Snap—report their March quarter results next week, while Alphabet and Apple come the week after. The earnings dump is a great way to assess the state of the business. To give you a sense of what to expect, here’s a cheat sheet on each company, assembled by our... Many big tech companies—Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter and Snap—report their...

The Information’s 411 — Diversity and Capital

By Tom Dotan · Apr 19, 2019 2:09pm PDT

Chris joins to talk about the latest edition of our VC Diversity Index. Matt breaks down what user information Lyft employees and contractors can access. Cory talks about Airbnb's engineering challenges. Chris joins to talk about the latest edition of our VC Diversity Index. Matt breaks down what...

Mike Sullivan

Bug Juice, Amazon Envy: Inside Airbnb’s Engineering Challenges

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 19, 2019 6:30am PDT · 3 comments

Airbnb software engineers were struggling a couple of years ago to keep up with the number of technical glitches that were piling up with the site. At one point, employees halted all work on new features for a week to try to fix bugs in the code. To toast the effort, CEO Brian Chesky drank a cup of liquefied bugs—one for every problem... Airbnb software engineers were struggling a couple of years ago to keep up with the number of...

Silicon Valley’s Most and Least Diverse Venture Capital Firms

By Zoë Bernard · Apr 18, 2019 6:30am PDT · 1 comment

Silicon Valley’s Most and Least Diverse Venture Capital Firms

By Zoë Bernard · Apr 18, 2019 6:30am PDT · 1 comment

The percentage of African American and Hispanic decision makers in the U.S. venture capital industry fell last year from already extremely low levels in 2017, reversing three years of small gains. Female representation in the industry’s senior ranks edged up to just over 15% from 14.6%, while Asian presence climbed. Overall, venture... The percentage of African American and Hispanic decision makers in the U.S. venture capital...

Four of F7 Ventures' founders. Photo courtesy of F7 Ventures

Seven Ex-Facebook Employees Team Up to Invest in Women-Led Startups

By Sarah Kuranda · Apr 18, 2019 6:25am PDT

Ex-Facebook executives Kelly Graziadei and Sarah Smith were sitting in Ms. Smith’s kitchen last year having a glass of wine and some cheese when the talk turned to startups, and how few women founders there are in Silicon Valley. The two agreed they should try to do something about it, and in the following months they reached out to their... Ex-Facebook executives Kelly Graziadei and Sarah Smith were sitting in Ms. Smith’s kitchen...

Mike Sullivan

Crypto Newsletter

Asia’s New Crypto Trading Platform

By Shai Oster and Jon Victor · Apr 17, 2019 12:40pm PDT

Binance’s CEO might be the most powerful person in crypto. This week, he sent a token’s price plunging when he announced that the exchange would remove Bitcoin SV, in response to the token’s most prominent backer’s repeated (and widely disbelieved) claims that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s creator. Other... Binance’s CEO might be the most powerful person in crypto. This week, he sent a...

Bipul Sinha, co-founder and CEO of Rubrik. Photo by Bloomberg

As Software IPOs Pick Up, These Firms Could Be Next

By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 17, 2019 9:31am PDT · 1 comment

There was a time when the leaders of software-as-a-service companies had to move their lips slowly when describing their business models to investors. No longer. After finally getting comfortable with how their businesses work, investors have flocked to the stocks of SaaS companies—which charge customers subscriptions for their... There was a time when the leaders of software-as-a-service companies had to move their lips...

Photo by Bloomberg.

What Lyft and Uber Are Really Worth

By Amir Efrati and Jessica Toonkel · Apr 17, 2019 6:31am PDT · 6 comments

Photo by Bloomberg.

What Lyft and Uber Are Really Worth

By Amir Efrati and Jessica Toonkel · Apr 17, 2019 6:31am PDT · 6 comments

With the 20% plunge from its offering price since its IPO, Lyft joins a large group of big-name tech IPOs that have slumped out of the gate, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Etsy. One of the big questions now is whether Lyft turns out to be like Facebook or Etsy, whose stock recovered and eventually turned into a winner, or like Blue Apron whose... With the 20% plunge from its offering price since its IPO, Lyft joins a large group of big-name...

Apple CEO Tim Cook (left) and Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf. Photos by Bloomberg

Behind Qualcomm Truce, a Setback for Apple’s Chip Independence

By Nick Wingfield and Aaron Tilley · Apr 16, 2019 3:50pm PDT · 4 comments

A little over a decade ago, Apple shelled out $278 million to acquire a chip startup, PA Semi, providing it with the know-how to create its own chips for the iPhone and putting it on a path towards independence from outside suppliers in the chip business. On Tuesday, though, Apple took a detour on that journey when it settled a long-running... A little over a decade ago, Apple shelled out $278 million to acquire a chip startup, PA Semi,...

Netflix Races to Make More Originals as Studios Pull Back

By Beejoli Shah · Apr 16, 2019 9:54am PDT · 1 comment

Disney’s unveiling of its upcoming streaming service last Thursday was a reminder of why Netflix has put so much effort into developing its own programming in recent years, making it less dependent on competing studios like Disney for content. But Netflix’s financial statements show that the streaming giant has a long way to go to be... Disney’s unveiling of its upcoming streaming service last Thursday was a reminder of why...

Illustration by J. Claeys

Lyft Moves to Restrict Employee Access to Customer Data

By Matt Drange · Apr 16, 2019 6:32am PDT · 1 comment

When employees at Lyft log into their computer to look up information about a Lyft customer or driver nowadays, a warning message flashes on their screen with a reminder that their actions are logged and could be audited. Introducing the warning is just one of a series of changes Lyft has made over the past year to better protect customer... When employees at Lyft log into their computer to look up information about a Lyft customer or...

A PAX Labs vaporizer. Photo by Bloomberg

PAX Labs in Talks to Raise Around $400 Million

By Zoë Bernard · Apr 15, 2019 1:33pm PDT

A PAX Labs vaporizer. Photo by Bloomberg

PAX Labs in Talks to Raise Around $400 Million

By Zoë Bernard · Apr 15, 2019 1:33pm PDT

PAX Labs, the maker of a popular line of devices for vaping cannabis, is close to raising over $400 million in a financing round that values the company at around $1.3 billion, according to two people familiar with the deal. Initially, the San Francisco-based company had sought to raise $150 million in capital, according to a presentation for... PAX Labs, the maker of a popular line of devices for vaping cannabis, is close to raising over...

ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin in 2017. Photo: AP

ConsenSys Seeks $200 Million From Investors After Bumpy Year

By Jon Victor · Apr 15, 2019 11:59am PDT

The cryptocurrency company ConsenSys is trying to raise $200 million from outside investors, according to several people with knowledge of the plans, as the startup looks to chart a new course just months after a widely publicized restructuring that included layoffs of around 13% of its staff.The pitch might be an uphill battle for the company,... The cryptocurrency company ConsenSys is trying to raise $200 million from outside investors,...

Snowflake's executive leaders (from left) Thierry Cruanes, co-founder and architect; Bob Muglia, CEO; Benoit Dageville, co-founder and CTO; Marcin Zukowski, co-founder. Photo by Snowflake

The Big Interview

Snowflake Aims to Beat Amazon at Its Own Game

By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 15, 2019 6:32am PDT

Amazon Web Services has a knack for entering new businesses that its customers happen to be in, but one AWS customer—database startup Snowflake—has given the internet retailer’s cloud unit a taste of its own medicine. Snowflake launched its first product on the cloud computing service in 2015, putting it in direct... Amazon Web Services has a knack for entering new businesses that its customers happen to be in,...

The Information’s 411 — Eye of the Iger

By Tom Dotan · Apr 13, 2019 8:07am PDT

Priya talks about Amazon's head of HR and how she manages the company's corporate culture. Beejoli and Tom discuss Disney's big day as it previewed its streaming service for investors. Priya talks about Amazon's head of HR and how she manages the company's corporate...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son in front of a map showing ride-hailing firms partly owned by SoftBank. Photo by Bloomberg

What Uber Must Do To Make Money

By Amir Efrati · Apr 13, 2019 7:46am PDT · 1 comment

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son in front of a map showing ride-hailing firms partly owned by SoftBank. Photo by Bloomberg

What Uber Must Do To Make Money

By Amir Efrati · Apr 13, 2019 7:46am PDT · 1 comment

After a scandal-plagued 2017, the perception of Uber has improved over the past year or so, at least among investors, employees and the media. So this week, with the release of its IPO prospectus, Uber could have been ready to take a victory lap. It was expected to show an improving financial picture, demonstrating that the company’s... After a scandal-plagued 2017, the perception of Uber has improved over the past year or so, at...