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

Meg Whitman. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Meg Whitman’s TV Job Says About Tech and Media

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 24, 2018 3:11pm PST

Coming to you with a mid-week column, as Tom and I just got off the phone with Meg Whitman, who was talking about her surprise decision to become CEO of a short-form video startup in Los Angeles. Yup, that Meg Whitman. The outgoing CEO of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, which came out of a $22 billion split she orchestrated as the company struggled... Coming to you with a mid-week column, as Tom and I just got off the phone with Meg Whitman, who...

Source: Second Measure

Sun Basket Raising Money Amid Pressure on Meal Kit Startups

By Alfred Lee · Jan 24, 2018 11:32am PST · 1 comment

Since Blue Apron’s disappointing IPO last summer, meal kit delivery startups have been under pressure to sell or fold. But at least one smaller competitor, Sun Basket, is showing decent growth, according to credit card data. Now the firm is raising money—and offering big protections to investors to limit their risk.Sun Basket, which... Since Blue Apron’s disappointing IPO last summer, meal kit delivery startups have been...

Amazon Prime head Akshay Sahi. Art: Matt Vascellaro

Q&A

Amazon Prime’s Rapid Growth in India Yields Lessons

By Priya Anand · Jan 24, 2018 7:02am PST

Last year was a big year for Amazon Prime in India. Membership doubled from January to June, and then doubled again from June to October. Driving the fast growth, said Akshay Sahi, Amazon’s head of Prime in India, are exclusive deals, a strategy the company might deploy elsewhere.The expansion in India has been costly, and the company is... Last year was a big year for Amazon Prime in India. Membership doubled from January to June, and...

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son at a news conference announcing quarterly earnings late last year. Photo by Bloomberg.

SoftBank Looks to Raise Billions More Against Arm and Uber Stakes

By Juro Osawa · Jan 23, 2018 10:21pm PST

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son at a news conference announcing quarterly earnings late last year. Photo by Bloomberg.

SoftBank Looks to Raise Billions More Against Arm and Uber Stakes

By Juro Osawa · Jan 23, 2018 10:21pm PST

SoftBank, which controls the $93 billion Vision Fund, wants to raise even more money. The Japanese investment giant is in talks with banks to raise as much as $5 billion in new debt by using its U.K. chip subsidiary Arm as collateral, according to people familiar with the matter. At the same time, SoftBank is also considering how it might use... SoftBank, which controls the $93 billion Vision Fund, wants to raise even more money. The...

Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff. Photo by Flickr/Christopher Michel.

Smart Doorbell Maker Ring Raising Money at Close to $1 Billion Value

By Aaron Tilley, Serena Saitto and Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 23, 2018 4:09pm PST · 1 comment

Ring, a maker of camera-enabled doorbell products, is raising $160 million at a valuation of nearly $1 billion, nearly double from only a year ago, according to a securities filing and investors.The rapid rise reflects investor interest in smart home products, particularly doorbell cameras, which are useful for tracking package delivery and home... Ring, a maker of camera-enabled doorbell products, is raising $160 million at a valuation of...

Laurence Tosi and Brian Chesky. Photos by Bloomberg.

At Airbnb, Tensions Bubble Between Chesky and Tosi

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 23, 2018 12:01pm PST · 1 comment

When Airbnb was contemplating getting into the air travel business a year ago, CEO Brian Chesky considered launching an airline to reinvent the “actual experience of taking a plane,” according to a person familiar with the situation. CFO Laurence Tosi, a former Wall Street executive, thought it would be wiser to integrate with an... When Airbnb was contemplating getting into the air travel business a year ago, CEO Brian Chesky...

Art by Scotty Reifsnyder

Amazon’s Cybersecurity Move Threatens Startups

By Sarah Kuranda · Jan 23, 2018 7:01am PST · 2 comments

When security company ForeScout Technologies was preparing for its initial public offering last year, Chief Strategy Officer Pedro Abreu kept hearing the same question from investors: What happens if Amazon Web Services takes over your market?Mr. Abreu’s answer was that ForeScout could survive because its technology works on any cloud... When security company ForeScout Technologies was preparing for its initial public offering last...

A Chinese filmgoer walks past posters of "Wolf Warriors 2" at a cinema in Yichang city, central China's Hubei province, last August. Photo by AP.

Why Hollywood Movies Are Losing Market Share in China

By Matt Pressberg · Jan 22, 2018 10:00am PST · 2 comments

A Chinese filmgoer walks past posters of "Wolf Warriors 2" at a cinema in Yichang city, central China's Hubei province, last August. Photo by AP.

Why Hollywood Movies Are Losing Market Share in China

By Matt Pressberg · Jan 22, 2018 10:00am PST · 2 comments

Wu Jing, the director and star of Chinese smash hit “Wolf Warrior II,” has been pressing the flesh around Los Angeles in recent months to build buzz for the film ahead of this year’s Oscars, whose nominees will be unveiled Tuesday. While “Wolf Warrior II” is unlikely to score a nomination, it’s arguably the... Wu Jing, the director and star of Chinese smash hit “Wolf Warrior II,” has been...

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston during an event in San Francisco. Photo by Bloomberg

Why Dropbox IPO Could Fall Short of Private Pricing

By Alfred Lee · Jan 22, 2018 7:00am PST

As Dropbox readies for one of the year’s biggest IPOs, it hopes to avoid joining the growing list of Silicon Valley darlings that can’t match their private valuations when they meet public market scrutiny. To buck the trend, it needs to either be growing faster or show it is more profitable than other software firms.Right now, a... As Dropbox readies for one of the year’s biggest IPOs, it hopes to avoid joining the...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Jan 20, 2018 8:01am PST

Good Morning!We found out why Amazon kept San Francisco off its short list of potential second headquarters cities: Jeff Bezos is also tired of hearing about your cryptocurrency gains at parties. Good Morning!We found out why Amazon kept San Francisco off its short list of potential second...

Wag's app. Photo by Bloomberg.

How SoftBank’s Interest Cost One Startup Other Potential Investors

By Serena Saitto · Jan 19, 2018 2:53pm PST

Late last year Wag, an app that helps people find dog walkers, was in talks to raise $100 million. SoftBank took a look but would only invest if the round was $300 million. Other investors, including NEA and Kleiner Perkins, felt that was too much money for the startup to raise and dropped out, say people involved in the deal. SoftBank still... Late last year Wag, an app that helps people find dog walkers, was in talks to raise $100...

The Information’s 411 — Men Overboard

By Tom Dotan · Jan 19, 2018 1:35pm PST

The Information’s 411 — Men Overboard

By Tom Dotan · Jan 19, 2018 1:35pm PST

Kevin talks about why AWS is planning to build "no-code" capabilities into its services to attract a different type of customer. Alfred calls in to talk about the problem of investors that serve on too many boards. Kevin talks about why AWS is planning to build "no-code" capabilities into its services...

Art by Mike Sullivan

How the Demise of Net Neutrality Affects Cryptocurrencies

By Amanda Gutterman · Jan 19, 2018 10:00am PST · 3 comments

The Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of “net neutrality” last month has sparked worries in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space that cryptocurrencies could be hurt or even “shut down” altogether.But cryptocurrencies such as ether, bitcoin and bitcoin cash are unlikely to be seriously... The Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of “net neutrality” last month...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Publishers Missed About Facebook’s News Feed

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 19, 2018 7:00am PST · 5 comments

When Mark Zuckerberg recently announced News Feed would show less content from publishers, I had a major moment of deja vu. Remember when our News Feeds were riddled with games like Farmville, the Nike running app and Spotify? That was the result of a concerted effort by Facebook to get people to spend more time on the service. Eventually, it... When Mark Zuckerberg recently announced News Feed would show less content from publishers, I had...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Snap Lays Off Two Dozen Employees

By Tom Dotan · Jan 18, 2018 1:21pm PST · 1 comment

Snap laid off around two dozen people in recent days, mostly in its content team, according to people close to the company. The staff cuts, which also affected people in several other departments, are the latest sign of how Snap is being cost-conscious amid struggles with slow user and revenue growth. Snap’s content team, which reports to... Snap laid off around two dozen people in recent days, mostly in its content team, according to...

An AWS office in Virginia. Photo by AP

Can’t Code? AWS Project Aims to Attract Broader Range of Users

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 18, 2018 10:02am PST

An AWS office in Virginia. Photo by AP

Can’t Code? AWS Project Aims to Attract Broader Range of Users

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 18, 2018 10:02am PST

Amazon is entering the “no-code" game. The cloud leader wants to enable business users who aren't engineers to build customized apps solving specific problems, merely by dragging and dropping app components into a graphical interface. Google and Microsoft, among others, got a head start in the market for so-called... Amazon is entering the “no-code" game. The cloud leader wants to enable business users...

Ofo bikes parked in Shanghai last year. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside Alibaba and Didi’s Tussle Over a Multibillion Dollar Startup

By Juro Osawa and Yunan Zhang · Jan 18, 2018 7:02am PST · 1 comment

Last fall, Didi Chuxing tried to get bike-sharing company Ofo to merge with main competitor Mobike. The attempt, led by Didi and other Ofo investors, failed because the bike startups strongly opposed it, according to people familiar with the talks. Then Didi, Ofo’s largest shareholder, changed course and launched its own bike-sharing... Last fall, Didi Chuxing tried to get bike-sharing company Ofo to merge with main competitor...

Photo by Bloomberg

Why Smart Devices Will Get More Expensive

By Aaron Tilley · Jan 17, 2018 10:06am PST · 1 comment

Smart speakers equipped with voice assistants from Amazon and Google have taken off recently for one big reason: prices as low as $30. But if chipmakers have their way, this hardware could get a lot more expensive in the near future. And that could put a crimp in growth of this market, where the usefulness of these devices is still being... Smart speakers equipped with voice assistants from Amazon and Google have taken off recently for...

Clockwise from top left: Amish Jani; Hemant Taneja; Mike Volpi; John Frankel; Joe Lonsdale; Navin Chaddha; Scott Sandell; John Doerr. Photos: Messrs. Jani, Taneja and Doerr via TechCrunch; other via Bloomberg.

How Many Board Seats Is Too Many?

By Alfred Lee · Jan 17, 2018 7:01am PST · 4 comments

Scandals at Uber and SoFi have led to renewed calls for stronger board oversight in Silicon Valley. But is that possible from a director who sits on 18 boards?The Information identified at least 24 venture capitalists who hold nine or more directorships at technology companies, including partners at Benchmark, Kleiner Perkins and Andreessen... Scandals at Uber and SoFi have led to renewed calls for stronger board oversight in Silicon...

Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon, Netflix Should Consider Buying Movie Theaters

By Matt Pressberg · Jan 16, 2018 10:40am PST · 4 comments

Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon, Netflix Should Consider Buying Movie Theaters

By Matt Pressberg · Jan 16, 2018 10:40am PST · 4 comments

The new action movie starring Will Smith, “Bright,” was watched by an estimated 11 million people in the three days after it premiered on Dec. 22 on Netflix. In theaters, that audience would translate to a nearly $100 million box office opening weekend. That’s better than all but six movie openings in the U.S. last year. But... The new action movie starring Will Smith, “Bright,” was watched by an estimated 11...