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

FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver. Photo by Karen Obrist

NYC Subscriber Summit

538’s Nate Silver on the Bubble of Conventional Wisdom

By Alfred Lee · Apr 25, 2017 2:33pm PDT

Democrats will likely do well in coming national elections, something conventional wisdom has been slow to recognize, said Nate Silver, founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight, at The Information’s New York subscriber summit on Tuesday.In making that prediction, he cited historical precedents of opposition parties gaining... Democrats will likely do well in coming national elections, something conventional wisdom has...

CNN CEO Jeff Zucker. Photo by Karen Obrist

NYC Subscriber Summit

CNN’s Zucker On O’Reilly, Trump and Reaching Audiences Without Being CNN

By Tom Dotan · Apr 25, 2017 2:31pm PDT · 2 comments

In its pursuit of younger viewers, CNN has realized a useful tactic is to avoid the name CNN, according to CNN chief Jeff Zucker.Speaking at The Information’s New York subscriber summit on Tuesday, Mr. Zucker described how CNN was “future proofing” itself to capture a new generation that is unlikely to pay for cable. It... In its pursuit of younger viewers, CNN has realized a useful tactic is to avoid the name CNN,...

Facebook’s VP of News Feed Adam Mosseri talking with The Information's Cory Weinberg on Tuesday. Photo by Karen Obrist

NYC Subscriber Summit

Facebook Testing News Discovery Options

By Alfred Lee · Apr 25, 2017 1:44pm PDT · 1 comment

Facebook is testing out new ways for users to discover news content, including grouping articles or videos by topic, Facebook’s VP of News Feed, Adam Mosseri said at The Information’s New York subscriber summit on Tuesday.Another idea, which would likely expand beyond news to other types of content, is a discovery tab within... Facebook is testing out new ways for users to discover news content, including grouping articles...

Slack's VP of product April Underwood talking with The Information's Tom Dotan at the NYC Subscriber Summit. Photo by Karen Obrist

Slack Executive Not Worried About Facebook’s Workplace Competitor

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 25, 2017 9:14am PDT

Slack's VP of product April Underwood talking with The Information's Tom Dotan at the NYC Subscriber Summit. Photo by Karen Obrist

NYC Subscriber Summit

Slack Executive Not Worried About Facebook’s Workplace Competitor

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 25, 2017 9:14am PDT

Slack has faced, and survived, an onslaught of well-designed, consumer-friendly enterprise tech competitors since it launched three years ago. And what may be the newest, Facebook's Workplace, isn’t worrying Slack any more than earlier rivals, according to Slack’s vice president of product April Underwood.In an interview at The... Slack has faced, and survived, an onslaught of well-designed, consumer-friendly enterprise tech...

Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo talking with The Information's Tom Dotan at The Information's NYC Subscriber Summit on Tuesday. Photo by Karen Obrist

NYC Subscriber Summit

Quora’s CEO Sees Govt Regulation As One Possible Solution to Fake News

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 25, 2017 9:08am PDT · 6 comments

Facebook and Twitter could change their distribution strategies to better reward news that is accurate, as one way of dealing with fake news, the top executive of Quora said on Tuesday. Another possibility they face is more government scrutiny, he said at The Information’s subscriber summit on Tuesday.Adam D’Angelo, a former Facebook... Facebook and Twitter could change their distribution strategies to better reward news that is...

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Photo by Bloomberg.

Controversies Take a Toll on Uber’s Stock

By Alfred Lee · Apr 25, 2017 7:02am PDT

Investors have cut the price they’re willing to pay for Uber stock on the secondary market by about 15% in recent months to a level that values Uber at around $50 billion, according to a broker, a sign of how the recent onslaught of negative news has affected the company. Another broker said they had seen an uptick in the number of Uber... Investors have cut the price they’re willing to pay for Uber stock on the secondary market...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Teen Tennis Star’s Journey From China Tech IPO to Silicon Valley Deals

By Juro Osawa · Apr 24, 2017 10:02am PDT · 2 comments

This article is part of a series about the new cross-border investors wielding influence in Silicon Valley and China.In San Francisco’s financial district, venture capitalist Matt Cheng sat in the office cafeteria of video-streaming company Twitch last month. Over lunch, Mr. Cheng explained to the Amazon-owned firm’s executive how... This article is part of a series about the new cross-border investors wielding influence in...

Art by Sam Lessin

The Bay Area Should Levy a 5% Equity Tax on Startups

By Sam Lessin · Apr 24, 2017 7:00am PDT · 27 comments

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

The Bay Area Should Levy a 5% Equity Tax on Startups

By Sam Lessin · Apr 24, 2017 7:00am PDT · 27 comments

There are a lot of new tax ideas circulating in conversations. With aging infrastructure, growing inequality, and an expectation of less federal support in the future, conversations among state and local politicians about raising more regional revenue through things like a wealth tax or adding high-earner income taxes abound.I have a... There are a lot of new tax ideas circulating in conversations. With aging infrastructure, growing...

Modest Conversations

Modest Conversations: The Future of Real Estate

By Sam Lessin · Apr 23, 2017 1:09pm PDT

Brad Hargreaves, the founder of Common and co-founder of General Assembly joins to discuss the future of Real Estate. We focus on topics like Millennial ‘Poverty’, how the death of retail is changing real-estate financing, and - of course - self-driving technology. Brad Hargreaves, the founder of Common and co-founder of General Assembly joins to discuss the...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Apr 22, 2017 8:02am PDT

Good Morning!What’s with all the complaints about the $400 “Juicero”? As pricey as the gizmo is, it’s still cheaper than hiring TaskRabbits to squeeze vegetables by hand, as VCs usually do. Good Morning!What’s with all the complaints about the $400 “Juicero”? As pricey...

The Information’s 411 — F8 of the Furious App Developers

By Tom Dotan · Apr 21, 2017 1:45pm PDT

Alfred talks about the rise and implications of "mini IPOs." Cory shares his thoughts from this year's Facebook developer conference. Alfred talks about the rise and implications of "mini IPOs." Cory shares his thoughts...

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Disrupted Industries Get Wrong

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 21, 2017 7:02am PDT · 10 comments

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Disrupted Industries Get Wrong

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 21, 2017 7:02am PDT · 10 comments

Over the past few months—as I celebrated the birth of my son—I’ve had a lot of time to follow the news and think about the industry’s future. I look forward to sharing some new observations during my keynote address at our New York Subscriber Summit Tuesday, where we’ll also hear from speakers including Jeff Zucker,... Over the past few months—as I celebrated the birth of my son—I’ve had a lot of...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showing off new Nike-branded camera effects at this week's F8. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Should Developers Build for Facebook’s New Camera?

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 20, 2017 12:46pm PDT

When Facebook announced this week it would open its camera for developers to build photo frames and interactive effects, it was careful not to outline any business case for developers in the new concepts. It seemed to be a response to last year’s event, when Facebook was seen as over-promising the commercial potential of bots being rolled... When Facebook announced this week it would open its camera for developers to build photo frames...

Uber drivers protesting against the company in New York last year. Photo by Bloomberg.

How Uber Will Combat Rising Driver Churn

By Amir Efrati · Apr 20, 2017 7:02am PDT · 19 comments

As Uber grapples with controversies over its workplace culture, CEO Travis Kalanick is considering a bevy of measures to tackle another enormous business challenge: the accelerating exodus of Uber drivers.The company is leaning toward allowing in-app tipping by riders, a longtime item on drivers’ wish list, say people involved with the... As Uber grapples with controversies over its workplace culture, CEO Travis Kalanick is...

Elio Motors founder Paul Elio. Photo by Bloomberg.

Crowdfunded “Mini IPOs” on Rise, Even as Questions Persist

By Alfred Lee · Apr 19, 2017 7:00am PDT · 5 comments

Cable news watchers may have noticed a flurry of recent commercials offering the chance to invest in the IPO of tech company YayYo. John O’Hurley, an actor best known for playing J. Peterman on “Seinfeld,” urges viewers of programs on Fox News and MSNBC to buy shares in a public offering for the company, which offers a price... Cable news watchers may have noticed a flurry of recent commercials offering the chance to invest...

Box CEO Aaron Levie. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Box Founders Learned from Tough IPO

By Eugene Kim · Apr 18, 2017 10:02am PDT · 3 comments

Box CEO Aaron Levie. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Box Founders Learned from Tough IPO

By Eugene Kim · Apr 18, 2017 10:02am PDT · 3 comments

When going public, an enterprise software company needs an explanation of their business so simple that it can be written down on a cocktail napkin. That’s one of the lessons Box’s co-founders Aaron Levie and Dylan Smith learned after the cloud file storage company went public in 2015. And it’s a good lesson for the current... When going public, an enterprise software company needs an explanation of their business so...

Source: Analysys

In China, Tencent’s WeChat Threatens Alibaba’s Alipay

By Juro Osawa and Mike Sullivan · Apr 18, 2017 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Move over Alipay. Here comes WeChat. In China’s massive mobile payment market, WeChat operator Tencent is nearly catching up with Alibaba’s affiliate Alipay, the market leader. By successfully turning the WeChat messaging app into an everyday payment tool, Tencent more than quadrupled its mobile payment market share to 37% in the... Move over Alipay. Here comes WeChat. In China’s massive mobile payment market, WeChat...

Why Snap May Want to Sell Soon

By Tom Dotan · Apr 17, 2017 12:12pm PDT · 7 comments

There’s no longer any doubt that Facebook is gunning for Snap, relentlessly copying many of its features. And while the evidence that Snap’s growth has been directly affected by Instagram is still anecdotal—even with internal studies—the threat to its current business model is real. Yet Snap CEO Evan Spiegel's mantra... There’s no longer any doubt that Facebook is gunning for Snap, relentlessly copying many of...

Regina Dugan. Photo by Flickr/PopTech

The Woman Trying to Make Facebook a Hardware Hit

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 17, 2017 7:01am PDT

Shortly before Regina Dugan quit as chief of Google’s hardware group a year ago, she was burned out. Years of shifting corporate priorities and blue-sky projects that didn’t work out weighed on her, people close to her said. She was thinking about leaving the tech industry to “become a barista,” she later wrote on... Shortly before Regina Dugan quit as chief of Google’s hardware group a year ago, she was...

Modest Conversations: Is Meditation The Next Yoga?

By Sam Lessin · Apr 16, 2017 5:21pm PDT · 2 comments

Modest Conversations

Modest Conversations: Is Meditation The Next Yoga?

By Sam Lessin · Apr 16, 2017 5:21pm PDT · 2 comments

Eric Antonow, the founder of Public Meditation, and formerly of Facebook and Google, joins to discuss why meditation is either the next Yoga or toothbrush — or both. Eric Antonow, the founder of Public Meditation, and formerly of Facebook and Google, joins to...