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

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Information’s Latest Free Agents

By The Information Staff · Sep 12, 2016 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

The latest installment of The Information’s Free Agents, which highlights prominent tech and media players who are in between jobs, shows the full range of reasons top executives leave a post.Some, like Disney's Chief Operating Officer Tom Staggs and SoftBank’s Nikesh Arora thought they were next in line for a bigger... The latest installment of The Information’s Free Agents, which highlights prominent tech...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Sep 10, 2016 8:01am PDT

Good Morning!There are no references to a headphone jack in this email. We, too, have courage. Good Morning!There are no references to a headphone jack in this email. We, too, have courage.

Uber's app open in Japan. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber Hires Tesla Mapping Leader

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 9, 2016 3:59pm PDT · 1 comment

The engineering manager who led digital mapping for Tesla Motors’ self-driving car system, Bill Chen, is moving to Uber.Mr. Chen, a former Apple Maps engineer, left Tesla last month after a two year stint, The Information previously reported. At Uber, he joins a sizable mapping team led by the former head of Google Maps, Brian McClendon.... The engineering manager who led digital mapping for Tesla Motors’ self-driving car system,...

The Information’s 411 — Transit of Last Resort

By Tom Dotan · Sep 9, 2016 1:56pm PDT

The Information’s 411 — Transit of Last Resort

By Tom Dotan · Sep 9, 2016 1:56pm PDT

Stephen and Tom talk about Ford's purchase of Chariot, push notifications on Amazon Echo and what the 2017 IPO market looks like. Stephen and Tom talk about Ford's purchase of Chariot, push notifications on Amazon Echo and...

News is Not a Venture-Backed Business

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 9, 2016 7:02am PDT · 22 comments

Another week, another news site raising venture capital. Make that two. Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei’s new business and politics venture raised a $10 million series A from Lerer Hippeau Ventures and NBC. Cheddar, a video news network, raised $10 million more from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ribbit Capital and Comcast. Recently, Josh... Another week, another news site raising venture capital. Make that two. Politico co-founder Jim...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Debt Hurdles Facing Elon Musk

By Alfred Lee · Sep 8, 2016 11:33am PDT

It’s no secret Elon Musk may have bitten off more than he can chew by proposing a merger of Tesla and SolarCity, two debt-laden and money-losing companies he partly owns. Just how much of a bite is now clearer.Projections for both companies disclosed in a securities filing last week suggest the combined firm will have to raise around $5... It’s no secret Elon Musk may have bitten off more than he can chew by proposing a merger of...

Amazon's senior vice president for devices, David Limp. Photo by AP.

Amazon Preps Push Notifications for Alexa

By Steve Nellis · Sep 8, 2016 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

Amazon.com is planning to give its Alexa voice-activated assistant the ability to speak up— unprompted—with alerts from apps and gadgets, possibly this fall. It’s a change that could make the service much more useful and a feature developers long have asked for.Right now, users have to start conversations with Alexa, which... Amazon.com is planning to give its Alexa voice-activated assistant the ability to speak up—...

Snapchat CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel, left, with co-founder and CTO Bobby Murphy. Photo by AP.

Snapchat Discussing IPO Filing with Bankers

By Jessica E. Lessin and Tom Dotan · Sep 7, 2016 10:52am PDT

Snapchat CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel, left, with co-founder and CTO Bobby Murphy. Photo by AP.

Snapchat Discussing IPO Filing with Bankers

By Jessica E. Lessin and Tom Dotan · Sep 7, 2016 10:52am PDT

Snapchat has been talking to investment bankers about filing for an IPO towards the end of this year or early in 2017, according to people the company has spoken to. That could put the company on track for a public offering next year, coming out ahead of other hotly anticipated private tech startups. Snapchat doesn't appear to have hired a... Snapchat has been talking to investment bankers about filing for an IPO towards the end of this...

Source: Airdna. Graphic by Peter Schulz.

Where Airbnb Gets to Play Full House

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 7, 2016 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

Airbnb has long attracted property owners seeking higher margins on short-term tourist rentals than long-term leases for city residents. But extreme cases are emerging in Airbnb’s latest hot spots for growth: Japanese cities.In June, around eight in 10 Airbnb listings in cities like Osaka and Tokyo were entire homes, up 6 percentage points... Airbnb has long attracted property owners seeking higher margins on short-term tourist rentals...

CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince. Photo by Bloomberg.

How Startups Use Their Voice In Washington

By Steve Nellis · Sep 6, 2016 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

When big tech firms like Google, Facebook, Amazon or Apple want to influence Washington, they’ve got myriad opportunities. Such companies spend millions a year on lobbying, while their executives can hold fundraisers for political candidates.For startups, without the resources of their bigger counterparts, the options are narrower. But... When big tech firms like Google, Facebook, Amazon or Apple want to influence Washington,...

Venture capitalist Davidi Gilo. Photo by J Street.

Investor Alleges Startup Faked Its Own Death

By Reed Albergotti · Sep 6, 2016 7:00am PDT · 4 comments

Venture capitalist Davidi Gilo had given up on the $6.5 million his firm invested in the enterprise software company BackFlip, which shut down in early 2011. But seven months later, he alleged in a lawsuit, he discovered that BackFlip’s software and customers had been subsumed by Cisco Systems, with the help of BackFlip’s co-founder,... Venture capitalist Davidi Gilo had given up on the $6.5 million his firm invested in the...

Art by Sam Lessin.

What Everyone Is Missing about Venture Returns

By Sam Lessin · Sep 5, 2016 7:02am PDT · 6 comments

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

What Everyone Is Missing about Venture Returns

By Sam Lessin · Sep 5, 2016 7:02am PDT · 6 comments

It was interesting to watch the back and forth last week between the Wall Street Journal and Andreessen Horowitz about venture fund performance. The entire exchange seemed to miss entirely the reality of how LPs and founders value venture funds and the actual process by which funds aggregate and deploy capital.The WSJ made the point that the... It was interesting to watch the back and forth last week between the Wall Street Journal and...

Photo of Gary Johnson by Bloomberg.

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Sep 3, 2016 8:00am PDT

Happy Labor Day Weekend!If you're reading this, you're probably not at Burning Man. Or you are, and you’re getting nasty looks for pulling out your iPhone. Happy Labor Day Weekend!If you're reading this, you're probably not at Burning Man. Or...

The Information’s 411 — Outrunning the Bear

By Tom Dotan · Sep 2, 2016 12:38pm PDT

Tom and Amir talk about Lyft's future, the Uber-Alphabet drama and Uber's org chart. And Tom explains why food videos took over BuzzFeed. Tom and Amir talk about Lyft's future, the Uber-Alphabet drama and Uber's org chart....

When Independent Directors Aren’t

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 2, 2016 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

Alphabet executive David Drummond this week announced he had stepped off the Uber board. As Amir wrote, Drummond hadn’t been attending Uber board meetings for some time. How Uber and Alphabet maneuvered Drummond’s absences isn’t clear. The courts are unforgiving about ensuring directors have equal rights to information. I... Alphabet executive David Drummond this week announced he had stepped off the Uber board. As Amir...

Source: The Information Subscriber Survey

Presidential Choices: Clinton, Johnson, Trump

By Martin Peers and Peter Schulz · Sep 1, 2016 10:02am PDT · 4 comments

Source: The Information Subscriber Survey

Subscriber Survey

Presidential Choices: Clinton, Johnson, Trump

By Martin Peers and Peter Schulz · Sep 1, 2016 10:02am PDT · 4 comments

It’s no surprise Hillary Clinton has the support of the overwhelming majority of subscribers to The Information, judging by our latest subscriber survey. What may be more interesting is that among our community, heavily weighted toward people in the technology industry, Donald Trump drew less than half the support of Libertarian candidate... It’s no surprise Hillary Clinton has the support of the overwhelming majority of...

AWS CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by AP.

AWS’ Latest Proposal to Woo Major Banks

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 1, 2016 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Amazon Web Services has come up with a new strategy to lure banks to use its cloud computing service. AWS has discussed with financial institutions the idea of hosting their data on isolated “safe zones” across AWS’ data centers that would be walled off from other customers and the public internet, according to two people close... Amazon Web Services has come up with a new strategy to lure banks to use its cloud computing...

Source: Boomerang Commerce

When Amazon is Pricier Than Walmart

By Steve Nellis and Peter Schulz · Aug 31, 2016 10:02am PDT · 2 comments

If there’s one category where Amazon.com hasn’t been able to undercut Walmart and Target, it’s groceries. When it comes to staples like breakfast items and beverages, Amazon is significantly more expensive than those rivals for the same goods—at least for now. On average, top-selling items from Walmart in those two... If there’s one category where Amazon.com hasn’t been able to undercut Walmart and...

Stephan Vermut, a Prosper director and a former executive chairman of the company. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Falling Price of Prosper

By Alfred Lee · Aug 31, 2016 7:02am PDT · 4 comments

Few tech sectors have fallen from grace as dramatically in the last year as online lending, as an exodus of investors has weakened supply of funding for loans. Take Prosper Marketplace, which raised money at a $1.9 billion valuation in April last year. Based on lower public market valuations and Prosper’s recent sharp revenue declines, the... Few tech sectors have fallen from grace as dramatically in the last year as online lending, as an...

BuzzFeed's Entertainment Group president Ze Frank. Photo by Flickr/Jason Hargrove.

How Tasty Took Over BuzzFeed

By Tom Dotan · Aug 30, 2016 1:08pm PDT · 3 comments

BuzzFeed's Entertainment Group president Ze Frank. Photo by Flickr/Jason Hargrove.

How Tasty Took Over BuzzFeed

By Tom Dotan · Aug 30, 2016 1:08pm PDT · 3 comments

In a little over a year, BuzzFeed has turned its cooking channel Tasty into the juggernaut of its Facebook video strategy. The success of Tasty’s recipe videos has buoyed the category of online food networks, while spawning a slew of look-alikes such as Cooking Panda and Get In My Belly. The Tasty videos, which show just a person’s... In a little over a year, BuzzFeed has turned its cooking channel Tasty into the juggernaut of its...