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

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...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Apr 15, 2017 8:02am PDT

Happy Easter!United Airlines has trumped Uber for corporate brand immolation this week. Who said all great innovation comes from the tech industry? Happy Easter!United Airlines has trumped Uber for corporate brand immolation this week. Who said...

The Information’s 411 — Facebook’s Teen Teams

By Tom Dotan · Apr 14, 2017 2:10pm PDT

Reed talks about the lax sexual harassment rules covering VC relationships with entrepreneurs. Cory and Tom discuss the Facebook and Snapchat feature wars. Reed talks about the lax sexual harassment rules covering VC relationships with entrepreneurs....

T. Rowe Price fund manager Paul Greene. Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Q&A

T. Rowe Declares Confidence in Snap’s Prospects

By Alfred Lee · Apr 14, 2017 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

A key money manager at one of the biggest mutual fund investors in tech says Wall Street is getting it wrong on Snap.In an interview, Paul Greene, the manager of T. Rowe Price’s $4.2 billion Media and Telecommunications Fund, downplayed widespread investor concerns about Snap, such as its ability to withstand competition from Facebook or... A key money manager at one of the biggest mutual fund investors in tech says Wall Street is...

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon Embracing Profits Even as Investment Grows

By Eugene Kim · Apr 13, 2017 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon Embracing Profits Even as Investment Grows

By Eugene Kim · Apr 13, 2017 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

The big question hanging over Amazon lately is whether it will continue to post decent profits or invest them in a series of new ventures. The answer, CEO Jeff Bezos and other senior managers indicated to investors recently, is that profits will remain important.In a previously unreported meeting held with a group of investors earlier this year,... The big question hanging over Amazon lately is whether it will continue to post decent profits or...

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber’s Top Secret “Hell” Program Exploited Lyft’s Vulnerability

By Amir Efrati · Apr 12, 2017 6:54pm PDT · 9 comments

As the ride-sharing market was exploding in the U.S. between 2014 and the early part 2016, Uber had an advantage over Lyft that helped Uber maintain its lead, The Information has learned. Thanks to a secret software-based effort within Uber called “Hell,” Uber could track how many Lyft drivers were available for new rides and where... As the ride-sharing market was exploding in the U.S. between 2014 and the early part 2016, Uber...

Douglas Feagin, Ant's senior vice president. Photo by Bloomberg.

Ant Financial Defends MoneyGram Deal

By Juro Osawa · Apr 12, 2017 3:06pm PDT

Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial Services Group defended its proposed takeover of money-transfer firm MoneyGram, saying none of the firm’s customer information would leave the U.S.Ant Financial was responding to comments from the CEO of a rival bidder for MoneyGram, Kansas-based Euronet, suggesting the deal posed national... Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial Services Group defended its proposed takeover...

Source: Paysa

Competitors Like to Poach Microsoft’s AI Talent

By Reed Albergotti and Mike Sullivan · Apr 12, 2017 12:20pm PDT

Every company in the tech industry is searching for talented employees with artificial intelligence experience. They might want to look at Microsoft. According to new data, Microsoft is the biggest source of “AI” talent for competitors Google, Amazon and Facebook. Over the past six years, those three companies have poached Microsoft... Every company in the tech industry is searching for talented employees with artificial...

Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. Photo by Bloomberg.

Sexual Harassment Laws Leave Gap for VCs, Founders

By Reed Albergotti · Apr 12, 2017 7:01am PDT

Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. Photo by Bloomberg.

Sexual Harassment Laws Leave Gap for VCs, Founders

By Reed Albergotti · Apr 12, 2017 7:01am PDT

A blind spot in sexual harassment law could leave venture capital firms exposed. The same laws that protect employees from sexual harassment are murky when it comes to startup founders trying to raise money in the Valley, since founders are not employees. Most venture capital firms say their internal policies don’t specifically address the... A blind spot in sexual harassment law could leave venture capital firms exposed. The same laws...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Inside the War Between Facebook and Snap

By Cory Weinberg and Tom Dotan · Apr 11, 2017 7:00am PDT · 11 comments

The rivalry between Facebook and Snap reached a very public boiling point in recent weeks as Facebook ramped up its blitz to mimic Snapchat’s app. It’s even gotten a little nasty. There have been public shots like saucy anti-Facebook rants from Evan Spiegel’s fiancée, model Miranda Kerr, and jabs at Instagram by... The rivalry between Facebook and Snap reached a very public boiling point in recent weeks as...

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

The Second Coming of IT

By Sam Lessin · Apr 10, 2017 10:01am PDT · 5 comments

For a generation before we thought of “technology companies” as Google and Facebook, there was a long era of IT, or “information technology.” During this era, technology was an unglamorous industry that made businesses more effective. Consumers didn’t touch it.I believe that machine learning and AI are bringing us... For a generation before we thought of “technology companies” as Google and Facebook,...

Frank Calderoni, CEO of Anaplan. Photo by Bloomberg.

Help Wanted: Private Tech CFO

By Alfred Lee · Apr 10, 2017 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Now that the markets are looking friendlier, private tech companies are flocking to hire CFOs who could help take them public. But they’re running into a problem—a shortage of qualified candidates.The list of companies considered potential IPO candidates that don’t have CFO hires is long, and includes Tanium, Qualtrics,... Now that the markets are looking friendlier, private tech companies are flocking to hire CFOs who...

Modest Conversations: New York Tech & Social Media Fame

By Sam Lessin · Apr 9, 2017 3:38pm PDT · 1 comment

Modest Conversations

Modest Conversations: New York Tech & Social Media Fame

By Sam Lessin · Apr 9, 2017 3:38pm PDT · 1 comment

Greg Galant, the founder of Muck Rack and The Shorty Awards joins for a conversation about the New York tech community and the evolution of social media fame. Greg Galant, the founder of Muck Rack and The Shorty Awards joins for a conversation about the...