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

Travis Kalanick. Photo by Boao Forum for Asia.

Zuckerberg and Kalanick in China: Two Approaches

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 25, 2016 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

This week, two Silicon Valley titans buttered up Beijing. Mark Zuckerberg and Travis Kalanick worked two Chinese conferences, rubbing elbows with business and political leaders in an effort to open doors here. I heard Kalanick speak at Boao Forum—a Davos-like confab of government leaders in Hainan, where I participated in two panels with... This week, two Silicon Valley titans buttered up Beijing. Mark Zuckerberg and Travis Kalanick...

Tony Fadell. Photo by Flickr/LeWeb. Art by Jeff Greco.

Inside Tony Fadell’s Struggle to Build Nest

By Reed Albergotti · Mar 24, 2016 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

At a November all-hands meeting for engineers at Nest’s Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters, co-founder Matt Rogers said he was “losing sleep” over an exodus of staffers—roughly 70 in about six to 12 months, out of its workforce of roughly 1,000.Tony Fadell, the company’s CEO, interrupted, pointing out that many of... At a November all-hands meeting for engineers at Nest’s Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters,...

Tony Fadell. Photo by AP.

Four Nest/Google Products Still Under Wraps

By Reed Albergotti · Mar 24, 2016 7:00am PDT

In the two years since Nest was acquired by Google, the company hasn’t released a new hardware product, besides an updated version of a camera it inherited with the Dropcam acquisition. Yet several products are in development, many of which revolve around a home security system. If released, these products could further shake up the home... In the two years since Nest was acquired by Google, the company hasn’t released a new...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside Apple’s Cloud Infrastructure Troubles

By Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · Mar 23, 2016 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside Apple’s Cloud Infrastructure Troubles

By Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · Mar 23, 2016 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

Apple’s move to tap Google to handle parts of its iCloud traffic is a sign that the Cupertino company has failed to build its own cloud infrastructure despite years of work, say people with knowledge of the situation. The company is still years away from being able to completely leave its existing cloud vendors, which also include Amazon... Apple’s move to tap Google to handle parts of its iCloud traffic is a sign that the...

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

Asked and Answered

Our Views on Smart Devices, Saas Startups and More

By The Information Staff · Mar 22, 2016 2:48pm PDT · 3 comments

We’ve received a lot of questions lately from subscribers about the state of the smart-device market and developments in subscription software companies, among other subjects. As we’ve done before, we’re publishing our responses to subscriber questions we think are of broad interest. Other subjects covered include condition of... We’ve received a lot of questions lately from subscribers about the state of the...

Casper co-founder Philip Krim. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.

Where Supervoting Rights Go to the Extreme

By Alfred Lee · Mar 22, 2016 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

New data on voting rights at private tech firms reveals that more companies than previously thought grant insiders extra-powerful supervoting shares carrying 30 to 100 times as many votes as ordinary stock. The more-common version of supervoting shares in private tech carry just ten times as many votes as other classes.The most extreme example... New data on voting rights at private tech firms reveals that more companies than previously...

Marc Benioff. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Salesforce Shook Up Product Marketing

By Steve Nellis · Mar 21, 2016 10:38am PDT

Salesforce has grown rapidly through a blizzard of nearly three dozen acquisitions, to create seven cloud businesses that offer everything from sales tracking to marketing campaigns and analytics. But Salesforce has yet to figure out how to package together these offerings to drive higher sales from individual customers. That clear’s from... Salesforce has grown rapidly through a blizzard of nearly three dozen acquisitions, to create...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Holdouts: The People in Media Who Get Tech

By Tom Dotan and Martin Peers · Mar 21, 2016 7:02am PDT · 9 comments

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Holdouts: The People in Media Who Get Tech

By Tom Dotan and Martin Peers · Mar 21, 2016 7:02am PDT · 9 comments

It’s never been easy for media companies to attract and retain the best digital talent, given the richer opportunities that beckon in Silicon Valley. It hasn’t helped that media companies have spent years debating whether to build digital products that could cause short-term harm to the traditional businesses. Indeed, while working... It’s never been easy for media companies to attract and retain the best digital talent,...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Mar 19, 2016 8:01am PDT

Good Morning! Take heart, spring is almost here. And we had a bumper crop of exclusives this week. Good Morning! Take heart, spring is almost here. And we had a bumper crop of exclusives this...

Marissa Mayer. Photo by Bloomberg

Yahoo, Facebook in Ad Partnership Talks Over Tumblr

By Amir Efrati · Mar 18, 2016 11:23am PDT · 2 comments

Yahoo is considering letting Facebook sell ads within the Tumblr mobile app, splitting the revenue with Yahoo, in hopes of getting more ad revenue from the microblogging network, say people at both companies. Yahoo has been looking for ways to improve Tumblr's ad performance. Right now, only around 10% to 15% of Tumblr’s available... Yahoo is considering letting Facebook sell ads within the Tumblr mobile app, splitting the...

The Information’s 411 — Moral Hazards

By Tom Dotan · Mar 18, 2016 10:13am PDT

Cory joined as co-host on this week's episode and talked about why people in San Francisco's city government are addicted to encrypted messaging app Telegram. Tom explained why Snapchat's unusual vesting schedule isn't exactly employee friendlyYou can find our RSS feed here or subscribe via iTunes and SoundCloud. Cory joined as co-host on this week's episode and talked about why people in San...

China: ‘A Country Full of Ubers’

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 18, 2016 7:01am PDT

China: ‘A Country Full of Ubers’

By Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 18, 2016 7:01am PDT

It’s not every day that you hear the line that Silicon Valley is too cautious. Yet the theme arose continuously this week as I met with a range of Chinese tech entrepreneurs and investors in Beijing. And it reveals much about the culture of Chinese technology companies, which still aren’t well understood in the West. Entrepreneur... It’s not every day that you hear the line that Silicon Valley is too cautious. Yet the...

Pete Cashmore. Photo by Bloomberg.

Time Warner Investing More in Mashable

By Tom Dotan · Mar 17, 2016 3:02pm PDT

Time Warner is pumping more money into Mashable, a millennial-focused tech and pop culture news site, according to two people familiar with the matter.The site has been on and off the market for several years and has been in acquisition discussions with Time Warner more than once, including late last year. Those discussions don't appear to... Time Warner is pumping more money into Mashable, a millennial-focused tech and pop culture news...

Evan Spiegel, left. Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Image.

Loyalty Pays Off for Snapchat Employees

By Tom Dotan · Mar 17, 2016 7:02am PDT · 5 comments

For Snapchat employees hoping to cash in on the startup’s $16 billion valuation, the company has offered them a firm message: don’t go anywhere.In a departure from the norm, Snapchat makes employees wait until the third and fourth year of employment for the bulk of their stock compensation to vest, say former employees and attorneys... For Snapchat employees hoping to cash in on the startup’s $16 billion valuation, the...

San Francisco City Hall. Photo by Flickr/Ken Lund.

How Telegram Offers Way Around Public Records Laws

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 16, 2016 3:20pm PDT · 1 comment

Here’s a new twist on governments’ tussles with technology companies over privacy: San Francisco legislators are using the ephemeral messaging app Telegram, which could allow them to sidestep public record disclosure laws.Several elected members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors are active users of the app, along with... Here’s a new twist on governments’ tussles with technology companies over privacy:...

A scene from "Clevver Now," a Defy Media show on go90. Photo by Defy Media.

Verizon’s Costly go90 Ad Spending Plans

By Amir Efrati and Tom Dotan · Mar 16, 2016 7:00am PDT

A scene from "Clevver Now," a Defy Media show on go90. Photo by Defy Media.

Verizon’s Costly go90 Ad Spending Plans

By Amir Efrati and Tom Dotan · Mar 16, 2016 7:00am PDT

Verizon Communications planned to spend nearly $30 million to drive two million downloads of go90, its “mobile TV network” app, in the months before and after its launch last fall, according to a confidential marketing plan reviewed by The Information. On a per download basis, the marketing cost would be many times the amount paid by... Verizon Communications planned to spend nearly $30 million to drive two million downloads of...

Sources: PitchBook, The Information Research

When an Up Round Isn’t

By Alfred Lee and Peter Schulz · Mar 15, 2016 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Getting headlines for a big increase in valuation is a sure way for private tech companies to lure investors and employees. But rising headline valuations don’t always mean that each share has risen in value–and some may not translate to investor gains at all.Take MongoDB, which early last year raised an $80 million round that was... Getting headlines for a big increase in valuation is a sure way for private tech companies to...

Photo by AP.

Modest Proposals

Why We Should Abolish Time Zones

By Sam Lessin · Mar 14, 2016 10:00am PDT · 14 comments

One of my favorite factoids about China is that the whole country operates in one time zone—just like the U.S. army. In most countries, before contacting someone, you have to think about what region they’re in and whether they’re on daylight savings. But in China it is simple. Everyone runs on the same clock.I strongly believe... One of my favorite factoids about China is that the whole country operates in one time...

WhatsApp founder Jan Koum. Photo by Bloomberg.

WhatsApp’s Other Encryption Dilemma

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 14, 2016 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

As WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption increasingly puts it on a collision course with governments around the world, the Facebook-owned company has its own internal encryption dilemma complicating its first effort to make serious money.The messaging app has made clear it hopes to sell businesses on using WhatsApp as a way to communicate with... As WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption increasingly puts it on a collision course with...

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Mar 12, 2016 8:00am PST

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Mar 12, 2016 8:00am PST

Good Morning!The presidential primaries are devouring news coverage but there’s still plenty going on in tech. Apple, for instance, is having an event on March 21. And we’re still breaking news. Check out this week’s stories. Good Morning!The presidential primaries are devouring news coverage but there’s still...