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

Marc Benioff. Photo by Bloomberg.

Salesforce’s Enterprise Cloud Challenge

By Steve Nellis · Feb 29, 2016 10:02am PST · 1 comment

The coming departure of Salesforce.com’s platform chief Tod Nielsen highlights a stark problem for the company. After years of effort, it’s been unable to unify its two platforms for developers building apps in the cloud, Force.com and Heroku. And that is leaving it vulnerable to growing competition from Microsoft, Google and... The coming departure of Salesforce.com’s platform chief Tod Nielsen highlights a stark...

Source: The Information Research. Chart by Peter Schulz.

Comparing Common Stock Valuations in Private Tech

By Alfred Lee · Feb 29, 2016 7:02am PST · 3 comments

Disclosures with California state regulators by several private tech firms have opened a window on one of tech’s best kept secrets: the precise 409A valuation put on their common stock and how close that number is to the value of preferred shares issued in fundraisings.A review by The Information of private tech filings shows a wide... Disclosures with California state regulators by several private tech firms have opened a window...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Feb 27, 2016 8:02am PST

Good Morning! We’re looking forward to our New York subscriber summit, set for April 5, which we announced this week. Good Morning! We’re looking forward to our New York subscriber summit, set for April...

Palantir CEO Alexander Karp. Photo by Bloomberg.

Morgan Stanley Marks Down Palantir Shares 32%

By Alfred Lee · Feb 26, 2016 3:26pm PST

Palantir CEO Alexander Karp. Photo by Bloomberg.

Morgan Stanley Marks Down Palantir Shares 32%

By Alfred Lee · Feb 26, 2016 3:26pm PST

A mutual fund managed by Morgan Stanley has marked down shares of Palantir by 32%, according to a Friday securities filing, well below the per-share valuation of the company’s recent fundraising.The Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust Mid Cap Growth Portfolio dropped the reported value of its Palantir stake to $7.70 per share as of... A mutual fund managed by Morgan Stanley has marked down shares of Palantir by 32%, according to a...

The Information's 411

The Information’s 411 — That’s The Vibe

By Tom Dotan · Feb 26, 2016 1:59pm PST

Stephen Nellis spent the early part of the week up in Seattle, checking out, among other things, Amazon’s first retail store. In Friday’s podcast, he described the experience as like walking into a high-end retail chain of the future, with requisite Amazon touches like recommendations and a laser focus on gathering data.Then Stephen... Stephen Nellis spent the early part of the week up in Seattle, checking out, among other things,...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Hertz Investing in Luxe

By Amir Efrati · Feb 26, 2016 11:20am PST · 2 comments

Luxe, an on-demand parking startup, is raising tens of millions of dollars at a more than $100 million pre-money valuation. The Series B round is expected to be led by a strategic investor, Hertz, one of the country's top car-rental companies whose parent firm is worth $3.8 billion in the public market, according to people familiar with the... Luxe, an on-demand parking startup, is raising tens of millions of dollars at a more than $100...

Source: The Information Subscriber Survey

Subscriber Survey

Spending Pullback Hits Hiring

By Peter Schulz and Martin Peers · Feb 26, 2016 10:01am PST

A slowdown in tech company spending is well and truly underway, judging by the results of our latest subscriber survey.Half of the respondents to The Information’s subscriber survey say their company has pulled back on spending since the end of last year, with only a small minority seeing any improvement in sight. A slowdown in tech company spending is well and truly underway, judging by the results of our...

The Next Era in Personalization

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 26, 2016 7:01am PST · 3 comments

The Next Era in Personalization

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 26, 2016 7:01am PST · 3 comments

Last week, I wrote about the evolution of content aggregation and the shift from streams to channels. This week, I have been thinking about the evolution of personalization, where big shifts are happening too. Over the last decade or so, the companies that have won in media—and across the Internet—have mastered personalization by... Last week, I wrote about the evolution of content aggregation and the shift from streams to...

Amazon's book store in Seattle. Photo by Steve Nellis.

Reporter's Notebook

What I Learned Visiting Amazon’s Store

By Steve Nellis · Feb 25, 2016 10:02am PST · 12 comments

I recently braved the rain in Seattle to visit Amazon’s first physical retail store, Amazon Books. At first blush, it didn’t seem all that different from the Borders or Barnes & Noble stores that Amazon maimed: It’s a mid-sized corporate bookstore in a generic outdoor shopping mall surrounded by national chains.But on... I recently braved the rain in Seattle to visit Amazon’s first physical retail store, Amazon...

Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox from Defy Media's Smosh series, which airs on go90. Photo by AP.

Verizon’s Digital Content Bubble

By Tom Dotan · Feb 25, 2016 7:00am PST

Not too long ago, business for dance-focused YouTube network DanceOn was so challenging that the company’s future was uncertain. Then along came Verizon, looking for programming for its go90 mobile video app.With a roughly $20 million multi-year deal—big money for a company that has only raised $4 million—Verizon has given... Not too long ago, business for dance-focused YouTube network DanceOn was so challenging that the...

Join Our New York Subscriber Summit

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 24, 2016 11:56am PST

Dear Subscribers, I am excited to announce that you can reserve your spot for our April 5 New York Subscriber Summit today. Our San Francisco Summit filled up in a few days, so please sign up now if you’d like to join us. Our Subscriber Summits are bi-annual meetings of around 200 The Information subscribers to discuss their biggest... Dear Subscribers, I am excited to announce that you can reserve your spot for our April 5 New...

Mark Zuckerberg at this week's Mobile World Congress. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside Zuckerberg’s New Plan to Woo Telecom CEOs

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 24, 2016 11:39am PST

Mark Zuckerberg at this week's Mobile World Congress. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside Zuckerberg’s New Plan to Woo Telecom CEOs

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 24, 2016 11:39am PST

BARCELONA—At a private dinner here Tuesday night, Mark Zuckerberg was frank with about ten CEOs from global phone companies sitting around the table: India’s ban of Facebook’s Free Basics mobile app was a big setback and a significant moment for a company not accustomed to regulatory blowback. Facebook’s CEO then turned... BARCELONA—At a private dinner here Tuesday night, Mark Zuckerberg was frank with about ten...

Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg.

The International Stakes in Apple’s FBI Fight

By Reed Albergotti · Feb 24, 2016 7:01am PST

Apple’s fight with the FBI over hacking into the San Bernardino killer’s iPhone could affect its ability to make a stand on similar episodes yet to come overseas, such as one brewing in the U.K., lawyers say.A draft of a law called the Investigatory Powers Bill, which sits before the British parliament, appears to be designed for the... Apple’s fight with the FBI over hacking into the San Bernardino killer’s iPhone could...

Source: SimilarWeb

Snapchat Makes International Gains

By Amir Efrati and Peter Schulz · Feb 23, 2016 10:01am PST · 4 comments

Snapchat has surpassed Twitter in terms of daily active users in a large panel of Android devices across six key developed markets, including the U.S., U.K., Germany and France, by a substantial margin, according to new data. The same is true in the emerging markets of Brazil and United Arab Emirates. The data represent an impressive... Snapchat has surpassed Twitter in terms of daily active users in a large panel of Android devices...

Scott Guthrie. Photo by Steve Nellis.

The Big Interview

The Secret of Microsoft’s Cloud Turnaround

By Steve Nellis · Feb 23, 2016 7:01am PST · 2 comments

When Scott Guthrie used to attend Windows developer conferences, he sometimes found it hard to move around. Clad in his signature red polo shirt, the Microsoft executive was often trailed by developers wanting a word. He’s even been followed into the bathroom by eager coders. In other words, his work on tools used by independent software... When Scott Guthrie used to attend Windows developer conferences, he sometimes found it hard to...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Facebook’s Ad Spending Soared Last Year

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 22, 2016 10:00am PST

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Facebook’s Ad Spending Soared Last Year

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 22, 2016 10:00am PST

Facebook’s push into the developing world has created strange bedfellows, as the word-of-mouth growth that the social network used in the United States isn’t enough to fuel its global ambitions. The social network has bought ads on Google and elsewhere for years. But the company more than doubled how much it spent advertising last... Facebook’s push into the developing world has created strange bedfellows, as the...

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

Startups Need to Fire More Customers

By Sam Lessin · Feb 22, 2016 7:02am PST · 6 comments

As belt-tightening has become a discussion theme in the Valley, teams are debating how to cut burn to survive through a perceived winter.Whether or not employees need to be cut, I believe that startups who want to build truly game-changing products would be best served by figuring out which customers they should be firing. As belt-tightening has become a discussion theme in the Valley, teams are debating how to cut...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Feb 20, 2016 8:02am PST

Good Morning! All eyes shift to Barcelona this week for Mobile World Congress, the most important wireless conference of the year. Expect lots of coverage about net neutrality, mobile advertising and snazzy new devices. Good Morning! All eyes shift to Barcelona this week for Mobile World Congress, the most important...

The Information's 411

The Information’s 411 — Multiples

By Tom Dotan · Feb 19, 2016 3:12pm PST

Ripples from the recent stock price collapse for subscription software companies has reached the private markets. If LinkedIn and Box are now going to be valued at much smaller multiples than before, what does that say about the pumped up valuations for private companies like DropBox? Steve came on the show to talk about what’s in store... Ripples from the recent stock price collapse for subscription software companies has reached the...

Mark Zuckerberg at last year's Mobile World Congress. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Zuckerberg Faces at Mobile Conference

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 19, 2016 10:58am PST

Mark Zuckerberg at last year's Mobile World Congress. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Zuckerberg Faces at Mobile Conference

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 19, 2016 10:58am PST

When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addresses Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress at its opening day on Monday, he’s likely to face a tough crowd. Just a few weeks ago India’s regulator rejected Facebook’s Free Basics app, a development foreshadowed by discussions at last year’s MWC. This year Mr. Zuckerberg will be... When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addresses Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress at its...