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

Grail CEO Jeff Huber. Photo by O'Reilly Media Next:Economy Summit/ Doug Cody

The Big Interview

Grail is Silicon Valley’s New Biotech Test Case

By Fred Vogelstein · Dec 21, 2016 12:26pm PST · 3 comments

Until about a year ago, few outside of Silicon Valley had heard of Jeff Huber. Insiders knew him as the cerebral Midwesterner who as a top engineering executive helped build Google's advertising, apps and maps businesses. But all that changed in early February when he became CEO of a startup called Grail, a company developing a genetic... Until about a year ago, few outside of Silicon Valley had heard of Jeff Huber. Insiders knew him...

Source: Trulia

The Most (and Least) Affordable Tech Cities

By Cory Weinberg and Peter Schulz · Dec 21, 2016 7:02am PST · 4 comments

Seattle was one of the most affordable places for a tech worker to live in 2015, measured by housing costs as a portion of income, new census data show. The least affordable metro area is Los Angeles, where software engineers paid higher median rents than those in Seattle but earned 29% less.Despite the Bay Area’s costly housing,... Seattle was one of the most affordable places for a tech worker to live in 2015, measured by...

Alphabet CEO Larry Page. Photo by Bloomberg.

Employee Lawsuit Accuses Google of ‘Spying Program’

By Reed Albergotti · Dec 20, 2016 1:15pm PST · 5 comments

A Google product manager is suing the company over its internal confidentiality policies, saying they breach California labor laws. Among other things, the lawsuit alleges Google runs an internal “spying program” which relies on employees voluntarily reporting other employees who might have leaked information.The lawsuit alleges that... A Google product manager is suing the company over its internal confidentiality policies, saying...

Source: PitchBook

Fidelity Slows Private Tech Deals

By Alfred Lee · Dec 20, 2016 7:00am PST

Source: PitchBook

Fidelity Slows Private Tech Deals

By Alfred Lee · Dec 20, 2016 7:00am PST

Fidelity Investments made fewer private tech investments this year in part because it couldn’t agree with companies over the level of their valuations, according to Andy Boyd, Fidelity’s head of global equity capital markets. Fidelity had sought to invest at lower valuations that companies would not accept, Mr. Boyd told The... Fidelity Investments made fewer private tech investments this year in part because it...

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber’s Loss Decelerates, Reflecting China Exit

By Amir Efrati · Dec 19, 2016 12:55pm PST

Uber lost more than $800 million in the third quarter of this year, before interest, taxes and stock-based compensation, according to people familiar with its finances. But Uber’s departure from China in the middle of the quarter helped slow the growth rate of its losses to less than 25% year over year, down from 34% year over year in the... Uber lost more than $800 million in the third quarter of this year, before interest, taxes and...

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

Why Amazon Should Launch a Bank—But Won’t

By Sam Lessin · Dec 19, 2016 10:01am PST · 5 comments

Last month Cross River Bank, an FDIC-insured, deposit-taking bank of Bergen County, New Jersey, raised $28 million from Battery Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Ribbit. As was reported, VCs were interested in what looks like a boring bank because a division of Cross River is trying to build the next digital-only “future of consumer... Last month Cross River Bank, an FDIC-insured, deposit-taking bank of Bergen County, New Jersey,...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Information’s Person of 2017: Evan Spiegel

By The Information Staff · Dec 19, 2016 7:01am PST · 4 comments

Last year we awarded our person of 2016 to Jeff Bezos, a pick we believe has held up well upon reflection. Alexa agrees.For 2017, we’re moving from one of the longest-serving titans in tech to one of its youngest: Evan Spiegel. You may think this is an obvious choice given Snap’s highly anticipated IPO. That move will bring the... Last year we awarded our person of 2016 to Jeff Bezos, a pick we believe has held up well upon...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg.

Runner Up for Person of 2017: Satya Nadella

By Reed Albergotti · Dec 19, 2016 6:58am PST · 1 comment

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg.

Runner Up for Person of 2017: Satya Nadella

By Reed Albergotti · Dec 19, 2016 6:58am PST · 1 comment

For the first time in years, Microsoft is making headway in consumer technology, posing a competitive threat to Apple. For that reason, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is one of our runners up for The Information’s Person of 2017. (See here to read about The Information’s Person of 2017, Evan Spiegel, and here to read about the other... For the first time in years, Microsoft is making headway in consumer technology, posing a...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Runner Up for Person of 2017: Mark Zuckerberg

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 19, 2016 6:57am PST

It’s been a pretty tough year for Facebook. Fake news. Mismeasurement. A destroyed satellite and now a drone crash. But as the company approaches 2 billion monthly users, its influence over society has never been greater. And that’s why Mark Zuckerberg is one of our runners-up for The Information’s Person of 2017. (See here to... It’s been a pretty tough year for Facebook. Fake news. Mismeasurement. A destroyed...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Dec 17, 2016 8:01am PST

Happy Saturday!It’s been a productive few months for hackers. They allegedly helped elect Donald Trump as president and they may have torpedoed Verizon’s purchase of Yahoo. Perhaps now they can find a business model for Twitter. Happy Saturday!It’s been a productive few months for hackers. They allegedly helped elect...

The Information’s 411 — Naughty or Nice

By Tom Dotan · Dec 16, 2016 2:32pm PST

Jessica discusses the lack of diversity in tech. Amir explains why Google scaled back its self-driving cars ambitions. And Cory and Tom give their naughty and nice list for tech CEOs. Jessica discusses the lack of diversity in tech. Amir explains why Google scaled back its...

Silicon Valley’s Least Favorite Word

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 16, 2016 7:01am PST · 11 comments

Silicon Valley’s Least Favorite Word

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 16, 2016 7:01am PST · 11 comments

This week I was reminded of a topic that makes Silicon Valley cringe more than Donald Trump. Sadly, it is diversity. Our annual “Future List” showed that about 89% of investment decision-makers at the top 72 VC firms were male and 75% were white. The number of women rose by 17 to 62—in part because we added a few firms to the... This week I was reminded of a topic that makes Silicon Valley cringe more than Donald Trump....

An attendee at a convention trying out NextVR software on a Gear VR headset. Photo by Flickr/eVRydayVR.

Why Chinese Lifeblood for VR Could Slow

By Tom Dotan and Cory Weinberg · Dec 15, 2016 1:11pm PST

For startups in the virtual reality sector, Chinese media and tech companies have been one of their biggest sources of capital lately. But that reality may soon change.Disappointing sales of VR headsets in the U.S. and the possibility of new Chinese government restrictions on foreign investments may cause these Chinese investors to pull back... For startups in the virtual reality sector, Chinese media and tech companies have been one of...

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence

Why Tech Stocks Missed Out on the ‘Bounce’

By Cory Weinberg and Peter Schulz · Dec 15, 2016 7:02am PST

In Wednesday's meeting with tech leaders, President-Elect Donald Trump bragged that his election had given the stock market a “bounce.” It was the wrong audience for the remark.While the S&P 500 is up 6% since the election, tech stocks have generally not done as well. Some are up a little—Apple is up around 4% while... In Wednesday's meeting with tech leaders, President-Elect Donald Trump bragged that his...

Despite More Women, VCs Still Mostly White Men

By The Information Staff · Dec 14, 2016 6:40am PST · 6 comments

Ethnic and gender diversity among senior ranks of the top venture capital firms improved—barely—in the past 12 months. The VC industry remains overwhelmingly male and white.That’s according to the results of a study conducted by The Information and Social Capital, a VC firm, updating a report we published in October of last... Ethnic and gender diversity among senior ranks of the top venture capital firms...

Social Capital Founder & CEO Chamath Palihapitiya. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy and the Future of Silicon Valley

By Chamath Palihapitiya · Dec 14, 2016 6:38am PST · 10 comments

Social Capital Founder & CEO Chamath Palihapitiya. Photo by Bloomberg.

Subscriber Op-Ed

The Sunk Cost Fallacy and the Future of Silicon Valley

By Chamath Palihapitiya · Dec 14, 2016 6:38am PST · 10 comments

Last year, we released the inaugural Future List, a new way of thinking about the durability of the venture industry, along with an op-ed arguing that we need to change our behavioral biases to prioritize solving hard problems. Why? Because without solutions to hard problems, a growing disparity in economic and social opportunity will compound... Last year, we released the inaugural Future List, a new way of thinking about the durability of...

Waymo CEO John Krafcik. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google’s Car Diaspora

By Amir Efrati · Dec 13, 2016 9:53am PST · 2 comments

At least a dozen senior members of the Google autonomous car team have departed in the past year, most of them to Uber and to a self-driving car startup that’s right next door to Google’s campus in Mountain View. (Scroll down for the list.) The unit, which Alphabet said on Tuesday would become its own division called... At least a dozen senior members of the Google autonomous car team have departed in the past year,...

A Microsoft employee demonstrating the HoloLens at a developer conference in March. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Augmented Reality Is So Hard

By Reed Albergotti · Dec 13, 2016 7:01am PST · 8 comments

When I set out to dig into the augmented reality industry and one of its biggest players, Magic Leap, I didn’t realize how far the technology had come. I didn’t realize the extent of the challenges either. Head-worn, battery-powered computers can combine fake images with the real world. I’ve shot laser guns at flying robots... When I set out to dig into the augmented reality industry and one of its biggest players, Magic...

A Google self-driving car on the road in Mountain View, Calif. Photo by Amir Efrati.

Google Scaled Back Self-Driving Car Ambitions

By Amir Efrati · Dec 12, 2016 5:01pm PST · 1 comment

Alphabet has backed off plans to develop a revolutionary car without a steering wheel or pedals, at least for now, according to people close to the closely-watched project. Instead, the self-driving car pioneer has settled on a more practical effort to partner with automakers to make a vehicle that drives itself but has traditional features for... Alphabet has backed off plans to develop a revolutionary car without a steering wheel or pedals,...

DocuSign Chairman and CEO Keith Krach. Photo by Bloomberg.

Mutual Funds Sell Airbnb, DocuSign Shares

By Alfred Lee · Dec 12, 2016 12:12pm PST

DocuSign Chairman and CEO Keith Krach. Photo by Bloomberg.

Mutual Funds Sell Airbnb, DocuSign Shares

By Alfred Lee · Dec 12, 2016 12:12pm PST

Mutual funds sold shares in Airbnb, DocuSign and Palantir over the past nine months, at prices below the companies’ most recent valuations, securities filings show. The sales may be a sign that the funds are cooling on some investments after rushing into the sector in previous years.It also challenges the idea that mutual funds buying into... Mutual funds sold shares in Airbnb, DocuSign and Palantir over the past nine months, at prices...