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

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Bloomberg.

Airbnb Tries to Grow by the Beach

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 14, 2016 10:01am PST · 4 comments

Vacasa, a Portland, Oregon-based startup, manages about 4,300 vacation homes around the world in ski towns like Beaver Creek, Colorado, and beachside villages around the Mediterranean Sea. And for the first time next year, the company plans to start listing some of its homes on Airbnb.It’s the sort of business Airbnb needs to win to... Vacasa, a Portland, Oregon-based startup, manages about 4,300 vacation homes around the world in...

Source: Portfolio reports

VC Returns Slid This Year

By Alfred Lee · Nov 14, 2016 7:01am PST · 1 comment

A slowdown in private tech valuations over the past year took a sizeable bite out of venture capital returns, a review of public records show. Many high-profile VC firms, including True Ventures, Union Square Ventures and Foundry Group, saw long-term returns of some funds shrink.Broadly speaking, the data confirms the findings of previously... A slowdown in private tech valuations over the past year took a sizeable bite out of venture...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Nov 12, 2016 8:01am PST

Good Morning!Of all the fake news circulating online in recent weeks, it seems the biggest whopper was that Hillary had the edge! Good Morning!Of all the fake news circulating online in recent weeks, it seems the biggest...

The Information’s 411 — A Cat and Mouse Game

By Reed Albergotti · Nov 11, 2016 11:22am PST

The Information’s 411 — A Cat and Mouse Game

By Reed Albergotti · Nov 11, 2016 11:22am PST

Reed and Amir discuss what a Trump presidency could mean for tech, from immigration to jobs to influence in Washington. Then Jessica argues why Facebook shouldn't step in to stop the spread of fake news articles. Reed and Amir discuss what a Trump presidency could mean for tech, from immigration to jobs to...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook and the Fake News Red Herring

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 11, 2016 7:00am PST · 16 comments

A solid percentage of the seemingly endless number of election post-mortems, at least from the half of America disappointed by the result, are reaching a similar conclusion. Blame Facebook. The social network, which has propagated a rash of outright fake or blatantly misleading news, is an easy target. And for reasons I will get to later, I... A solid percentage of the seemingly endless number of election post-mortems, at least from the...

AT&T Randall Stephenson and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes. Photo by Bloomberg.

What Holds AT&T Back in Battle with Netflix and Amazon

By Martin Peers · Nov 10, 2016 10:01am PST · 3 comments

If Donald Trump follows through on his promise to block AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner, the telecom firm will escape a potentially disastrous combination with a company whose TV business faces long term declines. But in the near term, AT&T will miss out on the profit boost Time Warner would have given it.And that has implications... If Donald Trump follows through on his promise to block AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner,...

Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal. Photo by Bloomberg.

Q&A

The Toughest Tech CEO Job in India

By Amir Efrati · Nov 10, 2016 7:01am PST

Binny Bansal carries the weight of India’s web sector on his shoulders. He’s the co-founder and CEO of Flipkart, the country’s most prominent homegrown web company, an e-commerce firm whose mistakes allowed Amazon.com to catch up to it in terms of sales. Flipkart, once valued at as much as $15 billion, has a symbolic... Binny Bansal carries the weight of India’s web sector on his shoulders. He’s the...

Andrew McAfee. Photo by Flickr/Gordon Haff.

Why Tech Must Get Ahead of Jobs Debate

By Tom Dotan · Nov 9, 2016 11:18am PST · 6 comments

Andrew McAfee. Photo by Flickr/Gordon Haff.

Q&A

Why Tech Must Get Ahead of Jobs Debate

By Tom Dotan · Nov 9, 2016 11:18am PST · 6 comments

The movement that catapulted Donald Trump into the presidency Tuesday was heavily rooted in concerns that immigration and trade was hurting the U.S. job market. But a future version of Mr. Trump will rail against robots rather than immigrants, according to Andrew McAfee, the co-director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy. He has... The movement that catapulted Donald Trump into the presidency Tuesday was heavily rooted in...

President-elect Trump arriving on stage during an election night party in New York on Tuesday night. Photo by Bloomberg.

Trump Victory Could Mean Tougher Times for Tech

By Cory Weinberg and Reed Albergotti · Nov 9, 2016 7:02am PST · 9 comments

Donald Trump’s stunning victory in Tuesday’s presidential election foreshadows a massive shakeup for the American economy with far-reaching ramifications for the tech sector. These include tighter restrictions on immigration, pressure to hire more American workers, tougher attitudes to mergers and a weaker stock market that could... Donald Trump’s stunning victory in Tuesday’s presidential election foreshadows a...

People waiting for Uber rides at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. Photo by Bloomberg.

Snap Poaches Uber Lawyer

By Amir Efrati · Nov 8, 2016 11:13am PST

Snap last month hired a top lawyer from Uber, one of three executives who quietly left Uber in the past few months.Katherine Tassi, who was an associate general counsel at Uber in charge of privacy issues, moved from San Francisco to Snap’s headquarters in Venice, Calif., to take on a similar role, reporting to general counsel Chris... Snap last month hired a top lawyer from Uber, one of three executives who quietly left Uber in...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Googler in the Trenches of the Ad-Blocking War

By Kevin McLaughlin · Nov 8, 2016 7:02am PST · 8 comments

Scott Spencer isn’t a recognizable name in the consumer tech industry, but he’s one of the executives most likely to shape the future of advertising across the web.The veteran Googler is dead center in the battle between publishers and website visitors over ad blocking. Millions of people are using ad-blocking software, a response to... Scott Spencer isn’t a recognizable name in the consumer tech industry, but he’s one...

Art by Sam Lessin.

The First Modern Election

By Sam Lessin · Nov 7, 2016 10:00am PST · 11 comments

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

The First Modern Election

By Sam Lessin · Nov 7, 2016 10:00am PST · 11 comments

We just witnessed the first fully modern campaign cycle. If you are versed in science fiction, it played out exactly as predicted. It wasn’t pretty.The public discussion about technology’s impact on the election has mostly centered on the direct-to-consumer populism of Donald Trump on social media, but this goes way beyond Twitter... We just witnessed the first fully modern campaign cycle. If you are versed in science fiction, it...

An UberEats delivering takeaway food at a launch event in Japan. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber’s Second Act Makes Progress, Creates New Dilemmas

By Amir Efrati · Nov 7, 2016 7:00am PST · 3 comments

Now that Uber has largely conquered the ride-sharing market in the U.S., CEO Travis Kalanick is accelerating his long-term plan to challenge Amazon.com in delivering goods to people’s homes. But he has to overcome a key problem: how to expand in delivery of food and other goods without undermining Uber’s core business.Those secondary... Now that Uber has largely conquered the ride-sharing market in the U.S., CEO Travis Kalanick is...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Nov 5, 2016 8:00am PDT

Happy Saturday!Turns out Halloween isn’t the scariest day of the year. This year, it's Election Day. Happy Saturday!Turns out Halloween isn’t the scariest day of the year. This year, it's...

The Information’s 411 — VR is the Killer App

By Tom Dotan · Nov 4, 2016 2:39pm PDT

Reed and Tom talk about the community of indie VR developers and dive into Snap's internal org chart. Also we play a clip from our subscriber conference call about the most likely tech acquirers. Reed and Tom talk about the community of indie VR developers and dive into Snap's internal...

Facebook's VP of messaging products, David Marcus. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Preps Larger Rollout for Messenger Games

By Tom Dotan · Nov 4, 2016 1:54pm PDT · 2 comments

Facebook's VP of messaging products, David Marcus. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Preps Larger Rollout for Messenger Games

By Tom Dotan · Nov 4, 2016 1:54pm PDT · 2 comments

Facebook is preparing to launch a new way to play games on Messenger called “Instant Games,” according to two people briefed on the product. It could roll out as soon as this month, one of these people said.Earlier this year Facebook quietly launched a few games—basketball, soccer and chess games—as experiments. The... Facebook is preparing to launch a new way to play games on Messenger called “Instant...

Snap's co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy. Photo by AP.

Snap’s Founders to Maintain Voting Control after IPO

By Alfred Lee and Tom Dotan · Nov 4, 2016 12:39pm PDT · 1 comment

Snap Inc. has authorized a new class of shares that ensures founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy will retain control after the company goes public, according to a restated company charter filed in Delaware on Monday.The new class of shares ensures the founders would keep the supervoting rights they already have—a common move for a... Snap Inc. has authorized a new class of shares that ensures founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby...

Hillary’s Other Emails

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 4, 2016 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with Hillary Clinton’s email. Not the 33,000 emails she deleted from a private server nor the ones that may or may not have left a trace on Anthony Weiner’s computer. I’m talking about the steady drip—OK, sometimes a flood—of campaign emails that have been arriving in my... I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with Hillary Clinton’s email. Not the 33,000...

Tencent Chief eXploration Officer David Wallerstein. Photo by Tencent.

The Most Powerful American at Tencent Targets Silicon Valley

By Yunan Zhang · Nov 3, 2016 11:03am PDT · 1 comment

Behind the doors of a converted church in Palo Alto lies the unlikely lair of one of the most influential Chinese tech investors in America. David Wallerstein, an avid rock guitarist in his spare time, leads the overseas investment team for Tencent, Asia’s most valuable company, in its quest for emerging technology.His job is to bridge the... Behind the doors of a converted church in Palo Alto lies the unlikely lair of one of the most...

Disney CEO Bob Iger. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Information’s Most Likely Tech Acquirers

By The Information Staff · Nov 3, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Disney CEO Bob Iger. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Information’s Most Likely Tech Acquirers

By The Information Staff · Nov 3, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Another day, another M&A deal. In fact, most of the top deals this year have been announced in the last few weeks and more are to come. To help you cut through the rumor mill—and anticipate what’s going to happen next—we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 companies most likely to make a big tech acquisition in the next... Another day, another M&A deal. In fact, most of the top deals this year have been announced...