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

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Recent Editions

Photo by Associated Press.

Netflix Reverses Stock Option Policy in Hunt for Talent

By Martin Peers · Dec 8, 2014 7:01am PST

Question: Who in Silicon Valley would choose to work for a company that didn’t pay bonuses and only gave employees stock options if they were willing to forgo part of their salary in exchange? Apparently, not too many, if Netflix’s experience is anything to go by. That unusual stock-for-salary allocation approach has been a central... Question: Who in Silicon Valley would choose to work for a company that didn’t pay bonuses...

Journalism’s Dying Journalism Model

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 5, 2014 10:21am PST · 5 comments

Last year, I wrote about journalism’s business model being broken. This year, I’m concerned that journalism’s journalism model is also on life support. Some old issues persist. Sensationalism still prevails over substance, and far too much energy is wasted on commodity news or, worse, “news” straight from... Last year, I wrote about journalism’s business model being broken. This year,...

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. Photo by Associated Press.

Over the Top: Part Four

How Media Companies Let Netflix in the Henhouse

By Tom Dotan · Dec 5, 2014 7:00am PST

The term disruptor gets used liberally in regard to tech companies, but it’s hard to find a more apt descriptor to explain what Netflix has done to the entertainment industry. Its rise from a DVD-by-mail service to perhaps the entertainment industry’s most significant buyer of video content is lore in both media and tech. Like other... The term disruptor gets used liberally in regard to tech companies, but it’s hard to find a...

Photo by Bloomberg.

How Microsoft Lost Hollywood

By Tom Dotan · Dec 4, 2014 10:19am PST

Photo by Bloomberg.

Over the Top: Part Three

How Microsoft Lost Hollywood

By Tom Dotan · Dec 4, 2014 10:19am PST

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spent more than a year luring his friend Nancy Tellem to Microsoft to head up a new division that would deliver original television shows to Xbox users. Before she officially committed in September 2012, the one-time president of CBS wanted to be sure the software giant in Redmond, Wash. was serious about... Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spent more than a year luring his friend Nancy Tellem to...

Art: Matt Vascellaro

Q&A

There’s a Crisis Happening in the Russian Tech Industry

By Amir Efrati · Dec 4, 2014 7:00am PST

It’s been a brutal year for Russia, and next year may be worse for its citizens and the business community amid an economic recession and continued friction between its government and the West. There have also been a variety of shockwaves sent through the Russian tech industry, which doesn't get much attention in the West despite being... It’s been a brutal year for Russia, and next year may be worse for its citizens and the...

Employees of Shape Security. Credit: Shape Security via Flickr

For Cybersecurity Startups Raising Cash, Customers Not Required

By Amir Efrati · Dec 3, 2014 10:15am PST

Cybersecurity startups are reaping tens of millions of dollars in funding despite a lack of big customer contracts, raising the likelihood of a shakeout in the years to come. The valuations being placed on some of the most high-profile startups in the sector—often higher than $200 or $300 million—might not seem eye-popping in an era... Cybersecurity startups are reaping tens of millions of dollars in funding despite a lack of big...

Apple CEO Tim Cook with U2. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Tech Companies Should Pay Up for Music

By Martin Peers · Dec 3, 2014 7:01am PST

As Pink Floyd tells it in their 1975 song “Have a Cigar,” a hit record was a way for record companies to “ride the gravy train.” If Pink Floyd was to update the song, they’d have to put those words into the mouths of executives from Silicon Valley. Overlooked in all the debate about whether Spotify is correctly... As Pink Floyd tells it in their 1975 song “Have a Cigar,” a hit record was a way for...

Yahoo chief information security officer Alex Stamos, formerly of Artemis Internet.

Encryption Wave Poses Big Questions for Advertising

By Steve Nellis · Dec 2, 2014 10:30am PST

Yahoo chief information security officer Alex Stamos, formerly of Artemis Internet.

Encryption Wave Poses Big Questions for Advertising

By Steve Nellis · Dec 2, 2014 10:30am PST

In the year and a half since Edward Snowden disclosed mass surveillance programs at the National Security Agency, Silicon Valley firms have raced to prove that handing them data isn’t one small step removed from handing it over to the U.S. government. Anxious to rebuild trust with customers, Silicon Valley companies from Apple to Facebook... In the year and a half since Edward Snowden disclosed mass surveillance programs at the National...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Over The Top: Part Two

An Uneasy Union: When Disney Met Maker

By Tom Dotan · Dec 2, 2014 7:06am PST

When Disney CEO Bob Iger struck up a conversation with Maker Studios CEO Ynon Kreiz at Allen & Co.’s Sun Valley conference in 2013, it wasn’t obvious to him why Disney would need the money-losing startup that managed YouTube videos for online stars like Swedish video game fanatic Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg. But over... When Disney CEO Bob Iger struck up a conversation with Maker Studios CEO Ynon Kreiz at Allen...

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

As Technology Kills GDP, What’s Next?

By Sam Lessin · Dec 1, 2014 10:01am PST · 1 comment

Gross Domestic Product has long been criticized as a flawed measure of the strength of an economy. But as technology topples the core economic assumptions of our society, GDP is rapidly becoming a completely broken metric. So what should replace GDP as an easily expressed yardstick for our economy and society? How should we measure the economy... Gross Domestic Product has long been criticized as a flawed measure of the strength of an...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Over the Top: Part One

A Song of Carrier and Content

By Tom Dotan · Dec 1, 2014 7:01am PST · 2 comments

There’s a joke about the difference between tech and media that people in Hollywood have been telling in recent years. A group of entertainment and tech bigwigs are holed up in a cabin during a snowstorm. The power is out and the Hollywood types are huddled together around a crackling fire. They look over to the other side of the house to... There’s a joke about the difference between tech and media that people in Hollywood have...

What Companies Give Up Staying Private

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 28, 2014 8:57am PST · 3 comments

What Companies Give Up Staying Private

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 28, 2014 8:57am PST · 3 comments

This year has been full of evidence technology companies are in no rush to go public, the latest of which is the news that Uber is on track to raise around $1 billion at a valuation approaching $40 billion—more than 1.5 times the public market value of Twitter. I suspect that 2015 will bring more of the same and force the industry to... This year has been full of evidence technology companies are in no rush to go public, the latest...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Q&A

Why TV Companies Need To Become Tech Companies

By Martin Peers · Nov 26, 2014 10:15am PST

Three thousand miles separate Silicon Valley from the headquarters of the major TV companies. But it may as well be three million miles, such are the differences in history, business model and outlook between the tech companies behind YouTube and Netflix, on one hand, and TV networks on the other. One company that doesn't quite fit in... Three thousand miles separate Silicon Valley from the headquarters of the major TV companies. But...

Big Media’s Sports Rights Gamble

By Martin Peers · Nov 26, 2014 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Major entertainment companies have made some enormous bets on live sports as a guaranteed audience draw in coming years. Just how big? Around $50 billion for some of the biggest companies. That number—nearly six times what Netflix has committed to pay for content in coming years—is broadly how much ESPN’s majority owner Walt... Major entertainment companies have made some enormous bets on live sports as a guaranteed...

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at the company's Dreamforce in October. Photo by Bloomberg.

Salesforce’s Slowing Growth Spotlights Cost of M&A

By Steve Nellis · Nov 25, 2014 10:40am PST · 2 comments

Salesforce.com’s shares have been slipping since the company’s Nov. 19 forecast of a smaller-than-expected 21 percent revenue increase from $5.37 billion to $6.5 billion for the next full year. Many companies would be pleased with that rate of top-line growth, but for investors in the world’s biggest maker of cloud-based sales... Salesforce.com’s shares have been slipping since the company’s Nov. 19 forecast of a...

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, with colleagues earlier this year. Photo by Max Morse.

All Eyes on Apple as Google Search Deal Expires Next Year

By Amir Efrati · Nov 25, 2014 7:01am PST · 4 comments

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, with colleagues earlier this year. Photo by Max Morse.

All Eyes on Apple as Google Search Deal Expires Next Year

By Amir Efrati · Nov 25, 2014 7:01am PST · 4 comments

Mozilla’s decision last week to replace Google with Yahoo as the default search engine for the Firefox browser in the U.S. was a nice little score for Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. But among companies still wringing billions of dollars a year from search ads, all eyes are on the upcoming expiration of the only search distribution deal that... Mozilla’s decision last week to replace Google with Yahoo as the default search engine for...

Steve Jobs announcing iCloud in 2011. Photo by Bloomberg.

What’s Holding Back iCloud

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 24, 2014 10:39am PST · 2 comments

In June 2011, Steve Jobs took the stage before Apple developers to announce a project close to his heart. It was iCloud, a system for syncing files across Apple devices. Mr. Jobs was particularly excited about the potential to sync photos, one of the most widely used media types, say people who work at Apple. Yet today, the photo vision,... In June 2011, Steve Jobs took the stage before Apple developers to announce a project close to...

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

When Tech Companies Enter Zero-Sum Markets

By Sam Lessin · Nov 24, 2014 7:00am PST · 1 comment

We are accustomed to talking about technology companies as having infinite or near-infinite addressable markets. Productivity is almost by definition an infinite market; people have an uncapped appetite to do more with less. Communication is largely the same story; there is no clear end to how much people want to talk. Technology companies... We are accustomed to talking about technology companies as having infinite or near-infinite...

In Uber Saga, No Calls for ‘Adult Supervision’

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 21, 2014 10:04am PST

Travis Kalanick is having a bad week. Critics including late night comedian Seth Meyers and Sen. Al Franken have called him “thuggish,” “arrogant” and “tone deaf” for his handling of the revelation that Uber executive Emil Michael, at a private-ish dinner, proposed spying on journalists. But it is worth... Travis Kalanick is having a bad week. Critics including late night comedian Seth Meyers and Sen....

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in San Francisco this month. Photo by Associated Press.

How Comcast Could Compete with Google and Facebook

By Martin Peers · Nov 21, 2014 7:01am PST · 1 comment

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in San Francisco this month. Photo by Associated Press.

How Comcast Could Compete with Google and Facebook

By Martin Peers · Nov 21, 2014 7:01am PST · 1 comment

As big as Comcast will become if it is allowed to buy Time Warner Cable, it still won’t have the national scale that digital competitors like Facebook, Google and Netflix have—and that Comcast chief Brian Roberts has hinted he would like. But one way for Comcast to extend its reach further in the U.S., by licensing to other cable... As big as Comcast will become if it is allowed to buy Time Warner Cable, it still won’t...