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

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Jun 25, 2016 8:01am PDT

Happy Saturday!What a week! First the Warriors lose the NBA finals and then the EU loses Britain. The Warriors at least have next year to try again. Here’s our stories of the week. Happy Saturday!What a week! First the Warriors lose the NBA finals and then the EU loses Britain....

Our Top Comments of the Week

By The Information Staff · Jun 24, 2016 1:08pm PDT

Here are this week’s top comments as selected by our reporters and editors. Here are this week’s top comments as selected by our reporters and editors.

The Information’s 411 — Nerd Jesus

By Steve Nellis · Jun 24, 2016 12:23pm PDT

In this week’s podcast, Reed unpacks the proposal by Elon “Nerd Jesus” Musk to combine Tesla Motors and SolarCity. Cory explains why Facebook’s Live Video platform is being dominated by celebrities rather than news outlets and how the social networking company avoids the spotlight in Washington, D.C. In this week’s podcast, Reed unpacks the proposal by Elon “Nerd Jesus” Musk to...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Elon Musk and When Vision Isn’t Enough

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jun 24, 2016 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Elon Musk and When Vision Isn’t Enough

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jun 24, 2016 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

When Elon Musk proposed Tesla rescue the flailing SolarCity, I was hardly surprised. He’s floated the idea to friends for years. What surprised me was that Tesla shareholders, stock analysts and industry experts don’t seem to be buying the proposal. Is Musk’s uncanny ability to charm the tech industry and Wall Street wearing... When Elon Musk proposed Tesla rescue the flailing SolarCity, I was hardly surprised. He’s...

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg at the American Enterprise Institute on Wednesday. Photo by AP.

Facebook’s Washington Defense

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 23, 2016 11:13am PDT

There wasn’t much tension when Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, courted Republican lawmakers and influencers Wednesday with pit stops at the Capitol and the right-leaning think tank American Enterprise Institute.Even in the aftermath of the Trending Topics controversy—dubbed... There wasn’t much tension when Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer,...

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Chairman of SolarCity. Photo by Bloomberg.

Musk’s Double or Nothing Bet on Off-The-Grid Dream

By Reed Albergotti, Martin Peers and Steve Nellis · Jun 23, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

In his willingness to borrow heavily to turn his dreams into reality, Elon Musk has shown himself to be a gambler like no other Silicon Valley entrepreneur. But his proposed combination of Tesla Motors and SolarCity appears to be a double or nothing bet.Partly, that’s because it combines two companies that are burning through cash—a... In his willingness to borrow heavily to turn his dreams into reality, Elon Musk has shown himself...

Huawei's Vice President of Design, Abigail Brody, during the filming of a documentary about the company. Photo by Florian Brody.

How a Former Apple Designer is Updating Huawei’s Look

By Amir Efrati · Jun 22, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

It’s an interesting turn of events: a Chinese company that wants to be like Apple hires a former Apple designer to make its smartphone software look less like Apple’s. Last fall, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei brought in a former longtime Apple designer, Abigail Brody, to change the look of its smartphone software... It’s an interesting turn of events: a Chinese company that wants to be like Apple hires a...

Himagiri Mukkamala, GE's Head of Engineering for Predix. Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Why General Electric Won Talent From Apple

By Steve Nellis · Jun 21, 2016 10:32am PDT · 5 comments

Himagiri Mukkamala, GE's Head of Engineering for Predix. Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Big Interview

Why General Electric Won Talent From Apple

By Steve Nellis · Jun 21, 2016 10:32am PDT · 5 comments

General Electric made a splash in the tech world when it poached two top engineers working on voice assistant Siri, Darren Haas and Steve D'Aurora. The two are charged with building out the cloud computing infrastructure for GE’s software platform for industrial users called Predix.Their hiring reflects how GE is looking to become an... General Electric made a splash in the tech world when it poached two top engineers working on...

Source: Tubular Labs

Media Firms Lose Out to Celebrities on Facebook Live

By Cory Weinberg and Peter Schulz · Jun 21, 2016 7:02am PDT · 2 comments

Celebrities are dominating viewership of live video streams on Facebook. But media companies still created most of the top-viewed videos on Facebook that weren’t posted live, new data show.The disparity suggests media companies still struggle to get viral live hits while users are rushing to check out what Jennifer Lopez, Vin Diesel and... Celebrities are dominating viewership of live video streams on Facebook. But media companies...

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

The Negative Side of Incubators

By Sam Lessin · Jun 20, 2016 7:01am PDT · 9 comments

We are awash in startup incubators. And while some like Y Combinator have strengthened the startup ecosystem, I fear the incubators’ increasingly standardized, demo day-focused financing model are harming entrepreneurs and young startups. The most common critique: Truly great ideas don’t come together in the 12 weeks these... We are awash in startup incubators. And while some like Y Combinator have strengthened the...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Jun 18, 2016 8:02am PDT

Good Morning!To the dads out there, enjoy Father’s Day tomorrow. To Warriors fans, try to relax. There’s more chance the team turns out to be the Facebook of high-flying sports teams than the Twitter.As for the news, M&A season is well and truly underway. There are predictions for more deals. But for now, here’s our recap... Good Morning!To the dads out there, enjoy Father’s Day tomorrow. To Warriors fans, try to...

The Information’s 411 — Stolen Thunder

By Steve Nellis · Jun 17, 2016 3:17pm PDT

The Information’s 411 — Stolen Thunder

By Steve Nellis · Jun 17, 2016 3:17pm PDT

Amir discusses Apple’s performance at its annual World Wide Developer Conference and Amazon’s ambitious plans for its Echo voice-activated speaker. Steve mulls why Microsoft might have a tough time adding LinkedIn to its professional network. And Cory discusses how long commute times to Facebook’s suburban Menlo Park campus may... Amir discusses Apple’s performance at its annual World Wide Developer Conference and...

Our Top Comments of the Week

By The Information Staff · Jun 17, 2016 10:58am PDT

Here are this week’s top comments as selected by our reporters and editors. Here are this week’s top comments as selected by our reporters and editors.

LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. Photo by Bloomberg.

LinkedIn’s Long Leash Poses Risk for Microsoft

By Steve Nellis · Jun 17, 2016 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

Steve here, filling in for Jessica this week. In the past few days, I’ve talked to a lot of people about Microsoft’s $26.2 billion deal to buy LinkedIn. One thing has become clear. Talk about the potential benefits of integrating LinkedIn’s huge set of data with Microsoft’s workplace software sounds promising. But the... Steve here, filling in for Jessica this week. In the past few days, I’ve talked to a lot of...

Facebook's Menlo Park campus. Photo by AP.

Uber’s Office Moves Pressure Facebook

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 16, 2016 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

One of the most consistently high-ranking requests Facebook employees make in an annual survey gauging their happiness is for an office in San Francisco, reducing the commute to Menlo Park for city residents, former employees said. Facebook executives have resisted, however, even as a growing number of tech companies competing for talent become... One of the most consistently high-ranking requests Facebook employees make in an annual survey...

David Limp, Amazon's Senior Vice President of Devices, showing off the Echo earlier this year. Photo by AP.

Amazon’s High Hopes for Echo Sales

By Amir Efrati · Jun 15, 2016 11:40am PDT · 3 comments

David Limp, Amazon's Senior Vice President of Devices, showing off the Echo earlier this year. Photo by AP.

Amazon’s High Hopes for Echo Sales

By Amir Efrati · Jun 15, 2016 11:40am PDT · 3 comments

Amazon is hoping to sell as many as 10 million of its voice-activated Echo devices next year, which would make it a roughly $1 billion hardware business, according to a person with direct knowledge of the projections.That would be an increase from the 3 million units Amazon hopes to sell this year—a number that was projected before the... Amazon is hoping to sell as many as 10 million of its voice-activated Echo devices next year,...

Guokr CEO Ji Xiaohua (also known as Ji Shisan). Photo by Guokr.

China’s New Twist on Q&A App: Paying Users

By Zara Zhang · Jun 15, 2016 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

It’s long been known that getting people in China to pay for information or entertainment is tough, whether it’s news, music or videos. But a new Chinese Q&A app, Fenda, has turned that belief on its head.Fenda, which literally translates into “minute-long answer,” attracted 6 million paying users in the first 20 days... It’s long been known that getting people in China to pay for information or entertainment...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Big Interview

Bustle’s Slower but Steady Growth Path

By Tom Dotan · Jun 14, 2016 10:02am PDT · 3 comments

In digital media these days, the most contrarian strategy is the simplest. Take female-focused Bustle, trying to keep costs and investments low, hoping to turn a profit. While everyone else is making video the centerpiece of their content as they chase TV ad dollars, Bustle has zeroed in on newspaper and magazine advertisers and is only dabbling... In digital media these days, the most contrarian strategy is the simplest. Take female-focused...

Source: SEC Filings

How Private Tech Buybacks Soak Up Cash

By Alfred Lee and Peter Schulz · Jun 14, 2016 7:00am PDT · 4 comments

In the three years before it went public, Coupons.com raised $202 million. But not all of that money went to building its business. About 35% of it was used to buy back shares from executives, early investors and other shareholders. Coupons isn’t unusual. Several other tech companies that filed to go public since 2013, including Twilio and... In the three years before it went public, Coupons.com raised $202 million. But not all of that...

Apple's Senior Vice President of software engineering, Craig Federighi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s Machines Can Learn Too

By Amir Efrati · Jun 13, 2016 6:04pm PDT · 2 comments

Apple's Senior Vice President of software engineering, Craig Federighi. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple’s Machines Can Learn Too

By Amir Efrati · Jun 13, 2016 6:04pm PDT · 2 comments

Amid the new features unveiled at Apple’s annual developer conference were some that demonstrated the company is making progress on artificial intelligence. It was an important rebuttal for critics of the company’s ability to compete in advanced software with the likes of Google, Facebook or Microsoft.One little-noticed but important... Amid the new features unveiled at Apple’s annual developer conference were some that...