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

What Apple’s Investment in Didi Means

By Jessica E. Lessin and Amir Efrati · May 12, 2016 11:33pm PDT · 1 comment

Jessica and Amir here, with breaking reporting about Apple’s surprising $1 billion investment in China’s Didi Chuxing.Thursday night, Apple—which has only invested big sums in a tiny handful of companies in its entire history—announced the investment in China’s dominant ride-sharing company and the thorn in... Jessica and Amir here, with breaking reporting about Apple’s surprising $1 billion...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Airbnb, Palantir Markdowns Split Mutual Funds

By Alfred Lee · May 12, 2016 12:14pm PDT · 1 comment

Recent markdowns of Airbnb and Palantir by Morgan Stanley funds have resulted in what may be the most extreme disparities yet between mutual fund valuations of private tech companies. They appear to reflect wide variations in revenue multiples used to calculate valuations, filings show. The gaps highlight a continuing debate among companies,... Recent markdowns of Airbnb and Palantir by Morgan Stanley funds have resulted in what may be the...

Viv co-founder Dag Kittlaus. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.

The Privacy Questions Facing AI’s Personal Assistants

By Cory Weinberg · May 12, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

When Viv co-founder Dag Kittlaus unveiled his startup’s new personal assistant earlier this week, he showed off how easy it was to send his mother flowers, order a ride and book a hotel room through voice commands. “Have you ever seen a hotel booking that was that simple before?” he asked.It was simple not only because... When Viv co-founder Dag Kittlaus unveiled his startup’s new personal assistant earlier this...

Eddy Cue showing off Siri in 2013. Photo by AP.

Early Siri Engineer Departs Apple for GE

By Amir Efrati · May 11, 2016 11:23am PDT

Eddy Cue showing off Siri in 2013. Photo by AP.

Early Siri Engineer Departs Apple for GE

By Amir Efrati · May 11, 2016 11:23am PDT

One of the last members of the original Siri team has left Apple for General Electric, said two people with knowledge of the move.Darren Haas, 41 years old, quit a few weeks after another former Siri team member, Steve D’Aurora, decamped for GE.Political infighting has engulfed Apple’s engineering ranks after the company decided to... One of the last members of the original Siri team has left Apple for General Electric, said two...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Private Tech CFOs to Watch

By Alfred Lee · May 11, 2016 7:01am PDT

No two private tech CFOs are alike, and understanding what a CFO in Silicon Valley actually does can require some work. Yet the role of chief financial officer remains deeply important as companies like Uber, Airbnb, Xiaomi and WeWork operate in new territory as private tech companies that have raised tens of billions of dollars. No two private tech CFOs are alike, and understanding what a CFO in Silicon Valley actually does...

Sources: PrivCo; The Information research

How Private Tech Really Stacks Up

By Peter Schulz and Martin Peers · May 10, 2016 12:04pm PDT · 1 comment

Despite all the attention given to private tech firms with multibillion-dollar valuations, these so-called “unicorns” are more like ponies compared to the country's largest private companies.Take Cargill, the agricultural behemoth, which reported revenue of $120 billion in 2015 and is one of the biggest private U.S. companies,... Despite all the attention given to private tech firms with multibillion-dollar valuations, these...

Snapchat's VP of content, Nick Bell. Photo by Getty Images.

The Cost of Joining Snapchat’s Discover

By Tom Dotan · May 10, 2016 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

For media companies trying to gain or maintain a spot on Snapchat’s digital magazine section, Discover, the company has made one thing clear: Access doesn’t come cheap.For example, Snapchat requires some firms with channels on Discover, such as Vox Media and Tastemade, to pay Snapchat a guaranteed minimum amount of money over a... For media companies trying to gain or maintain a spot on Snapchat’s digital magazine...

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Photo by Bloomberg.

In Shift, Uber Seeks Bids for Cloud Business

By Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · May 9, 2016 1:26pm PDT

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Photo by Bloomberg.

In Shift, Uber Seeks Bids for Cloud Business

By Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · May 9, 2016 1:26pm PDT

There’s a new hot contract up for grabs in the cloud market: Uber.The ride-hailing company is taking bids from “public” cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft to handle a small but important slice of its infrastructure, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. Uber is already testing some... There’s a new hot contract up for grabs in the cloud market: Uber.The ride-hailing company...

Art by Sam Lessin

Modest Proposals

Why the Home Wars Aren’t the Phone Wars

By Sam Lessin · May 9, 2016 11:30am PDT · 2 comments

For a generation, there has been a “Highlander”-style battle between the tech giants to be the phone in your pocket. The assumption has been that, since people will not carry more than one phone, the battle for presence in your pocket is a battle to the death.The same assumption applied to the battle for the living room, at least... For a generation, there has been a “Highlander”-style battle between the tech giants...

Facebook's VP for Messaging Products, David Marcus. Photo by AP.

Despite Stumbles, News Outlets Flock to Messenger

By Cory Weinberg · May 9, 2016 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

When Mic internally tested a Facebook’s Messenger “bot” to send out news articles last month, employees didn’t tap and chat with it much. So the Millennial-focused site changed course and will soon release a Messenger bot that sends people photos for a daily caption contest. An early test sent out a picture of Barack... When Mic internally tested a Facebook’s Messenger “bot” to send out news...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · May 7, 2016 8:00am PDT

Good Morning!If your virtual assistant hasn’t reminded you, it’s time to order flowers for Mom. And if you’re in the same city as Mom, make a lunch reservation for Sunday. Good Morning!If your virtual assistant hasn’t reminded you, it’s time to order...

The Information’s 411 — Bear Case

By Tom Dotan · May 6, 2016 12:24pm PDT

The Information’s 411 — Bear Case

By Tom Dotan · May 6, 2016 12:24pm PDT

Stephen and Martin talk about their conversation with Janus Global Technology Fund and why they think the private tech markets are overpriced. Then Tom and Martin argue about whether there's consumer demand for more digital video.You can find our RSS feed here or subscribe via iTunes and SoundCloud. Stephen and Martin talk about their conversation with Janus Global Technology Fund and why they...

Our Top Comments of the Week

By The Information Staff · May 6, 2016 11:42am 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.

Tim Cook, left, Eddy Cue, Les Moonves and Joe Ianniello of CBS. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Wrong Way to Do ‘Skinny Bundles’

By Jessica E. Lessin · May 6, 2016 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

It’s been a surprisingly good few weeks for “old media.” While tech high fliers like Alphabet and Apple missed analysts’ earnings expectations, Comcast, CBS and Time Warner beat them. The television business is proving more resilient than investors and the press are giving it credit for. It’s been a surprisingly good few weeks for “old media.” While tech high fliers...

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom. Photo by Bloomberg.

Sports Networks Want Instagram to Install Video Fence

By Cory Weinberg · May 5, 2016 7:00am PDT

Instagram’s efforts to become a hub for user-generated and professional videos have hit a snag: its lack of a fence. Instagram doesn’t have so-called “geofencing” capability, allowing it to cordon off the videos posted on the app for viewing only by users in particular countries. That is stopping some sports broadcasters... Instagram’s efforts to become a hub for user-generated and professional videos have hit a...

Mashable founder Pete Cashmore. Photo by Flickr/Josh Hallett.

Mashable’s Costly Path to Video

By Tom Dotan · May 4, 2016 12:58pm PDT · 10 comments

Mashable founder Pete Cashmore. Photo by Flickr/Josh Hallett.

Mashable’s Costly Path to Video

By Tom Dotan · May 4, 2016 12:58pm PDT · 10 comments

As this week’s Newfront digital video ad presentations in New York highlight, most news sites have been building up video production in the past couple of years. It’s a way to tap the $70 billion in TV ad dollars some think could switch to digital in the coming years. But as sites are discovering, video is also hugely expensive to... As this week’s Newfront digital video ad presentations in New York highlight, most news...

Janus' Brad Slingerlend, left, and Denny Fish. Photo by Steve Nellis.

Q&A

Mutual Fund Janus Makes Bear Case on Private Tech

By Steve Nellis and Martin Peers · May 4, 2016 7:02am PDT · 3 comments

Startup valuations have skyrocketed in recent years, with big influxes of cash from mutual funds like Fidelity and T. Rowe Price fueling the rise. So it’s easy to think that mutual funds must be falling over themselves to get a stake in startups.Not so for the Janus Global Technology Fund, a $2.5 billion fund that will turn 18 this year.... Startup valuations have skyrocketed in recent years, with big influxes of cash from mutual funds...

An Uber ad on a taxi. Photo by Flickr/Alper Cugun.

Uber Bolsters its Marketing Ranks

By Amir Efrati · May 3, 2016 12:40pm PDT · 5 comments

Uber has hired its first vice president of growth marketing, Kellyn Kenny, signaling that it may be stepping up its marketing war against Lyft.Ms. Kenny, whose appointment was confirmed by the company, was most recently a top “brand strategist” at Capital One, the credit card and financial services firm. Prior to that, she worked on... Uber has hired its first vice president of growth marketing, Kellyn Kenny, signaling that it may...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Big Interview

Salesforce’s Developer Strategy: Target the Non-Coders

By Steve Nellis · May 3, 2016 10:01am PDT

Salesforce.com’s new platform chief, Adam Seligman, has a novel idea. He wants to turn 100 million business analysts and digital marketing executives into “developers” who’ll use Salesforce’s app-building tools.The technology he’s pitching is called Lightning, a part of Salesforce’s Force.com service.... Salesforce.com’s new platform chief, Adam Seligman, has a novel idea. He wants to turn 100...

Source: ChannelMeter

Facebook Videos Live Fast, Die Young

By Tom Dotan and Peter Schulz · May 3, 2016 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

Source: ChannelMeter

Facebook Videos Live Fast, Die Young

By Tom Dotan and Peter Schulz · May 3, 2016 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

While YouTube and Facebook have established themselves as major hubs for mobile video, the lifespan of content on each platform is markedly different. Put in astronomical terms, a Facebook video is a brief supernova, peaking early and then quickly fading out; a YouTube video is more like a cooling star that emits a small flash of light then... While YouTube and Facebook have established themselves as major hubs for mobile video, the...