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

Larry Ellison. Photo by Bloomberg.

In the Cloud, Oracle Shops the Discount Aisle

By Steve Nellis · May 2, 2016 12:02pm PDT

With two deals in two weeks, Oracle seems to have kicked off the cloud software deal-making spree that The Information and others have predicted for a year. It’s easy to see why: Oracle is getting much-needed cloud revenue at historically low prices in industries where it already has a foothold it can leverage. A quick sift through... With two deals in two weeks, Oracle seems to have kicked off the cloud software deal-making spree...

Mike Clayville. Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Amazon Web Services’ Revenue Wrangler

By Steve Nellis · May 2, 2016 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

General Electric spent more than a year negotiating with Amazon Web Services before moving big chunks of its computing work there. During that time, AWS’ chief of enterprise sales, Mike Clayville, got everyone from AWS CEO Andy Jassy to other customers to answer GE’s questions about AWS’ security and reliability.By making GE... General Electric spent more than a year negotiating with Amazon Web Services before moving big...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Apr 30, 2016 8:02am PDT

Good morning!Investment bankers are having their day in the sun, thanks to a spate of deals this week (Rovi-TiVo, AbbVie-Stemcentrx, Comcast-DreamWorks Animation, etc.). All this before Yahoo’s auction wraps up. But there’s plenty else going on in tech. Check out these stories. Good morning!Investment bankers are having their day in the sun, thanks to a spate of deals this...

The Information’s 411 — Infosphere

By Tom Dotan · Apr 29, 2016 12:48pm PDT

The Information’s 411 — Infosphere

By Tom Dotan · Apr 29, 2016 12:48pm PDT

Sam argues that most TV shows should be edited way down. Cory discusses WhatsApp's revenue-generating plans and Tom explains why HBO might be in trouble.You can find our RSS feed here or subscribe via iTunes and SoundCloud. Sam argues that most TV shows should be edited way down. Cory discusses WhatsApp's...

Our Top Comments of the Week

By The Information Staff · Apr 29, 2016 10:42am 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.

Stemcentrx and the New Startup Dispersion

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 29, 2016 7:02am PDT

Yesterday was an M&A bonanza with some $50 billion in deals announced, led by pharma and rounded out by Comcast’s acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. But the deal that caught my eye the most was the sale of Stemcentrx, a South San Francisco startup trying to eliminate cancer, to AbbVie for $6.2 billion in upfront cash and stock and as... Yesterday was an M&A bonanza with some $50 billion in deals announced, led by pharma and...

Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Stalled AWS Margins Should Worry Cloud Investors

By Steve Nellis · Apr 28, 2016 4:23pm PDT · 1 comment

Amazon’s first quarter showed a solid profit on better-than-expected revenue. But there was a dim spot: Operating margins for the company’s fast-growing cloud computing segment, Amazon Web Services, fell slightly to 27.9% from the previous quarter. It’s beginning to look like that’s the industry norm for cloud computing.... Amazon’s first quarter showed a solid profit on better-than-expected revenue. But there was...

Source: The Information Subscriber Survey

Subscribers Shy Away From Original Sharing

By Peter Schulz and Cory Weinberg · Apr 28, 2016 10:01am PDT · 3 comments

Source: The Information Subscriber Survey

Subscriber Survey

Subscribers Shy Away From Original Sharing

By Peter Schulz and Cory Weinberg · Apr 28, 2016 10:01am PDT · 3 comments

Nearly two-thirds of The Information subscribers responding to our latest subscriber survey say they share fewer personal posts to Facebook than they did a couple years ago. Only 8.8% said they shared more.The findings are in line with The Information’s report this month that the company is struggling to reverse a double-digit decline in... Nearly two-thirds of The Information subscribers responding to our latest subscriber survey say...

Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman. Photo by Bloomberg.

Reddit’s Ad Push: Two Steps Forward, One Back

By Amir Efrati · Apr 28, 2016 7:01am PDT

Reddit’s ad business is beginning to take off, though not as quickly as some at the company had hoped.The online news aggregator and discussion forum recently projected internally that it would boost revenue to more than $20 million this year, from single-digit millions last year, according to one person with direct knowledge of the... Reddit’s ad business is beginning to take off, though not as quickly as some at the company...

WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum. Photo by Bloomberg.

How WhatsApp Will Tiptoe Into Business

By Cory Weinberg and Amir Efrati · Apr 27, 2016 10:01am PDT · 2 comments

WhatsApp is planning later this year to offer banks, airlines and other businesses the ability to send one-way messages to customers, people familiar with the plans said. It will be WhatsApp’s first official move to lure businesses onto the messaging app.WhatsApp has said it would soon start testing business accounts, but it’s now... WhatsApp is planning later this year to offer banks, airlines and other businesses the ability to...

Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage. Photo by AP.

Why HBO May Lose Video Throne

By Tom Dotan · Apr 27, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

This past Sunday, as HBO premiered the latest season of “Game of Thrones,” the network once again could bask in the show’s success. It should enjoy the moment. Given how much the TV environment has changed, it may not come again.“Game of Thrones,” now in its sixth season, is currently on track to end in two more... This past Sunday, as HBO premiered the latest season of “Game of Thrones,” the...

Source: Apptentive

Spam or High Value: The App Choice

By Cory Weinberg and Peter Schulz · Apr 26, 2016 10:01am PDT

Source: Apptentive

Spam or High Value: The App Choice

By Cory Weinberg and Peter Schulz · Apr 26, 2016 10:01am PDT

People respond to messages from shopping apps far more often than those from banks, news or food apps, new data shows. That suggests banks, news media and food apps need to make their messages more useful. It also might mean they should be selective about what they send to avoid annoying potential customers with too many messages. People respond to messages from shopping apps far more often than those from banks, news or food...

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Stock Deals Moving the Needle on Valuations

By Alfred Lee · Apr 26, 2016 7:01am PDT

When Fidelity Investments marked up its SpaceX stake by 15% last fall, while marking down many other private tech stocks, its reasoning was shrouded in mystery. It now appears the upgrade was due to SpaceX’s rising valuation in the secondary market, where investors can buy shares from employees and other shareholders.Recent securities... When Fidelity Investments marked up its SpaceX stake by 15% last fall, while marking down many...

Graphic by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

The New Business of Editing

By Sam Lessin · Apr 25, 2016 10:02am PDT · 21 comments

I was having dinner with my good friend and Fin co-founder Andrew Kortina, when we began talking about the nature of good editing.Kortina pointed out that many good TV series—like “House of Cards,” or “Mad Men,” or even “Game of Thrones”—would be significantly better if they were dramatically... I was having dinner with my good friend and Fin co-founder Andrew Kortina, when we began talking...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why Facebook and Baidu Are Becoming Fast Friends

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 25, 2016 7:02am PDT

Facebook’s own apps may be banned in China, but the company has a powerful tool to forge closer ties with large Chinese app publishers: its mobile ad network.Apps such as China’s Baidu, Cheetah Mobile and APUS have quietly joined the largest sellers in Facebook’s network. Those apps—which range from mobile games like... Facebook’s own apps may be banned in China, but the company has a powerful tool to forge...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Preps New Corporate Incubator

By Jessica E. Lessin and Amir Efrati · Apr 24, 2016 8:37am PDT · 1 comment

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Preps New Corporate Incubator

By Jessica E. Lessin and Amir Efrati · Apr 24, 2016 8:37am PDT · 1 comment

Sundar Pichai has a new plan to stop Google employees from jumping ship to start companies: Create a startup incubator within Google. Dubbed “Area 120,” the incubator will be overseen by long-time Google executives Don Harrison and Bradley Horowitz, according to people familiar with the project. The two discussed the new group at a... Sundar Pichai has a new plan to stop Google employees from jumping ship to start companies:...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Apr 23, 2016 8:00am PDT

Good morning! We know you’re eager to catch the big HBO premiere this weekend—“Silicon Valley” of course! (We’re joking. We prefer dragons too.) But before you settle in for Sunday night TV, check out what really happened in Silicon Valley and beyond with this week’s stories. Good morning! We know you’re eager to catch the big HBO premiere this...

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman

Ex-Reddit Exec Quietly Launches ‘Positive’ Reddit Rival

By Amir Efrati · Apr 22, 2016 11:34am PDT · 1 comment

The former second-in-command at Reddit who was pushed out of the online news aggregator last year has launched a competing site of his own, with a focus on “healthy, positive communities.”Dan McComas, who was known to be critical of Reddit’s inflammatory discussion groups related to topics like race or overweight people, is... The former second-in-command at Reddit who was pushed out of the online news aggregator last year...

Art by Maria DeFelice.

Our Top Comments of the Week

By The Information Staff · Apr 22, 2016 11:22am 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 — Flights of Fantasy

By Tom Dotan · Apr 22, 2016 11:21am PDT

The Information’s 411 — Flights of Fantasy

By Tom Dotan · Apr 22, 2016 11:21am PDT

Jessica explains why Silicon Valley isn't doomed like some media reports suggest. Stephen talks about the infighting in Apple's cloud division as well as Microsoft's earnings.You can find our RSS feed here or subscribe via iTunes and SoundCloud. Jessica explains why Silicon Valley isn't doomed like some media reports suggest. Stephen...