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 Question Entrepreneurs Should Ask Themselves

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 26, 2014 11:59am PDT · 2 comments

Every week, someone in Silicon Valley writes an essay (or rant) questioning the sanity of investors who are pouring money into tech companies at higher and higher valuations. I have a different question: What about the sanity of entrepreneurs who are raising more money at ever higher valuations? Sure, a juicy valuation is hard to turn down;... Every week, someone in Silicon Valley writes an essay (or rant) questioning the sanity of...

Illustration by Matt Vascellaro

Google’s Confidential Android Contracts Show Rising Requirements

By Amir Efrati · Sep 26, 2014 7:25am PDT · 1 comment

Google for years has tweaked its search engine to promote other revenue-generating Google Web services in the search results, much to the dismay of some rival Web companies. Now, there is new evidence Google is following the same playbook with its Android mobile operating system, which has become a key vehicle to distribute its... Google for years has tweaked its search engine to promote other revenue-generating Google Web...

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, left, at the Consumer Electronics Show. Photo by Bloomberg.

Media Companies Are In Denial Over Streaming

By Martin Peers · Sep 25, 2014 7:05am PDT · 5 comments

It’s the $100 billion question: How much viewership has Netflix and Amazon siphoned from traditional TV networks? Until now there’s been no public data available to help answer the question. But earlier this month Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes gave something of a clue when he estimated during an investor conference that 5 percent of... It’s the $100 billion question: How much viewership has Netflix and Amazon siphoned from...

Priceonomics founder Rohin Dhar. Illustration by Matt Vascellaro.

A Media Business Model Built by Geeks

By Eric Newcomer · Sep 24, 2014 11:39am PDT

Priceonomics founder Rohin Dhar. Illustration by Matt Vascellaro.

Q&A

A Media Business Model Built by Geeks

By Eric Newcomer · Sep 24, 2014 11:39am PDT

There are media companies, technology companies and media companies that want investors to think they are technology companies. Then there’s Priceonomics, a Y Combinator-backed San Francisco-based company that raised $1.5 million in seed funding way back in 2012. While Priceonomics came barreling out of YC eager to build a big technology... There are media companies, technology companies and media companies that want investors to think...

The Apple Watch. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Employees, Partners Expected Watch This Year

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 24, 2014 7:07am PDT

In the weeks since Apple’s big watch announcement, Apple executives have shed some light on the product’s development, discussing its conception three years ago and the bevy of watch and design experts they consulted. One fact they’ve omitted: Employees and partners were, until recently, expecting it to launch this year. ... In the weeks since Apple’s big watch announcement, Apple executives have shed some light on...

Ron Johnson in an Apple Store. Photo by Associated Press.

Former Apple Exec, J.C. Penney CEO to Launch Delivery Startup

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 23, 2014 12:45pm PDT · 1 comment

The godfather of Apple’s retail stores is trying to reinvent shopping again, this time by getting rid of stores. Ron Johnson, who left Apple in 2011 for a controversial stint as the CEO of J.C. Penney, is launching a high-end, on-demand delivery service for gadgets, according to several people who have talked to him about it. And he has... The godfather of Apple’s retail stores is trying to reinvent shopping again, this time by...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Netflix, Amazon Stuck in Old TV Model

By Tom Dotan · Sep 23, 2014 7:03am PDT · 2 comments

Netflix, Amazon.com and the rest of the so-called “over-the-top” television services have changed the way people consume video. But these companies have done little to change the way original shows are developed and funded, despite rhetoric to the contrary. And as these new-era networks grow in scale and ambition—and costs... Netflix, Amazon.com and the rest of the so-called “over-the-top” television services...

Illustration by Matt Vascellaro.

U.S. and Chinese Internet Sectors are Diverging

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 22, 2014 11:02am PDT

Illustration by Matt Vascellaro.

U.S. and Chinese Internet Sectors are Diverging

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 22, 2014 11:02am PDT

To understand China’s Internet sector, start by thinking of the services you know and love in the U.S. Then change all their names, combine four of them into one, drop any fees and reduce the number of ads. Substitute Google and Apple with Tencent and Alibaba. Picture a typical IKEA-clad startup office, then add a row of beds for the long... To understand China’s Internet sector, start by thinking of the services you know and love...

Illustration by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

Why Universities Should Wise Up and Retain Their ‘Users’

By Sam Lessin · Sep 22, 2014 7:02am PDT · 6 comments

Here’s a question: Can you name a service provider that kicks out all its paying and engaged members for no reason after four years? Answer: universities. After playing this game myself for a while, I haven’t come up with very many examples of organizations other than schools that willfully throw out engaged “users.”... Here’s a question: Can you name a service provider that kicks out all its paying and...

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen. Photo by Associated Press.

State Attorneys General Wield Soft Power on Tech

By Eric Newcomer · Sep 19, 2014 10:43am PDT

With a gridlocked Congress, the business of regulating technology companies is increasingly falling to state attorneys general, who are playing a high-profile role in checking the power of Uber, Airbnb, Google, Facebook and others. New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman has been pressuring sharing economy companies like Airbnb and Uber to... With a gridlocked Congress, the business of regulating technology companies is increasingly...

Android, Not Alibaba, is Rage in China Tech

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 19, 2014 7:48am PDT · 1 comment

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Alibaba shares begin trading today, a moment hailed in the U.S. as “a major landmark event in the evolution of global online activity” and “a coming of age of the Internet in China.” But if you’re wondering what technology business leaders, entrepreneurs and early... In case you’ve been living under a rock, Alibaba shares begin trading today, a moment...

Edward Snowden. Photo by Bloomberg.

U.S., Europe at Odds Over ‘Safe Harbor’ Data Rules

By Tom Dotan · Sep 18, 2014 7:16am PDT

Edward Snowden. Photo by Bloomberg.

U.S., Europe at Odds Over ‘Safe Harbor’ Data Rules

By Tom Dotan · Sep 18, 2014 7:16am PDT

Ever since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden first revealed the existence of U.S. spy agencies' sweeping electronic surveillance programs, the U.S. tech industry has feared the disclosures would create new obstacles in doing business abroad. And those fears are starting to be realized in the ongoing and... Ever since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden first revealed the existence...

Jonathan Ward. Illustration by Matthew Vascellaro.

Q&A

Tech Giants Find Expression in Architecture

By Eric Newcomer · Sep 17, 2014 2:20pm PDT

Technology giants are molding the way billions of people live and think, but their reach isn’t limited to cyberspace. They’re increasingly looking for real-world opportunities to project their brands and shape the environment, and one of the biggest opportunities lies in the the physical design of their massive headquarters. A host of huge... Technology giants are molding the way billions of people live and think, but their reach isn’t...

Google CEO Larry Page. Photo by Bloomberg.

At Google, Larry Page’s Dreams Keep Getting Bigger

By Amir Efrati · Sep 17, 2014 11:36am PDT · 2 comments

A little over a year ago, Google CEO Larry Page convened his direct reports, the company’s dozen or so senior vice presidents, for a project that would take up two days a week for a couple of months. About 100 other employees below the SVP rank also participated in the effort, dubbed Google 2.0. The aim was to come up with goals for the company... A little over a year ago, Google CEO Larry Page convened his direct reports, the company’s dozen...

Benchmark partner Bill Gurley. Photo by TechCrunch.

Venture Investors Sound the Alarm on ‘Burn Rate’

By Jonathan Weber · Sep 17, 2014 7:41am PDT

Well before the first dot-com bubble burst in March of 2000, it was pretty clear that the party was going to end sometime—probably badly, and probably sooner rather than later. But recognizing that the market would soon turn wasn’t very helpful by itself. The real problem was, what do you do about it? This question jumped out at me... Well before the first dot-com bubble burst in March of 2000, it was pretty clear that the party...

Former Google executive Nikesh Arora. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google’s Android Silver Program on Ice

By Amir Efrati · Sep 16, 2014 12:32pm PDT

Former Google executive Nikesh Arora. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google’s Android Silver Program on Ice

By Amir Efrati · Sep 16, 2014 12:32pm PDT

Google’s expensive plan to turn its Android mobile software into a high end consumer brand on par with Apple’s iPhone is on hold. The program, which is called Android Silver and was reported on in detail by The Information in April, stalled amid the July departure of Nikesh Arora, one its chief architects, according to people... Google’s expensive plan to turn its Android mobile software into a high end consumer brand...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg.

China’s Tencent Shows a Model for Microsoft & Minecraft

By Eric Newcomer · Sep 16, 2014 7:47am PDT

Tencent Holdings CEO Pony Ma might have cracked an approving smile when he heard the news that Microsoft was shelling out $2.5 billion to buy Mojang AB, the Swedish developer of the smash hit Minecraft. Mr. Ma’s company has made a fortune by using video games as a lever to assert Tencent’s dominance in the online world—mobile... Tencent Holdings CEO Pony Ma might have cracked an approving smile when he heard the news that...

Illustration by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

The ‘Uber Effect’ on the Property Market

By Sam Lessin · Sep 15, 2014 12:26pm PDT · 6 comments

Real estate is one of the few industries in the world that’s bigger than transportation. But in the coming decades, companies like Uber and Lyft—eventually super-charged by self-driving cars—are likely to change living patterns and upend property markets in ways that we’ve only begun to understand. The... Real estate is one of the few industries in the world that’s bigger than...

Former Google executive Joe Britt shows a prototype of Nexus Q in 2011. Photo by Associated Press.

Google & Hardware: A Complicated Love Story

By Amir Efrati · Sep 15, 2014 7:59am PDT

Last week, some software developers received a white box from Google containing a small TV console and video game controller. It wasn’t a Google product exactly—there was no branding on the machine—but rather represented the last remnants of a struggling project that had consumed part of Google’s Android team for more... Last week, some software developers received a white box from Google containing a small TV...

GrubHub CEO Matt Maloney. Photo by Bloomberg.

Investors’ Growing Taste for Food Delivery

By Eric Newcomer · Sep 12, 2014 12:12pm PDT

GrubHub CEO Matt Maloney. Photo by Bloomberg.

Investors’ Growing Taste for Food Delivery

By Eric Newcomer · Sep 12, 2014 12:12pm PDT

It’s not delivery, it’s lots of delivery. One of the hottest spaces for venture capital is food, as investors bet that improvements in logistics can cut the high costs normally incurred by food delivery services. Major funding rounds in the last few months include DoorDash’s $17.3 million Series A, Blue Apron’s $50... It’s not delivery, it’s lots of delivery. One of the hottest spaces for venture...