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

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. Photo by AP.

2016 Predictions

When Used Phones Become A Thing

By Martin Peers · Dec 28, 2015 6:01am PST · 3 comments

Many people would never buy a new car, opting instead for used vehicles a year or two old and significantly cheaper. A similar trend will next year start to transform the smartphone market, I predict, where the supply of used phones is going to take off.And that will permanently change the market for new smartphones. Both iPhones and Android... Many people would never buy a new car, opting instead for used vehicles a year or two old and...

The Weekly Digest

Christmas Edition: The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Dec 26, 2015 7:53am PST

You made it.Hope your holiday week went well and welcome to the last week of the year. It’s that nebulous time between Christmas and New Year’s, where everyone is somewhere between working and vacationing. Though news is famously slow now, it gives us a moment to reflect on the last 12 months. That was the mindset at The Information... You made it.Hope your holiday week went well and welcome to the last week of the year. It’s...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Keeping an Eye Out for a Snapchat IPO

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 24, 2015 7:00am PST · 4 comments

Speculation about the next major private tech company to go public will run high in 2016, as it did this year. Just how many articles were there about whether Square had filed or filed secretly, etc.?Speculation swirls around Uber, for obvious reasons. It’s massive. And all eyes are on Airbnb and Dropbox. But my bet for the company that... Speculation about the next major private tech company to go public will run high in 2016, as it...

Nutanix Granted ‘Ratchet’ to VC Investors

Nutanix Granted ‘Ratchet’ to VC Investors

By Alfred Lee · Dec 23, 2015 10:58am PST

Nutanix Granted ‘Ratchet’ to VC Investors

Nutanix Granted ‘Ratchet’ to VC Investors

By Alfred Lee · Dec 23, 2015 10:58am PST

Investors have been watching tech IPOs with an eye on what kind of protections late-stage backers are getting. Both Box and Square, for example, revealed they granted “ratchets” promising more shares if the IPO price fell below a certain point.Now, yet another highly valued tech company is going public with such protections. Nutanix,... Investors have been watching tech IPOs with an eye on what kind of protections late-stage backers...

Source: The Information Subscriber Survey

Subscriber Survey

Subscribers See Rise in Investor-Friendly Terms

By Peter Schulz and Martin Peers · Dec 23, 2015 10:02am PST

In our ongoing effort to report on the fine print of private tech financing deals, we asked you, our subscribers, for a sense of what’s new and changing in the deals you see. The findings made it clear that increasingly complex deal terms, like multiple liquidation preferences and participation rights, are on the rise. Fifty three percent... In our ongoing effort to report on the fine print of private tech financing deals, we asked you,...

Frank Wang in 2010. Photo by AP.

The Information’s Up-and-Comer of 2016: Frank Wang

By Amir Efrati · Dec 23, 2015 7:00am PST

Frank Wang and his Chinese firm, DJI, have won the first phase of the race to develop civilian drones—basically, selling cameras that fly. He’s now expanding into what could be a much bigger market, selling intelligent, autonomous flying machines for business use.In the tech business world, Mr. Wang isn’t a household name like... Frank Wang and his Chinese firm, DJI, have won the first phase of the race to develop civilian...

Source: DB-Engines

Beyond Google, a Search Battle Brews

By Steve Nellis and Peter Schulz · Dec 22, 2015 10:02am PST · 1 comment

When you think search technology, Google springs to mind.But think of all the other searching you do, such as when you hit the search bar on Zappos.com, try to find a movie on Netflix or even research a tech company on The Information. Those don’t rely on Google. Instead, they turn to so-called enterprise search technology, also used by... When you think search technology, Google springs to mind.But think of all the other searching you...

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, left, with his co-founder Bobby Murphy. Photo by AP.

The Fine Print of Snapchat’s Financing Terms

By Alfred Lee · Dec 22, 2015 7:00am PST · 3 comments

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, left, with his co-founder Bobby Murphy. Photo by AP.

Private Tech Database

The Fine Print of Snapchat’s Financing Terms

By Alfred Lee · Dec 22, 2015 7:00am PST · 3 comments

It’s typical for investors in private tech companies to get lots of protections for the risk they take. But the financing of Snapchat has been anything but typical.An analysis of public documents shows that investors have poured more than $1 billion into the messaging company despite receiving virtually no protections, no stockholder votes... It’s typical for investors in private tech companies to get lots of protections for the...

Google's VR cardboard. Photo by Flickr/sndrv.

2016 Predictions

Virtual Reality Will Come Into Focus

By Reed Albergotti · Dec 21, 2015 10:00am PST · 2 comments

Sometime next year, when you come across a group of teenagers holding cardboard boxes up to their faces and giggling, remember one thing: I told you this would happen. Virtual reality will become a “thing” in 2016, but not in the way your inner Star Trek geek had hoped. (That will come later.) Instead, it will be normal to play... Sometime next year, when you come across a group of teenagers holding cardboard boxes up to their...

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

Star Wars’ Private Tech Valuation Formula

By Sam Lessin · Dec 21, 2015 9:12am PST

Would you rather own Star Wars or 25% of Snapchat? What about 6% of Uber, 40% of Dropbox, or 1.3% of Facebook? Based on the 2012 sale of LucasFilm for $4 billion, that is generally the question that many investors might be ball-parking in their heads as they walk in to see the excellent new Star Wars movie this week. Would you rather own Star Wars or 25% of Snapchat? What about 6% of Uber, 40% of Dropbox,...

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

Why Aren’t We Talking More About Autonomous Passenger Planes?

By Sam Lessin · Dec 21, 2015 7:00am PST · 3 comments

Of all the tantalizing futuristic possibilities on the horizon, self driving cars is clearly the topic people love to talk about these days. But fully autonomous cars are going to take a long time to actualize. Passenger aircraft could be a different story, with profound implications at least for small plane travel. Of all the tantalizing futuristic possibilities on the horizon, self driving cars is clearly the...

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Dec 19, 2015 8:02am PST

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Dec 19, 2015 8:02am PST

Good Morning!The world may be winding down for the holiday season. But for readers of The Information, Christmas came early this week, with a bumper crop of good stories. And starting next week, we’ll begin publishing our prediction series for 2016. Good Morning!The world may be winding down for the holiday season. But for readers of The...

The Information's 411

The Information’s 411 — Downside Protections

By Tom Dotan · Dec 18, 2015 1:23pm PST

In what is our second-to-last podcast of 2015, Alfred and Reed appeared to discuss our series of stories this week that looked at how investors in private tech companies are structuring deals. Increasingly, the investment firms leading fundraising rounds are pushing for terms that give them downside protections. That can leave employees, among... In what is our second-to-last podcast of 2015, Alfred and Reed appeared to discuss our series of...

A Lesson to Consider from The Information

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 18, 2015 7:01am PST · 2 comments

As 2015 draws to a close, it seems like a good time to reflect on The Information—where we have been, where we are going and what lessons our experience may have for others in the rough and tumble world of journalism. There are no shortage of opinions about the future of journalism and its business models. Two years ago, many people... As 2015 draws to a close, it seems like a good time to reflect on The Information—where we...

Jason Kilar, left, and his Vessel co-founder Richard Tom. Photo by AP.

Vessel Discusses Originals with Creators

By Tom Dotan · Dec 17, 2015 1:54pm PST · 4 comments

The video streaming service Vessel began its life as a place where people could pay $3 a month to watch content from YouTubers several days before it went up on YouTube. Now the site is talking to its programming partners about changing some of the deals to include production of original content, said several people close to the talks.The... The video streaming service Vessel began its life as a place where people could pay $3 a month to...

What Tech Employees Are Last To Know

By Cory Weinberg and Alfred Lee · Dec 17, 2015 7:01am PST · 2 comments

Private Tech Database

What Tech Employees Are Last To Know

By Cory Weinberg and Alfred Lee · Dec 17, 2015 7:01am PST · 2 comments

News broke this week that Hudson Bay was closing in on a deal to buy Gilt Groupe for $250 million, a 75% drop from the $1 billion value put on the company a few years ago. But for common shareholders, such a deal would turn out to be an even bigger loss than that price implies. One common stockholder estimated they would receive roughly $2... News broke this week that Hudson Bay was closing in on a deal to buy Gilt Groupe for $250...

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Photo by Bloomberg.

Salesforce.com In Talks to Buy SteelBrick for $600M

By Steve Nellis · Dec 16, 2015 9:49pm PST

Salesforce.com is in talks to buy software firm SteelBrick for as much as $600 million, mostly in stock, according to a person familiar with the situation. A deal would boost what is already Salesforce’s biggest business, sales software. SteelBrick makes so-called configure-price-quote software. It’s a kind of software that helps... Salesforce.com is in talks to buy software firm SteelBrick for as much as $600 million, mostly in...

Mark Zuckerberg, center, with Google's Eric Schmidt in 2011. Photo by AP.

Why Facebook Still Worries About Android

By Amir Efrati · Dec 16, 2015 7:02am PST · 8 comments

This summer, conversations between Google and Facebook sparked concern at the social media company. The issue: whether Google would eventually ask Facebook to pay for various app requests made by Facebook users on Android smartphones. These app requests included Google Maps information viewed within the Facebook app and app-related push... This summer, conversations between Google and Facebook sparked concern at the social media...

Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch/Max Morse.

Native Ad’s Pricing Problem

By Tom Dotan · Dec 15, 2015 10:00am PST · 5 comments

Native advertising, steadily becoming a significant revenue source for online publishers, is hurtling toward a paradoxical problem. And that is, the more popular it gets, the more its fundamental weaknesses will be revealed.These native ads—by which I mean articles and videos that mimic a site’s editorial content but are paid for and... Native advertising, steadily becoming a significant revenue source for online publishers, is...

Honest Co. founder Jessica Alba. Photo by Bloomberg.

Investor-Friendly Deal Terms on Upswing

By Reed Albergotti and Alfred Lee · Dec 15, 2015 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Honest Co. founder Jessica Alba. Photo by Bloomberg.

Private Tech Database

Investor-Friendly Deal Terms on Upswing

By Reed Albergotti and Alfred Lee · Dec 15, 2015 7:00am PST · 1 comment

It used to be that the most favorable terms a private tech investor could negotiate, limiting their potential losses or enhancing potential gains, were most commonly struck in late-stage funding rounds. Now, those terms are finding their way into younger startups, according to venture capitalists and lawyers privy to the negotiations.On Monday,... It used to be that the most favorable terms a private tech investor could negotiate, limiting...