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

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Recent Editions

The Real Disruption in Digital Video is (Finally) Here

By Jessica Lessin · Apr 8, 2016 7:00am PDT · 7 comments

Three seemingly unrelated things happened in digital video recently. Twitter paid around $10 million for the rights to stream some NFL games. Facebook expanded its Live streaming service for broadcasting video from phones. And Snapchat unveiled a big update that, among other things, compiles individual stories into one long video channel and... Three seemingly unrelated things happened in digital video recently. Twitter paid around $10...

An AwesomenessTV show on go90 called 'Guidance.' Photo by AwesomenessTV.

Verizon Hires NBCU Exec for go90

By Tom Dotan · Apr 7, 2016 12:37pm PDT

Verizon has hired digital media executive Chip Canter from NBCUniversal as general manager of its go90 video app, said two people familiar with the situation. Mr. Canter, who started at Verizon in recent weeks, will serve under Verizon’s head of consumer product Brian Angiolet. He comes to the company at a critical time for the video app... Verizon has hired digital media executive Chip Canter from NBCUniversal as general manager of its...

Facebook's Serkan Piantino. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.

NYC Subscriber Summit

Facebook’s Research Conveyor Belt for AI

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 7, 2016 10:43am PDT · 1 comment

It’s no secret that Facebook’s virtual assistant, M, doesn’t have true intelligence. Humans help operate the app within Messenger, which a limited number of people can use to order food, find flights or do other things that one day may be done by a machine. But M wouldn’t exist without work by Facebook Artificial... It’s no secret that Facebook’s virtual assistant, M, doesn’t have true...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Dustin Rogers.

Facebook Struggles to Stop Decline in ‘Original’ Sharing

By Amir Efrati · Apr 7, 2016 7:01am PDT · 9 comments

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Dustin Rogers.

Facebook Struggles to Stop Decline in ‘Original’ Sharing

By Amir Efrati · Apr 7, 2016 7:01am PDT · 9 comments

Less than a year ago, leaders at Facebook convened to address a serious problem: people using the social network were posting fewer things about their personal lives for their friends to see, according to confidential company data about several types of content sharing that happen on Facebook, which was viewed by The Information.Thus began an... Less than a year ago, leaders at Facebook convened to address a serious problem: people using the...

Sources: Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Allianz, NYU Stern School of Business

Startup Risk: from Dropbox to Airbnb

By Alfred Lee · Apr 6, 2016 12:47pm PDT

Want to know which startups are particularly risky for investors to put their money into? Calculations by institutional investors suggest that investing in coffee startup Blue Bottle or physician social network Doximity is highly risky. Less risky: Palantir and Airbnb.These estimates of risk are based on an arcane financial term called weighted... Want to know which startups are particularly risky for investors to put their money into?...

Left to right: Brian Singerman, Andy Boyd and Alfred Lee of The Information. Photo by Chris Fargo.

NYC Subscriber Summit

Fidelity Talks Private Tech Investing

By Tom Dotan · Apr 6, 2016 7:02am PDT

Fidelity Investments has become one of the most watched investors in private tech in the past year, taking stakes in such big names as Uber, Airbnb, WeWork and Snapchat. But Fidelity executive Andy Boyd wants to make one thing clear: mutual funds are not venture capitalists.Fidelity’s head of global capital equity markets said the firm was... Fidelity Investments has become one of the most watched investors in private tech in the past...

Jim VandeHei. Photo by Chris Fargo.

NYC Subscriber Summit

Politico’s VandeHei Blasts ‘Crap Trap’ of News Media

By Tom Dotan · Apr 5, 2016 4:15pm PDT · 3 comments

The outgoing CEO and co-founder of Politico, Jim VandeHei, blasted the news industry for falling into “crap trap” journalism aimed at amassing big audiences at the expense of substantive coverage.Mr. VandeHei made his comments during an on-stage interview at The Information’s New York Subscriber Summit on Tuesday. He is leaving... The outgoing CEO and co-founder of Politico, Jim VandeHei, blasted the news industry for falling...

From left to right: Sam Goertler, Eddie Segel, Melissa Bell and Jessica Lessin. Photo by Chris Fargo.

How Startups Are Turning Growth into Revenue

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 5, 2016 3:18pm PDT

From left to right: Sam Goertler, Eddie Segel, Melissa Bell and Jessica Lessin. Photo by Chris Fargo.

NYC Subscriber Summit

How Startups Are Turning Growth into Revenue

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 5, 2016 3:18pm PDT

It’s no longer enough for startups to hype how many users they have. They need to prove they’re making money, too. That was evident at a panel The Information’s New York Subscriber Summit featuring executives from Vox Media, workplace software company Asana and health insurance startup Oscar.For Asana, which raised $50... It’s no longer enough for startups to hype how many users they have. They need to prove...

Dan Doctoroff and Jessica Lessin. Photo by Chris Fargo.

NYC Subscriber Summit

Is Alphabet Going to Build a City?

By Cory Weinberg · Apr 5, 2016 10:48am PDT · 1 comment

In its first year of existence, the Alphabet-owned “urban innovation company” Sidewalk Labs has been working on products to improve WiFi access and traffic flows in cities. But there’s signs it has skyscraper-sized ambitions that lean towards building a city from the ground up.Sidewalk CEO Dan Doctoroff hinted as much in an... In its first year of existence, the Alphabet-owned “urban innovation company”...

Source: 7Park Data

Snapchat Now a Data Hog

By Reed Albergotti and Peter Schulz · Apr 5, 2016 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Snapchat’s U.S. fan base doesn’t appear to be growing like it was in the past—but existing users have been spending steadily more time on the app, new data shows. They’re also consuming a heck of a lot more data while on the app than they were a couple of years ago.These findings, from research firm 7Park, have both... Snapchat’s U.S. fan base doesn’t appear to be growing like it was in the...

Google's Clay Bavor. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Sees AR, Not VR, as the Real Goal

By Amir Efrati · Apr 4, 2016 12:40pm PDT · 7 comments

At its developer conference in May, Google is expected to talk a lot about its plans for tailoring Android smartphones to virtual reality. But make no mistake: for Google, VR isn’t the ultimate prize—augmented reality is. Google leaders including CEO Sundar Pichai and Clay Bavor, who heads a newly formed VR unit at Google, have... At its developer conference in May, Google is expected to talk a lot about its plans for...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Information’s Latest Free Agents

By The Information Staff · Apr 4, 2016 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

The Information’s Latest Free Agents

By The Information Staff · Apr 4, 2016 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

When companies stall, their executives look elsewhere—sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not. That’s clear from our latest installment of Free Agents, which includes two recent defectors from Twitter, a departure from Sprint and one from Millennial Media, the faltering mobile media firm recently acquired by Verizon’s AOL.All up,... When companies stall, their executives look elsewhere—sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not....

Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff. Photo by Bloomberg.

Key Analytics Duo Leaves Salesforce

By Steve Nellis · Apr 2, 2016 9:59am PDT

A pair of startup founders that helped Salesforce.com build out its analytics cloud have left the company, Salesforce confirmed.Vijay Chakravarthy and Ryan Lange co-founded EdgeSpring, a business intelligence service for slicing and dicing data into custom reports that Salesforce purchased in 2013. EdgeSpring formed a key part of... A pair of startup founders that helped Salesforce.com build out its analytics cloud have left the...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed This Week

By The Information Staff · Apr 2, 2016 8:02am PDT

Good Morning!In tech, it can be hard to figure out what’s an April Fool’s prank and what’s real even when it’s not April 1. For instance, we’re still trying to figure out if Friday’s report of Samsung’s folding smartphone was real. But as unbelievable as it may seem, all our stories are the real... Good Morning!In tech, it can be hard to figure out what’s an April Fool’s prank and...

The Information’s 411 — Symmetrical Players

By Tom Dotan · Apr 1, 2016 10:40am PDT

Stephen guest hosts this week and talks to Amir about commerce in Facebook Messenger, the obstacles for Workday and how AT&T may snub Google.You can find our RSS feed here or subscribe via iTunes and SoundCloud. Stephen guest hosts this week and talks to Amir about commerce in Facebook Messenger, the...

My Notes from China

By Jessica Lessin · Apr 1, 2016 7:00am PDT

My Notes from China

By Jessica Lessin · Apr 1, 2016 7:00am PDT

The U.S. is continuing to lose power as a technology trendsetter. That was one of the many takeaways that ran through my visit to China.I’ve chronicled some other observations and interviews here, here, here and here. But after more than 50 meetings at dozens of companies, I simply have too many perceptions to share in articles alone. So,... The U.S. is continuing to lose power as a technology trendsetter. That was one of the many...

Workday CEO Aneel Bhursi. Photo by Bloomberg.

In Enterprise App Store Wars, Workday is Absent

By Steve Nellis · Mar 31, 2016 10:00am PDT · 2 comments

For modern business software providers, app stores have become a standard feature. Salesforce pioneered the practice of giving developers a shot at pitching directly to its customers with apps. Servicenow, NetSuite and Atlassian all followed. Workday, the maker of human resources and financial software, notably is absent from the list.... For modern business software providers, app stores have become a standard feature. Salesforce...

AppNexus CEO Brian O"Kelley. Photo by AP.

The Big Interview

AppNexus Tries to Bite at Google’s Heels

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 31, 2016 7:02am PDT

In the nine years since he founded ad-tech firm AppNexus, CEO Brian O’Kelley has established a reputation for blustery public pronouncements against the power wielded by digital ad-selling giants like Google. But until recently AppNexus didn’t have the weaponry in the form of digital ad selling software systems to be competitive with... In the nine years since he founded ad-tech firm AppNexus, CEO Brian O’Kelley has...

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. Photo by AP.

In Snub to Google, AT&T Looks to Sell Alternative Android Phone

By Amir Efrati · Mar 30, 2016 7:02am PDT · 11 comments

AT&T has recently discussed selling a smartphone powered by an alternative version of Android, the operating system developed by Google, according to one person with direct knowledge and one person briefed about the talks. If the proposed phone sells, it could weaken Google’s control of Android in the U.S. and set back its efforts to... AT&T has recently discussed selling a smartphone powered by an alternative version of...

Information Score = More Optimistic - Less Optimistic

Subscriber Sentiment Towards Tech Improves

By Peter Schulz and Martin Peers · Mar 29, 2016 10:01am PDT

Information Score = More Optimistic - Less Optimistic

Subscriber Survey

Subscriber Sentiment Towards Tech Improves

By Peter Schulz and Martin Peers · Mar 29, 2016 10:01am PDT

Sentiment among our subscribers towards tech, particularly private firms like Snapchat and Dropbox, improved markedly in the past month, according to our latest subscriber survey.The turnaround suggested that pessimism sparked at least partly by the market sell-off around the start of the year may be lifting. The survey also showed that optimism... Sentiment among our subscribers towards tech, particularly private firms like Snapchat and...