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

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella discussing Azure last month. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside the Race to the Cloud in China

By Steve Nellis · Oct 16, 2014 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

It’s too early to call the race to the cloud in China, but there’s one thing Microsoft can tout that others cannot: By navigating a maze of regulatory and technical issues, Microsoft became the first non-Chinese company to offer a public cloud in China. In the U.S., the business of storing and processing data remotely for... It’s too early to call the race to the cloud in China, but there’s one thing...

A scene from the HBO hit "Game of Thrones." Photo by HBO via Bloomberg.

How Unbundling HBO Could Come Back to Hurt Time Warner

By Martin Peers · Oct 15, 2014 10:44am PDT

HBO’s decision to finally offer a standalone broadband version of its service is likely to be a landmark step in the gradual breakup of the present pay TV ecosystem. Could it come back to hurt Time Warner? One of the risks to Time Warner of offering HBO to non-pay TV subscribers has long been the impact on other cable channels, most... HBO’s decision to finally offer a standalone broadband version of its service is likely to...

Q&A

Meet the Internet’s Newest Cloud Startup: Goldman Sachs?

By Steve Nellis · Oct 15, 2014 10:16am PDT

Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s biggest investment banks, but it is arguably also a major technology company. About a third of the firm’s employees are engineers. With hundreds of thousands of cloud computing processors working on its behalf, Goldman crunches more data each day than many Internet companies. Don Duet is co-head of... Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s biggest investment banks, but it is arguably also a...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Business Model Around Ultra-Fast Broadband Remains in Doubt

By Martin Peers · Oct 15, 2014 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Photo by Bloomberg.

Business Model Around Ultra-Fast Broadband Remains in Doubt

By Martin Peers · Oct 15, 2014 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

The promise of cheap, ultra-fast broadband speeds is spreading across America. Still to be worked out is the impact on broadband providers’ business model. Following the lead set by Google, Internet access providers including Cox Communications, CenturyLink and AT&T have announced plans to roll out speeds of up to a gigabit a second... The promise of cheap, ultra-fast broadband speeds is spreading across America. Still to be worked...

Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com's CEO, at Dreamforce. Photo by Bloomberg.

Burned Once, SAP and Oracle Confront Next Salesforce Threat

By Steve Nellis · Oct 14, 2014 11:04am PDT

When Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff takes the stage Tuesday to announce the company’s newest product, he’ll focus attention on the world of business intelligence, a multi-billion-dollar market even bigger than the customer relationship management realm. He’ll also up the stakes in the battle among Salesforce.com and enterprise... When Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff takes the stage Tuesday to announce the company’s...

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Associated Press.

Snapchat’s Real Business Plan is Platform, Not Ads

By Tom Dotan · Oct 14, 2014 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Evan Spiegel was chatting on stage with Michael Bloomberg last week at a Vanity Fair summit in San Francisco when the topic turned to monetization. And the CEO of Snapchat, whose lips are near hermetically sealed when it comes to most plans around the ephemeral messaging app, finally dropped a clue. Ads, the 24-year-old revealed. Untargeted... Evan Spiegel was chatting on stage with Michael Bloomberg last week at a Vanity Fair summit in...

This is our view!

Be Our Head of Sales and Business Development!

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 13, 2014 1:54pm PDT

While news publications everywhere are trying to save their business, we're building a new one from scratch—and it works. Now's the time to put our foot on the gas. We're seeking a head of sales and business development who wants the chance to lead the creation of a potentially massive business while... While news publications everywhere are trying to save their business, we're building a new...

This is our view!

Be Our Managing Editor!

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 13, 2014 12:06pm PDT

This is our view!

Be Our Managing Editor!

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 13, 2014 12:06pm PDT

The Information is seeking a managing editor to be the general manager of our growing newsroom. At The Information, our product is our stories, and nothing is more important than ensuring each article delivers unique value to our subscribers. This editor is the person who makes that happen, enforces... The Information is seeking a managing editor to be the general manager of our...

Illustration by Matt Vascellaro.

The Information’s Essentials

The Engineers Successful Tech Companies Can’t Do Without

By Eric Newcomer · Oct 13, 2014 10:48am PDT

Great software engineers are the backbone of any promising technology company—and they’re in rare supply. Big tech companies do everything they can to land talent, going so far as buying companies to acquire accomplished software engineers. In San Francisco, the median software engineer makes $100,000, according to the job site... Great software engineers are the backbone of any promising technology company—and...

Modest Proposals

Time to Hang up on Voice

By Sam Lessin · Oct 13, 2014 7:01am PDT · 5 comments

I recently spent some time playing with the new Moto 360 smartwatch to develop some intuitions about watches as a form factor for wearable technology. And it spurred some thinking about the utility of voice commands as an interface. Voice is not the future of interface design, and it isn’t going to be even as voice technology... I recently spent some time playing with the new Moto 360 smartwatch to develop some intuitions...

Why the Conventional Wisdom Around Messaging is Wrong

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 10, 2014 11:40am PDT

Investors are tripping over themselves to invest in messaging startups again. Eric, Tom and I hear Sequoia Capital and other VCs have been considering putting another round into productivity service Slack. We also hear Slack, which launched last year, has been seeking a valuation of as much as $1 billion, citing as a comparable the $1.2 billion... Investors are tripping over themselves to invest in messaging startups again. Eric, Tom and I...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in India this week. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook in Talks with Peer-to-Peer Lending Sites

By Tom Dotan · Oct 10, 2014 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in India this week. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook in Talks with Peer-to-Peer Lending Sites

By Tom Dotan · Oct 10, 2014 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

As murmurs about Facebook’s plans to offer payment services grow louder, the company has also been setting its sights in a different direction: lending. Facebook has been in talks with peer-to-peer lending services, including Lending Club and Prosper, about integrating a way for Facebook users to get loans into the social network,... As murmurs about Facebook’s plans to offer payment services grow louder, the company has...

H-P CEO Meg Whitman will run the new H-P Enterprise. Photo by Bloomberg.

‘Private Cloud’ is Must-Win for New H-P Enterprise

By Steve Nellis · Oct 9, 2014 1:28pm PDT

After Hewlett-Packard’s big split, the fate of the $51.6-billion-a-year Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will hinge on whether it can make its mark in an emerging battleground in the cloud computing wars: the growing business of private cloud computing. The best-known clouds today are the massive pools of servers owned and rented out by Amazon,... After Hewlett-Packard’s big split, the fate of the $51.6-billion-a-year Hewlett-Packard...

Illustration by Matt Vascellaro.

Q&A

AngelList Founder: ‘Frothy’ Market Puts Burden on Investors

By Eric Newcomer · Oct 9, 2014 7:01am PDT

Naval Ravikant, a serial founder and investor, once sued Benchmark and August Capital for misleading employees about the value of Epinions, a company he co-founded. Since then he’s been poking venture capital firms in the eye another way: He’s making it easier for investors outside the typical VC orbit to invest in Silicon Valley... Naval Ravikant, a serial founder and investor, once sued Benchmark and August Capital for...

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes

Time Warner’s Job Cuts A Sign Of Things To Come

By Martin Peers · Oct 8, 2014 12:13pm PDT

This week’s job cuts at Time Warner’s Turner cable networks division raises the question of whether digital competition is beginning to have the same impact on TV as it’s had on print. The short answer, most likely, is not yet. Despite clouds on the horizon for both TV advertising and the pay TV market, television remains an... This week’s job cuts at Time Warner’s Turner cable networks division raises the...

Google vice president Jamie Rosenberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Considers New App Trial Technology For Android

By Amir Efrati · Oct 8, 2014 7:00am PDT

Google vice president Jamie Rosenberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Considers New App Trial Technology For Android

By Amir Efrati · Oct 8, 2014 7:00am PDT

Google spends enormous resources every year to improve the features of its Android mobile operating software. But one of Android’s key services, the Google Play app store, hasn’t kept up. It looks much the same as it did more than a year ago and faces challenges in helping people find the right apps and getting them to spend money on... Google spends enormous resources every year to improve the features of its Android mobile...

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. Photo by Bloomberg.

Could Mobile Video Finally Rival Cable?

By Martin Peers · Oct 7, 2014 10:01am PDT

Cable television made over-the-air TV redundant. Now, at least one major wireless provider, Verizon Wireless is planning a new kind of over-the-air TV service that runs over cellular networks, with the potential to challenge cable’s hold on the TV industry. The word “potential,” though, is crucial. Verizon has dropped the... Cable television made over-the-air TV redundant. Now, at least one major wireless provider,...

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg has been pitching Atlas. Photo by Bloomberg.

Wary of Facebook, Publishers Wait on Atlas

By Tom Dotan and Eric Newcomer · Oct 7, 2014 7:01am PDT

As Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, took the stage last Monday to unveil the revamped version of its ad-buying platform Atlas, she announced what is widely considered the first credible threat to Google’s display ad dominance. But something was missing: major publishers that Facebook ultimately wants to list... As Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, took the stage last Monday to...

Modest Proposals

How the Sharing Economy Threatens the Traditional Economy

By Sam Lessin · Oct 6, 2014 10:01am PDT · 3 comments

For centuries, technology has been making it easier to make more goods more cheaply, driving up ownership and consumption of everything from TVs to toys. But we’re entering a different era. Technologies that enable us to summon everything from a car to hiking equipment on demand are making access to goods, not the production of them, more... For centuries, technology has been making it easier to make more goods more cheaply, driving up...

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in Germany last month. Photo by Associated Press.

Media Companies: Beware of Netflix’s Global Ambitions

By Martin Peers · Oct 6, 2014 7:01am PDT

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in Germany last month. Photo by Associated Press.

Media Companies: Beware of Netflix’s Global Ambitions

By Martin Peers · Oct 6, 2014 7:01am PDT

Anyone in the entertainment business tracking Netflix’s recent spate of global programming deals might want to consider comments made by cable pioneer John Malone last year. Talking about the need for cable operators to work together to build a national online video outlet, he noted that Netflix’s national presence across the U.S.... Anyone in the entertainment business tracking Netflix’s recent spate of global programming...