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

VC is Getting Disrupted, But Not Democratized

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 16, 2015 8:16am PDT · 1 comment

There’s an idea floating around that venture capital is getting more open and accessible. People point to the rise of crowdfunding platforms like AngelList and relatively recent legislation like the Jobs Act and predict that it is only a matter of time before the Internet will allow anyone to become the next John Doerr. There’s an idea floating around that venture capital is getting more open and accessible. ...

Evan Spiegel. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.

Snapchat’s Twitter Problem

By Tom Dotan · Oct 15, 2015 10:06am PDT · 1 comment

Is Snapchat destined to become more like Facebook or Twitter? That is to say, can it become a service that will be used by 1.4 billion people, like Facebook, and have a market capitalization of $262 billion? Or will it be stuck at around 300 million deeply-engaged users and a market capitalization of $20 billion, not much above Snapchat’s... Is Snapchat destined to become more like Facebook or Twitter? That is to say, can it become a...

Pure Storage CEO Scott Dietzen. Photo by Bloomberg.

How Pure Storage Investors and Executives Are Coming Out Ahead

By Alfred Lee · Oct 15, 2015 7:06am PDT

Few people will remember Pure Storage’s public market debut as a happy occasion. The stock ended up below its initial public offering price, putting a value on the company below its last fundraising round, although it has rallied a bit since.But even at Pure Storage’s lowest point last week, most of the investors including some... Few people will remember Pure Storage’s public market debut as a happy occasion. The stock...

The Information subscribers at this year's Subscriber Summit in San Francisco.

A Unique Job Opportunity at The Information

By The Information Staff · Oct 14, 2015 5:10pm PDT

The Information subscribers at this year's Subscriber Summit in San Francisco.

A Unique Job Opportunity at The Information

By The Information Staff · Oct 14, 2015 5:10pm PDT

The Information has a big mission: to build the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal of the digital era, backed by quality reporting that puts readers, not advertisers, first.In the digital news universe, subscription businesses get a bad rap. But we believe they are the most powerful way to deliver quality journalism to engaged readers... The Information has a big mission: to build the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal of the...

Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Photo by Bloomberg.

Jack Dorsey is Squarely in Control

By Martin Peers · Oct 14, 2015 3:20pm PDT

With his second startup, Square, Jack Dorsey appears to have learned an important lesson from his Twitter experience: It's vital to retain effective voting control.Mr. Dorsey has 24.4% of Square’s voting shares, the company disclosed in its initial public offering securities filing on Wednesday. That doesn’t sound like a lot,... With his second startup, Square, Jack Dorsey appears to have learned an important lesson from his...

Chamath Palihapitiya, left, Ali Rowghani, center and Lauren Gross, right. Photo by Erin Beach.

Subscriber Summit

The Rise of the Quasi-VC Firm (Full Subscriber Summit Interview)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 14, 2015 10:12am PDT

Startups lack discipline, late-stage investors can be a double-edged sword and a new breed of VCs are pursuing very different corporate structures. Those were some of the takeaways from our fiery panel with three non-traditional venture capitalists: Founders Fund Chief Operating Officer Lauren Gross, Social Capital founder Chamath... Startups lack discipline, late-stage investors can be a double-edged sword and a new breed of VCs...

Mattermark CEO Danielle Morrill. Photo by Erin Beach.

Subscriber Summit

Watch Mattermark’s Danielle Morrill Share Data on Private Tech (Video)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 14, 2015 10:09am PDT

At our Subscriber Summit, Mattermark CEO Danielle Morrill presented some revealing data about the private tech markets, including numbers on the drop off in seed funding and the amount of capital looking for follow-on rounds. You can read about the findings here and see the full presentation in the video below. At our Subscriber Summit, Mattermark CEO Danielle Morrill presented some revealing data about the...

Nate Blecharczyk, left, Parker Conrad, center and Amir Efrati, right. Photo by Erin Beach.

Full Interview with Zenefit’s Parker Conrad and Airbnb’s Nate Blecharczyk (Video)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 14, 2015 10:09am PDT

Nate Blecharczyk, left, Parker Conrad, center and Amir Efrati, right. Photo by Erin Beach.

Subscriber Summit

Full Interview with Zenefit’s Parker Conrad and Airbnb’s Nate Blecharczyk (Video)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 14, 2015 10:09am PDT

On the heels of big funding rounds, Zenefits's Parker Conrad and Airbnb's Nate Blecharczyk discuss their strategies for the war chests they've raised, among other topics, with The Information's Amir Efrati. Check out the video below. On the heels of big funding rounds, Zenefits's Parker Conrad and Airbnb's Nate...

TPG's Jim Coulter. Photo by Erin Beach.

Subscriber Summit

Watch Our Full Interview with TPG CEO Jim Coulter (Video)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 14, 2015 10:08am PDT

In a wide-ranging interview, TPG CEO Jim Coulter discusses what differentiates tech deals TPG will and won't do, Silicon Valley's branding problem and what Airbnb, Uber and others have in common with Ford and General Motors. Check out the video below. In a wide-ranging interview, TPG CEO Jim Coulter discusses what differentiates tech deals TPG...

Blu Products CEO Samuel Ohev-Zion. Photo courtesy of Blu.

Is This the Future of Android?

By Amir Efrati · Oct 13, 2015 6:09pm PDT · 5 comments

The rapidly changing smartphone market is playing right into the hands of people like Sammy Ohev-Zion, CEO of Blu Products.The six-year-old smartphone brand, which is based in Miami and stands for “Bold Like Us,” next month will sell a $129 model that basically has the same components as Motorola’s best-selling phone, the Moto... The rapidly changing smartphone market is playing right into the hands of people like Sammy...

Salesforce.com Chief Operating Officer George Hu. Photo by Jakub Mosur.

Salesforce Exec to Launch HR Startup

By Steve Nellis · Oct 13, 2015 12:11pm PDT

George Hu, the chief operating officer of Salesforce.com, is planning to launch a human resources startup by year’s end, according to a person briefed on the product.The company appears to be Peer.com, an anonymous peer-feedback service, according to a person familiar with the matter and company documents. David Schellhase, the former... George Hu, the chief operating officer of Salesforce.com, is planning to launch a human resources...

Source: SEC Filings

A Rare Look at Small Investor Deals in Private Tech

By Alfred Lee and Peter Schulz · Oct 13, 2015 7:06am PDT · 2 comments

Source: SEC Filings

A Rare Look at Small Investor Deals in Private Tech

By Alfred Lee and Peter Schulz · Oct 13, 2015 7:06am PDT · 2 comments

For all the growth of mutual funds and other public-market investors in private tech, one class of investors finds it hard to get access to the market: ordinary individuals. That’s thanks to steps private companies have taken in recent years to clamp down on trading in the secondary market for their stock, frequently bringing in... For all the growth of mutual funds and other public-market investors in private tech, one class...

Michael Dell. Photo by Bloomberg.

With EMC Deal, Dell Aims to Compete with AWS

By Steve Nellis · Oct 12, 2015 2:26pm PDT

Michael Dell is taking on the public cloud.His company's $67 billion offer to buy EMC, disclosed Monday, has a lot of moving parts. But the thrust is simple. He wants to slow the trend of big companies defecting en masse to public cloud providers—which mostly means Amazon Web Services—instead of building private clouds in their... Michael Dell is taking on the public cloud.His company's $67 billion offer to buy EMC,...

Art by Sam Lessin.

Modest Proposals

Why It’s Hard to Fix Failing Tech Cos.

By Sam Lessin · Oct 12, 2015 7:06am PDT · 3 comments

From time to time, I have a conversation with someone—usually from New York—about how to “fix” a Web-based company that seems to have lost its way. For years these conversations were about Yahoo, or more recently Twitter. I suspect the same conversation will soon be about some faltering private “unicorns.”My... From time to time, I have a conversation with someone—usually from New York—about how...

The Weekly Digest

The Information You Missed

By The Information Staff · Oct 10, 2015 8:06am PDT

Good Morning!We’re unclear how so many tech events were squeezed into this past week, from Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit to Re/Code Mobile to AWS re:Invent. It’s been a busy few days.We hope you had a chance to check out our Future List, a ranking of more than 70 VC firms accompanied by a characteristically fiery op-ed... Good Morning!We’re unclear how so many tech events were squeezed into this past week, from...

The Information’s 411 — Fleet Week

By Tom Dotan · Oct 9, 2015 8:42pm PDT · 1 comment

The Information's 411

The Information’s 411 — Fleet Week

By Tom Dotan · Oct 9, 2015 8:42pm PDT · 1 comment

This was a busy week for the tech industry in San Francisco.It started with the official announcement that Jack Dorsey will be the permanent CEO of Twitter. Soon after was the Vanity Fair party—the annual, if slightly uncomfortable, social mixing of tech titans and Hollywood moguls. And it ended with Fleet Week and the majestic sonic booms... This was a busy week for the tech industry in San Francisco.It started with the official...

TPG's Jim Coulter at the Summit. Photo by Erin Beach.

Summaries from the Summit

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 9, 2015 8:22am PDT

Towards the beginning of Thursday’s Subscriber Summit in San Francisco, TPG’s founding partner Jim Coulter asserted that Silicon Valley has a naming issue.“We have a real branding problem,” he said. “For starters, there’s not much actual silicon any more..and companies are increasingly migrating about 40 miles... Towards the beginning of Thursday’s Subscriber Summit in San Francisco, TPG’s...

At the "What's a Media Company" roundtable. Photo by Tom Dotan.

Subscriber Summit

Lessons From Failed On-Demand Startups

By Amir Efrati · Oct 8, 2015 7:19pm PDT

On-demand-service apps like Instacart and Sprig are among the most divisive startups in the venture industry, in terms of whether their economic models will work.To figure out the right framework for analyzing such private companies, The Information’s first annual subscriber summit included a roundtable discussion with Ryan Sarver of... On-demand-service apps like Instacart and Sprig are among the most divisive startups in the...

Nate Blecharczyk, left, Parker Conrad, center and Amir Efrati, right. Photo by Erin Beach.

Subscriber Summit

Unicorn CEOs on Board Diversity and Cash

By Tom Dotan · Oct 8, 2015 7:07pm PDT · 1 comment

At a time when money is plentiful, the question for the well-bred unicorn is whether it’s prudent to raise money when you don’t really need it.The co-founders of Airbnb and Zenefits—two companies with multibillion valuations—differ on their approaches. As Airbnb’s Nathan Blecharczyk explained, there’s nothing... At a time when money is plentiful, the question for the well-bred unicorn is whether it’s...

Mattermark's Danielle Morrill. Photo by Erin Beach.

The Changing Numbers Behind Private Tech Finance

By Alfred Lee · Oct 8, 2015 6:57pm PDT

Mattermark's Danielle Morrill. Photo by Erin Beach.

Subscriber Summit

The Changing Numbers Behind Private Tech Finance

By Alfred Lee · Oct 8, 2015 6:57pm PDT

The opaque and scattered nature of private tech financing means anecdotal evidence becomes conventional wisdom. Danielle Morrill, CEO and co-founder of business intelligence company Mattermark, used data to refute some commonly held perceptions and confirm others.Mattermark estimates that a total of $199 billion in venture capital money is... The opaque and scattered nature of private tech financing means anecdotal evidence becomes...