By The Numbers

Below is a collection of every By The Numbers article by The Information.
The Information reporting.
By The Numbers

The Cost of Abandoning Contract Workers: An Example

By Tom Dotan · Oct 21, 2014 12:22pm PDT · 1 comment
If anything, the rise of app companies providing on-demand services has been a golden era for the contract worker model. The current group of venture-backed startups that offer consumers an array of services—from rides to house cleaning to food delivery—have all been built on fleets of independent contractors, driving from place to... If anything, the rise of app companies providing on-demand services has been a golden era for the...
Matt Vascellaro
By The Numbers

The Most Potent Patents

By Amir Efrati · Feb 21, 2014 6:38am PST
If your company sends shipping status notifications or posts digital maps online, beware: More lawsuits were filed using patents on those two features than any other patents during the past decade—and with decent success. That’s some of the information that can be gleaned from a database of U.S. patent-litigation... If your company sends shipping status notifications or posts digital maps online, beware: More...
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO. Source: Flickr
By The Numbers

Where Online Users Are Worth the Most

By Katie Benner · Feb 13, 2014 10:25am PST
The conventional wisdom about social networks and the ultra-competitive world of Internet engagement is that upstarts are always on the verge of unseating stalwarts like Yahoo and Google. So The Information compiled metrics about key players to go beyond the top-line numbers. This scorecard paints a more nuanced picture. More... The conventional wisdom about social networks and the ultra-competitive world of Internet...
Max Morse/TechCrunch via Flickr
How Alibaba Helps Yahoo Mask Business Woes
By Amir Efrati · Jan 28, 2014 11:34am PST
Max Morse/TechCrunch via Flickr
By The Numbers

How Alibaba Helps Yahoo Mask Business Woes

By Amir Efrati · Jan 28, 2014 11:34am PST
Alibaba Group Holding, the Chinese e-commerce giant, has done a lot more for Yahoo than boost the company’s stock price by 80% over the past year. Royalties that Alibaba paid to Yahoo for continuing to use the Web brand’s name on some Chinese websites, among other things, also made Yahoo’s deteriorating core business seem... Alibaba Group Holding, the Chinese e-commerce giant, has done a lot more for Yahoo than boost the...
Credit: Matt Vascellaro
By The Numbers

Software Engineers: The Scorecard

By Eric Newcomer · Jan 17, 2014 7:18am PST
Software engineers are high-value, high-priced hires for young technology companies. Many upstarts, therefore, struggle with how many software engineers they should hire and how quickly. Startups are known for having a high percentage of software engineers—and scrambling to compete for the high-caliber... Software engineers are high-value, high-priced hires for young technology companies....
Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com
By The Numbers

VCs Partying Like It's... 2004

By Amir Efrati · Jan 14, 2014 2:38pm PST
The IPO market is signaling that the technology boom has more runway. By several measures, the 2013 IPO market looked like 2004, which saw several big offerings including Google’s. The market held up for several years before the 2008 downturn. The IPO market is signaling that the technology boom has more runway. By several measures, the...
Source: Shutterstock
By The Numbers

Technology’s Profit Picture

By Katie Benner · Jan 7, 2014 3:50pm PST
Profitability became the holy grail for tech investors after the last dotcom collapse, when people got burned for piling into companies that didn’t make a dime, and in some cases didn’t even generate revenue. Analysts proclaimed the sector in the midst of a healthy recovery in the mid-2000s partly because people favored the... Profitability became the holy grail for tech investors after the last dotcom collapse, when...