The Information

Axios co-founder Mike Allen. Photo by Bloomberg

Axios Joins Media Push Into Software With Newsletter Product

By Jessica Toonkel · Aug 15, 2019 11:13am PDT · 2 comments

Digital media publisher Axios is planning to enter a new business that includes selling software for helping companies create newsletters for their employees. The move comes at a moment when more media businesses are seeking to diversify their revenue through software sales.Axios wants to sell the software, which it is beta testing, to... Digital media publisher Axios is planning to enter a new business that includes selling software...

Bungalow CEO Andrew Collins, left, and Keith Rabois, now general partner at Founders Fund, in 2018. Photo: Bloomberg

Housing Startup Eyes Valuation Over $100 Million With New Round

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 15, 2019 10:01am PDT · 1 comment

A host of startups have sought to build residential housing’s answer to office giant WeWork: a modern property manager that offers flexible leases and a friendly atmosphere for residents. One of the tech industry’s most prominent investment firms is backing a newer entrant to the field, even as the concept as a whole has struggled to... A host of startups have sought to build residential housing’s answer to office giant...

Toptal CEO, Taso Du Val. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Flickr

At Booming Toptal, No Stock for Employees or Investors

By Ross Matican and Amir Efrati · Aug 15, 2019 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

Toptal, a service that connects companies with freelance software engineers, is a Silicon Valley success story. Founded in 2010, it soon attracted funding from well-known investors including Andreessen Horowitz and hired scores of employees who were promised stock if things went well and the company raised more money.And things did go well. So... Toptal, a service that connects companies with freelance software engineers, is a Silicon Valley...

Ben Kaufman, BuzzFeed CMO. Photo by Bloomberg.

BuzzFeed Chief Marketing Officer to Step Down

By Jessica Toonkel and Beejoli Shah · Aug 14, 2019 3:41pm PDT

Ben Kaufman, BuzzFeed CMO. Photo by Bloomberg.

BuzzFeed Chief Marketing Officer to Step Down

By Jessica Toonkel and Beejoli Shah · Aug 14, 2019 3:41pm PDT

BuzzFeed Chief Marketing Officer and commerce leader Ben Kaufman is stepping down from his position at the end of the year, a move that comes at a delicate time for the digital media company as it seeks to boost revenue and return to profit. Like many of its peers, BuzzFeed has been looking for new sources of revenue, after relying too... BuzzFeed Chief Marketing Officer and commerce leader Ben Kaufman is stepping down from his...

Postmates CEO Bastian Lehmann. Photo by Bloomberg

Postmates Ad Spending Surges Ahead of IPO

By Priya Anand · Aug 14, 2019 7:00am PDT

When Postmates raised $300 million last September—roughly five months before the company filed confidential paperwork with regulators to go public—the meal delivery startup’s CEO Bastian Lehmann pledged to use the money to grow faster. Sure enough, Postmates hit the gas pedal on advertising, one of its primary tools for... When Postmates raised $300 million last September—roughly five months before the company...

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Photos by Bloomberg

Apple, Spotify Discuss Siri Truce, as Antitrust Battle Looms

By Aaron Tilley and Jessica Toonkel · Aug 13, 2019 10:09am PDT

An issue that has long vexed many iPhone users—the inability to play music from Spotify using Siri, Apple’s voice assistant—may soon be a thing of the past.Spotify, the world’s most popular streaming service, is currently discussing a plan with Apple to let iPhone users tell Siri to play songs, playlists and albums with... An issue that has long vexed many iPhone users—the inability to play music from Spotify...

Disney's Kevin Mayer. Photo by AP.

Disney Stumbles in Ad Sales Shift

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Aug 13, 2019 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Two years ago, Walt Disney Co. decided to unify the ad sales operations of most of its TV networks and websites. The idea was to make it easier for advertisers to buy spots across all Disney properties.But the transition didn’t go smoothly, as Disney struggled to integrate new technology. The episode, which hasn’t previously been... Two years ago, Walt Disney Co. decided to unify the ad sales operations of most of its TV...

Bing Gordon. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon’s Secret Weapon in Gaming: EA Veteran Bing Gordon

By Priya Anand · Aug 7, 2019 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Bing Gordon. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon’s Secret Weapon in Gaming: EA Veteran Bing Gordon

By Priya Anand · Aug 7, 2019 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

Amazon has assembled all the pieces necessary to become a force in the video game industry. And to help put those pieces together, Amazon has turned to video game veteran Bing Gordon.Gordon, a former Amazon board director who is best known for helping build video-game maker Electronic Arts into one of the industry’s dominant companies, has... Amazon has assembled all the pieces necessary to become a force in the video game industry. And...

Illustration by Josh Brill

Facebook Hit by Apple’s Crackdown on Messaging Feature

By Aaron Tilley · Aug 6, 2019 10:35am PDT · 1 comment

Apple is taking a swipe at Facebook and other messaging apps by making a small but significant change to its mobile operating system. The change will restrict a feature that apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp used to make voice calls over the internet. Right now, the calling feature in these apps runs in the background even when... Apple is taking a swipe at Facebook and other messaging apps by making a small but significant...

Kevin Reilly, HBO Max's Chief Content Officer, at a briefing for TV reporters earlier this year. Photo by AP

HBO Max’s First Drama: Its Name

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Aug 6, 2019 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

WarnerMedia’s HBO used to market itself with the tagline “It’s not TV. It’s HBO.” to signal that the premium cable channel, known for such hits as “The Sopranos” and “Game of Thrones,” was special. But the company’s forthcoming streaming service, HBO Max, faces a more complicated... WarnerMedia’s HBO used to market itself with the tagline “It’s not TV....

Travis Kalanick. Photo by Bloomberg

Uber Chairman Warns Directors of Duties as Kalanick Hires Uber Staff

By Amir Efrati · Aug 5, 2019 2:39pm PDT · 3 comments

Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick lately has gone on a hiring spree to staff his latest startup, CloudKitchens—snapping up at least four senior engineers from Uber. And that appears to have sparked an unusual warning from Uber Chairman Ron Sugar at the company’s latest board meeting two weeks ago.Mr. Sugar told his fellow... Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick lately has gone on a hiring spree to staff his latest startup,...

Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz, center, and Kevin Hartz, right center, her husband and company chairman, celebrate as she rings the New York Stock Exchange opening bell, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018, to mark the company's IPO. Photo by AP.

Inside ‘Briteland’: Stalled Growth and Slumping Morale at Eventbrite

By Matt Drange · Aug 5, 2019 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz, center, and Kevin Hartz, right center, her husband and company chairman, celebrate as she rings the New York Stock Exchange opening bell, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018, to mark the company's IPO. Photo by AP.

Inside ‘Briteland’: Stalled Growth and Slumping Morale at Eventbrite

By Matt Drange · Aug 5, 2019 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

In mid-January, Eventbrite co-founder and CEO Julia Hartz gathered staff at the company’s San Francisco headquarters to lay out her strategy for the year ahead. A few months removed from the excitement of going public, Ms. Hartz described ambitious plans to expand into dozens of overseas markets and grow faster in existing ones.But these... In mid-January, Eventbrite co-founder and CEO Julia Hartz gathered staff at the company’s...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook to Add Its Name to Instagram, WhatsApp

By Alex Heath · Aug 2, 2019 2:46pm PDT · 7 comments

In a big shift, Facebook plans to signal its control of Instagram and WhatsApp by adding its name to both apps, according to three people familiar with the matter. The social network will rebrand the apps to “Instagram from Facebook” and “WhatsApp from Facebook,” the people said.Employees for the apps were recently... In a big shift, Facebook plans to signal its control of Instagram and WhatsApp by adding its name...

Thomas Laffont and Dan Rose of Coatue. Photo by Erin Beach.

In Ambitious Gamble, Hedge Fund Coatue Launches $700 Million Early-Stage Venture Fund

By Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 1, 2019 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

In 1999, Philippe Laffont opened a small tech hedge fund called Coatue that withstood the dot-com bust, thanks to smart investments in companies like Tencent and Apple. Today, he is one of the industry’s hottest managers—with $17 billion under management. Now, Mr. Laffont and his brother Thomas are making another big bet: a $700... In 1999, Philippe Laffont opened a small tech hedge fund called Coatue that withstood the dot-com...

Stacey Lysik speaking at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference early last month. Photo by AP.

Apple’s ‘Bug Wrangler’ Moves to AR Team

By Aaron Tilley · Jul 31, 2019 11:01am PDT

Apple has moved a high-profile software executive into the company’s secretive augmented reality team, a shift seen internally as intended to bring some order to the team developing a long-anticipated AR headset. Kim Vorrath, who led program management in the software team for more than 15 years, has moved over to the team headed by Mike... Apple has moved a high-profile software executive into the company’s secretive augmented...

Facebook's Portal device. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook Approached Netflix, Disney to Support TV Chat Device

By Alex Heath · Jul 31, 2019 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Facebook's Portal device. Photo by Bloomberg

Facebook Approached Netflix, Disney to Support TV Chat Device

By Alex Heath · Jul 31, 2019 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Facebook has approached Netflix, Disney and other media companies about putting their streaming services on a new Facebook device for making video calls from televisions, The Information has learned. The device, which Facebook is aiming to release this fall, will use the same video-calling technology that is in Facebook’s... Facebook has approached Netflix, Disney and other media companies about putting their streaming...

Illustration by Shutterstock

Website Builder Webflow to Exceed $200 Million Valuation in New Funding

By Amir Efrati · Jul 30, 2019 10:01am PDT · 2 comments

Website-design software maker Webflow is expected to raise at least $20 million in new funding led by venture firm Accel at a pre-investment valuation of more than $200 million, according to a person briefed on the deal.Initially backed by startup fund Y Combinator, Webflow is one of a class of software companies that develops tools to help... Website-design software maker Webflow is expected to raise at least $20 million in new funding...

Huawei's consumer electronics chief Richard Yu. Photo by Bloomberg

Huawei and Google Were Working On New Smart Speaker Before Trump’s Ban

By Juro Osawa · Jul 29, 2019 10:01am PDT · 1 comment

China’s Huawei and Google were working together on a new Huawei-branded smart speaker right before President Donald Trump restricted Huawei’s access to U.S. tech suppliers, say people familiar with the situation. The collaboration, which was suspended in May, shows that the companies were even closer than previously understood.Before... China’s Huawei and Google were working together on a new Huawei-branded smart speaker right...

Scale CEO Alexandr Wang. Photo by Erin Beach

Supplier to Self-Driving Car Makers Nears Financing at $1 Billion Valuation

By Zoë Bernard and Amir Efrati · Jul 25, 2019 11:18am PDT

Driverless cars may be years away from being practical, but a key independent supplier of software to the self-driving vehicle industry, Scale, is having a breakout moment with investors as its business booms. The company is nearing the completion of a new round of financing led by Founders Fund, the venture firm co-founded by... Driverless cars may be years away from being practical, but a key independent supplier of...

Amazon Studios Chief Jennifer Salke. Photo by AP

Inside Amazon’s Struggles to Make its Mark in Hollywood

By Beejoli Shah and Tom Dotan · Jul 25, 2019 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Amazon Studios Chief Jennifer Salke. Photo by AP

Inside Amazon’s Struggles to Make its Mark in Hollywood

By Beejoli Shah and Tom Dotan · Jul 25, 2019 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Earlier this year, two senior executives in Amazon’s TV business, Vernon Sanders and Albert Cheng, gathered the division’s top television staffers and delivered some difficult news: Amazon Studios had committed most of its budget for 2019, and no new projects could start unless existing projects were delayed or canceled, according to... Earlier this year, two senior executives in Amazon’s TV business, Vernon Sanders and Albert...