The Information

Smartphone app Didi Chuxing. Photo by Imaginechina via AP Images.

Didi Chuxing Mulls Layoffs

By Yunan Zhang · Jan 30, 2019 3:37am PST · 4 comments

Ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is considering layoffs as it grapples with tighter regulations that limit its supply of drivers and cars, joining other Chinese tech companies whittling costs amidst the slowest economic growth in three decades.While plans haven’t been finalized and the figures may still change before a decision is made,... Ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is considering layoffs as it grapples with tighter regulations...

Stripe co-founders Patrick Collison and John Collison. Photo by Bloomberg.

Stripe Raises $100 Million at $22.5 Billion Valuation

By Alfred Lee and Amir Efrati · Jan 29, 2019 4:13pm PST · 1 comment

Payments startup Stripe has raised an additional $100 million from Tiger Global Management, boosting the firm’s valuation to $22.5 billion, according to a person close to the company.The fundraising is a follow-on round to a $245 million round led by Tiger Global last year, which valued Stripe at $20 billion. The money will be used for... Payments startup Stripe has raised an additional $100 million from Tiger Global Management,...

VIPKid founder Cindy Mi. Photo by Bloomberg

China’s Online Tutor Startup VIPKid Is Seeking $500 Million at $6 Billion Valuation

By Yunan Zhang · Jan 29, 2019 7:46am PST

China’s online English tutor VIPKid is seeking to raise between $400 million to $500 million at a pre-money valuation of $6 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.If successful, the financing would nearly double the education startup’s value from $3.5 billion just a year ago, after it said it raised about $500 million.... China’s online English tutor VIPKid is seeking to raise between $400 million to $500...

The People to Watch Inside Disney’s Video Streaming Group

By Tom Dotan and Beejoli Shah · Jan 28, 2019 11:34am PST

The People to Watch Inside Disney’s Video Streaming Group

By Tom Dotan and Beejoli Shah · Jan 28, 2019 11:34am PST

Walt Disney Co.’s ambitious plans to reinvent itself for the streaming era has brought with it an equally ambitious rethinking of how the company runs.At the heart of the changes is the newly created direct-to-consumer and international division, which will house Disney’s new streaming services—ESPN+, which has already... Walt Disney Co.’s ambitious plans to reinvent itself for the streaming era has brought with...

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon Changes Tack on Video Offering, as Apple Joins Market

By Jessica Toonkel · Jan 28, 2019 7:00am PST · 2 comments

Amazon looked intent on becoming a powerful player in the streaming video market by allowing people to sign up for a wide variety of services through their Prime Video accounts—so much so that Apple, Roku and potentially Facebook are now copying the company’s approach. But even as competition increases, Amazon is scaling back its... Amazon looked intent on becoming a powerful player in the streaming video market by allowing...

McAfee CEO Chris Young. Photo by Bloomberg

McAfee Lays Off Hundreds, Senior Executives Depart

By Sarah Kuranda · Jan 24, 2019 11:03am PST

McAfee has laid off around 200 employees in the past two weeks, about 4% of its workforce, and eliminated hundreds more open positions, several people familiar with the matter said. At the same time, several senior sales executives, including Bill McAlister, senior vice president of sales for the Americas, have left.The job cuts are the latest... McAfee has laid off around 200 employees in the past two weeks, about 4% of its workforce, and...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Free TV With Ads Is Digital Media’s Old New Idea

By Tom Dotan and Jessica Toonkel · Jan 18, 2019 7:01am PST · 5 comments

Two years ago, streaming-device maker Roku circulated a presentation to partners that showed a school of fish swimming toward an area marked “subscription.” Meanwhile, a lone fish labeled “Roku” was heading away from the group toward an area called “advertising.” The implication: Roku was swimming against the... Two years ago, streaming-device maker Roku circulated a presentation to partners that showed a...

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield at the DLD conference in Berlin in 2017. Photo: AP

Slack’s Financials Ahead of Listing Plans

By Zoë Bernard and Alfred Lee · Jan 15, 2019 10:16am PST

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield at the DLD conference in Berlin in 2017. Photo: AP

Slack’s Financials Ahead of Listing Plans

By Zoë Bernard and Alfred Lee · Jan 15, 2019 10:16am PST

The news that Slack wants to go public through a highly unconventional direct listing, in which it doesn’t sell new shares to raise money, has come as a surprise to some. But the messaging startup has built a strong enough cash position to pull it off, according to financial documents viewed by The Information and a person familiar with... The news that Slack wants to go public through a highly unconventional direct listing, in which...

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. Photo by Bloomberg.

To Stream or Not: How Comcast’s Wavering on Streaming Left an Opening for Netflix

By Jessica Toonkel · Jan 15, 2019 7:01am PST

Last January, at drinks before an offsite for NBCUniversal’s digital executives in New York City, someone asked NBCU CEO Steve Burke when the Comcast-owned entertainment company was going to launch a service to compete with Netflix, according to a person who was there.Mr. Burke went through an analysis of how much it would cost to compete... Last January, at drinks before an offsite for NBCUniversal’s digital executives in New York...

Photo: Katerra

SoftBank Plans Another Big Investment in Construction Startup

By Cory Weinberg and Alfred Lee · Jan 14, 2019 7:26pm PST

SoftBank’s Vision Fund plans to double down on Katerra, a startup run by electronics industry veterans trying to build apartments and hotels faster and cheaper than traditional construction firms. The massive fund is expected to lead a $700 million round of financing that would value Katerra at more than $4 billion, up slightly from its... SoftBank’s Vision Fund plans to double down on Katerra, a startup run by electronics...

Didi Reshuffles Amid Domestic Pressure

By Yunan Zhang · Jan 14, 2019 10:01am PST

Didi Chuxing is restructuring for the second time in a year, placing new emphasis on safety and user experience to jump-start domestic growth in its ride-hailing business.The management changes, which include a new chief safety officer and a new chief customer officer, come after two passengers were killed in separate incidents in China last... Didi Chuxing is restructuring for the second time in a year, placing new emphasis on safety and...

Viacom CEO Bob Bakish. Photo by Bloomberg

Viacom Looks to Buy Ad-Supported Streaming Service

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Jan 11, 2019 12:52pm PST

Viacom CEO Bob Bakish. Photo by Bloomberg

Viacom Looks to Buy Ad-Supported Streaming Service

By Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan · Jan 11, 2019 12:52pm PST

Nearly every major media company in recent years has launched video streaming services that cost viewers a few dollars a month and don't carry ads, looking to compete with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. Viacom, owner of MTV and Nickelodeon, wants to expand in a different part of the market—free, ad-supported streaming video.Viacom in... Nearly every major media company in recent years has launched video streaming services that cost...

An Amazon game controller. Photo by Bloomberg

Amazon Developing Game Streaming Service

By Jessica Toonkel and Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 10, 2019 10:48am PST · 5 comments

Amazon is developing a service for streaming videogames over the internet, joining Microsoft, Google and other companies that are building similar offerings in what could be an important new battleground in online entertainment, two people briefed on the plans said. Streaming services represent a potentially significant shift in the... Amazon is developing a service for streaming videogames over the internet, joining Microsoft,...

Go-Jek motorcycle taxi drivers and passengers travel through traffic in Jakarta. Photo: Bloomberg

Go-Jek to Buy Stake in JD.com’s Indonesian E-Commerce Business

By Juro Osawa · Jan 8, 2019 7:00am PST

Chinese online retail giant JD.com is trying to expand its business in Indonesia by deepening its alliance with local startup Go-Jek. Go-Jek, whose app offers ride-hailing, food delivery and other services, plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in JD.com’s Indonesian e-commerce joint venture, a person familiar with the matter... Chinese online retail giant JD.com is trying to expand its business in Indonesia by deepening its...

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photo by Bloomberg

What We Learned From Uber’s Confidential 2018 Offering Documents

By Amir Efrati · Jan 7, 2019 7:01am PST

Confidential documents provided by Uber to potential creditors and bond investors in March and October of 2018 provide insights into how the company will tell its story to public market investors ahead of its IPO this year.While the detailed financial projections look rosy (see related article here), there are both good and bad signals... Confidential documents provided by Uber to potential creditors and bond investors in March and...

Customers picking up prescriptions at a pharmacy in Yichang, central China's Hubei province, in 2014. Photo by AP

How Hillhouse Hopes to Build China’s CVS

By Yunan Zhang · Dec 24, 2018 10:01am PST

Customers picking up prescriptions at a pharmacy in Yichang, central China's Hubei province, in 2014. Photo by AP

How Hillhouse Hopes to Build China’s CVS

By Yunan Zhang · Dec 24, 2018 10:01am PST

Hillhouse Capital Group, one of China’s most prominent investment firms and an early backer of Chinese tech giants such as Tencent and Meituan, has lately tried to buy up pet care firms, hospitals and shoe stores. Now it is targeting pharmacies.In the past year, Hillhouse has invested $1 billion in more than 40 retail pharmacy chains,... Hillhouse Capital Group, one of China’s most prominent investment firms and an early backer...

A Waymo autonomous vehicle in Chandler, Ariz., in July. Photo by Bloomberg

Troubled Waymo Worker Shows Human Problems Continue

By Amir Efrati · Dec 20, 2018 10:03am PST · 2 comments

When Waymo tests its self-driving car prototypes on public roads, teams of workers sit inside control rooms remotely monitoring their every move. Some of these workers—Waymo calls them “guardian angels”—are ready to push buttons that bring vehicles to a halt when safety concerns arise.For five months in 2018 though, Waymo... When Waymo tests its self-driving car prototypes on public roads, teams of workers sit inside...

Neil Shen. Photo by AP

How Sequoia’s Neil Shen Built a China Powerhouse

By Juro Osawa · Dec 20, 2018 7:01am PST · 1 comment

In 2004, the two senior partners at Sequoia Capital, Michael Moritz and Doug Leone, were looking for new long-term opportunities outside the U.S., and they zeroed in on China as the first target.“Back then, a lot of people were flying in, doing deals and flying out. We knew that was the wrong model,” Mr. Leone said in an interview.... In 2004, the two senior partners at Sequoia Capital, Michael Moritz and Doug Leone, were looking...

Mike Sullivan

At Ring’s R&D Team, Security Gaps and Rookie Engineers

By Matt Drange and Reed Albergotti · Dec 19, 2018 7:01am PST · 5 comments

Jamie Siminoff had flown to frigid Kiev, Ukraine, to give a pep talk to the roughly 30 people who worked there for his fast-growing video doorbell startup, Ring. It was December 2016, and the Santa Monica, Calif., company had recently opened a satellite office in Ukraine to develop products that would use artificial intelligence and motion... Jamie Siminoff had flown to frigid Kiev, Ukraine, to give a pep talk to the roughly 30 people who...

Lyric manages high-end rentals for short stays in Chicago, above, and a dozen other cities. Photo: Shutterstock

Airbnb in Talks to Lead Property Startup’s $75 Million Fundraising

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 18, 2018 2:15pm PST · 1 comment

Lyric manages high-end rentals for short stays in Chicago, above, and a dozen other cities. Photo: Shutterstock

Airbnb in Talks to Lead Property Startup’s $75 Million Fundraising

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 18, 2018 2:15pm PST · 1 comment

Airbnb is expected to lead a group of investors that would put about $75 million into Lyric, a startup that turns new apartment buildings into hotel-like properties for business travelers, people familiar with the matter said. The anticipated investment would be one of Airbnb’s most significant bets on professionally managed rentals.Lyric... Airbnb is expected to lead a group of investors that would put about $75 million into Lyric, a...