The Information

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside Apple’s Cloud Infrastructure Troubles

By Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · Mar 23, 2016 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

Apple’s move to tap Google to handle parts of its iCloud traffic is a sign that the Cupertino company has failed to build its own cloud infrastructure despite years of work, say people with knowledge of the situation. The company is still years away from being able to completely leave its existing cloud vendors, which also include Amazon... Apple’s move to tap Google to handle parts of its iCloud traffic is a sign that the...

Marissa Mayer. Photo by Bloomberg

Yahoo, Facebook in Ad Partnership Talks Over Tumblr

By Amir Efrati · Mar 18, 2016 11:23am PDT · 2 comments

Yahoo is considering letting Facebook sell ads within the Tumblr mobile app, splitting the revenue with Yahoo, in hopes of getting more ad revenue from the microblogging network, say people at both companies. Yahoo has been looking for ways to improve Tumblr's ad performance. Right now, only around 10% to 15% of Tumblr’s available... Yahoo is considering letting Facebook sell ads within the Tumblr mobile app, splitting the...

Pete Cashmore. Photo by Bloomberg.

Time Warner Investing More in Mashable

By Tom Dotan · Mar 17, 2016 3:02pm PDT

Time Warner is pumping more money into Mashable, a millennial-focused tech and pop culture news site, according to two people familiar with the matter.The site has been on and off the market for several years and has been in acquisition discussions with Time Warner more than once, including late last year. Those discussions don't appear to... Time Warner is pumping more money into Mashable, a millennial-focused tech and pop culture news...

Evan Spiegel, left. Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Image.

Loyalty Pays Off for Snapchat Employees

By Tom Dotan · Mar 17, 2016 7:02am PDT · 5 comments

Evan Spiegel, left. Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Image.

Loyalty Pays Off for Snapchat Employees

By Tom Dotan · Mar 17, 2016 7:02am PDT · 5 comments

For Snapchat employees hoping to cash in on the startup’s $16 billion valuation, the company has offered them a firm message: don’t go anywhere.In a departure from the norm, Snapchat makes employees wait until the third and fourth year of employment for the bulk of their stock compensation to vest, say former employees and attorneys... For Snapchat employees hoping to cash in on the startup’s $16 billion valuation, the...

San Francisco City Hall. Photo by Flickr/Ken Lund.

How Telegram Offers Way Around Public Records Laws

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 16, 2016 3:20pm PDT · 1 comment

Here’s a new twist on governments’ tussles with technology companies over privacy: San Francisco legislators are using the ephemeral messaging app Telegram, which could allow them to sidestep public record disclosure laws.Several elected members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors are active users of the app, along with... Here’s a new twist on governments’ tussles with technology companies over privacy:...

A scene from "Clevver Now," a Defy Media show on go90. Photo by Defy Media.

Verizon’s Costly go90 Ad Spending Plans

By Amir Efrati and Tom Dotan · Mar 16, 2016 7:00am PDT

Verizon Communications planned to spend nearly $30 million to drive two million downloads of go90, its “mobile TV network” app, in the months before and after its launch last fall, according to a confidential marketing plan reviewed by The Information. On a per download basis, the marketing cost would be many times the amount paid by... Verizon Communications planned to spend nearly $30 million to drive two million downloads of...

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield. Photo by Bloomberg.

Slack in Talks with Thrive Capital

By Steve Nellis and Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 8, 2016 4:48pm PST · 2 comments

Thrive Capital is in talks to take a big piece of Slack’s next funding round, according to people familiar with the situation.Slack could raise between $200 million to $250 million at a $3.6 billion pre-money valuation, according to a person briefed on the conversations. The talks remain ongoing and fluid. Thrive Capital is in talks to take a big piece of Slack’s next funding round, according to...

Photo by Flickr/Kansir.

Former Samsung Execs Headed to China’s LeEco

By Amir Efrati and Tom Dotan · Mar 8, 2016 11:43am PST

Photo by Flickr/Kansir.

Former Samsung Execs Headed to China’s LeEco

By Amir Efrati and Tom Dotan · Mar 8, 2016 11:43am PST

Two former Samsung executives in the U.S. are expected to join Chinese video streaming service and electronics manufacturer LeEco, previously known as LeTV, according to people familiar with the matter. Their hirings are part of a push by LeEco, sometimes called the Netflix of China, to establish a bigger presence in the U.S.The two are... Two former Samsung executives in the U.S. are expected to join Chinese video streaming service...

Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Pulls Plug on Ad Software

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 7, 2016 7:01am PST

Last year, Facebook tested software that would represent a bold expansion of its display ads business beyond its own inventory, a move potentially worth billions in revenue. Using a demand-side platform, or a DSP, marketers would be able to use Facebook users’ identity data to bid on ad slots across the mobile and desktop Internet in real... Last year, Facebook tested software that would represent a bold expansion of its display ads...

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston. Photo by Bloomberg.

Dropbox Mulls a Chat “Workspace”

By Steve Nellis · Mar 2, 2016 11:36am PST

Dropbox is working on a chat product, according to two people the company told about it.The product is likely to be a “workspace” where teams of people can collaborate on items stored in the main Dropbox application. It isn’t likely to take on chat programs like Slack and Yammer directly.The project has been in the works... Dropbox is working on a chat product, according to two people the company told about it.The...

Source: The Information Research. Chart by Peter Schulz.

Comparing Common Stock Valuations in Private Tech

By Alfred Lee · Feb 29, 2016 7:02am PST · 3 comments

Disclosures with California state regulators by several private tech firms have opened a window on one of tech’s best kept secrets: the precise 409A valuation put on their common stock and how close that number is to the value of preferred shares issued in fundraisings.A review by The Information of private tech filings shows a wide... Disclosures with California state regulators by several private tech firms have opened a window...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Hertz Investing in Luxe

By Amir Efrati · Feb 26, 2016 11:20am PST · 2 comments

Photo by Bloomberg.

Hertz Investing in Luxe

By Amir Efrati · Feb 26, 2016 11:20am PST · 2 comments

Luxe, an on-demand parking startup, is raising tens of millions of dollars at a more than $100 million pre-money valuation. The Series B round is expected to be led by a strategic investor, Hertz, one of the country's top car-rental companies whose parent firm is worth $3.8 billion in the public market, according to people familiar with the... Luxe, an on-demand parking startup, is raising tens of millions of dollars at a more than $100...

Mark Zuckerberg at this week's Mobile World Congress. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside Zuckerberg’s New Plan to Woo Telecom CEOs

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 24, 2016 11:39am PST

BARCELONA—At a private dinner here Tuesday night, Mark Zuckerberg was frank with about ten CEOs from global phone companies sitting around the table: India’s ban of Facebook’s Free Basics mobile app was a big setback and a significant moment for a company not accustomed to regulatory blowback. Facebook’s CEO then turned... BARCELONA—At a private dinner here Tuesday night, Mark Zuckerberg was frank with about ten...

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. Photo by Bloomberg.

The True Value of Yahoo Finance

By Amir Efrati · Feb 18, 2016 3:07pm PST · 4 comments

As potential buyers look at Yahoo’s assets, they may come to view Yahoo Finance as representing a meaningful percentage of the company’s enterprise value.Even as traffic to some of Yahoo’s core products has declined meaningfully in the past year, Yahoo Finance seems to be holding steady, internal data show. As potential buyers look at Yahoo’s assets, they may come to view Yahoo Finance as...

Salesforce's Tod Nielsen. Photo by Flickr/Luke Kilpatrick.

Salesforce’s Platform Chief to Depart

By Steve Nellis · Feb 17, 2016 4:15pm PST

Tod Nielsen, the Salesforce.com executive vice president who oversees the Heroku and Force.com app-building platforms, is leaving the company at the end of March, he confirmed.His departure could be a sign that Salesforce is rethinking its strategy towards Heroku and Force.com. Salesforce has struggled for years to harmonize the two platforms,... Tod Nielsen, the Salesforce.com executive vice president who oversees the Heroku and Force.com...

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Death March of Yahoo’s Core Products

By Amir Efrati · Feb 17, 2016 7:00am PST · 8 comments

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Death March of Yahoo’s Core Products

By Amir Efrati · Feb 17, 2016 7:00am PST · 8 comments

The number of people visiting Yahoo’s three most important products—Yahoo Mail, the Yahoo.com home page and Yahoo Search—on a daily basis declined meaningfully over the past year, according to confidential internal data. It’s a reminder of the deep challenges any potential buyer of Yahoo would face.Daily active users... The number of people visiting Yahoo’s three most important products—Yahoo Mail, the...

Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, whose shares have been valued differently by different mutual funds. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside How Mutual Funds Value Private Tech

By Alfred Lee · Feb 11, 2016 7:00am PST · 1 comment

The sudden and sizable valuation markdowns of high-flying private companies like Snapchat, Dropbox and Zenefits by mutual fund investors has been one of the biggest stories in tech, sowing fears that the market is deflating. They’ve also caused consternation among founders, who have had to defend their companies’ earlier valuations... The sudden and sizable valuation markdowns of high-flying private companies like Snapchat,...

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel speaks to journalist Ken Auletta. Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Image.

Snapchat’s Push Against Branded Content

By Tom Dotan · Feb 10, 2016 7:01am PST · 6 comments

Last summer, when Bacardi wanted to do a social media campaign for its liqueur brand St-Germain, the company first turned to Snapchat.Bacardi’s media agency, Possible Worldwide, presented the idea of a series of Live Stories videos in the style of a peep show that featured “New Girl” actress Hannah Simone interacting with... Last summer, when Bacardi wanted to do a social media campaign for its liqueur brand St-Germain,...

GitHub product chief Kakul Srivastava. Photo by Flickr/Yahoo.

What Happened at GitHub

By Steve Nellis · Feb 4, 2016 7:01am PST · 1 comment

Underlying the exodus of several GitHub executives over the past few months has been a key strategic debate: whether the company should focus on the needs of its millions of users or a small group of companies that write big checks, say several people with knowledge of GitHub’s inner workings.It’s a debate with echoes in the... Underlying the exodus of several GitHub executives over the past few months has been a key...

Twitter COO Adam Bain. Photo by Flickr/Sportsfile.

The Good and Bad In Twitter’s Ad Business

By Amir Efrati · Feb 3, 2016 7:01am PST · 3 comments

Twitter COO Adam Bain. Photo by Flickr/Sportsfile.

The Good and Bad In Twitter’s Ad Business

By Amir Efrati · Feb 3, 2016 7:01am PST · 3 comments

Twitter’s active user growth in the fourth quarter of last year was disappointing to people inside the company, according to one person briefed on the figures. That suggests next week’s earnings aren’t likely to change gloomy investor attitudes toward the company.But Twitter’s advertising business isn’t a monolith.... Twitter’s active user growth in the fourth quarter of last year was disappointing to people...