The Information

Art by Shane Burke

How Stalking and Harassment Allegations Fractured a Semiconductor Startup

By Paris Martineau · Mar 13, 2024 10:30am PDT · 1 comment

In March last year, the former girlfriend of Erik Hosler—then the CEO of semiconductor manufacturing startup xLight—applied for a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing Hosler of stalking and harassing her. A judge in California had already granted a temporary order, and when xLight learned of the dispute, it asked... In March last year, the former girlfriend of Erik Hosler—then the CEO of semiconductor...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Before CEO Exit, Allbirds’ Design Mishaps Were Piling Up

By Ann Gehan · Mar 13, 2024 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Last fall, Allbirds was preparing to launch an updated version of its popular Wool Runner shoe when its product design team realized there was a problem. A flaw in the design meant Allbirds had to scramble to remove and replace the fabric inside roughly 30,000 pairs of shoes, two people who worked on the launch said. The last-minute snag... Last fall, Allbirds was preparing to launch an updated version of its popular Wool Runner shoe...

Kite founder Rob Solomon. Photo via YouTube.

Blackstone-Founded E-Commerce ‘Roll-Up’ Firm Shuts Down

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Mar 12, 2024 5:07pm PDT

How bad is the slowdown in e-commerce growth? Ask Blackstone, one of the world’s largest investment firms. Two years ago, a division of Blackstone that invests in consumer brands such as Supergoop and Spanx joined a second investor to commit $200 million to an e-commerce startup they had founded together. The startup, Kite, was pursuing a... How bad is the slowdown in e-commerce growth? Ask Blackstone, one of the world’s largest...

Art by Mike Sullivan

As TikTok Faces Ban Bill, Investors Distance Themselves From App

By Kate Clark, Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Mar 12, 2024 12:04pm PDT · 7 comments

Art by Mike Sullivan

As TikTok Faces Ban Bill, Investors Distance Themselves From App

By Kate Clark, Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Mar 12, 2024 12:04pm PDT · 7 comments

When the Trump administration tried to ban TikTok in 2020, investors in its parent, ByteDance, mobilized to support the app. Now, as a bill to force a ban or sale of TikTok winds its way through Congress, the company is mostly on its own. With the possible exception of Susquehanna International Group principal Jeff Yass, a Republican donor and... When the Trump administration tried to ban TikTok in 2020, investors in its parent, ByteDance,...

Tempus' Eric Lefkofsky. Photo by Michael Kovac via Getty Images.

Healthcare Startup Tempus Hires Morgan Stanley for IPO

By Becky Peterson and Cory Weinberg · Mar 12, 2024 9:33am PDT

Tempus, a medical lab testing and data company started by a former co-founder of Groupon, has hired Morgan Stanley to run an initial public offering in the coming months, people close to the process said. The Chicago-based startup, which has raised more than $1.3 billion in private funding from investors such as Google, New Enterprise Associates... Tempus, a medical lab testing and data company started by a former co-founder of Groupon, has...

Art by Clark Miller

Amazon, Google Quietly Tamp Down Generative AI Expectations

By Anissa Gardizy and Aaron Holmes · Mar 12, 2024 7:00am PDT · 15 comments

In the past year, major technology firms have championed generative artificial intelligence as the next big thing, boosting the stock market to new highs. But behind the scenes, representatives of major cloud providers and other firms that sell the technology are tempering expectations with their salespeople, saying the hype about the technology... In the past year, major technology firms have championed generative artificial intelligence as...

ByteDance's office in Shanghai. Photo via Adobe Stock.

TikTok Owner Boosts China Ties, Invests in State-Backed Chip Firm

By Juro Osawa · Mar 12, 2024 6:00am PDT

As the Chinese government races to catch up in advanced computer chips, it has found an ally in ByteDance, the owner of TikTok. The Chinese tech company has quietly bought a stake in InnoStar Semiconductor, a Shanghai-based memory chip firm backed by the Chinese government, according to corporate records in China and Singapore. A ByteDance... As the Chinese government races to catch up in advanced computer chips, it has found an ally...

Morgan Stanley's former CEO James Gorman. Photo by Getty.

Morgan Stanley Was Counting on $150 Million in Twitter Deal Fees

By Becky Peterson · Mar 11, 2024 11:44am PDT · 2 comments

Morgan Stanley's former CEO James Gorman. Photo by Getty.

Morgan Stanley Was Counting on $150 Million in Twitter Deal Fees

By Becky Peterson · Mar 11, 2024 11:44am PDT · 2 comments

When Morgan Stanley first worked on Elon Musk’s $44 billion Twitter acquisition in April 2022, bankers estimated fees on the deal could reach $150 million or more, according to two people who saw the terms. But that wasn’t the only payoff the bank saw from its involvement in the deal: Morgan Stanley also hoped to strengthen its... When Morgan Stanley first worked on Elon Musk’s $44 billion Twitter acquisition in April...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

OpenAI Board Reappoints Altman and Adds Three Other Directors

By Laura Mandaro, Natasha Mascarenhas and Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 8, 2024 2:01pm PST · 2 comments

OpenAI’s board said an investigation into the circumstances surrounding CEO Sam Altman’s short-lived firing last November had exonerated the executive, who had been reinstated after a staff revolt. As a result, the company announced Altman had rejoined the board. The company said that the investigation, which was undertaken by the... OpenAI’s board said an investigation into the circumstances surrounding CEO Sam...

Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

JPMorgan Sees Mixed Results From Silicon Valley Push

By Michael Roddan · Mar 8, 2024 10:45am PST · 4 comments

A few months after JPMorgan Chase bought the collapsed First Republic Bank last year, Eric Bahn decided he needed a new home for his money. The general partner and co-founder of Hustle Fund, a $130 million fund that invests in pre-seed and seed companies, had been a First Republic customer for years. He liked its capital call credit lines, which... A few months after JPMorgan Chase bought the collapsed First Republic Bank last year, Eric Bahn...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Amazon Pumps the Brakes on Global Domination

By Theo Wayt · Mar 7, 2024 6:00am PST

Less than two years ago, Amazon had big plans to continue its march into the sizable areas of the world where it hadn’t yet officially opened an online store for business. In 2022, it planned to launch local versions of its store that year in at least three new European countries—Ireland, Belgium and Switzerland—according to a... Less than two years ago, Amazon had big plans to continue its march into the sizable areas of the...

Garry Tan. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan Discussed OpenAI Board Role

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Mar 6, 2024 7:05pm PST · 1 comment

Garry Tan. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan Discussed OpenAI Board Role

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Mar 6, 2024 7:05pm PST · 1 comment

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, a longtime venture capitalist, early this year talked with directors of OpenAI about joining the board that governs the artificial intelligence startup valued at more than $80 billion, according to a person who has spoken to board members. The talks were preliminary, and it’s not clear if the board is still... Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, a longtime venture capitalist, early this year talked with...

Boston Harbor. Photo via Getty Images.

Embattled Venture Firm OpenView to Give Back 75% of Capital to Investors

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Mar 5, 2024 5:20pm PST · 6 comments

OpenView Venture Partners, the Boston-based venture capital firm whose abrupt decision to wind down late last year epitomized the challenges facing startup investors in the aftermath of the tech funding boom, has figured out its final chapter. The 18-year-old firm plans to return the majority of a $571 million fund it raised a year ago to its... OpenView Venture Partners, the Boston-based venture capital firm whose abrupt decision to wind...

Chipper Cash CEO and co-founder, Ham Serunjogi. Photo by Getty.

The Latest Fintech Retreat: a $2 Billion Challenger to Western Union Suspends U.S. Services

By Abubakar Idris · Mar 5, 2024 1:16pm PST

In the go-go days of 2020–22, venture capitalists poured billions of dollars into African payment startups, enthusiastic about their potential to revolutionize access to financial services on the African continent. Among the lucky startups was Chipper Cash, a San Francisco–based firm that raised $300 million from Jeff Bezos’s... In the go-go days of 2020–22, venture capitalists poured billions of dollars into African...

Miles Grimshaw at Cerebral Valley AI Summit in 2023. Photo via YouTube/Newcomer.

Another VC Boomerang: Benchmark General Partner Grimshaw Leaves for Thrive

By Kate Clark · Mar 5, 2024 8:00am PST · 4 comments

Miles Grimshaw, a general partner at Benchmark, is leaving the firm to rejoin Thrive Capital, the New York venture capital firm where he started his career in 2013, according to a Thrive spokesperson. Grimshaw’s departure represents a rare resignation from Benchmark, a storied early-stage venture firm with early bets on Twitter, Uber and... Miles Grimshaw, a general partner at Benchmark, is leaving the firm to rejoin Thrive Capital, the...

Photo by Shutterstock.

Trendy Soda Brand Olipop Seeks Fresh Cash, Targets $400 Million in Sales

By Ann Gehan · Mar 4, 2024 3:50pm PST

Photo by Shutterstock.

Trendy Soda Brand Olipop Seeks Fresh Cash, Targets $400 Million in Sales

By Ann Gehan · Mar 4, 2024 3:50pm PST

Olipop, a fast-growing brand of soda that has built buzz on TikTok and Instagram with help of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, is aiming to lift its sales this year to around $400 million, up from more than $250 million last year, and is in talks to raise fresh capital to help fuel its growth, according to a person with direct knowledge of... Olipop, a fast-growing brand of soda that has built buzz on TikTok and Instagram with help of...

ByteDance offices in Singapore. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty Images.

ByteDance Revenue Growth Accelerated to 43% in Third Quarter

By Kaya Yurieff and Jon Victor · Mar 4, 2024 2:58pm PST · 1 comment

ByteDance revenue in the third quarter of 2023 rose roughly 43% to $30.9 billion, indicating that the TikTok parent company accelerated advertising and ecommerce sales slightly from the first half. It also demonstrated that ByteDance is continuing to grow at nearly twice the growth rate of Facebook-owner Meta Platforms. For the first nine months... ByteDance revenue in the third quarter of 2023 rose roughly 43% to $30.9 billion, indicating that...

Rami Zeidan, founder and former CEO of Life House. Photo via YouTube/Influence Group. Art by Shane Burke.

Life House CEO Departs After The Information’s Report on Company

By Paris Martineau · Mar 4, 2024 10:32am PST · 1 comment

The founder and CEO of the hospitality startup Life House, Rami Zeidan, has resigned and left the board, board member Chris Hemmeter told shareholders in an email on Monday. The board hired two travel industry veterans to take over the company’s management. The shakeup follows a February 14 report in The Information which cited customers... The founder and CEO of the hospitality startup Life House, Rami Zeidan, has resigned and left the...

Meta Quest 3 headset. Photo by Getty.

Meta Rebuffed Google Proposal For a VR and AR Tie-Up

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Mar 1, 2024 6:00am PST

Late last year, in a meeting between Google and Meta Platform staffers, Google suggested that Meta partner on Android XR, the new software platform Google is developing for virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed-reality headsets, according to a person involved in the talks. The two companies had long been in regular contact over... Late last year, in a meeting between Google and Meta Platform staffers, Google suggested that...

Bill Gurley. Photo by Getty.

How Nextdoor Became a Missed Opportunity for Benchmark’s Gurley

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 29, 2024 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Bill Gurley. Photo by Getty.

How Nextdoor Became a Missed Opportunity for Benchmark’s Gurley

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 29, 2024 6:00am PST · 3 comments

Nextdoor once looked like the next great bet for Bill Gurley, the prominent Benchmark venture capitalist known for early investments in Uber, Zillow and Stitch Fix. Now the neighborhood social network is looking like a missed opportunity for him. Gurley urged Nextdoor co-founder Nirav Tolia not to sell the startup in 2018, when it was valued at... Nextdoor once looked like the next great bet for Bill Gurley, the prominent Benchmark venture...