The Information

People walk past a Silicon Valley Bank sign at the company's headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Friday, March 10, 2023.

Startups Seek to Raise Emergency Cash from VC Firms, Secondary Sales

By Kate Clark and Maria Heeter · Mar 10, 2023 6:41pm PST · 1 comment

As the weekend approached, startup founders with money stuck in Silicon Valley Bank raced to sell secondary shares and enter financing deals to meet payroll and other needs, a sign of the desperate dash for funds set off by the abrupt collapse of the tech-centric bank. Many startup founders on Friday signed up for new loans based on the future... As the weekend approached, startup founders with money stuck in Silicon Valley Bank raced to sell...

Photo by Bloomberg

Silicon Valley Bank Told Some Customers Money Transfers Are ‘Backed Up’

By Kate Clark and Michael Roddan · Mar 9, 2023 2:59pm PST · 5 comments

Silicon Valley Bank on Thursday told at least four clients that wire transfers could be delayed, and the bank’s support phone lines were recently inaccessible. Other clients reported trouble logging in to the company’s website to view their account information and make transfers. One founder who reached an SVB customer support agent... Silicon Valley Bank on Thursday told at least four clients that wire transfers could be delayed,...

Silicon Valley Bank CEO Tells VC Clients to ‘Stay Calm’

By Erin Woo, Amir Efrati, Lauren Tara LaCapra, Michael Roddan, Kate Clark and Kaya Yurieff · Mar 9, 2023 12:02pm PST · 8 comments

Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker on Thursday told top venture capitalists in Silicon Valley to “stay calm” amid concerns around a capital crunch that wiped nearly $10 billion off the bank’s market valuation. On a call, Becker said that “calls started coming and started panic.” He added that the bank has... Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker on Thursday told top venture capitalists in Silicon Valley to...

Vishal Garg, CEO of Better.com. Photo by Better.com.

Better.com CEO Doesn’t Rule Out More Layoffs or a Down Round

By Theo Wayt · Mar 8, 2023 11:18am PST · 1 comment

Vishal Garg, CEO of Better.com. Photo by Better.com.

Better.com CEO Doesn’t Rule Out More Layoffs or a Down Round

By Theo Wayt · Mar 8, 2023 11:18am PST · 1 comment

Better.com is staring into the abyss. The SoftBank-backed mortgage lender is fighting to survive amid high interest rates that have crushed its core refinancing business. In an interview with The Information, its founder and CEO—who went viral in late 2021 when he sacked 900 employees on a Zoom call—didn’t rule out further... Better.com is staring into the abyss. The SoftBank-backed mortgage lender is fighting to survive...

LinkedIn's San Francisco office lobby. Photo by LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Faces Growing Complaints From Recruiters Over Rising Prices

By Mark Matousek · Mar 8, 2023 6:00am PST · 6 comments

A core pillar of LinkedIn’s revenue growth in recent years, its recruiting services business, is under pressure as customers rebel against the company’s prices. LinkedIn has hiked the fees it charges for recruiter subscriptions so much that in recent months, as companies have slowed hiring, some tech firms and specialist recruiting... A core pillar of LinkedIn’s revenue growth in recent years, its recruiting services...

Navan CEO Ariel Cohen. Photo via Navan.

No ‘Sugarcoating’: Travel Startup Navan’s Turbulent Ride Toward an IPO

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 7, 2023 6:01am PST · 1 comment

Ariel Cohen took the stage sipping champagne before 9 a.m. in front of more than 3,000 of his employees last month. Dozens of his travel software company’s workers, wearing purple pajamas, had just slept at the firm’s Palo Alto office. Another executive urged employees to get up and dance. They were celebrating a rebrand of the... Ariel Cohen took the stage sipping champagne before 9 a.m. in front of more than 3,000 of his...

Art by Clark Miller

How Apple’s Need for Cutting Edge Screens Kept Tech’s Unhappiest Marriage Alive

By Wayne Ma · Mar 6, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

There are complicated relationships in the tech industry. And then there is the rocky marriage between Apple and Samsung Electronics. While Apple has long depended on the Korean electronics giant to supply key parts for the iPhone, it has also waged a long-running court battle against Samsung, accusing it of ripping off Apple patents in its own... There are complicated relationships in the tech industry. And then there is the rocky marriage...

Elon Musk. Photo by Getty.

Musk Delayed Paying Twitter’s Amazon Cloud Bill, Sparking Ad Threat

By Erin Woo · Mar 3, 2023 4:06pm PST

Elon Musk. Photo by Getty.

Musk Delayed Paying Twitter’s Amazon Cloud Bill, Sparking Ad Threat

By Erin Woo · Mar 3, 2023 4:06pm PST

Elon Musk is running into an obstacle in his relentless drive to cut costs at Twitter: some of the same vendors that Twitter is squeezing to save money are also its advertising clients. As recently as last month, Twitter sales and marketing staff were told by their colleagues that Amazon had threatened to withhold payment for advertising it runs... Elon Musk is running into an obstacle in his relentless drive to cut costs at Twitter: some of...

A customer holds a Shein bag outside Shein's Tokyo showroom. Photo by Bloomberg.

Shein Had Informal Talks With U.S. Tech Giants About Potential Investment

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Mar 3, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Shein, the online fashion giant that started in China, recently had an interesting pitch for both Amazon and Google. As it considered buying more advertising on Google properties and more cloud time on either Amazon or Google, Shein executives wondered whether either company might be interested in buying a stake in it, people familiar with the... Shein, the online fashion giant that started in China, recently had an interesting pitch for both...

A Waymo prototype robotaxi in San Francisco. Credit: Waymo

Alphabet’s Robotaxi Unit Waymo Says it Laid Off 8%

By Jon Victor · Mar 1, 2023 8:37am PST

Alphabet’s robotaxi developer Waymo laid off 137 employees on Wednesday, its second round of cuts this year as the parent company reins in spending across its subsidiaries. The layoffs mean around 8% of Waymo employees, or 209 employees, have been cut this year, Waymo’s co-CEOs told staff in an internal email viewed by The... Alphabet’s robotaxi developer Waymo laid off 137 employees on Wednesday, its second round...

Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok. Photo by Bloomberg

TikTok’s U.S. Survival Plan Faces Potential Hurdle: Apple’s App Store Rules

By Juro Osawa · Mar 1, 2023 7:32am PST · 3 comments

TikTok faces a new potential hurdle to overcoming national security concerns in the U.S.: Apple and Google. TikTok, the popular video app owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, has begun talks with Apple and Google to ensure its proposed data security plan doesn’t get derailed by their app store rules, according to a person with direct... TikTok faces a new potential hurdle to overcoming national security concerns in the U.S.: Apple...

Photo by Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan

Facing Weak Demand for Its Pricey Solar Roof, Tesla Plans Changes

By Becky Peterson · Feb 28, 2023 6:00am PST

Photo by Getty. Art by Mike Sullivan

Facing Weak Demand for Its Pricey Solar Roof, Tesla Plans Changes

By Becky Peterson · Feb 28, 2023 6:00am PST

In 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled one of the innovative products for which he’s become famous: roof tiles that incorporate solar panels. The resulting solar roof, as Musk called it, would be beautiful, environmentally beneficial—and cheaper than a conventional roof with separate solar panels, he said. That summer, Musk published... In 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled one of the innovative products for which he’s become...

Twitter CEO Elon Musk. Art: Shane Burke/Photo: Bloomberg

Fighting ‘Woke AI,’ Musk Recruits Team to Develop OpenAI Rival

By Jon Victor and Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 27, 2023 4:32pm PST · 4 comments

Elon Musk has approached artificial intelligence researchers in recent weeks about forming a new research lab to develop an alternative to ChatGPT, the high-profile chatbot made by the startup OpenAI, according to two people with direct knowledge of the effort and a third person briefed on the conversations. In recent months Musk has repeatedly... Elon Musk has approached artificial intelligence researchers in recent weeks about forming a new...

Elon Musk in San Francisco on Jan. 24, 2023. Photo: Bloomberg.

Twitter Lays Off at Least 50 in Relentless Cost Cuts

By Erin Woo · Feb 25, 2023 10:39pm PST

Elon Musk’s Twitter laid off dozens of employees Saturday in what is at least the eighth round of job cuts since Musk took over the social network in late October. The cuts aim to offset a plunge in revenue following Musk’s takeover and further whittle down a staff that had shrunk by at least 70% to roughly 2,000. ... Elon Musk’s Twitter laid off dozens of employees Saturday in what is at least the...

Stripe CEO and co-founder Patrick Collison. Photo by Getty.

Stripe’s Search for Billions Nears an End, But It Hasn’t Been Easy

By Maria Heeter, Cory Weinberg and Kate Clark · Feb 24, 2023 1:04pm PST · 4 comments

A place on Stripe’s roster of investors was once one of the most exclusive and highly coveted seats in tech. To raise the billions of dollars it now needs, Stripe has had to open the door very wide—and even then not everyone has rushed in. Stripe is close to lining up investment commitments for the $4 billion fundraising in a deal... A place on Stripe’s roster of investors was once one of the most exclusive and highly...

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Hires Ad Executive for Apple TV+, a Sign of Apple’s Video Ad Ambitions

By Sahil Patel · Feb 24, 2023 11:28am PST

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Hires Ad Executive for Apple TV+, a Sign of Apple’s Video Ad Ambitions

By Sahil Patel · Feb 24, 2023 11:28am PST

Apple has hired Lauren Fry, a TV and digital video advertising executive, to help build a video advertising business for its Apple TV+ streaming service, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The move signals Apple's ambitions to give the streaming service more revenue to pay for a wider array of programming. Apple TV+... Apple has hired Lauren Fry, a TV and digital video advertising executive, to help build a video...

Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff at the company's 2022 Code Conference. Photo by Getty Images.

Vox Media’s Bankoff is Battered but Standing. What’s Next?

By Sahil Patel and Paris Martineau · Feb 23, 2023 7:02am PST · 1 comment

Last summer, Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff met with representatives from Facebook parent Meta Platforms to catch up on business. The meeting was timely. A few months before, Vox, owner of New York magazine and websites including Eater and The Verge, had bought Group Nine Media, a smaller collection of websites such as The Dodo, which makes cute... Last summer, Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff met with representatives from Facebook parent Meta...

Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang. Photos by Paradigm and Shutterstock.

Exits Mount at Crypto Venture Firm Paradigm

By Aidan Ryan · Feb 22, 2023 2:35pm PST · 3 comments

Paradigm, the crypto-focused venture firm founded by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former Sequoia partner Matt Huang, is shrinking quickly. At least eight employees, including two investment partners and four engineers, have left the firm since the start of October, according to The Information’s tally based on the company’s... Paradigm, the crypto-focused venture firm founded by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former...

Art by Mike Sullivan.

The Private Tech Company That Let Employee Stock Grants Evaporate

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 22, 2023 7:00am PST · 14 comments

Household tech names Airbnb and Stripe have gone to great lengths to prevent arcane tax rules from creating disaster for the employees who helped build those firms. Airbnb went public just before employees’ valuable stock grants expired, while Stripe is raising as much as $4 billion privately to avoid that fate. Foursquare—the... Household tech names Airbnb and Stripe have gone to great lengths to prevent arcane tax rules...

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison in 2018. Photo by Bloomberg

AI Startups Find an Unlikely Friend: Oracle

By Aaron Holmes · Feb 22, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison in 2018. Photo by Bloomberg

AI Startups Find an Unlikely Friend: Oracle

By Aaron Holmes · Feb 22, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Top cloud providers are jostling to sign deals with artificial intelligence startups that need computing resources as they chase OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT. An improbable early leader in the race to rent servers to these startups is Oracle, a longtime laggard in the cloud field that had developed reputational problems with some longtime customers... Top cloud providers are jostling to sign deals with artificial intelligence startups that need...