The Information

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Art by Clark Miller

Before Rebirth, Microsoft’s Bing Faced Near-Death Experiences

By Aaron Holmes · Feb 21, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

“Where is our hit?” Steve Ballmer repeatedly directed the question at his lieutenants in the year before he stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, according to two people who heard him ask it. His biggest frustrations were Microsoft’s flops in the consumer market, including Bing, a search engine the company had introduced to... “Where is our hit?” Steve Ballmer repeatedly directed the question at his lieutenants...

ServiceTitan's co-founders Ara Mahdessian (left) and Vahe Kuzoyan. Photo by ServiceTitan.

ServiceTitan Burned $170 Million in Cash in 2022

By Maria Heeter · Feb 16, 2023 1:59pm PST · 5 comments

ServiceTitan, a startup that sells software to help plumbers and electricians run their businesses, burned through more than $170 million in cash last year, according to an email sent to employees. The red ink amounted to more than a third of ServiceTitan’s $460 million in revenue for the 12 months ending in January, the email... ServiceTitan, a startup that sells software to help plumbers and electricians run their...

Stripe founders Patrick Collison, left, and John Collison. Photo by Bloomberg.

Stripe Burned Through More Than $500 Million in Cash Last Year

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 15, 2023 5:16am PST · 2 comments

Stripe burned through more than $500 million of cash last year as its revenue growth rate fell sharply, people familiar with the matter said. The previously undisclosed figures paint a clearer picture about how quickly the payments giant lost steam after a pandemic-fueled growth frenzy. Stripe’s net revenue growth slowed to about 18% in... Stripe burned through more than $500 million of cash last year as its revenue growth rate fell...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft Lays Off 150 Cloud Sales Specialists

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 14, 2023 3:20pm PST

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft Lays Off 150 Cloud Sales Specialists

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 14, 2023 3:20pm PST

Microsoft last week laid off around 150 employees from a team tasked with convincing medium-size companies to adopt cloud services such as Azure server rentals and Microsoft 365 productivity apps, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The cuts to that team, known as digital cloud acquisition, indicate that the plan hasn’t gone... Microsoft last week laid off around 150 employees from a team tasked with convincing medium-size...

An Instacart shopper holds his badge. Photo by Shutterstock.

Instacart Plans Small-Business Service, Taking Aim at Amazon and Walmart

By Theo Wayt · Feb 14, 2023 2:01pm PST

Instacart is gearing up to launch a version of its site tailored to small businesses, a person familiar with the matter said, representing a challenge to Amazon and Walmart as the delivery giant looks to boost revenue ahead of potentially going public. The small-business offering, which the company is developing under the name Instacart... Instacart is gearing up to launch a version of its site tailored to small businesses, a person...

Salesforce Tower in San Francisco. Photo by Bloomberg

Twitter Cuts Salesforce Bill 75% as More Buyers Scrutinize Software Spending

By Kevin McLaughlin and Erin Woo · Feb 14, 2023 6:00am PST · 7 comments

Twitter last month cut its contract for Salesforce’s customer-management software by 75%, to $5 million a year from $20 million, after reducing its workforce by roughly the same percentage, according to a person with direct knowledge. The move highlights the pain for enterprise software providers as some of their key customers—other... Twitter last month cut its contract for Salesforce’s customer-management software by 75%,...

Photo by AP.

Microsoft’s LinkedIn Lays Off Staff Amid Hiring Slowdown

By Aaron Holmes · Feb 13, 2023 12:30pm PST

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn laid off staff in its recruiting department on Monday, the company confirmed to The Information, the latest sign of how Microsoft’s layoffs are rippling through the tech giant. Microsoft said earlier this year it would cut 10,000 people across the company this quarter as part of a broad effort to cut costs amid... Microsoft-owned LinkedIn laid off staff in its recruiting department on Monday, the company...

Capsule, once valued at $1.2 billion, is in talks to raise money at a $500 million valuation. Photo by Capsule.

Thrive-Backed Startup Capsule Could See Its Valuation Cut in Half

By Kate Clark, Cory Weinberg and Amir Efrati · Feb 13, 2023 12:15pm PST · 1 comment

Capsule, once valued at $1.2 billion, is in talks to raise money at a $500 million valuation. Photo by Capsule.

Thrive-Backed Startup Capsule Could See Its Valuation Cut in Half

By Kate Clark, Cory Weinberg and Amir Efrati · Feb 13, 2023 12:15pm PST · 1 comment

Capsule, an online prescription delivery startup that rode a wave of pandemic-driven growth to a $1.2 billion valuation, is in talks to raise money at a dramatically lower value of about $500 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The New York-based startup, which is burning cash, has been in discussions for a new $100 million... Capsule, an online prescription delivery startup that rode a wave of pandemic-driven growth to a...

Photo by Getty Images

Playing Catch-Up With AWS, Google Makes Progress With Data Center Chips

By Wayne Ma and Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 13, 2023 7:00am PST · 3 comments

Google has reached a key milestone in designing server processors aimed at reducing the cost of operating its data centers and keeping up with cloud business rival Amazon, according to one person with direct knowledge of the project and one person who was briefed about it. The progress means Google could start using the new chips by 2025, one of... Google has reached a key milestone in designing server processors aimed at reducing the cost of...

Art by Shane Burke

Benchmark Expected to Join Generative AI Rush With Deal for Startup LangChain

By Maria Heeter, Kate Clark and Erin Woo · Feb 13, 2023 6:22am PST · 3 comments

Benchmark, the Silicon Valley venture firm that made early bets on hit consumer apps such as Snap, Twitter and Uber, is pushing into another trendy sector: artificial intelligence that can quickly generate complex text and images based on simple prompts. Benchmark has been in talks to lead a seed funding of LangChain, according to two people who... Benchmark, the Silicon Valley venture firm that made early bets on hit consumer apps such as...

Art by Clark Miller

TikTok Turns to New Tactics to Spur Growth as Boom Times End

By Kaya Yurieff · Feb 13, 2023 6:00am PST · 1 comment

Early last year, TikTok was on top of the world. It had temporarily dethroned Google as the most visited website on the internet, and competitors such as Instagram and YouTube were scrambling to mimic the short video clips that made TikTok a sensation. But at that very moment, inside TikTok, the app’s leaders were putting their heads... Early last year, TikTok was on top of the world. It had temporarily dethroned Google as the most...

Serena Williams partnering with Tonal. Photos by Tonal.

Home Gym Maker Tonal Looks for Buyer After Burning Through Cash

By Maria Heeter, Ann Gehan and Cory Weinberg · Feb 10, 2023 8:50am PST · 3 comments

Serena Williams partnering with Tonal. Photos by Tonal.

Home Gym Maker Tonal Looks for Buyer After Burning Through Cash

By Maria Heeter, Ann Gehan and Cory Weinberg · Feb 10, 2023 8:50am PST · 3 comments

Tonal, a celebrity-backed home fitness startup that saw its valuation balloon to $1.6 billion in 2021, has explored options including a sale, two people familiar with the matter said. Tonal—an even more upmarket alternative to Peloton—burned through cash last year after spending heavily on hiring, opening bricks-and-mortar showrooms... Tonal, a celebrity-backed home fitness startup that saw its valuation balloon to $1.6 billion in...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Microsoft Kills Its Industrial Metaverse Team After 4 Months

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 9, 2023 1:07pm PST · 3 comments

In a surprising reversal, Microsoft has killed a team it formed four months ago to help customers use the metaverse in industrial settings, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The group’s roughly 100 employees have all been laid off, the person said. Microsoft created its Industrial Metaverse Core team in October to... In a surprising reversal, Microsoft has killed a team it formed four months ago to help customers...

Elon Musk. Photo by Bloomberg.

Musk Tells Twitter Staff to Pause Development Amid Outage

By Erin Woo · Feb 8, 2023 3:11pm PST

Elon Musk told employees on Wednesday afternoon to pause feature development as Twitter staff worked to solve an outage that left users unable to tweet or send and read direct messages for more than an hour. “Please pause for now on new feature development in favor of maximizing system stability and robustness, especially with the Super... Elon Musk told employees on Wednesday afternoon to pause feature development as Twitter staff...

Alexis Ohanian. Photo by AP.

Alexis Ohanian Venture Fund Plots $776 Million in New Funds

By Kate Clark · Feb 8, 2023 12:26pm PST

Seven Seven Six, the venture capital fund launched by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2020, plans to raise $776 million for two new funds, according to investment documents viewed by The Information. The planned fundraising is more than 50% bigger than what it raised last year and will test investor appetite for bigger funds during a tough... Seven Seven Six, the venture capital fund launched by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2020,...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman. Art by Clark Miller. Photos by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

OpenAI’s Hidden Weapon: Ex-Google Engineers

By Jon Victor · Feb 8, 2023 11:00am PST · 3 comments

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman. Art by Clark Miller. Photos by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

OpenAI’s Hidden Weapon: Ex-Google Engineers

By Jon Victor · Feb 8, 2023 11:00am PST · 3 comments

As OpenAI’s web chatbot became a global sensation in recent months, artificial intelligence practitioners and investors have wondered how a seven-year-old startup beat Google to the punch. Google runs two of the world’s foremost AI research groups, yet a startup quickly developed a product, ChatGPT, that tens of millions of people... As OpenAI’s web chatbot became a global sensation in recent months, artificial intelligence...

Art by Shane Burke. Photos via Reddit/Shutterstock.

How Reddit Grew Its Ad Business, Bolstering IPO Hopes

By Isabelle Sarraf · Feb 8, 2023 6:00am PST

While whiling away the hours on Call of Duty and other videogames, gamers love to chew on Kraft Singles. At least, that’s what research done by food giant Kraft Heinz implies. So to drive more sales of the individually wrapped pieces of processed cheese, Kraft Heinz targeted gaming interest groups on Reddit and launched an ad in the form... While whiling away the hours on Call of Duty and other videogames, gamers love to chew on Kraft...

Photo by Getty.

Fast-Delivery Startups Getir and Flink Held Merger Talks

By Maria Heeter and Erin Woo · Feb 7, 2023 11:46am PST

Turkey-based fast-delivery firm Getir had preliminary talks late last year about merging with Flink, the Germany-based startup, in a sign that consolidation in the fast-delivery sector may have another round to go. Merging with Flink would strengthen Getir in Germany, where it expanded through last year’s acquisition of Gorillas. Flink... Turkey-based fast-delivery firm Getir had preliminary talks late last year about merging with...

Ben Schwerin. Photo: Getty

Coatue Hires Snap Exec as New General Partner After String of Exits

By Kate Clark · Feb 7, 2023 10:34am PST · 2 comments

Ben Schwerin, a senior vice president of content and partnerships at Snap who helps lead the company's TikTok competitor Spotlight, will join Coatue Management as a general partner, Schwerin told The Information. The new hire follows the departures of four general partners at the New York-based firm, including most recently David Cahn, chief... Ben Schwerin, a senior vice president of content and partnerships at Snap who helps lead the...

Hedge funds, pensions funds and even huge asset managers are outsourcing more and more of their trading. Photo by Bloomberg.

Where Did All the Traders Go? Investment Funds Lean on Outsourcing to Cut Costs

By Lauren Tara LaCapra · Feb 7, 2023 7:11am PST · 2 comments

Hedge funds, pensions funds and even huge asset managers are outsourcing more and more of their trading. Photo by Bloomberg.

Where Did All the Traders Go? Investment Funds Lean on Outsourcing to Cut Costs

By Lauren Tara LaCapra · Feb 7, 2023 7:11am PST · 2 comments

More and more investment funds are outsourcing their trading, a move that cuts costs and aims to boost returns but also poses risks for the funds’ portfolios and underlying investors. Once a niche Wall Street business that catered to young hedge funds, outsourced trading has now attracted mutual funds, pension funds and other asset... More and more investment funds are outsourcing their trading, a move that cuts costs and aims to...