The Information

Blake Chandlee. Photo byBusiness Wire; art by Mike Sullivan

TikTok Cuts Advertising Employees Amid Department Restructuring

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Aug 26, 2022 1:09pm PDT

TikTok has cut employees from its U.S. ad department as part of a restructuring of the unit, as the fast-growing social media app responds to the economic slowdown that has slammed the ad business of its competitors, such as Meta Platforms and Snap. Employees of the Chinese-owned app were notified several weeks ago that certain roles in the ad... TikTok has cut employees from its U.S. ad department as part of a restructuring of the unit, as...

Photo by Bloomberg

AWS Preps ‘Bastion’ Cloud Service for Advertisers

By Kevin McLaughlin and Amir Efrati · Aug 26, 2022 6:00am PDT

Amazon Web Services is preparing to unveil a cloud service to help companies improve the way they target ads to potential customers without violating data privacy laws, according to three people with knowledge of the product. The move comes as advertisers try to recover from, and get ahead of, Apple’s and Google’s restrictions on... Amazon Web Services is preparing to unveil a cloud service to help companies improve the way they...

Art by Laurent Bazart

The Kids Are Alright: Big-Tech Interns Upbeat About Prospects Despite Turbulence

By Stephen Council · Aug 25, 2022 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

This summer, the hearts of college interns across tech collectively skipped a beat as layoffs and hiring freezes began to mount throughout the industry. It didn’t help when two big companies, Meta Platforms and Twitter, made headlines due to their decisions to delay permanent job offers to current interns because of the wobbly... This summer, the hearts of college interns across tech collectively skipped a beat as layoffs and...

Illustration by Josh Brill

Companies Are Ditching Cybersecurity Insurance as Premiums Rise, Coverage Shrinks

By Aaron Holmes · Aug 22, 2022 11:00pm PDT · 8 comments

Illustration by Josh Brill

Companies Are Ditching Cybersecurity Insurance as Premiums Rise, Coverage Shrinks

By Aaron Holmes · Aug 22, 2022 11:00pm PDT · 8 comments

Can you imagine going without flood insurance if you lived alongside a river? That’s what is happening in corporate America nowadays, as skyrocketing cyberinsurance premiums prompt more companies to go without traditional cyber insurance even as ransomware and other digital hacks surge. Last year cyber insurance premiums in the U.S. spiked... Can you imagine going without flood insurance if you lived alongside a river? That’s what...

Photo by AP

Cybersecurity Startup Arctic Wolf in Talks to Raise $300 Million in Convertible Debt

By Maria Heeter · Aug 22, 2022 6:40pm PDT

Arctic Wolf, a 10-year-old cybersecurity startup valued last year at $4.3 billion, is in talks to raise $300 million in convertible debt from investors including direct lender Owl Rock Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. The debt would convert to shares at a premium to the price in an eventual initial public offering, the... Arctic Wolf, a 10-year-old cybersecurity startup valued last year at $4.3 billion, is in talks to...

Photo by AP.

KKR Has Considered Buying Venture Lender to Expand Startup Debt

By Maria Heeter · Aug 19, 2022 3:52pm PDT

Private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is looking to expand its lending to venture-backed startups and has considered buying a venture-focused lender or recruiting a team of professionals focused on such deals, people familiar with the talks told The Information. Some KKR rivals, including Blackstone, have been making a similar... Private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is looking to expand its lending to...

Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins in May. Photo by Bloomberg

What Belt-Tightening? Cisco CEO Plans $1 Billion Budget Increase to Retain Employees

By Aaron Holmes · Aug 19, 2022 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins told managers earlier this month that the networking hardware pioneer would increase its operating expenses $1 billion over the next 12 months, in part to raise employee pay to stem a rise in departures, said a person with direct knowledge of the situation. Robbins made the surprising comment after the... Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins told managers earlier this month that the networking hardware...

Singapore's business district. Photo by Bloomberg

Chinese Venture Firms Expand in Singapore as Risks Rise at Home

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Aug 18, 2022 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Singapore's business district. Photo by Bloomberg

Chinese Venture Firms Expand in Singapore as Risks Rise at Home

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Aug 18, 2022 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

China’s venture capitalists made fortunes gambling on the country’s blockbuster tech successes such as Alibaba and Meituan. But as a slowing economy, new regulations and pandemic restrictions cast a pall over China’s tech sector, some of those investors have begun looking to make their next big bets from new outposts in another... China’s venture capitalists made fortunes gambling on the country’s blockbuster tech...

Bolt co-founder Ryan Breslow. Photo by Julian Buitrago. Art by Mike Sullivan

Startup Workers Find Founders Cashed Out When They Couldn’t

By Erin Woo, Becky Peterson and Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 17, 2022 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

A few weeks before Ryan Breslow stepped down as CEO of commerce software startup Bolt in January, he made a deal with investors. As part of a funding round in which BlackRock and other investors bought new stock in Bolt that valued the privately held company at $11 billion, Breslow also sold $10 million worth of his own shares to existing... A few weeks before Ryan Breslow stepped down as CEO of commerce software startup Bolt in January,...

Gili Raanan of Cyberstarts. Art by Clark Miller

How a Former Sequoia Capital Partner Cornered the Israeli Security Startup Market

By Aaron Holmes · Aug 16, 2022 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Whenever a cybersecurity startup seeks capital from venture capital firms in Israel, whose military trains an outsize number of security software entrepreneurs, the first thing prospective investors usually do is check whether Gili Raanan has invested in it. If he hasn’t, there had better be a good reason, said Shlomo Kramer, co-founder of... Whenever a cybersecurity startup seeks capital from venture capital firms in Israel, whose...

Art by Clark Miller.

How Instagram’s TikTok Envy Finally Backfired

By Kaya Yurieff · Aug 15, 2022 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Last month, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and other influencers stirred up a public relations firestorm for Instagram, complaining to their hundreds of millions of followers about the app's recent attempts to mimic TikTok. Those efforts were just part of a broader internal effort to take on the Chinese short-form video app, though. The... Last month, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and other influencers stirred up a public relations...

Illustration by Mike Sullivan.

Fintech Investors Cherry-Pick Deals in Boom’s Aftermath

By Erin Woo · Aug 12, 2022 6:00am PDT

Illustration by Mike Sullivan.

Fintech Investors Cherry-Pick Deals in Boom’s Aftermath

By Erin Woo · Aug 12, 2022 6:00am PDT

In October, QED Investors managing partner Nigel Morris addressed the CEOs of several dozen fintech startups in an Alexandria, Va., hotel at the venture capital firm’s annual summit. After two days of discussions—and a cycling trip in Shenandoah National Park—he had a message for them: “These are the salad days.” ... In October, QED Investors managing partner Nigel Morris addressed the CEOs of several dozen...

Art by Josh Brill

TikTok’s $4 Billion Advertising Machine Is Messy Behind the Scenes

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Aug 11, 2022 12:39pm PDT · 2 comments

Two years ago, social media sensation TikTok came up with a slogan to prod brands to be more authentic in their advertisements on the app: “Don’t Make Ads. Make TikToks.” But last June that approach went off the rails with a high-profile marketing stunt by Starbucks. The coffee chain launched an ad campaign with Chance the... Two years ago, social media sensation TikTok came up with a slogan to prod brands to be more...

Viral Patel, global head of technology investing for Blackstone Credit. Art by Clark Miller.

Blackstone Plans to Back Tech Startups in $2 Billion–Plus Lending Push

By Maria Heeter · Aug 11, 2022 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Private equity giant Blackstone is gearing up to make its first major push into lending to startups and technology companies—joining a corner of the debt market that’s quickly heating up. The firm expects to invest at least $2 billion in technology debt deals over the next few years, including venture debt, deals with... Private equity giant Blackstone is gearing up to make its first major push into lending to...

TikTok’s Owner ByteDance Quietly Changed Its China Unit’s Name After U.S. Political Fears

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Aug 10, 2022 5:00am PDT · 2 comments

Since The Information reported last year that the Chinese government had quietly taken a stake and a board seat in a key Chinese corporate entity of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, politicians in the U.S. and elsewhere have fanned fears that the Chinese government holds dominion over TikTok too. ByteDance, which is headquartered in... Since The Information reported last year that the Chinese government had quietly taken a stake...

From left, DataRobot executives Tom Levey, former CEO Dan Wright and CFO Damon Fletcher. Fletcher and Levey are departing. Art by Mike Sullivan

DataRobot’s CFO, Three Other Senior Execs Depart Amid Fallout Over Share Sales

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 8, 2022 8:45am PDT · 2 comments

From left, DataRobot executives Tom Levey, former CEO Dan Wright and CFO Damon Fletcher. Fletcher and Levey are departing. Art by Mike Sullivan

DataRobot’s CFO, Three Other Senior Execs Depart Amid Fallout Over Share Sales

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 8, 2022 8:45am PDT · 2 comments

The chief financial officer and several other senior executives at artificial intelligence startup DataRobot have resigned as the company prepares a second round of layoffs this year, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. The changes, announced internally in a meeting, are the latest sign of an ongoing leadership shakeup... The chief financial officer and several other senior executives at artificial intelligence...

Illustration by Jesus Escudero.

Debt Is Back for Startups Shut Out of IPO Market

By Maria Heeter · Aug 5, 2022 6:19am PDT · 3 comments

Tech startups that had been eager to go public this year have been forced to put those plans on ice amid the market meltdown. With initial public offering conditions likely to remain tough at least through the end of the year, firms offering alternatives to equity raising are clamoring to help fill the gap. Direct lender Owl Rock Capital, which... Tech startups that had been eager to go public this year have been forced to put those plans on...

Photo by Bloomberg

Food Delivery Wars Heat Up as 7-Eleven Quietly Acquires a Delivery Startup

By Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Aug 4, 2022 5:18pm PDT · 2 comments

7-Eleven, the Japanese-owned convenience store chain, has acquired Skipcart, a four-year-old startup that developed a major network of drivers for fast delivery of restaurant food and other goods in the U.S., according to two people with knowledge of the deal. The move is significant because it could change how 7-Eleven does business with... 7-Eleven, the Japanese-owned convenience store chain, has acquired Skipcart, a four-year-old...

Photo by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Anxiety at the All Hands: Startup Workers Lurch Between IPO Hopes and Layoff Fears

By Erin Woo, Becky Peterson and Mark Matousek · Aug 4, 2022 6:00am PDT

Last Thursday, employees were on pins and needles at Instacart’s San Francisco headquarters ahead of the 10 a.m. all-hands meeting. The week before, the company’s founder and executive chair, Apoorva Mehta, announced that he would step down “once Instacart becomes a public company.” The language announcing... Last Thursday, employees were on pins and needles at Instacart’s San Francisco headquarters...

Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Elon Musk’s No. 2 at SpaceX Does Damage Control

By Becky Peterson · Aug 3, 2022 6:00am PDT

Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan

Elon Musk’s No. 2 at SpaceX Does Damage Control

By Becky Peterson · Aug 3, 2022 6:00am PDT

For years, many investors and employees at Space Exploration Technologies have regarded the company’s No.2 executive, Gwynne Shotwell, as the adult in the room at the boundary-pushing rocket company founded by Elon Musk. Her acolytes have lauded Shotwell’s ability to translate her visionary boss’s wild ideas into a business... For years, many investors and employees at Space Exploration Technologies have regarded the...