Q&A

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Jeremy King, Pinterest's head of engineering. Collage by Joanna Lin Su. Photo by Bloomberg
Q&A

How Pinterest Learned to Control Cloud Costs

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 23, 2021 2:25pm PDT · 6 comments
Like many other large Amazon Web Services customers, Pinterest at times has struggled to accurately forecast its cloud capacity needs in advance, causing it to pay for additional capacity at a higher price. But some of the measures implemented in recent years by Jeremy King, Pinterest’s head of engineering, show how the scrapbooking app... Like many other large Amazon Web Services customers, Pinterest at times has struggled to...
Ampere Computing CEO Renée James. Collage by Joanna Lin Su. Photo by Bloomberg
Q&A

How Renée James Dodged the Global Chip Shortage

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 17, 2021 12:32pm PDT · 2 comments
Renée James learned a lot about semiconductor manufacturing during her 28-year career at Intel. As president of the semiconductor giant from 2013 to 2016, her responsibilities included managing the company’s chip manufacturing factories around the world. That partly explains why James, now founder and CEO of chip startup Ampere... Renée James learned a lot about semiconductor manufacturing during her 28-year career at...
Overstock CEO Jonathan Johnson. Photo by AP
Q&A

Overstock Shares Rise Fivefold in a Year: Meet the CEO Rebuilding the Ecommerce Pioneer

By Malique Morris · Jun 7, 2021 12:17pm PDT
It took several years for Overstock.com, a pioneer of online selling, to lose its way, as then-CEO Patrick Byrne diversified into blockchain investments and got sidetracked by conspiracy theories. But in just the past two years, since longtime executive Jonathan Johnson took the helm, the e-commerce business has begun growing again. His formula?... It took several years for Overstock.com, a pioneer of online selling, to lose its way, as...
Instagram Chief Mosseri Rebuffs State AGs Opposing Kids Version of App
By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · May 24, 2021 2:48pm PDT · 4 comments
Q&A

Instagram Chief Mosseri Rebuffs State AGs Opposing Kids Version of App

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · May 24, 2021 2:48pm PDT · 4 comments
Instagram head Adam Mosseri hit back at state attorneys-general who criticized a planned children’s version of the app, saying “there are things governments could do to help that are probably more helpful than writing a letter.” Earlier this month, a group of 44 state attorneys-general penned an open letter urging Instagram to... Instagram head Adam Mosseri hit back at state attorneys-general who criticized a planned...
Away CEO and co-founder Jen Rubio. Photo by Bloomberg
Q&A

Away’s New CEO Rubio Says There’s No ‘Time to Waste’ as Business Recovers From 50% Drop Last Year

By Malique Morris · Apr 30, 2021 10:33am PDT · 1 comment
Online luggage retailer Away’s new CEO, co-founder Jen Rubio, says the company doesn’t have “time to waste” as it prepares for a surge in business in the wake of the pandemic that brought travel to an abrupt halt and sent Away’s revenue plunging 50% to about $135 million in 2020. This year, Away is hoping to bounce... Online luggage retailer Away’s new CEO, co-founder Jen Rubio, says the company...
Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast on YouTube. Photo by Night Media.
Q&A

‘MrBeast’ Explains His Plans to Help YouTube Creators Raise Equity Finance

By Sam Lessin · Mar 24, 2021 11:38am PDT · 3 comments
Jimmy Donaldson, known as “MrBeast” on YouTube, today unveiled a new company called Creative Juice focused on providing equity-based financing for YouTube creators, including valuing and investing in YouTube channels. Creative Juice initially will focus on valuing and buying minority stakes in YouTube channels and supporting creators... Jimmy Donaldson, known as “MrBeast” on YouTube, today unveiled a new company called...
Conde CEO Roger Lynch. Photo by Bloomberg. Illustration by Mike Sullivan
Q&A

Condé Nast Expects Strong Revenue Growth in 2021 After “Very Difficult Year,” CEO Says

By Tom Dotan · Mar 12, 2021 6:00am PST · 1 comment
Magazine giant Condé Nast, publisher of titles including Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Wired, had a “very, very difficult year” in 2020, thanks to the pandemic’s impact on advertising, CEO Roger Lynch says. But this year, he predicts, revenue will grow by “double-digit percentages,” and long term he... Magazine giant Condé Nast, publisher of titles including Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New...
Kuaishou Technology headquarters in Beijing. Photo by Bloomberg.
Why China Embraced the Creator Economy Before the West Did
By Yunan Zhang · Mar 4, 2021 9:00am PST · 2 comments
Kuaishou Technology headquarters in Beijing. Photo by Bloomberg.
Q&A

Why China Embraced the Creator Economy Before the West Did

By Yunan Zhang · Mar 4, 2021 9:00am PST · 2 comments
Executives at Facebook, Twitter and Snap recently realized that if they don’t help the people who produce videos and other content for their apps make money, these creators will take their talents, fans and potential revenue streams somewhere else. In China, mobile video apps figured that out six years ago. That’s when Kuaishou,... Executives at Facebook, Twitter and Snap recently realized that if they don’t help the...
Yubico CEO Stina Ehrensvärd. Photo provided by Yubico
Q&A

How a Google Deal Put a Small Security Company on the Map

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jan 5, 2021 6:36am PST · 3 comments
A little over a decade ago, Yubico was an obscure security company founded in Sweden, with only five full-time employees. Then Google came along and signed up to use Yubico’s product—a tiny hardware doodad that acts as physical security key when plugged into the USB port on a PC—to protect its employees. That... A little over a decade ago, Yubico was an obscure security company founded in Sweden, with only...
Bret Taylor, president and chief product officer of Salesforce, at the company's Dreamforce conference last November. Photo by Bloomberg
Q&A

Salesforce’s Bret Taylor: Company Didn’t Overpay for Slack

By Kevin McLaughlin · Dec 2, 2020 3:35pm PST · 4 comments
Salesforce didn’t overpay for Slack, the business messaging company it agreed to acquire on Tuesday for nearly $28 billion, Bret Taylor, Salesforce’s president and chief product officer said. In an interview on Wednesday with The Information, Taylor said the price tag was well worth it considering the importance of the kinds of... Salesforce didn’t overpay for Slack, the business messaging company it agreed to acquire on...
Axel Springer's Lars Kahl. Photo by Axel Springer
Q&A

Insider’s Parent Axel Springer Wants to Help Drive US Media Mergers

By Mark Di Stefano · Nov 25, 2020 9:01am PST · 1 comment
Axel Springer, the German owner of Business Insider, is ready to take part in a second wave of consolidation in the U.S. digital media market, according to the company’s U.S.-based head of news and media investments, Lars Kahl. Backed by its big new shareholder, private equity giant KKR, Axel Springer wants to spend 2021 on an expansion... Axel Springer, the German owner of Business Insider, is ready to take part in a second wave of...
Tim Stokely. Photo by OnlyFans.
OnlyFans Chief Talks Sports Ambitions and Role of Adult Content in Site
By Tom Dotan · Nov 17, 2020 9:02am PST · 4 comments
Tim Stokely. Photo by OnlyFans.
Q&A

OnlyFans Chief Talks Sports Ambitions and Role of Adult Content in Site

By Tom Dotan · Nov 17, 2020 9:02am PST · 4 comments
One of the buzziest companies in tech today, OnlyFans, is about as far from a typical startup as is possible. OnlyFans has no outside investors, is already profitable and isn’t looking to raise money, according to its founder, British entrepreneur Tim Stokely. OnlyFans is a subscription social media site that lets fans pay to get exclusive... One of the buzziest companies in tech today, OnlyFans, is about as far from a typical startup as...
Bryan Goldberg. Art by Mike Sullivan, photo courtesy of Bustle.
Q&A

Bustle’s Goldberg Says Media Firm Is ‘Logical Candidate’ for SPAC Merger

By Tom Dotan · Sep 16, 2020 9:00am PDT
If any digital media firm is likely to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, it may well be Bryan Goldberg’s Bustle Digital Group, which has become an acquisition machine for troubled digital media firms like Mic and The Outline. In an interview with The Information, Goldberg said, “We would be logical... If any digital media firm is likely to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition...
VMware COO Sanjay Poonen. Photo by VMware
Q&A

VMware’s Sanjay Poonen Discusses Company’s Subscription Software Shift

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 10, 2020 6:02am PDT
When Sanjay Poonen joined VMware in 2013, the company was scrambling to adapt its traditional software business to a new world in which businesses were increasingly running software inside cloud data centers operated by Amazon, Microsoft and others. That shift could have been bad news for VMware, which is the dominant provider of software... When Sanjay Poonen joined VMware in 2013, the company was scrambling to adapt its traditional...
Jim Bankoff. Art by Mike Sullivan
Q&A

Vox Media’s Bankoff Talks Digital Media, Ad Market and Facebook

By Jessica Toonkel · Sep 8, 2020 3:00am PDT · 1 comment
In the crowded and cutthroat landscape of digital media, Vox Media has been one of the survivors, keeping costs under control and growing through acquisition of such properties as New York magazine and its websites, as well as Recode, adding these to properties purchased earlier, The Verge and SBNation. CEO Jim Bankoff said that Vox has... In the crowded and cutthroat landscape of digital media, Vox Media has been one of the survivors,...
New York Times Co's new CEO, Meredith Levien. Photo by Bloomberg
Meredith Levien Wants the NYT to be a World Class Tech Company
By Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 22, 2020 2:13pm PDT · 6 comments
New York Times Co's new CEO, Meredith Levien. Photo by Bloomberg
Q&A

Meredith Levien Wants the NYT to be a World Class Tech Company

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jul 22, 2020 2:13pm PDT · 6 comments
Imagine a New York Times where you get your music and play digital games, along with your news. That vision is a big part of what Meredith Kopit Levien, announced as the company’s new CEO Wednesday, sees as the future of the company. Even as the publication is embroiled in controversies around ideology in its coverage—and... Imagine a New York Times where you get your music and play digital games, along with your news....
Jonah Peretti. Art by Mike Sullivan
Q&A

BuzzFeed’s Peretti on How Pandemic Squashed 2020 Profit Hopes

By Jessica Toonkel · Jul 14, 2020 7:01am PDT · 1 comment
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic a few months ago, advertisers owed BuzzFeed around $100 million in payments from the fourth quarter, almost one-third of the company’s revenue for last year. CEO Jonah Peretti was worried that with the businesses grinding to a halt and many companies suspending advertising, BuzzFeed wouldn’t... At the height of the coronavirus pandemic a few months ago, advertisers owed BuzzFeed around $100...
Ulili Onovakpuri. Photo: Kapor Capital
Q&A

Venture Capital’s Elite Must Knock Down Barriers for Black Founders, Says Kapor Partner

By Kate Clark · Jun 19, 2020 7:01am PDT · 3 comments
Ulili Onovakpuri has been getting a lot of emails lately—mostly from fellow venture capitalists and startup leaders, each with a similar message: “We realize that we have a diversity problem. Can you help?”For the Kapor Capital partner, one of very few black women partners in the venture capital industry, Silicon Valley’s... Ulili Onovakpuri has been getting a lot of emails lately—mostly from fellow venture...
WarnerMedia CTO Jeremy Legg. Art by Mike Sullivan
Q&A

WarnerMedia Is Hiring, Considering Social Features for HBO Max

By Jessica Toonkel · May 18, 2020 10:43am PDT
Getting a new streaming service like HBO Max off the ground is a technical feat under normal circumstances, but the coronavirus pandemic has added wrinkles no one could have anticipated.Just a couple of weeks ago, when a small power outage in a Seattle neighborhood affected one of WarnerMedia’s data centers, the media company’s chief... Getting a new streaming service like HBO Max off the ground is a technical feat under normal...
Ann Miura-Ko. Photo courtesy of Floodgate
Startups Face a ‘Fundamental Reset,’ Says VC
By Kate Clark · May 13, 2020 11:36am PDT · 1 comment
Ann Miura-Ko. Photo courtesy of Floodgate
Q&A

Startups Face a ‘Fundamental Reset,’ Says VC

By Kate Clark · May 13, 2020 11:36am PDT · 1 comment
Ann Miura-Ko is no stranger to investing during a crisis. She got her start in venture capital as an analyst on September 10, 2001. She co-founded her seed-stage fund, Floodgate, in 2008 just as Bear Stearns was collapsing. The current shock set off by the global coronavirus pandemic seems worse. “This is actually a fundamental reset.... Ann Miura-Ko is no stranger to investing during a crisis. She got her start in venture capital as...