Q&A

Page 6
Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy. Photo by Bloomberg.
Q&A

Flipkart CEO Plays Down Amazon Threat

By Priya Anand · Oct 11, 2017 7:00am PDT · 3 comments
Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy took the helm of India’s homegrown e-commerce company in January, about six months after Jeff Bezos pledged Amazon would invest $5 billion in its India business. But Mr. Krishnamurthy claims to be unconcerned about Amazon. “Committing a lot of money doesn’t matter,” he said.Amazon in the... Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy took the helm of India’s homegrown e-commerce company in...
A Chrysler Pacifica outfitted with Waymo self-driving technology in the Phoenix area. Photo: Waymo.
Q&A

Waymo CEO John Krafcik: Full Transcript

By Amir Efrati · Sep 11, 2017 9:30am PDT
On September 8, 2017, The Information met with Waymo CEO John Krafcik to discuss the company’s effort to partner with automakers, his outlook for the arrival of self driving cars, and the future of human-driven ride-hailing networks. Read the related article, Waymo CEO to Automakers: Your Future Is Tied to Us.Below is a transcript of the... On September 8, 2017, The Information met with Waymo CEO John Krafcik to discuss the...
Isara CEO Scott Totzke. Photo by Isara.
Q&A

How Former BlackBerry Security Specialists Aim to Solve Quantum Threat

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 24, 2017 7:00am PDT · 2 comments
The tech industry may have a decade or less to solve its biggest security threat ever: the development of quantum computers able to break the cryptography that underlies everything from online banking to building security cards. One company trying to solve the problem is Isara, a two-year-old startup backed by Research In Motion co-founder Mike... The tech industry may have a decade or less to solve its biggest security threat ever: the...
Art by Mike Sullivan
Heidi Roizen on Taking Risks and Having a ‘Thick Skin’ as a Woman in VC
By Serena Saitto · Aug 2, 2017 7:01am PDT · 4 comments
Art by Mike Sullivan
Q&A

Heidi Roizen on Taking Risks and Having a ‘Thick Skin’ as a Woman in VC

By Serena Saitto · Aug 2, 2017 7:01am PDT · 4 comments
As one of the few women in the venture capital world both when she entered the field and to this day, DFJ operating partner Heidi Roizen has written about sexism and lewd behavior she has encountered during her career. While she advocates walking away from any business deal where someone behaves inappropriately, she doesn’t necessarily... As one of the few women in the venture capital world both when she entered the field and to this...
AT&T Chief Technology Officer Andre Fuetsch. Art by Matt Vascellaro
Q&A

AT&T CTO Says Move to White Boxes a ‘Wake-Up Call’

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jul 24, 2017 10:00am PDT · 4 comments
For big enterprise hardware companies like Cisco Systems and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, AT&T has long been a valuable customer. The telecom behemoth spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year buying devices like switches and routers that transmit data around its network. But it recently began shifting toward cheaper,... For big enterprise hardware companies like Cisco Systems and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, AT&T...
Tech investor and philanthropist Esther Dyson. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
Q&A

Esther Dyson Says Health Tech Startups Require Patience, Medical Input

By Hannah Natanson · Jul 7, 2017 7:00am PDT · 8 comments
After nearly a decade of investing in health tech and biotech companies, Esther Dyson has one piece of advice for prospective founders: Understand that your company isn’t a tech startup.Ms. Dyson says health tech startups require a drastically different mindset than tech startups. For one thing, technology companies often try to push out... After nearly a decade of investing in health tech and biotech companies, Esther Dyson has one...
T. Rowe Price fund manager Paul Greene. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
Q&A

T. Rowe Declares Confidence in Snap’s Prospects

By Alfred Lee · Apr 14, 2017 7:00am PDT · 2 comments
A key money manager at one of the biggest mutual fund investors in tech says Wall Street is getting it wrong on Snap.In an interview, Paul Greene, the manager of T. Rowe Price’s $4.2 billion Media and Telecommunications Fund, downplayed widespread investor concerns about Snap, such as its ability to withstand competition from Facebook or... A key money manager at one of the biggest mutual fund investors in tech says Wall Street is...
Taylor Swift at a DirecTV Now concert before the Super Bowl earlier this month. Photo by AP.
What’s Next for DirecTV Now
By Cory Weinberg · Feb 28, 2017 11:30am PST · 2 comments
Taylor Swift at a DirecTV Now concert before the Super Bowl earlier this month. Photo by AP.
Q&A

What’s Next for DirecTV Now

By Cory Weinberg · Feb 28, 2017 11:30am PST · 2 comments
Of all the attempts in distributing traditional TV channels online, DirecTV’s may be the one that has faced the most skepticism. With a starting price of $35 a month—rising as channels are added—DirecTV Now seemed destined to lose money. Customers initially complained the service was glitchy. Investors worried the service would... Of all the attempts in distributing traditional TV channels online, DirecTV’s may be the...
IBM Watson general manager David Kenny. Photo by AP.
Q&A

How IBM is Competing with Google in AI

By Kevin McLaughlin · Feb 16, 2017 7:01am PST · 5 comments
Amazon, Apple and Google have each built branded artificial intelligence-powered assistants in Alexa, Siri and Google Now. But it’s doubtful any are as broadly known as IBM Watson, which debuted on “Jeopardy!” six years ago this week and earlier this month was featured in a Super Bowl ad.Ironically, despite that wide name... Amazon, Apple and Google have each built branded artificial intelligence-powered assistants in...
Jing Wang, head of Baidu's self driving car software unit. Photo by Baidu.
Q&A

How Baidu Is Leading China’s Self-Driving Car Push

By Amir Efrati · Jan 19, 2017 10:53am PST · 1 comment
LAS VEGAS—Chinese web search giant Baidu was a pioneer in developing fully self-driving cars, just as Google was in the U.S. And Baidu’s top self-driving car executive, Jing Wang, has firm views about the technology—including that Google is at a disadvantage.Mr. Wang, a former Google China executive, says that’s because... LAS VEGAS—Chinese web search giant Baidu was a pioneer in developing fully self-driving...
Art by Matt Vascellaro.
Q&A

How Google Ventures Is Thinking About Biotech

By Fred Vogelstein · Jan 9, 2017 10:00am PST
The high-tech and biotech industries have historically followed different paths. As Moore’s Law made everything in high-tech cheaper, innovation in biotech seemed to make drugs and devices more expensive. That’s changing fast, thanks to the collapsing price of gene sequencing. Biotech companies are now scrambling to analyze and... The high-tech and biotech industries have historically followed different paths. As Moore’s...
Enterprise Strategy Chief Greg Stubblefield. Photo by Laura Bryant
What Silicon Valley Sees in Enterprise Rent-A-Car
By Amir Efrati · Jan 4, 2017 7:02am PST · 4 comments
Enterprise Strategy Chief Greg Stubblefield. Photo by Laura Bryant
Q&A

What Silicon Valley Sees in Enterprise Rent-A-Car

By Amir Efrati · Jan 4, 2017 7:02am PST · 4 comments
Enterprise, a 60-year-old company that owns and rents more cars in the U.S. than anyone else, is gaining newfound attention in Silicon Valley and Detroit, judging by conversations with tech executives lately. The reason is simple: Enterprise is one of the few companies that can manage large fleets of cars at scale. That’s a skill likely to... Enterprise, a 60-year-old company that owns and rents more cars in the U.S. than anyone else, is...
Hike founder Kavin Mittal. Photo by Abhishek Bali/Hike.
Q&A

India’s Shadow Messenger

By Amir Efrati · Dec 7, 2016 10:01am PST · 2 comments
Tencent tried, and failed, to adapt its WeChat messaging app to India. So it did the next best thing, leading a $175 million financing of the homegrown messenger app Hike at a post money valuation of $1.4 billion. Tencent sees Hike as the best way to participate in the future growth of the Indian web, even if it’s in the shadow of market... Tencent tried, and failed, to adapt its WeChat messaging app to India. So it did the next best...
Chris Lehane leads Airbnb’s global policy and communications. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
Q&A

Airbnb’s Political Fighter Backed into a Corner

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 21, 2016 7:01am PST · 5 comments
Anyone who has followed Chris Lehane’s career of brass-knuckle political fights shouldn’t be surprised to learn he spent plenty of time in the boxing ring growing up. Mr. Lehane, a former Bill Clinton adviser who now leads Airbnb’s global policy and communications, said if he was a tourist trying out his company’s new... Anyone who has followed Chris Lehane’s career of brass-knuckle political fights...
Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal. Photo by Bloomberg.
Q&A

The Toughest Tech CEO Job in India

By Amir Efrati · Nov 10, 2016 7:01am PST
Binny Bansal carries the weight of India’s web sector on his shoulders. He’s the co-founder and CEO of Flipkart, the country’s most prominent homegrown web company, an e-commerce firm whose mistakes allowed Amazon.com to catch up to it in terms of sales. Flipkart, once valued at as much as $15 billion, has a symbolic... Binny Bansal carries the weight of India’s web sector on his shoulders. He’s the...
Andrew McAfee. Photo by Flickr/Gordon Haff.
Why Tech Must Get Ahead of Jobs Debate
By Tom Dotan · Nov 9, 2016 11:18am PST · 6 comments
Andrew McAfee. Photo by Flickr/Gordon Haff.
Q&A

Why Tech Must Get Ahead of Jobs Debate

By Tom Dotan · Nov 9, 2016 11:18am PST · 6 comments
The movement that catapulted Donald Trump into the presidency Tuesday was heavily rooted in concerns that immigration and trade was hurting the U.S. job market. But a future version of Mr. Trump will rail against robots rather than immigrants, according to Andrew McAfee, the co-director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy. He has... The movement that catapulted Donald Trump into the presidency Tuesday was heavily rooted in...
Ford senior technical leader Jim McBride. Photo by Ford.
Q&A

How Ford is Making Cars Drive Themselves

By Amir Efrati · Oct 20, 2016 7:00am PDT · 4 comments
Ford has made a flurry of self-driving car announcements in recent months, after lying low for years. It said it would launch an autonomous vehicle service for riders in 2021 and a self-driving car that people could buy for themselves later in the decade. Last month it acquired Chariot, which lets people share shuttles for their commutes, to... Ford has made a flurry of self-driving car announcements in recent months, after lying low for...
Matt Grob. Photo by AP.
Q&A

Qualcomm Sees a Future After Smartphones

By Amir Efrati · May 16, 2016 10:01am PDT
Matt Grob can see the future. Mr. Grob helped develop the first smartphone chips and is now in charge of long-term research and development at chip maker Qualcomm, which works with and influences the product roadmaps of Apple, Samsung Electronics, Google and nearly every other electronics maker of consequence. So he’s uniquely qualified to... Matt Grob can see the future. Mr. Grob helped develop the first smartphone chips and is now in...
Janus' Brad Slingerlend, left, and Denny Fish. Photo by Steve Nellis.
Q&A

Mutual Fund Janus Makes Bear Case on Private Tech

By Steve Nellis and Martin Peers · May 4, 2016 7:02am PDT · 3 comments
Startup valuations have skyrocketed in recent years, with big influxes of cash from mutual funds like Fidelity and T. Rowe Price fueling the rise. So it’s easy to think that mutual funds must be falling over themselves to get a stake in startups.Not so for the Janus Global Technology Fund, a $2.5 billion fund that will turn 18 this year.... Startup valuations have skyrocketed in recent years, with big influxes of cash from mutual funds...
Jonah Peretti. Photo by AP.
Buzzfeed’s Next 10 Years
By Tom Dotan · Dec 7, 2015 8:29am PST · 5 comments
Jonah Peretti. Photo by AP.
Q&A

Buzzfeed’s Next 10 Years

By Tom Dotan · Dec 7, 2015 8:29am PST · 5 comments
Buzzfeed became famous for its GIFs and lists, expanded into serious news and now is trying to turn itself into a video powerhouse. In the view of co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti, video is vital for Buzzfeed to draw increased spending from major advertisers. But competition for video advertising is much tougher than branded articles [see... Buzzfeed became famous for its GIFs and lists, expanded into serious news and now is trying to...