The Big Interview

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Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau. Photo by Bloomberg
The Big Interview

Zynga, No Longer a Game Has-Been, Hunts for Acquisitions

By Nick Wingfield · Nov 7, 2019 7:00am PST
When Frank Gibeau became chief executive of Zynga in 2016, the mobile games publisher behind one-time sensations like “FarmVille” and “Words with Friends” was a shambles. With revenue in decline and a history of bungled acquisitions, Zynga had a market capitalization of around $2 billion, a tad more than the combined... When Frank Gibeau became chief executive of Zynga in 2016, the mobile games publisher behind...
Stephen Gillett, executive advisor to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and founder of Chronicle. Photo by Graham Hancock
The Big Interview

Why Google Gobbled Up Alphabet Cybersecurity Company

By Nick Bastone · Oct 25, 2019 7:01am PDT
Four years ago, Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, created a new conglomerate called Alphabet that was supposed to help it better incubate companies at arm’s length from the search giant—from Waymo, its self-driving vehicle startup, to Loon, its provider of internet access via aerial... Four years ago, Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, created a new conglomerate...
A Klook tour guide on a Klook-hosted walking tour in Hong Kong last year. Photo by Bloomberg
The Big Interview

SoftBank-Backed Tourism App Klook Eyes Expansion in Europe

By Shai Oster and Juro Osawa · Oct 10, 2019 11:09am PDT
Japan is a popular travel destination, but planning visits to lesser-known sights can be hard for foreigners. Online booking isn’t always available on local websites, and information in English can be limited. That’s where Klook, a fast-growing global tourism app, comes in. Its offerings in Japan include tickets for everything from... Japan is a popular travel destination, but planning visits to lesser-known sights can be hard for...
Zillow CEO Rich Barton. Photo by Zillow
To Reinvent Zillow, Barton Draws Inspiration From Netflix and Amazon
By Nick Wingfield · Oct 8, 2019 7:01am PDT · 6 comments
Zillow CEO Rich Barton. Photo by Zillow
The Big Interview

To Reinvent Zillow, Barton Draws Inspiration From Netflix and Amazon

By Nick Wingfield · Oct 8, 2019 7:01am PDT · 6 comments
Zillow CEO Rich Barton has been around the internet long enough that he can recognize a disruptive technology on the verge of upending a market. At Netflix, where Barton has been a board member since 2002, he was present when the company got into video streaming after anticipating the demise of its DVD rental business. Several years later,... Zillow CEO Rich Barton has been around the internet long enough that he can recognize a...
Rover CEO Aaron Easterly. Photo by Rover
The Big Interview

Rover Finds Following With ‘Pet Parents’ With Dog Boarding, Grooming

By Nick Wingfield · Sep 6, 2019 7:01am PDT
This week, I pointed my web browser at a site called Rover.com and embarked on one of my least favorite online shopping experiences: searching for someone to look after my quirky, 10-year-old dog while my family is out of town later this year.    Like other online marketplaces, Rover connects supply (people willing to look... This week, I pointed my web browser at a site called Rover.com and embarked on one of my least...
Flexe CEO Karl Siebrecht and CTO David Glick. Photos by Flexe
The Big Interview

In an Amazon Age, Startup Finds Following With On-Demand Warehouses

By Priya Anand · Aug 30, 2019 7:00am PDT · 1 comment
Amazon has turned the business of handling basic e-commerce chores for independent merchants—including storing their merchandise in Amazon warehouses and packaging them into customer orders—into a goldmine. But not every merchant wants to rely on Amazon to provide these services—and a growing array of companies are emerging as... Amazon has turned the business of handling basic e-commerce chores for independent...
Salesforce Chief Product Officer Bret Taylor. Photo by Salesforce
The Big Interview

Salesforce’s Bret Taylor Talks Tableau and the ‘New Normal’ Among Businesses

By Kevin McLaughlin · Jun 19, 2019 7:02am PDT
Throughout his career, Bret Taylor helped create some of the most widely used services on the internet, including Google Maps and Facebook’s “like” button.Now, as president and chief product officer at Salesforce, he is helping the company move beyond its roots in cloud-based customer management software into tools that... Throughout his career, Bret Taylor helped create some of the most widely used services on the...
Fitbit CEO James Park. Photo by Bloomberg
How Fitbit Survived in Apple’s Shadow
By Aaron Tilley · May 28, 2019 10:01am PDT · 3 comments
Fitbit CEO James Park. Photo by Bloomberg
The Big Interview

How Fitbit Survived in Apple’s Shadow

By Aaron Tilley · May 28, 2019 10:01am PDT · 3 comments
A few years ago, Fitbit, an early maker of fitness-tracking devices, looked like it might get squashed by the Apple Watch, the iPhone maker’s big push into the wearables category. Now, after years of declining sales, things are finally looking up for Fitbit. It recently returned to revenue growth, with sales rising almost 10% in the first... A few years ago, Fitbit, an early maker of fitness-tracking devices, looked like it might get...
Twitter's revenue head Matthew Derella. Photo by Twitter.
The Big Interview

How Twitter Turned Its Ad Business Around

By Tom Dotan · May 6, 2019 7:01am PDT · 1 comment
The digital ad market saw some surprising shifts in the first quarter, most notably Google’s sudden slowdown in growth. But the biggest surprise was Twitter, the company left for dead by Wall Street just 18 months ago, which posted much stronger advertising revenue. That lifted its stock 10% to its highest point since last June.Twitter is... The digital ad market saw some surprising shifts in the first quarter, most notably...
Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy. Photo by Spotify
The Big Interview

Spotify Finance Chief Sees Important Test in Slack Listing

By Zoë Bernard · Apr 26, 2019 1:21pm PDT · 1 comment
On Friday, the business messaging company Slack filed paperwork confirming it will go public through a direct listing of its shares. Slack has the chief financial officer of another company, Spotify’s Barry McCarthy, to thank for making the process a little smoother.That’s because Mr. McCarthy last year shepherded Spotify through the... On Friday, the business messaging company Slack filed paperwork confirming it will go public...
Snowflake's executive leaders (from left) Thierry Cruanes, co-founder and architect; Bob Muglia, CEO; Benoit Dageville, co-founder and CTO; Marcin Zukowski, co-founder. Photo by Snowflake
The Big Interview

Snowflake Aims to Beat Amazon at Its Own Game

By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 15, 2019 6:32am PDT
Amazon Web Services has a knack for entering new businesses that its customers happen to be in, but one AWS customer—database startup Snowflake—has given the internet retailer’s cloud unit a taste of its own medicine.  Snowflake launched its first product on the cloud computing service in 2015, putting it in direct... Amazon Web Services has a knack for entering new businesses that its customers happen to be in,...
Atlassian's Jay Simons. Photo by Atlassian
Atlassian, a Software Outlier, Grows Up
By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 4, 2019 10:30am PDT · 2 comments
Atlassian's Jay Simons. Photo by Atlassian
The Big Interview

Atlassian, a Software Outlier, Grows Up

By Kevin McLaughlin · Apr 4, 2019 10:30am PDT · 2 comments
Atlassian isn’t your typical cloud software maker. The company started in Australia, a country that hasn’t produced many globally recognized hits in the tech business. And it found success for its products, which enable teams inside companies to work collaboratively on complex projects, by mostly avoiding the pushy sales and... Atlassian isn’t your typical cloud software maker. The company started in Australia, a...
Blackberry CEO John Chen. Photo by Bloomberg
The Big Interview

BlackBerry Not Becoming a ‘Patent Troll,’ Says CEO

By Sarah Kuranda · Mar 5, 2019 10:01am PST · 1 comment
BlackBerry, which became a household name in the early 2000s for its ubiquituous email devices, is one of the more infamous examples of a pioneer left behind by technological change. Its slide was so pronounced that, as CEO John Chen said in an interview, “Five years ago, you would have thought the company was dead and bankrupt.”... BlackBerry, which became a household name in the early 2000s for its ubiquituous email devices,...
The Big Interview

The Big Interview: Mozilla Plans New Products to Capitalize on Tech Stumbles

By Sarah Kuranda · Mar 4, 2019 10:01am PST · 3 comments
Under Chief Executive Chris Beard, Mozilla Corporation has fashioned itself as the anti-Facebook browser company, publicly defending individual privacy rights as technology companies struggle with data scandals. But while the strategy has lifted Mozilla’s profile, it hasn’t significantly boosted revenue or helped the firm reclaim... Under Chief Executive Chris Beard, Mozilla Corporation has fashioned itself as the anti-Facebook...
Cloudfare CEO Matthew Prince. Photo by Cloudflare
The Big Interview

Cloudflare, an IPO Contender, Doesn’t Want to Play Content Cop

By Sarah Kuranda · Feb 21, 2019 10:00am PST · 3 comments
When Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince decided to take steps that knocked a neo-Nazi website off the internet in 2017, he was painted as an online censor. Even he referred to his own actions as “dangerous” in a blog post. Now the same thing that gives Cloudflare the clout to decide who can stay on the internet—its services for... When Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince decided to take steps that knocked a neo-Nazi website off the...
Tableau CEO Adam Selipsky. Photo by Tableau
Tableau Rallies After Subscription Shift, Microsoft Threat
By Nick Wingfield · Feb 20, 2019 6:31am PST · 3 comments
Tableau CEO Adam Selipsky. Photo by Tableau
The Big Interview

Tableau Rallies After Subscription Shift, Microsoft Threat

By Nick Wingfield · Feb 20, 2019 6:31am PST · 3 comments
Not long before former Amazon executive Adam Selipsky joined Tableau Software as its chief executive in 2016, the Seattle-based software company’s stock had lost half its value in a single day on worries that Microsoft was preparing to eat its lunch with a cheaper product.  Investors got another scare after Mr. Selipsky took over when... Not long before former Amazon executive Adam Selipsky joined Tableau Software as its chief...
AMC CEO Josh Sapan. Photo by AP
The Big Interview

AMC CEO Warns That Big Media Deals Won’t Work

By Jessica Toonkel · Feb 8, 2019 6:31am PST
Under pressure from Netflix and Amazon, the entertainment industry is slowly consolidating. But one of the smallest of the publicly traded entertainment firms, AMC Networks, is resisting the trend. And in an interview, AMC CEO Josh Sapan warns that some of the big deals underway may prove to be more challenging than anticipated and may need to... Under pressure from Netflix and Amazon, the entertainment industry is slowly consolidating. But...
Good Eggs CEO Bentley Hall. Photo by Good Eggs
The Big Interview

Good Eggs Hatches Grocery Comeback

By Priya Anand · Dec 31, 2018 7:01am PST · 1 comment
It was a big year for the online grocery business. Amazon launched same-day deliveries from Whole Foods Markets. Instacart, meanwhile, raised two mega-rounds of funding totaling more than $1 billion, raising its valuation to nearly $8 billion.Those two developments seem like they would suck the oxygen out of the market for Bentley Hall, the CEO... It was a big year for the online grocery business. Amazon launched same-day deliveries from Whole...
Ctrip CEO Jane Jie Sun
The Big Interview

Trade War, Slowing Economy Test China’s Biggest Travel Site

By Shai Oster · Nov 20, 2018 7:01am PST
Ctrip.com, China’s biggest travel and hotel booking website, is getting pummeled by investors. After forecasting earlier this month that profits could fall to zero next quarter and warning it couldn’t predict next year because of the slowing pace of economic growth amid a trade war, shares of the New York–listed stock fell 19%.... Ctrip.com, China’s biggest travel and hotel booking website, is getting pummeled by...
Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang. Photo by Juro Osawa
How Alibaba’s New Chief Will Navigate Tougher Times
By Juro Osawa · Nov 8, 2018 2:00pm PST
Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang. Photo by Juro Osawa
The Big Interview

How Alibaba’s New Chief Will Navigate Tougher Times

By Juro Osawa · Nov 8, 2018 2:00pm PST
Jack Ma, China’s most famous billionaire, embraced the limelight with stunts like dancing in a costume to Michael Jackson before a stadium full of employees. On the other hand, Daniel Zhang, the former accountant who will replace Mr. Ma next September as the executive chairman of Alibaba, is practically anonymous. “I enjoy walking on... Jack Ma, China’s most famous billionaire, embraced the limelight with stunts like dancing...