The Big Interview

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Samsung Chief Strategy Officer Young Sohn. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Big Interview

How Samsung Aims to Catch Up in Car Tech

By Amir Efrati · Aug 10, 2017 7:02am PDT · 1 comment
As Samsung Electronics ramps up a belated move into the self-driving car market, initially it is taking aim at the driver assistance technology arena dominated by Intel’s Mobileye—products like collision avoidance that are already in high-end cars, said Young Sohn, Samsung’s chief strategy officer, in an exclusive interview.... As Samsung Electronics ramps up a belated move into the self-driving car market, initially it is...
Bancor business development chief Galia Benartzi. Photo by Flickr/Genady Shkolnik.
The Big Interview

Bancor’s Plans for Local Cryptocurrencies

By Jon Victor · Jul 11, 2017 7:01am PDT · 5 comments
One of the biggest questions surrounding the much-hyped cryptocurrency world is why anyone would use digital currencies instead of cash. The founders of Bancor think the answer lies in small communities, like the residents of an apartment building or neighborhood.That’s based in part on an experience the Bancor team had while working at an... One of the biggest questions surrounding the much-hyped cryptocurrency world is why anyone would...
Grab CEO Anthony Tan. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Big Interview

Uber’s Asian Rival Grab Speeds Up Expansion

By Juro Osawa and Shai Oster · Jun 20, 2017 7:01am PDT
While Uber struggles to cope with its management crisis, one of its biggest Asian competitors is embarking on an acquisition and hiring spree to expand its reach and market share.  Singapore-based startup Grab, whose backers include Japan’s SoftBank and Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, is looking to buy more companies and... While Uber struggles to cope with its management crisis, one of its biggest Asian competitors is...
Katerra CEO Michael Marks. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
Electronics Veteran Wants to Bring Tech Velocity to Housing Construction
By Cory Weinberg · Jun 7, 2017 10:01am PDT · 3 comments
Katerra CEO Michael Marks. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
The Big Interview

Electronics Veteran Wants to Bring Tech Velocity to Housing Construction

By Cory Weinberg · Jun 7, 2017 10:01am PDT · 3 comments
Several startups have tried to take a bite of the hundreds of billions of dollars spent annually on the construction of residential buildings in the United States. Few have succeeded. The latest to try, and perhaps the most ambitious, is Katerra. Led by several veterans of electronics and supply chain management, Katerra is now trying to put... Several startups have tried to take a bite of the hundreds of billions of dollars spent annually...
Jana CEO Nathan Eagle. Photo by Flickr/PopTech
The Big Interview

Verizon-backed Jana Rides India’s Mobile Web Boom and Bust

By Cory Weinberg · May 16, 2017 11:51am PDT
One small beneficiary of the investment rush into Indian internet companies two years ago was Jana, a Boston-based startup that sells ads on an app store for Indian phone users. Jana sold ad space to Indian firms like Flipkart and U.S. companies Amazon.com and Twitter, each hoping to reach Jana’s 40 million registered users. That business... One small beneficiary of the investment rush into Indian internet companies two years ago was...
Dave Waiser, Gett CEO. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.
The Big Interview

How Gett-Juno Deal Could Shake Up NY’s Ride-Hailing Market

By Amir Efrati · May 3, 2017 7:01am PDT · 2 comments
Europe-focused ride-hailing firm Gett strengthened a foothold in the U.S. with last week’s $200 million all-stock acquisition of New York ride-sharing firm Juno. Now, the firm sees a U.S. expansion beyond New York on the horizon, according to Gett CEO Dave Waiser.“History shows there’s room for three or four national players in... Europe-focused ride-hailing firm Gett strengthened a foothold in the U.S. with last week’s...
Sinovation founder Kai-Fu Lee. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Big Interview

China’s Kai-fu Lee on Why the U.S. Could Fall Behind in AI

By Shai Oster · May 2, 2017 10:01am PDT · 5 comments
One of the best-known Chinese tech investors, Kai-fu Lee, predicts that AI-driven advances like self-driving cars will be widely deployed in China before the U.S., thanks to more welcoming government regulators and greater social acceptance. And because machines learn by getting exposure to more and more examples, if they’re used first in... One of the best-known Chinese tech investors, Kai-fu Lee, predicts that AI-driven advances like...
Janae McDonough, vice president of MoPub. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
Can Twitter’s Lonely Bright Spot Keep Shining?
By Cory Weinberg · Mar 16, 2017 7:02am PDT · 3 comments
Janae McDonough, vice president of MoPub. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
The Big Interview

Can Twitter’s Lonely Bright Spot Keep Shining?

By Cory Weinberg · Mar 16, 2017 7:02am PDT · 3 comments
It says something that one of the few bright spots at Twitter is a business that sells ads in non-Twitter apps. That business is mobile ad exchange MoPub, which Twitter bought for around $220 million in 2013. Last year, rumors swirled that the company was going to sell it off. Now, it’s adding headcount as its revenue growth outpaces... It says something that one of the few bright spots at Twitter is a business that sells ads in...
Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Big Interview

Stitch Fix Wants to Go for Retail’s Jugular

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 26, 2017 11:59am PST · 3 comments
Katrina Lake, CEO of online retailer Stitch Fix, for years has expected a reckoning in retail—and it’s starting to play out. Brick-and-mortar retailers like Sears and Macy’s have lately been closing stores as they grapple with declining store traffic. It presents a potential opening for Stitch Fix to prove out its unusual... Katrina Lake, CEO of online retailer Stitch Fix, for years has expected a reckoning in...
Grail CEO Jeff Huber. Photo by O'Reilly Media Next:Economy Summit/ Doug Cody
The Big Interview

Grail is Silicon Valley’s New Biotech Test Case

By Fred Vogelstein · Dec 21, 2016 12:26pm PST · 3 comments
Until about a year ago, few outside of Silicon Valley had heard of Jeff Huber. Insiders knew him as the cerebral Midwesterner who as a top engineering executive helped build Google's advertising, apps and maps businesses. But all that changed in early February when he became CEO of a startup called Grail, a company developing a genetic... Until about a year ago, few outside of Silicon Valley had heard of Jeff Huber. Insiders knew him...
Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Big Interview

Sling and the Coming Brawl for Streaming TV

By Tom Dotan · Oct 25, 2016 10:01am PDT · 8 comments
Right now you could roughly divide the companies trying to stream shrunken bundles of TV channels over the internet into two camps. There are distributors with ties to legacy TV, like Dish’s Sling TV or DirecTV’s upcoming service. Then there are tech companies like Sony, Hulu and YouTube.Sling’s CEO Roger Lynch says that when... Right now you could roughly divide the companies trying to stream shrunken bundles of TV channels...
Amazon Video VP Michael Paull. Photo by Getty Images.
Amazon Lures Hollywood with Channels
By Tom Dotan · Oct 18, 2016 12:56pm PDT
Amazon Video VP Michael Paull. Photo by Getty Images.
The Big Interview

Amazon Lures Hollywood with Channels

By Tom Dotan · Oct 18, 2016 12:56pm PDT
As Netflix was trumpeting its better than expected earnings on Monday afternoon, an analyst chimed into the company’s conference call to ask about the competitive threat posed by Amazon.com. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings brushed the issue aside, declaring that “Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook video” all likely account for more viewing... As Netflix was trumpeting its better than expected earnings on Monday afternoon, an analyst...
Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
The Big Interview

Joe Tsai: Alibaba Finding Its Groove

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 22, 2016 7:02am PDT · 6 comments
Alibaba has been on a roller coaster since going public two years ago. U.S. investors haven’t quite known what to make of the crown jewel of China tech that is worth a whopping $258 billion. Will Chinese consumers continue to shop even as the economy slows? Why is the company being investigated by the SEC? Why on earth is the company... Alibaba has been on a roller coaster since going public two years ago. U.S. investors...
Andrew Morse, executive vice president of CNN US and head of CNN digital worldwide. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
The Big Interview

How CNN is Fending off Digital Rivals

By Tom Dotan · Aug 22, 2016 11:12am PDT · 1 comment
Public spats between TV networks are a time-honored tradition in cable news. But in recent months CNN executives have been turning their sights to digital competitors—with two sites in particular the focus of their PR potshots: BuzzFeed and Vice.CNN’s president Jeff Zucker has called out the two as being unserious about... Public spats between TV networks are a time-honored tradition in cable news. But in recent months...
Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst. Photo by Flickr/Red Hat.
The Big Interview

The Only Guy Making Money Off Free Software

By Steve Nellis · Jul 6, 2016 10:01am PDT
There are now scores of venture-backed startups pushing open-source software. Some, like Cloudera, MongoDB and Docker, claim to be worth $1 billion or more. Each has a slightly different spin on the same question: How do you make money off free code?They’ve got a range of different answers, like selling tools on top of an “open... There are now scores of venture-backed startups pushing open-source software. Some, like...
Himagiri Mukkamala, GE's Head of Engineering for Predix. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
Why General Electric Won Talent From Apple
By Steve Nellis · Jun 21, 2016 10:32am PDT · 5 comments
Himagiri Mukkamala, GE's Head of Engineering for Predix. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
The Big Interview

Why General Electric Won Talent From Apple

By Steve Nellis · Jun 21, 2016 10:32am PDT · 5 comments
General Electric made a splash in the tech world when it poached two top engineers working on voice assistant Siri, Darren Haas and Steve D'Aurora. The two are charged with building out the cloud computing infrastructure for GE’s software platform for industrial users called Predix.Their hiring reflects how GE is looking to become an... General Electric made a splash in the tech world when it poached two top engineers working on...
Art by Matt Vascellaro.
The Big Interview

Bustle’s Slower but Steady Growth Path

By Tom Dotan · Jun 14, 2016 10:02am PDT · 3 comments
In digital media these days, the most contrarian strategy is the simplest. Take female-focused Bustle, trying to keep costs and investments low, hoping to turn a profit. While everyone else is making video the centerpiece of their content as they chase TV ad dollars, Bustle has zeroed in on newspaper and magazine advertisers and is only dabbling... In digital media these days, the most contrarian strategy is the simplest. Take female-focused...
IFTTT CEO Linden Tibbets. Art by Matt Vascellaro.
The Big Interview

IFTTT: The Would-Be Lynchpin of the Connected Home

By Steve Nellis · Jun 1, 2016 7:00am PDT · 5 comments
In the tech world, which apps or devices will work with each other usually gets decided by the companies who make them. If you want to post an Instagram photo to Twitter, for instance, you’ll have to do so from separate apps. But startup IFTTT lets you connect the two so that whenever you Instagram something, it goes out to your Twitter... In the tech world, which apps or devices will work with each other usually gets decided by the...
Magic Stone founder Jenny Zeng. Photo by Jessica E. Lessin.
The Big Interview

How an Investor in China Opened Doors in Silicon Valley

By Jessica E. Lessin · May 19, 2016 7:01am PDT
Last year, at a private club in the Rosewood hotel in Beijing, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was facing some tough questions. Across the table was Jenny Zeng, and she wanted to know Uber’s plans to beat local competitor Didi and why he hadn’t yet hired a CEO for Uber China. Ms. Zeng is the founder of Magic Stone Alternative Investments... Last year, at a private club in the Rosewood hotel in Beijing, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was...
VSCO co-founder Joel Flory. Photo by Cory Weinberg.
VSCO Tries to Get More Love Without Likes
By Cory Weinberg · May 18, 2016 7:00am PDT
VSCO co-founder Joel Flory. Photo by Cory Weinberg.
The Big Interview

VSCO Tries to Get More Love Without Likes

By Cory Weinberg · May 18, 2016 7:00am PDT
If Snapchat is the goofball and Instagram is the cheerleader in the hallway of photo sharing apps, then VSCO is the insular arts kid spending free period in the film lab. But now VSCO wants to make more friends. VSCO, which stands for Visual Supply Company, has more than 30 million monthly users, nearly three-quarters of whom are under 24. Its... If Snapchat is the goofball and Instagram is the cheerleader in the hallway of photo sharing...