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What BuzzFeed CEO’s Mea Culpa Means

By Martin Peers · April 20, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 2 comments

Those CEO apologies we’ve become used to seeing whenever a company announces layoffs are getting even more elaborate. BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti, for instance, had quite a doozy of a mea culpa today as he announced the shuttering of BuzzFeed News and another round of layoffs at the digital media firm. After counting off all the... Those CEO apologies we’ve become used to seeing whenever a company announces layoffs are getting...

SeatGeek CEO Mr. Jack Groetzinger. Photo by Bloomberg.

electric vehicles markets

The IPOs Are Coming (Maybe)

By Martin Peers · April 19, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 1 comment

Be still, my beating heart. Is that the sound of the IPO market stirring? We scooped the news today that event-ticketing firm SeatGeek had filed confidentially with regulators to go public, just a few of days after blockchain firm Chia Network Inc. said it had done the same. (For more on Chia, see our Crypto Global newsletter today). A long... Be still, my beating heart. Is that the sound of the IPO market stirring? We scooped the news ...

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Netflix Is Now a Real TV Firm: Slow-Growing but Printing Money

By Martin Peers · April 18, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 1 comment

Netflix is looking more and more like an old-fashioned television company. In other words, it’s growing slowly but producing lots of cash. The video-streaming giant reported what can only be described as anemic growth in the first quarter. Revenue rose 3.7%, which is the kind of growth rate we associate with traditional TV firms like Fox Corp.... Netflix is looking more and more like an old-fashioned television company. In other words, it’s...

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Apple’s New Savings Account Makes iPhones More Valuable—for Thieves

By Martin Peers · April 17, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 4 comments

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Apple’s New Savings Account Makes iPhones More Valuable—for Thieves

By Martin Peers · April 17, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 4 comments

Apple is now paying you to have an iPhone! That’s right. Sign up for the savings account now available through Apple Wallet, administered by Goldman Sachs, and you will get an interest rate of 4.15%, Apple announced today. That’s a very good rate—most other digital-only banks aren’t offering terms quite as generous (as for big banks, forget it—... Apple is now paying you to have an iPhone! That’s right. Sign up for the savings account now...

Andy Jassy. Photo by Getty.

Amazon’s Andy Jassy Needs a Raise

By Martin Peers · April 13, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 4 comments

Andy Jassy needs a raise. Amazon's annual disclosure of its top executives' compensation, released today, portrays a CEO who is woefully underpaid given the immensity of the job he has. The company's stock-heavy executive compensation packages are laudable in how they align the interests of executives and shareholders. But shareholders also need... Andy Jassy needs a raise. Amazon's annual disclosure of its top executives' compensation,...

HBO & Max Content CEO Casey Bloys at today's event. Photo by Getty

Warner’s New Max Service Is a Decade Overdue

By Martin Peers · April 12, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Better late than never. That could be the motto of Warner Bros. Discovery, which today put on a glitzy presentation to promote its overhauled streaming service, to be renamed Max (dropping HBO from the name) on May 23. The new service, combining shows from the company’s Discovery portfolio of reality shows with HBO Max’s lineup, is a worthy... Better late than never. That could be the motto of Warner Bros. Discovery, which today put on a...

Garry Tan, CEO of YC. Photo by Getty.

startups crypto

Here Comes the Startup Panic

By Jessica E. Lessin · April 11, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Tech startups and investors have had a tumultuous few months. There was the crypto meltdown, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and, before that, the overall economic fallout from the weak economy and hammering of tech stocks. And as the dust has settled, there’s a new vibe in the air: concern—even a little desperation. Tech startups and investors have had a tumultuous few months. There was the crypto meltdown, the...

ThredUp CEO James Reinhart. Photo by Bloomberg.

What ThredUp’s Exec Comp Says About Founder Incentives

By Martin Peers · April 10, 2023 5:03 PM PDT

ThredUp CEO James Reinhart. Photo by Bloomberg.

What ThredUp’s Exec Comp Says About Founder Incentives

By Martin Peers · April 10, 2023 5:03 PM PDT

Here’s a question: What incentives does a CEO need to stick around to work hard to advance the company’s priorities? If they’re a founder with a decent equity stake, the answer should be none. The opportunity to lift the value of their existing shares should be incentive enough. That’s apparently the view of big tech firms like Meta Platforms,... Here’s a question: What incentives does a CEO need to stick around to work hard to advance the...

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What OpenAI Is Doing That Google Isn’t

By Martin Peers · April 6, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Sibling rivalry. It’s a real thing, as any parent with more than one child knows, and it can either motivate a kid to work harder or alienate them. No, you haven’t accidentally opened a newsletter about parenting. Sibling rivalry turns out to be a big problem in tech. It prevented the two AI labs within Google’s parent Alphabet from working... Sibling rivalry. It’s a real thing, as any parent with more than one child knows, and it can...

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Arming the Enemy? Why U.S. VCs Investing in China AI Is Complicated

By Jessica E. Lessin · April 5, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

It’s become a major refrain among several U.S. tech leaders that the U.S. can’t let China win in artificial intelligence. And so it is pretty interesting that leading venture firms funded by U.S. endowments and other institutional investors are putting money into the most promising young AI startups in China. In an important piece in The... It’s become a major refrain among several U.S. tech leaders that the U.S. can’t let China win in...

An Amazon warehouse in Rialto, Calif. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon’s Website Snafu Undercuts Its Image as a Well-Oiled Machine

By Martin Peers · April 4, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Who says there are no laughs in tech business news? Our scoop today that Amazon, the premier online retail website, was marking products made by big companies and foreign sellers with a label meant to denote small U.S. businesses has a comedic side (make sure you check out the anecdote about Chomps jerky). But there’s a serious angle here. Over... Who says there are no laughs in tech business news? Our scoop today that Amazon, the premier...

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Wall Street Greets WWE-UFC Deal With a Smackdown

By Martin Peers · April 3, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

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Wall Street Greets WWE-UFC Deal With a Smackdown

By Martin Peers · April 3, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

There’s no AI (and perhaps not too much human intelligence) involved in either World Wrestling Entertainment or Endeavor’s Ultimate Fighting Championship. But for sheer spectacle, today’s proposed merger of the two companies beats anything going on right now in tech—and we’re not talking just about what’s on the screen. Vince McMahon’s maneuvers... There’s no AI (and perhaps not too much human intelligence) involved in either World Wrestling...

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, Inc. Photo by Bloomberg.

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Google, OpenAI and the Coming Copyright Storm

By Jessica E. Lessin · March 30, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 2 comments

So here is a question: If you develop some software and train it on random material from the internet to make it smarter, do the creators of that material have any right to the software?What happens if you are Google and you train your software with public conversations generated from a chatbot made by OpenAI, one of your main competitors, which... So here is a question: If you develop some software and train it on random material from the...

Mark Bertolini, Oscar Health's new CEO. Photo by Bloomberg.

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Oscar Health’s New CEO Has a Tough Job—but Lyft’s New CEO Has It Worse

By Martin Peers · March 29, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Mark Bertolini must be feeling pretty good. Since he was named the new CEO of Oscar Health on Tuesday, Oscar’s long-suffering stock has bounced 78%. OK, skeptics will point out that bounce was off a very low base—the stock was at $3.59 on Monday. And even after the rally, Oscar stock is still down 84% from its initial public offering price. But... Mark Bertolini must be feeling pretty good. Since he was named the new CEO of Oscar Health on...

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startups markets

Forget the IPO Window. Watch for More M&A

By Jessica E. Lessin · March 28, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Here’s some food for thought about initial public offerings. Yesterday I asked Brex co-CEO Henrique Dubugras when he thought the IPO window would open. His fintech company, after all, is one of many that could be beating down that door. Having raised $1.5 billion in funding, Dubugras said the company has a plan to break even off its existing... Here’s some food for thought about initial public offerings. Yesterday I asked Brex co-CEO...

Why the CFTC’s Binance lawsuit is good news for Coinbase. Plus, Musk’s backers need to believe.

Why the CFTC’s Binance Lawsuit Is Good News for Coinbase

By Martin Peers · March 27, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Why the CFTC’s Binance lawsuit is good news for Coinbase. Plus, Musk’s backers need to believe.

crypto media/telecom

Why the CFTC’s Binance Lawsuit Is Good News for Coinbase

By Martin Peers · March 27, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Privately held crypto exchanges are setting new lows in corporate governance. If you thought the initial bankruptcy filing for Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX was stunning in what it revealed about how that company was run, check out the Commodity Futures Trading Commissions lawsuit against Binance today. Here’s a business empire controlled by one... Privately held crypto exchanges are setting new lows in corporate governance. If you thought the...

Jack Dorsey, head, chairman and cofounder of Block. Photo by Bloomberg.

Let’s Talk About Jack Dorsey

By Jessica E. Lessin · March 23, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Well, it’s been a minute since Jack Dorsey has been in the news. But lest you think that Elon Musk—and Congress’s favorite punching bag, TikTok—get all the fun, today short seller Hindenburg Research sent Block’s stock down 15% with a report saying the payments company, formerly known as Square, had been inflating its user metrics by serving... Well, it’s been a minute since Jack Dorsey has been in the news. But lest you think that Elon...

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Photo by Bloomberg.

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U.S. Tech Should Support TikTok at This Moment

By Martin Peers · March 22, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 15 comments

If Steve Martin were to remake his 1984 film “Lonely Guy” this year, he could center it around Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok. It’s a paradox that the executive leading one of the most popular apps in the U.S. is basically on his own as he fights the threat of a ban from both the Biden administration and congressional opponents. The few people who... If Steve Martin were to remake his 1984 film “Lonely Guy” this year, he could center it around...

Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary, at a conference in 2019.

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Larry Summers Has a Message for Silicon Valley

By Jessica E. Lessin · March 21, 2023 5:00 PM PDT

Larry Summers has a message to all of us here in Silicon Valley: It’s time to switch up that reading list. “Perhaps pay a little more attention to history relative to science fiction in terms of understanding all the things that the future may hold,” he said during a conversation with me and The Information subscribers Tuesday. Larry Summers has a message to all of us here in Silicon Valley: It’s time to switch up that...

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon. Photo via Getty.

Amazon Takes Its Time Delivering Second Round of Job Cuts

By Martin Peers · March 20, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 3 comments

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon. Photo via Getty.

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Amazon Takes Its Time Delivering Second Round of Job Cuts

By Martin Peers · March 20, 2023 5:00 PM PDT · 3 comments

Amazon is in the lead! The e-commerce behemoth has moved ahead of Alphabet in the contest to win this year’s IBM Cup, awarded occasionally to the most bureaucratic and slow-moving big tech company around. That’s one takeaway from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s explanation today for cutting another 9,000 jobs, on top of the 18,000 layoffs already... Amazon is in the lead! The e-commerce behemoth has moved ahead of Alphabet in the contest to win...

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