Periodically

The Takeaway

By Jessica E. Lessin

An inside perspective on tech, media and startups from a reporter and founder who tells the truth about Silicon Valley.

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Recent Editions

President-elect Trump with Peter Thiel. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Takeaway

(Another) Letter to Peter Thiel

By Jessica E. Lessin and Tom Dotan · Jan 13, 2017 7:01am PST · 9 comments
We read your interview with Maureen Dowd in the New York Times. And we think it was a stunning example of what worries us about your newfound influence in government: a contrarian ethos gone too far. Never missing a moment to ding Silicon Valley for its “group think,” you answered a question about the infamous Billy Bush sex tape by... We read your interview with Maureen Dowd in the New York Times. And we think it was a stunning...
Medium CEO Ev Williams. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Takeaway

What Everyone Is Missing About Media Business Models

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 6, 2017 7:01am PST · 26 comments
Oh, how the winds have changed for ad-supported media. Over the past year, it’s become decidedly trendy to praise non-advertising business models. This week Ev Williams, a longtime advertising adherent, called online ads a “broken system.” Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist who has argued vociferously that news and opinion... Oh, how the winds have changed for ad-supported media. Over the past year, it’s become...
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch and Bloomberg.
The Takeaway

Why Spiegel Isn’t Zuckerberg (and Vice Versa)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 30, 2016 7:01am PST · 5 comments
I was going to write an end-of-year column today. But as I sat down to write in a quiet San Francisco cafe, I was distracted by an article about Snap's IPO strategy and I had to respond. If the story is true, Snap should fire its bankers. The piece was reporting about Snap’s desire to compare itself to Facebook and how its IPO bankers... I was going to write an end-of-year column today. But as I sat down to write in a quiet San...
Vice CEO Shane Smith. Photo by Bloomberg.
Seven Tech Rumors You Didn’t Read About this Year
By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 23, 2016 7:02am PST
Vice CEO Shane Smith. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Takeaway

Seven Tech Rumors You Didn’t Read About this Year

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 23, 2016 7:02am PST
We at The Information broke a lot of news this year. We also chased a lot of news that wasn't true—or in some cases, may have been true but we just couldn't confirm. In the spirit of peeling back the curtain on how news and gossip spreads in tech reporting, I thought we'd publish some of the rumors we knocked down this year... We at The Information broke a lot of news this year. We also chased a lot of news that...
The Takeaway

Silicon Valley’s Least Favorite Word

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 16, 2016 7:01am PST · 11 comments
This week I was reminded of a topic that makes Silicon Valley cringe more than Donald Trump. Sadly, it is diversity. Our annual “Future List” showed that about 89% of investment decision-makers at the top 72 VC firms were male and 75% were white. The number of women rose by 17 to 62—in part because we added a few firms to the... This week I was reminded of a topic that makes Silicon Valley cringe more than Donald Trump....
The Takeaway

The Private Tech M&A Boom that Wasn’t

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 9, 2016 7:01am PST · 1 comment
For those waiting for a big wave of venture-backed M&A exits, 2016 wasn’t the year and it is unclear 2017 will be either. It was a very strong year for global tech M&A, with deals like SoftBank’s $32 billion purchase of ARM and Microsoft’s $26 billion deal for LinkedIn, which closed this week. When measured by dollar... For those waiting for a big wave of venture-backed M&A exits, 2016 wasn’t the year and...
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Takeaway

The Truth About Uber’s Otto Deal

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 2, 2016 7:01am PST · 3 comments
I was recently calling sources about the biggest tech M&A deals of 2016 and came across an interesting fact. Uber’s acquisition of Otto (described here by the company) isn’t quite as it appears. While it’s been widely covered as a deal in which Uber paid $680 million in equity for the self-driving trucking company, the... I was recently calling sources about the biggest tech M&A deals of 2016 and came across an...
The New Social Media Divide
By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 25, 2016 7:02am PST · 6 comments
The Takeaway

The New Social Media Divide

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 25, 2016 7:02am PST · 6 comments
Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and family. I’ve found the past few weeks a good time to reflect on how I consume information and, more broadly, how I spend my time. So far, one thing has become clear: I’m using Twitter and Facebook less. In the past month, I’ve found myself going to Twitter and Facebook News... Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and family. I’ve found the past few weeks a...
A Snap billboard in San Francisco. Photo by Tom Dotan.
The Takeaway

What’s Special about Snap’s Spectacles

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 18, 2016 7:02am PST · 6 comments
Snap’s video-recording sunglasses are out in the wild, and websites are chiming in with reviews. Quirky as always, Snap isn’t selling the spectacles through retail stores or online. The company is relying instead on dropping vending machines full of the toy in random locations like Big Sur, California, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. I got my... Snap’s video-recording sunglasses are out in the wild, and websites are chiming in with...
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Takeaway

Facebook and the Fake News Red Herring

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 11, 2016 7:00am PST · 16 comments
A solid percentage of the seemingly endless number of election post-mortems, at least from the half of America disappointed by the result, are reaching a similar conclusion. Blame Facebook. The social network, which has propagated a rash of outright fake or blatantly misleading news, is an easy target. And for reasons I will get to later, I... A solid percentage of the seemingly endless number of election post-mortems, at least from the...
The Takeaway

Hillary’s Other Emails

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 4, 2016 7:01am PDT · 1 comment
I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with Hillary Clinton’s email. Not the 33,000 emails she deleted from a private server nor the ones that may or may not have left a trace on Anthony Weiner’s computer. I’m talking about the steady drip—OK, sometimes a flood—of campaign emails that have been arriving in my... I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with Hillary Clinton’s email. Not the 33,000...
Apple CEO Tim Cook at a MacBook event on Thursday. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Missing Seat on Apple’s Board
By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 28, 2016 7:01am PDT · 4 comments
Apple CEO Tim Cook at a MacBook event on Thursday. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Takeaway

The Missing Seat on Apple’s Board

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 28, 2016 7:01am PDT · 4 comments
Apple reported rocky financial results and a disappointing forecast this week, sending shares falling. And there are other reasons to worry. The company had been plowing away on a bold new cable-killer TV service. But all we’ve seen is an updated Apple TV box and yesterday a new TV listings app. Meanwhile, the car project seems to be in... Apple reported rocky financial results and a disappointing forecast this week, sending shares...
The Takeaway

Tune in to Hear Where The Information is Headed Next

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 21, 2016 7:00am PDT
Today is a big day for The Information. It’s our San Francisco Subscriber Summit and I can’t wait to hear from some of the biggest names in tech on our stage. I’ve also decided to take my column live this week and will be giving a keynote presentation at our Summit that talks about our business over the past year, our views... Today is a big day for The Information. It’s our San Francisco Subscriber Summit and I...
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Photo by AP.
The Takeaway

When the Media Plays Us

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 14, 2016 7:02am PDT · 4 comments
Three weeks ago, any reader of tech news was probably under the impression that Disney, Salesforce, Google (and maybe Microsoft or Apple) were getting into a bidding war for Twitter. But while there was indeed a sale process, there wasn’t anything close to a bidding contest. It seems only Salesforce is still looking, although CEO Marc... Three weeks ago, any reader of tech news was probably under the impression that Disney,...
The Takeaway

Going Public and the Illiquidity Tax

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 7, 2016 7:01am PDT
And it continues. We reported last month that Snapchat was preparing an IPO for next year and yesterday The Wall Street Journal followed with a similar account.Every day in Silicon Valley, it’s clear how much the mood around being a public company has shifted. Companies that were hellbent on telling me all the reasons they wanted to... And it continues. We reported last month that Snapchat was preparing an IPO for next year...
New England Patriots playing Houston Texans on Sept. 22, a game streamed on Twitter. Photo by AP.
How Twitter’s Streaming Product Falls Short
By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 30, 2016 7:01am PDT · 2 comments
New England Patriots playing Houston Texans on Sept. 22, a game streamed on Twitter. Photo by AP.
The Takeaway

How Twitter’s Streaming Product Falls Short

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 30, 2016 7:01am PDT · 2 comments
In the summer of last year, I bumped into Jack Dorsey at Sun Valley and asked the then-interim Twitter CEO what made him confident he could run both Twitter and Square at the same time. He had two words: Bob Iger. In the summer of last year, I bumped into Jack Dorsey at Sun Valley and asked the then-interim...
The Takeaway

The New PR Reality and What it Means

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 23, 2016 7:02am PDT · 11 comments
Last Sunday, Lyft’s PR team emailed me a link to a 4,000-word article and highlighted the parts that I might find “newsworthy.” It was an interesting Medium essay from co-founder John Zimmer about the future of cities and transportation and Lyft’s role in it. Dozens of media outlets summarized the article for their... Last Sunday, Lyft’s PR team emailed me a link to a 4,000-word article and highlighted the...
The Takeaway

The Truth about Next Year’s IPO ‘Rush’

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 16, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments
Greetings from New York, where I spent the week with subscribers and catching up with the industry that Silicon Valley loves to hate (but doesn’t really): Wall Street. With tech giants like Snapchat and Dropbox eyeing IPOs next year, I was curious what bankers would tell me about the preparations. More importantly, I wanted to know how the... Greetings from New York, where I spent the week with subscribers and catching up with the...
The Takeaway

News is Not a Venture-Backed Business

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 9, 2016 7:02am PDT · 22 comments
Another week, another news site raising venture capital. Make that two. Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei’s new business and politics venture raised a $10 million series A from Lerer Hippeau Ventures and NBC. Cheddar, a video news network, raised $10 million more from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ribbit Capital and Comcast. Recently, Josh... Another week, another news site raising venture capital. Make that two. Politico co-founder Jim...
When Independent Directors Aren’t
By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 2, 2016 7:01am PDT · 2 comments
The Takeaway

When Independent Directors Aren’t

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 2, 2016 7:01am PDT · 2 comments
Alphabet executive David Drummond this week announced he had stepped off the Uber board. As Amir wrote, Drummond hadn’t been attending Uber board meetings for some time. How Uber and Alphabet maneuvered Drummond’s absences isn’t clear. The courts are unforgiving about ensuring directors have equal rights to information. I... Alphabet executive David Drummond this week announced he had stepped off the Uber board. As Amir...