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

The Takeaway

The Winners and Losers of the Current Venture Boom

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 13, 2021 7:46am PST · 4 comments
For those watching the private and public tech markets closely, each day—make that each hour—brings another deal that seems to defy gravity. Dating site Bumble rose 63% on its first day of trading this week to a valuation of $13 billion. Andreessen Horowitz valued Stir, a young company that helps influencers manage their businesses,... For those watching the private and public tech markets closely, each day—make that each...
The Takeaway

What Critics of the News Industry Get Right—and Wrong

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 6, 2021 7:46am PST · 24 comments
Thank you for your feedback on my column last week about the nightmare I believe is waiting for the news industry. It is clear that technology hasn’t just anointed Google, Facebook and Twitter the new gatekeepers. It has gone further and killed the very notion of a gatekeeper itself. The result is an increasingly loud mess of services... Thank you for your feedback on my column last week about the nightmare I believe is waiting for...
The Takeaway

The Nightmare Awaiting the News Industry

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 30, 2021 7:45am PST · 35 comments
It was somewhere around minute 13 of watching Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez try to remove the blur of her livestream camera while streaming to nearly 300,000 people on Twitch that I got a big pit in my stomach, sat back and wondered: Is this what my future media diet will become? To rewind, while following this week’s... It was somewhere around minute 13 of watching Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez...
Photos by Bloomberg; Shutterstock. Illustration by Mike Sullivan
I Helped Uncover QAnon. Failed Prophecies Won’t Kill It
By Paris Martineau · Jan 23, 2021 7:47am PST · 3 comments
Photos by Bloomberg; Shutterstock. Illustration by Mike Sullivan
The Takeaway

I Helped Uncover QAnon. Failed Prophecies Won’t Kill It

By Paris Martineau · Jan 23, 2021 7:47am PST · 3 comments
I first stumbled upon the collective delusion we now refer to as QAnon in November 2017, just a few weeks after it began as a series of conspiratorial posts on one of the internet’s more untamed bulletin boards. In a sprawling discussion thread on 4chan titled “Calm Before the Storm”—a reference to a quote from the prior... I first stumbled upon the collective delusion we now refer to as QAnon in November 2017, just a...
The Takeaway

Big Tech and Big Media Have Made Up: Now What? Inside the New Era in the Tech and Media Wars

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 16, 2021 7:46am PST · 3 comments
Despite all the knives pointed at big tech right now, some longtime antagonists to the tech industry seem to be taking a back seat in the fights. These are the big media companies whose leaders have for years poked, prodded and attacked tech leaders at every chance they got. This isn’t to say that reporters are easing up. News coverage of... Despite all the knives pointed at big tech right now, some longtime antagonists to the tech...
The Takeaway

Big Tech Has Exerted Its Power. Now What?

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 9, 2021 8:01am PST · 6 comments
The horrific events at the U.S. Capitol this week represented a tragic low point in our nation’s history—and the high point of the power of technology platforms over speech. On Friday, Twitter banned President Donald Trump from using the service and wiped away his Twitter history. Facebook earlier indefinitely banned him, and Snap... The horrific events at the U.S. Capitol this week represented a tragic low point in our...
A pedestrian near the Times Square area of New York, U.S., on Thursday, Dec. 31. Photo: Bloomberg
The Takeaway

What Comes After the New Tech Boom

By Laura Mandaro · Jan 2, 2021 7:45am PST
Since March, our reporters have been chronicling how startups and their backers were responding to the pandemic. First there was the wave of layoffs and collapsed deals. Then came the emergency backstops from bond investors and the government. Finally there was the rebound, marked by record startup investments, breathtaking IPO debuts and such a... Since March, our reporters have been chronicling how startups and their backers were responding...
Five 2020 Tech Stories That Changed the Conversation
By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 19, 2020 7:46am PST
The Takeaway

Five 2020 Tech Stories That Changed the Conversation

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 19, 2020 7:46am PST
It often starts with an email, a document, a piece of reporting that is solid and specific but small. Then the fun happens. The reporting. The phone calls—sometimes months and months of them. Many times this year, our team uncovered stories that changed the conversation—and in many cases decided the fate of a business. I’m... It often starts with an email, a document, a piece of reporting that is solid and specific but...
The Takeaway

What Airbnb and DoorDash Didn’t Teach Us

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 12, 2020 7:47am PST · 4 comments
It is not every day that tech investors are surprised by how the market is valuing tech darlings like Airbnb. But shock was in the air on Thursday, when I began receiving a series of texts from tech investors saying “Wow,” “What’s going on?” and “This is crazy.” Because while Airbnb certainly has the... It is not every day that tech investors are surprised by how the market is valuing tech darlings...
The Takeaway

The Truth About Evaluating Founders—Even This One

By Jessica E. Lessin · Dec 5, 2020 8:01am PST · 4 comments
What makes a great founder? It’s been a question on my mind this week, driven partly by the news. Slack’s sale to Salesforce for $27.7 billion was a huge moment of success for founder Stewart Butterfield, the company and its shareholders. Was it also a sign that the company couldn’t succeed independently over the long term, as... What makes a great founder? It’s been a question on my mind this week, driven partly by the...
Poshmark co-founder Tracy Sun. Photo by Bloomberg.
The Takeaway

The Not-Amazons: Wish, Poshmark and the Race for Retail’s Soul

By Laura Mandaro · Nov 28, 2020 7:46am PST
To say 2020 has thrown retail shopping into upheaval would be a gross understatement. HP Inc. provided the latest reminder this week when it disclosed an 18% jump in unit sales of its consumer printers, an almost retro device that, along with e-bikes, virtual reality headsets and food delivery, people have discovered they want to have while... To say 2020 has thrown retail shopping into upheaval would be a gross understatement. HP Inc....
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Bloomberg
Why Silicon Valley Loves Airbnb—for Now
By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 21, 2020 7:46am PST · 1 comment
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Bloomberg
The Takeaway

Why Silicon Valley Loves Airbnb—for Now

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 21, 2020 7:46am PST · 1 comment
This week you saw something you don’t often see: goodwill for a tech company. Maybe it was a reaction to the endless years of lashing out against tech CEOs on Twitter, often coming from other tech CEOs themselves. Or the incessant pressure from the press about tech companies and their bad behavior. But as I read positive tweet after ... This week you saw something you don’t often see: goodwill for a tech company. Maybe it was...
Apple's Tim Cook and Amazon's Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg
The Takeaway

The Strategic Difference Between Apple and Amazon

By Nick Wingfield · Nov 14, 2020 7:46am PST
Several unrelated events this week got me thinking about Apple and Amazon and their different approaches to an age-old business strategy—vertical integration, which brings different stages of production and distribution of products under the control of one company. It’s worth considering whether those differences could create... Several unrelated events this week got me thinking about Apple and Amazon and their different...
The Takeaway

What 2020 Still Has in Store for Tech

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 7, 2020 8:01am PST · 1 comment
While the U.S. presidential election is over (sort of), 2020 is not. And assuming that many of you spent the last few days, weeks and, perhaps, months engrossed in Biden vs. Trump, I wanted to remind you of what lies ahead. There is the race for the Covid-19 vaccine, of course. (You probably didn’t forget about that.) As for pure tech... While the U.S. presidential election is over (sort of), 2020 is not. And assuming that many of...
The Takeaway

The Startup Trap Quibi Fell Into (and I Almost Did Too)

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 24, 2020 7:47am PDT · 9 comments
This week, Tom and Jessica broke the news that Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg had told people the video startup might have to shut down and then—a day later—reported the shutdown officially. I’m very proud of their excellent work, and I have to admit that I have a love-hate relationship with digital media startup stories. I... This week, Tom and Jessica broke the news that Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg had told people...
Brynne Kennedy. Photo by Byrnne Kennedy for Congress
From Tech Founder to Politician—Meet Brynne Kennedy
By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 17, 2020 7:45am PDT
Brynne Kennedy. Photo by Byrnne Kennedy for Congress
The Takeaway

From Tech Founder to Politician—Meet Brynne Kennedy

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 17, 2020 7:45am PDT
While tech leaders with opinions about politics are a dime a dozen, those who actually jump in and run for office are very rare—which is why I was intrigued when I learned that Brynne Kennedy was running for Congress. Kennedy is clearly ahead of her time as both a female executive in tech and the founder of a company that makes software to... While tech leaders with opinions about politics are a dime a dozen, those who actually jump in...
The Takeaway

Funding for Female Founders Is Tanking—and It Gets Worse

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 10, 2020 7:46am PDT · 6 comments
Earlier this week, during a Clubhouse discussion, someone asked me if I felt the VC industry was taking diversity seriously. I wanted to say yes. After all, venture firms have increased the number of partners from underrepresented groups in the past year or so. Instead, I said I feared that they weren’t and that their hiring moves were... Earlier this week, during a Clubhouse discussion, someone asked me if I felt the VC industry was...
The Takeaway

Why Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Will Lose

By Jessica E. Lessin · Oct 3, 2020 8:02am PDT · 1 comment
It was the blog post heard from Napa to Lake Tahoe and all the other places Silicon Valley CEOs are hiding out from the smoke and Covid-19 these days. This week, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong published a post telling Coinbase employees to leave their social activism at the door. He followed up with a bold offer: If you don’t like it,... It was the blog post heard from Napa to Lake Tahoe and all the other places Silicon Valley CEOs...
The Takeaway

What I Hope Substack Changes About Journalism

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 26, 2020 7:46am PDT · 3 comments
This week there was a lot of buzz around journalists ditching their newsroom jobs to publish their own newsletters. The trend was chronicled in a New York Times piece, pegged to the news that The Verge’s Casey Newton was breaking out on his own.  I had to laugh when Ben Thompson, the creator of the subscription Stratechery newsletter,... This week there was a lot of buzz around journalists ditching their newsroom jobs to publish...
Illustration by Mike Sullivan.
Accepting Kickbacks, Publishers Are Playing Into Tech Companies’ Hands
By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 19, 2020 8:00am PDT · 5 comments
Illustration by Mike Sullivan.
The Takeaway

Accepting Kickbacks, Publishers Are Playing Into Tech Companies’ Hands

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 19, 2020 8:00am PDT · 5 comments
For years, news publishers have been clamoring for Facebook, Google and Apple to pay for the news content that gets distributed through their services. Well, they have gotten what they wished for—sort of. And it’s troubling news. For years, news publishers have been clamoring for Facebook, Google and Apple to pay for the news...