Photography by Katie Thompson for The Information
Photography by Katie Thompson for The Information
The Big Read

Search Has Its Goliath. Could Richard Socher Be Its David?

As Google and Microsoft retrofit their search engines with AI assistants, the CEO of You.com thinks he can do better.
Show Us Everything

At Home With the Health Commandos

This is “Show Us Everything,” a new feature from The Information Weekend, in which company founders share intimate glimpses of their everyday lives. Clayton Kim first bonded with his boss, Fount...
Left: Fount CEO Andrew Herr watches chief technology officer Clayton Kim dangle in Kim’s Marina Del Rey, Calif. apartment, which doubles as the startup’s office. Right: A sample Fount morning supplement pack. Photographs by Christopher Brown for The Information.
Founders' Keepers

Ancient Swords, Stylus Pens and Other Things CEOs Can’t Work Without

As the saying goes, “You can tell a lot about a person by the type of sword they keep near their desk.” That’s certainly true for company founders like Jason Kingsley of the gaming studio Rebellion...
Art by Clark Miller.
Market Research

The Full-Body Scanners Will See You Now

In late September 2022, Ryan Crownholm, a 46-year-old entrepreneur from Los Angeles, donned a pair of plush surgical scrubs and hopped onto a stainless-steel MRI table at Prenuvo, a fast-growing...
Art by Clark Miller.
From left, investors Charles Hudson, David Krane (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg), Alexa von Tobel, David Blumberg, Ben Horowitz (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg), Josh Kushner, Sarah Kunst (Ashley Batz), Arielle Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, Pejman Nozad, Om Malik and Brit Morin. Photo composite by Clark Miller
From left, investors Charles Hudson, David Krane (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg), Alexa von Tobel, David Blumberg, Ben Horowitz (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg), Josh Kushner, Sarah Kunst (Ashley Batz), Arielle Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, Pejman Nozad, Om Malik and Brit Morin. Photo composite by Clark Miller
Caffeinated Capitalists

Venture Capital’s 25 Favorite Cafes

The most advantageous spots for sipping, eavesdropping, and deal-making, according to tech investors in the Bay Area, New York and Los Angeles.
The 1:1

An AI Researcher Tries to Build Good AI While Burning Down the Bad

In the hours after Margaret Mitchell was fired by Google over email in February 2021, she ran to the bathroom and threw up. “I was just so terrified that I was never going to get a job in tech...
Art by Clark Miller.
Market Research

The Skin-Tech Devices Helping Execs Beautify in a Hurry

I’m always 29 at heart,” said Liyia Wu, CEO of ShopShops, a livestream shopping app for fashion, beauty and lifestyle products. But now that she’s actually over 40, Wu is searching for her fountain...
Art by Clark Miller.
Surreal Estate

Silicon Valley’s Realtors, Like Its Bankers, Are Having a Tough Month

In early March, Ken DeLeon, founder of DeLeon Realty, a Silicon Valley–based brokerage that sold more than $1 billion in homes in 2021, called one of his venture capitalist clients to discuss the...
Art by Clark Miller
Cover art and portraits by Clark Miller
Cover art and portraits by Clark Miller
The Big Read

The Instant Oral History of the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

Two dozen bank insiders, startup founders, and venture investors reconstruct 96 hours that everyone in tech will remember, even if they’d like to forget.
First Look

Boom Times in San Francisco’s AI Underground

Not even a banking crisis could chill the fever sweeping San Francisco. Last Wednesday, as the tech industry recoiled from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, a party was scheduled at the offices...
Sarah Nagy gives a demo of her startup, Seek.ai, at an AI event at the San Francisco Wine Society in January. Photography by Laura Morton for The Information
Notes from a Meltdown

Five Years in Five Days: How I Panicked, Pivoted and Ultimately Survived as My Bank Melted Down

It started with a text from a tech investor last Wednesday afternoon. Shares in Silicon Valley Bank were tanking following the announcement of an emergency stock sale, the person told me. The bank...
The Information's Jessica Lessin, appearing live on CNN on Wednesday, March 15. Composite art by Clark Miller
Photo of Kopit Levien by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images. Photo-illustration by Clark Miller
Photo of Kopit Levien by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images. Photo-illustration by Clark Miller
The Big Read

The News Business Is in Crisis—but Not The New York Times Co.

Under CEO Meredith Kopit Levien, the media company has fortified its finances through acquisition and innovation. But can she keep it growing without going on another shopping spree?
Market Research

The Starlink Exit Plan: How SpaceX’s Satellites Are Bringing Remote Workers to the Wilderness

The promise of Starlink is simple: You, city dweller, dream of holing up in a cabin, sailing the high seas or vagabonding across the country in an RV. But you’re still going to need an internet...
Art by Clark Miller.
My Life's Work

Shuo Wang Once Sold Scooters at Flea Markets—Now Her Startup Is Worth $12 Billion

When Shuo Wang was 16, she got her first sales job and learned what she considers the biggest lesson in business. Despite not speaking English well, Wang sold scooters at flea markets in and around...
Art by Mike Sullivan.
Scene and Heard

‘Your Dreams Are No Longer Safe’: The Washington Crowd Gets an Alarming Crash Course in AI

Frank Luntz, the famed Republican pollster and communications guru, stood in awe listening to himself. “It sounds like I had a stroke,” Luntz called out from the back of a banquet room at the...
Art by Clark Miller