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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon to Buy Elemental for $500M

By Steve Nellis and Tom Dotan · Sep 3, 2015 12:54pm PDT · 1 comment

Amazon is to acquire Elemental Technologies, a backend mobile video service for more than $500 million in cash, according to a person familiar with the situation. Amazon is to acquire Elemental Technologies, a backend mobile video service for more than $500...

A WeWork location in Berkeley, Ca. Photo by Flickr/305 Seahill

WeWork’s Ambitious Hopes For Co-Living

By Alfred Lee · Sep 3, 2015 7:06am PDT · 1 comment

Now that it’s become a dominant provider of shared office spaces, WeWork is setting its sights on the co-living market through a venture called WeLive. And an investor presentation suggests WeWork’s hopes for the new business are nearly as ambitious as those of its core business.WeLive’s first two buildings could open as soon... Now that it’s become a dominant provider of shared office spaces, WeWork is setting its...

Facebook vp of messaging products, David Marcus. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Accelerates Messenger Platform as WhatsApp Testbed

By Amir Efrati · Sep 1, 2015 7:06am PDT

The path to making money from mobile chat apps is taking many twists and turns. Last week, Facebook publicly previewed “M,” a kind of virtual assistant that lives on Facebook Messenger and tries to help people complete tasks like looking for gift ideas or quickly booking appointments. Behind the scenes, Facebook has continued to talk... The path to making money from mobile chat apps is taking many twists and turns. Last week,...

WeWork co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann. Photo by Bloomberg.

WeWork’s Gamble On Growth

By Alfred Lee · Aug 31, 2015 7:06am PDT

WeWork co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann. Photo by Bloomberg.

WeWork’s Gamble On Growth

By Alfred Lee · Aug 31, 2015 7:06am PDT

Even for a startup, the gap between expectations and reality is enormous at WeWork. The company has emerged as an early leader in renting out co-working spaces, and for this investors have lined up to buy in at a valuation of $10 billion, making it one of the world’s most valuable venture-backed private companies. But an analysis of its... Even for a startup, the gap between expectations and reality is enormous at WeWork. The company...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg.

Microsoft Has Been in Buyout Talks with Mesosphere

By Amir Efrati · Aug 17, 2015 6:08pm PDT

Microsoft has expressed interest in acquiring a cloud-computing software startup called Mesosphere, according to two people who were briefed about the recent talks, raising the possibility of a deal that could reshape the cloud infrastructure landscape. The approach was made about a month ago and it’s unclear whether the talks are still... Microsoft has expressed interest in acquiring a cloud-computing software startup called...

Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Meet Google’s New Money Man, Philipp Schindler

By Amir Efrati · Aug 17, 2015 1:45pm PDT

Amid the Alphabet-Google news last week, one major change went unnoticed: Google has a new sales chief, Philipp Schindler.Mr. Schindler succeeds Omid Kordestani, Google’s chief business officer and a close confidant of Google co-founder Larry Page. Mr. Kordestani is departing as Mr. Page vacates his Google CEO post to run Google’s... Amid the Alphabet-Google news last week, one major change went unnoticed: Google has a new sales...

Photo by Bloomberg.

Alphabet’s Next Startup: M is for Mosquito?

By Amir Efrati · Aug 12, 2015 7:01am PDT

A senior executive within Google, soon to be Alphabet, told colleagues he wanted to develop genetically engineered mosquitoes to help fight disease, according to people who know him. Linus Upson, the man who helped build Google’s Chrome browser alongside new CEO Sundar Pichai, recently said he intended to start a biology project involving... A senior executive within Google, soon to be Alphabet, told colleagues he wanted to develop...

Dan Loeb, center, of Third Point. Photo by Bloomberg.

Third Point Says KidoZen Numbers Were Too Good To Be True

By Reed Albergotti · Aug 11, 2015 4:15pm PDT

Dan Loeb, center, of Third Point. Photo by Bloomberg.

Third Point Says KidoZen Numbers Were Too Good To Be True

By Reed Albergotti · Aug 11, 2015 4:15pm PDT

Last summer, Jesus Rodriguez, founder of a South Florida startup called KidoZen that helped businesses create mobile apps, hosted several dinners for venture capitalists, financial analysts and other technology luminaries at upscale restaurants like Fleur de Lys in San Francisco. While expensive bottles of wine were served to guests, Mr.... Last summer, Jesus Rodriguez, founder of a South Florida startup called KidoZen that helped...

Qatalyst CEO Frank Quattrone. Photo by Bloomberg.

Cloud Giants Eye Mesosphere

By Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · Aug 2, 2015 5:22pm PDT

Software startup Mesosphere has hired investment banking firm Qatalyst Partners to evaluate a buyout bid it recently received from a major cloud computing company and to engage with other potential bidders, according to a person involved in that process and a person who was briefed about it. Because the bid came from a major public cloud... Software startup Mesosphere has hired investment banking firm Qatalyst Partners to evaluate a...

A Sergey Brin-backed synthetic burger. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Bid for ‘Cheeseburger’ Company Impossible Foods

By Jessica E. Lessin and Amir Efrati · Jul 27, 2015 3:42pm PDT

Google is showing an appetite for the food business. The company recently tried to buy Impossible Foods, maker of a plant-based cheeseburger, for between $200 million and $300 million, according to two people with knowledge of the deal. A deal wasn’t reached—one person said Impossible Foods wanted a higher price—and whether Google will look... Google is showing an appetite for the food business. The company recently tried to buy...

Google CEO Larry Page. Photo by Bloomberg.

Tough Climb for Google’s Cloud Revenue

By Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · Jul 27, 2015 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Urs Hölzle, the man in charge of Google’s high-profile cloud-computing business, likes to tell colleagues that five years from now, they’ll “laugh about what the cloud was like” in 2015 because it will have evolved so drastically. How much Mr. Hölzle shapes that evolution will determine whether Google will have a big business in selling... Urs Hölzle, the man in charge of Google’s high-profile cloud-computing business, likes to tell...

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel

Why Google’s Cloud Needs Snapchat

By Tom Dotan, Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · Jul 22, 2015 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel

Why Google’s Cloud Needs Snapchat

By Tom Dotan, Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · Jul 22, 2015 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

When Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy first released Snapchat in 2011, they ran the service atop Google’s cloud computing service App Engine out of necessity. Tapping the Mountain View giant, whose cloud business was just getting off the ground, was the easiest way to outsource Snapchat’s infrastructure while its small team built the app’s product... When Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy first released Snapchat in 2011, they ran the service atop...

Facebook vp of messaging products, David Marcus. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Preps “Moneypenny” Assistant

By Amir Efrati · Jul 13, 2015 6:01pm PDT · 7 comments

Facebook is planning to join an intriguing frontier of the Internet: virtual assistants on mobile devices. The company is working on a feature within Facebook Messenger that allows users to ask real people for help researching and ordering products and services, among other tasks. It’s being referred to internally as “Moneypenny,” according to... Facebook is planning to join an intriguing frontier of the Internet: virtual assistants on mobile...

Ellen Pao. Photo by Bloomberg.

Gender Not Only Issue In Tech’s Workplace Complaints

By Reed Albergotti and Peter Schulz · Jul 9, 2015 7:00am PDT · 5 comments

When it comes to discrimination complaints in the tech industry, it turns out that gender is far from the only issue. Age and disability were cited nearly as often as gender in California workplace discrimination complaints filed against major tech companies over the past three years. When it comes to discrimination complaints in the tech industry, it turns out that gender is far...

At left, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. Photo by Fortune Live Media.

YouTube Subscriptions Hit Creator Roadblock

By Tom Dotan · Jun 25, 2015 12:54pm PDT

Late last year, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki began speaking up at conferences about a coming subscription service, where people would pay for an ad-free version of the video streaming site. But while YouTube executives are currently leaning hard on content owners to sign up in exchange for the promise of shared subscription dollars, some are... Late last year, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki began speaking up at conferences about a coming...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg.

Behind Microsoft’s Deals, a Desire to Block Rivals

By Steve Nellis · Jun 22, 2015 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photo by Bloomberg.

Behind Microsoft’s Deals, a Desire to Block Rivals

By Steve Nellis · Jun 22, 2015 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

When Microsoft paid more than $100 million for the calendar app Sunrise in February, eyebrows raised across Silicon Valley. The app duplicated features some of Microsoft’s products already had, and Sunrise didn’t yet generate revenue. Microsoft had good reason to pay up. Sunrise had already attracted attention from Dropbox, which held talks with... When Microsoft paid more than $100 million for the calendar app Sunrise in February, eyebrows...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Reckons with Music Piracy in Videos

By Tom Dotan · Jun 18, 2015 2:11pm PDT

As Facebook continues to flex its muscles in video to challenge YouTube, it’s running up against a problem that’s dogged video-streaming sites for years: music. Unlike YouTube, which has deals with the record labels allowing users to upload some videos with copyrighted songs playing in the background, Facebook hasn’t yet struck deals with any of... As Facebook continues to flex its muscles in video to challenge YouTube, it’s running up against...

Aparna Chennapragada runs Google Now. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google’s War Against Apps

By Amir Efrati · Jun 18, 2015 7:12am PDT · 7 comments

Google’s battle to erode the importance of apps is intensifying. The search giant last fall secretly acquired an “app streaming” startup called Agawi whose technology allows people to access apps on their smartphone without downloading them first. The acquisition, which hasn’t been previously reported, provides strong clues about the direction... Google’s battle to erode the importance of apps is intensifying. The search giant last fall...

Evernote CEO Phil Libin. Photo by Evernote.

CEO Change Brewing at Evernote

By Amir Efrati · Jun 15, 2015 4:14pm PDT · 1 comment

Evernote CEO Phil Libin has long said he wants to build a 100-year company. Now he’s actively looking for his own replacement to take the startup into its second decade. The eight-year-old, privately-held company, which makes productivity software in a crowded market, is talking to candidates for the position and “may be close to something,” Mr.... Evernote CEO Phil Libin has long said he wants to build a 100-year company. Now he’s actively...

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Spotify, Apple and the Race to $100 Billion

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jun 10, 2015 3:25pm PDT

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Spotify, Apple and the Race to $100 Billion

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jun 10, 2015 3:25pm PDT

Whenever a big company enters a startup’s turf, the founder is quick to say the move “validates the category.” The phrase induces some eye-rolling. But if there was ever a time to hear it, it would be now with Spotify. The Stockholm-based streaming music company has been on a mission to get people to pay $10 a month to access a library of music... Whenever a big company enters a startup’s turf, the founder is quick to say the move “validates...