The Big Read

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Cover art and portraits by Clark Miller
The Big Read

The Instant Oral History of the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

By Abram Brown, Annie Goldsmith, Margaux MacColl, Arielle Pardes, Nick Wingfield and Kaya Yurieff · Mar 17, 2023 11:26am PDT · 2 comments
On a cosmic level, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was a mere blip. The murmurs about trouble began last Wednesday, the panic spread via group texts and Twitter threads on Thursday, the bank went under on Friday, the government got its act together on Saturday, and on Sunday every current and former customer of SVB could breathe a cautious... On a cosmic level, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was a mere blip. The murmurs about trouble...
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.

By Abram Brown · Mar 11, 2023 6:00am PST · 9 comments
Meredith Kopit Levien exists in a perpetual yo-yo motion. Most weeks, the CEO of The New York Times Co. spends three days in New York—“sometimes more if needed”—where a pied-à-terre gives her easy access to the company’s landmark Eighth Avenue headquarters. The rest of the time she spends in Washington, D.C.,... Meredith Kopit Levien exists in a perpetual yo-yo motion. Most weeks, the CEO of The New York...
Photo-illustration by Clark Miller. Palmer Luckey: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Kim Kardashian West: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg; Henry Kravis: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Peter Thiel: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg; Bob Iger: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; Jon Winkelried: Bess Adler/Bloomberg; Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images; Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Charles Kushner: David 'Dee' Delgado/Bloomberg; Mukesh Ambani: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg
The Big Read

Josh Kushner’s Budding Empire

By Kate Clark and Abram Brown · Feb 24, 2023 6:00am PST · 16 comments
As summer turned to fall last year, Josh Kushner and his Thrive Capital offered a shiny new perk to some of the firm’s portfolio companies: How about a one-on-one meeting with Bob Iger, the 71-year-old former Disney CEO turned freshly minted Thrive venture partner? Eric Glyman, CEO and co-founder of Ramp, a New York–based credit card... As summer turned to fall last year, Josh Kushner and his Thrive Capital offered a shiny new perk...
Art by Clark Miller
‘We All Have One Big Dream’: How Ukraine’s Tech Companies Evolved to Survive a Year of War
By Flora Tsapovsky · Feb 17, 2023 9:00am PST · 6 comments
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

‘We All Have One Big Dream’: How Ukraine’s Tech Companies Evolved to Survive a Year of War

By Flora Tsapovsky · Feb 17, 2023 9:00am PST · 6 comments
For an average startup founder, dealing with the unexpected and unknown is an everyday reality. But in February 2022, the Ukrainian tech community encountered a disruption of unfathomable proportions. Nearly overnight, reality flipped the table on investors’ meetings, funding rounds and expansion plans, turning leaders’ focus away... For an average startup founder, dealing with the unexpected and unknown is an everyday reality....
Graphic by Clark Miller
The Big Read

Tales from the Shredder: How a Quarter-Million Fired Tech Workers Are Picking Up the Pieces

By Arielle Pardes · Feb 10, 2023 9:30am PST · 3 comments
On a brisk Wednesday in December, Pakin Wirojwatanakul made his usual commute to the downtown San Francisco office of fintech startup Plaid. But when he arrived, the front desk security guard told him to go home. Puzzled, he left the office and reversed his commute. Then he received a cryptic text from a friend: “Are you safe?”... On a brisk Wednesday in December, Pakin Wirojwatanakul made his usual commute to the downtown San...
The supplement stacks of 11 founders and investors. Photos courtesy of subjects.
The Big Read

The Supplement Stacks: All the Pills, Powders and Potions Filling Tech’s Kitchen Counters

By Annie Goldsmith and Margaux MacColl · Feb 3, 2023 9:00am PST · 7 comments
When Courtney Reum wakes up in his Los Angeles home, it’s time to freeze, shake and dangle upside down. The co-founder of venture firm M13 takes a dip in his cold plunge—shocking his system awake—before stepping onto his Bulletproof vibration plate, which shakes him, getting his blood flowing. His morning routine crescendos... When Courtney Reum wakes up in his Los Angeles home, it’s time to freeze, shake and dangle...
Art by Clark Miller.
The Big Read

TikTok’s Last Stand: Can an Army of Lobbyists Quell a Washington Uprising?

By Nancy Scola · Jan 27, 2023 9:00am PST · 4 comments
There’s perhaps no one in Washington who distrusts TikTok quite as much as Brendan Carr. Carr, a 44-year-old Donald Trump appointee to the Federal Communications Commission, has spent much of the last year going around cable news and elsewhere calling for the hugely popular short-video app to be restricted, if not banned, over its ties to... There’s perhaps no one in Washington who distrusts TikTok quite as much as Brendan Carr. ...
Art by Clark Miller
Citizen Marc: Why the Andreessen Horowitz Founder Can’t Stop Chasing Dreams of a New Media
By Abram Brown · Jan 20, 2023 9:10am PST · 11 comments
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

Citizen Marc: Why the Andreessen Horowitz Founder Can’t Stop Chasing Dreams of a New Media

By Abram Brown · Jan 20, 2023 9:10am PST · 11 comments
The pitch was right up Marc Andreessen’s alley: a fledgling but buzzy digital media startup, which intended not only to produce its own content but to sell its content-management software to other publishers—and, if that worked, to scale its platform to anyone willing to pay. The co-founders? Three men in their 30s, deeply fascinated... The pitch was right up Marc Andreessen’s alley: a fledgling but buzzy digital media...
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

From Instagram’s First Employee to Tech’s Newest Thriller Writer

By Annie Goldsmith · Jan 13, 2023 9:00am PST · 3 comments
Josh Riedel was getting hit by a bomb cyclone. From his home in San Francisco’s Mission District, the former Instagram manager and first-time novelist found himself in the eye of one of California’s endless storms. Driving through the city near SoMa, he passed cars halfway submerged in murky water, huge limbs torn off trees and other... Josh Riedel was getting hit by a bomb cyclone. From his home in San Francisco’s Mission...
Art by Clark Miller. All photos courtesy Josh Wolfe/Lux Capital
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Josh Wolfe’s War: The Lux Capital Founder Blazes a Controversial Path in Defense Tech

By Margaux MacColl · Jan 6, 2023 9:21am PST · 7 comments
Josh Wolfe arrived at a remote island in the Philippines by inflatable boat, surrounded by men with large guns. It was 2019 and the founding partner of the New York venture firm Lux Capital was on a very strange work trip. Over the course of two weeks, American soldiers escorted Wolfe through the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia and... Josh Wolfe arrived at a remote island in the Philippines by inflatable boat, surrounded by men...
Jasper founders Dave Rogenmoser, Chris Hull and J.P. Morgan. Art by Clark Miller; photo courtesy Jasper.
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The Best Little Unicorn in Texas: Jasper Was Winning the AI Race—Then ChatGPT Blew Up the Whole Game

By Arielle Pardes · Dec 23, 2022 9:15am PST · 27 comments
A few weeks ago, Sam Altman, CEO of artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, logged onto a Zoom call. On the other side of the screen was Dave Rogenmoser, CEO of Jasper, a copywriting startup built on OpenAI’s flagship large-language model, GPT-3. The two companies share a Slack channel, where they trade updates and feedback about GPT-3,... A few weeks ago, Sam Altman, CEO of artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, logged onto a Zoom...
Art by Clark Miller.
The Buzz Is Gone: Tech Companies (With a Few Exceptions) Are Reining In Once-Legendary Holiday Parties
By Arielle Pardes and Annie Goldsmith · Dec 16, 2022 9:00am PST
Art by Clark Miller.
The Big Read

The Buzz Is Gone: Tech Companies (With a Few Exceptions) Are Reining In Once-Legendary Holiday Parties

By Arielle Pardes and Annie Goldsmith · Dec 16, 2022 9:00am PST
On December 8, several thousand Adobe employees and their guests milled around San Francisco’s Chase Center arena for the company’s holiday-slash-40th-anniversary party. Starting at 7 p.m., the Adobe workers and their dates shot hoops in an arcade, received spray-on temporary tattoos, and grabbed drinks and food (tacos, sliders,... On December 8, several thousand Adobe employees and their guests milled around San...
Eight Sleep co-founders Matteo Franceschetti and Alexandra Zatarain. Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

The Co-Founders of Eight Sleep Want to Optimize Your Performance (in Bed)

By Arielle Pardes · Dec 9, 2022 10:00am PST · 8 comments
Matteo Franceschetti and Alexandra Zatarain spend their nights in the bed of the future. The king-size canopy bed has gray curtains gathered at the sides and a strip of sensors that captures each sleeper’s heart rate, respiration, temperature and other vitals. It has a light bar that mimics the sunrise and a temperature control in the... Matteo Franceschetti and Alexandra Zatarain spend their nights in the bed of the future. The...
Animation by Clark Miller
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The Passion of Cathie Wood: Why the ‘Wackiest Portfolio Manager on Earth’ Isn’t Losing Faith

By Michelle Celarier · Dec 2, 2022 11:00am PST · 4 comments
Cathie Wood was sitting in a phone booth in the New York office of Ark Invest when she heard Tasha Keeney, one of the firm’s analysts, let out a scream—“a happy scream,” Wood recalled. It was Feb. 1, 2019, and Keeney had just received a direct message on Twitter from Elon Musk—the first time the Tesla CEO had... Cathie Wood was sitting in a phone booth in the New York office of Ark Invest when she heard...
Art by Clark Miller
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‘I’m Licking My Chops. I Know It’s Going Down’: The Pissed-Off Crypto Traders Who Predicted—and Profited From—the FTX Implosion

By Margaux MacColl · Nov 25, 2022 7:00am PST · 8 comments
Ishan Bhaidani had been patient for over a month, waiting for blood in the water. Now was his moment. It was the late hours of Nov. 7 and he was in his home office in San Antonio, Texas, staring at a chart on TradingView. The price of the FTT token—the cryptocurrency created by FTX—had been fluctuating oddly on the futures market all... Ishan Bhaidani had been patient for over a month, waiting for blood in the water. Now was his...
Animation by Clark Miller
‘Incredible Alpha’: Orlando Bravo Wants to Buy Your Company
By Abram Brown · Nov 18, 2022 9:00am PST · 16 comments
Animation by Clark Miller
The Big Read

‘Incredible Alpha’: Orlando Bravo Wants to Buy Your Company

By Abram Brown · Nov 18, 2022 9:00am PST · 16 comments
A fierce squall struck Puerto Rico one Wednesday in late October, snarling roadways around San Juan and complicating the travel plans of Orlando Bravo, the founder and managing partner of $122 billion private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Bravo, a Puerto Rico native who spends about a quarter of his time on the island, needed to get from the capital... A fierce squall struck Puerto Rico one Wednesday in late October, snarling roadways around San...
The Big Read

Tech Goes Cold Turkey: Inside Silicon Valley’s New Temperance Society

By Annie Goldsmith · Nov 11, 2022 9:00am PST · 5 comments
The year was 2008, and at Justin Kan’s Y Combinator–funded livestreaming site, Justin.tv, the end of the week meant only one thing: Fine Alcohol Friday. The ritual began when someone—Kan doesn’t remember who—sent a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label to the company offices. “It wasn’t even that good, to be honest,” he recalled. Justin.tv was... The year was 2008, and at Justin Kan’s Y Combinator–funded livestreaming site, Justin.tv, the end...
Composite art by Clark Miller. Photos Ohanian, Creative Commons and Roberto Faccenda.
The Big Read

Ohanian in Paradise: Still Nursing Old Wounds From Reddit, the Former Founder Chases a New Legacy

By Abram Brown · Nov 4, 2022 9:00am PDT · 13 comments
A while back, Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder and venture capitalist, and his wife Serena Williams, the tennis legend and angel investor, reached a compromise. They’d been working under the same roof during the pandemic, Ohanian running his venture shop, Seven Seven Six, and Williams overseeing her growing empire of endorsements,... A while back, Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder and venture capitalist, and his wife Serena...
AI art generated by Clark Miller
The Big Read

‘This Time Is Really, Really Different’: The Early Adopter’s Guide to the Ingenious, Uncanny, Slightly Scary World of Generative AI

By Margaux MacColl · Oct 28, 2022 9:27am PDT · 7 comments
Martin Erlic, who runs an olive oil business in Croatia, used AI text-generating startup Jasper to write his dream sci-fi novel. Architect Nuno Fontarra turns to AI image software Midjourney to dream up whimsical buildings that inspire his real-life designs. And in moments of emotional turmoil, Serena, a physicist in Texas, asksthe artificially... Martin Erlic, who runs an olive oil business in Croatia, used AI text-generating startup Jasper...
Art by Clark Miller
Jeff Lawson’s Great Leap: Can the Twilio CEO Fix His Company and His Country at the Same Time?
By Abram Brown · Oct 21, 2022 9:00am PDT · 11 comments
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read

Jeff Lawson’s Great Leap: Can the Twilio CEO Fix His Company and His Country at the Same Time?

By Abram Brown · Oct 21, 2022 9:00am PDT · 11 comments
One afternoon toward the end of September, Jeff Lawson’s household was turned upside down: Barack Obama was coming to visit. At their glassy, modernist home high above San Francisco’s Dolores Park, Lawson and his wife Erica shuffled around the furniture to make room for the former president and their three dozen other guests. Venture capitalist... One afternoon toward the end of September, Jeff Lawson’s household was turned upside down: Barack...