Is the Media Out to Get Tech Founders? Lessons from Away.

Occasionally, the news becomes the news. And so it was this week when a judge threw out a lawsuit The Wrap filed against us over our hiring of one of their former reporters. If you want the details, here’s some good coverage. We fought the case rather than cave to demands for significant money in exchange for dropping it. And so we were able to uphold that employees have the right to choose where they want to work. I’m grateful for those on our team who lent their time to help us win it. 

And thank you all for the feedback and encouragement following last week’s column about our App Store ordeal. More importantly, thank you for all the love around the app. We’re working very hard to explain and analyze the most important tech stories of the day, and this week, we kept busy with important items around Facebook, tech regulation, Netflix and more. If you haven’t tried it yet, you can do so here. And don’t forget one of our big stories of the week, our 2020 Tech Predictions. 

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It’s Been A Tough Year for Tech Founders

Two weeks ago, at a company all-hands meeting at struggling AR company Magic Leap, head of marketing Daniel Diez had a message for his staff. 

Don’t pay attention to the critical article due to appear soon in The Information. He called us “clickbait” and said our reporting was “bullshit.” He added that reporter Alex Heath was an “asshole.” 

Well, clearly Diez is not familiar with our business model, and Alex—whom he has never met—is the farthest thing from a jerk. And if you haven't read the piece yet, check out how the once-hot startup missed sales targets by as massive a margin as any I have seen reported in business. 

But Diez, in addition to those comments, said one more thing that stuck with me: the media is hunting for tech blood, specifically the next Theranos or WeWork.

I’ve heard that more and more this year. And it is often directed at us. This year our tough stories about founders and business challenges at Intercom, Toptal, Brandless, and, of course, WeWork have made news and been followed by swarms of outlets. Overall, it has been a tough year for founders because—news flash—many once high-flying tech businesses have been struggling to live up to big expectations. And the press has been paying attention. 

I’m sort of tickled by the criticism that we’re too tough. Others who don’t know me or our journalism have attacked me as being soft on tech for years. But anyone who has read our work knows that is far from the truth. I guess now the pendulum has swung the other way.

But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the call on what stories to pursue and how to be tough but fair is a constant challenge, one that any good editor wrestles with deeply—I hope. 

Because for every complaint about a “toxic” culture from an ex-employee, there may be others who love their jobs. For every story about a demanding culture, there is a reminder than Steve Jobs was no peach. 

And because for every female founder who has pissed off her staff, there are probably five more male ones who have done much worse and no one cared.

Clearly, there are bright lines of newsworthiness—harassment, discrimination, and many more. But there are a lot of grey areas as well, namely not being liked. 

Speaking of that, I have been processing this week’s resignation of Away CEO Steph Korey, who stepped down after a Verge article revealed what the article called a “toxic” management style. 

At first, I struggled a bit to assess the significance of the piece, undoubtedly, in part, because I’m a tough manager, too. While I have never canceled employees’ time off or fired employees who said they felt marginalized (as the article reported Korey did), I have sent a number—ok, many—gruff communications over the years, usually at strange hours of the morning when my kids won’t sleep. 

And something about the tone of the article seemed off to me. I’m leery of assigning confidential sources fake names, as this piece did. It seems to try to make the story more of a salacious exposé instead of sticking to the facts. When using anonymous sources, we try to describe the person and their agenda as specifically as we can—even if it’s a little clunkier. Readers deserve that information. 

Despite those qualms, it is clear that The Verge’s reporting was highly newsworthy. As has been revealed subsequently, Korey and the board had been looking to bring in more management support for her, recruiting a board member Stuart Haselden of Lululemon to become COO and eventually CEO. I am told that when the furor over the story, particularly from customers, became too much, the board and Korey decided to fast-track him to the CEO spot. 

We need more reporters to pursue stories like The Verge’s Away piece. And as they do, we need to make sure we have the full picture, listen to voices contradicting our theses and try to get to the bottom of the impact on the employees and business.

This latter is something I push our team to do all the time. 

Because irresponsible media scrutiny, coupled with the mob mentality the public has towards tech, could have costs.

It will cost good founders who have the potential to build the next great businesses, along with their companies and their employees. 

It will adversely cost female founders because sexism in tech (and business) is rampant. And even if a reporter isn’t sexist, some employees, customers and other stakeholders may be. Reporters must consider that carefully when assessing what sources tell them. 

And it will cost the media credibility too. Because readers can tell facts from agenda. And when trust in the media is so low, we can’t give our critics more ammo.

Yes, of course, we are all searching for the next Theranos. Theranos caused a tremendous amount of harm and it’s our job to expose that.

 But, in this particular moment, when scandal spreads like wildfire and people are lining up to attack tech, we should remember that not every tough CEO is a fraud or a monster.

This Week’s The Information Articles. To read these articles, subscribe here.

• Apple’s Ad-Targeting Crackdown Shakes Up Ad Market by Tom Dotan
• State Privacy Legislation Stalls Despite High Hopes by Ashley Gold
• Uber Nears Deal for Self-Driving Car Simulation Startup by Amir Efrati
• Facebook and Google Balance Booming Business with Censorship Pressure in Vietnam by Wayne Ma
• To Draw Advertisers, Video Services Need to Agree on Audience Measures by Jessica Toonkel
• Tencent Nears $2 Billion Investment in Chinese Video App Kuaishou to Fight ByteDance by Yunan Zhang and Wayne Ma
• Former Snap Executives Raise Funds for a ‘TurboTax for Privacy’ by Alex Heath
• SEC Stalls Direct Listing Push to Protect Small Investors by Kevin Dugan
• WeWork Trying to Unravel Office Lease Deals by Cory Weinberg
• The Information’s 2020 Tech Predictions by The Information Staff
• Want a Job in Tech? A Gold Medal Might Help by Zo? Bernard
• The Information’s 411 — Mathletes and Tech-athlons by Tom Dotan
• [Bonus] The Information’s 411 — Why Monoculture Moments Are Rare by Tom Dotan

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