The New York Times and A Taste of My Own Medicine

I hope you all survived the brief Twitter outage of Friday. The lack of distraction probably helped me write this newsletter faster! 

This week’s big story from the team was about the Vision Fund, specifically the “civil war” that has raged internally at the firm. I found the piece, by Cory and Amir, an important read. A lot of attention has been paid to some big financial losses the fund has endured, but less on the culture inside. These things are often related. 

Elsewhere on the investing beat, Kate had a big story about a big expansion at Sequoia. And Amir tallied the billions that Waymo, Uber and others have invested in self-driving car research amid the debate about whether that money has been well-spent. 

Lessons from the Other Side

As a founder, I sometimes sit on the other side of the table and experience what it is like to have an article written about The Information. It's always a little strange. I’m used to being the one asking the questions. But it is also very illuminating and has changed, in small ways, my tactics as a journalist. 

So when the New York Times reporter Ed Lee wanted to profile us for the paper, I knew it would be a learning experience. 

You can read the piece here. It was a nice profile about our progress to date, saying: “As other online organs have bloated and intermittently fasted, The Information’s reporters have become known in Silicon Valley for sniffing out the industry’s misdeeds and tweaking its powerful.” I enjoyed the colorful phrases, calling me the “sovereign of subscription” and referring to me as “fiercely guarding the fortress.” 

Overall, it reminded me how proud I am of our team. And the process of working with Ed on the article—which he reported on over three months—has left me with some new insights about working with the press that weren’t obvious to me as a journalist. I hope they are valuable to others who are dealing with reporters or who want to understand how the media operates. 

Have a very thick skin: I thought I had a pretty thick skin. But hearing, sometimes second hand, what people tell reporters about you, can be really tough. I heard through a friend that someone had told the reporter that I wasn’t very social when I joined the Wall Street Journal right after college. In my head, I immediately started rattling off all the times I went to a Mexican restaurant with colleagues after work and had one too many margaritas. Then I relaxed and thought, who cares? A reporter isn’t going to want to hear only positive things. If that’s the worst people are saying, ok.

Be aware of attempts for “balance”: Speaking of only positive things, the whole experience has made me more skeptical of seeking “balance” in a story. 

No business or person is perfect and no articles should make it seem that way. But the hunt for random negative “balance” to offset a mostly positive piece is a difficult one. Reporters must try to learn about all sides of a person they are profiling—to talk to fans as well as critics. But it can go too far. 

Overall, I think Ed and his editors handled it well. He referred to the fact that I went to college with people who went on to be execs at Google and Facebook and said my “connections continue to raise eyebrows.” He did not include the fact, which I told him, that I did not know these tech executives in college, but alas. It’s fair to raise questions about my relationships, and I’ll continue to point to our tough coverage every time someone does.

But one attempt to raise some doubts seemed forced. He noted that I once quoted someone who had been on the same trip I had been on, two years after the trip, in a trend piece. Personally, I think it would be more unusual if a journalist never quoted anyone he or she had met outside of a PR department.

Here’s a smaller lesson I’m taking away (which cuts against my interests as a reporter, but is rarely shared, so here goes): Be careful who you help facilitate interviews with. Some people say nice things on the record and then not-so-nice things not for attribution. Then they send you a bunch of texts telling you all the nice things they said! If you are going to help the reporter connect with someone who is going to go on the record, make sure you trust them—fully. 

And one more point that is self-serving, but true: Don’t be afraid to go on the record with the truth. When Ed had heard some things that were patently false, I told him so, and said he could quote me.  I’m always amazed as an editor how often companies shut down when asked about stories and don’t respond, until, of course, we publish. Interview subjects have more power than they think. They should use it. 

The Information 2020 Event Calendar

Check back here weekly as we add new events. Email [email protected] to learn about sponsorship opportunities. 

February 26: Future of Social (San Francisco)

May 12: WTF Summit: Women in Tech, Media and Finance (New York)

June 25: The Information’s 4th Annual Autonomous Vehicle Summit  (San Francisco)

This Week's The Information Articles.

• The People With Power at Microsoft by Kevin McLaughlin
• Casper Pursued Private Fundraising Before IPO Filing by Kevin Dugan
• How YouTube and Google Cloud Compare to Rivals by Nick Wingfield and Tom Dotan
• Why Snap Does Not Equal Twitter by Alex Heath
• Venture Capital’s New Normal: Outsized Checks and Unsolicited Offers by Kate Clark
• Money Pit: Self-Driving Cars’ $16 Billion Cash Burn by Amir Efrati
• The Woman Behind Amazon’s One-Day Delivery Program by Priya Anand
• Financial Figures for Fintech Firm Show Soaring Demand for Digital Banking by Zo? Bernard
• Sequoia Expands Seed Investing Team as Rivals Loom by Kate Clark
• Amazon Considered Selling Streaming Tech Behind Twitch by Priya Anand and Jessica Toonkel
• Google’s Secret Weapon for Selling Cloud: YouTube, Advertising Deals by Nick Bastone and Kevin McLaughlin
• Inside the Vision Fund’s Civil War: Deal Conflicts, Leak Suspicions by Amir Efrati and Cory Weinberg
• The Information’s 411 — Self-Driving for Dollars by Tom Dotan