In this recap, I discuss Susan Diane Wojcicki’s emergence as the CEO of YouTube, the company’s $3 billion venture capital, and the way that Wojcicki is displacing journalists from the public discourse about technology. This is an interesting article, as it provides an interesting perspective on how new media is disseminating and reshaping the way the media and the general public think about technology.
A16Z’s new media efforts disintermediate journalists from the public discourse about technology
In January, A16Z announced plans for a new media property. The venture capital firm led a $12 million funding round to build an audio chatroom company called Clubhouse. It has also invested in startups working with Elon Musk, such as Flow, and a subscription-blog platform called Substack.
Marc Andreessen, the founder of the company, and his partners are trying to make Clubhouse the leading voice of the technological optimism that is sweeping Silicon Valley. Andreessen said he felt a gap in tech coverage. He felt there were few outlets that spoke to the future of the industry.
As a result, the founders of A16Z are trying to break the mold and become the go-to source for tech news. They want to create a media empire.
They’ve hired top thinkers in the space. Tim Roughgarden is an engineering professor at Columbia, Dan Boneh is a computer science and electrical engineering professor at Stanford, and Krishnan Ramamurthy is a journalist at MIT.
vlad the stock impaler’s interview with CEO
A big day in the history of Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) took place Thursday. The company announced the launch of a new retirement product. They also talked about their upcoming second quarter results. But the real star of the show was the interview with CEO Vlad Tenev.
Elon Musk was kind enough to ask him a few questions. He’s a self-styled guru of the electric car and the nascent solar energy industry.
He also invited the young CEO of a burgeoning Silicon Valley startup to join him in his own Squawk Box. In his interview, the tech billionaire asked about the latest developments in the app.
Robinhood is a popular stock-trading app. It has a large number of “small-dollar” investors. And it’s an easy app to use. However, it is being caught up in a stockmarket battle between retail investors and big Wall Street funds.
The company recently reported a major threat to its business. They reported a huge surge in the number of customers and purchased shares in some highly volatile stocks. This prompted the company to reduce their restricted stocks list from 50 to eight.
Susan Diane Wojcicki’s new media efforts disintermediate journalists from the public discourse about technology
As CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki is leading a major online company. She is one of the most influential women in tech.
She has climbed through the male-dominated corporate jungle to reach the top. She has been a vocal advocate for the need for more women in the industry. Her position as the head of YouTube has given her a platform to address this problem.
Susan Wojcicki has had her fair share of crises at her company. She’s been forced to deal with irritated users, upset regulators, and legal challenges. But she hasn’t let those troubles get her down. In fact, she has been the driving force behind many new products, including a subscription service for music and YouTube TV.
She has also helped to keep advertisers happy. Last year, major advertisers boycotted YouTube following reports of offensive content. The company was also under fire after a viral video showed pedophiles flourishing on its site.
Robinhood’s $3 billion in venture capital
Robinhood, a mobile stock trading app, has received $3 billion in venture capital funding from investors during the past five days. The company has already raised over $1 billion this year and hopes to go public this year. However, the startup is facing criticism, especially after the company limited trading in GameStop, AMC Entertainment, and BlackBerry stocks.
These stocks were shorted by hedge funds. Online investors drove up the price of these shares through social media. But Robinhood’s decision to restrict trading has sparked a public relations crisis. Some users even threatened to quit the app, and the company is now facing multiple class action lawsuits.
This week, many brokers were hit with a “crush” of trades. They were asked to place more collateral on their accounts than they normally would, in addition to the usual deposits.
Finally
This prompted a cash crunch at Robinhood. It also meant the company had to draw down its credit lines.