Mark Matousek
The Information
New York, NY, United States
Contact Mark
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Past articles by Mark:
Everything Must Go: The Inside Story of a Startup’s Sudden, Agonizing Collapse
Fridge No More was about to be no more. It was almost midnight on a cold late-winter night in Brooklyn, and there was little movement inside the failing startup’s once-bustling grocery-delivery hub. But Pavel Danilov, Fridge No More’s CEO, couldn’t resist the urge to tidy up. It might have been ... → Read More
Amid Layoffs, Tech Companies Throw Cash, Stock at the Workers They Still Want
In August, amid a slump in stock and crypto prices, Robinhood took the dramatic step of slashing 23% of its workforce, just four months after laying off 9% of its employees. But those who survived the online brokerage’s cuts soon got an incentive to stick around and work hard. Shortly after the ... → Read More
Tesla Makes Cash, Not Stock, the Default for Many Employees’ Compensation Awards
Tesla will start giving its employees cash grants as their default incentive to stick with the company, rather than the equity awards it has traditionally handed out, according to internal documents viewed by The Information. The electric car maker’s employees will still be able to receive stock ... → Read More
Google Goes From Hot to Not With Startup Headhunters
Google employees were prized recruits for tech founders for much of the past two decades. But that’s changing. It was two years ago when Chris Johnson, founder of executive recruiting firm Artisanal Talent, first realized founders’ tastes were starting to shift. Johnson thought a veteran Google ... → Read More
Tech Companies Tilt Power in Their Favor With Performance Reviews
Nearly six months ago, Shopify promised staffers it would raise everyone’s salary, hoping to keep people from jumping ship as their share-based pay slumped along with the company’s stock price. Instead, after a hastily assembled performance review process, the e-commerce software giant decided ... → Read More
Startup Founders Embrace 409A Cuts to Gain Recruiting Edge
Between 2016 and 2021, investors boosted the valuation of Sendbird, a communications software startup, to $1.1 billion, from $6.5 million. This June, a different kind of evaluator gave Sendbird what might have sounded like frightening news: It had determined the startup was worth around 50% less ... → Read More
Secondary Markets Seize Up as Startup Insiders Dump Shares
With the market for initial public offerings all but dead this year and the likelihood of down rounds looming, startup employees have been racing to cash out of their shares. In theory, secondary markets dealing in private companies’ stock should give people a way to do that. There’s just one ... → Read More
Picsart, a Photo-Editing Startup Backed By SoftBank, Cuts 8% of Workforce
SoftBank-backed photo- and video-editing startup Picsart has laid off 90 employees, or around 8% of its workforce, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Information. Picsart is the latest tech firm to pull back on growth amid a turbulent time in the markets. Picsart is also at least the third ... → Read More
How much Rivian, Tesla, and Uber pay their employees
The three tech companies are locked in a war for talent. Federal data shows how what kind of compensation they offer for a variety of positions. → Read More
An electric vehicle battery shortage is shaping up to be the auto industry's next chip crisis
Automakers may scramble to find enough batteries for their electric cars in the coming years, but Tesla has an edge over the rest of the industry. → Read More
Rivian's IPO pop gave it a higher valuation than Ford. Experts say that stock price is way too high — and that it's bound to fall
"I was shocked," Loup Ventures' Gene Munster said of Rivian's share price at the end of Wednesday. "The valuation's through the roof at this point." → Read More
Rivian's long awaited IPO is this week — here's how much the hyped electric vehicle startup pays employees, from engineers to analysts
Insider analyzed data Rivian shared with the US government, which shows how much it pays some employees. → Read More
Rivian's clutch deal with Amazon could come back to bite the startup after its IPO, a report says
A report from New Constructs highlights the ways in which Amazon's deal with Rivian tilts in favor of the tech giant. → Read More
The founder of a top battery startup reveals how he got Bill Gates' VC fund to invest by answering one key question
Our Next Energy founder Mujeeb Ijaz said the startup's batteries will allow an EV to travel 700 miles between charges. → Read More
Uber and Lyft's gig-economy problems will only get worse as startups like Kaptyn and Revel threaten them with better driver retention plans, a new report predicts
"The future of ride-hailing is likely to be dominated by providers that own and operate their own fleet," a Pitchbook analyst wrote. → Read More
EV startups love SPACs. Here's why Rivian's unconventional decision to avoid them with an IPO could pay off.
Rivian is getting ready to cap a frenzy of public listings from EV startups with a blockbuster IPO that could tower over those of its rivals. → Read More
An early Tesla employee says his startup is releasing the biggest battery breakthrough in 30 years
Sila Nanothechnologies says its battery materials can increase a cell's capacity by 20%. They'll debut in the Whoop 4.0 fitness band. → Read More
The race to become the next Tesla is heating up. Here's how Rivian, Lucid, and the other top contenders are planning to come out on top.
Electric-vehicle startups have benefited from the hype surrounding Tesla, but now they have to prove they can deliver. → Read More
Uber insiders are divided over Dara Khosrowshahi's leadership, with some worried the company has become 'boring' and 'confused' about its future
Dara Khosrowshahi was the adult that Uber needed to make it to an IPO. But some worry he's turning a company that was a Ferrari into a Toyota Camry. → Read More
The Biden administration could decide the fate of Tesla's Autopilot system
A DOT investigation could vindicate Tesla's faith in its Autopilot, or force it to make an expensive fix. → Read More