The Information's 411

Steve explains how the tanking of subscription software companies on the public markets has caused investors to reexamine private company valuations. Cory talks about Mobile World Congress. And we all talk Apple's privacy stance.

Alfred sheds some light on how mutual funds and other big investors really come up with their valuations for private tech companies. And Cory talks about the shift in Silicon Valley talent away from startups and toward the behemoths like Facebook and Google.

Stephen talks about Github and the internal fight between people pushing for more enterprise clients and those loyal to the developer-centric mindset. Amir talks about what works and what doesn't in Twitter's ad business.

Jessica talks about down rounds and why even an "employee friendly" one is still bad news for employees with equity. Tom talks about Snapchat's app install ads, and Reed discusses the "ticking time bomb" of 409A valuations.

The Information's 411 - "Heartstrings" by The Information

It was a bad week for the markets. and tech stocks were hurt in particular. Reed joined to run down what Twitter's tanking stock really means. Amir delved into Uber's race for second in China and Cory makes his solo podcast debut to talk about how Facebook tracks whether its users think Facebook cares about it.

First podcast after the break brings on Jessica to talk about the gender diversity problem in tech (and beyond). Reed talks about our Insider List and the widespread nature of executive investments in tech. And Amir goes deep into the war games the Facebook is playing to imagine a world without Android.

The Information looks ahead at 2016 and makes predictions about Snapchat, Microsoft and Google. We also lay out our big questions for tech in the coming year.

Alfred and Reed go deep into how tech investors are structuring deals to protect themselves against underwhelming exits. Stephen talks about Salesforce's discussions about buying Steelbrick

Jessica explains why even after Marissa Mayer leaves Yahoo, we won't have seen the last of her. Tom dives into why Buzzfeed's rise in video ads will be difficult. Then the two predict the future of online media companies.

Amir Reed and Tom get into it debating who should have one The Information's Person of the 2016 selection. Amir made the case for Travis Kalanick, Tom and Reed argued for Jeff Bezos.

Was the Square IPO a bust or a big hit? Depends on whom you ask. Jessica and Stocktwits CEO Howard Lindzon argue both sides. Then Amir talks the parking app war in San Francisco.

Stephen, Reed and Tom talk about the dark days ahead for unicorns who've raised too much money. Then Jessica joins to add some sense into the chatter about mutual fund markdowns.

Tom and Stephen chat about the star ad sellers in Silicon Valley and how they're helping move big money offline to online. Amir comes on next to talk the future of Android.

Stephen Nellis talks about our latest subscriber survey and why Information readers aren't big adopters of the Internet of Things. Then Alfred Lee calls in to talk about supervotes and how founders and insiders at private tech companies demand nearly unchecked voting power.