Paradise Lost: The Rise and Ruin of Couchsurfing.com
The once-utopian accommodations site, now headed by an alum of surveillance-analytics firm Palantir, has gone back on its always-free ethos.
The once-utopian accommodations site, now headed by an alum of surveillance-analytics firm Palantir, has gone back on its always-free ethos.
Andrew Fedorov Input Magazine Sep 2021 30min Permalink
In 2019, I made a painful decision. But to the algorithms that drive Facebook, Pinterest, and a million other apps, I’m forever getting married.
Lauren Goode Wired Apr 2021 25min Permalink
The boutique fitness phenomenon sold exclusivity with a smile, until a toxic atmosphere and a push for growth brought the whole thing down.
Alex Abad-Santos Vox Dec 2020 30min Permalink
The ads are everywhere. You can learn to serve like Serena Williams or write like Margaret Atwood. But what MasterClass really delivers is something altogether different.
Carina Chocano The Atlantic Aug 2020 30min Permalink
Inside the surreal and lucrative two-sided marketplace of mediocre famous people.
Patrick J. Sauer Marker Mar 2020 Permalink
Life in Silicon Valley during the dawn of the unicorns.
Anna Wiener New Yorker Sep 2019 30min Permalink
Thinking about launching your own media startup? You might want to consider my crazy story first.
Jamie O'Grady The Cauldron Jan 2019 25min Permalink
How did Josh Tetrick’s vegan-mayo company become a Silicon Valley darling—and what is he really selling?
Bianca Bosker The Atlantic Oct 2017 25min Permalink
A profile of Travis Kalanick, who resigned from the ride the ride-hailing company he built after leading it to the brink of implosion.
Mike Isaac New York Times Apr 2017 15min Permalink
Inside a megachurch started by Procter & Gamble brand managers.
Mya Frazier Businessweek Apr 2017 15min Permalink
Emily Weiss has reinvented herself from reality TV villain to patron saint of dewy skin, no-makeup makeup, and no-commerce commerce. Why young women — and investors — are buying in.
Nitasha Tiku Buzzfeed Aug 2016 25min Permalink
50onRed is a fixture in Philly’s startup world. But there’s something the leadership didn’t talk about, even with some of its own staff. They make malware.
Juliana Reyes Backchannel May 2016 10min Permalink
On a company that provides fake paparazzi, pretend campaign supporters, and counterfeit protesters on demand.
Davy Rothbart California Sunday Mar 2016 20min Permalink
Thirty-year-old payment processing CEO Dan Price made an audacious decision and was rewarded with viral stardom. But what were his real motivations?
Karen Weise Bloomberg Businessweek Dec 2015 15min Permalink
High school dropouts are descending on San Francisco with nothing more than a backpacks full of clothes and ideas.
Nellie Bowles California Sunday May 2015 Permalink
Airbnb vs. New York City.
Jessica Pressler New York Sep 2014 25min Permalink
“The idea for Handybook occurred to me when I was studying at Harvard. It was so hard to find a reliable cleaning service to tidy my apartment! You know?”
Amanda Tomas The Billfold Oct 2014 10min Permalink
Tech investors gave Seth Bannon, co-founder of the seemingly surging startup Amicus, over four million dollars, despite knowing almost nothing about him.
Noam Scheiber The New Republic Sep 2014 15min Permalink
A five-part series on the instant gratification economy.
Liz Gannes Re/Code Aug 2014 50min Permalink
On Stewart Butterfield, the founder of Flickr and now Slack, a wildly popular, difficult-to-describe messaging service that has 38,000 paying subscribers just a few months after launching.
On a $40 million raise and a fired co-founder.
Nicholas Carlson Business Insider Jul 2014 Permalink
The laundry wars of Silicon Valley.
Jessica Pressler New York May 2014 20min Permalink
The dark side of startup life in Silicon Valley.
An extended version of this story is available as an ebook.</em></p>
Gideon Lewis-Kraus Wired Apr 2014 40min Permalink
A startup’s plan to launch a fleet of cheap, small, ultra-efficient imaging satellites and revolutionize data collection.
David Samuels Wired Jun 2013 15min Permalink
Aside from the wealthiest players, nine out of 10 NFL athletes are likely to be insolvent within 10 years of retirement. A new executive MBA program aims to change that.
Ben Austen GQ Apr 2013 20min Permalink