| | | | | | | Presented By The Current by Jigsaw | | | | Axios Login | | By Scott Rosenberg ·Sep 08, 2021 | | Ina's off for Rosh Hashanah and I'm your guest host — just for the day. Today's newsletter is 1,182 words, a 4-minute read. | | | | | | 1 big thing: Tech founders have left the building |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | Most of today's tech giants are no longer run by their founders, but by a new breed of successor CEOs tasked with holding true to a corporate mission while continuing to pump up growth. The big picture: Silicon Valley has long embraced a "founders know best" philosophy. But eventually, most successful founders get old and tired and rich — and lose interest in the meetings, the management messes, and the sheer hard work of running a company. - They also sometimes recognize that the thinking that helped them grow their companies from nothing might no longer serve a trillion-dollar organization. (But usually, they don't.)
The rundown: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos handed the reins to new CEO Andy Jassy in July. Bezos remains chairman, and has been busy visiting the edge of space and founding a new "fountain of youth" biotech startup. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin continue to own a controlling share of Google and its holding company, Alphabet, and sit on its board. But both stepped back from day-to-day responsibilities in 2019, leaving the company fully under CEO Sundar Pichai's command. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died back in 2011 (the 10-year anniversary of his passing is next month), leaving Apple in the hands of Tim Cook. Cook has brought the firm to new heights of profitability and power — even without introducing a major new product line. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates stepped down as CEO in 2000, left the company's full-time employ in 2008, resigned as board chairman in 2014 and left the board entirely last year in the wake of controversies over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Satya Nadella has led a renaissance in the company's profile and valuation. That leaves Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg as the last founder standing atop one of tech's five trillion-dollar giants. - Facebook is the youngest company in the bunch, and Zuckerberg is the youngest of the founders.
- His enthusiasm for running Facebook has shown little sign of lagging — even in the face of relentless media criticism, countless command appearances on Capitol Hill and a barrage of antitrust investigations.
- Yes, but: When his time for midlife crisis hits, it could be a doozy.
Why it matters: Tech's biggest companies like to view themselves as nimble young innovators. - But they're not fooling anyone. For better or worse, these giants are nearly all now led by managers, not entrepreneurs.
|     | | | | | | 2. Lenovo sees new life in PCs | | For most of the past decade, the venerable PC played a backup role while most of the attention and glory went to the smartphone. The pandemic helped bring growth and attention back to computers, and that's a trend the industry badly wants to extend, Axios' Ina Fried reports. - "This device which we have had around for 30 years suddenly found new purpose," Lenovo PC unit CTO Daryl Cromer told Axios.
Why it matters: After years of stagnation, PC sales have been growing. Windows 11 and hybrid work offer the opportunity for that to continue, but only if computer companies can continue to convince people to upgrade them more frequently. The big picture: Until recently, many people used their home and work computers for three or four years — and often more than that. That compounded the category's perception gap, as people were comparing the power of their old PC to that of their smartphones, which were often getting upgraded each year or two. - All of that changed with the pandemic, though, as the PC became critical for work, education and entertainment.
Between the lines: The new uses stretched the capabilities of PCs, especially older models, as people looked for high-definition webcams and other features that hadn't previously been much of a priority. The latest: Lenovo, like many PC makers, is introducing a wave of new PCs and accessories designed to cater to the homebound and hybrid worker. - The company is using its TechWorld event today to debut new Yoga laptops, a 5G Android tablet and other gear.
- A second new Android tablet — the Lenovo Tab P12 Pro — can also act as an additional display for a Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC, the first in what Lenovo promises will be a series of such products.
What's next: Improved cameras on PCs will be able to do more than just enable sharper Zoom calls. They can also be used, for example, to pause a movie when a worker looks away or notice when someone is approaching and enhance privacy. | | | | | | | | 3. Gaming CEO out after Texas abortion law tweet | | The head of Georgia-based game development studio Tripwire Interactive parted ways with the company Monday, two days after tweeting his support for Texas' new abortion ban, Axios' Stephen Totilo reports. Why it matters: Tripwire CEO John Gibson's support of a law critics are calling "draconian" and dangerous sparked instant outrage. - "Effective immediately, John Gibson has stepped down as CEO of Tripwire," the studio tweeted Monday, citing a decision by its leadership team.
- "His comments disregarded the values of our whole team, our partners and much of our broader community."
The details: On Saturday afternoon, Gibson tweeted: "Proud of #USSupremeCourt affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat." - He continued: "As an entertainer I don't get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer."
| | | | | | | | A message from The Current by Jigsaw | | When the internet goes dark, more than a connection is lost | | |  | | | | The internet is central to virtually every aspect of life across the globe. But there is now rarely a day where at least one part of the world is not cast into the dark. Read more in The Current about how internet blackouts can affect communities. | | | | | | 4. Ford nabs Apple car exec |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Ford Motor poached a senior Apple executive, Doug Field, to lead efforts to make its vehicles as smart and indispensable as the iPhone, Axios' Joann Muller reports. Why it matters: Legacy automakers like Ford need Silicon Valley's software prowess as they try to navigate a historic industrywide transformation. The electric, connected and automated cars of the future will be defined more by software in the cloud than by mechanical parts under the hood. The intrigue: Field's hire was seen as a coup for Ford and a blow to Apple, where he had been a key player on the iPhone maker's secret car project. Details: In his new role, Field will be chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer, reporting to Ford president and CEO Jim Farley. - He will lead the development of a new cloud-based, connected-vehicle platform called Blue Oval Intelligence.
- It aims to enable customers to continually update their cars with new features — as they do their phones — or to fix warranty problems without visiting a dealership.
| | | | | | | | 5. Take note | | On Tap - The fraud trial of Theranos' former CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, begins with opening statements in San Jose today.
Trading Places - Bobby Whithorne joins HR/IT management firm Rippling as VP of communications. Whithorne was previously with GoFundMe and the office of President Obama.
ICYMI | | | | | | | | 6. After you Login | | The annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards always provide smiles and laughs, and this year's winners are no exception. The exceptional thing this time is how badly we need them. | | | | | | | | A message from The Current by Jigsaw | | Internet shutdowns are rising at an exponential rate | | |  | | | | The total duration of internet blackouts worldwide jumped 49% in 2020. Why it's important: Such shutdowns cost the global economy billions and during crises like, armed conflict or the COVID-19 pandemic, can even cost lives. Read more in The Current. | | |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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