Startups are hard, and ones involving brand-new experimental tech are even harder. But Hyperloop's biggest challenge may be infighting between its leaders. Brogan BamBrogan, the recently ousted co-founder of Hyperloop One, has sued his former company, alleging that its CEO and some investors have breached their fiduciary duties and were generally unpleasant people. For example, Brogan says that a company lawyer — who is also the brother of company investor Shervin Pishevar — left a noose on Brogan's desk.
[Johana Bhuiyan | Recode]
European Union officials have approved a long-awaited data sharing agreement that will allow U.S. companies to store European user data in the United States, allowing for certain privacy protections for EU users. What might freak out Silicon Valley is whether a European court ultimately overturns the pact.
[Mark Scott | The New York Times]
SoFi is the most well-funded and well-known private online lending startup, and the massive slump in the sector has the company completely reevaluating its strategy. It's now considering turning into a "normal" online retail bank — which is the exact thing its founder swore he didn't want it to become.
[Peter Rudegeair and Telis Demos | The Wall Street Journal]
Niantic Labs, the startup behind Pokémon Go, used to be an in-house project at Google. Why did Niantic leave the mothership? A likely reason is Google's skittishness about inking deals with partners like Nintendo, whose branding and IP are ultimately what delivered Niantic its hit game.
[Mark Bergen | Recode]
Yesterday was Prime Day, the made-up Amazon holiday where the company sells a bunch of stuff at dirt-cheap prices to Prime members. Though there were some technical issues, the company says the day ended fine. But sales numbers aren't the whole story: What's important for Amazon is that it gets a lot of attention for Prime (a big moneymaker) during a slow news summer.
[Spencer Soper and Nicole Piper | Bloomberg]
