Good morning, friends!

It’s July — finally.

June was a bizarre month for me. We had international travel, ongoing projects, and I had a big deadline to meet at the end of the month.

For the last month, I had been repeating to myself, “Just make it to July, just make it to July.” In my mind, once I made it to July, I’d be on the other side of all the tasks I had to complete. I treated July as a panacea to all my current stressors.

And then a week beforehand, things started to break, and by “things,” I mean me. As someone who rarely gets headaches, I got one so debilitating that it can only be described as a constant stabbing that refused go away. I was exhausted during the day but too anxious to sleep well at night. I joked that I felt like I was short-circuiting.

The more I would repeat “Just make it to July, it’s only a few days away,” the more I felt like I was doing more harm than good.

And then I realized why. I had fallen for “a false finish line.”

In 2019, artist Mike Posner walked 2,581 miles across America. Things were going relatively well until he hit Missouri. It was hot, humid, and filled with aggressive mosquitos following a record rainfall for the area. At one point, his path was so flooded that he had to walk days in the wrong direction to get around it.

So Posner kept telling himself, “Just make it to Kansas, just make it to Kansas.” But then, as he approached the state line, his body began breaking down until he found his mind drifting and his body refusing to cooperate.

“I didn’t know that I was setting myself up for failure by repeating this mantra,” he wrote about the experience on Instagram. “After I actually made it to Kansas, my mind body and spirit are shut down because they thought we were done. It was the lowest I ever felt on the walk and honestly didn’t know how the fuck I was going to finish.”

It was then he discovered the concept of “false finish lines,” or creating an imaginary endpoint that causes your body, mind, and spirit to react as if you’ve already reached your goals.

It’s also why we often get sick during holidays or vacations. It's referred to as "the let-down effect," a psychological-physical phenomenon that occurs when the body produces an immune response (a headache, a cold, a stomachache, a health flare-up) just after a concentrated period of stress has subsided.

So during his walk, Posner learned two lessons: There are no real finish lines, just “checkpoints.” And always include a “no matter what” clause in the contract when you come up with a big goal. This way, you’ll keep going regardless of the obstacles that pop up along the way.

—

✨ A WORD FROM OUR PARTNER ✨: On Deck Climate Tech (ODCT) is a community of founders, investors, operators & experts exploring how technology can solve various problems around climate. If you want to build a network in the industry, make sure you apply today. Applications close soon — apply here.

More broadly, if you’re a founder, On Deck Founders (ODF) is a community of 2500+ founders who are starting companies, together. Join to explore what’s next, validate ideas, meet a cofounder, build your MVP, or get support to raise your next round. Applications are open now so apply today!

—

THE PROFILE DOSSIER: On Wednesday, premium members received The Profile Dossier, a comprehensive deep-dive on a prominent individual. It featured Charlize Theron, the baddest woman in Hollywood. Become a premium member and read it below.

The Profile

The Profile Dossier: Charlize Theron, the Baddest Woman in Hollywood

For actress Charlize Theron, the darker the role, the better. Theron has played a murderer in “Monster,” a war captain in “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the “Evil Queen” in “Snow White and the Huntsman,” an assassin in “The Old Guard,” and a ruthless spy in “Atomic Blonde…

Read more

4 days ago · 4 likes · Polina Pompliano

—

PROFILES.

— The ‘Miracle Boy’ of Surfside [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The self-help guru who burned out
— The poster child of the tech meltdown
— The woman aiming to break a national birding record
— The artist who broke barriers
— The restaurant that went vegan
— The greatest kitchen company in America

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The ‘Miracle Boy’ of Surfside: Sixteen-year-old Jonah Handler was one of only several survivors in the tragic condo collapse in Surfside, Fla., last year. In this exclusive profile, he opens up about his miraculous rescue from the mountain of rubble, a year of balancing trauma with hope, and how he became the ‘key witness’ to a billion-dollar settlement. This one is heart-shattering. (Rolling Stone)

“I don’t want to be stuck in my trauma.”

The self-help guru who burned out: Mark Manson, the author of the popular blog MarkManson.net and the best-selling book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck,* is following his own advice. He’s learning not to give a damn about the multi-million-dollar empire he’s built — the one that brought him a fancy Tribeca loft and the adulation of celebrities. “I’m in a situation in my career at the moment where I’m in one of these paradox-of-choice situations,” he says. “Coming at things from the least-bad point of view allows you to develop conviction in them.” After an abundance of success, here’s how Manson found himself at a career crossroads. (New York Magazine)

The poster child of the tech meltdown: Tiger Global founder Chase Coleman III is a New York blue blood who made $10 billion with an aggressive, controversial investment style. The past six months have not been good to him. As one hedge fund manager put it, “Their losses look to be the biggest in the history of hedge funds.” (New York Magazine)

“Prices got higher. And so at some point, it stopped working.”

The woman aiming to break a national birding record: Millions of bird-watching enthusiasts track their sightings on eBird, which also contributes to scientists’ knowledge of where each species travels. The site gives every birder an individual tally, creating a national leaderboard and gamifying the experience. Tiffany Kersten has taken this game to its ultimate level. This is a wonderful story. (Texas Monthly)

“I was unemployed, I was seeking birds, I was free.”

The artist who broke barriers: A risk-taking innovator who revolutionized Black cultural expression in the 1980s and broke barriers for women in music, Janet Jackson is a superstar. She’s built musical universes that centered pleasure, personal agency, self-esteem, spirituality, identity, race and social justice. She’s been a singular force for close to four decades—but she is also an enigma. We see her, we hear her, we feel her, but we don’t truly know her. (Essence)

“Sometimes things happen that you don’t expect to happen, and you have to figure things out.”

COMPANIES TO WATCH.

The restaurant that went vegan: Eleven Madison Park has been around since the 1990s, when restaurateur Danny Meyer owned it. But it wasn't until 2011 after Daniel Humm and Will Guidara purchased it that it became one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world. In 2019, Humm bought out Guidara and decided to relaunch it as a 100% vegan restaurant in June 2021. He said he wanted to "redefine luxury as an experience that serves a higher purpose,” but the past year has been packed with pressure, chaos, and understaffing. Here’s what happened inside EMP. (Business Insider)

"It was just, to put it very simply, a shit show.”

The greatest kitchen company in America: If you’ve ever stocked a first apartment’s kitchen or searched the internet for the perfect measuring cup, you know OXO. Founded in 1990, it was the brainchild of a housewares mogul who was inspired to create a new kind of product by the struggles of his arthritic wife to peel an apple. OXO brought universal design into the mainstream: Its products were meant to be welcoming, accessible, and easy to use for customers of differing abilities and confidence levels. And it’s succeeded, without ever substantially changing its iconic look—so iconic that the company’s initial vegetable peeler, with its “Good Grips” handle, is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. (Slate)

“When does a company ever make products that are thoughtful and better and more affordable? It’s like the dream of capitalism!”

✨ This installment of The Profile is free for everyone. If you would like to get full access to all of the recommendations, including today’s audio and video sections, sign up below.

Get 20% off for 1 year

AUDIO TO HEAR.

Jason Portnoy on becoming a jack of all trades: From being employee No. 34 at PayPal and serving as CFO at three multi-million dollar companies, Jason Portnoy has seen a lot of startup action. But unlike most C-suite execs who advocate for hyper-focus, Jason takes the opposite stance. "One of the biggest things I noticed with Peter, Reid, and also Elon over time, is that they were never only doing one thing at a time," he recounts. "Working on multiple projects exposed them to different ideas, problems, and people. There was just all this stuff that they were interacting with, which they would then bring back with them into the PayPal office." (Link available to premium members.)

Shonda Rhimes on scaling creativity: How do you create stories that people crave? “That’s the lightning in a bottle thing,” says showrunner, executive producer, and writer Shonda Rhimes. “It’s making the pitch, getting in the room, doing the work, and hoping it pans out.” In this conversation, Rhimes breaks down how she caters to her audience, when she knows a show is a hit, and what data is useful in the creative process. (Link available to premium members.)

VIDEOS TO SEE.

Randy Pausch on achieving your childhood dreams: What does it truly mean to grow up? For many, the path to adulthood only entails deeming one's childhood ambitions as silly and unrealistic before abandoning them altogether. As Randy Pausch points out in this lecture, nothing could be sadder. "When you're 9 years old, looking at the TV and seeing men landing on the men, anything is possible," he says. "That's something we should not lose sight of—the inspiration and permission to dream is huge." (Link available to premium members.)

Andreas Kling on being honest with yourself: It's almost unheard of to find a high school dropout being actively headhunted by Apple. Despite **not having a formal education, Andreas Kling's coding skills rivaled Ivy League graduates, which allowed his career to skyrocket. But then, he developed an addiction. “Addiction is a very selfish disease," he says. "It’s you and the drug. Everybody else is a secondary concern at best.” After going through rehab, he began changing his entire life for the better. (Link available to premium members.)

 Enjoying The Profile? Become a premium member for even more access:

Get 20% off for 1 year