The Profile: The ‘jerk’ running Goldman Sachs & the Uber CEO creating an all-purpose platform
The Profile: The ‘jerk’ running Goldman Sachs & the Uber CEO creating an all-purpose platformThis edition of The Profile features David Solomon, Gilbert Arenas, Dara Khosrowshahi, and more.Good morning, friends! As many of you know, we had our first Profile intern this summer. Her name is Alexis Derickson, and she’s a rising senior at the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!). She interviewed 25-year-old marketing entrepreneur Savannah Jordan. (Below is a short excerpt, but you can check out the full Q&A here.) And of course, I’d love it if you extend a warm welcome to Alexis for joining The Profile family :) You can find her on Twitter here. — Before there was [your marketing agency] Alpha, there was See Jane Go, a ride-hailing service you created by and for women. After having to sell the startup, what takeaways did you carry with you from the experience? What did you do differently when starting Alpha?The biggest takeaway that I had was mentorship. With See Jane Go, we had never started a transportation company before. Uber was just really starting to take off, so we felt there was a huge gap in the market for female drivers or female passengers to help women feel safe. I think it’s an incredible concept, but we did not have any mentorship from people who had already successfully started that kind of business and achieved the level of success we were looking for. With Alpha, that was a massive difference. If you can get in the back pocket of somebody who has already created the level of success you’re looking for and you can learn from their mistakes, you can scale faster and more sustainably. PROFILES.— The ‘jerk’ running Goldman Sachs [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**] PEOPLE TO KNOW.The ‘jerk’ running Goldman Sachs: Oh my word, the details in this profile! We learn a lot about Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, beyond the fluffy story of him moonlighting as DJ D-Sol. Senior bankers are departing. The most recent quarter saw a year-over-year decline of more than 60%. And Solomon’s alleged comment, “I bet I was the only one who got a blowjob last night” earned him the mortifying new nickname: BJ D-Sol. The problem for Solomon is that lately he’s been wrong in consequential ways, opening the floodgates for criticism of his style of management by intimidation. (New York Magazine; reply to to this email if you can’t access the article) “I can’t think of a more horrible thing to say about a person, but he’s just kind of an executioner.” The NBA All-Star raising the next basketball star: Gilbert Arenas, the three-time NBA All-Star, is a father of five entering a new phase, training a brood of basketball prodigies who will exceed him in almost every way. Alijah, the second born, has emerged as a phenomenon — 16, skinny, with uncommon ability; the best guard in Southern California. This is the story of a father and a son, the son who became a father and the prodigy who will exceed them both … although he doesn’t know it yet. (Andscape) “The places you go in your mind for your son. I was beginning to understand what fatherhood was.” The Uber CEO creating an all-purpose platform: When Dara Khosrowshahi left the top job at Expedia to take over as Uber’s CEO six years ago, he had a grand plan to create Uber-as-a-platform, one app that provides all kinds of rides and food delivery services. In this Q&A, Khosrowshahi discusses Uber’s quest for profitability, its relationship with drivers and delivery people, and what he thought when he watched the TV series Super Pumped, which made Uber look like a street gang with venture capital. (WIRED) “No, I don’t feel like we have proven ourselves. I’m very confident that we will.” The ultra-wealthy couple who was mysteriously murdered: Almost six years after Barry and Honey Sherman became two of the wealthiest people ever to be murdered, police still haven’t identified the killers. But along the way, they’ve turned up no shortage of potential suspects—and a bare-knuckle family drama. “There are people out there who would have a grudge against them and would have a reason to hurt them.” The woman living in a tiny cabin on a remote island: Charlotte Gale, a licensed massage therapist from New Jersey, had a rough couple of years. Her business vanished overnight with the pandemic and the lockdowns. She had to sell her house with its Victorian garden she’d grown and tended over a decade. And then she came across a listing for a tiny cabin located on a one-and-a-half-acre island with no running water off of Maine. Stephen King said this about the island, “There’s a novel here, just waiting to be written.” (The New York Times) “Instead of feeling small in this vastness, being on the island makes you feel that you are part of the vastness.” ✨ The rest of this newsletter is only available for premium members of The Profile, whose support makes this work possible. If you’re not already a premium member, consider upgrading your subscription below for access to an additional section of weekly audio + video recommendations. ✨... Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to The Profile to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives. A subscription gets you:
|
Older messages
The Profile: The VC navigating crypto’s year of hell & the man who re-made NYC
Sunday, August 6, 2023
This edition of The Profile features Katie Haun, Erin Azar, Dan Doctoroff, Mel Brooks, and more.
The Profile: The vanishing family & the catfished terrorist
Sunday, July 30, 2023
This edition of The Profile features Samuel L. Jackson, Daily Harvest, and more.
The Profile Dossier: Stephen King, the Master of Suspense
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”
The Profile: America’s anti-Barbie & the internet’s Queen of Meme
Sunday, July 23, 2023
This edition of The Profile
The Profile Dossier: Brian Grazer, the Producer Leading a Curious Life
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
"Life isn't about finding the answers, it's about asking the questions.”
You Might Also Like
Just released: The 2025 Sprout Social Index™
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Consumer data, marketer trends, AI & more. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Little Stream Software digest for the week of 2025-01-08
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Hey there, Here's articles I published over the last week. - Eric Davis Break-time I've decided to take a break from my daily Shopify Tips newsletter. It's been going for almost seven
AI Analysis to Optimize Any Content
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Today's Guide to the Marketing Jungle from Social Media Examiner... Presented by social-media-marketing-world-logo It's Argyle Day, Reader... Here's to Clan Campbell of Argyll! In
The Year Of Both The Podcast And The Newsletter
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
A podcast in conjunction with a similarly related newsletter is the perfect way to reach our audience and communicate with them on your terms on your owned platform. Marketing Junto | News &
Boxing Related Fitness Devices Are Knockouts On Amazon
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Trending Products on Amazon This Week For the week of Monday, January 6 to Sunday, January 12 Welcome to a new year and a new year of trending products and categories on Amazon. Each week we feature
Betting on AI to transform healthcare
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Whatnot nears $5B valuation; Sixth Street will manage $13 billion of Northwestern Mutual's assets; funding for Europe's female founders falls Read online | Don't want to receive these
Turn those Big Ideas of yours into reality
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
A founder's guide to realising the vision for your business in 2025. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Am I Devoted to My Calling or Distracted by My Device?
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
The question isn't whether technology can enhance our lives; it's whether we will use it as a tool or allow it to use us.
Started From The Bottom
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Brand growing pains.
🔔Opening Bell Daily: Trump vs. Powell heats up
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
The president-elect said his team is preparing to inherit a difficult economic situation.