The Profile: Silicon Valley’s favorite business show & the banker behind the Trumps’ Wall Street wins

This edition of The Profile features Josh Kushner, Shawn Ryan, Jordi Hays, John Coogan, and others.

Good morning, friends!

A new profile on Josh Kushner came out last week — and there were a few anecdotes that really stood out to me.

The piece opens with Kushner visiting Rick Rubin for creative guidance. Rubin, one of the most influential music producers of all time, is best known for launching Def Jam and helping shape the sound of modern music. His legendary discography includes artists like Jay-Z, Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, Slayer, Metallica, Run-DMC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, AC/DC, Nine Inch Nails, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Macy Gray, Aerosmith, Kanye West, Ed Sheeran, U2, Black Sabbath, and Eminem.

But Rubin isn’t your typical producer. He’s part philosopher, part therapist — known for getting inside the minds of artists and helping them uncover their truest creative voice. He’s been called “a psychological problem-solver” because of his uncanny ability to push artists to access their most authentic selves.

Kushner went to Rubin to get his advice on how to preserve and trust his creative intuition — that instinctive sense that guides his best investment decisions, but that he fears he might one day lose.

Here’s what Rubin told him:

“Do you know the biggest mistake most musicians make. Their first album comes from love, heartbreak, passion, or depression. They have no expectation of how the world will respond. They write it from the heart, and if it catches on, they’re validated by the world. But then they start writing their second album, and they don’t necessarily write it based on love, heartbreak, or passion. They write the album they think the world will want.

“My advice to you and your team is to just be yourselves. Because if you do what you think the rest of the world wants, one of two things will happen. You might be right, but if you are, you won’t really know why; and if you’re wrong, you’ll be angry at yourself for deviating from what is true to your core. So just be yourself, and either you’ll be right, and it’ll feel really good; or you’ll be wrong. But at least you’ll still be yourself.”

I’ve written about this idea before in my column, The Hellish Curse of First-Time Success, where I told the story of Scottish musician Lewis Capaldi, whose first album became a global hit.

“I still feel like an impostor,” Capaldi says. “I don’t think it’s ever going to go away. Impostor syndrome — I think you can have it at any level. It bleeds into every single decision you make and everything you do. I love the fact that people do give a f*ck and listen to my music, but I just don’t get it. I don’t get why people would turn up and see it.”

Like Rubin says, Capaldi’s debut was successful precisely because it was made for himself — not for the world. There were no expectations, no audience to please.

Rubin’s advice resonated with Kushner because he’s seen firsthand how fickle public opinion can be. “People love you, and then they hate you, and then they love you,” he says. “The only thing that ultimately matters is how you feel about yourself. Trying to appease others is never a winning game.”

Of course, that’s easier said than done. The higher the stakes, the easier it is to forget that intuition — not consensus — is what builds a solid foundation in the first place.

👉 Read the full Josh Kushner profile here.

PROFILES.

— The bold investor who listens to his gut [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— Silicon Valley’s favorite business show
— The former Navy SEAL who built a powerhouse podcast
— The banker behind the Trump family’s Wall Street wins
— The man who speaks fashion

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The bold investor who listens to his gut: Josh Kushner went to Rick Rubin for creative guidance, and on his way home learned that Sam Altman got fired and that the AI world was in chaos. This longform profile traces Kushner’s journey from the grandson of Holocaust survivors to the intuitive investor behind Thrive’s bold bets on Stripe and OpenAI. Rubin’s advice — “make the second album for yourself” — became Kushner’s creed: trust your gut, ignore the noise, and run toward the fire. Two years later, he names his newborn daughter Rae, honoring the survivor whose story began it all. (Colossus)

“My deepest insecurity is that I have these intuitions about things that I cannot explain to anyone.”

Silicon Valley’s favorite business show: Jordi Hays and John Coogan have turned Silicon Valley gossip into a live-streaming spectacle with their hit show “TBPN” (the Technology Business Programming Network). Imagine SportsCenter for start-ups: caffeine-fueled banter, breaking “news” about AI researchers, and a booming gong for big moments. With guests like Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman, they’ve become the unofficial talk show of the tech elite. Their formula is simple: Treat venture drama like a spectator sport, blend irony with ambition, and make “founder mode” the new celebrity. (The New York Times; alternate link)

“A lot of what they do is aimed at people who have their nose up against the glass.”

The former Navy SEAL who built a powerhouse podcast: Former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan has turned his blend of grit, faith, and anti-establishment swagger into a podcasting empire. His show— part therapy session, part culture war dispatch — features everyone from Trump and Tulsi Gabbard to UFO witnesses and exorcists. With five million YouTube subscribers and a $10 million media deal, Ryan’s mix of vulnerability, firearms, and curiosity has made him a star of modern conservative masculinity. (WSJ; alternate link)

“He’s not out to entertain; he’s out to inform.”

The banker behind the Trump family’s Wall Street wins: Trump Tower’s newest tenant, Dominari Holdings, is the Trump sons’ latest gold mine. Run by dealmaker Kyle Wool, the firm links Don Jr. and Eric to tiny, hype-driven stocks — drones, crypto, SPACs — that soar once their names hit the press. This strategy has resulted in millions in paper gains and mounting ethical questions as their father’s policies shape the very industries they’re cashing in on. (Bloomberg; alternate link)

“It’d almost be like Oprah joining the WeightWatchers board, right? What does Oprah need to do? Not a lot.”

The man who speaks fashion: Ferdinando Verderi has quietly rewritten the rules of fashion advertising. The Italian-born creative director — now behind Prada’s campaigns and once at Vogue Italia — rejects glossy imagery in favor of clear, conceptual ideas that invite audience participation. Verderi turns campaigns into conversations. In an era where beauty alone no longer sells, he’s replaced mood boards with meaning, proving that in modern luxury, ideas matter more than images. (New York Magazine; alternate link)

“You are attracted to someone who has the courage to ignore the context and just believe that what they’re doing is right.”

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