The Profile: The secretive wealth adviser to the rich & the $10B startup training AI to take our jobs
This edition of The Profile features Debby Soo, Lauren Sanchez, Iconiq, and more.
Good morning, friends!
My next profile is on two people who have spent most of their lives as targets for public scrutiny. In response, they’ve become highly skilled at controlling what you see.
I went in expecting to spend the day with the characters I’d seen online. That’s not who showed up. In their place were two people who were more thoughtful, more self-aware and more human than I anticipated. I found a constant negotiation between the person and the persona, and the question of whether, after two decades, any real separation remains.
I’ve spent the last four months working on this one, and I’ll be sharing more soon.
(This is the crowd that formed outside once one of them walked inside an office building in NYC.)
— Polina
PROFILES.
— The OpenTable CEO reinventing the business
— The new Mrs. Bezos who is unapologetic about being uber-rich
— The secretive wealth adviser to tech billionaires [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The $10 billion startup training AI to take our jobs
— The AI school bus camera company
PEOPLE TO KNOW.
The OpenTable CEO reinventing the business: When Debby Soo took over OpenTable, restaurants — its real customers — were fed up, calling the company expensive, out of touch, and stuck in the past. She rebuilt the business by flipping its focus: serve restaurants first, or lose them entirely. The turnaround meant reworking pricing, rebuilding products, and winning back trust—often by sitting through angry meetings across the country. Now, as competition and AI loom, OpenTable is growing again with the idea that better data and better alignment with restaurants can fill every empty seat. (Bloomberg; alternate link)
The new Mrs. Bezos who is unapologetic about being uber-rich: Lauren Sánchez Bezos has turned her marriage to Jeff Bezos into a full-throttle embrace of wealth, visibility, and influence. From the morning gratitude lists to the headline-making appearances by night …. she’s living it up. She wants you to know she’s truly happy, even as critics see excess and provocation. I don’t know what to say about this one except you need to read it for yourself. (The New York Times)
COMPANIES TO WATCH.
The secretive wealth adviser to tech billionaires: Iconiq built its fortune managing money for billionaires, and now it’s using those relationships to become a major power broker in the AI boom. The firm is pouring billions into startups like Anthropic, leveraging its elite network to open doors that traditional VCs can’t. Its strategy is concentrated and high-stakes: pick a few winners, go deep, and use access as an edge. If it works, Iconiq will help shape who gets to build our AI future. (Bloomberg; alternate link)
The $10 billion startup training AI to take our jobs: A social worker logs on every night to train the very AI that could one day replace her. She’s part of a fast-growing startup, Mercor, that pays professionals to break their expertise into data — turning real-world judgment into machine intelligence. For many, it’s a lucrative side hustle born out of job insecurity; for others, it feels like monetizing their own obsolescence. The bet is that AI will create more opportunity than it destroys, but the transition may be awfully messy. (Bloomberg; alternate link)
The AI school bus camera company: A company promises safer streets by installing AI cameras on school buses, but the real engine may be fines, not safety. Across the country, drivers are racking up tickets by the thousands, while violations barely decline and cities often keep only a fraction of the revenue. Confusing road design rather than reckless driving appears to be racking up many infractions, trapping ordinary residents in a costly system. When enforcement becomes a business model, is it protecting children or profiting from confusion? (Bloomberg; alternate link)
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