The Profile: Wall Street’s last-chance lawyer & the man with the hot hand &

This edition of The Profile features Ed Zitron, Alexandra Shapiro, Ramtin Naimi, and Reese Witherspoon.

Good morning, friends!

What happens when you’ve never failed? When success comes so easily that you never learn what to do with it?

That’s what struck me while watching Netflix’s new two-part documentary on Charlie Sheen. His early career was a golden streak — Platoon, Wall Street, Major League, even a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. By his late 20s, Sheen was one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.

In one clip, a young Sheen reflects: “We’re not taught as children how to deal with success… Nobody ever said, ‘If at first you succeed, what do you do?’” And later: “Everyone teaches you how to rise after you fall. Nobody teaches you how to hold success once you have it.”

That idea floored me. We’re trained to handle setbacks — grit, resilience, persistence. But few of us are taught how to manage abundance. Sometimes, when success piles up, the instinct is to test it, and in some case, even destroy it.

His former “Two and a Half Men” co-star Jon Cryer says, “I don’t know that [Charlie] believes that he deserves what he’s got. I think there’s a part of him that throws it all away just to see if he ever deserved it.”

It’s self-sabotage born from success itself.

In 2023, I wrote a column titled, “The Hellish Curse of First-Time Success,” in which I argue that as the success mounts, so does the pressure. That’s the thing about success, isn’t it? It builds until it crushes.

And that’s Charlie Sheen’s story in a nutshell: his endless success destroyed him. His rise and fall remind us that failure may sting, but mishandled success can be even more dangerous.

— Polina

PS: Thank you to all of you who took the time to send me well-wishes after the twins were born. It’s been an absolutely wild week, and we are very happy to be home. I’m currently navigating life with four kids under four years old, and it’s the absolute best, but I may be a little slow to respond. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!

PROFILES.

— The man with the hot hand [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— Wall Street’s last-chance lawyer
— Silicon Valley’s loudest critic
— The Hollywood star shaping the future of entertainment
— The company escaping its toxic chemical legacy

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The man with the hot hand: Ramtin Naimi went from teenage hedge fund phenom to bankrupt founder to running Abstract, a $1.8 billion seed firm reshaping venture capital. He hacked his way in with AngelList SPVs, then flipped the script by partnering with tier-one VCs and leading rounds himself. Today, he’s the go-to “shark” founders call to turn a whisper of interest into a bidding war. The scar under his eye is a reminder: he’s hustled his way from a bankruptcy waiting room to the Bay Area’s most coveted view, and he says he’s only just beginning. (Colossus)

“America revolves around money and you need to figure out a way to make it.”

Wall Street’s last-chance lawyer: In the coming months, three of America’s most high-profile convicted figures — music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried and hedge fund founder Bill Hwang — will be appealing their cases. They’re all pinning their hopes on the same lawyer: Alexandra Shapiro. She has built one of the most successful white-collar appeals practices in the country, known for spotting cracks in seemingly airtight cases. Here’s how she’s cementing her reputation as the last hope for the powerful facing prison. (Bloomberg; alternate link)

“She’s a fighter, day in and day out.”

Silicon Valley’s loudest critic: Ed Zitron has become one of tech’s loudest and angriest critics, delivering swearing-filled rants that skewer billionaires, AI hype, and what he sees as a “rotten” economy. His essays and podcast, Better Offline, blend fury with vulnerability, earning him a viral following of more than 75,000 readers and a spot at iHeartRadio. Zitron calls generative AI a “remarkable con” and Silicon Valley a “race to the bottom.” Love him or hate him, Zitron is mad as hell and millions are listening. (The Financial Times; alternate link)

“The one thing my audience has shown me is that every time I am honest, vulnerable and emotional, they love it, they want more of it.”

The Hollywood star shaping the future of entertainment: Reese Witherspoon went from Hollywood prodigy to Oscar winner to industry powerhouse by reinventing herself behind the camera with Hello Sunshine and a nearly $1B sale. She’s co-produced hits like Big Little Lies and The Morning Show. Along the way, she’s navigated early motherhood, public scrutiny, and personal reinvention, emerging as both a cultural forecaster and business leader. Now, she’s focused on shaping the future of entertainment — on her own terms. (The New York Times; alternate link)

“I had to get really frustrated and angry in my existing career, to hit the wall, to want to take on a new aspect.”

COMPANIES TO WATCH.

The company escaping its toxic chemical legacy: The humble Command strip built an empire while simultaneously exposing 3M’s cracks. Once America’s gentlest innovator, 3M became tangled in lawsuits, red tape, and factory chaos. Now, with billions in PFAS and earplug settlements behind it, new CEO Bill Brown is trying to do what 3M’s famous adhesives can’t: distance the company from its own mess and make it great again. (Bloomberg; alternate link)

“Our focus is around zero injuries, zero spills, zero incidents.”

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