Many of you know I used to write FORTUNE’s daily dealmaking newsletter Term Sheet, and when I saw that Reese Witherspoon was buying back her media & production company Hello Sunshine, I had to weigh in.

All the coverage I’ve read seems to be missing the point. Here’s how it went down: In 2021, Blackstone-backed Candle Media bought a majority stake in Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine at an eye-popping $900 million valuation. We all collectively lost our minds.

Here was an actress who built a company valued at nearly $1 billion to prove her thesis that women-led stories were, in fact, commercially valuable. The narrative in 2021 was that Witherspoon had outsmarted Hollywood. And for a while, it looked like that narrative was correct.

Five years later, Witherspoon and French media group Mediawan are buying it back for low-to-mid eight figures. We’re talking something like a 94% haircut. The press is calling it a homecoming.

It’s not.

It’s the market finally realizing what entrepreneurs (like me) know all too well: It’s really damn hard to scale a personality-driven business without the personality.

Hello Sunshine was no run-of-the-mill Hollywood studio. It was a studio whose most valuable asset was Reese Witherspoon herself. It was her book club, her recommendations, her taste, and most of all, her reputation.

When Blackstone bought in, they thought they were buying a scalable media company, buuuuut there’s a little problem with that: You can’t scale Reese Witherspoon.

The mistake is thinking you can take everything people love about a founder, slap a corporate logo on it, and expect the magic to continue. It’s possible, but it’s very, very hard.

I think about this constantly with my media company, The Profile (which, by the way you should subscribe to).

The Profile is not a content factory like some other media outlets. You, dear reader, know me, trust my writing, and likely know my point of view on most things. If I sold the brand tomorrow and walked away, what would be left? A logo and an archive?

That’s key man risk.

Every personality business has it — a newsletter has the writer/editor’s judgement, the book club has a specific person’s taste, a podcast has the host’s unique way of asking questions.

And it’s funny because private equity hates this, but founders romanticize it. A personality-driven business is somehow both powerful and fragile at the same time.

Witherspoon’s whole “homecoming” narrative is complete PR, in my opinion. She sold control of Hello Sunshine when money was dumb. She kept enough equity and creative influence to remain central to the business. And now she’s buying back control, alongside a new partner, at a fraction of its former valuation.

Oh and Mediawan, the Paris-based entertainment group she partnered with, isn’t exactly a white knight either. They’re collecting famous producers (ie: Brad Pitt’s Plan B, Chernin Entertainment, and now Witherspoon) the same way that private equity collected celebrity brands back in 2021.

Anyway, here’s my takeaway: If you’re building something based on your taste, opinion, curation, or skill, think very carefully about what exactly you’re selling. If people are buying your business because they believe in you, what happens if/when you’re no longer part of the deal? (Then again, maybe the savviest founders know how to make that someone else’s problem 🤣)

And I think that’s what makes Reese Witherspoon so brilliant. Hollywood praised her for building a $900 million company, but the real stroke of genius was knowing when to sell it.

Originally published at https://www.readtheprofile.com on October 23, 2026.

Holy freaking cow.

I saw the new Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything, last night, and I genuinely can’t type fast enough to express how mind-bending it was.

I’ve seen a lot of chatter online about whether Elizabeth Holmes is a liar, whether she deserves to be in prison for her failed startup Theranos, and whether the documentary is too sympathetic to her.

But that’s not even remotely close to what I took away from it. As we walked out, my husband asked me, “So what did you think?” And I just responded with, “Forget Elizabeth Holmes. That was a masterpiece in storytelling.”

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I walked in expecting that the filmmakers were going to tell us a story about deception. What I did not expect is that they were deceiving us — the viewers — in real time.

An entire theater full of grown adults was falling for it. At one point, people were shouting so loudly at the screen that I couldn’t hear the dialogue. I heard a woman yell, “Criminal!” — and it wasn’t directed at Elizabeth Holmes. I’ve never experienced anything like that in a movie theater. It was emotion, and it was visceral.

What makes the documentary so brilliant is that it forces you to confront how much of what you believe about another person comes how their story has been told to you. And we are so so susceptible to this that it’s scary.

Think about Elizabeth Holmes. How much of your opinion of her comes from the facts of her criminal case & how much comes from the images and/or videos and/or TV dramas you’ve seen over the years? I remember one Halloween when the Theranos scandal was at its peak, it seemed like everyone was dressed in a black turtleneck carrying tiny vials of fake blood. Holmes was everywhere.

But the thing that often gets lost in the retelling of her story is that Holmes was actually acquitted of all four charges related to defrauding patients. She’s in prison because a jury found that she knowingly misled investors who poured more than $700 million into the startup. That’s a significant distinction, but as a society, we don’t love nuance. Just tell us — is she good or is she bad? Is she a liar or is she not?

I recently wrote about a fascinating experiment Canon conducted in 2015. Six photographers were asked to photograph the same man in the same location. The twist was that each photographer was given a different description of him: a millionaire, a convict, a fisherman, an alcoholic, a psychic, and a lifesaver.

The resulting portraits were wildly different.

A Canon rep said, “A photograph is shaped more by the person behind the camera than by what’s in front of it.”

Now imagine that principle applied to an entire three-hour documentary.

Over the course of the film, directors Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder managed to make a theater full of people with fully developed pre-frontal cortexes repeatedly reconsider what they believed about the people on screen. They did it through camera angles, close-ups, editing, and the order in which information was revealed.

The framing of Elizabeth and those around her changed little by little until it became obvious, and as soon as our brains detected a narrative shift, our feelings about it followed. It was like watching a magic show … or one continuous reality TV show in which someone gets the villain edit, the victim edit, the manipulator edit, and all of us just falling for it again and again.

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If this kind of storytelling breakdown is your thing, you’ll love The Profile. I explore how powerful people are framed — and how they frame themselves — every week. Subscribe for The Profile for free.

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We like to believe that we form our opinions by gathering evidence, weighing facts, and arriving at reasonable conclusions. Be for real. No we do not. Here’s how it actually goes: We form an emotional impression first, then we build a belief around it, and then we go looking for facts that support it. This is my theory as to why we’re so divided in this country. Beliefs built on emotion are nearly impossible to reason with.

The psychology behind the film’s manipulation should be studied. First, a close-up shot of an unblinking Elizabeth Holmes: She’s sinister. Then, a wider shot of her bouncing her baby: Wait a second, she’s a mom, she’s human! Then, her husband’s painstakingly long pause: Wait, is he the puppeteer? Then, a smile! “No, no, that can’t be genuine.”

And then there’s Fielder himself, who moved in with the couple for a whole month before Holmes headed to prison. How reliable of a narrator is he? Does he care a bit too much for Elizabeth that he’s willing to lie to the viewer? How much can we trust his perception of events?

I’m telling you, it’’ll break your brain.

You Can See Everything does a good job explaining the phenomenon of psychological manipulation, but it also makes you participate in it. It evokes emotion, and all of the greatest pieces of art evoke emotion.

You sit there believing you’re watching a documentary about a woman who deceived the world, only to discover that you’re also watching a demonstration of how easy it is to deceive you.

(This was really hard to write without giving away any spoilers, but watch the film, and let me know what you think!)

Originally published at https://www.readtheprofile.com on October 16, 2026.

To combat loneliness, people are turning to astrology, leading clinical trials for a loneliness pill, and even looking for the community and stability of … jail. It’s crazy to think about how many social networks we’re a part of yet we’re still in desperate need of human connection. But a lot of that isolation is self-inflicted.

We long for company yet we rejoice for alone time. As comedian John Mulaney put it:

“Sometimes I’ll be talking to someone, and I’ll be like ‘Yeah, I’ve been really lonely lately’ and they’ll be like ‘Well we should hang out!’ and I’m like ‘No, that’s not what I meant. That’s not what I meant at all.”

It’s good to be alone, society tells us, it’s self-care. When a friend is going through a trying time, we prescribe loneliness masquerading as empowerment. Tough breakup? Grab a copy of Eat, Pray, Love, and go on a month-long silent meditation retreat. Hard week at work? Pour yourself a glass of wine, cancel your plans, and binge on Netflix until you numb your mind.

Our culture sends contradictory messages because it doesn’t know the difference between solitude and loneliness. Solitude helps us regulate emotions, while loneliness dulls them. John Cacioppo, a professor who studied the effects of loneliness, said, “There is a big difference between objective isolation and perceived isolation, and perceived isolation is loneliness.”

I often think back to Rolling Stone’s profile on Elon Musk. In it, Musk is discussing his marriage to writer Justine Musk, his marriage to actress Talulah Riley, and his breakup from actress Amber Heard. The billionaire shakes his head and grimaces: “If I’m not in love, if I’m not with a long-term companion, I cannot be happy.”

The writer explains that needing someone so badly that you feel like nothing without them is considered codependence. Musk disagrees and says, “It’s not true. I will never be happy without having someone. Going to sleep alone kills me.”

There’s truth to what Musk is saying, the writer notes. It is lonely at the top — but not for everyone. It’s lonely at the top for those who were lonely at the bottom. So what can we do today to make sure we don’t end up as anxious and lonely billionaires? I think it’s about the strength and closeness of our community ties.

Rather than withdraw, we can all turn to our existing communities and meet people with similar interests who are willing to connect and form quality relationships in real life. So that led me to think of this:

…. A GLOBAL MEETUP: I believe that the antidote to loneliness is community, and this newsletter is living proof of it. I have the most interesting and thoughtful conversations with you guys every week. It’s truly a shame we can’t all just meet in the same place for one day to share ideas face-to-face. So I want to do an experiment that could change that.

I was inspired by this, and here’s what I’m thinking: Let’s do a global Profile meetup the weekend of December 13–15. Here’s how it’ll work:

• Fill out this short survey before next Sunday.
• Make sure you’re available one day during the weekend of Dec. 13–15.
• Over the next few weeks, I’ll look at the answers, match up small groups of Profile readers in their respective cities, and send further meetup instructions.
• We’ll keep the activities simple (ie: meeting at a local coffee shop, grabbing a drink, taking a walk, or whatever fun thing there is to do in your area).

I really hope you choose to participate!

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On to this week’s profiles:

— Hong Kong’s democracy fighters [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
 — The world’s greatest investor
 — The first daughter forming her own identity
 — The ransomware superhero
 — America’s trailblazing coaches
 — The outspoken power couple
 — The timeless performer
 — New York’s private investigator

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

Hong Kong’s democracy fighters: In October, Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted: “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” The tweet caused a firestorm, pitting the NBA against a country estimated to account for at least 10% of the league’s revenue. In China, the league faced backlash for tolerating Morey’s comment. In the U.S, it faced criticism for taking a stronger stance in defending his right to say it. As one protestor put it: “This should be a wake-up call to the whole world.” (The Ringer)

“You guys fought so hard to get the First Amendment so that you could say what you want in your own country. And now a foreign country is dictating what you can and can’t say on your own soil.”

The world’s greatest investor: Jim Simons is considered the most successful money maker in the history of modern finance. Since 1988, his flagship Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66% before charging hefty investor fees — 39% after fees — racking up trading gains of more than $100 billion. No one in the investment world comes close. Warren Buffett, George Soros, Peter Lynch, Steve Cohen, and Ray Dalio all fall short. Yet when he first started, Simons had never taken a finance class, didn’t know much about trading, and had no clue how to estimate earnings or predict the economy. Here’s how Simons overcame his doubts to turn Wall Street on its head. (WSJ)

“If you make money, you feel like a genius If you lose, you’re a dope.”

The first daughter forming her own identity: Everywhere Chelsea Clinton goes these days, people stop her to say, “I’m sorry about your mother.” People stop her all the time to say things, and often, they are much less pleasant things. She’s never really had the chance to be herself, because many of her choices so far have been dictated by what would serve the family project best. Now, at 39, she’s finally figuring out what she wants. (The Cut)

“You ask her what time it is and she will build you a wristwatch.”

The ransomware superhero: Each year, millions of ransomware attacks paralyze computer systems of individuals, businesses, hospitals, and medical offices. Thanks to Michael Gillespie, a 27-year-old obscure programmer at a Nerds on Call repair store, hundreds of thousands of ransomware victims have recovered their files for free. In every other aspect of his life, he’s considered an outcast, but in his spare time, he morphs into a crime-foiling cybercrime superhero. This is a story of self-sacrifice, resilience, and glory. (ProPublica)

“Asked what motivates him, he replied, ‘I guess it’s just the affinity for challenge and feeling like I am contributing to beating the bad guys.’”

America’s trailblazing coaches: Football’s recent realization that good ideas can come from anywhere has had countless consequences: Stubborn coaches are getting dumped; schemes are rising up from all levels of football; and quarterbacks are performing at higher levels than at any time in NFL history. So many of the changes in the past decade can be explained by the rise of the high school coach in the NFL. Meet the coaches bringing innovation and creativity to the NFL. (The Ringer)

“High school coaches are forced to get more creative because it’s not like you’re holding a draft.”

The outspoken power couple: John Legend and Chrissy Teigen are an unabashedly successful couple who together have overcome some childhood pain. In this profile, Legend speaks openly about his mother’s drug problem and Teigen opens up about her mom’s depression that caused her to distance herself from the family. Here’s how the duo helped each other navigate some serious trauma but still manage not to take themselves too seriously. (Vanity Fair)

“I think I’m such an open person now because everyone in my family has always been so hush-hush. I love attention and affection. I want to be direct with everyone.”

The timeless performer: Willem Dafoe, who has played a Spider-Man villain, Vincent van Gogh and Jesus, has 120 film credits to his name — and the number grows every year. So much of what we do, Dafoe says, is predicated on an idea of ourselves that we’re trying to protect. It’s part of the reason he enjoys playing such a range of characters. He’s always chasing after what he doesn’t know. “Do things that don’t let you decide definitively who you are and the way things are,” Dafoe says. (TIME)

“The job is always different, and you’re always calibrating in relationship to the people, to how you’re feeling. It’s for that reason that I’ll never tire of performing.”

New York’s private investigator: Marie Schembri has been a private eye for more than 30 years, tracking down grifters, liars and cads from her Brooklyn base.In 1995, she was a queen of disguise, wearing wigs, glasses, and props. Twenty-four years later, she is still investigating. But these days, all Schembri really needs to do most of her sleuthing is a cell phone and an internet connection. We’ve become so much easier to track. (The New York Times)

“You don’t have to sit outside someone’s house to see when they’re coming and going. You can track them from anywhere.”

I send a weekly email newsletter featuring the best profiles on successful people and companies. To get the email every Sunday, subscribe to The Profile.

I’ve read thousands of profiles since I started writing The Profile, a weekly newsletter featuring the best long-form articles of interesting people and companies.

If you’re in need of holiday reading or you simply want to learn a lesson or two from the world’s most successful, here’s a comprehensive list of the best long-form profiles on the Internet from 2018.

I’ve organized the features into sections you can tackle — must-reads, business, entertainment, sports, crime, and adventure — all while avoiding your annoying relatives this holiday season.

Enjoy.

To get the latest profiles each Sunday, subscribe to The Profile here.

THE MUST-READS

The celebrity selling fairy dust: Gwyneth Paltrow’s controversial wellness company Goop is valued at $250 million. On its site, you can find legitimate lifestyle tips alongside completely bonkers magical thinking: articles on body brushing, dieting, the afterlife, crystals, and something called “Psychic Vampire Repellent.” Every time someone writes a takedown of her company, it only grows in popularity and sells more products. This one is a must-read.

“Aspiration is suffering. Wellness is suffering. As soon as you level up, you greet how infinite the possibilities are, and it all becomes too awful to live without.”

The drone warriors: Targeted drone killings have become the centerpiece of U.S. counterterrorism policy. Often, those doing the killing sit in windowless rooms thousands of miles away from the action. But “kill chain” drone analysts are exposed to more graphic violence — looking at dead bodies or human remains all day — than most Special Forces on the ground. As a result, many of them suffer from acute “moral injuries,” which are defined as inner conflicts that weigh on the conscience for long periods of time. This is a heartbreaking, must-read.

“I’d literally just walked out on dropping bombs on the enemy, and 20 minutes later I’d get a text — can you pick up some milk on your way home?”

The most obsessive billionaire in America: For nearly a decade, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has been fighting in court to keep the public off a piece of beach that abuts his property on the Pacific coast. The tech billionaire doesn’t even like the beach or spend any time there, but he is willing to keep litigating this for the rest of his life and has about $3 billion to spend on it. This profile is a masterpiece.

“My boss is going to the Supreme Court for a beach he’s never gone to. We’re not posturing here. This guy’s not going to settle.”

The NFL’s broken gladiator: Aaron Hernandez lived a life of secrets — about his childhood, his football career, his sexuality, his drug habits, and his fascination with violence. Boston Globe reporters obtained recordings of 300 phone calls Hernandez made from jail over a six-month period while he awaited trial. His conversations with family, friends, and former teammates open a window on his life the public has never seen.

“You have to find inner peace to be happy. Nothing you get is gonna make you happy. Just like me, like by having money … having everything in the world, I still was miserable. Know what I mean?”

The billion-dollar horse gambler: Veteran gamblers know you can’t beat the horses. Play for long enough, and failure is inevitable. Bill Benter took that challenge — and won. He wrote an algorithm that couldn’t lose at the horse track. A billion dollars later, Benter tells his story for the first time.

“Gambling has always been the domain of wise guys from the wrong side of the track.”

New York’s biggest con artist: In what reads like a version of the film Catch Me If You Can, an aspiring New York “entrepreneur” named Anna Sorokin turns out to be a stone-cold scammer. She managed to trick banks, hotels, private jet companies, and a whole lot of rich people out of ungodly amounts of money. But the house of cards, built on bad checks and unpaid debts, eventually falls apart in spectacular fashion.

“I was never trying to be a socialite. I had dinners, but they were work dinners. I wanted to be taken seriously.”

The $100 billion man: I’m fascinated by Masayoshi Son because he’s doing something most of us don’t understand. The SoftBank CEO has raised $100 billion (!) and fundamentally re-shaped the startup ecosystem through his aggressive investing strategy. The billionaire has become an unstoppable figure in tech, but we have yet to see if his enormous bets will pay off. He could be smart or just lucky … but he’s definitely too powerful to ignore.

“Anthony-san, you take my money. It’s good for you. It’s good for me. If you don’t take my money, not so good for you.”

BUSINESS

The woman running a $45 billion empire: Priscilla Chan is one of the world’s most powerful women. While both Chan and husband Mark Zuckerberg founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, she’s at the helm. This profile explores the vast responsibility that falls on the woman tasked with spending $45 billion to help society, while her husband is being blamed for exploiting it.

“Do you help 100 people very deeply or do you try to make the world better for everyone?”

The man who lost 800K Bitcoins: Mark Karpelès was the man leading Mt. Gox, formerly the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange. But he fell from grace as quickly as he rose. In 2014, the company announced that 850,000 Bitcoins (worth ~$473 million at the time) had somehow disappeared. Karpelès’s answer at the time? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And yet despite the fact that he’s facing criminal charges, Karpelès is back in the game with a new job & a new life.

“The only thing I’m touching related to cryptocurrency is how to solve this bankruptcy. Nothing more,” says Karpelès.

Facebook’s unlikely critic: WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton didn’t agree with Facebook’s decision to show targeted ads on his platform. So, in one of the most expensive moral stands in history, he walked away from Facebook a year before his final tranche of stock grants vested. Acton took a screenshot of the stock price on his way out the door — the decision cost him $850 million.

“I sold my company. I sold my users’ privacy to a larger benefit. I made a choice and a compromise. And I live with that every day.”

Silicon Valley’s favorite doomsayer: The futurist philosopher Yuval Noah Harari worries a lot. He worries that Silicon Valley is undermining democracy, that big tech companies are destroying the idea of a sovereign individual with free will, and most of all, that one one else seems to be worried at all. So what does our future look like, according to Harari? It’s one in which we worship big data, AI surpasses human intelligence, and some of us develop God-like abilities. If you work in tech, this is an absolute must-read.

“Utopia and dystopia depends on your values.”

The most secretive CEO in tech: If you’re wondering what’s going on over at Snap, the answer is, well, weird things. After a disastrous redesign, declining daily usage, and an inability to turn a profit, CEO Evan Spiegel has embarked on a self-improvement quest. After receiving complaints about his dictatorial management style and penchant for secrecy, Spiegel hired a management coach and began holding New Age corporate retreats. There’s a lot to unpack in this bizarre story.

“I remember thinking, Why would I go around the company and just chat with people? Like that would be so awkward.”

The unicorn killer: Theranos may be the largest corporate fraud case since Enron. This article explains how so many powerful people were fooled by a remarkably brazen liar. It took one reporter, and three former Theranos employees, to expose her. This is their story.

“Theranos was a combination of fraud, with hubris mixed with incompetence.”

Wall Street’s master of knowledge: Shane Parrish was a cybersecurity expert at Canada’s top intelligence agency and an occasional blogger when he noticed that 80% of his readers worked on Wall Street. His site, Farnam Street, caters to a high-achieving audience by featuring strategies of rigorous self-betterment as opposed to cheesy self-help. He subscribes to the idea that reading, reflection, and lifelong learning are the keys to true personal development. (Check out his interview with Naval Ravikant in one of the most thoughtful conversations I’ve heard.)

“Reading is a way to consume people’s experiences, to learn something timeless and then apply it to your life.”

Virgin Galactic’s rocket man: Mark Stucker is the lead test pilot of Richard Branson’s spaceship company, Virgin Galactic. People are paying $250,000 to take a flight into space, and Stucker’s job is to make that happen. In his time at the ambitious company, Stucker has dealt with failed rocket launches, a fatal spaceflight crash, and his own disintegrating family.

“We’re test pilots of spaceships. As a Marine Corps colonel once told me, ‘If you want to be safe, go be a shoe salesman at Sears.’”

The world’s youngest (potential) billionaire: In less than three years, Kylie Jenner’s makeup empire has catapulted her net worth to $900 million. At 21, Jenner is on pace to become the youngest billionaire ever — male or female. With almost no overhead costs, the outsize profits of Kylie Cosmetics go straight into Jenner’s pocket. This story speaks to the power of social media & the far-reaching impact of the Kardashian empire.

“Social media is an amazing platform. I have such easy access to my fans and my customers.”

The billionaire king of private equity: Billionaire Robert Smith has built Vista Equity Partners into the gold standard for private equity. Vista’s portfolio counts 55,000 employees and more than $15B in revenue. How? When Vista buys a company, employees are required to take a personality-and-aptitude test & they get access to Vista’s playbook of operating standards. Sounds similar to Ray Dalio’s Principles. Maybe standardized mental models aren’t such a bad idea…

“The more standardized the input, the more standardized the output. You have to design your system, and you have to believe in it.”

The In-N-Out burger billionaire: At 36 years old, Lynsi Snyder is the youngest woman on this year’s Forbes 400 Richest Americans list. With a net worth of $3 billion, she’s the sole owner of burger empire In-N-Out. Snyder’s past lies in stark contrast to the company’s long-standing stability — she never graduated from college, battled through drug use, and went through three divorces. Taking over the franchise in 2010 gave her a sense of purpose. “When you persevere, you end up developing more strength,” she said.

“It’s not about the money for us. Unless God sends a lightning bolt down and changes my heart miraculously, I would not ever sell.”

Wall Street’s biggest gambler: Michael Novogratz is proof you can always make a comeback. Th ex-Wall Streeter is known for winning (and losing) big. He’s made three fortunes and lost at least two. His latest bet? Cryptocurrency. In 2013, Novogratz put $7 million of his own money in Bitcoin when it was selling at around $100 a coin. It now sells for more than 60 times that amount. As any gambler knows, even when you’re up, failure can be right around the corner.

“You know, when you’ve screwed up as much as me in life, you’re not so worried about it. I’ve tried my best. I think I’m right on this thing.”

The Swedish music powerhouse: This is the first profile of Spotify CEO Daniel Ek in three years. The company’s non-traditional IPO was big, but Ek’s ambitions are even bigger. Ek, who is personally reserved but professionally ruthless, reveals his plans to beat Apple, Amazon, and Google at the music game. In this profile, you learn just how central Ek’s character has been to Spotify’s evolution.

“Music is everything we do all day, all night, and that clarity is the difference between the average and the really, really good.”

The leader of a fallen empire: New Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has spent his first seven months on the job apologizing. A lot. He issued an open apology to the entire city of London, he apologized to the public after revealing that Uber hadn’t disclosed a 2016 hack, and more broadly, he apologized for his predecessor’s missteps. In this story, we learn just how difficult it is to turn around a company mired in accusations of misconduct and internal turmoil.

“Management is about a contract, which is, you manage me because you’re higher up on the level and you pay me and do my review,” he said. “Leadership is about the heart.”

Silicon Valley’s spin master: Margit Wennmachers has quietly shaped the public narrative of Andreessen Horowitz over the last 10 years. When things go sideways, she sends an email with the subject line: “4B.” It’s a nod to the idea that plans 1 through 3 didn’t work, and neither did plan 4A, so it’s time to resort to 4B. This is one of the many tricks of the trade that Margit has developed during her decades of experience putting out fires in Silicon Valley.

“Her advice has always been transparency and honesty — just tell the story, warts and all.”

The billionaire who lost his company: No one had a worse 2017 than ex-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. The melodrama began with a #DeleteUber boycott and escalated to sexual harassment allegations. Then, when a video surfaced showing Kalanick berating an Uber driver over fares, he told colleagues, “This is bad. I’m terrible.” This is the story of how the world’s most valuable private tech company fell to its knees with its defiant CEO at the center of it all.

“Uber’s executives sat around a hotel conference room table in San Francisco, trying to convince their chief executive officer, Travis Kalanick, that the company had a major problem: him.”

SPORTS

The most disruptive man in football: Alabama head coach Nick Saban has won five titles in nine years by relying on constant self-disruption. He says our belief that we’re supposed to be rewarded for success is wrong. Rather, we have to do things even better the next time to fight off complacency. Saban calls it “the process” — a philosophy that emphasizes preparation and hard work over results.

“To me it takes a completely different mindset to stay successful as opposed to what you have to do to build something to be successful.”

The NFL coach searching for his family: I’m normally suspicious of stories with headlines that claim they’re “jaw-dropping,” but this one totally lives up to the hype. At 44 years old, Kansas City Chiefs running backs coach Deland McCullough went searching for his biological parents. What he found out will stop you in your tracks & make you realize life is just a series of weird coincidences.

“Being irresponsible is not neutral. When you’re irresponsible, someone becomes responsible for what you’ve been irresponsible for.”

The women of steel: For years, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team endured abuse at the hands of Larry Nassar. The respected physician turned out to be a sexual predator. Nassar violated the world’s top gymnasts, who remained silent and obedient, for decades. This story sheds light on the moment those women found their voice and broke the silence of terror.

“Well, you know what, Larry, I have both power and voice, and I am only beginning to ] use them.”

The athlete trapped in his own mind: At first, I really couldn’t get into this profile because I thought it was just a walk down memory lane with former NBA player Darius Miles. But then I realized it’s not about that at all — it’s about the relentless struggle of someone trapped in his own head, quietly drowning in the depths of depression. As someone on Twitter noted, “It’s crazy how many guys like Miles fade away without anyone really noticing.”

“I know dudes like me aren’t supposed to talk about depression, but I’ll talk about it. If a real motherfucker like me can struggle with it, then anybody can struggle with it.”

America’s newest international star: For snowboard star Chloe Kim, the Olympics are about proving she’s the best in the world. For her dad, the games represent the pinnacle of the American Dream. Her father, who immigrated to the U.S. & worked as a dishwasher, watched his Korean-American daughter win an Olympic gold medal in his native country. “As an immigrant, I could put my proud Korean last name in the American history books,” he says. No, I didn’t cry reading this….promise.

“As soon as we came to Korea, I could tell my dad was so proud,” Kim says. “In the States, he chills in sweatpants and polos with kimchi stains. But here he takes care and dresses up.”

HOLLYWOOD

The most likable man in America: Dwayne Johnson is making movie after movie, hosting SNL, doing ads for Apple, working out at 3:30 a.m., and spending time with his family. It’s really, really hard to not like him. But he hasn’t always been smiles and bear hugs. Johnson was arrested multiple times as a teen, failed to get drafted in the NFL, and battled with bouts of depression. In this profile, we learn how his darkest moments drive him forward.

“You gotta keep that shit in the front of your mind. When shit goes bad or sideways, when you get booed out of the building, it should form you. It should drive you.”

The woman defending Woody Allen: Buckle up before you read this roller-coaster of a profile. As controversies swirled around her, Soon-Yi — the daughter of Mia Farrow and wife of Woody Allen — stayed silent for decades. Now, more than 25 years after the stepfather/teenage daughter affair that “broke every taboo,” Soon-Yi is ending her silence. And she has quite a lot to say. Once you start, you won’t be able to put this one down.

“I’m not a retarded little underage flower who was raped, molested, and spoiled by some evil stepfather — not by a long shot.”

The actor trying to save his own life: In the last year, actor Shia LaBeouf was stalked by Internet trolls, sued for $5 million after a shouting match in a bowling alley, and arrested for public intoxication. LaBeouf witnessed a traumatic event as a child that can still trigger his violent outbursts. To this day, he sleeps with a gun in his bed. It’s a raw, unfiltered story about how to tame the demons of our past that still haunt us in the present.

“I’ve always thought somebody was coming in. My whole life.”

The loneliest man in Hollywood: This profile is dark. The Rolling Stone went deep into the twisted trials and tribulations of actor Johnny Depp’s life. The story takes you through the tragic details of his multimillion-dollar lawsuit, the haze of booze and hash, the marriage gone very wrong, and the lifestyle he can’t afford. What was cool at age 28 is disturbingly sad at 55. Tweet this.

“My son had to hear about how his old man lost all his money from kids at school, that’s not right.”

The grandfather of entertainment: Quincy Jones has an insane story about every famous person you can think of — Michael Jackson, Elon Musk, Frank Sinatra, and Tupac. But nothing compares to the tale of his upbringing. At 7 years old, he had to go out and catch rats so his mom could cook them for dinner. He stops and reflects on the fact that the poor kid who ate rats is now an 84-year-old music legend telling the story from a hilltop mansion. He says:

“Your dreams always have to be big. And mine were huge.”

CRIME

The John Gotti of Amsterdam: Astrid Holleeder agreed to testify against the most notorious criminal in the Netherlands, a man known as “De Neus,” or the Nose. It was a risky choice because “everyone else who has turned on him ended up dead.” Astrid used to be his legal adviser until Holleeder went into hiding. More importantly, she is his younger sister. If you think you’ve got family troubles, you’ve got nothing on the Holleeders. This is a real-life thriller that keeps you captivated until the end.

“The closest relationships are the ones that are based on fear, threats, and violence. If you are together with someone in that situation, you have a bond for life.”

The domestic stalker: A family in New Jersey bought a dream home for $1.3 million — and then things took a sinister turn. They began receiving anonymous letters from someone calling themselves “The Watcher.” The letters targeted the couple’s children saying, “Will the young blood play in the basement? Or are they too afraid to go down there alone?” The couple became obsessed with figuring out the identity of the mysterious sender, but several years later, the bizarre case remains unsolved. Don’t read this one at night.

“All of the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house. Who am I? I am the Watcher.”

The celebrity cult leader: You know Allison Mack as an actress on Smallville. In this bombshell profile, you get to know Allison Mack, the sex cult leader. A few weeks ago, Mack was arrested on sex trafficking charges in connection with the secretive “self-help” group Nxivm. The group recently came under fire for recruiting “slaves” and branding women with a hot cauterizing pen. This one is a must-read.

“She was so hungry for something bigger, some kind of sign [that would show] the purpose and meaning of life.”

The American hostage abroad: Xiyue Wang was a graduate student at Princeton when he went to Iran for archival research. Shortly after, Iranian authorities took his passport and laptop. On Aug. 7, an unknown caller told him he was being sent home. Home turned out to be Tehran’s Evin prison. Wang is one of at least seven U.S. captives in the Islamic Republic being used as pawns in a 40-year secret history of hostage taking. This chilling, heart-shattering profile is a must-read. Tweet this.

“It’s that kind of a mentality where, if you can’t resolve something in your relationship, you can take a hostage and demand that the other side resolves the issue.”

The spy who came home: Patrick Skinner was a CIA case officer who eventually realized that the best use of his training was to become a beat cop in his hometown of Savannah, Ga. Why? He believed the counterterrorism efforts overseas was creating more problems than it solved — fuelling hysteria, destroying communities, and diverting resources from essential problems in the United States. This story is fascinating.

“We have to stop treating people like we’re in Fallujah,” he told me. “It doesn’t work. Just look what happened in Fallujah.”

The sex crime investigator: Michael Osgood, NYPD’s top sex-crimes investigator, tried to bust Harvey Weinstein three years ago. He surveilled and recorded Weinstein trying to bully an Italian model into his hotel room. Yet Weinstein still managed to get away. Power, connections, and money can derail even the most well-executed investigations.

“Sexual assault is the hidden scourge on the American landscape.”

ADVENTURE

The only human in Antarctica: Henry Worsley is a modern-day explorer who set out to walk alone across Antarctic. The reason for this quest? To prove to himself he could be limitless. While obsession, drive, & persistence can propel you to greatness, they can just as easily lead you to your deathbed. The feature is long, but well-worth your time.

“We had seen God in his splendors, heard the text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of men.”

The rock climber who can’t feel fear: Alex Honnold has become a paramount symbol of fearlessness. He is history’s greatest rock climber in the free solo style, meaning he ascends without a rope or protective equipment of any kind. In this profile, scientists take a close look at Honnold’s brain to determine what occurs in his amygdala, the “fear center” of the brain. If you find yourself experiencing pangs of anxiety in everyday life, this one will blow your mind.

“It’s better over time if you can put yourself in a situation where you experience some fear, but you overcome it, and you do it again and again and again.”

For more profiles, subscribe to The Profile.

I’ve read thousands of profiles since I started writing The Profile, a weekly newsletter featuring the best long-form articles of interesting people and companies.

The stories have included high-profile figures like Elon Musk, Sheryl Sandberg, Jay-Z, and Harrison Ford. But they’ve also included some not-so-high profile people like the man who de-activated Donald Trump’s Twitter account and the woman who brought Uber to its knees.

If you’ve got a long flight coming up or you simply want to learn a lesson or two from the world’s most successful, here’s a comprehensive list of the best long-form profiles on the Internet. Enjoy.

To get the latest profiles each Sunday, subscribe to The Profile here.

October 2018

— The prince of fraud & the woman running a $45 billion empire

September 2018

— The king of venture capital & the crypto cop who switched sides
— The LeBron James of short selling & the space company that almost failed
— The founder who ‘broke democracy’ & the pet startups mistreating humans
— The world’s richest man & the male feminism camp
— The Steve Jobs of beauty & the most obsessive billionaire in America

August 2018

— The world’s most feared investor & the ultra-secretive tech CEO
— Virgin Galactic’s rocket man & the blockchain democracy
— The PayPal Mafia & the spy inside of al-Qaeda
 — The billionaire yogi & the John Gotti of Amsterdam

July 2018

— SpaceX’s secret weapon & the crypto cult leader
— The American hostage abroad & the company making hair loss cool
— The female billionaire taking on Elon Musk & the moonshot factory
— The man who can’t feel fear & the world’s most exclusive dating app

June 2018

— The woman behind your Netflix addiction & the biggest rivalry in business
— Silicon Valley’s secret dealmaker & the drone warriors
— Wall Street’s king of crypto & the breakup boot camp
— New York’s biggest con artist & the reporter who rose from the dead

May 2018

— The unicorn killer & the crypto capitalists inside J.P. Morgan
— The celebrity cult leader & the queen of dating apps
— The billion-dollar horse gambler & the kingpins of Amazon
— The world’s most elite traders’ club & the Tinder ghostwriters

April 2018

— The leader of a fallen empire & Beyoncé’s personal bodyguard
— The prince re-shaping the Middle East & the gym for your face
— The man who lost $800K Bitcoins & Trump’s tweeter-in-chief
— Wall Street’s biggest gambler & the gang informant
— The most disruptive man in football & the Golden State killer

March 2018

— The investor who wants to fix capitalism & the volcano diver
— The billionaire king of private equity & the most ignorant man in America
— The secret life of an Olympic champion & the Trump whisperer
— The cybercriminal who saved the world & the brain company uploading your memories

February 2018

— The Italian loose in the White House & Hollywood’s biggest dealmaker
— The politician backed by Bitcoin & the only human in Antarctica
— The NBA’s secret wine club & the collapsing social network
— America’s national nightmare & the NBA talent factory

January 2018

— The $100 billion man & the dad-turned-Instagram star
— The mastermind behind Amazon & the VC living in the future
— The billionaire who lost his company & football’s most powerful friendship
— The astronaut chasing Mars & Silicon Valley’s spin master

December 2017

— The rap mogul who cries & the man who silenced Trump
— The founding father of venture capital & the loan mafia
— The first Bitcoin billionaires & the Olympic champion with no self-esteem
— Hollywood’s most powerful actress & the man who built Ethereum

November 2017

— America’s new power couple & the world’s fastest dad
— The men behind the Valley’s messiest breakup and America’s love doctor
— The company spying on your money & the unlikely Twitter troll
— The private prisons running America & Bulgaria’s most infamous gangster

October 2017

— Nick Saban, Scooter Braun & Chrissy Teigen
— The astronaut preparing for Mars & the Iron Man of Silicon Valley
— The secret billionaires driving addiction & the couple building trust with terrorists
— The millennial Walt Disney & the $3 billion disappearing act

September 2017

— The crazy billionaire brothers & the immortal startup founder
— The scientist playing God and the man built on conflict
— The NFL’s most polarizing athlete & the most hated company in America
— The Facebook for athletes & the bodega owner moonlighting as a TV star

August 2017

— The NBA player who stared death in the eye & the housewife-turned-beer billionaire
— The terrorist whisperer & the double agent living in your house
— The woman taking us to Mars & the billion-dollar sex tape empire
— The unapologetic female billionaire & the man addicted to war

July 2017

— The startup reading your genetic secrets & the man hiding in Elon Musk’s shadow
— The first Bitcoin criminal & the unlikely power couple
— The doctor leading a secret double life & the king of Wall Street
— Silicon Valley’s most radical family & the baddest woman in Hollywood

June 2017

— The therapist who will fix your love life & the clickbait empire that collapsed in 9 months
— A mysterious billionaire, a bounty hunter, and a $900K/week CEO
— The sloth of Silicon Valley & the baseball God living a double life
— The corporate drug dealer & the millennial making $700K flipping burgers

May 2017

— The NFL player who says prison saved his life & the TedX of Failure
— The actor trying to ‘feel life’ and the Fyre company that went up in flames
— The entrepreneur who’s not sure he’s an a**hole and the company allergic to capitalism
— The most important rapper in America & the company that lets you edit the news

April 2017

— The hardest working man on Wall Street and the digital country club
— The tech exec coping with life after death & the company reading your mind
— The guy who stole Tom Brady’s Super Bowl jersey & the urban farming accelerator
— The couple that earns six-figures to travel the world & the Apple of Appliances
— The unstoppable 22-year-old entrepreneur & the company merging your brain with a computer

March 2017

— The America-loving immigrant billionaire & the ‘cheerful cult’ business
— The magician manipulating your emotions & the company building a pizza empire
— The basketball prodigy & the “adulting school” for lazy millennials
— The man who makes founders cry & the company that rents out dogs

February 2017

— The woman who helps humanize murderers & the Silicon Valley of space exploration
— The really boring billionaire & the heartbreak cleanse

For more profiles, subscribe to The Profile.

The Official List of the Best Profiles on the Internet was originally published in DataDrivenInvestor on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Here is a list of powerful speeches to remind you what drives some of the most successful people in the world.

Not a single person on the list below is “special.” Nothing in their life was guaranteed. They don’t have some sort of magical power that has made them who they are. They’re regular people with regular upbringings (in some cases, very dark upbringings) who refused to lead a mediocre life.

All of us can employ these strategies if we decide to make a change. Here we go:

I’ve spent years studying how extraordinary people think, and I write about them every week in The Profile. Join the club: readtheprofile.com

DWAYNE ‘THE ROCK’ JOHNSON: ‘Keep your failures at the forefront of your mind’

The Rock delivered a moving speech to the L.A. Lakers during a rough year for the team.

“Thank you, boys, for having me,” Johnson says to the room. “I really didn’t know what to say to you today, because you guys are already successful. So instead, let me just tell you what’s worked for me, and maybe some of it might work for you.”

Johnson explains the importance of keeping your failures at the forefront of your mind. He was arrested as a teenager, failed to get drafted in the NFL, and struggled to make it in Hollywood. He says:

“You gotta keep that shit in the front of your mind. When shit goes bad or sideways, when you get booed out of the building, it should form you. It should drive you.”

At one point, Johnson looks around the room and says:

“You guys are on the come-up, you’re on the rise. But at some point, you gotta be fucking tired of not being number one. You gotta play angry. I’m cool and calm when I step on a set. But when it comes to business and when it comes to executing” — he raps his fist against the wall — “every day my back is up against this motherfucker. And when my back is against this motherfucker” — he raps again — “I don’t give a fuck who’s in front of me. I won’t stop.”

That night, the Lakers won by nine.

WATCH: [Dwayne Johnson’s “Genius Talk” Part 1], [Part 2] & [Part 3]
READ: ‘Dwayne Johnson: The Pain and the Passion That Fuel the Rock’ & ‘Dwayne Johnson for President!’

SHONDA RHIMES: ‘Stop dreaming, and start doing’

Shonda Rhimes recently made history as one of the first showrunners to ink an exclusive deal with Netflix for an estimated $100 million. Her skyrocketing success has made her one of the wealthiest women in TV. She’s already worth approximately $135 million.

And no, she didn’t achieve this level of success by meditating, visualizing, and making dream boards. In this 2014 Dartmouth College commencement address, Rhimes says that people who encourage you to dream are full of crap. It’s horrible advice, she says.

Ditch the dream and be a doer, not a dreamer. Maybe you know exactly what it is you dream of being, or maybe you’re paralyzed because you have no idea what your passion is. The truth is, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to know. You just have to keep moving forward. You just have to keep doing something, seizing the next opportunity, staying open to trying something new. It doesn’t have to fit your vision of the perfect job or the perfect life. Perfect is boring and dreams are not real. Just do.

While people are busy dreaming, the really successful people are busy doing. In other words, done is better than perfect.

You want to be a writer? A writer is someone who writes every day, so start writing. You don’t have a job? Get one. Any job. Don’t sit at home waiting for the magical opportunity. Who are you? Prince William? No. Get a job. Go to work. Do something until you can do something else.

WATCH: [Shonda Rhimes ’91 Delivers Dartmouth’s Commencement Speech]

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY: ‘You are your own hero’

The only person you should ever compare yourself to is the future version of yourself. I got this piece of advice from a wise, old philosopher named Matthew McConaughey (judge me, I’m not sorry).

In his Oscars acceptance speech, McConaughey said he has three things that he needs every day — something to look up to, something to look forward to, and someone to chase.

He says:

My hero — that’s who I chase. When I was 15 years old, someone asked me, “Who’s your hero?” I had to think about that. I come back two weeks later, and I say, “I thought about it. You know who it is? It’s me in 10 years.” So I turned 25 ten years later, and that same person asks me, “So are you a hero?” And I was like, “Not even close. Because my hero is me at 35.” So every day, every week, every hour of my life, my hero’s always 10 years away. I’m never going to beat my hero…I’m never going to attain that. And that’s just fine by me because that keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing.

WATCH: Matthew McConaughey Oscars speech

FRANK ABAGNALE: ‘Love can save you’

Frank Abagnale, the notorious ex-con portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Catch Me If You Can, spoke at Google about his incredible life story.

He ran away from home at 16, and became one of the most famous impostors ever, claiming to have assumed no fewer than eight identities. He posed as an airline pilot, a physician, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons agent, and a lawyer. He escaped from police custody twice (once from a taxiing airliner and once from a U.S. federal penitentiary), before he was 21 years old. He served less than five years in prison before starting to work for the federal government.

I have turned down three pardons from three sitting presidents of the United States because I do not believe, nor will I ever believe, that a piece of paper will excuse my actions from 40 plus years ago. On an undercover assignment in Houston, Texas, I met my wife. When the assignment was over, I broke protocol to tell her who I really was. I didn’t have a dime to my name.

But I eventually asked her to marry me. Against the wishes of her parents, she did. Now, I could sit up here and tell you that I was born again, I saw the light, prison rehabilitated me. But the truth is God gave me a wife. She gave me three beautiful children.

She gave me a family. And she changed my life, she and she alone. Everything I have, everything I’ve achieved, who I am today is because of the love of a woman. And the respect three boys have for their father is something I would never ever jeopardize. There comes a time in all of our lifetime, we grow older.

And to those men in the audience, both young and old, I would remind you what it truly is to actually be a man. It has absolutely nothing to do with money, achievements, skills, accomplishments, degrees, professions, positions. A real man loves his wife. A real man is faithful to his wife. And real men, next to God and his country, put his wife and his children as the most important things in his life.

WATCH: Frank Abagnale: ‘Catch Me If You Can’

DAVID GOGGINS: ‘Suffering begets growth’

When David Goggins was in his early 20s, he was earning less than $1,000 a month spraying for cockroaches. One night, he came home with a 42-ounce shake from Steak and Shake and sat down in front of the TV. He stumbled upon a documentary on the U.S. Navy SEALs that changed the trajectory of his entire life.

Goggins, who once weighed nearly 300 pounds, has completed three Navy SEAL “hell weeks,” more than 50 endurance races, and holds the Guinness World Record for most pull-ups (4,030) in 24 hours. Goggins believes that you must do something that sucks every single day because suffering begets growth.

In this riveting interview (not a speech but I had to include), he opens up about his abusive childhood, reveals his belief in the dark power of suffering, and explains how to make yourself immune to pain.

Motivation is crap. People right now may be listening to this, and they’ll be motivated to go run. But if it’s cold where they’re at, a lot of them will shut that door and go back inside. That’s motivation — it comes and goes based on how you feel. If you and your wife are good, if you and your kids are good, if you’re good at work, you’re motivated. I like the motherfucker whose life has imploded, who ain’t got shit in life and who says, “I still got to fucking get after it today, man.” That’s what it’s about. That’s when you move from motivation to driven to obsessed and I want people to realize once you get to the driven-obsessed part, you’re unstoppable.

How do you develop this sort of mental toughness? Goggins believes it’s by doing something you don’t want to do every day. Often, that means acting against your first instinct. It’s pouring rain outside? Go run anyway. Your house is a mess but you’re tired? Clean it anyway.

“For a period of time, your brain doesn’t like it, but it starts to realize that this is a new way of thinking,” he says. That way of thinking, however, puts you on the offensive and gets you out of lazy, comfortable routines.

WATCH: David Goggins on becoming a Navy Seal

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I’ve spent years studying how extraordinary people think, and I write about them every week in The Profile. Join the club: readtheprofile.com

—

SHERYL SANDBERG: ‘We build resilience into ourselves’

Shortly after her husband died, Sheryl Sandberg delivered a heartfelt speech to the 2016 Class of U.C. Berkeley. She told graduates how much that tragedy had taught her about the importance of resilience.

His death, she said, swallowed her into a “deep fog of grief — an emptiness that fills your heart, your lungs, constricts your ability to think or even to breathe.”

But, as she came to find out, resilience is like a muscle that can be used when needed.

I hope that you live your life — each precious day of it — with joy and meaning. I hope that you walk without pain — and that you are grateful for each step.

And when the challenges come, I hope you remember that anchored deep within you is the ability to learn and grow. You are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. Like a muscle, you can build it up, draw on it when you need it. In that process you will figure out who you really are — and you just might become the very best version of yourself.

Build resilience in yourselves. When tragedy or disappointment strike, know that you have the ability to get through absolutely anything. I promise you do. As the saying goes, we are more vulnerable than we ever thought, but we are stronger than we ever imagined.

WATCH: Sheryl Sandberg Gives UC Berkeley Commencement Keynote Speech

— — — — — —

I send a weekly email newsletter featuring the best profiles on successful people and companies. To get the email every Sunday, subscribe to The Profile.

In the letter, he wrote:

“I was working at Marriott, and the money I was making was not enough to cover the bills for the first few months we lived here. I begged my manager to give me extra shifts so we could pay rent. At that time, we literally had nothing. My dream was to be able to buy you something to make you happy, so you could see that the U.S. is a happy place.

For better or worse, you remember everything we went through in those first few years, but please never forget that I’ve always loved you more than anything in the world.”

With the letter, he enclosed a check so I could buy something I want now that he couldn’t buy me then.

This inspired me to compile a list of seven very different stories about dads. They explore complicated familial relationships, the sacrifices of parenthood, and the grief that comes with losing a father.

Hope you enjoy these:

Silicon Valley’s most radical family: This is a profile of renowned VC Ben Horowitz, and his dad, David. One sees blacks as criminals, the other as role models. One sees Trump as the problem, the other as the answer. When David went to college campuses to denounce things that Ben believes in, Ben paid for his bodyguard. It’s a fascinating look at a family that disagrees on nearly everything, but rallies around one common belief: revolution is the way forward.

“It’s like Ben is the antidote to David Horowitz,” he said. “He balances his father out. And what’s so crazy is that Ben came from David Horowitz.”

In the same way a Mafia don is happy if his kids never whack anyone, David appreciates how his offspring stayed clear of the family business. He doesn’t even mind the way they rejected his politics as well.

“The victory of not indoctrinating your kids and yet having them be successful anyway — that’s the ultimate for him,” Ben said.

One Family, Many Revolutions: From Black Panthers, to Silicon Valley, to Trump

America’s newest international star: For snowboard star Chloe Kim, the Olympics are about proving she’s the best in the world. For her dad, the games represent the pinnacle of the American Dream. Her father, who immigrated to the U.S. & worked as a dishwasher, watched his Korean-American daughter win an Olympic gold medal in his native country. “As an immigrant, I could put my proud Korean last name in the American history books,” he says.

Before the Olympics became Chloe Kim’s goal, her father came to the U.S. with his own hopes. In 1982, 26-year-old Jong Jin Kim arrived at LAX, on the only direct flight to the States he could afford, in search of opportunity. “It was a dream country,” he says, “a totally different world.”

With $800 and an English-Korean dictionary, Jong purchased a 1970 Nova, bought a carton of Kent cigarettes and paid $150 for a one-week stay at a hotel. “I had $100 left in my pocket,” he says. “I went to the patio of the hotel, smoked a Kent and said to myself, ‘I start now.’”

Snowboard phenom Chloe Kim has a lot riding on the Winter Olympics

The housewife-turned-beer billionaire: This profile is about a woman who had a pretty normal life as a stay-at-home mom raising five kids. And then her dad, Freddy Heineken died. At his funeral, Charlene de Carvalho had 10 days to make a choice: continue living comfortably as a housewife or run the world’s №3 brewer with no prior business experience. She chose the latter.

Until her father’s passing, Charlene had no money to her name except a single share of Heineken stock — then worth 25.60 euros, or $32 — that her father had given her.

Now, as his only child and the sole heir to the Heineken fortune, she was inheriting about 100 million shares, equal to one-quarter of the company’s total stock outstanding. This 25% stake came with voting control, meaning that her single vote outweighed the votes of other investors on any board matter.

Charlene had not thought much about her new responsibilities until that dreary morning at the cemetery. As she left her father’s grave, her husband put her on the spot. “Charlene, you have to make a decision within 10 days if you want to inherit the role that your father played.”

Heineken's Charlene de Carvalho: A self-made heiress

The hardest working man on Wall Street: Kabir Ahmed went to college for accounting, he moved to New York City alone at age 23, and he now works on Wall Street. To say he works long, hard hours is an understatement. Ahmed is a street food vendor. The man gets up every morning and stands for 8 hours in a hot 10-foot-long box with rarely any time for a bathroom break. On a good day, he makes $125. When his wife suggested the family go on a Caribbean cruise, Ahmed didn’t think they could afford that kind of vacation. But he wondered.

Mr. Ahmed’s son, Kowshik, who dreams of working for NASA, will be a high school senior in the fall, and Mr. Ahmed wants all his children to go to college. “But now I cannot get sick,” Mr. Ahmed says, “and I cannot stop working.”

At 3:30 p.m., Mr. Ahmed’s shift ends and he walks back to the subway; his partner will stay until the cart closes at 8.

By now, Mr. Ahmed’s feet are sore and his back is aching. Lately, his back is always aching. The F train is delayed, but Mr. Ahmed, who likes to keep up on all the latest memes, and has been deprived of internet access for the duration of his shift, doesn’t mind. He passes this time catching up on funny videos.

A Day in the Life of a Food Vendor

The world’s fastest dad. For a glorious 5 minutes and 30 seconds, a dad from Texas led the elite men’s group at the Boston Marathon. Derek Yorek did it because his kids wanted to see him on TV. He ran one mile in 4:38, which is close to the limit of his aerobic capacity. He struggled to finish the rest of the marathon, but that one mile was definitely worth it.

On paper, Yorek’s race was a tactical disaster: 3,571 people passed him, he ran his last 5K nine minutes slower than his first, and he finished more than 30 minutes slower than his personal best.

But he doesn’t care. That’s because even though the announcers didn’t know the name of the guy leading the race after the first mile, two little girls back home in Texas did.

About the Dad Leading Boston at Mile One

The rap mogul who cries: This is one of the most raw Q&As I’ve read in some time. Jay Z had created an almost super-human persona — a brilliant artist, a doting father, and a role model to millions of kids. Until we heard his confessional album detailing how he almost lost it all. Jay Z bares his soul, opening up about everything from his marital troubles to his time in therapy.

It’s just certain tools that you would hope for your child to have. You know, like, again, fairness and compassion and empathy and a loving heart. And those things translate in any environment. Those are the main base things that you want — well, for me, I would want my child to have. You know?

Treat people as they are, no matter who they are, no matter where they sit in the world, not to, like, be super nice to someone at a high position or mean to someone who they’ve deemed to be below them. I can’t buy you love, I can’t show it to you. I can show you affection and I can, you know, I can express love, but I can’t put it in your hand. I can’t put compassion in your hand. I can’t show you that. So the most beautiful things are things that are invisible. That’s where the important things lie.

Jay-Z Discusses Rap, Marriage and Being a Black Man in Trump's America

The scariest man in college football: Alabama football coach Nick Saban has a vision he calls “the process” — a philosophy he learned from his dad that emphasizes preparation and hard work over results. It’s about constantly examining weak spots and gradually improving. The process, then, is never over.

Saban fully admits that his father’s perfectionism informed the process, even if it took decades for him to codify it. Big Nick’s influence also has something to do with why, even after a big victory, Saban feels less joy than relief.

Saban is reaching for a standard, so there are only two possibilities: Either you did what you were supposed to do, or you fell short. If you fell short, you go work harder and better to try to meet the standard next time. And if you met the standard, you go work doubly hard to fight off complacency so you have a shot at meeting it again.

Alabama's Nick Saban: The Scariest Man in College Football

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For more like this, check out:
— 26 Life-Changing Quotes From the World’s Most Powerful People
— 11 Lessons I Learned After Reading 1,000+ Profiles of Successful People

Sometimes, all it takes is one quote to change your life. I’ve read more than 1,000 profiles since I started writing The Profile, a weekly newsletter featuring the best long-form articles of interesting people and companies.

Below I’ve compiled some of the most memorable quotes that I often refer back to. Regardless of where you are in your life or career, there’s something for everyone here.

Enjoying this? I write The Profile — original longform profiles of extraordinary people, free every week since 2017. Sign up for The Profile here.

ON VULNERABILITY:

“The strongest thing a man can do is cry. To expose your feelings, to be vulnerable in front of the world. That’s real strength.” — Jay-Z, rapper and businessman

“Expressing emotion when you’ve gone through extreme pain is not weakness. It is humanity.” — Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook

“I’ve got my feelings in my fingertips again. I think that’s part of the human challenge: You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.” — Brad Pitt, actor and film producer

ON RELATIONSHIPS:

“Every single day of my life, I just feel lucky. Lucky in my career. Lucky enough to have found the perfect partner. Sometimes in life, it doesn’t happen on your schedule, but you find the person that you were always supposed to be with.” — George Clooney, actor, director & producer

“[Love] is the one thing in life that I think is the biggest determinant of happiness, and it’s the thing you have the least control over.” — Amal Clooney, international human rights lawyer

“I felt like a door had been opened to a person who made me want to be my best self. . . . I find myself just wanting to be better by simply being around her because of the standard she holds.” — Alexis Ohanian, founder of Reddit

“You’re right, but you’re wrong, too. Welcome to life as a couple.” — Esther Perel, relationship psychotherapist

ON SELF-ESTEEM:

“‘I’m a shepherd and I’m a warrior,’ he says when I ask about the two sides of his personality. ‘I come and go between those two. I’m a nomad, and nomads are the most real people. You can’t pretend.’” — Hamdi Ulukaya, founder & CEO of Chobani

“I feel like mentally, I’m 100%, but it’s still hard to see a life outside of just being in a wheelchair. It’s about learning to treat yourself as a whole person even though your body is broken down.” — Anthony Zhang, founder of EnvoyNow

“I didn’t give a s — -. I had no self-esteem. No self-worth. I thought the world would just be better off without me. I figured that was the best thing to do — just end my life.” — Michael Phelps, 23-time Olympic gold medalist

ON AMBITION:

“Your dreams always have to be big. And mine were huge.” — Quincy Jones, record producer & actor

“You have to work really, really hard to put yourself in a position to get lucky.” — Daniel Schwartz, CEO of Burger King

“I don’t think that wanting to win is at all in contradiction with our mission.” — John Zimmer, Lyft president

“Don’t be afraid of your ambition, your dreams, or even your anger. Those are powerful forces.” — Hillary Clinton, American politician

ON LONELINESS:

“It is lonely at the top. But not for everyone. It’s lonely at the top for those who were lonely at the bottom.” — From profile on Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and Neuralink

“That I had made mistakes, on that we can all agree. But swimming in that sea of Aloneness was terrifying.” — Monica Lewinsky, activist

“Isolation changes you; it makes you angry. You start to forget about the world outside — it’s not relevant or relatable anymore.” — Chelsea Manning, former U.S. army soldier

“There are probably a lot of young dudes who hear my story and think it could never happen to them. That they’re untouchable. Man…Nobody is untouchable. Nobody in this life is immune to pain.” — Lamar Odom, retired professional basketball player

ON UNCERTAINTY:

“‘It’s fundamentally about uncertainty,’ he says. ‘And therefore anyone who meets this definition is an entrepreneur.’ — Eric Ries, author of ‘The Lean Startup’

“We are very comfortable in very high-risk environments with absolutely no guarantee of success. I don’t mean existing in that environment for days, weeks or months. I mean year after year.” — Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder & CEO of Gemini

“I wanted to take a huge bet on myself. If we win, I win the most. But the reason I do that is because if we lose, I lose the most.” — Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of Social Capital

ON SELF-REFLECTION:

“I believe that the biggest problem that humanity faces is an ego sensitivity to finding out whether one is right or wrong and identifying what one’s strengths and weaknesses are.” — Ray Dalio, founder and CEO of Bridgewater Associates

“The hardest person to protect yourself from is yourself.” — Eric Roberts, actor

“When people you trust tell you the truth about yourself? Moments like those? Man, that is where you grow.” — Jay Wright, head basketball coach at Villanova University

“I am not fearful of the darkness. If anything, I am intrigued by it, because I think it explains human nature and people better.” Charlize Theron, actress & film producer

ON REFUSING TO QUIT:

From Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s speech to the players in the L.A. Lakers locker room during a rough year:

“Thank you, boys, for having me,” Johnson says to the room. “I really didn’t know what to say to you today, because you guys are already successful. So instead, let me just tell you what’s worked for me, and maybe some of it might work for you.”

For the next 40 minutes, Johnson delivers a heartfelt, extemporaneous speech cataloging his lifetime of failures. How he was arrested multiple times as a teenager. How he failed to get drafted into the NFL, his dream crushed at 22. How he made it big in wrestling, but then quit to star in movies and struggled, and two years later wondered, “What the fuck did I do with my career?” He says he carries these failures close. “You gotta keep that shit in the front of your mind. When shit goes bad or sideways, when you get booed out of the building, it should form you. It should drive you.”

At one point, Johnson looks around the room at the hungry young faces looking back at him. “You guys are on the come-up,” he tells them. “You’re on the rise. But at some point, you gotta be fucking tired of not being number one. You gotta play angry. I’m cool and calm when I step on a set. But when it comes to business and when it comes to executing” — he raps his fist against the wall — “every day my back is up against this motherfucker. And when my back is against this motherfucker” — he raps again — “I don’t give a fuck who’s in front of me. I won’t stop.”

That night, the Lakers win by nine.

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Here are the highlights

Q: In your opinion, what elements are necessary to have in a compelling profile?

HOLMES: That’s a great question. You need tension, compelling characters, an element of surprise, dialogue, vivid scenes that make the reader feel like they’re right there. I’m always thinking of the reader’s attention and how it’s such an easy thing to lose — in fact, I’m always terrified I’ll lose them. So I keep that in mind both in the writing and when I’m searching for ideas. I also want to reach everyone, not just sports fans, so I’m looking for human stories — whether about wine, a terrorized small town or parenthood, a subject I’ve written about a few times. That’s a long answer but those are always things I’m considering.

Q: With your focus on NBA, to what extent are some players getting involved with tech ventures? Kobe’s been doing it for a while, Steph and Andre are, I’ve heard KD mention on it. Some guys up in NYC also. Is this a theme you see growing quickly throughout the league? Is there demand for access to startups?

HOLMES: It’s a huge movement right now. Players are very savvy and are investing heavily in that area — and while I don’t know all the details about demand, I do know that this trend is growing across the league.

Q: Is Steph Curry really that nice?

HOLMES: Haha. He is very nice. I’ve interviewed him a handful of times for various stories and he has always been kind, thoughtful and generous — and also a little funny. One of my next big features focuses on the Warriors. Stay tuned!

Q: Which NBA player impresses you most from a business or brand standpoint?

HOLMES: LeBron is incredibly impressive on that front, but Kobe is likewise very impressive, especially considering the fact that Kobe’s short animated film is nominated for an Oscar. He can do anything if he applies himself — and when he applies himself, it’s really something to see.

Q: What’s an example of a time where there was heavy spin/lying but you ignored it and published the story the way it was?

HOLMES: The first thing that came to mind involved Kobe Bryant. As someone who covered the end of his career for ESPN, I knew he was deified in Los Angeles and elsewhere as a larger-than-life, almost flawless figure, and I get that, to a degree. I mean, he’s one of the greatest players ever. But the way he was so often portrayed also ignored some hard truths about who he was as a basketball player, as a teammate and so on. There might be heavy spin from him, or the Lakers in general, or even from fans and local/national media. Leading up to his final game, I wanted to give readers a deeply honest and intimate look at him as a player. And I think I did that, though I’ll let the story speak for itself. (It’s a bit long…) http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/15186931/last-true-days-kobe-bryant

Q: My close friend is the basketball coach for Brownsville PS in Brooklyn — also a sort of NBA incubator? Opioids: the two neighborhoods also have this in common, as well as being very tough places to grow up. From your perspective Baxter, after obviously interviewing many people in and out of these neighborhoods, what are the common attributes that allow the individual to expand out of (what most would consider) hell and into a world that is obj much better — some even getting to a place where they create a better space for all?

HOLMES: First, thank you for the kind words on that piece. As to your question, everything is a case-by-case basis, but having a stable household is definitely a crucial foundation, as well as some kind of gainful employment for one or both parents. In Kinston, local law enforcement attributes the rise in crime to the fact that there aren’t many jobs and thus people turn to other means — crime — to make ends meet. That’s a hard reality, especially in many of these small towns that struggle to survive. Beyond those attributes that I mentioned above, there needs to be some facility — like Kinston’s gyms — and plenty of mentors — like the people that run those gyms — in place, too.

Q: Which food related feature was more fun to report your deep dive on the NBAs obsession with PB&J or the vino aficionados?

HOLMES: They were both fun in their own ways, but as someone who likes wine, I’d have to say that one was more fun, for obvious reasons ;)

Q: As a national NBA writer how do you get your story ideas? are they mostly organic, assigned by editors or do you get pitched by player or team PR ever?

HOLMES: Many of my ideas are organic, as I’m just paying attention, trying to listen more closely or whatever the case may be for a nugget that, with a little more digging, may turn out to be a compelling story. My editors have assigned me stories in the past. I do get pitched by a team or player from time to time, though I’m not sure when I’ve actually followed up and done any of those stories. A former editor of mine preached that there are good ideas all around us — we just need to be open to them. I think about that line all the time.

Q: Can’t quite tell how long you’ve been in the game but what changes do you detect from profiles of young basketball stars when you started vs now?

HOLMES: I haven’t been doing this too long — I’m 31 years old — but, generally, I feel like there’s not as much reporting as there was in years past: not as many phone calls, on-the-ground fact gathering, research, etc. Part of that may be because news organizations have cut back and slimmed down so much, which means less money to do all that stuff I just mentioned. Part of it may be that the speed of the internet and social media makes people want to publish more stories faster, even if they’re sacrificing quality for speed and quantity. As such, the stories with more reporting tend to stand out more now, I think, whereas they were probably far more commonplace years ago.

Q: What is your perspective on sports writing as a career? Do you see yourself on a similar beat/path 2, 5, 10 years out?

HOLMES: It’s a tumultuous time to be a sports writer — or just a journalist, for that matter. I’m not even sure if the path I took — the student paper in college, internships at newspapers around the country every summer, then trying to land an entry-level job after college — works anymore in this digital age. And with there being so many layoffs, cutbacks and so forth, it’s hard to feel like you’re on stable ground. That said, I’ve done the beat reporter job, covering both the Celtics (for The Boston Globe) and the Lakers (for ESPN) and those jobs probably aren’t going away, if you can get one. There’s just too much interest. I hope, though, that my job of national features and things of that sort still exist down the road. I guess we’ll see.

Q: What are things you do to hone your craft and are there a couple items you’d recommend to the general working professional to improve written/story telling skills?

HOLMES: The first thing is obvious: read constantly. But beyond that, you need to read very, very carefully. Study how writers put together sentences, paragraphs, entire scenes. Notice the verbs they use. Think about how they’re developing characters and creating tension and suspense and building it through the story. Notice how truly great writers end certain sections or even sentences. For me, there are a ton of writers whose work I admire and study very closely on that front, and I highly recommend doing the same. Likewise, it’s important to listen very, very closely when doing interviews, because at some point, the subject may say something that’s a window into something else — and you have to be focused enough to pick up on that and then steer the interview there, if it warrants it. Many of my ideas come from just listening carefully, quite honestly.

The Profile AMA: Baxter Holmes, ESPN’s NBA feature writer was originally published in The Profile on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Here are the highlights:

Q: I’m interested in hearing how professional athletes think about investing, specifically in public & private equities? How much is off-loaded to “professional managers” vs decisions being a product of primary research?

CASSILL: I think that is all very personal to each athlete. I know a lot of people that rely on managers to manager their interests outside of their discipline, but those are typically guys who aren’t very business minded to begin with. In the NASCAR scene, I think most drivers are quite hands on with their money, and do a lot of their own work when it comes to outside business. A lot of that likely comes from the independent culture of our profession (no collective bargaining, no unions or retirement programs for drivers)

Q: Do you foresee autonomous vehicles being required by regulation for all drivers or will it be an individual’s choice? Also, what is the timeline for this to be viable in either scenario?

CASSILL: This is a tough one to answer. I think self driving cars will likely take over dedicated routes between large metro areas with the infrastructure to support it, and blend with human controlled cars for a long time before it is common in rural areas or small times. It wouldn’t surprise me to see large cities like NYC, LA, Chicago, have large portions of their cities near center city where the only cars allowed on the road are self driving cars.

Q: What was your journey into crypto? What projects are you most excited about?

CASSILL: My journey through crytpo has been a fast one. I will humbly admit that I was not an “early” adopter, although it has been on my radar since 2013, I got into it early enough that I enjoyed the gains through 2017. I feel like trading crypto is a very tough thing to do, and I simply do not have the skills or time to day trade, which has led me more interested in crypto mining. I am very attracted to the cash flow infrastructure of crypto mining, and have spent a lot of time educating myself in that space, and building my own mining interests, preparing to scale to a much larger operation. I would also call myself a bitcoin maximalist.

Q: How much are we talking, on average to fund a team for a season? What does sponsorship cost, I imagine there are different levels of sponsorship. How much for instance, did (does?) Snapchat pay to get that cool hood spot?

CASSILL: Out of the 40 car starting field, there are probably 20 teams who spend between $500k-$750k per race, 10 teams who spend between $250k-$500k per race, and the bottom 10 teams spend between $75k-$250k per race. Keep in mind the prize money (which the team receives, not the driver) is on average $100k per race. If you want to field a competitive car, you MUST have sponsorship and/or manufacturer support to subsidize those costs. My Snapchat Sponsorship in 2016 was a one race sponsorship that was brought to my team from NASCAR’s relationship with Snap

Q: Can you elaborate a little more on what putting together a sponsorship looks like?

CASSILL: Getting a sponsor for a race team is one of the hardest things to get done in our sport. Corporate marketing budgets are as tough to crack as ever, and there is a lot of competition in the world of marketing. NASCAR has a huge, loyal fanbase, but it is still very very hard to quantify the ROI of sponsoring a race car if you are focused on branding alone. The most successful sponsorships in our sport are the ones where there is a Business to Business relationship driving the funding of a program. The branding on the car can be the cherry on top. If you’re watching a race, take a look at the Kroger or Menard’s sponsored cars. Those two companies are very good at leveraging their vendors (think Klorox, Bush’s Beans), who want prime placement in their stores nationwide. The big box retailer can use the NASCAR sponsorship as an asset to leverage those vendors into contributing to (and benefiting from) the sponsorship, as a way to complete their placement in the stores.

Q: I’m interested in how you balance your professional life with your personal life. How do you make sure that your family gets a good amount of attention/time even when you’re incredibly busy with work & sponsorships, etc?

CASSILL: It’s quite hard, because the business is high pressure, and the travel is so demanding. Especially when security of my job is not always guaranteed by on track performance, but by sponsorship support. Honestly, right now is as tough as it has every been because I’ve started this season without sponsorship. I have things I’m working on, but my next realistic shot at racing for a championship will have to be 2019. I honestly have a genuine interest in owning a team, and driving for myself under more of an “independent” operation if that opportunity presented itself. That’s an idea i have considered for the past few years now, in order to do that i would need to buy a “Charter”, which is NASCAR’s version of a franchise (guaranteed starting spot in the race).

The Profile AMA: Landon Cassill, NASCAR driver was originally published in The Profile on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.