Field Notes: Why the best entrepreneurs think in contradictions

Hi everyone! What a week! The podcast episode (Pinterest) I’ve been talking about for weeks went live, and the response to it has been overwhelmingly positive, so thank you all for tuning in. My gratitude is endless, and I’m so excited to be building this platform and Social Currency with you all!

I want today’s field notes to be about something that I’ve been thinking a lot: how holding opposing truths can actually be a secret weapon. As I prepare for my interviews with my podcast guests, I like to take a step back once I’ve prepared my questions to think more holistically about each personn. I think about the moves they’ve made, the success (and stumbles) they’ve had, and I like to think about what I’m most curious about diving into with them. And this week, when I was preparing for an interview with the CEO of Eventbrite, I realized that I saw a trend across the past few guests I’ve had on the show.

The most successful CEOs and business leaders have this remarkable ability to think in contradictions. This means that they are incredibly adaptable and understand nuance - they move fast in the short-term but think long-term, they’re confident in their abilities but humble in their conversations and they’re willing to be proven wrong. They focus on the tasks ahead, but are able to pivot when things aren’t going as planned.

Now, this contradictory mindset seems to be quite common with highly successful people, but it usually can be best assessed over the long term vs. a one-off scenario. I’m thinking a lot about this because I honestly have debates with myself all the time about this balance:

• The content game rewards frequency, but my audience expects depth and insight

• My audience expects regular, quality content, but growth requires testing new formats and taking creative risks

• My audience connects with me personally, but I’m building something bigger than just me

• etc etc etc

Anyway, I hope that this idea sparks something in you. So you can think about how you can have healthy debate with yourself on the things that you’re doing or working on. The best entrepreneurs don’t resolve these contradictions; they get really good at dancing between them. And I hope you get really good at that dance. -Sammi

And last thing- I’m launching my first ever merch drop so sign up here (!!!) if you want to join the waitlist. No payment necessary right now, just want to get initial names in to gauge interest for the first drop 😃 

Business, Economy & Culture🛍️📈💸

👗 What Does Vogue Mean Today? With Anna Wintour’s era waning and Chloe Malle stepping in, Vogue faces the question: how does a legacy stay relevant in a TikTok-driven fashion culture? Once the industry’s bible, it now fights to balance heritage prestige with digital-first influence. (nyt)

💎 Taylor Swift and Tariffs Can Both Help Sell Diamonds Taylor Swift’s engagement 💍 and U.S. tariffs on Indian diamonds are creating a perfect storm for the natural diamond demand. Retailers are seizing the moment to push mined stones as symbols of rarity and romance, amid competition from lab-grown gems. Swiftonomics is a real thing. (wsj)

🥬 Is Erewhon Coming To New York City? Here’s What We Know L.A.’s cult grocery temple is landing in NYC—but not for everyone. Erewhon is opening a boutique inside a $36K (initiation fee)-membership club, Kith Ivy. This members-only complex will be dedicated to the growing Padel-obsessed community. However, smoothies will still be available via Uber Eats/Postmates. (forbes)

🤖 AI Influencers Like Lil’ Miquela and Mia Zelu Are Redefining Fame Virtual stars like Lil’ Miquela and Mia Zelu are rewriting the rules of fame—posting selfies they never took and selling brands they’ve never worn. While efficient and scalable, they fuel debates over authenticity vs. automation. Human influencers still drive more trust, but are AI avatars here to stay? (nyt)

💫 Anthropic Valuation Hits $183 Billion The generative AI model maker initially set out to raise $5 billion but quickly blast through that because of investor demand. Anthropic’s valuation nearly tripled since March, when it was worth $61.5 billion. (wsj)

🫙 Kraft Heinz is Splitting into Two Companies One will focus on faster-growing businesses, such as sauces, spreads and shelf-stable meals. Those brands include Heinz, Philadelphia and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other company will focus on the struggling grocery items and food away from home businesses, including the Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables brands. (cnn)

🎾 At the US Open, Beauty Wants to Play With the Pros The US Open is doubling as a beauty playground. Brands are setting up on-site salons and glam hubs—like Julien Farel’s courtside pop-up salon—to reach both athletes and fans. For beauty, sports arenas are the new runways. (bof)

📱Grindr Built a Wildly Successful Dating App. Will its Push Into AI Finally Get Wall Street’s Attention? Grindr—long a hookup app success—is now pitching itself as an AI-powered social platform. With new features like “Right Now” live feeds, AI Wingman assistants, and A-List recommendations it’s not just reinventing engagement—it’s already outperforming rival apps in revenue per user. 👀 (sherwood)

🧘 Does Your Brand Need a Chief AI Officer? AI is no longer just a buzzword—it’s becoming a boardroom priority. Luxury and retail brands are debating whether to add a Chief AI Officer to oversee automation, data strategy, and ethical adoption. Lululemon has already appointed one, underscoring how quickly this role could become as standard as the CMO. (vogue business)

💼 Inside Wondermind: What Happened to Selena Gomez’s Start-up? Selena Gomez’s mental-fitness platform launched with buzz and star power—but momentum has cooled. From leadership shakeups and employee dissatisfaction to stalled growth, Wondermind is struggling to turn celebrity backing into a sustainable business. (the cut)

👜 Sorry Europe, American Luxury Brands Are In Move over Paris and Milan—American luxury labels are having a moment. From Coach to Ralph Lauren, U.S. brands are outperforming European rivals in growth and cultural buzz, proving homegrown luxury can shine just as brightly. (wsj)

🥞 Cracker Barrel’s Sales Took Hit Before It Went Back to Old Logo Cracker Barrel’s modern rebrand fell flat as conservative customers deemed it to be “woke”, driving sales down as they longed for tradition. The chain is bringing back its classic logo to restore familiarity, betting nostalgia will bring diners back to the table. (bloomberg)

🌡️ Sauna Culture Hits the Mainstream From niche wellness ritual to ubiquitous trend, saunas—once the preserve of spas and retreats—are now popping up everywhere, offering a steamy antidote to modern life’s hustle. (nyt)

🥛 Starbucks to Launch Protein-Packed Cold Foam, Lattes Later This Month Starting late September, Starbucks is adding a protein boost to its menu. New cold foams and lattes pack 15–36g of protein, mixing the protein fad with coffeehouse indulgence—a win for wellness-minded sippers. (cnbc)

📦 'Millions of Dollars in Lost Profit': Brands are Mourning the Death of De Minimis Exporters are reeling after the U.S. axed the de minimis import exemption. Affordable small-parcel imports just got costly—leading brands to raise prices, slash SKUs, or even shutter product lines. (modern retail)

👔 Nestle Abruptly Removes CEO Freixe Over Undisclosed Relationship With Subordinate In a sudden shakeup, Nestlé ousted CEO Laurent Freixe for concealing a romantic relationship with a subordinate. His exit sparked investor jitters amid sliding sales, followed swiftly by the appointment of Nespresso head Philipp Navratil. (reuters)

💍 Taylor Swift’s Engagement Ring Marks a Return to Vintage Elegance Taylor Swift’s ring channels old-world romance—an elongated cushion/old mine-cut diamond with intricate engravings and timeless charm. The look is fueling a surge in heirloom-style demand and resetting the tone for bridal trends. (nyt)

🧠 Idea of the Week: Vibe Coding

Vibe coding is a software development process where a developer guides an AI through natural language prompts to generate, refine, and debug code, rather than writing it manually.

Coined by Andrej Karpathy in 2025, this approach emphasizes focusing on the overall "vibe" or vision of the application by using the AI as a conversational coding assistant. In even simpler terms, you can write in the type of app you’re looking to build, and these AI models can help you to build it, using your descriptors.

The developer's role shifts to guiding the AI, testing its output, and providing feedback, making it an iterative process of prompting, reviewing, and refining the AI's work. 

👉 At its core, AI is changing the game for how developers work and how products get made. Expect to see WAY more of this over the next few years as vibe coding democratizes the ability to create tech products.

Venture Capital, Innovation & Entrepreneurship💰🌍💼

🌍 Mantic Which Claims to Forecast Global Events Emerges from Stealth A London-based stealth startup named Mantic has emerged, offering “judgmental forecasting” AI—designed to rival top human superforecasters with predictions for geopolitical shocks, supply chain risks, and competitor moves. Backed by a $4M pre-seed led by Episode 1, it's aiming to bring human-like reasoning to prediction at industrial scale. (tech eu)

🚀 Lovable's CEO Isn't Too Worried About the Vibe-Coding Competition Swedish AI unicorn Lovable, valued at $1.8B with 2.3M users, leads the vibe-coding wave—helping non-coders build apps via AI prompts. CEO Anton Osika isn’t phased by rivals; he believes Lovable’s speed, security, and flexibility (thanks to multi-model architecture) will keep it on top. (tech crunch)

🔍 Amazon Launches Lens Live, an AI-Powered Shopping Tool for Use in the Real World Amazon just launched Lens Live, an AI-powered feature that lets you point your iPhone at any product and instantly get a swipeable feed of similar items. Integrated with AI assistant Rufus for real-time summaries and purchase options, making discovery feel effortless. (tech crunch)

Brain Food- The Social Currency Podcast Roundup

Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest - Bill Ready has never been afraid to make big bets—and at Pinterest, those bets are paying off. Since becoming CEO, he’s doubled down on building a healthier internet: one where all accounts under 16 are private by default, AI is tuned for positivity, and users come away inspired instead of exhausted.

I sat down with Bill to trace his journey from his father’s auto shop in Kentucky to the helm of PayPal, Google, and now Pinterest. We dig into the headline-making decisions that reshaped Pinterest’s future, the rise of Gen Z shopping habits, and how collaborations like Pinterest Predicts with Emma Chamberlain’s coffee brand are setting cultural trends. If you want a look at what social media can be when it prioritizes progress over doomscrolling, this conversation is it. I’ve been gushing about this episode for months now, and I am SO excited that it’s live.

Amy Liu, CEO of Tower 28- Some say cult-favorite beauty brand Tower 28 is an “overnight success”— but founder Amy Liu is here to share how the brand’s success was years in the making. I sat dive into the real story behind Tower 28’s rise: from Amy’s scrappy Sephora pitch and pandemic launch to lessons from her friends and family fundraising round. Amy also gives her take on the perfect morning routine and the importance of picking the right partners— in business and in life.

Resources/Links/Reads 🌶️🧥

✒️ This brand for finding your perfect pen (toms studio)

🖥️ Free resources for mastering Meta Ads (jon loomer)

🔖 Somebody Invented a Better Bookmark (lesswrong)

👛 Manners - Kate Spade (amazon)

📈 TikTok Trends Are Driving Random Consumer Spending Spikes (bloomberg)

🏆 Why Success Feels Empty (stoic wisdom)

📊 Minimum Viable Consistency (John Cutler)

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P.S. - If you see any typos in this newsletter, know that I did it on purpose just like The New Yorker does via their style guide.

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