Grocery Store Botox? The $17B Med Spa Boom Meets the Private Equity Playbook
You can now get a discount on your Botox or Brow lift at… Erewhon? The latest partnership between Erewhon and med spa startup Ject isn’t just a publicity stunt. It’s a bigger signal: medical aesthetic...
27 Feb 13min
Jesse Draper (Halogen Ventures) on Betting on Companies Early, Founder Red Flags, and Why Investing in Women Is NOT a Charity
Jesse Draper has heard it all: “nepo baby,” “charity fund,” “too niche”—and she turned every jab into fuel. After getting laughed out of rooms while raising her first fund, Jesse built Halogen Venture...
24 Feb 1h 15min
Is This the Starbucks Comeback?
Starbucks didn’t lose to a cooler coffee chain. It lost to itself. Today, Sammi unpacks how one of the most dominant brands in modern retail engineered its own slide and what new CEO Brian Niccol is ...
20 Feb 13min
Gregg Renfrew (Counter) on the $1B Beautycounter Acquisition, Getting Pushed Out of Her Company, and Starting New
Gregg Renfrew didn’t just build a beauty brand; she helped create an entire category. Long before “clean beauty” became a marketing buzzword, Gregg was lobbying Congress, reformulating products, and t...
17 Feb 1h 19min
How Pat McGrath’s $1B Beauty Empire Ended in Bankruptcy
When the most legendary makeup artist in the world, Pat McGrath, finally launched her own beauty brand, her hero product sold out in minutes. Within three years, Pat McGrath Labs was valued at $1 bil...
13 Feb 18min
Aparna Chennapragada (Microsoft) on AI’s Next Two Years, Category Collapse, and Using AI To Ace a Meeting
AI is no longer a future trend—it’s already reshaping how countless people work. And few people are closer to that shift than Aparna Chennapragada, Chief Product Officer for AI experiences at Microsof...
10 Feb 56min
The 1 Rule That Made Aldi America’s Fastest-Growing Grocery Chain
Aldi is quietly becoming the fastest-growing grocery train, without flashy stores, massive advertising budgets, or endless product choice. In this episode, Sammi breaks down how the company’s deliber...
6 Feb 17min
Dianna Cohen (Crown Affair) on Building a Cult DTC Brand, Choosing a Hero Product, and Why “Take Your Time” Wins
What does it actually take to build a beauty brand that feels timeless? Today, Sammi sits down with Dianna Cohen, founder and CEO of Crown Affair, the cult haircare brand that made slowing down a comp...
3 Feb 1h 9min
