

✍🏻 Who is Polina Marinova Pompliano?
Polina Marinova Pompliano is the author of The Profile, a newsletter that profiles the world’s most successful people.
She spent five years at FORTUNE, where she was the author + editor of Term Sheet, an industry-leading newsletter on dealmaking.
Polina has interviewed some of the most influential dealmakers in the world, including: Melinda Gates, Steve Case, Chamath Palihapitiya and others.
Let us know what you think on Twitter: @bzaidi & @polina_marinova
🧠 What You’ll Learn From This Convo:
In the conversation, you’ll learn about:
— the rise of independent writers + the creator economy
— evolution of the media landscape
— future of media monetization
— her writing process + the art of the edit
— actionable lessons from The Profile, featuring: Malcolm Gladwell, Charlie Munger, Anthony Bourdain, Ira Glass, Elon Musk + more
⏳Time Stamps (YouTube)
00:02:10 Intro
00:04:26 “Oprah is not JUST Oprah”
00:09:17 Leaving Fortune Magazine
00:15:07 Background On The Profile
00:18:32 Expectations vs Reality
00:23:06 Why Polina Uses Substack For Her Newsletter
00:26:36 Evolution of Monetization in New Media
00:35:43 Writing Process: Summarizing 128 Books
00:40:16 The Art of The Edit
00:43:36 Building Your Initial Audience
00:45:13 Growing An Audience
Lessons From The Profile:
00:47:53 Gladwell: “3 Hours of Thinking for 1 Hour of Writing”
00:51:18 “Interesting, Not Perfect”
00:53:17 How To Find Meaning In Your Work
00:54:55 Ira Glass: “Great Stories Happen To Those Who Can Tell Them”
00:57:23 Charlie Munger: Inversion + Avoidance of Stupidity
00:58:52 Survivor vs Victim
01:00:09 The Bourdain Principle
01:05:09 Lessons From Shonda Rhimes
01:08:25 “I’m No Longer Looking For An Enemy…”
01:10:46 Guy Raz: Stories We Tell Ourselves
01:12:55 Elon Musk: The Chef vs The Cook
01:15:57 Thinking From First Principles
01:18:27 Unconcious Bias
01:19:48 Human Hardware vs Software
01:21:39 Wrap Up
⏳Time Stamps (Podcast)
00:02:47 Intro
00:05:03 “Oprah is not JUST Oprah”
00:09:54 Leaving Fortune Magazine
00:15:44 Background On The Profile
00:19:09 Expectations vs Reality
00:23:43 Why Polina Uses Substack For Her Newsletter
00:27:13 Evolution of Monetization in New Media
00:36:20 Writing Process: Summarizing 128 Books
00:40:53 The Art of The Edit
00:44:13 Building Your Initial Audience
00:45:50 Growing An Audience
Lessons From The Profile:
00:48:30 Gladwell: “3 Hours of Thinking for 1 Hour of Writing”
00:51:55 “Interesting, Not Perfect”
00:53:54 How To Find Meaning In Your Work
00:55:32 Ira Glass: “Great Stories Happen To Those Who Can Tell Them”
00:58:00 Charlie Munger: Inversion + Avoidance of Stupidity
00:59:29 Survivor vs Victim
01:00:46 The Bourdain Principle
01:05:46 Lessons From Shonda Rhimes
01:09:02 “I’m No Longer Looking For An Enemy…”
01:11:23 Guy Raz: Stories We Tell Ourselves
01:13:32 Elon Musk: The Chef vs The Cook
01:16:34 Thinking From First Principles
01:19:04 Unconcious Bias
01:20:25 Human Hardware vs Software
01:22:16 Wrap Up