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Sophie Michaels liked thisSophie Michaels liked thisCan credit markets continue to fund the AI buildout? Max Lukianchikov, credit derivatives trader in Goldman Sachs Global Banking & Markets, separates the signal from the noise.
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Sophie Michaels liked thisSophie Michaels liked thisBetter late! ... really looking forward to BevNET.com tomorrow, speaking with Martín Caballero, and connecting with this amazing list of brands and founders. Reach out if you'll be there! New Fare Hallie Bonnar Sophie Michaels Daisy Bowes Williamson Sabrina Wong Bill Shufelt David Kimmell Conor Begley Chuck Cotter John Lawson Jennie Ripps https://lnkd.in/evcBr88f
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Sophie Michaels liked thisSophie Michaels liked thisExcited to join Santugal Holdings this summer, a holding company that acquires and operates digital services businesses, where I'll be helping lead the team's next acquisition!
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Sophie Michaels liked thisSophie Michaels liked thisLoved chatting with Modern Retail for this story - only wish this piece had been longer (!) in exploring “what’s working in food right now”. Gabriela Barkho brings up some sobering data: according to Carta, 2025 was a rough year for consumer startups. Combined, consumer startups raised about $800 million in the first quarter of last year, the lowest since 2019. The report also showed the median seed round raised by consumer startups in that period dropped to about $700,000, the lowest in six years. There are so many reasons for the shift in funding in consumer. - There’s the mega-vacuum that is AI. Crunchbase estimates roughly $316 billion of AI startup funding across 2024–2025 alone, according to Barron's. If you add annual global private AI investment from 2019–2025, you're looking at roughly $800 billion–$1.2 trillion cumulatively. - There is some fatigue and impatience around consumer exits (something I speak to in the article). - There’s also new discipline and efficiency entering the world of consumer brands. Blame it on lack of funding and with it, the “path to profitability” focus; it’s put more weight on founders and teams to be efficient, reduce burn and limit their reliance on external capital. There will continue to be mega rounds like the ones Gabriela highlights in this piece and we suspect there will be even more quiet, modest raises happening for businesses that have proven efficiency. Those companies are the ones commanding investment, and in many cases, not focused on the big announcement or press that used to be a hallmark of the industry. New Fare Hallie Bonnar Daisy Bowes Williamson Sabrina Wong Sophie Michaels https://lnkd.in/etUdfBQABrami's and Mosh's recent funding rounds show what's winning in food right nowBrami's and Mosh's recent funding rounds show what's winning in food right now
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Sophie Michaels liked thisSophie Michaels liked thisI’ve graduated with my MBA from The Wharton School! To quote our keynote speaker and new favorite DJ, David Solomon, it felt like the best dinner party you’ve ever been to... but it lasts two years. I had the chance to serve as a William P. Lauder Leadership Fellow, help lead our retail club, teach public speaking courses, and travel the world alongside some of the most brilliant and kind people. I learned from professors who changed the way I see the world, joined an ice hockey team, tried to go viral on TikTok, watched my best friends build companies, and learned just how much we like to talk about AI. This fall, I’ll be returning to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a Consultant in the NYC office. Before then, I'll spend the summer with the Lantern Real Estate Advisors + Partners team in the retail real estate space and continue my work with Resilience Education. Thank you to everyone who believed in this version of me before it existed. I’m beyond grateful for it all. Here we go! 🤍
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