Good morning! Poppi could get acquired, surveillance tech monitors women in Iran, and Gwyneth Paltrow takes Goop into its next era. Have a mindful Monday.
– Next chapter. Gwyneth Paltrow founded Goop nearly 20 years ago—which means Goop is almost a “heritage brand” in an increasingly crowded marketplace of lifestyle competitors, Paltrow tells me in a new interview.
The actor-turned-founder called me last week for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of Goop, leading through layoffs, and how she’s grown as a founder over the past decade-plus. Talking to Paltrow, it’s immediately clear that she’s a real-deal founder. She speaks the language fluently, from how she decided which categories to exit and which to focus on (some Goop had experimented with, like sexual wellness, saw low lifetime value); to deciding to do layoffs (a “difficult” but “necessary” choice to put payroll costs back into growth); to her advice to new founders (it’s about ESPs and QuickBooks).
Paltrow credits a close-knit group chat of female founders and CEOs with helping her grow as a leader. “It’s sort of like Fight Club,” she jokes. “We’re not really supposed to talk about it.”
And Goop is also growing. Despite the headlines around its 2024 restructuring, I report that revenue grew 10% between 2023 and 2024, with growth across the three categories Goop is now focused on: beauty, its G. Label fashion line, and its Los Angeles-based takeout chain Goop Kitchen.
As Goop enters this next chapter, Paltrow says profitability is coming and that she’s not interested in selling for at least three more years.
“It’s amazing to me we’ve been around this long,” she says. “We want to energetically own who we are and what we’ve accomplished—continue to innovate and accept our place in the landscape and lean into it.”
Read the full interview here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Drink up. PepsiCo is reported to be close to a $1.5 billion deal to acquire Poppi, the brand of prebiotic sodas founded by Allison Ellsworth. The potential acquisition arrives after PepsiCo scrapped its own functional soda competitor. The two brands haven't commented on the rumor. Fortune
- Rest in peace. Nita Lowey, a former New York congresswoman, died at 87 on Saturday. She was the first woman to lead the House Appropriations Committee and fought for women's rights over her 32 years in Congress, including supporting Anita Hill during her 1991 sexual harassment testimony and opposing federal encroachment on abortion rights. New York Times
- Under surveillance. A UN report found that Iran has increasingly used electronic surveillance to monitor women’s compliance with the country's mandatory headscarf policy while in public. Aerial drones, facial recognition software, and cameras were among the forms of technology used. Iran's mission to the UN did not respond to a comment request. CBS
- Wedding day. Actor and angel investor Kerry Washington led the $500,000 pre-seed round for Cheersy, a day-of-service wedding coordination startup. Founder Amy Shack Egan said Cheersy works like Airbnb—but in this case, it’s a marketplace for wedding coordinators. Soul Cycle cofounder Elizabeth Cutler and Save the Date founder Jennifer Gilbert also invested. TechCrunch
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Egon Zehnder, a leadership advisory firm, appointed Roopa Foley and Loula Lefkaritis as global co-leaders of its financial services practice. Most recently, Foley was a consultant, financial services, and Lefkaritis was global head of banking and markets at the firm.
Technology solutions provider Syntax Systems appointed Bindu Crandall as CMO. Most recently, she was CMO at Duck Creek Technologies.
Blend, which provides enterprises with AI data analytics and services, named Sara Pryor chief people officer. Most recently, she was chief people officer at Rebellion Defense.
JND Legal Administration named Nicole Christ SVP of operations. Previously, she managed the FTC’s office of claims and refunds.
Interactive Brokers appointed Lori Conkling to its board of directors. Conkling is head of TV and film licensing at Netflix.
ON MY RADAR
Asian American women are getting lung cancer despite never smoking. It’s baffling scientists and leading to more research NBC
The WNBA should be careful about adding too many teams too fast Bloomberg
Dylan Mulvaney and Laverne Cox on what it means to be a trans ‘it’ girl Elle
PARTING WORDS
“I've been able to stand up for myself and not feel like I would disappear. I can shoulder it.”
—Actor Scarlett Johansson on reaching a place in her career where she feels settled