Daniel Folkman

building something new | fmr Chief Business Officer @gopuff

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

@geoffreywoo Oh man

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

Howie doesn’t miss.

[Ian Rapoport @RapSheet]

From the NFL Draft: A wild story, as the #Eagles trade up for Makai Lemon... while he was on the phone with the #Steelers.

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

What an incredible addition to the @gopuff board. @HowardSchultz is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished operators in 4-wall consumer. A ton of credit to @YakirGola and @Rafaelilishayev for building this relationship and bringing someone of this caliber onto the board.

[Rafael Ilishayev @Rafaelilishayev]

Excited to announce that @HowardSchultz has joined Gopuff’s Board of Directors. Over the years, @YakirGola and I had the privilege of building a real relationship with Howard learning from his remarkable journey building Starbucks into a global icon. His wisdom, experience, and strategic perspective will be invaluable as we continue pushing the boundaries of instant commerce and strengthening the Gopuff brand. Deeply grateful to have him as formal partner on this journey.

https://t.co/9NJXfD9kCT

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

This is a great breakdown by @artlevy. At Gopuff, our M&A strategy was built around three core pillars; 1) geographic expansion (where we operated) 2) category expansion (which products we sold), and 3) product roadmap (how we sold those products).

When considering M&A, the conversation rarely started, or even ended, with buying revenue. It was entirely rooted in determining whether or not a deal we were considering would materially accelerate one or more of those three pillars.

To proceed, we needed to feel confident that we could effectively advance one, or more, of these key initiatives in a cost, resource, and/or time efficient way. If the asset had meaningful revenue, it was a bonus.

This is a smart move by Uber.

[Art Levy @artlevy]

Everyone thinks Uber acquiring Blacklane is a premium travel play.

The real story here is the sequencing.

This was a Product roadmap acceleration disguised as M&A.

Buying time - not revenue.

Let me explain: 🧵

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

@Emily_Sundberg lol

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

“This is all about our country right now. I love the USA. I love my teammates. The USA hockey brotherhood is so strong. I’m so proud to be American right now. That’s just a ballsy, gutsy win. That’s American hockey right there.”

What a moment. What a victory. Gd bless America 🇺🇸

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

There is nothing in sports that rivals Olympic hockey and there is no greater rivalry than US and Canada. Tomorrow should be electric.

The level of play this year is the best it’s ever been. I am very long on the NHL and the future of hockey.

[Barstool Gambling @stoolgambling]

See you Sunday 🇺🇸

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

This is such a great analysis

[Lulu Cheng Meservey @lulumeservey]

I had watch this several times. This maneuver was extremely hard to pull off and he handled it masterfully.

Background: last week The Telegraph ran a headline saying Spacey was now homeless. One of those things where it’s humiliating even to deny it.

So Spacey completely flipped the framing:

Instead of embarrassingly having to defend his solvency, he reversed the frame to speak from a position of high status. People have been so kind in offering him support that it would be dishonest to let them believe he actually needs the help!

He doesn’t treat the “homeless” label as an indignity to recover from, but as an instance of sloppy clickbait that won him undeserved sympathy.

In this framing, he’s graciously refusing to exploit the generosity of the many people misled by The Telegraph (which he makes look even more absurd by doing this via video showing a beautiful home in the background).

Standout moments:

> “I don’t usually make it my business to correct the media; if I did I wouldn’t have time for much else...”

Starts with wry humor, to show he doesn’t take this too seriously and neither should you. By lumping all media inaccuracies together, he also casts doubt on other, way more damaging, news reports. Makes you wonder what else the media got wrong.

> “I feel the need to respond — not to the press, but to the thousands of people who have reached out…to all of you let me say I’m touched by your generosity. Full stop.”

He makes clear who his audience is and puts himself on the same side as them (momentarily to be united against The Telegraph).

> “It’s a shame The Telegraph chose to undermine the work of their own journalist by selling him out with a knowingly misleading headline for the sake of clicks.”

Pits the editors (dishonest) against the journalist (“wonderful”). He’s not offended on his own behalf, but standing up for the journalist. Also shows he’s not antagonistic toward all media.

> “I said I was living out of hotels…going where the work is, just as when I started out in this business. I’ve been working nearly nonstop for a year and for that I have so much to be grateful for.”

He’s obviously saying that he’s getting a lot of work and his career is as strong as ever, but framing it as gratitude instead of a rebuttal shows confidence and is more convincing.

> “There are many people who are indeed actually living on the streets or in their cars…and my heart goes out to them. But it is clear I am not one of them, nor was I attempting to say I was.”

This was particularly elegant. It’s hard to say “hey don’t call me that” without seeming to denigrate people who are “that.” The way Spacey frames it is that there’s no shame in financial hardship, but he simply wouldn’t want to accept sympathy for a struggle he hasn’t endured.

Lastly, note that format matters. This wouldn’t have been nearly as effective in writing. Video was the perfect format, given the “show don’t tell” home in the background and the fact that screen presence is his superpower.

Whatever else you might think about Kevin Spacey, it’s hard to watch this and walk away thinking he’s actually homeless.

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

Have always been a huge fan of @patrick_oshag and @InvestLikeBest. He and his team are taking that same thoughtful approach with @joincolossus. Each piece is of the highest of quality. More impressed with each piece that they put out. One of one.

https://t.co/QuGNuE4Dab

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

Two young children had their father stolen from them. A woman lost her husband. Over beliefs. Over speech. Because of a difference of opinion.

I am gutted for this family. I am deeply concerned for our future.

This is not the America our country was built to be. And it is not the America we should accept.

We call ourselves the greatest nation in the world, but right now we are broken. If violence becomes the price of participation, then freedom itself is at risk.

We cannot allow that to be our future. It is not only our leaders who must rise above this dangerous divisiveness, it is all of us. Every day, we must choose to build hope, rather than harden hate.

Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk.

https://t.co/Hqg3V0mYsv

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

These guys don't stop. Congrats @eglyman, @karimatiyeh, and the @tryramp team on another huge milestone.

[Eric Glyman @eglyman]

Today, @tryramp raised $500M at a $22.5B valuation.

Finance is at an inflection point. How does an industry change?

Gradually, then suddenly. Decades where nothing happens; months where decades happen.

Now, we’re teaching software to think like people. Exciting times ahead.

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

This is brilliant.

[Astronomer @astronomerio]

Thank you for your interest in Astronomer.

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

The Osama Bin Laden documentary on @netflix is electric.

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

This is wild.

[Ankur Nagpal @ankurnagpal]

A mind blowing stat:

Jerry Buss bought the Lakers for $67M in 1979, and just exited for 149 times his money at $10B in 2025

Sounds like a lot, right?

That is somehow less than he would have made simply indexing the S&P 500 over that time period ($13B)

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

@kevinleeme I love this.

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

@joshk lol

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

Huge fan of this for so many reasons!

[Eric Glyman @eglyman]

Would you pull Saquon Barkley off the field to file expense reports?

You better not say yes.

Welcome @tryramp’s newest, fastest partner and investor, and the star of our very first big game ad — @saquon! Let’s go birds 🦅

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

@eglyman Epic

[Daniel Folkman @danielfolkman]

This is incredibly well-deserved. Emil is a brilliant strategist, thoughtful mentor, and great friend. I have no doubt he will make a significant impact for our country. Congrats, @emilmichael!

[Emil Michael @emilmichael]

I couldn’t be more grateful for @realDonaldTrump ‘s nomination to serve our nation as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. It is a dream come true and I can’t wait to get started as part of @PeteHegseth ‘s leadership team. Our best days are yet to come!