Hello dear readers!
After a few months of taking long walks through idyllic paths that looked like Microsoft Windows desktop backgrounds, catching up with the dearest of friends, and interning in NYC, it’s time to hit the books again. I like to joke that when I’m not attending school, I’m still attending “the school” of life, so allow me to share two realizations I had this summer.
The first relates to the idea that startups are not the only worthy thing one can “start.” I believe that we have the moral responsibility to create, build, and sustain institutions that can make the world a better place. So with that, I’m increasingly engaged in communities, be they arts, policy, sports, culinary, or service-oriented, where a product, ironically, is not the final product.
I’ve also been mindful of the fact that though you should work hard, please don’t make the unbearable sustainable. You don’t want to wake up one day after being heads down building and realize a year has gone by and you haven’t looked up when necessary to adjust course. Life without beauty is nothing, so don’t only live via accomplishments on your screen. Seek out beautiful landscapes, architecture, performances, and connections wherever you are and express your overflowing gratitude for experiencing them — people really are too shy to really show how much things mean to them!
Tchau e obrigada por ler,
Ula
OpenAI Comes to Warsaw 🧠
As part of their world tour meeting both users and government officials, the OpenAI team stopped by the University of Warsaw in May. Having close ties to both NYC and SF, I never expected that I would meet them at UW of all places! I was excited to hear that 10 out of the first 50 employees were Polish engineers, but beyond that, I was disappointed with the generalist nature of the discussion and Google-ability of answers to peoples’ questions. Sure, OpenAI is on a PR and sales mission and I am grateful that Sam and Wojtek stayed after to chat with us, but they should have organized smaller, more technical and ethics-oriented meetings to get concrete insights about what’s happening on the ground. I’m honestly not sure what they (or I) learned about Polish tech and our country’s adoption of AI from this event.
Later on, I dropped by the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) to meet with Head of Press, Nina Vincenz-Krajewska, to discuss how the exchange remains competitive through strategic acquisitions in the CEE region, as well as through a thematic strength in the video game industry. Thank you very much for the wonderful conversation! As I was leaving, I ended up running into some friends from the Polish Economic Forum in London earlier this year. We couldn’t believe the coincidence and I stayed to cheer on their presentations at an investing competition. The world is SO much smaller than you think!
My last encounter with Polish business for the summer was taking a bullet train to Sopot, a historic seaside town, for the European Financial Congress and learning about geopolitical and technological challenges that banking faces. One of the best moments of this whole summer was walking down the molo with two of my dearest friends after the day’s speaker events ended. It felt like a scene straight out of a movie!
Advice from Travelling Solo 🧳
Hostels are absolutely the way to go — try to snag one with free breakfast! I made new friends every single day from the coolest countries. We went on spontaneous trips, danced in the streets during the month-long Santo António festival, and confided our true opinions and deepest dilemmas in each other, like only strangers who meet once in a lifetime could. A beautiful moment was opening someone’s American Visa results with them as we took a ferry to Almada in the middle of the night to see the Ponte 25 de Abril from up close. I’m not sure if our paths will cross again, but it was truly special to meet you.
Study a map, getting a hang for how the main neighborhoods in a city fit in together 🗺️! Don’t over-plan your days with touristy things (you can visit such attractions anytime, so optimize for unique experiences only available in the moment!), wander and get lost, but do take a walking tour to learn a place’s history. I have a fondness for port cities and could see an odd resemblance between Lisbon, even as an imperial capital, and San Francisco, due to the steep hills and fog.
Really read Google Reviews to find the yummiest hole in the wall restaurants! Ask the cooks and staff for stories and recipes. Leave reviews, too :)! I fell in love with cheese and honey tapas, sardines with rice and beans 🐟, and heavenly pastéis de Nata, which I will definitely be re-making at home.
Ditch English, use your broken high school Spanish or French, and learn some local key words! Taking public transportation and attending mass in Portuguese were both highlights, as I blended in with locals.
Notice the companies that, as my friend put it, rule food supply chains and infrastructure (payment systems, water, cars, boats, elevators, etc). Many are huge non-American monopolists!
Private Equity Consulting Intern @ Accordion
This summer, I interned at a quite young and agile professional services company. It was definitely a mix of corporate and startup culture, exposing me to the mechanisms of both PE funds and their port-cos. Working in Midtown was incredible because I got to peek into the public markets of Wall Street and then the private ones of Park Avenue. I ended up helping with a few IPO, take private, and spin-off deals, as well as designing our initial competitive intelligence strategy. I loved working with a team who knew that each spreadsheet had a real company and story behind it, thus embracing an ownership mentality.
I wrote more about the changing nature of private equity ➡️ here!