Everlane, Shein and the Decline of Millennial Optimism

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Big Take

Episode: Everlane, Shein and the Decline of Millennial Optimism
Date: June 19, 2026
Host: Bloomberg and iHeartPodcasts
Featured Guests: Sarah Holder (Host/Reporter), Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder), Amanda Mull (Bloomberg Businessweek)

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Overview

This episode of “Big Take” investigates Everlane’s recent acquisition by Shein—a move that shocked its millennial fanbase and sparked debate about the future of ethics in retail, the direct-to-consumer (DTC) model, and the fading optimism of millennial consumers. The discussion centers on why Everlane lost its way, how Shein’s logistics-driven model is changing the retail landscape, and what these developments mean for ethical fashion and consumer behavior in a more price-sensitive era.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Everlane’s Identity and Value Proposition

• Everlane built its brand around "radical transparency," quality basics, sustainability, and transparent pricing.

• Many customers remain loyal due to the brand’s stated values and perceived higher material quality.

  “They brand it as radically sustainable, and they're also transparent about where they source their clothes from.” (Customer, 02:30)

• However, Everlane’s sale to Shein triggered disappointment:

  “When I found out that it's been acquired by Shein, which is like this mega fast fashion brand outlet, it was very appalling to me.” (Customer, 02:44)

2. The Shein Acquisition: Shockwaves and Reactions

• Shein, notorious for fast fashion and supply chain opacity, acquired debt-laden Everlane for a reported $100 million.

• Customers and the public expressed disbelief at the values clash:

  “Wake up, babe. Everlane apparently is selling to shein for $100 million. This is my last straw.” (Customer, 03:44)

  “One of the most controversial fast fashion brands is acquiring allegedly a brand that's a leader in ethical, sustainable, modern consumerism.” (Sarah Holder, 03:55)

• Co-founder Michael Prisman was surprised by the strong reaction:

  “I don't think either of us expected that kind of a reaction because in many ways Everlane had lost its way in the past few years.” (Michael Prisman, 04:24)

3. Rise and Fall of the Millennial-Driven DTC Model

• Everlane thrived in the 2010s by appealing to millennial ideals amid the DTC boom:

  “It was the Obama…generation of idealistic young people who were looking to express their values, however it was possible. Everlane saw this generation and went, we could tell them how clothes are made. We could help them feel good about the choices they're making.” (Customer, 06:15)

• The brand moved from transparency in pricing to transparency in factories and sustainability.

• Their unique website featured detailed supply chain info—a novel approach at the time.

4. What Went Wrong for Everlane?

• Pandemic Impact:
  Target demographic (office workers, “laptop jobs”) began working from home, slashing demand for Everlane's office-ready basics.

• Consumer Behavior Shift:
  Price sensitivity and cynicism grew among shoppers. Increased awareness of the apparel industry’s realities made ethical consumption feel futile.

  “People become...disillusioned of the ethical consumer behavior idea...get sort of sick of trying to mediate the risks and the downsides of it themselves.” (Customer, 08:06)

• Leadership instability, unsuccessful pivots, and debt from private equity further weakened the brand.

5. Shein’s Model and Its Industry Impact

• Logistics Over Ethos: Shein excels at supply chain efficiency, offering low-cost, on-demand fashion with little brand narrative or ethical positioning.

  “Shein is built on not necessarily like ideas or design, but on logistics...no one particular brand ethos except cheap and fast.” (Customer, 08:56)

• Shein faces constant criticism over labor conditions, environmental harm, and copyright infringement.

• Michael Prisman is openly critical:

  “It was not conducive to the environment, but not just the environment in general, just waste and over consumption.” (Michael Prisman, 10:09)

  “I have a negative impression of Shein. So I would continue to stay there.” (Michael Prisman, 10:21)

6. Why Did Shein Acquire Everlane?

• Strategic Expansion:
  Shein may seek to enter higher-income markets and emulate rising stars like Quince, using Everlane’s brand equity.

  “My theory is that Shein has been looking at the sort of meteoric growth of a brand we haven't mentioned yet, which is Quints, and said we would like to apply the Shein logistics structure to a brand that already appeals to like a higher income, more materials conscious customer.” (Customer, 14:12)

• Quince’s success demonstrates demand for “affordable luxury” using global supply chains, lean inventory, and data-driven product launches.

• Shein could use its logistics backbone to transform Everlane but faces skepticism about preserving its ethical brand.

7. The Changing Retail Landscape & "Millennial Optimism"

• The market is splitting: ultra-premium goods for the wealthy, fast fashion for budget-conscious consumers (the “K-shaped economy”).

  “What that means is you can end up with either fast fashion or sort of niche luxury brands.” (Michael Prisman, 18:48)

• Consumers are less motivated by ethics in their purchases if it means paying more:

  “If there's one thing about the American consumer they don't want to buy less.” (Customer, 19:33)

8. Uncertain Future for Everlane Under Shein

• Shein promises to keep Everlane independent and “true to our long standing brand values,” but guests are skeptical.

  “I think it would be possible if Shein wanted to let them. But...why Shein would buy the company if they were intending not to apply many of the elements of their logistics system to the company.” (Customer, 20:09)

• Other DTC brands like Allbirds and Casper Sleep have also struggled, often due to faulty business fundamentals and failing to drive recurring customer purchases.

9. Lessons for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

• Success depends on identifying real market inefficiencies (e.g., Warby Parker for glasses) and creating reasons for customers to return.

• Brands relying on infrequent purchases (like mattresses) found it hard to survive after initial hype.

  “If you're making the right kind of product and you understand your customer and...they have a reason to [repurchase], then there's no reason that these companies can't continue to thrive.” (Customer, 21:41)

10. Balancing Mission and Capital

• Prisman reflects on the inherent tension between maintaining a mission-driven business and meeting outside investors’ financial requirements:

  “...the challenge of bringing in venture capital and private equity into a mission driven company...once you bring on capital, you have to be somewhat a steward of that capital. And so now you're managing both capital and mission. And those two can be in conflict with each other, no doubt.” (Michael Prisman, 22:11)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Everlane’s Brand Ethos:

  • "Even if you don't really shop there anymore, like, what probably stays with you from Everlane as a brand is the fact that they did have this sort of like ethical consumer ethos." (Customer, 04:31)

• On Shein’s Operational Strategy:

  • “They scrape a lot of data about what people are buying...and they use that to respond in like a very targeted way to new trends...” (Customer, 16:12)
  • "Shein came onto the scene...their products were way too cheap and there was way too many of them." (Michael Prisman, 09:59)

• Millennial Consumerism:

  • “This is sort of like...another nail in the coffin of the era of like millennial optimism and the idea that like you as a consumer...could...make a real difference in the world.” (Customer, 19:04)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Quote | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:45–02:37 | Customer loyalty and Everlane’s values | | 02:44–03:55 | Customer reactions to Shein acquisition | | 04:06–04:31 | Michael Prisman’s surprise at public reaction | | 05:07–06:42 | Origins of Everlane and its appeal to millennials | | 07:26–08:24 | Pandemic impact and disillusionment with ethical consumerism | | 08:49–09:38 | Shein’s logistics-first model and controversies | | 14:12–15:55 | Why Shein wants Everlane: emulating Quince’s affordable luxury model | | 18:48–19:04 | The “K-shaped economy” in retail | | 19:04–19:46 | Decline of millennial optimism in ethical purchasing | | 20:09–20:31 | Skepticism about Shein maintaining Everlane’s brand values | | 21:01–21:41 | DTC fundamentals: Why some brands fail and others thrive | | 22:11–22:34 | Michael Prisman on the tension between mission and capital |

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Takeaways

• Everlane’s decline and sale feel like a pivotal end for the era of millennial “ethical consumerism.”
• Shein’s acquisition signals a retail future dominated by logistics, data, and price sensitivity—with little room for uncompromising ethics unless efficiency and value can coexist.
• Success in DTC requires both a unique value proposition and recurring customer engagement—not just idealism or a strong initial brand narrative.

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This summary covers all critical discussion points and highlights, offering a comprehensive guide to the episode’s core themes and arguments.

Transcript

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[Customer/Consumer Voice]

love the fit, the comfort, basic style, good quality.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

You might know the clothing company Everlane for its plain tees, sensible work pants, millennial cool basics. Or you might know it more by reputation. The brand's marketing has always touted its commitment to quality, sustainability and to transparent pricing. These days, Everlane isn't the retail darling it once was. It's laden with debt and struggling to connect with customers the way it did in the mid 2010s. But outside the company store in lower Manhattan in early June, customers told us Everlane's stated values are a big part of the reason they've kept shopping there. They mostly use pretty good material that it will last.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

They brand it as radically sustainable, and they're also transparent about where they source their clothes from.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

But that last customer, Anupriya Aggarwal, said she might reconsider shopping at Everlane.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

When I found out that it's been acquired by Shein, which is like this mega fast fashion brand outlet, it was very appalling to me.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Shein, the e commerce giant founded in China, bought Everlane last month from its private equity owner the sale price, a reported $100 million. Shein is a king of fast fashion. As of 2022, it released about a thousand new women's clothing styles every day, leading to concerns that its clothes aren't just fast fashion, but low quality and disposable. In addition to its environmental impact, the company has also come under scrutiny for the labor conditions of its suppliers. In some ways, Shein seemed like the anti Everlane.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

I just have questions around why they decided to sell to Shein. It just doesn't align like, value wise, you know.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Many other Everlane customers had a similar reaction.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

Wake up, babe.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Everlane apparently is selling to shein for $100 million. This is my last straw.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

What do you mean?

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

One of the most controversial fast fashion

[LPL Financial Narrator]

brands is acquiring allegedly a brand that's a leader in ethical, sustainable, modern consumerism.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

The Internet seemed to echo with wait, what?

[Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder)]

It was in some ways great to know that that many people cared.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

That's Michael Prisman, who co founded everlane back in 2011. He stepped down as CEO in 2021 and left the company's board in January 2026. When he heard about the sale, he called up another former board member.

[Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder)]

I don't think either of us expected that kind of a reaction because in many ways Everlane had lost its way in the past few years.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

Even if you don't really shop there anymore, like, what probably stays with you from Everlane as a brand is the fact that they did have this sort of like ethical consumer ethos.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Amanda Mull is a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

And people who sort of took that at face value or even people who were like mildly skeptical of it, were shocked that Everlane, that the people in charge of it would say, all right, we're going to sell this to the highest bidder, even if the highest bidder is sort of the opposite of the original Everlane promise.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

I'm Sarah Holder and this is the big take from Bloomberg News today on the show Everlane Shein and why Retail can't bank on millennial Optimism anymore. Everlane launched in San Francisco in the 2000 and tens during the early days of a direct to consumer boom. And Bloomberg's Amanda Mull says right away it found its audience.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

It designed clothes that were very much targeting like a young white collar woman who like cared about the stuff she bought and wanted high basics in like a sort of design forward, well considered type of style.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

So yeah, it felt like a very millennial brand. I was living in San Francisco and there was one right on Valencia Street. And I would always, like, wander into the very stark, basic white building.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

Yeah, sort of like a. Like the aesthetic was. Was somewhat like Apple store for clothing.

Exactly.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

But when it launched, Everlane wasn't a brick and mortar store. It was a website built around an idea.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

It was the Obama. You know, it was after the Great Recession. You had millennials as a huge consumer generation coming into the workplace, sort of starting to grow up a little bit into adulthood. And you had, like, a generation of idealistic young people who were looking to express their values, however it was possible. Everlane saw this generation and went, we could tell them how clothes are made. We could help them feel good about the choices they're making.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Everlane's co founder Michael Prisman, says the goal was to be more open about how clothing moved through supply chains and what that actually costs.

[Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder)]

We started with a T shirt and then grew into a full array of product and then moved from pricing transparency to factory transparency to sustainability.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

Often there was, like, a little picture of workers, theoretically, at those factories on the website. This sweater was from a factory in China. This pair of shoes was from a factory in Vietnam.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

It was an innovative approach at the time, and for a while, it worked so well that the company expanded into retail stores with that Apple store for clothing vibe. So what changed? What brought Everlane to the point where it sold itself to Shein?

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

Well, I think the first issue you have is the pandemic. So you had a population, especially among Everlane's target market, which is people who work laptop jobs, people who do knowledge work, people who could work from home and did not need office clothes anymore. And that's really what Everlane was known for, is like. Like a nice pair of clothes that you could go to the office, you could go to lunch. They did not really emphasize, like, comfortable things to wear at home in leisure time. So like a lot of other apparel brands, their sales just really had a difficult time.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

The second issue, beyond the types of products they were selling, was consumer behavior. Shoppers became more price sensitive and maybe more cynical.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

People become, you know, sort of disillusioned of the ethical consumer behavior idea, because people, I think some of them, especially people in this demographic, learn more about, like, how the apparel industry actually works and get sort of sick of trying to mediate the risks and the downsides of it themselves.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Everlane made several attempts to turn things around. In 2020, the company took on a private equity investor backed by French luxury fashion house LVMH and took out loans meant to help the company grow. There Were also leadership changes, including Prisman's departure. But as Everlane floundered, another retail model was on the rise.

[Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder)]

It's easy to see the allure of fast fashion.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

Well, you may have heard of Shein. It is an online fast fashion brand

[IBM/Public/Insurance Advertisement Voiceover]

known for its trendy styles and its cheap prices.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

Shein is built on not necessarily like ideas or design, but on logistics. It is a company built by looking at where there might be inefficiencies in the traditional way that fashion is sold to create margin where there hadn't been before, while also lowering prices in a way that hadn't been possible before. So you get a company that, like, is not going to tell you much about where its clothing is made, where each design was made that, you know, uploads to its website, like on some days, thousands of new, new pieces that you can shop from that have no one particular design ethos, no one particular brand ethos except cheap and fast.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Shein has faced allegations of using forced labor in its supply chain and has been sued for copyright infringement. A spokesperson for Shein told us that the company complies with the relevant laws and regulations in each market we operate in. In response to allegations of copyright infringement, the spokesperson said the company takes all claims of infringement seriously.

[Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder)]

When Sheehan came onto the scene, I think I was even quoted saying that in my opinion, their products were way too cheap and there was way too

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

many of them, Everlane co founder Michael Prisman.

[Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder)]

And it was not conducive to the environment, but not just the environment in general, just waste and over consumption.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

So you had kind of a negative impression of Shein.

[Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder)]

I have a negative impression of Shein. So I would continue to stay there.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

So by early 2026, you have a debt burdened Everlane that's limping along, struggling to connect with customers and fast fashion giant Shein pumping cheap clothes into the global market. They seemed worlds apart until they came together. So what does Shein want with Everlane and how does this sale fit into the bigger picture for other direct to consumer brands from Allbirds to Quince? That's coming up.

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[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

By 2026, Everlane's value had plummeted. Meanwhile, Shein was doing well despite facing a slew of controversies and taking a hit from changes to US Tariff policy. Last November, Sheehan told investors it was expecting to bring in $2 billion in net income in 2025, almost double what it did in 2024. So the big fish swallowed the smaller fish. In late May, Everlane confirmed it would be bought by Shein. What made Everlane attractive to Sheehan? Why did Sheehan want to buy this

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

struggling company My theory is that Shein has been looking at the sort of meteoric growth of a brand we haven't mentioned yet, which is Quints, and said we would like to apply the Shein logistics structure to a brand that already appeals to like a higher income, more materials conscious customer. And their options were basically to try to launch a brand of their own, or they could try to buy one that already has a name recognition and a customer base. And so I think that they are looking at Everlane potentially as like a sort of quick and dirty way to spin up a competitor for Quint's.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Quint's started selling inexpensive luxury fare in 2019. They're known for products like a $50 cashmere sweater, but they've expanded to sell bedding, luggage, and even jewelry with lab grown diamonds. And just like Everlane, Quint Quince includes information on its factories and sustainability efforts right on its website. It's an American company, but like Sheehan, its supply chain is global.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

The big thing about Shein is that it doesn't really have many US Logistics nodes. One of the big differences in Shein's model is that they warehouse pretty much everything they sell overseas. And then when a customer orders it, they're ordering something very inexpensive. They're getting it shipped for free, and they're gonna wait a little bit for it. So it's sort of like they took the opposite track as Amazon. They went, if you are getting, you know, a pair of jeans for $9 and you can buy them in every color and wear them until the end of the season and then get whatever's trendy next year, then like, maybe you're fine waiting a week or 10 days for that. And they were right.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Quint's uses a similar approach. When you order something from Quince, it'll ship to you directly from Asia. They don't stockpile a bunch of products in a US Warehouse. And like Shein, Quince works very hard to figure out what customers want and to produce it quickly.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

They are a huge data scraper. They scrape a lot of data about what people are buying and what people are looking for at other clothing websites online. And they use that to respond in like a very targeted way to new trends or new consumer desires. They can respond to trends in like a matter of a few weeks instead of it being like a 6 to 18 month thing that a clothing brand has to bet on.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

But Quince is different from Shein in big ways too.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

They use a lot of natural fibers. They use organic cotton, they use European linen, they use Real leather, things like that. Shein has come under a lot of fire for making like crap, for making stuff that is like essentially garbage. That's how people talk about these clothes.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Shein has also been criticized for using a lot of polyester, a form of plastic, the vast majority of which ends up incinerated or in landfills. A company spokesperson told us Shein prioritizes its product quality and, and that by producing products on demand instead of en masse, it reduces waste. So is Shein's plan to take its supply chain tech company model and apply it to Everlane to make Everlane more like Quint's?

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

This is my guess. We don't have information on this yet. Shein hasn't said exactly what they're going to do with it, but I think that this is sort of the obvious first stop for this, for this acquisition. Because Quint's has been enormously popular. They did a recent round of applause, venture funding that valued the company at $10 billion, which is almost double what they were a year ago. They are bringing online new product categories all the time. They make furniture now. In my chat with executives there, it seems like they think that this logistics system that Quince has is applicable to all types of product categories. Like, you know, if we can define what a consumer wants and we can find a supplier that can work with us on a high volume, low price model and then get materials at high volume and low prices as well, then we can make whatever people want. And setting up that kind of logistics system is really, really difficult. It is a very like large scale, multi vendor endeavor. And Shein already has those relationships, it has those logistics channels. It is in many ways, you know, a matter of just giving them different materials and different designs to make.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

But even if Shein tries to replicate Quince's model, competing with the company's success will be harder. Michael Prisman told us what he learned from Everlane was that it's a hard moment to be a mid priced brand. Ultra wealthy spenders want a more premium product. While everyday consumers are tightening their belts. The so called K shaped economy is also showing up in retail.

[Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder)]

What that means is you can end up with either fast fashion or sort of niche luxury brands.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

And beyond that, he says today's consumers aren't willing to choose one brand over another based on ethics alone.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

I've heard people theorize that this is sort of like maybe not the end, but another nail in the coffin of the era of like millennial optimism and the idea that like you as a consumer through Your choices could, like, make a real difference in the world. I think that people are right to look at this and go, what has happened to Everlane, at least in part disproves the notion that people care like that much about all of these things, or at least care in a way that makes them willing to pay more for something. If there's one thing about the American consumer they don't want to buy less. Like, that is their revealed preference in every bit of data we have is that people want to find a way to continue buying discretionary items if at all possible.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Shein declined to comment on its plans for Everlane. When we reached out to Everlane to ask about the sale, we, the company sent a statement from its current CEO that said Everlane will, quote, remain an independent brand, staying true to our long standing brand values, sustainability commitments and exceptional quality. Amanda, is that going to be possible under Shein?

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

I mean, I think it would be possible if Shein wanted to let them. But like, I don't understand why Shein would buy the company if they were intending not to apply many of the elements of their logistics system to the company. The value that Shein can bring to apparel branding is efficiency, is a supply chain that, like, cuts out every ounce of extra fat.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Everlane is just the latest direct to consumer company to struggle. In April, the sneaker brand Allbirds announced that it was on the brink of bankruptcy and would pivot from shoes to AI infrastructure. Casper Sleep, the mattress startup with all the subway ads, was bought by a polyurethane foam manufacturer in 2024. So I wanted to know whether Amanda viewed Everlane's sale as a sign that the direct to consumer model is broken.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

I hate to give a cliched answer, but it all sort of goes back to business fundamentals. Like, if you have a company that like, understands its customer, understands its appeal to its customer, understands like, how that can be applied to like, new types of products or new initiatives, then like, there's no reason that these companies can't be solid companies. Warby Parker found like a real inefficiency in the market for prescription glasses, which is that Ellis Orlexotica basically owned the entire market and they undercut that quasi monopoly and continue to design new types of glasses. And they do retail stores so you can try them on. People get new glasses every year, every two years. They come in, they order contacts. Warby Parker does eye exams now.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

Like, they give people a reason to keep coming back.

[Customer/Consumer Voice]

Right? This is why the mattress startups had a really, really hard time after launch because people buy a mattress once every 10 years. So if you're like making the right kind of product and you understand your customer and you're making something that they want to come back and keep buying more of and they have a reason to, then there's no reason that these companies can't continue to thrive.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

As for Michael Prisman, he's taking another swing at it, starting a new apparel company that he says will have the same principles but in when it was

[Michael Prisman (Everlane Co-founder)]

started, Everlane was a mission driven company. And I think this is also the challenge of bringing in venture capital and private equity into a mission driven company is because ultimately they do have an exit date. Once you bring on capital, you have to be somewhat a steward of that capital. And so now you're managing both capital and mission. And those two can be in conflict with each other, no doubt.

[Bloomberg Reporter - Sarah Holder]

This is the big take from bloomberg news. I'm sarah holder. The show is hosted by me, david gura and wan ha. The show is made by aaron edwards, david fox, jeff grocott, paddy hirsch, rachel lewis, christie emma munger, lauren newcomb, naomi ng, julia press, tracy samuelson, naomi shaven, alex sugiura, julia weaver, yang yang and taka yasuzawa. Our executive producer is nicole beemsterborg. To get more from the big take and unlimited access to all of bloomberg.com, subscribe [e-mail] podcastoffer thanks for listening. We'll be back on Monday.

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