‘Smoke And Mirrors’: How This Entrepreneur Exaggerated And Self-Promoted Her Way Into Turmoil

Forbes

Daniella Pierson has cozied up to everyone from Diane von Furstenberg to Selena Gomez, burnishing her image as her businesses unraveled. A case study in how hubris is bad for business.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicahunter-hart/2025/08/07/smoke-and-mirrors-how-this-entrepreneur-exaggerated-and-self-promoted-her-way-into-turmoil/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Smoke and Mirrors, how this entrepreneur exaggerated and self-promoted her

00:06way into turmoil. Daniela Pearson turned 30 on Monday, a milestone acknowledged by a bevy of

00:14successful friends, from Spanx founder Sarah Blakely to the singer Jewel to designer Diane

00:20von Furstenberg. It's an especially auspicious birthday for an entrepreneur who spent her 20s

00:26building a lifestyle newsletter called The Newsette, which he launched as a student at

00:30Boston University in 2015, garnering a feature in USA Today in 2019, debuting on our Forbes 30

00:37Under 30 list in 2020, appearing on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine in 2021 with Selena Gomez

00:44for a second company, mental health startup Wondermind, ranking number 16 on Inc. 5000's

00:50list of fastest growing private companies in 2022 and giving talks and speeches throughout

00:56at schools from Stanford to VU and media gatherings from Forbes Power Women's Summit to Newsweek's

01:02Women Global Impact Forum just this past week. Her high profile owes itself to brains and hustle

01:09and, it turns out, a consistent history of large exaggerations and extreme self-promotion,

01:15those latter two traits reinforcing the other. Over the course of the last three months, Forbes

01:21spoke to more than a dozen people who've worked closely with her and reviewed documents, press

01:26releases and videos of all four of her recent business ventures. What emerges is someone who

01:32fails to understand the difference between entrepreneurial zeal and extreme hyperbole, and now faces a potential

01:39reckoning. For all the celebrity plaudits and press love, Pearson's businesses seem to be

01:45unraveling. Business partnerships have collapsed, the staff at her original startup has shrunk to

01:50roughly one-quarter its peak size, and revenue has tumbled from $40 million in 2021, if you believe

01:57Pearson, to less than $4 million in recent years, according to four former employees. Pearson declined

02:04to comment on any revenue figures after 2021. Kicked out of a second startup she co-founded, Pearson is now

02:11starting her third venture in four years, that one also seemingly riddled with problems.

02:17One former employee, who spoke under condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, says, quote,

02:22I don't know that she actually cares about building a successful business as much as she cares about

02:27being able to say she's a badass CEO. It's all smoke and mirrors. Pearson started Newsette using tactics that

02:35would become something of a playbook, scrappy and disingenuous. In those early days, she sent messages

02:42from fake emails to make it seem like the company had more employees than just her. She also posed as

02:47an intern, messaging friends of friends to subscribe and telling them if they successfully referred 10

02:53others, they could call themselves, quote, brand ambassadors on their resumes. During a talk at the

02:59Stanford Graduate School of Business last year, she said, quote, I made it look like it was bigger than

03:05it was. I literally just faked it till I made it. A notable milestone came when Pearson, then about 24

03:12years old, met Diane von Furstenberg, the legendary fashion designer. Married to billionaire Barry Diller,

03:19von Furstenberg introduced her to a host of other celebrities, as well as connections at Amazon.

03:24At this point, Pearson reached out to Forbes to nominate herself for the richest self-made women

03:30list. In looking into her company in 2022, Forbes confirmed that RxBAR founder Peter Rahal

03:37had come on as an outside investor. Rahal, who sold 50% of his former company for $300 million

03:44five years earlier, has since put money into some 100 businesses. His 1.25% investment valued Newsette

03:52at $200 million. More than the cash, Rahal's bet on Pearson gave her clout.

03:58Based on that deal's numbers, Forbes valued Pearson's own 84% stake in the company at just under $170

04:05million. A big Forbes story in August 2022, declaring her, quote, one of the wealthiest women of color in

04:13the US, worth $220 million and then age 27, quote, younger than just about any self-made female

04:20entrepreneur with a nine-figure fortune, marked a turning point for Pearson. This, according to

04:26former employees who say she repeatedly used the net worth figure to sell others on her success,

04:32even when her businesses turned south. And it turns out the net worth figure she loves to cite was even

04:38less grounded in reality. Yes, Rahal invested at a $200 million valuation, but he now tells Forbes

04:45that he didn't even look at the financials when he made the investment. In other words, the company

04:50touting its $200 million valuation had no real chance of any other serious investor touching it at that

04:56price. For full coverage, check out Monica Hunter Hart's piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

05:06Thanks for tuning in.

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