Anjli Jain

When I read about Mill partnering with Amazon and Whole Foods, I did not focus on the scale of the deal. I focused on the intent behind it. In my experience, partnerships are rarely about access alone. They are about alignment. And when that alignment is missing, even the most impressive partnerships can become liabilities instead of accelerators. This is why Mill’s approach stood out to me. I’ve explored the strategic and investment implications of this partnership in more depth in this analysis . Why Partnerships Reveal More Than Pitches Founders often spend months refining their pitch decks. But partnerships tell a much more honest story. They reveal: how founders think about long-term value what compromises they are willing to make how they balance speed with discipline whether they understand the responsibility that comes with scale When a startup aligns with partners like Amazon and Whole Foods, it signals readiness for operational rigor and scrutiny. Those enviro...

When I read that developers have earned more than $550 billion through Apple’s App Store since 2008, my first reaction was not amazement at the number. It was curiosity about the system behind it. Very few businesses create that level of shared value over time. Even fewer do it by enabling others to grow rather than competing with them directly. That is what makes platforms so powerful. What This Milestone Really Represents The App Store did not become successful because of a single product or service. It succeeded because it created a dependable environment where developers could build, distribute, and monetize with confidence. Over time, that trust compounded. As Apple expanded its services, including entertainment, payments, and subscriptions, the ecosystem became deeper and more interconnected. Each new service reinforced the value of the platform rather than distracting from it. This kind of growth is intentional. It is not accidental. Why Platforms Change How I Think About ...