Thesis
Overview
Founded in 2023, Thesis is committed to publishing bold ideas that shape tomorrow’s discourse. Our imprint fosters unique perspectives, encourages intellectual diversity, and pushes the boundaries of conventional thought. Our mission: to provide a platform for voices that challenge the status quo, navigate the headwinds of ideological thought, and steer the evolution of tomorrow’s conversation.
The inaugural list, launching in spring 2024, features The End of Race Politics by opinion columnist Coleman Hughes, Morning After the Revolution by Nellie Bowles , and Takedown by activist Laila Mickelwait, set for release in summer 2024. Other notable authors to be published under the Thesis imprint include “America’s government teacher” Sharon McMahon, evolutionary psychologist Diana Fleischman, and neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan.
Meet the Team
Adrian Zackheim, Founder, President, and Publisher
Adrian Zackheim joined Penguin Group in September 2001 as Founder and Publisher of Portfolio. He then took on the additional challenge of starting Sentinel in April 2003. In 2018, he announced the addition of another new imprint to the group: The Optimism Press, in collaboration with Simon Sinek.
Previously, he was the Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of HarperInformation, a division of HarperCollins that included HarperBusiness. His editorial career has also included positions at William Morrow, Doubleday, and St. Martin’s Press, and his first job was as School and Library Publicity Assistant at G.P. Putnam’s Sons, which was then a privately held small publishing company. He later moved to Putnam’s Editorial department under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Phyllis Grann.
Among the many bestselling books he edited and published before joining Penguin Group were Good to Great by Jim Collins; Die Broke by Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine; The Dilbert Principle by Scott Adams; The HP Way by David Packard; and Swim with the Sharks without being Eaten Alive by Harvey Mackay.
Niki Papadopoulos, VP and Editor in Chief
Niki Papadopoulos joined Portfolio in 2011 as a Senior Editor, and is a passionate advocate for business as a tool for empowerment, innovation, and social good. In addition to overseeing general acquisition strategy for the Portfolio imprint, she acquires and edits a wide range of commercial nonfiction for ambitious people, from idea-driven business books to narrative, biography, memoir, investigative journalism, and self-help. In the last decade she has published twelve New York Times bestsellers and seventeen Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including This Is Marketing by Seth Godin; The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday; The Four by Scott Galloway; Captivate by Vanessa Van Edwards; Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke; The Death of Money by James Rickards; Hooked by Nir Eyal; and American Kingpin by Nick Bilton. She tweets about grammar, dogs, and what happens to authors who don’t turn their manuscripts in on time at @niki_pop.
Niki's Featured Titles
Margot Stamas, Associate Publisher and Director of Publicity and Marketing
Margot Stamas joined Portfolio in 2012. As the Associate Publisher and Director of Publicity and Marketing, Margot is responsible for overseeing the promotional strategy across the Portfolio, Sentinel, and Optimism lists. She has led bestselling campaigns for Sophia Amoruso’s #GIRLBOSS, Marie Forleo’s Everything Is Figureoutable, Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism, Emily Chang’s Brotopia, Gregory Zuckerman’s The Man Who Solved the Market, and more.
Bria Sandford, Executive Editor
Bria Sandford joined Portfolio in 2012. She enjoys editing leadership narratives, economic policy, geopolitics, history, and prescriptive career guides. Her bestselling authors include retired four-star General Stanley McChrystal, political scientist Ian Bremmer, and career advice guru Jon Acuff. She tweets at @blsandford.
Bria's Featured Titles
Noah Schwartzberg, Executive Editor
Noah joined Portfolio in 2019, focused on business, economics, finance, and politics. His authors run the gamut from economists to entrepreneurs, generals to journalists. He’s especially interested in stories that shine a light on critical but overlooked issues at the intersection of business and society.
Lydia Yadi, Senior Editor
Lydia joined Portfolio UK in 2016 and made the leap to Portfolio US in 2022. She loves publishing energizing ideas for ambitious professionals by coaches, academics, and entrepreneurs with unique voices. She’s interested in fresh takes on entrepreneurship, careers, female empowerment, psychology, big ideas, and self-help. In London, she published six Sunday Times bestsellers. Her authors include Cal Newport, Marie Forleo, Vanessa Van Edwards, Dr Tessa West, and Steven Bartlett. As a relative newbie to the city, she’s making it her mission to visit every single bookstore (and bakery) in New York.
Helen Healey-Cunningham, Editor
Helen gets excited about idea-driven books that offer bold new ways to see the world. She’s always looking for books that warn of looming dangers, make provocative arguments, meditate on serious issues, and inspire positive change. She has edited a diverse cast of experts, from survivalists and evolutionary psychologists to clinical psychologists, activists, philosophers, and CIA analysts.
Helen's Featured Titles
Megan McCormack, Assistant Editor
Megan McCormack joined the Thesis team in 2021. She is interested in books on infrastructure, technology, and systemic societal issues—books that challenge us to reexamine aspects of everyday life we may take for granted. She is particularly keen to find provocative takes on feminism, gender, and relationships. Her forthcoming books with Thesis include a polemic from the creators of The War on Cars podcast and How to Train Your Boyfriend by evolutionary psychologist Diana Fleischman.