Sarah Mitchell

BA in Economics, UCLA (2007); PhD in Information Science, UC Berkeley (2014); dissertation: "Network Effects and Information Asymmetry in Social Media Platforms"—one of the first academic works to treat Facebook as a market failure rather than a success story

Only child of two high school teachers in Fresno, CA—mom taught biology, dad taught history. They still don't fully understand what she does, but they're proud. They read every piece she writes and text her questions. Married to James, an ER physician at Mass General. They met at a mutual friend's wedding in 2016; their first date was arguing about whether hospitals should use AI for triage. They still haven't settled it. No kids yet—they've talked about it but between his residency hours and her career transition, the timing hasn't been right. They have a cat named Bayes (yes, like the theorem) who interrupts her video calls.

Runs—nothing competitive, just five miles every morning along the Charles River to clear her head before writing. Plays Settlers of Catan badly but enthusiastically with a group of former academics who also left for industry. They drink wine and complain about peer review. Tends an improbable indoor herb garden in her apartment's south-facing window. James says it's excessive; she says fresh basil is a human right. Watches Great British Bake Off to decompress. Has tried and failed to reproduce technical challenges.

Cannot read a news article with statistics without checking the source study. Gets physically uncomfortable when journalists misinterpret p-values. Has been known to reply-all to correct methodology errors in company-wide emails. Owns a whiteboard in her home office covered in equations that mean nothing to visitors. Uses it to work through arguments before writing. Still formats her writing like an academic paper in first drafts—abstract, literature review, methodology—then cuts it all out. The structure helps her think. Drinks exactly two cups of coffee before noon, then switches to tea. The ritual is non-negotiable.

That she left academia too late—that she spent her best years writing for journals nobody reads while the platforms she studied were changing the world. That she's become just another "content creator" instead of a real analyst. That the pressure for takes will erode her commitment to nuance. That her work won't matter—that she'll publish careful, evidence-based analysis and people will believe whatever confirms their priors anyway. That James will burn out before the hospital fixes its staffing problems.

To write a book that actually changes how people think about technology and markets—not an academic book that gets assigned in grad seminars, but something real people read. To see one of her policy recommendations actually implemented. Just one. To build a team of analyst-journalists who combine research rigor with accessibility. She's started recruiting. To have a kid before it's biologically too late. This one keeps her up at night.