Podcasts by How I Built This with Guy Raz

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Logic: Logic & Chris Zarou (2018) from 2021-08-16T00:10:45

In 2010, Logic the rapper—born as Sir Robert Bryson Hall II—released his first official mixtape titled "Young, Broke & Infamous." At 20 years old, Logic certainly was young and broke, and while cra...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Brené Brown from 2021-08-12T00:15:14

We have another episode from the 2021 How I Built This Virtual Summit, and it's Guy's interview with professor, author, and host of the Unlocking Us podcast, Brené Brown. In this live conv...

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Stacy's Pita Chips: Stacy Madison (2019) from 2021-08-09T00:15:20

In the 1990's, Stacy Madison and her boyfriend Mark Andrus were selling pita sandwiches from a converted hot dog cart in Boston. They decided to bake the leftover pita into chips, adding a dash of ...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Gary Vaynerchuk from 2021-08-05T00:00:45

We have another episode from the 2021 How I Built This Virtual Summit, and it's Guy's interview with internet content guru Gary Vaynerchuk. In this live conversation, Gary talks about his innovativ...

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Serial Entrepreneur: Gary Vaynerchuk from 2021-08-02T00:10:20

Growing up in New Jersey in the 1980's and 90's, Gary Vaynerchuk honed his business skills trading baseball cards and selling wine at his dad's liquor store. He discovered the potential of Youtube ...

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Robert Reffkin: Compass from 2021-07-26T00:10:41

Robert Reffkin had a hard time fitting in when he was growing up: raised by a single mom in Berkeley California, he was both bi-racial and Jewish, and had to learn to "feel comfortable with being u...

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Live From HIBT Summit: Payal Kadakia, Tristan Walker, and Perry Chen on Innovation from 2021-07-22T00:15:09

Our second episode from the 2021 How I Built This Virtual Summit is from our innovation panel with Payal Kadakia of ClassPass, Tristan Walker of Walker and Company, and Perry Chen of Kickstarter. I...

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Bobbi Brown Cosmetics: Bobbi Brown (2018) from 2021-07-19T00:15:56

Bobbi Brown started out as a makeup artist in New York City, but hated the gaudy color palette of the 1980s. She eventually shook up the industry by introducing "nude makeup" with neutral colors an...

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Mailchimp: Ben Chestnut from 2021-07-12T00:10:20

In the late 1990s, Ben Chestnut was a struggling young designer interning at an appliance company, when somebody suggested that he try designing for the internet instead. A few years later, Ben and...

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Numi Organic Tea: Reem Hassani and Ahmed Rahim from 2021-07-05T00:10:57

When they were in their 20s, Reem Hassani and her brother Ahmed Rahim were not the kind of people you'd expect to launch a multi-million dollar business. Reem was a California artist moonlighting a...

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Casper: Philip Krim from 2021-06-28T00:10:56

In the early 2000's, Philip Krim launched an e-commerce business out of his college dorm, selling everything from window blinds to eczema cream to yes, mattresses. Years later, inspired by online s...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Cynt Marshall, Chieh Huang, and Sadie Lincoln on Leadership from 2021-06-24T00:10:23

Our first episode from the 2021 How I Built This Virtual Summit is from our leadership panel with Cynt Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, Chieh Huang, CEO and co-founder of Boxed, and ...

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ARRAY: Filmmaker Ava DuVernay from 2021-06-21T00:30:25

By her early thirties, Ava DuVernay was already a successful entrepreneur, having founded her own film publicity agency in Los Angeles. But after years of watching other people make films, she star...

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Expedia & Zillow: Rich Barton from 2021-06-14T00:10:11

In the early 90s, Rich Barton arrived to work at Microsoft just as the world wide web was taking off. He wound up pitching Bill Gates on an idea that was transformative at the time: to let everyday...

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Jovial Foods: Carla Bartolucci from 2021-06-07T00:10:49

Carla Bartolucci grew up in an Italian-American household, eating fresh gnocchi and ravioli made by her mother, and lobster caught by her father. She met her husband Rodolfo while studying abroad i...

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JetBlue Airways: David Neeleman (2019) from 2021-05-31T00:10:04

In the mid-90s, David Neeleman wanted to launch a new airline. He had already co-created a regional airline out of Salt Lake City that was acquired by Southwest. And despite his admiration of South...

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Meet The HIBT Fellows: Dinesh Tadepalli & Jennifer Zeitler from 2021-05-25T00:02:50

As a part of the 2021 How I Built This Summit (At Home) we have selected 10 Fellows, and we'd like to introduce you to all of them. In this episode: Dinesh Tadepalli is the co-founder of Incredible...

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Policygenius: Jennifer Fitzgerald from 2021-05-24T00:01:10

Some of the world's biggest industries sell products that we all need...but don't want to think about. That's what drew Jennifer Fitzgerald to insurance: she wanted to help people understand the of...

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Meet The HIBT Fellows: Kaitlin McGreyes & Nicole Argüelles from 2021-05-20T00:10:47

As a part of the 2021 How I Built This Summit (At Home) we have selected 10 Fellows, and we'd like to introduce you to each of them. In this episode: Kaitlin McGreyes founded Be Her Village to be a...

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Meet The HIBT Fellows: Mark Atlan & Zach Correa from 2021-05-18T00:10

As a part of the 2021 How I Built This Summit (At Home) we have selected 10 Fellows, and we'd like to introduce you to each of them. In this episode: Mark Atlan co-founded ZappCare to help make sur...

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Diapers.com & Jet.com: Marc Lore from 2021-05-17T00:10:11

Around 2003, after forays into banking, baseball cards, and—believe it or not—bobsledding, Marc Lore landed on an idea for an e-commerce business: a website to make it simple for parents to order d...

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Meet The HIBT Fellows: Katie Mitchell & Celena Gill from 2021-05-13T00:01:31

As a part of the 2021 How I Built This Summit (At Home) we have selected 10 Fellows, and we'd like to introduce you to them over the next couple weeks. In this episode: Katie Mitchell and her mothe...

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Meet The HIBT Fellows: Pierre Paul & Toby Egbuna from 2021-05-11T00:01:24

As a part of the 2021 How I Built This Summit (At Home) we have selected 10 Fellows, and we'd like to introduce you to them over the next couple weeks. In this episode: Pierre Paul, founder of a co...

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Cisco Systems & Urban Decay: Sandy Lerner (2018) from 2021-05-10T04:10:45

In the pre-Internet 1970's, Sandy Lerner was part of a loosely-knit group of programmers that was trying to get computers to talk to each other. Eventually, she and Len Bosack launched Cisco System...

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Live Episode! Clubhouse: Paul Davison and Rohan Seth from 2021-05-06T00:01:47

After selling both of their social app companies and rethinking their day jobs, Paul Davison and Rohan Seth knew they should not get into the volatile business of social media again. Despite explor...

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Eleven Madison Park: Daniel Humm from 2021-05-03T00:01

Daniel Humm dropped out of school at 14 to become a competitive cyclist, and supported himself by cutting vegetables and making soup stock at fine restaurants in Switzerland. When he eventually rea...

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Live Episode! Wellness Coach and Podcaster: Jay Shetty from 2021-04-29T00:01:13

Jay Shetty was living the life of a rebellious teen in London when a friend talked him into attending a talk by a Hindu monk. It was a life-changing event, and started Jay on a path to become a mon...

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Pipcorn: Jennifer and Jeff Martin from 2021-04-26T00:01:13

While working at a farmers market in Chicago, Jennifer Martin had a Jack-in-the-Beanstalk moment—a chance encounter with some tiny kernels, which wound up growing into a small giant of a business: ...

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How I Built Resilience: Bayard Winthrop of American Giant from 2021-04-22T00:01:37

Bayard Winthrop is the CEO and founder of American Giant, known for its American-made hoodies, t-shirts and jeans. When the pandemic brought on production holds and storefront closures, Bayard foun...

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SoulCycle: Julie Rice & Elizabeth Cutler (2019) from 2021-04-19T00:01:08

Before Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice met, they shared a common belief: New York City gyms didn't have the kind of exercise classes they craved, and each of them wanted to change that. A fitness i...

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How I Built Resilience: Lindsay Peoples Wagner of The Cut from 2021-04-15T00:01:29

Lindsay Peoples Wagner got her first taste of the fashion industry interning at Teen Vouge, where she cleaned massive closets filled with the season's latest trends. She eventually went on...

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Robinhood: Vlad Tenev from 2021-04-12T00:01:19

Before Robinhood became one of the most loved and most hated stock trading platforms in the U.S., it was just another tech startup, launched by two mathematicians with an audacious idea: make stock...

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How I Built Resilience: Ethan Diamond of Bandcamp from 2021-04-08T00:01:52

In the early 2000s, the online music community was defined by MySpace, illegally downloaded music, and poorly made band websites. Then came Bandcamp – a music marketplace where fans can directly an...

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Food52: Amanda Hesser from 2021-04-05T08:07:24

In the early 1990s, as Amanda Hesser's college friends were interviewing for their first cubicle jobs, she chose a different path: one that led straight into the kitchens of Europe, where she cooke...

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How I Built Resilience: Kara Goldin of Hint from 2021-04-01T00:01:26

After giving up diet soda, Kara Goldin started adding fresh fruit to her drinking water to make it more fun. This inspired her to create Hint water, a line of unsweetened flavored water beverages t...

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UPPAbaby: Bob and Lauren Monahan from 2021-03-29T00:01:40

As a product developer, Bob Monahan worked with some iconic brands: the Pump at Reebok, the Taurus and Mustang at Ford. When he moved on to work at a baby products company, he happened to discover ...

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How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restauranteur from 2021-03-25T01:01:49

Vivian Ku is a Taiwanese-American restaurateur who owns three different Taiwanese restaurants in Los Angeles. After the pandemic halted her plans for expansion, Vivian decided to close her two rest...

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How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur from 2021-03-25T00:01:49

Vivian Ku is a Taiwanese-American restaurateur who owns three different Taiwanese restaurants in Los Angeles. After the pandemic halted her plans for expansion, Vivian decided to close her two rest...

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Hinge: Justin McLeod from 2021-03-22T00:01:22

In 2010, Justin McLeod was in business school, still trying to get over a bad breakup that had happened years before. Determined to solve his own problem and convinced that the best way to meet peo...

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How I Built Resilience: Lisa Baird of National Women's Soccer League from 2021-03-18T00:01:57

Lisa Baird stepped in as commissioner of the National Women's Soccer League in March 2020 and just two days into her job the entire multi-billion dollar sports industry went dark. Lisa talks with G...

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Siete Family Foods: Miguel and Veronica Garza from 2021-03-15T00:01

Miguel and Veronica Garza grew up in Laredo, Texas, in the kind of family that did almost everything together. So when Veronica realized that a grain-free diet was helping her cope with debilitatin...

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How I Built Resilience: Shan-Lyn Ma of Zola from 2021-03-11T00:01:07

With the wedding industry dramatically impacted by the pandemic, co-founder and CEO of Zola, Shan-Lyn Ma decided to pivot. Instead of just wedding planning, Zola would expand to include livestreami...

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Rick Steves' Europe: Rick Steves from 2021-03-08T00:01

Rick Steves spent the summer after high school backpacking through Europe on two dollars a day—sleeping on the floor, sneaking into museums, and subsisting on a diet of bread and jam. When he came ...

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How I Built Resilience: Alex Lieberman and Austin Rief of Morning Brew from 2021-03-04T00:01:49

Six years ago, Morning Brew started out as a fun business newsletter Alex Lieberman and Austin Rief wrote for their classmates out of their University of Michigan dorm room. The company now has ove...

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Canva: Melanie Perkins (2019) from 2021-03-01T00:01:45

When she was just 19 years old, Melanie Perkins dreamt of transforming the graphic design and publishing industries. But she started small, launching a site to make yearbook design simpler and more...

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How I Built Resilience: Troy Carter of Q&A (June, 2020) from 2021-02-25T00:01:43

Music manager and entrepreneur Troy Carter spoke to Guy last June, as the pandemic was worsening and the country was shaken by racial unrest. Troy spoke about the profound impact of these events on...

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Boxed: Chieh Huang from 2021-02-22T00:01:36

Over the course of ten years as a founder, Chieh Huang bet twice on the ubiquity of the smartphone. The first time was in 2010 with Astro Ape, a mobile gaming company that he founded with a few fri...

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How I Built Resilience: Beverly Leon of Local Civics from 2021-02-18T00:01:12

After retiring from professional soccer, Beverly Leon shifted her focus in a big way. In 2018 she founded Local Civics, an ed-tech start-up that uses game-based learning to encourage kids to streng...

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Simple Mills: Katlin Smith from 2021-02-15T00:01:44

In 2012, 22-year-old Katlin Smith was growing restless at her consulting job, so she started experimenting with grain-free, paleo-friendly muffin recipes in her Atlanta kitchen. A buyer at a nearby...

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How I Built Resilience: Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey of Strava from 2021-02-11T00:01:30

Strava is a social fitness platform with more than 76 million users in nearly every country worldwide. Co-founders Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey spoke with Guy about the recent surge in users joi...

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Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar from 2021-02-08T00:01

In 2001, Mike Cannon-Brookes sent an email to his college classmates in Sydney, asking if anyone was interested in helping him launch a tech startup after graduation. Back then, entrepreneurship wa...

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How I Built Resilience: M. Night Shyamalan from 2021-02-04T00:01:53

M. Night Shyamalan spoke with Guy as part of NPR's Storytelling Lounge at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Night is known for writing, producing and directing blockbuster films like The Sixt...

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Norma Kamali: Norma Kamali from 2021-02-01T00:01:11

When Norma Kamali studied fashion illustration in the 1960s, she never expected to become a designer. So when a job as an airline clerk came along, she was glad to accept it—along with the perk of ...

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How I Built Resilience: Loren and Lisa Poncia of Stemple Creek Ranch from 2021-01-28T00:01:53

Fourth generation cattle rancher Loren Poncia and his wife Lisa transformed Stemple Creek Ranch into one of the few carbon neutral livestock ranches in the United States, and have since made their ...

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Seventh Generation: Alan Newman and Jeffrey Hollender from 2021-01-25T00:01:51

With its eco-friendly paper towels, diapers, and cleansers, Seventh Generation was one of the first—and most successful—green household brands to hit the market. But in the early 1990s, just a few ...

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How I Built Resilience: Elisa Villanueva Beard of Teach For America from 2021-01-21T00:01:29

After starting her career at Teach For America in 1998, Elisa Villanueva Beard has served as the CEO of the non-profit for the last five and a half years. Elisa spoke with Guy about how the organiz...

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Jazzercise: Judi Sheppard Missett from 2021-01-18T00:01:36

Judi Sheppard Missett wandered into her first dance class when she was 2, and hasn't stopped dancing since. In the late 1960s, she was teaching jazz dance in Chicago and her students—mostly young m...

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Patreon: Jack Conte and Sam Yam from 2021-01-11T00:01:16

As part of the band Pomplamoose, musician Jack Conte had a sizeable fan base in the late 2000s and was making thousands of dollars a month from iTunes sales. But when streaming services like Spotif...

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Chipotle: Steve Ells (2017) from 2021-01-04T00:01:08

In 1992, Steve Ells was a classically trained chef working in a high-end restaurant in San Francisco. But after eating a burrito at a local taqueria, he got an idea: to sell burritos and earn enoug...

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ActOne Group: Janice Bryant Howroyd (2018) from 2020-12-28T00:01:56

In the late 1970s Janice Bryant Howroyd moved to Los Angeles and began temping as a secretary. She soon realized there were many other young people in situations similar to hers. So with $1,500 in ...

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How I Built Resilience: Morra Aarons-Mele of Women Online from 2020-12-23T00:01:11

Morra Aarons-Mele is the founder of Women Online and hosts The Anxious Achiever podcast. Morra shares how her agency pivoted during the pandemic after losing 30% of its business overnight,...

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Author and Podcaster: Tim Ferriss from 2020-12-21T00:01:31

By the time he turned 30, Tim Ferriss had figured out how to succeed at things that many people fail at—from growing a business to dancing the tango to marketing a best-selling book. He approached ...

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How I Built Resilience: Daniela Corrente of Reel from 2020-12-17T00:01:56

Reel is a digital savings platform that helps people people make big purchases without racking up credit card debt. CEO and co-founder Daniela Corrente says the company has added new savings plans ...

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Riot Games: Bonus Episode from 2020-12-15T00:01:45

There were so many interesting moments in Guy's conversation with the co-founders of Riot Games that we decided to put them into this short bonus episode. In it, Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill talk ...

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Riot Games: Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill from 2020-12-14T00:01:43

At USC in the late 1990s, Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck were bonding over video games and noticing that free, player-made modifications for the game Warcraft III were becoming wildly popul...

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How I Built Resilience: Emily Powell of Powell's Books from 2020-12-10T00:01:45

Emily Powell is the third generation owner and president of Portland, Oregon's iconic independent bookseller, Powell's Books. After having to let go of 90% of her staff in early March, Emily is foc...

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Kodiak Cakes: Joel Clark from 2020-12-07T00:01:28

When he was 8 years old, Joel Clark loaded bags of his mom's whole grain pancake mix into a red wagon to sell door-to-door. By the mid-90s, he and his older brother had upgraded to selling the mix ...

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Remembering Tony Hsieh of Zappos from 2020-11-30T00:01:08

The former CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh has died. He was 46 years old. We are grateful that Tony shared his story with us in 2017 and we are republishing it as a tribute to his life and career. Tony w...

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How I Built Resilience: Dr. Iman Abuzeid of Incredible Health from 2020-11-25T00:01:31

Dr. Iman Abuzeid is the co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health, a digital platform that helps streamline the hiring process for nurses and recruiting hospitals. After seeing an increased demand fo...

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The Lip Bar: Melissa Butler from 2020-11-23T00:01:27

While working long hours as a Wall Street analyst, Melissa Butler started making lipstick in her kitchen as a hobby. But it soon turned into an obsession, costing thousands of dollars. She was frus...

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How I Built Resilience: Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries from 2020-11-19T00:01:48

Father Gregory Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, one of the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry programs in the world. He speaks with Guy about how the Los Angeles base...

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Kenneth Cole: Kenneth Cole from 2020-11-16T00:01:15

Kenneth Cole launched his shoe business out of a forty-foot truck in midtown Manhattan and quickly became known as an up-and-coming designer with an eye for street fashion. In 1986, he made a bold ...

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Dropbox: Drew Houston from 2020-11-09T00:01

In 2006, Drew Houston got on a bus from Boston heading to New York. He planned to use the three-hour ride to get some work done, so he opened his laptop, and realized he had left his thumb drive wi...

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How I Built Resilience: Varshini Prakash of Sunrise Movement from 2020-11-05T00:01:31

Guy talks with Varshini Prakash, co-founder of Sunrise Movement, a grassroots organization that's fighting to make climate change a top priority in the US. The group launched in 2017 and has since ...

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Famous Dave's: Dave Anderson from 2020-11-02T00:01:44

Growing up in 1960's Chicago, Dave Anderson didn't eat much deep dish. Instead, his dad took the family to the South Side for barbecue, and those memories—and aromas—stayed with him. For years, Dav...

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How I Built Resilience: Justin Gold of Justin's from 2020-10-31T00:01:47

Justin Gold is the founder of Justin's, known for its nut butters and chocolate peanut butter cups. He talks about how he started by pulverizing peanuts in his home blender, and describes how his c...

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How I Built Resilience: Cheryl Contee of Do Big Things from 2020-10-29T00:01:12

Do Big Things is a Black woman-led, mission-driven digital agency that works with companies like Google, Etsy, and the NAACP, and has a staff that's 50% people of color. The agency's CEO and founde...

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McBride Sisters Wine (Part 2 of 2): Robin McBride and Andréa McBride John from 2020-10-26T00:01

After Robin McBride and Andréa McBride John made the extraordinary discovery that they were half-sisters, they formed a deep bond and discovered a mutual dream: to create a wine company that would ...

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How I Built Resilience: Sonia Gil of Fluenz from 2020-10-22T00:01:45

Fluenz helps English speakers learn new languages, both online and with in-person immersion programs. With travel restrictions and a global pandemic, CEO and founder Sonia Gil had to scrap her in-p...

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McBride Sisters Wine (Part 1 of 2): Robin McBride and Andréa McBride John from 2020-10-19T00:01:17

When we first spoke with Robin McBride and Andréa McBride John, we were so blown away by their story that we decided to turn it into two episodes. With hardly any money or connections, they built o...

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method: Adam Lowry & Eric Ryan (2018) from 2020-10-12T00:01

In the late 1990s, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan took on the notion that "green doesn't clean" by setting out to make soap that could clean a bathtub without harming the environment. Adam started experi...

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How I Built Resilience: Cynt Marshall of Dallas Mavericks from 2020-10-10T00:01:17

When a Sports Illustrated article exposed internal abuse and harassment in the Dallas Mavericks organization, owner Mark Cuban knew he had a culture problem. So he hired Cynt Marshall as CEO, and s...

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How I Built Resilience: Aishetu Dozie of Bossy Cosmetics from 2020-10-08T00:01:56

Aishetu Dozie had a successful career in finance before she took a leap and launched Bossy, a makeup brand that has exploded in popularity over the past six months, despite the challenges of the pa...

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Lush Cosmetics: Mark Constantine from 2020-10-05T00:01:24

Working at a high-end beauty salon in the south of England in the early 1970's, Mark Constantine concocted natural shampoos and conditioners in a tiny room above his kitchen, and soon met another y...

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How I Built Resilience: Jennifer Neundorfer of January Ventures from 2020-10-03T00:01:54

January Ventures is an investment firm that is trying to address the unique challenges and biases faced by entrepreneurs often under-represented in business, including women and people of color. Th...

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How I Built Resilience: Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp from 2020-10-01T00:01:50

Yelp founder Jeremy Stoppelman says his leadership team anticipated a "nuclear winter" after the pandemic hit. But as businesses start to re-open, and ad revenues on the site creep back up, Yelp is...

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Health-Ade Kombucha: Daina Trout from 2020-09-28T00:01:31

In 2012, Daina Trout, her husband Justin, and her best friend Vanessa Dew were sitting around a kitchen table spit-balling possible business ideas. Their biggest contender seemed to be a natural pr...

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How I Built Resilience: John Zimmer of Lyft from 2020-09-26T00:01:25

This year has brought unexpected challenges to Lyft, starting with a 75 percent drop in rideshares at the beginning of the pandemic. But co-founder John Zimmer says ride-hailing is returning, and t...

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Khan Academy: Sal Khan from 2020-09-21T00:01:52

In 2009, Sal Khan walked away from a high-paying job to start a business that had no way of making money. His idea to launch a non-profit teaching platform was ignited five years earlier, when he w...

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How I Built Resilience: Whitney Wolfe Herd of Bumble from 2020-09-19T00:01:06

Last year, the dating app Bumble launched a video chat feature that was initially slow to take off. But that changed after the pandemic hit. Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd tells Guy that many Bumble us...

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How I Built Resilience: Bert and John Jacobs of Life is Good from 2020-09-17T00:01:21

Bert and John Jacobs had just come off a $100 million year for their Boston-based apparel company, Life is Good. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended business as usual, forcing the brothers t...

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Calendly: Tope Awotona from 2020-09-14T00:01:33

After emigrating from Nigeria to the US to attend college, Tope Awotona worked as a door-to-door salesman and eventually set out to become a tech entrepreneur. He launched a series of e-commerce b...

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How I Built Resilience (Special Edition): Guy Raz from 2020-09-12T00:01:23

On this special episode, Stacey Vanek Smith interviews Guy about his brand new book, How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World's Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs. Stacey...

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How I Built Resilience: Pokimane from 2020-09-10T00:01:07

Imane Anys—who goes by the online moniker Pokimane—is the leading female streamer on Twitch, a popular streaming platform for gamers. Pokimane spoke with Guy about garnering more than 20 million fo...

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Rad Power Bikes: Mike Radenbaugh from 2020-09-07T00:01:48

Growing up in rural Northern California, Mike Radenbaugh hated biking to high school—it was a 16 mile slog; hilly and tiring. So he scrounged up a battery and a motor, rigged them to an old mountai...

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How I Built Resilience: Sandra Oh Lin of KiwiCo from 2020-09-05T00:01:46

KiwiCo delivers science and arts projects to kids on a monthly basis. Sandra Oh Lin founded the company nine years ago, and her team has scrambled to meet demand during the pandemic. These conversa...

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How I Built Resilience: Luke Holden and Ben Conniff of Luke's Lobster from 2020-09-03T00:01:42

COVID-19's impact on the seafood industry hit Luke Holden and Ben Conniff hard; in March they closed their restaurants and laid off 300 employees. Since then, Luke's Lobster has been able to stay a...

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Chilewich: Sandy Chilewich from 2020-08-31T00:01:30

One night in 1978, for fun, Sandy Chilewich and her friend, Kathy Moskal, tried bleaching their black cotton shoes, and dyeing them a new color. They were just fooling around in their Manhattan lof...

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How I Built Resilience: Niraj Shah and Steve Conine of Wayfair from 2020-08-29T00:01:09

Despite the economic crisis, Wayfair has seen an 84 percent sales spike, leading them to profitability during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine have also dealt...

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How I Built Resilience: Ajay Prakash and James Joun of Rinse from 2020-08-27T00:01:01

Rinse is a laundry and dry-cleaning app started by college friends Ajay Prakash and James Joun in 2013. Since March, Rinse's dry cleaning service has seen a drop in orders, but their laundry arm ha...

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Wayfair: Niraj Shah & Steve Conine (2018) from 2020-08-24T00:01:31

After selling their first small business and shuttering their second, former college roommates Niraj Shah and Steve Conine thought about getting "normal" jobs. But in the early 2000s, they stumbled...

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Zocdoc: Oliver Kharraz from 2020-08-17T00:01:01

In 2007, three friends set out to address a common frustration: the long waits and scheduling hassles of booking a doctor's appointment. But soon after launching their online scheduling platform Zo...

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How I Built Resilience: Samantha Bee of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee from 2020-08-15T00:01:56

Samantha Bee, the host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, has been filming her show from her backyard in upstate New York since March. While Samantha remains unsure about returning to the ...

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How I Built Resilience: Brian Chesky of Airbnb from 2020-08-13T00:01:49

In the early stages of the lockdown, Airbnb was in a freefall: it lost 80 percent of its business and laid off a quarter of its staff. But CEO Brian Chesky tells Guy that as people start to travel ...

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Briogeo: Nancy Twine from 2020-08-10T00:01:17

In 2010, a tragic personal event changed the trajectory of Nancy Twine's life. Suddenly, her promising job on the trading floor at Goldman Sachs no longer seemed fulfilling; she wanted something mo...

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How I Built Resilience: Jessie Woolley-Wilson of DreamBox from 2020-08-08T00:01:05

Guy speaks with Jessie Woolley-Wilson, CEO of DreamBox, an online math learning program for K-8 students. The platform has added two million new users during the lockdown, but that rapid growth has...

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How I Built Resilience: Alberto Perlman of Zumba from 2020-08-06T00:01:19

Within weeks after the pandemic lockdown, the fitness program Zumba rapidly shifted gears and launched its own online workout platform. Co-founder Alberto Perlman says it's helping keep the communi...

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Vita Coco: Michael Kirban from 2020-08-03T00:01

So—no joke: two guys really do walk into a bar. While sharing a few drinks on a winter night in New York City, best friends Michael Kirban and Ira Liran met two young women from Brazil. That chance...

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How I Built Resilience: Sarah Harden and Lauren Neustadter of Hello Sunshine from 2020-08-01T00:01:26

Hello Sunshine—a production company founded by Reese Witherspoon—has created TV shows Little Fires Everywhere, The Morning Show, and Big Little Lies. Fresh off 18 Emmy nominations...

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How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall from 2020-07-30T00:01:36

As COVID-19 continues to affect the global economy, college graduates are entering a job market reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis. Taha Bawa is hoping to help with Goodwall, the social netwo...

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The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd from 2020-07-27T00:01:56

In the late 1990s, while working in high-end fashion in NYC, Lindsey Boyd came to despise the weekly ritual of dry-cleaning; not only was it expensive, but it often did damage to her clothes. So sh...

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How I Built Resilience: Jeremy Zimmer of United Talent Agency from 2020-07-25T00:01:14

With live events canceled and sound stages shuttered, the entertainment industry has to look for new ways to create content while cutting costs. Guy talks with Jeremy Zimmer, CEO and co-founder of ...

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How I Built Resilience: Songe LaRon of Squire from 2020-07-23T00:01:45

When Songe LaRon founded Squire in 2016, his mission was to use modern technology to help run barbershops, which are using his app in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. With a recent funding round of $34 ...

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La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Todd Carmichael and J.P. Iberti from 2020-07-20T00:01:49

When Todd Carmichael and J.P. Iberti met at a grunge concert in Seattle in the 1980s, they were an unlikely pair. But they shared a love for great coffee, and the two friends began to dream about o...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with John Foley from 2020-07-18T00:01:21

While upending many businesses, the pandemic has benefited fitness brands like Peloton, which saw a surge in demand in mid-March. Peloton founder John Foley talks with Guy about the unique challeng...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Julia Hartz from 2020-07-16T00:01:08

Founder Julia Hartz is reckoning with COVID-19's impact on the live events industry, which uses her company, Eventbrite, to sell tickets and market events. While her users are quickly pivoting to v...

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Tatcha: Vicky Tsai from 2020-07-13T00:01:10

In 2008, Vicky Tsai walked away from a startup job and set out to rediscover herself on a trip to Japan. In Kyoto, she had an unforgettable meeting with a geisha, and learned about the face creams ...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Morgan DeBaun from 2020-07-11T00:01:26

Morgan DeBaun founded Blavity as a media platform for Black millennials to convene and connect online. Today, amidst an economic crisis and a reawakening of concern over racial justice, Blavity's m...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Sharon Chuter from 2020-07-09T00:01:35

In 2018, Sharon Chuter left her job at a legacy beauty brand to start UOMA Beauty, a cosmetics company that caters to a wide variety of skin tones. She recently launched a social media campaign cal...

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Tempur-Pedic: Bobby Trussell (2018) from 2020-07-06T00:01:56

At age 40, Bobby Trussell's promising career in horse racing hit a dead end. With bills to pay and a family to support, he stumbled across a curious product that turned into a lifeline: squishy-squ...

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ClassPass: Payal Kadakia from 2020-06-29T00:01:10

In the late 2000s, Payal Kadakia was working a corporate job and running an Indian dance company on the side. When a search for a ballet class yielded a confusing jumble of computer tabs, she had a...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Melanie Perkins and Bill Creelman from 2020-06-27T00:01:47

This week, the online design platform Canva closed a new round of funding, bringing the company's valuation to $6 billion. Founder Melanie Perkins is also focused on helping her employees work from...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Deval Patrick from 2020-06-25T00:02:54

Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick talks to Guy about how the protests for racial justice have resonated with him personally, and how this moment can spark meaningful change for African Am...

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Ring: Jamie Siminoff from 2020-06-22T00:01:34

Jamie Siminoff spent much of his twenties and thirties as a serial entrepreneur, launching three tech businesses you've probably never heard of. When he finally landed on a breakthrough idea, he di...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Sadie Lincoln from 2020-06-20T00:01:27

While 70 percent of Barre3's locations remain closed, founder Sadie Lincoln is noticing a surge in subscriptions for their online workout platform. These conversations are excerpts from our How...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Cathy Hughes from 2020-06-18T00:01:57

Cathy Hughes is the founder of Urban One, the largest African American-owned broadcast network with 54 radio stations around the United States. Cathy spoke with Guy about the impact of the Black Li...

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Shake Shack: Danny Meyer from 2020-06-15T00:01:12

Back in 2001, as part of an initiative to revitalize Madison Square Park, Danny Meyer set up a simple hot dog cart. At that time, he had been a leader in New York City's fine dining scene for years...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Y-Vonne Hutchinson from 2020-06-13T00:01:39

Y-Vonne Hutchinson is the founder of ReadySet, a consulting firm that helps companies make authentic commitments to diversity and inclusion. Y-Vonne spoke with Guy about the progress she's starting...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Kevin Hart from 2020-06-11T00:01:22

Actor and comedian Kevin Hart speaks to Guy about the Black Lives Matter protests and offers advice to future activists, entertainers and entrepreneurs. These conversations are excerpts from our Listen

Supergoop!: Holly Thaggard from 2020-06-08T00:01:21

In 2005, the trajectory of Holly Thaggard's life completely changed when a good friend of hers was diagnosed with skin cancer. Holly realized that most people weren't taking sunscreen seriously, so...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Troy Carter from 2020-06-06T00:01:10

Troy Carter, the founder of Q&A and Atom Factory, speaks to Guy about the painful events of the past few months—and especially the past two weeks—and how they've affected the music industry and him...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Jenn Hyman from 2020-06-04T00:01:26

As Rent the Runway faces the economic challenges of the pandemic, co-founder Jenn Hyman is focused on recovery and empowering women's lives through clothing. These conversations are excerpts from o...

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Sub Pop Records: Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman from 2020-06-01T00:01:58

Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman were two rock-and-roll fans who met at exactly the right time and place: Seattle in the early 1980s, where a raw hybrid of metal and punk was finding its voice in ...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Alli Webb and Andy Puddicombe & Rich Pierson from 2020-05-30T00:01:24

Alli Webb, co-founder of Drybar, talks with Guy about why she believes that investing time into fashion and beauty is still worthwhile, even though many of us aren't going out much. Founde...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Kyle Connaughton and Daniel Humm from 2020-05-28T00:01:59

Kyle Connaughton's restaurant has been impacted by wildfires, floods, and now, the COVID-19 pandemic. Kyle spoke with Guy about keeping SingleThread Farms afloat while giving back to his community ...

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reCAPTCHA and Duolingo: Luis von Ahn from 2020-05-25T00:01:48

In 2000, Luis von Ahn was starting his PhD in computer science when he attended a talk and happened to learn about one of Yahoo's biggest problems: automated bots were signing up for millions of fr...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Sarah LaFleur from 2020-05-23T00:01:05

When Sarah LaFleur started M.M.LaFleur, she wanted to help women dress efficiently and comfortably for the office. Now that most of her customers are working from home, Sarah has to rethink her bra...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Tony Xu and Marcia Kilgore from 2020-05-21T00:01:20

When Tony Xu started DoorDash in 2013, he wanted to help local restaurants stay afloat by introducing them to online delivery. Today, his quest remains the same, now that DoorDash has become an ess...

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Jo Loves: Jo Malone CBE from 2020-05-18T00:01:55

As a girl in 1970s London, Jo Malone learned how to make face creams by going to work with her mom at a private skin care clinic. By the time she was in her 20's, Jo was running her own skin care a...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Tobias Lütke and Jon Stein from 2020-05-16T00:01:21

When Tobias Lütke started Shopify, he wanted to empower merchants to start small and build resilience. Tobi spoke with Guy about the relevance of those principles in 2020, as he explains the rise o...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Samin Nosrat and Alice Waters & Fanny Singer from 2020-05-14T00:01:43

Samin Nosrat, the author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, talks with Guy about unintentionally writing the ultimate quarantine cookbook, and how she's been inspired by the camaraderie among fello...

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Impossible Foods: Pat Brown from 2020-05-11T00:01:55

When he was nearly 60, Pat Brown left a dream job to pursue an ambitious mission: to create delicious meat from plants. As a biochemist, he'd become alarmed at the destructive impact of meat produc...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Stewart Butterfield and Steve Holmes from 2020-05-09T00:01:09

Slack's co-founder Stewart Butterfield wonders what the future of work will look like for his 12 million customers. Springfree Trampoline's co-founder Steve Holmes says the company has seen a 300 p...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Christina Tosi and Gary Erickson & Kit Crawford from 2020-05-07T00:01:19

Since March, only five of Milk Bar's 18 locations have been up and running, but founder Christina Tosi tells Guy she is determined to bring the joy of baking to the doorsteps of family, friends, an...

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Cotopaxi: Davis Smith from 2020-05-04T00:01:43

By his mid-30's, Davis Smith had co-founded two businesses. The first ended well, but the second was such a disappointment that he wondered if he should even bother trying again. But he did. In 201...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with José Andrés from 2020-04-30T00:01:43

When chef José Andrés isn't running Michelin-starred restaurants, he's feeding the masses through World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit he founded that brings food to people during humanitarian crises...

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Fitbit: James Park from 2020-04-27T07:46:38

In 2006, James Park had what he describes as a "lightning bolt" moment when he first used a Nintendo Wii. Fascinated by its motion-tracking controller, James wondered if you could take the technolo...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Simon Sinek from 2020-04-23T00:01:37

Each week, Guy is hosting online conversations with founders and entrepreneurs about how they're navigating these turbulent times. Today's conversation is with Simon Sinek, whose books about busine...

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Brooklinen: Vicki and Rich Fulop from 2020-04-20T00:01:41

On the first day of their Vegas vacation in 2012, Rich and Vicki Fulop sat down on their hotel bed and immediately had the same thought: "These sheets are really nice!" The fabric was the perfect b...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with David Neeleman and Tristan Walker from 2020-04-16T00:01:51

Each week, Guy will be hosting brief online conversations with founders and members of the How I Built This community about how they're navigating these uncertain times. This past week, Gu...

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Sweetgreen: Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman from 2020-04-13T00:01:26

Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman met at Georgetown University in 2003 and quickly bonded over their frustration at the lack of healthy food on campus. So during their senior year, along with a thi...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Susan Griffin-Black from 2020-04-09T00:01:02

Each week, Guy will be hosting brief online conversations with founders and members of the How I Built This community about how they're navigating these uncertain times. This past Friday, ...

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S'well: Sarah Kauss from 2020-04-06T00:01:29

In 2009, Sarah Kauss had a well-paying job in real estate development, but she was itching to do something more. On a hike in Tucson with her mom, she got an idea for a business while swigging warm...

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How I Built Resilience: Live with Jeni Britton Bauer from 2020-04-02T00:01:56

Each week, Guy will be hosting brief online conversations with founders and members of the How I Built This community about how they're navigating these uncertain times. This past Friday, ...

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Sierra Nevada Brewing Company: Ken Grossman from 2020-03-30T00:01:51

Ken Grossman was experimenting with beer before he was old enough to buy it. As a high school student in the late 1960s, he bought his first home brewing kit and mixed the ingredients in a bucket, ...

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Ben & Jerry's: Ben Cohen And Jerry Greenfield (2017) from 2020-03-23T00:01:10

In the mid-1970s two childhood friends, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield decided to open an ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont. Their quirky little shop packaged and sold unusual flavors like Hone...

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Birchbox: Katia Beauchamp from 2020-03-16T00:01:32

When Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna launched Birchbox from business school in 2010, they set out to disrupt the beauty industry by delivering monthly samples in a box. Even though people told the...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Stacy Madison of Stacy's Pita Chips from 2020-03-12T00:01:05

Our ninth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Stacy Madison, co-founder of Stacy's Pita Chips. In this live conversation with Guy, Stacy explains how pita chips became a...

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Stripe: Patrick and John Collison (2018) from 2020-03-09T00:01:41

Brothers Patrick and John Collison founded and sold their first company before they turned 20. They created software to help eBay users manage inventory online, which set them on a path to help mak...

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Video Artist: Casey Neistat from 2020-03-02T00:01

When Casey Neistat was a teenager, the odds were against him; he had dropped out of high school, was washing dishes to pay rent, and was a father by age 17. But he eventually scraped together enoug...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams from 2020-02-27T00:01:42

Our eighth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Jeni Britton Bauer, the founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. In this live conversation with Guy, Jeni talks about maintaining aut...

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Lululemon Athletica: Chip Wilson (2018) from 2020-02-24T00:01:07

After noticing more and more people sign up for yoga in the late 1990s, Chip Wilson bet everything on an athletic apparel company aimed toward young professional women. What started as a small pop-...

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Eventbrite: Julia Hartz from 2020-02-17T00:01

In the early 2000s, Julia Hartz was helping develop TV shows for MTV and FX Networks, and seemed headed for a promising career in television. All of that changed in 2003 when she went to a wedding ...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: David Neeleman of JetBlue Airways from 2020-02-13T00:01:59

Our seventh episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue Airways. In this live conversation with Guy, David talks about the benefits of hav...

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Panera Bread/Au Bon Pain: Ron Shaich (2018) from 2020-02-10T00:01:09

In the early 1980s, Ron Shaich bought a small, struggling Boston bakery chain called Au Bon Pain, and built it out to 250 locations nationwide. Ron then saw an opportunity to build something even b...

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M.M.LaFleur: Sarah LaFleur from 2020-02-03T00:01:45

When she was working corporate jobs in New York City, Sarah LaFleur hated getting dressed in the morning; the choices in her closet felt overwhelming, many items didn't fit right or wore out too qu...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Stewart Butterfield from 2020-01-30T00:01:49

Our sixth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Stewart Butterfield, the co-founder of Flickr and Slack. Both companies emerged out of failure. In this live conversation w...

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Wikipedia: Jimmy Wales (2018) from 2020-01-27T00:01

During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, Jimmy Wales was running an internet search company. That's when he began to experiment with the idea of an online encyclopedia. In 2001, Wales launched Wi...

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Happy Family Organics: Shazi Visram from 2020-01-20T00:01:04

While she was a student at business school, Shazi Visram ran into an old friend-- a new mother of twins. The friend confided she felt like a bad mom because she had no time to make her kids health...

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Spindrift: Bill Creelman from 2020-01-13T00:01:19

Bill Creelman graduated from college in 1996 with a business plan — to sell smoked fish from Nantucket. But over time, that idea morphed unpredictably into a brand that sold cocktail seasonings and...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Marcia Kilgore from 2020-01-09T00:01:06

Our fifth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features serial entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore, founder of Bliss, FitFlop, BeautyPie and more. The animating question behind all of Mar...

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Dell Computers: Michael Dell (2018) from 2020-01-06T00:01:17

Before it became fashionable to start a tech company in your dorm room, Michael Dell did exactly that. In 1983, he began selling upgrade kits for PC's out of his dorm at UT Austin. A few months lat...

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Chicken Salad Chick: Stacy Brown (2018) from 2019-12-30T00:01:25

For many of us, chicken salad is just another sandwich filling, but Stacy Brown turned it into a $75 million business. In 2007, she was a divorced mother of three looking for a way to make ends mee...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Tariq Farid Of Edible Arrangements from 2019-12-26T00:01:16

Our fourth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Tariq Farid, founder of Edible Arrangements. In a live conversation with Guy, Tariq talks about flowers, fruit, and family...

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Steve Madden: Steve Madden (2018) from 2019-12-23T00:01:22

Steve Madden fell in love with the shoe business in the 1970's, when he sold platform shoes at a neighborhood store in Long Island, New York; that was in high school. About 15 years later, he struc...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger Of Instagram from 2019-12-19T00:01:12

Our third live episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, co-founders of Instagram. They talk to Guy about what they've been doing since they st...

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Tate's Bake Shop: Kathleen King from 2019-12-16T00:01:50

Kathleen King was 11 years old when she started baking cookies to sell at her family's farm stand on Long Island. After college, she opened a small bake shop, and eventually started selling her coo...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Troy Carter from 2019-12-12T00:01:25

Our second episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features founder and investor Troy Carter, who re-started his career in the music business after becoming Lady Gaga's manager. In a...

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Minted: Mariam Naficy (2018) from 2019-12-09T05:01:10

In 2000, Mariam Naficy sold her first company, an online cosmetics store called Eve.com, for $110 million. Several years later, she got the entrepreneurial itch once again: she founded Minted.com, ...

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Live From The HIBT Summit: Sara Blakely Of Spanx from 2019-12-05T00:01:18

Our first episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx. In front of a live audience, she tells Guy how she stayed confident in the earliest days of...

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Live Episode! OtterBox: Curt Richardson from 2019-12-02T00:01:28

In the 1980s and 90s, Curt Richardson started making simple plastic boxes in his garage in Fort Collins, Colorado. They were originally designed to keep small items dry while you're fishing or skii...

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Outdoor Voices: Tyler Haney from 2019-11-25T00:01:40

In 2013, Tyler Haney was a 24-year-old graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York. One day on a jog, she realized that her workout outfits looked, and felt, like they were made for compet...

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Remembering Jake Burton Carpenter from 2019-11-21T17:39:31

The founder of Burton Snowboards, Jake Burton Carpenter, has died. He was 65 years old. We are grateful that Jake shared his story with us in 2017 and we are republishing it as a tribute to his lif...

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Crate&Barrel: Gordon Segal (2017) from 2019-11-18T05:01:30

In 1962, Gordon Segal—with his wife Carole—opened a scrappy Chicago shop called Crate & Barrel. That store turned into a housewares empire that has shaped the way Americans furnish their homes. PLU...

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Evite: Selina Tobaccowala from 2019-11-11T00:01:46

At the height of the first dot-com boom, Selina Tobaccowala and college friend Al Lieb were determined to start a tech company. After a few false starts, they landed on the idea for Evite—an on-lin...

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Live Episode! Luke's Lobster: Luke Holden and Ben Conniff from 2019-11-07T00:01:24

Luke Holden grew up in Maine, working on lobster boats and in his father's lobster processing plant. But his parents pushed him to find a more stable career, so after college, he moved to New York ...

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FUBU: Daymond John (2018) from 2019-11-04T05:01:21

Daymond John grew up during the 1980s in the heart of hip hop culture: Hollis, Queens. In his early 20s, he was working at Red Lobster and trying to figure out how to start a business. Eventually, ...

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LÄRABAR: Lara Merriken (2018) from 2019-10-28T04:01:06

In 2000, Lara Merriken was 32, recently divorced, and without a job when she decided to make energy bars by mixing cherries, dates, and almonds in her Cuisinart. Eventually, she perfected the recip...

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Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber from 2019-10-21T00:01:01

Alex Blumberg made his early career by helping build two of the most successful shows in radio and podcasting: Planet Money and This American Life. In 2014, convinced that podcasts could make money...

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Live Episode! Milk Bar: Christina Tosi from 2019-10-14T00:01:25

For Christina Tosi, baking wasn't just a delicious childhood hobby – it was a daily creative outlet and a way to blow off steam. After college, she went to culinary school and honed her pastry tech...

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The Knot: Carley Roney&David Liu (2018) from 2019-10-07T04:01:31

When Carley Roney and David Liu got married, they had a seat-of-the-pants celebration on a sweltering Washington rooftop. They never planned to go into the wedding business, but soon saw an opportu...

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Live Episode! Walker & Company: Tristan Walker from 2019-09-30T00:01:40

The very first time Tristan Walker shaved, he woke up the next morning with razor bumps all over his face. "I was like, what is this?" he remembers saying. "I am never shaving again—ever."...

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Headspace: Andy Puddicombe and Rich Pierson from 2019-09-23T00:01:44

Andy Puddicombe is not your typical entrepreneur – in his early twenties, he gave away everything he owned to train as a Buddhist monk. But after ten years, he decided he wanted to bring the benefi...

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Stitch Fix: Katrina Lake (2018) from 2019-09-16T04:01:28

In 2010, Katrina Lake recruited 20 friends for an experiment: she wanted to see if she could choose clothes for them that accurately matched their style and personality. That idea sparked Stitch Fi...

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Dippin' Dots: Curt Jones from 2019-09-09T00:01:50

In the late 1980s, Curt Jones was working in a Kentucky lab, using liquid nitrogen to flash-freeze animal feed. He wondered if he could re-invigorate his favorite dessert by pouring droplets of ice...

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The Life Is Good Company: Bert and John Jacobs from 2019-09-02T00:01:20

In the late 80s, brothers Bert and John Jacobs were living as nomads, traveling from college to college selling t-shirts out of their van. It wasn't a sustainable living – until one day, they creat...

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Aden + Anais: Raegan Moya-Jones (2019) from 2019-08-26T04:01:39

Cotton muslin baby blankets are commonplace in Australia, where Raegan Moya-Jones grew up. But when she started a new life and family in NYC, she couldn't find them anywhere. So in 2006, she starte...

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Stonyfield Yogurt: Gary Hirshberg (2017) from 2019-08-19T04:01:09

In 1983, two hippie farmers decided to sell homemade organic yogurt to help raise money for their educational farm in New Hampshire. As the enterprise grew into a business, it faced one near-death ...

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Serial Entrepreneur: Marcia Kilgore (2018) from 2019-08-12T04:01:18

After high school, Marcia Kilgore moved to New York City with $300 in her pocket and no real plan. One step at a time, she became a successful serial entrepreneur. First, she used her high school b...

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Shopify: Tobias Lütke from 2019-08-05T00:01:21

In 2004, German programmer Tobias Lütke was living in Ottawa with his girlfriend. An avid snowboarder, he wanted to launch an online snowboard shop, but found the e-commerce software available at t...

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Live Episode! Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP: Angie & Dan Bastian from 2019-07-29T00:01:33

Angie and Dan Bastian weren't trying to disrupt an industry or build a massive company – they just wanted to put aside some money for their kids' college fund. In 2001, Dan stumbled across an inter...

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Dyson: James Dyson (2018) from 2019-07-22T04:01:23

In 1979, James Dyson had an idea for a new vacuum cleaner — one that didn't use bags. It took him five years to perfect the design, building more than 5,000 prototypes in his backyard shed. He then...

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EO Products: Susan Griffin-Black & Brad Black from 2019-07-15T00:01:08

In the early 1990s, Susan Griffin-Black was working for Esprit in San Francisco. On a business trip to London, she walked into a Covent Garden apothecary shop, picked up a bottle of lavender oil an...

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Teach For America: Wendy Kopp (2017) from 2019-07-08T04:01:35

In 1989, college senior Wendy Kopp was trying to figure out how to improve public education in the US. For her senior thesis, she proposed creating a national teaching corps that would recruit rece...

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Dave's Killer Bread: Dave Dahl from 2019-07-01T00:01:18

Dave Dahl's entrepreneurial journey began in prison. In 1987, he was addicted to drugs and incarcerated for home burglary. For 15 years he bounced from one sentence to the next. But in the mid-2000...

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Yelp: Jeremy Stoppelman from 2019-06-24T00:01:34

In 2004, two former Paypal engineers, Jeremy Stoppelman and Russ Simmons, were spit-balling new internet ideas. Out of their brainstorm came a site where you would email your friends asking for loc...

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Chesapeake Bay Candle: Mei Xu (2017) from 2019-06-17T04:01:44

Twenty-five years ago, after Mei Xu emigrated from China to the U.S., she loved going to Bloomingdale's to gaze at their housewares. She eventually started making candles in her basement with Campb...

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Allbirds: Tim Brown & Joey Zwillinger from 2019-06-10T00:01:09

Growing up, Tim Brown discovered he was very good at two things: design and soccer. While playing professional soccer in New Zealand, he was turned off by the flashy logos on most athletic gear. He...

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Live Episode! Tofurky: Seth Tibbott from 2019-06-03T00:01:39

Seth Tibbott may be the only founder in the world who grew his business while living in a barn, a teepee, and a treehouse. His off-the-grid lifestyle helped him save money as he started to sell tem...

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Stacy's Pita Chips: Stacy Madison from 2019-05-27T00:04:48

In the 1990's, Stacy Madison and her boyfriend Mark Andrus were selling pita sandwiches from a converted hot dog cart in Boston. They decided to bake the leftover pita into chips, adding a dash of ...

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Zappos: Tony Hsieh (2017) from 2019-05-20T04:01:22

Computer scientist Tony Hsieh made millions off the dot-com boom. But he didn't make his mark until he built Zappos — a customer service company that "happens to sell shoes." Now Zappos is worth ov...

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Belkin International: Chet Pipkin from 2019-05-13T00:01:49

Chet Pipkin was the kind of kid who loved to take things apart and put them back together. As a young man in the early 1980s, he started hanging out in mom-and-pop computer shops, where he realized...

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Framebridge: Susan Tynan (2017) from 2019-05-06T04:01:40

Susan Tynan's experience in the ephemeral e-market of LivingSocial made her want to start a business that she could touch and feel. After being charged $1600 to frame four posters at her local fra...

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Live Episode! Peloton: John Foley from 2019-04-29T00:01:53

John Foley started climbing the rungs of the corporate ladder at a young age, first as a fast food server and eventually as an e-commerce executive. Still, at 40, he couldn't climb out of bed fast ...

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Bumble: Whitney Wolfe (2017) from 2019-04-22T07:01:08

At age 22, Whitney Wolfe helped launch Tinder, one of the world's most popular dating apps. But a few years later, she left Tinder and filed a lawsuit against the company alleging sexual harassment...

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Men's Wearhouse: George Zimmer from 2019-04-15T00:01:04

In 1970, George Zimmer was a college graduate with no real job prospects and little direction. That's when his father, an executive at a boy's clothing company, asked him to go on an important busi...

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Chez Panisse: Alice Waters from 2019-04-08T00:01:44

In the 1960s, Alice Waters studied abroad in France – and discovered a culinary world far from the processed food popular in America. When she returned to California, she tried to find restaurants ...

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Springfree Trampoline: Keith Alexander & Steve Holmes from 2019-04-01T00:01:49

In the late 1980s, a New Zealand engineer named Keith Alexander wanted to buy a trampoline for his kids. After his wife said trampolines were too dangerous, Keith set out to design his own — a safe...

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Compaq Computers: Rod Canion (2019) from 2019-03-25T04:01:50

In 1981, engineer Rod Canion left Texas Instruments and co-founded Compaq, which created the first IBM-compatible personal computer. This opened the door to an entire industry of PCs that could run...

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Away: Jen Rubio from 2019-03-18T00:01:36

In early 2015, Jen Rubio was racing through an airport to catch a flight when her suitcase broke, leaving a trail of clothing behind her. She tried to replace it with a stylish, durable, affordable...

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Logic: Logic & Chris Zarou from 2019-03-11T00:01

In 2010, Logic the rapper, born as Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, released his first official mixtape titled "Young, Broke & Infamous." At 20 years old, Logic certainly was young and broke, and while c...

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Squarespace: Anthony Casalena from 2019-03-04T00:01:23

Like many classic technology stories, Squarespace started in a college dorm room. In 2003, 21-year-old Anthony Casalena created a website-building tool for himself. But after hearing some positive ...

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Eileen Fisher: Eileen Fisher (2017) from 2019-02-25T05:01:30

In 1983, Eileen Fisher signed up for a fashion trade show with no experience, no garments, no patterns or sketches – nothing but a few ideas for a women's clothing line focused on simplicity. Withi...

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Burt's Bees: Roxanne Quimby from 2019-02-18T01:52:52

In the 1970s, Roxanne Quimby was trying to live a simpler life – one that rejected the pursuit of material comforts. She moved to Maine, built a cabin in the woods, and lived off the grid. By the m...

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TOMS: Blake Mycoskie (2019) from 2019-02-11T05:01

Blake Mycoskie started and sold four businesses before age 30. But only in Argentina did he discover the idea he'd want to pursue long term. After seeing a shoe drive for children, he came up with ...

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JetBlue Airways: David Neeleman from 2019-02-04T00:01:43

In the mid-90s, David Neeleman wanted to launch a new airline. He had already co-created a regional airline out of Salt Lake City that was acquired by Southwest. And despite his admiration of South...

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Canva: Melanie Perkins from 2019-01-28T00:01:52

When she was just 19 years old, Melanie Perkins dreamt of transforming the graphic design and publishing industries. But she started small, launching a site to make yearbook design simpler and more...

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Bonobos: Andy Dunn from 2019-01-21T00:02:14

When Andy Dunn was in business school, his housemate Brian Spaly created a new type of men's pants: stylish, tailored trousers that fit well in both the hips and thighs. Together, they started the ...

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Five Guys: Jerry Murrell (2019) from 2019-01-14T05:01:49

Jerry Murrell's mother used to tell him, you can always make money if you know how to make a good burger. In 1986 — after failing at a number of business ideas — Murrell opened a tiny burger joint ...

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SoulCycle: Julie Rice & Elizabeth Cutler from 2019-01-07T00:01:20

Before Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice met, they shared a common belief: New York City gyms didn't have the kind of exercise classes they craved, and each of them wanted to change that. A fitness i...

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Remembering Herb Kelleher from 2019-01-04T11:13

The co-founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher, has died. He was 87. We are grateful Herb shared his story with us in 2016. We are republishing it as a tribute to his life and c...

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Kickstarter: Perry Chen (2018) from 2018-12-31T05:01:51

In the early 2000s, Perry Chen was trying to put on a concert in New Orleans when he thought, what if fans could fund this in advance? His idea didn't work at the time, but he and his co-founders s...

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The Chipmunks: Ross Bagdasarian Jr.&Janice Karman (2017) from 2018-12-24T05:01:20

Years after his father created a hit singing group of anthropomorphic rodents called The Chipmunks, Ross Bagdasarian Jr. made it his mission to revive his dad's beloved characters. Over the last 40...

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Lisa Price Of Carol's Daughter At The HIBT Summit from 2018-12-20T00:01:09

It's our final episode in our series from this year's How I Built This Summit! Today, we're featuring Lisa Price of the beauty brand Carol's Daughter. When Lisa sat down with Guy Raz in Oc...

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Live Episode! Dollar Shave Club: Michael Dubin from 2018-12-17T00:01:45

At the end of 2010, Michael Dubin was working in marketing when he met a guy named Mark Levine at a holiday party. Mark was looking for ideas to get rid of a massive pile of razors he had sitting i...

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Stitch Fix's Katrina Lake At The HIBT Summit from 2018-12-13T00:02:17

Today we have another live episode from the How I Built This Summit, featuring Katrina Lake of Stitch Fix. Katrina sat down with Guy Raz in front of a live audience in San Francisco in Oct...

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Burton Snowboards: Jake Carpenter (2017) from 2018-12-10T05:01:20

In 1977, 23-year-old Jake Carpenter set out to design a better version of the Snurfer, a stand-up sled he loved to ride as a teenager. Working by himself in a barn in Londonderry, Vermont, he sande...

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Airbnb's Joe Gebbia At The HIBT Summit from 2018-12-06T00:01:31

Next in our series of episodes from the How I Built This Summit: Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb. Joe sat down with Guy Raz in front of a live audience in San Francisco, and talked about ...

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ActOne Group: Janice Bryant Howroyd from 2018-12-03T00:01:31

In the late 1970s Janice Bryant Howroyd moved to Los Angeles and began temping as a secretary. She soon realized there were many other young people in situations similar to hers. So with $1,500 in ...

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Lyft's John Zimmer At The HIBT Summit from 2018-11-29T00:01:23

Next up in our series of episodes from the How I Built This Summit: John Zimmer, co-founder of Lyft. John sat down with Guy Raz in front of a live audience in San Francisco last month to t...

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Live Episode! Glossier: Emily Weiss from 2018-11-26T00:02:22

In 2010, while working as a fashion assistant at Vogue, Emily Weiss started a beauty blog called Into The Gloss. She quickly attracted a following of devoted readers hooked on the...

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Method's Adam Lowry And Eric Ryan At The HIBT Summit from 2018-11-22T00:01:23

This episode from the How I Built This Summit features Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, co-founders of Method cleaning products. Adam and Eric joined Guy Raz live on stage at the Summit in San Fr...

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Whole Foods Market: John Mackey (2018) from 2018-11-19T05:01:22

In 1978, college drop-out John Mackey scraped together $45,000 to open his first health food store, "Safer Way." A few years later he co-founded Whole Foods Market — and launched an organic food re...

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Rent The Runway's Jenn Hyman At The HIBT Summit from 2018-11-15T00:01:14

Our first episode from the How I Built This Summit features Jenn Hyman, co-founder of Rent The Runway, a designer clothing rental service that pulls in $100 million a year. When Jenn sat d...

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DoorDash: Tony Xu from 2018-11-12T00:01:24

In 2013, Tony Xu was brainstorming ideas for a business school project when he identified a problem he wanted to solve: food delivery. For most restaurants, it was too costly and inefficient, leavi...

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Barre3: Sadie Lincoln (2017) from 2018-11-05T05:01:37

Sadie Lincoln and her husband, Chris, had what seemed like the perfect life – well-paying jobs, a house in the Bay Area, two kids. But one day they decided to sell everything and start a new busine...

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Betterment: Jon Stein from 2018-10-29T00:01:29

When Jon Stein realized he couldn't stand the sight of blood, he gave up the idea of becoming a doctor. Instead, he went into finance, but soon grew restless with "helping banks make more money." S...

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Tempur-Pedic: Bobby Trussell from 2018-10-22T00:01:49

At age 40, Bobby Trussell's promising career in horse racing hit a dead end. With bills to pay and a family to support, he stumbled across a curious product that turned into a lifeline: squishy-squ...

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Rent The Runway: Jenn Hyman (2018) from 2018-10-15T04:01:20

Jenn Hyman got the idea for Rent the Runway in 2008, after she watched her sister overspend on a new dress rather than wear an old one to a party. Jenn and her business partner built a web site whe...

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method: Adam Lowry & Eric Ryan from 2018-10-08T00:01:55

In the late 1990s, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan took on the notion that "green doesn't clean" by setting out to make soap that could clean a bathtub without harming the environment. Adam started experi...

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Cisco Systems & Urban Decay: Sandy Lerner from 2018-10-01T00:07:50

In the pre-Internet 1970's, Sandy Lerner was part of a loosely-knit group of programmers that was trying to get computers to talk to each other. Eventually, she and Len Bosack launched Cisco System...

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Power Rangers: Haim Saban (2017) from 2018-09-24T04:01:50

As a refugee growing up in Tel Aviv, Haim Saban remembers not having enough money to eat. As an adult, he hustled his way into the entertainment business, writing theme songs for classic cartoons l...

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Bobbi Brown Cosmetics: Bobbi Brown from 2018-09-17T00:01:49

Bobbi Brown started out as a makeup artist in New York City, but hated the gaudy color palette of the 1980s. She eventually shook up the industry by introducing "nude makeup" with neutral colors an...

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Live Episode! New Belgium Brewing Company: Kim Jordan from 2018-09-10T00:01:49

In 1991 newlyweds Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch took out a second mortgage on their home in Fort Collins, Colorado to start a craft brewery in their basement. Jeff had been inspired by the fruit and ...

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WeWork: Miguel McKelvey (2018) from 2018-09-03T04:01:57

In 2007, architect Miguel McKelvey convinced his friend Adam Neumann to share an office space in Brooklyn. That was the beginning of WeWork: a shared workspace for startups and freelancers looking ...

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TRX: Randy Hetrick (2018) from 2018-08-27T04:02:16

In 1997, Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick was deployed in Southeast Asia, where he was stationed in a remote warehouse for weeks with no way to exercise. So he grabbed an old jujitsu belt, threw it over a d...

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Angie's List: Angie Hicks (2016) from 2018-08-20T04:01:50

In 1995, Angie Hicks spent months going door-to-door in Columbus, Ohio, trying to get people to sign up for a new home services referral business. Today, Angie's List is a household name, referring...

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Live Episode! RXBAR: Peter Rahal from 2018-08-13T00:02:20

In 2013, Peter Rahal was obsessed with CrossFit, but noticed it didn't sell any snacks to align with its pro-paleo philosophy. So instead of joining his family's business, Rahal Foods, he recruited...

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Carol's Daughter: Lisa Price (2018) from 2018-08-06T04:01:52

Lisa Price worked in television but had a passion for beauty products. At her mother's suggestion, she began selling her homemade moisturizer at a church flea market. Twenty years later, Carol's Da...

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Slack & Flickr: Stewart Butterfield from 2018-07-30T00:01:46

In the early 2000s, Stewart Butterfield tried to build a weird, massively multiplayer online game, but the venture failed. Instead, he and his co-founders used the technology they developed to crea...

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Drybar: Alli Webb (2017) from 2018-07-23T04:01:47

A decade ago, full-time mom Alli Webb noticed a gap in the beauty market: there was no place that just focused on blow-drying hair. Now with more than 100 locations, Drybar is testament to Webb's m...

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Steve Madden: Steve Madden from 2018-07-16T00:01:56

Steve Madden fell in love with the shoe business in the 1970's, when he sold platform shoes at a neighborhood store in Long Island, New York. That was in high school. About 15 years later, he stru...

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Lonely Planet: Maureen&Tony Wheeler (2017) from 2018-07-09T04:01:56

In 1972, Maureen and Tony Wheeler bought a beat-up car and drove from London "as far east as we could go." They wound up in Australia, by way of Afghanistan, India and Thailand. Their notes on how ...

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Chicken Salad Chick: Stacy Brown from 2018-07-02T00:01:23

For many of us, chicken salad is just another sandwich filling, but Stacy Brown turned it into a $75 million business. In 2007, she was a divorced mother of three looking for a way to make ends mee...

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Lyft: John Zimmer (2017) from 2018-06-25T04:01:19

In 2006, John Zimmer was a college student and ride-hailing wasn't yet "a thing." But a class on green cities got him thinking about the glut of underused cars on the road. Eventually, he co-founde...

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Lululemon Athletica: Chip Wilson from 2018-06-18T00:01:20

After noticing more and more people sign up for yoga in the late 1990s, Chip Wilson bet everything on an athletic apparel company aimed toward young professional women. What started as a small pop-...

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Honest Tea: Seth Goldman (2017) from 2018-06-11T04:01:48

In 1997, after going for a long run, Seth Goldman was frustrated with the sugar-filled drinks at the corner market. So he brewed up a beverage in his kitchen, and turned it into Honest Tea. PLUS, f...

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Remembering Kate Spade from 2018-06-05T16:00

We are incredibly saddened by the loss of the brilliant designer and entrepreneur Kate Spade. We are grateful she and her husband Andy Spade shared their story with us in 2017. The origins of the K...

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Minted: Mariam Naficy from 2018-06-04T00:02:01

In 2000, Mariam Naficy sold her first company, an online cosmetics store called Eve.com, for $110 million. Several years later, she got the entrepreneurial itch once again: she founded Minted, an o...

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Lady Gaga&Atom Factory: Troy Carter (2018) from 2018-05-28T04:01:36

As a kid, Troy Carter dreamed of being a rapper, but soon discovered he was a better manager than a musician. He took Lady Gaga from obscurity to stardom – helping shape both her music and her bran...

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Bob's Red Mill: Bob Moore from 2018-05-21T00:02:03

In the 1960s, Bob Moore read a book about an old grain mill and was inspired to start his own. Using giant quartz stones from the 19th century, he made dozens of different cereals and flours, posit...

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Real Estate Mogul: Barbara Corcoran (2017) from 2018-05-14T04:01

Barbara Corcoran grew up in a working-class Irish Catholic family in Jersey – with nine brothers and sisters. But she used her charisma to conquer the streets of Manhattan and build the real estate...

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Stripe: Patrick and John Collison from 2018-05-07T00:01

Brothers Patrick and John Collison founded and sold their first company before they turned 20. They created software to help eBay users manage inventory online, which set them on a path to help mak...

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Panera Bread/Au Bon Pain: Ron Shaich from 2018-04-30T00:01

In the early 1980s, Ron Shaich bought a small, struggling Boston bakery chain called Au Bon Pain, and built it out to 250 locations nationwide. Ron then saw an opportunity to build something even b...

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Dermalogica: Jane Wurwand (2016) from 2018-04-23T04:01

Jane Wurwand moved to Los Angeles with a suitcase and a beauty school diploma. She started what would become Dermalogica, an international beauty empire that set the standard for skin care. PLUS in...

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Wayfair: Niraj Shah & Steve Conine from 2018-04-16T00:01

After selling their first small business and shuttering their second, former college roommates Niraj Shah and Steve Conine thought about getting "normal" jobs. But in the early 2000s, they stumbled...

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FUBU: Daymond John from 2018-04-09T00:01

Daymond John grew up during the 1980s in the heart of hip hop culture: Hollis, Queens. In his early 20s, he was working at Red Lobster and trying to figure out how to start a business. Eventually, ...

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Stitch Fix: Katrina Lake from 2018-04-02T00:01

In 2010, Katrina Lake recruited 20 friends for an experiment: she wanted to see if she could choose clothes for them that accurately matched their style and personality. That idea sparked Stitch Fi...

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Atari&Chuck E. Cheese's: Nolan Bushnell (2017) from 2018-03-26T04:01

Before he turned 40, Nolan Bushnell founded two brands that permanently shaped the way Americans amuse themselves: the iconic video game system Atari, and the frenetic family restaurant Chuck E. Ch...

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LÄRABAR: Lara Merriken from 2018-03-19T00:01

In 2000, Lara Merriken was 32, recently divorced, and without a job when she decided to make energy bars by mixing cherries, dates, and almonds in her Cuisinart. Eventually, she perfected the recip...

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The Knot: Carley Roney & David Liu from 2018-03-12T00:01

When Carley Roney and David Liu got married, they had a seat-of-the-pants celebration on a sweltering Washington rooftop. They never planned to go into the wedding business, but soon saw an opportu...

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Live Episode! Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams: Jeni Britton Bauer from 2018-02-28T00:01:31

Even as a kid, Jeni Britton Bauer knew she was going to start a business one day. But she had no idea that her love for perfume would inspire her to start experimenting with ice cream. After years ...

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Wikipedia: Jimmy Wales from 2018-02-26T00:01

During the dot com boom of the late 1990s, Jimmy Wales was running an internet search company. That's when he began to experiment with the idea of an online encyclopedia. In 2001, Wales launched Wi...

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Warby Parker: Dave Gilboa&Neil Blumenthal (2016) from 2018-02-19T05:01

In 2008, it was nearly impossible to buy a fashionable, affordable pair of glasses online. That simple frustration inspired the idea behind Warby Parker – and disrupted the eyewear industry. PLUS f...

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Dyson: James Dyson from 2018-02-12T00:01

In 1979, James Dyson had an idea for a new vacuum cleaner — one that didn't use bags. It took him five years to perfect the design, building more than 5,000 prototypes in his backyard shed. He then...

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Melissa&Doug: Melissa And Doug Bernstein (2016) from 2018-02-05T05:01

Melissa and Doug Bernstein's first success was a wooden 'fuzzy puzzle' of farm animals. Today, Melissa & Doug makes over 2,000 kinds of toys and serves as an antidote to the rise of digital toys. P...

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Dell Computers: Michael Dell from 2018-01-29T00:01

Before it became fashionable to start a tech company in your dorm room, Michael Dell did exactly that. In 1983, he began selling upgrade kits for PC's out of his dorm at UT Austin. A few months lat...

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Serial Entrepreneur: Marcia Kilgore from 2018-01-22T00:01

After high school, Marcia Kilgore moved to New York City with $300 in her pocket and no real plan. One step at a time, she became a successful serial entrepreneur. First, she used her high school b...

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LinkedIn: Reid Hoffman from 2018-01-15T00:01

In the early 1990s, Reid Hoffman had a vision for the future of the Internet: people would connect through social networks using their real names, and their online lives would be completely merged ...

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Kate Spade: Kate&Andy Spade (2017) from 2018-01-08T05:01

We're hard at work planning our next live show, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: Kate Spade. A 1991 conversation at a Mexican restaurant led Kate & Andy Spade to ask, "What's missi...

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Clif Bar: Gary Erickson (2018) from 2018-01-01T05:01

We're taking a break for the holidays, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: Clif Bar. Gary Erickson asked his mom, "Can you make a cookie without butter, sugar or oil?" The result was ...

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Live Episode! The Home Depot: Arthur Blank from 2017-12-28T00:01

In 1978, Arthur Blank and his business partner Bernie Marcus were running a successful chain of hardware stores called Handy Dan – but then, they were unexpectedly fired. The next year, they concei...

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Patagonia: Yvon Chouinard (2016) from 2017-12-25T05:01

We're taking a break for the holidays, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: Patagonia. In 1973, Yvon Chouinard started the company to make climbing gear he couldn't find elsewhere. Ove...

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LearnVest: Alexa von Tobel from 2017-12-18T00:01

When Alexa von Tobel was just 14, her father passed away unexpectedly, leaving her mother to manage the family's finances. The tragedy made Alexa determined to understand money – and help others pl...

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Live Episode! Black Entertainment Television: Robert Johnson from 2017-12-14T00:26

In 1979, Robert Johnson was a lobbyist for the burgeoning cable industry. That's when he got an idea for a channel called Black Entertainment Television. He started small, just a few hours of progr...

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Tom's Of Maine: Tom Chappell from 2017-12-11T00:01

In 1970, Tom Chappell took out a $5000 loan to launch a natural products company called Tom's of Maine. Working out of a warehouse in Kennebunk, Maine, he created soaps, shampoos, and toothpaste fr...

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Zumba: Beto Perez&Alberto Perlman (January, 2017) from 2017-12-04T05:01

We're hard at work planning our upcoming live show, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: Zumba. Zumba began as a mistake: aerobics teacher Beto Perez brought the wrong music to class, ...

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Framebridge: Susan Tynan from 2017-11-27T00:01

Susan Tynan's experience in the ephemeral e-market of LivingSocial made her want to start a business that she could touch and feel. She got her idea after experiencing sticker shock at her local fr...

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Ben & Jerry's: Ben Cohen And Jerry Greenfield from 2017-11-20T00:01

In the mid-1970s two childhood friends, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield decided to open an ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont. Their quirky little shop packaged and sold unusual flavors like Hone...

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Instagram: Kevin Systrom&Mike Krieger (2017) from 2017-11-13T05:01

We're hard at work planning our upcoming live shows, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: Instagram. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched their photo-sharing app with a server that ...

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Eileen Fisher: Eileen Fisher from 2017-11-06T00:01

In 1983, Eileen Fisher signed up for a fashion trade show with no experience, no garments, no patterns or sketches – nothing but a few ideas for a women's clothing line focused on simplicity. Withi...

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Chipotle: Steve Ells from 2017-10-30T00:01

In 1992, Steve Ells was a classically trained chef working in a high-end restaurant in San Francisco. But after eating a burrito at a local taqueria, he got an idea: to sell burritos and earn enoug...

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Burton Snowboards: Jake Carpenter from 2017-10-23T00:01

In 1977, 23-year-old Jake Carpenter set out to design a better version of the Snurfer, a stand-up sled he loved to ride as a teenager. Working by himself in a barn in Londonderry, Vermont, he sande...

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Bumble: Whitney Wolfe from 2017-10-16T00:01

At age 22, Whitney Wolfe helped launch Tinder, one of the world's most popular dating apps. But a few years later, she left Tinder and filed a lawsuit against the company alleging sexual harassment...

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Teach For America: Wendy Kopp from 2017-10-09T00:01

In 1989, college senior Wendy Kopp was trying to figure out how to improve American public schools. For her senior thesis, she proposed creating a national teaching corps that would recruit recent ...

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Stonyfield Yogurt: Gary Hirshberg from 2017-10-02T00:01

In 1983, two hippie farmers decided to sell homemade organic yogurt to help raise money for their educational farm in New Hampshire. As the enterprise grew into a business, it faced one near-death ...

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Live Episode! Starbucks: Howard Schultz from 2017-09-28T00:01:26

During his first visit to Seattle in 1981, Howard Schultz walked into a little coffee bean shop called Starbucks and fell in love with it. A few years later, he bought the six-store chain for almos...

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Southwest Airlines: Herb Kelleher (2016) from 2017-09-25T04:01

We're hard at work planning more live shows, so we bring you one of our favorites from last year: Southwest Airlines. In 1968, competitors sued to keep Herb Kelleher's new airline grounded. After a...

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The Chipmunks: Ross Bagdasarian Jr. & Janice Karman from 2017-09-18T00:01

Years after his father created a hit singing group of anthropomorphic rodents called The Chipmunks, Ross Bagdasarian Jr. made it his mission to revive his dad's beloved characters. Over the last 40...

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Barre3: Sadie Lincoln from 2017-09-11T00:01

Sadie Lincoln and her husband, Chris, had what seemed like the perfect life – well-paying jobs, a house in the Bay Area, two kids. But one day they decided to sell everything and start a new busine...

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VICE: Suroosh Alvi (2017) from 2017-09-04T04:01

We're hard at work planning our upcoming live show, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: VICE. Suroosh Alvi was a recovering addict when he started a scrappy underground magazine in Mo...

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Live Episode! Reddit: Alexis Ohanian & Steve Huffman from 2017-08-31T00:01

With $12,000 and a mascot named Snoo, two former college roommates designed a web site they hoped would become "the front page of the Internet." Today, despite growing pains, personal issues and pe...

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Airbnb: Joe Gebbia (2017) from 2017-08-28T04:01

We're hard at work planning our upcoming live show, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: Airbnb. A chance encounter with a stranger gave Joe Gebbia an idea to help pay his rent. That i...

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Edible Arrangements: Tariq Farid from 2017-08-21T00:01

When Tariq Farid was 12, he emigrated from Pakistan to the U.S. – and quickly found a job at a local flower shop. Eventually he opened his own shop, which eventually led to the crazy idea to make f...

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Radio One: Cathy Hughes (2017) from 2017-08-14T04:01

We're hard at work planning our upcoming live show, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: Radio One. As a kid, Cathy Hughes practiced her DJ routine while her siblings banged on the bat...

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Rent The Runway: Jenn Hyman from 2017-08-07T00:01

Jenn Hyman got the idea for Rent the Runway in 2008, after she watched her sister overspend on a new dress rather than wear an old one to a party. Jenn and her business partner built a web site whe...

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Kickstarter: Perry Chen from 2017-07-31T00:01

In the early 2000s, Perry Chen was trying to put on a concert in New Orleans when he thought, what if fans could fund this in advance? His idea didn't work at the time, but he and his co-founders s...

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Live Episode! BuzzFeed: Jonah Peretti from 2017-07-27T00:01

In 2001, when most of us had no idea what it meant to "go viral," Jonah Peretti shared an email prank among his friends — and saw it spread to millions. That began his fascination with how informat...

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Samuel Adams: Jim Koch (2017) from 2017-07-24T04:01

We're hard at work planning our upcoming live shows, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: Samuel Adams. In 1984, Jim Koch felt suffocated by his cushy but boring corporate job. So he l...

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Aden + Anais: Raegan Moya-Jones from 2017-07-17T00:01

Cotton muslin baby blankets are commonplace in Australia, where Raegan Moya-Jones grew up. But when she started a new life and family in NYC, she couldn't find them anywhere. She was sure Americans...

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Rolling Stone: Jann Wenner from 2017-07-10T00:01

After being involved in Berkeley's Free Speech Movement, Jann Wenner wanted to start a publication to capture the exploding counterculture scene of the 1960s. The result was Rolling Stone, a gritty...

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Spanx: Sara Blakely (2017) from 2017-07-03T04:01

We're hard at work planning our upcoming live shows, so we bring you this favorite from the last year: Spanx. At 27, Sara Blakely was selling fax machines and desperate to reinvent her life. So she...

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TRX: Randy Hetrick from 2017-06-26T00:01

In 1997, Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick was deployed in Southeast Asia, where he was stationed in a remote warehouse for weeks with no way to exercise. So he grabbed an old jujitsu belt, threw it over a d...

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WeWork: Miguel McKelvey from 2017-06-19T00:01

In 2007, architect Miguel McKelvey convinced his friend Adam Neumann to share an office space in Brooklyn. That was the beginning of WeWork: a shared workspace for startups and freelancers looking ...

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Carol's Daughter: Lisa Price from 2017-06-12T00:01

Lisa Price worked in television but had a passion for beauty products. At her mother's suggestion, she began selling her homemade moisturizer at a church flea market. Twenty years later, Carol's Da...

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Five Guys: Jerry Murrell from 2017-06-05T00:01

Jerry Murrell's mother used to tell him, you can always make money if you know how to make a good burger. In 1986 — after failing at a number of business ideas — Murrell opened a tiny burger joint ...

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TOMS: Blake Mycoskie from 2017-05-29T00:01

Blake Mycoskie started and sold four businesses before age 30. But only in Argentina did he discover the idea he'd want to pursue long term. After seeing a shoe drive for children, he came up with ...

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Compaq Computers: Rod Canion from 2017-05-22T00:01

In 1981, engineer Rod Canion left Texas Instruments and co-founded Compaq, which created the first IBM-compatible personal computer. This opened the door to an entire industry of PCs that could run...

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Whole Foods Market: John Mackey from 2017-05-15T00:01

In 1978, college drop-out John Mackey scraped together $45,000 to open his first health food store, "Safer Way." A few years later he co-founded Whole Foods Market — and launched an organic food re...

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Lonely Planet: Maureen & Tony Wheeler from 2017-05-08T00:01

In 1972, Maureen and Tony Wheeler bought a beat-up car and drove from London "as far east as we could go." They wound up in Australia, by way of Afghanistan, India and Thailand. Their notes on how ...

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Lady Gaga & Atom Factory: Troy Carter from 2017-05-01T00:01

As a kid, Troy Carter dreamed of being a rapper, but soon discovered he was a better manager than a musician. He took Lady Gaga from obscurity to stardom – helping shape both her music and her bran...

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Real Estate Mogul: Barbara Corcoran from 2017-04-24T00:01

Barbara Corcoran grew up in a working-class Irish Catholic family in Jersey – with nine brothers and sisters. But she used her charisma to conquer the streets of Manhattan and build the real estate...

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1-800-GOT-JUNK?: Brian Scudamore from 2017-04-17T00:01

Brian Scudamore didn't dream of a life hauling away other people's trash. But when he needed to pay for college, he bought a $700 pickup truck, painted his phone number on the side, and started hau...

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Instacart: Apoorva Mehta from 2017-04-10T00:01

App developer Apoorva Mehta almost gave up on being an entrepreneur until he figured out what he really wanted to do: find a hassle-free way to buy groceries. Five years after launch, the grocery d...

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AOL: Steve Case from 2017-04-03T00:01

When Steve Case started out in the tech business in the mid-80s, the idea of the internet — as we think of it today — didn't exist. But with AOL, Case saw an opportunity to connect millions of peop...

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Power Rangers: Haim Saban from 2017-03-27T00:01

As a refugee growing up in Tel Aviv, Haim Saban remembers not having enough money to eat. As an adult, he hustled his way into the entertainment business, writing theme songs for classic cartoons l...

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Kendra Scott: Kendra Scott from 2017-03-20T00:01

Ever since she was a little girl playing dress-up in her aunt's closet, Kendra Scott loved fashion. Her first business was a hat shop, which she started at 19 – it failed. A few years later, she st...

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5-Hour Energy: Manoj Bhargava from 2017-03-13T00:01:18

After living as a monk in India and running a plastics company in Florida, Manoj Bhargava decided to launch something new: a one-shot energy drink in a bright, battery-shaped bottle. Today, 5-Hour ...

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Chesapeake Bay Candle: Mei Xu from 2017-03-06T00:01:15

Twenty-five years ago, when Mei Xu emigrated from China to the U.S., she loved going to Bloomingdale's to gaze at their housewares. She eventually started making candles in her basement with Campbe...

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Atari & Chuck E. Cheese's: Nolan Bushnell from 2017-02-27T00:01:14

Before he turned 40, Nolan Bushnell founded two brands that permanently shaped the way Americans amuse themselves: the iconic video game system Atari, and the frenetic family restaurant Chuck E. Ch...

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Crate & Barrel: Gordon Segal from 2017-02-20T00:01:19

In 1962, Gordon Segal — with his wife Carole — opened a scrappy Chicago shop called Crate & Barrel. That store turned into a housewares empire that has shaped the way Americans furnish their homes.

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Live Episode! Beyond Meat: Ethan Brown from 2017-02-16T00:01:17

As founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown believes he can turn peas and lentils into protein that tastes — and feels – exactly like beef and chicken. He says they're not quite there yet, but a...

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Lyft: John Zimmer from 2017-02-13T00:01:03

Ridesharing wasn't a thing 12 years ago when John Zimmer was in college. But a class on green cities got him thinking about the glut of underused cars on the road, and eventually led him to co-foun...

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Kate Spade: Kate & Andy Spade from 2017-02-06T00:01

A 1991 conversation at a Mexican restaurant led Kate & Andy Spade to ask, "What's missing in designer handbags?" Kate's answer was a simple modern-shaped handbag that launched the iconic fashion br...

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Virgin: Richard Branson from 2017-01-30T00:01:28

Richard Branson took a record shop and built it into a label, a bank, an airline, space tourism, and 200 other businesses — all under the name Virgin. But the serial entrepreneur has also had his s...

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Zappos: Tony Hsieh from 2017-01-23T00:01:25

Computer scientist Tony Hsieh made millions off the dot-com boom. But he didn't make his mark until he built Zappos — a customer service company that "happens to sell shoes." Now Zappos is worth ov...

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Honest Tea: Seth Goldman from 2017-01-16T00:01:22

In 1997, after going for a long run, Seth Goldman was frustrated with the sugar-filled drinks at the corner market. So he brewed up a beverage in his kitchen, and turned it into Honest Tea.

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Drybar: Alli Webb from 2017-01-09T00:01:07

A decade ago, full-time mom Alli Webb noticed a gap in the beauty market: there was nowhere that just focused on blow-drying hair. Now with 70 locations, Drybar is testament to Webb's motto: Focus ...

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Zumba: Beto Perez & Alberto Perlman from 2017-01-02T00:01

Zumba began as a mistake: aerobics teacher Beto Perez brought the wrong music to class, then improvised a dance routine to go with it. For his students, it was more fun than work — and it eventuall...

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Warby Parker: Dave Gilboa & Neil Blumenthal from 2016-12-26T00:01

In 2008, it was nearly impossible to buy a fashionable, affordable pair of glasses online. That simple frustration inspired the idea behind Warby Parker – and disrupted the eyewear industry.

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Melissa & Doug: Melissa And Doug Bernstein from 2016-12-19T00:01:28

Melissa and Doug Bernstein's first success was a wooden 'fuzzy puzzle' of farm animals. Today, Melissa & Doug makes over 2,000 kinds of toys and serves as an antidote to the rise of digital toys.

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Patagonia: Yvon Chouinard from 2016-12-12T00:01

In 1973, Yvon Chouinard started Patagonia to make climbing gear he couldn't find elsewhere. Over decades of growth, he has implemented a unique philosophy about business, leadership and profit.

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Serial Entrepreneur: Mark Cuban from 2016-12-05T00:01:17

Mark Cuban made millions off of tech startups, then billions off of stocks — and later went on to buy and revive the Dallas Mavericks. He has come to define the persona of the serial entrepreneur.

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Angie's List: Angie Hicks from 2016-11-28T00:01:13

In 1996, Angie Hicks spent hours reading contractor reviews to members over the phone. Today, the online review and referral service, Angie's List, is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Southwest Airlines: Herb Kelleher from 2016-11-21T00:01:25

In 1968, competitors sued to keep Herb Kelleher's new airline grounded. After a 3-year court fight, the first plane took off from Dallas. Today Southwest Airlines operates nearly 4,000 flights a day.

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Celebrity Chef: José Andrés from 2016-11-14T00:01

As a kid, José Andrés tended fires for his father's backyard paella cookouts. Later, he trained with the best Spanish chefs, and began building a restaurant empire that would transform the way many...

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Music Mogul: L.A. Reid from 2016-11-07T00:01:18

L.A. Reid began his music career as a drummer. Then he co-founded LaFace Records, discovering dozens of future pop superstars. Reid is now one of the most influential executives in the music industry.

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Samuel Adams: Jim Koch from 2016-10-31T00:01:24

In 1984, Jim Koch felt suffocated by his cushy but boring corporate job. So he left, dusted off an old family beer recipe, started Sam Adams, and helped kickstart the craft beer movement in America.

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Dermalogica: Jane Wurwand from 2016-10-24T00:01:02

Jane Wurwand moved to Los Angeles with a suitcase and a beauty school diploma. She started what would become Dermalogica, an international beauty empire that set the standard for skin care.

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Airbnb: Joe Gebbia from 2016-10-17T00:01

A chance encounter with a stranger gave Joe Gebbia an idea to help pay his rent. That idea turned into Airbnb — a company that now has more rooms than the biggest hotel chain in the world.

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VICE: Suroosh Alvi from 2016-10-10T00:01:03

Suroosh Alvi was a recovering addict when he started a scrappy underground magazine in Montreal. It grew into VICE Media — a multi-billion dollar company that has shaken up the world of journalism.

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Clif Bar: Gary Erickson from 2016-10-03T00:01:30

Gary Erickson asked his mom, "Can you make a cookie without butter, sugar or oil?" The result was Clif Bar, an energy bar named after his dad — now one of the most popular energy bars in the U.S.

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Radio One: Cathy Hughes from 2016-09-26T00:01:26

As a kid, Cathy Hughes practiced her DJ routine while her siblings banged on the bathroom door. As an adult, she founded Radio One, the country's largest African-American owned broadcasting company.

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Instagram: Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger from 2016-09-19T00:01

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched their photo-sharing app with a server that crashed every other hour. Despite a chaotic start, Instagram became one of the most popular apps in the world.

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Spanx: Sara Blakely from 2016-09-12T00:01

At 27, Sara Blakely was selling fax machines and desperate to reinvent her life. So she came up with Spanx — hosiery that eliminates panty lines — and set to work building her business.

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Coming Soon: How I Built This from 2016-09-02T14:56

On September 12, NPR launches a new podcast, How I Built This, hosted by Guy Raz. The show features innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built. Listen

Coming Soon: How I Built This from 2016-09-02T14:56

On September 12, NPR launches a new podcast, How I Built This, hosted by Guy Raz. The show features innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built. Listen

Coming Soon: How I Built This from 2016-09-02T10:56

On September 12, NPR launches a new podcast, How I Built This, hosted by Guy Raz. The show features innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.

Listen