If you grew up in the ’90s, the “¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!" chihuahua commercial was inescapable. Remember the vital-to-surfers sunscreen Sun Bum? Both of these memorable branding moments were created by serial entrepreneur Tom Rinks. Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom sat down with Tom for this episode of From the Ground Up to discuss his unusual path to becoming a branding whiz—and what he’s learned about identifying human desire along the way. His early job of selling furniture taught him how to ...
Dec 16, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Honing one's craft. Dedicating many, many hours to perfecting a skill set. Entrepreneurship can, in some ways, resemble the work life of a professional athlete. Ayesha Curry is certainly focused on her burgeoning lifestyle and culinary brand, Sweet July, and the multiple businesses within it—but that’s where she might say the similarities she has with her husband, NBA star Stephen Curry, end. Whereas Steph brings a calm sense of logic to business and philanthropic decisions, Ayesha says she’s th...
Dec 09, 2024•38 min
Have you ever wondered what happened to your favorite kettle chip brand or kombucha in your local supermarket? Don’t see your favorite cranberry sauce for the holidays? For this episode, Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom and editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin spoke with editor-at-large Tom Foster about his recent article, “Why Are So Many Supermarket Brands Losing Shelf Space?” By the end of last year, the total amount of early-stage venture-capital funding for consumer-product brands wa...
Nov 25, 2024•45 min
You’ve seen the headlines: Gen-Z Getting Fired. Employers Avoiding Hiring Gen-Z Employees . Perhaps to understand the generational struggle in American businesses today, we need to look back to March 2020. Simon Sinek, the author and speaker on business leadership, says the emotionality and intensity of the early pandemic taught him a great deal about himself and his relationships—in and out of the office—and even how to lead a new-era employee. These moments contributed to the creation of the O...
Nov 18, 2024•55 min
It’s a young company, but its legacy spans generations. And thanks to Fawn Weaver, the story and legacy of her whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest, is becoming ever more expansive. Its most recent chapter: The company reached a $1.1 billion valuation in 2024. However, none of this would have been possible without Weaver, Uncle Nearest’s founder and CEO, who envisions herself as not just an executive and leader, but also as the company’s chief historian. She’s made it her mission to build a brand honest...
Nov 11, 2024•55 min
The shapewear brand that exploded onto the scene with the most famous pitchwoman in the business as a co-founder recently hit a major milestone: Kim Kardashian’s Skims is now a unicorn four times over. Writer Max Berlinger sat down to talk with Kardashian for his feature article in our September issue of Inc. magazine—so Christine and Diana sat down to talk with Max to get the behind-the-scenes. He delivered. Kardashian launched her shapewear brand, Skims, in 2019 in Los Angeles, and over the pa...
Oct 28, 2024•42 min
Before Monte Deere joined Kizik, the hands-free shoe brand, as chief executive, he had zero experience in selling consumer products–—and no experience in footwear. Heck, he’d never been a CEO before. But Kizik’s Kizik founder Mike Pratt had worked with Deere previously– and took a bet on him. Deere was tasked with recruiting a dream team of executives with experience at brands such as Hoka, Converse, and Nike--"—“shoe dogs,”" as he likes to call them, a reference to Nike founder Phil Knight's Kn...
Oct 21, 2024•49 min
Dilip Rao had what he would call “the perfect life” until he was in a car accident on July 5, 2014, in New York City. What followed changed his outlook—and his values. That same year, he founded Sharebite to change the way workplaces bring their employees together for, and show them appreciation through, meals. And he built in a mission that has helped bolster struggling restaurants—and combat food insecurity. The company, of which Dilip is now CEO, is a meal benefit platform built for the moder...
Oct 14, 2024•49 min
This week, we kick off our Inc. feature coverage by exploring the making of–and proliferation of–cult brands. In this episode, executive editor Diana Ransom and editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin invite Inc. staff writer Ali Donaldson to talk about an article she wrote that broke open a lot of consumer trends we’ve seen over recent years–and explained the anatomy of consumer-product virality. Certain brands seem to grow cult followings almost overnight. Turns out that’s no happy accident–...
Oct 07, 2024•38 min
Ariel Kaye spent 10 years working in advertising and brand development in New York City before launching the Los Angeles-based home-goods brand Parachute. So she was equipped with insight into consumer purchase behavior and folks’ growing interest in comfort, quality, craftsmanship, and social responsibility—all of which are now tenets of the Parachute brand. When it launched in 2014, Parachute was not only early to focus on sustainability and quality, but also early to the direct-to-consumer pa...
Sep 30, 2024•39 min
Are you ready to take advantage of AI and the latest performance marketing tools to elevate your holiday sales? The explosion of AI tools in recent years has transformed key sectors like medicine and finance, but AI is also empowering small and medium-size businesses as they seek to elevate sales via online advertising. This impact is most evident during the all-important holiday season, when last year alone, AI-driven predictive recommendations generated nearly $200 billion in sales, according ...
Sep 27, 2024•23 min
Anu Duggal has funded the businesses of hundreds of women—and has seen multiple hundred-million-dollar-plus exits. Now, she’s trying to make a statement. For our season opener, we sat down with Anu Duggal, the founding partner of Female Founders Fund, a seed-stage venture capitalist fund focused on providing early-stage funding for startups by women entrepreneurs. Female Founders Fund has invested in more than 75 companies, including the digital financial service Tala, the razor company Billie, ...
Sep 23, 2024•31 min
Inc. editor-in-chief Mike Hofman and Salesforce's Adam Alfano talk about sales leadership and best practices based on an exclusive survey of Inc. 5000 companies.
Aug 14, 2024•16 min
Welcome to Inc's From the Ground Up Summer programming! While we’re hard at work on season two of the show, we wanted to keep bringing you astute conversations , courtesy of our live events throughout the year. In this segment we have Editor In Chief, Mike Hofman in a fireside chat with La Colombe Coffee Founder, Todd Carmichael at Inc's Founders House in Philadelphia. Carmichael transformed La Colombe from a local Philadelphia roaster into a global coffee powerhouse. We hear about the journey t...
Aug 08, 2024•36 min
Welcome to Inc's From the Ground Up Summer programming! While we’re hard at work on season two of the show, we wanted to keep bringing you astute conversations , courtesy of our live events throughout the year. In this panel at this year's SXSW, Inc's Editor At Large, Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan talks to Brittany Driscoll, co-founder and CEO, Squeeze; Jason Wersland, founder and chief wellness officer, Therabody; and Isa Watson, founder and CEO, Squad about being an entrepreneur wearing many h...
Aug 01, 2024•32 min
Welcome to Inc's From the Ground Up Summer programming! While we’re hard at work on season two of the show, we wanted to keep bringing you astute conversations , courtesy of our live events throughout the year. In this episode, Inc's Editor In Chief, Mike Hofman speaks to Stacy Spikes , co-founder and CEO, MoviePass; Katie Spies , founder and CEO, Maev; and Maria Goy , co-founder and CEO, Spot Insurance about entrepreneurs who wear the scars of failure. And how the most successful founders learn...
Jul 25, 2024•31 min
Welcome to Inc's From the Ground Up Summer programming! While we’re hard at work on season two of the show, we wanted to keep bringing you astute conversations , courtesy of our live events throughout the year. For our first episode, Executive Editor, and cohost of this podcast, Diana Ransom hosts Kate Foster, co-founder and CEO, The Outset; Lisa Bubbers, co-founder, Studs; and Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, founder and CEO, BrainTrust about starting a business is tough for anyone, but women often fac...
Jul 18, 2024•32 min
Ever wonder what it takes to start a second company? For our last episode of the season, we wanted to take a look at what it’s like to start up from scratch—to scale it, to take it public, to become a household name. And, after all that, to decide to do it all over again. So we sat down with Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, and Mike McNamara, former CEO of Flex. Their new company is called Samara, and their first product is an accessory dwelling unit that can be transported and placed on the pr...
Jun 20, 2024•49 min
From a business news standpoint, the first few months of 2024 had it all: the rare IPO of a social media company, a very strange economic situation facing founders, and enough developments in artificial intelligence to train a new LLM. Inc.'s editors have been chewing over all of it. In this roundtable episode of From the Ground Up, we hear from Inc. reporter Ben Sherry about the state of AI use in the American workforce, the latest in the AI safety debate out of Silicon Valley, and what's going...
Jun 13, 2024•33 min
There is such a wide range of shocks that can happen to your supply chain and to the demand for what you’re making. Can you ever truly prepare? What kinds of projections are most useful, and how can you set yourself up for success if you do have the ability to anticipate a surge in demand? We decided to ask someone who has worked with many companies, large and small, to make their supply chains more diversified and flexible. She’s also something of a supply chain influencer (the LinkedIn variety...
Jun 06, 2024•21 min•Season 2Ep. 10
No matter how sturdy your supply chain is, sometimes, crisis hits. And sometimes, it's due to something that seems positive: A sudden surge in customer demand. For The Woobles and founder Justine Tiu, a huge order of her pre-started crochet kits was delivered with flaws. Could she get her customer orders out on time? For Bobbie infant formula co-founder Laura Modi, it was a nationwide formula shortage that caused her to rethink her customer communications--and cut off new orders on her website a...
May 30, 2024•37 min
This week, we’re following up our discussion about how to make sure your mission fits your business with an interview with one of the most fascinating sustainability experts working today: Vincent Stanley, Patagonia’s director of philosophy. Patagonia has been one of the most notable brands in environmentally responsible business practices and production for decades, and Vincent has been with the company, evangelizing about what makes Patagonia unique, since even before it was called Patagonia. ...
May 23, 2024•33 min
What happens when a company's giving back ... just isn't enough? In a special panel at this year’s SXSW festival, co-host and Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom led a discussion with Jacq and Scot Tatelman, the co-founders of State Bags, as well as Mandy Teefey, the CEO of Wondermind, which she co-founded with her daughter Selena Gomez. The conversation gets into the difficulties and successes of mission-driven businesses, and how these creative founders have adapted their missions to best serve...
May 16, 2024•29 min
Which should come first, your killer idea or your ideal customer? So many questions about finding product-market fit were raised by our fascinating discussion with Michelle Cordeiro Grant of Gorgie, and Steven and Brittany Yeng of Skrewball. Christine Lagorio-Chafkin spoke with Jeff Bussgang, a venture capitalist and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, where he teaches a revered class all about product-market fit called Launching Technology Ventures. He has fascinating thoughts on why yo...
May 09, 2024•31 min
Build it and they will come? It’s not so simple. Hosts Diana Ransom and Christine Lagorio-Chafkin spoke with founders who took two totally different approaches to a core business concept: finding product-market fit. They spoke with Michelle Cordeiro Grant, founder of the sugar-free energy drink Gorgie, and Brittany and Steven Yeng, founders of the peanut butter liquor brand Skrewball whiskey, about how they identified their markets, strategies they used to get their items on shelves, and how the...
May 02, 2024•46 min
During her time at SXSW this year, Diana Ransom sat down with Shira Lazar, video blogger, personality, and founder/host of the web series “What’s Trending,” to discuss her journey in the creator economy space. Shira also gave Diana personal tips and strategies on how to capitalize on trends, using vlogging as a creative outlet, and how to be the face of a brand through social media outlets.
Apr 25, 2024•34 min
In the past couple of years, TikTok has provided a platform for budding entrepreneurs to connect with their consumers. But how effective is this method, and can it lead to a new level for success for founders? In a panel discussion for Inc.’s Founders House at SXSW, Diana Ransom posed this question to FYSH Foods founder Zoya Biglary, Hot Take co-founder Gabrielle Brulotte, and Bloom Nutrition founder and president Mari Llewellyn. They discuss the importance of putting a face on your brand, being...
Apr 18, 2024•31 min
After our conversation with the co-founders of the Sloomoo Institute, co-host Christine Lagorio-Chafkin followed up with clinical psychologist, author, and professor Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, about the concept of grief--and how to navigate it, especially when you’re extremely busy, or a founder. She explained the complex range of responses humans have to grief, and the unique ability founders might have when it comes to coping through being able to envision a transformation in the future. She also sp...
Apr 11, 2024•32 min
Karen Robinovitz and Sara Schiller had each been through multiple traumas when they found reinvention and joy through the unlikeliest of substances: slime. Yes, slime. They explain to hosts Diana Ransom and Christine Lagorio-Chafkin how they channeled their newfound joy, and passion for sensory play, into a business, the Sloomoo Institute. Sloomoo is a growing slime-museum business with four locations that makes some 600 gallons of slime each day. This episode was recorded live on-site in SoHo, ...
Apr 04, 2024•42 min
Join Inc. Executive Editor Diana Ransom and Editor-at-Large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin as they host From The Ground Up, a new podcast from Inc. that features frank and unfiltered conversations—with some of the most successful founders in the world—about navigating the role of the founder, the tips and tricks entrepreneurs need to know to be successful, and the secrets that nobody really tells you before you start a business. New episodes start April 4th, see you then! Website: https://www.inc.com...
Mar 28, 2024•2 min
