In this episode, Allison Ellsworth, founder of Poppi, takes us through her incredible journey from humble beginnings at farmers markets to achieving national recognition with her modern soda brand. Allison shares the challenges she faced in the early days, including the pivotal decision to appear on Shark Tank, where she secured a deal that helped propel Poppi to success. She discusses the strategic rebranding that transformed her business, the impact of her Super Bowl commercial, and how she’s ...
Sep 13, 2024•57 min•Ep. 529
In this episode, Sheena Zadeh-Daly , founder of Kosas , shares her journey from selling lipsticks from her home to building a clean beauty brand that’s taken the industry by storm. Sheena discusses the early challenges of launching Kosas, including her hands-on approach to everything from product development to shipping orders in the early days. She reveals the moment when Kosas was first recognized by Sephora and the strategy behind positioning her brand as a prestige color line. Sheena also ta...
Sep 06, 2024•51 min•Ep. 528
In this episode, Hudson Leogrande , the founder of Purely White Deluxe and Comfrt , shares his remarkable journey from packing products in his mother's basement to building two multimillion-dollar brands. Hudson discusses the early struggles of launching Purely White Deluxe, including the challenges of marketing a teeth whitening product with no prior experience and the breakthrough moment when he discovered the untapped potential of Snapchat. He also dives into the creation of Comfrt, a brand b...
Aug 30, 2024•52 min•Ep. 527
Today, we're diving into another episode from the Foundr Archives to revisit our interview with marketing guru and multiple New York Times bestselling author Seth Godin , who explains why you should focus less on doing what you're told and more on doing work that's worth doing. In order to take advantage of the unique opportunities afforded by our times, some rules just have to be broken. Some people just get it. They grasp the spirit of the times in ways that ordinary people don't. They underst...
Aug 23, 2024•30 min•Ep. 526
In this interview, Rina Gocaj and Floriye Elmazi , the co-founders of SISTERWOULD , share their inspiring journey of creating a beauty brand that prioritizes inclusivity and purpose. From struggling with postpartum hair loss to discovering the need for better hair care solutions, Rina and Floriye explain how their personal experiences led to the creation of SISTERWOULD. They dive into the challenges of developing their innovative products, including the decision not to patent their tactile impri...
Aug 16, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 525
Today, we're diving back into the Foundr Podcast archive to bring back a true highlight of an interview with Airbnb co-founder, Joe Gebbia . How do you raise capital for your startup? Well, if you ask the co-founder of Airbnb Joe Gebbia, he’ll tell you what worked for him: Cereal. That’s right, the company that started with a single air mattress and grew to a $100 billion empire was kept afloat by selling custom cereal boxes. It was bizarre but it worked. Gebbia muses in this episode of the Foun...
Aug 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 524
In this episode, Cesar Carvalho , founder and CEO of Wellhub (formerly, Gympass), a corporate wellness platform that connects companies and their employees to top partners in fitness, nutrition, sleep, and mindfulness. Cesar shares his journey from consulting at McKinsey to founding a global corporate wellness platform. Cesar discusses the personal struggles that led him to prioritize well-being and the pivotal moment when he decided to create Wellhub. He reveals the challenges of building the b...
Aug 02, 2024•45 min•Ep. 523
Alex Neist is the founder of Hostage Tape , a revolutionary product designed to improve sleep quality by promoting nasal breathing. A serial entrepreneur with a background in sports video analytics, Alex's journey includes overcoming personal and professional challenges to create a life-changing product. In this interview, Alex shares his compelling journey from the depths of personal and professional struggles to creating a product that has revolutionized sleep health. Alex opens up about his d...
Jul 26, 2024•54 min•Ep. 522
Raquel and Adam Bouris are the co-founders of Who Is Elijah , an independently owned fragrance house known for its unique scents and innovative marketing strategies. Starting from humble beginnings, they have built a successful business that has made a significant impact in the fragrance industry. In this interview, you’ll learn: How a chance encounter at Coachella inspired a $20M Perfume Brand Breaking into the fragrance industry - from their garage Overcoming significant challenges and setback...
Jul 19, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 521
DTC brands have had it hard. But AllBirds co-founder Tim Brown doesn’t care. For him, his business isn’t about labels, trends, or headlines—it’s about striving toward a mission that took seven years to develop. In this episode, Nathan Chan chats to Brown about what gave him the confidence to take on the uber-competitive shoe industry and how the brand plans to bounce back after a challenging year. In this interview, you’ll learn: How Brown’s sporting career helped him bring AllBirds to life The ...
Jul 12, 2024•51 min•Ep. 520
Today, we're going deep into the Foundr Podcast archive to bring back possibly one of my most memorable interviews with Tony Robbins, featured way back in episode 60 of the Foundr Podcast. Tony Robbins talks fast. Conversing with him is like riding Space Mountain: You get in, you hang on, and before you know it, it’s over and you’re left feeling bewildered, slightly euphoric, and wanting to smooth your hair. Robbins has become a household name as the man who popularized life coaching. Imagine yo...
Jul 05, 2024•42 min•Ep. 519
I love a crazy story, and if you’re building a business, these stories will happen all the time. I’ve had a few myself, and it always makes me feel better when I hear from fellow founders who go through a wild experience and end up learning something. That’s why before we record every episode of the podcast, I always ask our guests to share crazy stories from their journeys. Today, you’re going to hear some of those stories. In this episode, you’ll learn from: Guy Kawasaki, chief evangelist at C...
Jun 28, 2024•29 min•Ep. 518
Ava Chandler-Matthews and Bec Jefferd spent their entire careers building an unfair advantage before starting Ultra Violette . The former product development colleagues at Mecca spent two and a half years creating their “skinscreen” formula before launching. In 2019, when they launched, the market was ready. In the first six months, they sold 40,000 units and disrupted the medicinal sunscreen category with their sexy and fun branding. Ultra Violette now sells its skincare-infused SPF products in...
Jun 21, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 517
Listener favorite Gretta van Riel returns to the podcast to share the influencer strategies that helped her scale three million-dollar ecommerce brands. Van Riel chats with Nathan Chan about her early days with SkinnyMeTea and ecommerce milestones, including being featured on Oprah’s “Favorite Things” and winning Shopify’s “Build a Business” contest. Then, she reveals the strategies behind her influencer marketing agency, Hey Influencers , and offers practical advice for early-stage founders on ...
Jun 14, 2024•32 min•Ep. 516
When Kanye calls you on a Sunday night, you pick up. That was Eric Liedtke ’s life for years as the head of global brands at Adidas, where he was instrumental in building the Yeezy brand and scaling the Adidas ecommerce platform to a multi-billion dollar business. After a 26-year corporate career, Liedtke gave it up and started from scratch as the CEO and co-founder of UNLESS Collective , a plant-based streetwear brand designed to leave zero plastic waste. Nathan Chan and Liedtke go deep into hi...
Jun 08, 2024•55 min•Ep. 515
Nick Shackelford wants to get soccer moms buzzed. His brand, BRĒZ , targets consumers who want to relax without a hangover in the morning. The challenge is getting BRĒZ sold online to soccer moms when selling the product isn’t fully legal. Shackelford is a managing partner at Structured Social and is Foundr’s How to Run Facebook Ads course instructor. But in this episode, Nathan Chan talks to a different Nick–a partner of the THC beverage brand BRĒZ. He started the business in 2023 to show his c...
May 31, 2024•31 min•Ep. 514
When Alex Elias started Qloo , “artificial intelligence” was a dirty word. A decade later, Qloo is a pioneer in AI. Qloo is an AI decision-making platform that helps corporate clients predict audience tastes and preferences. Elias says that we’re still in “the Napster era of AI” and that the hype will eventually become a subtle integration into our lives. In this episode, Elias shares about being an early adopter of AI and how he’s endured the hype to build a trusted business that Twitter once r...
May 24, 2024•57 min•Ep. 513
Shay Mitchell loves it when people approach her in public and ask about her luggage instead of a selfie. The multi-hyphenate founder never wanted her brand to be BÉIS by Shay Mitchell; she wanted her business to stand alone as a solution for customers. Mitchell is an actress, producer, entrepreneur, activist, mother, and author. She’s best known for her work on the hit show "Pretty Little Liars,” but has transitioned the Hollywood glitz for the boardroom blitz. Since 2017, she’s founded three co...
May 17, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 512
Ezra Firestone ’s businesses generated $70M in revenue last year, but he says he’s just “some guy.” He started his first ecommerce store in 2006, selling Marge Simpson wigs. Despite being a high school dropout with no experience or education, he was determined to make his business work. Two decades later, he’s invested and co-founded five successful businesses, including Smart Marketer , an ecom education platform that helps entrepreneurs run stores that generate over $20 million in yearly reven...
May 10, 2024•40 min•Ep. 511
At 67, Guy Kawasaki is still evangelizing about products. After building a tech career at Apple under Steve Jobs, Kawasaki set out on a winding career path, including founding startups, giving viral Ted Talks, investing in unicorns like Canva, and writing 16 books. Eight years after his last podcast appearance, Nathan Chan catches up with Kawasaki to distill his decades of wisdom down to the essential functions of creating a painkiller product that people love. In this interview you’ll learn: Th...
May 03, 2024•56 min•Ep. 510
A year after filming, Alicia Scott anxiously watched her appearance on Shark Tank surrounded by friends and family. Her pitch was first on the episode, and she nailed it by securing a deal from Emma Grede, the business mind behind Kardashian brands like SKIMS and Good American. Scott then pulled up her Shopify store. The numbers were shocking. In one weekend, she made six months' worth of revenue. Two years after the air date, Scott's built Range Beauty into a million-dollar ecommerce beauty bra...
Apr 26, 2024•49 min•Ep. 509
When Gordon Ramsay follows your Instagram account, you take notice. That’s how Daniel Winer, co-founder of Hexclad, started his business relationship with the superstar TV chef, which has become a full-fledged partnership. Winer launched Hexclad in 2016 by maxing out credit cards and emptying his savings. Today, the $400 million business is a DTC darling in the cookware industry, endorsed by celebrities and Michelin star chefs. In this interview, you’ll learn: How Winer lost hundreds of thousand...
Apr 19, 2024•46 min•Ep. 508
If you want to build a website for your business that stands out, Avishai Abrahami believes that you need to care about what your customers are trying to do. Avishai is the CEO and co-founder of the website platform Wix . Founded in 2006, under Abrahami's leadership, Wix has grown to 254M users in 191 countries and 22 languages and went public in 2013 with a $800M valuation. In this episode, Chan and Abrahami break down the fundamentals of business websites and how AI speeds up development for f...
Apr 12, 2024•55 min•Ep. 507
An investor told Joe Thomas and his co-founders that they could exit to Salesforce for millions if they made their video recording software for sales teams. Thomas and his co-founder said no. Instead, they built Loom into a globally used tool with five million users in 230+ countries. In November of 2023, Atlassian acquired Loom for $975 million. Learn how Thomas trusted his gut and made Loom a must-have for the digital workforce. In this episode, you’ll learn: The 8-year overnight success story...
Apr 05, 2024•45 min•Ep. 506
How do you go from dead last to the No. 1 restaurant in the world? By channeling your anger. Listen to Nathan Chan and restaurateur-founder Will Guidara discuss the strategy behind making Eleven Madison Park into an icon and the stories that inspired the hit television show The Bear . In this episode, you’ll learn: How Guidara went from restaurateur to consultant founder Why he gamified everything for his team About the fueling power of anger Why coming in last changed everything for Guidara To ...
Mar 29, 2024•46 min•Ep. 505
Email is still the highest converting and cheapest marketing channel for ecommerce. But how can you scale your program, protect against unsubs, and stay engaged with your audience? Ecommerce email marketer Chase Dimond returns to the podcast for a state of email marketing in 2024, including what AI tools are helping brands reach their audience efficiently. Dimond is an ecommerce email marketer and partner at Structured. Since launching in June 2018, Structured has helped clients send over a bill...
Mar 22, 2024•41 min•Ep. 504
From the age of two, Justin Flom has performed magic tricks. But the trick he never expected to do was turn a performance career into a social entertainment empire. In 2020, the pandemic forced Flom to go all-in on the internet, and within three months, he hit six figures in revenue. In this episode, Flom reveals how he approaches his content creation, which has amassed 30 billion views on YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. Surprisingly, his success started by making himself disappear. In this inter...
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 503
Including thank you cards in your packaging could hurt your business. Find out why from Hero Packaging’s Anaita Sarkar as she discusses the myths around sustainable and eco-friendly packaging with Nathan Chan. Plus, she’ll share advice from starting two companies from scratch, covering TikTok marketing, packaging, demand generation, and more. Sarkar is the CEO and co-founder of Hero Packaging, author of Sell Anything Online , and ecommerce advisor. In this episode, you’ll learn: Anaita’s backsto...
Mar 08, 2024•41 min•Ep. 502
Marketing is expensive. But you can get your brand in front of people much cheaper–by giving something away for free. In Neil Patel’s return to the podcast, he’ll share lessons from years of marketing consulting and explain why free products are cheaper for your business in the long run. If you haven’t seen Patel on social media, he’s the co-founder of Crazy Egg and Hello Bar and helps companies like NBC, GM, HP, and Viacom grow their revenue. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to generate leads...
Mar 02, 2024•38 min•Ep. 501
Forgetting to hit record, the power going out, meeting heroes, and gaining friends. 500 episodes in, and Nathan Chan is still hungry for the next open-book conversation. In a special 500th episode of the Foundr Podcast, Chan lays everything on the table for a special AMA (ask me anything) from his favorite founders–YOU! In this episode, you’ll learn: The workplace horror story that shaped Nathan The origin of the podcast What makes the best and worst interview guest About successful founders who...
Feb 23, 2024•44 min•Ep. 500
