From the Ground Up

The co-founder of Woofbowl discusses his mental health journey with Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea and Eat the Change.

Here is another panel discussion from our Inc Founders House showcase at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. The conversation was moderated by staff reporter Chloe Aiello and featured Janeya Griffin, the founder of Equity Space Alliance Association, an organization dedicated to creating a more equitable future in commercial space exploration. Also joining the panel was Moriba Jah, the co-founder and chief scientist of GaiaVerse, an AI-driven decision intelligence platform. Together, they discussed the current state of the industry and the possibility of substantial generational prosperity that can result from taking bold risks.

How fast, honest communication turns problems into opportunities and strengthens client partnerships.

Today we have another panel from this past year's Inc. Founder’s House at SXSW, here is a panel that was hosted by former Executive Editor Diana Ransom. She was joined by Sowmiya Chocka Narayanan the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Lily AI, a female founded retail AI company, Richard Socher, founder and CEO of you.com, a chat search assistant, and cofounder of AIX Ventures, an AI-focused venture capital firm that invests in early-stage AI startups, and Naeem Talukdar, who is the cofounder of Moon Valley AI, a startup developing an AI video generator that allows users to create cinematic videos and animations from text prompts. In this discussion, they spoke about future proofing your business by integrating AI to scale in many different industries. They also talked about how to use AI with guidelines and guardrails.

Scaling requires trust. Successful CEOs empower leaders and step back without losing control.

In this episode, we are featuring a panel from this year's Founder’s House at SXSW. Executive editor Diana Ransom spoke with futurist Amy Webb, the founder of Future Today Institute, a consulting firm specializing in strategic foresight. They discussed Amy’s SXSW presentation on her future trends report as well as the importance of not focusing too much on one task or project to the detriment of others, and preparing for uncertainty.

Square webinar from 7/21

From employee clubs to passion-driven assignments, here's how to make work engaging with Alderson Loop founder and president Lauren Asghari and Jose Herrera, CEO and cofounder of Horatio.

For today's summer episode, we have another panel from this year's Founders House at SXSW at the Founders House, moderated by Inc. Editor-in-Chief Mike Hofman. He spoke with Shuman Ghosemajumder, co-founder and CEO of the AI cybersecurity startup Reken; Ben Goodwin, co-founder, CEO, and formulator of the prebiotic soda Oplipop; and Melissa Mash, co-founder and CEO of the fashion bag brand Dagne Dover. They discuss how to have fun at work again, plus how to manage building a cohesive company culture in a hybrid work schedule environment

To scale, you need to think bigger. Here’s how to design a standout product and stay ahead of change.

Hello and welcome to our first episode of this year's From the Ground Up summer programming.Today, we have a panel from the most recent South by Southwest, where staff reporter Chloe Aiello sat down with actor, producer, and entrepreneur Lili Reinhart. They discussed how her struggle with acne inspired her to launch a new skincare company called Personal Day.

Panera Bread co-founder Ron Shaich coached John Yarusi, founder of Johnny's Pork Roll and Coffee Too, on clearing one of entrepreneurship’s greatest hurdles: proof of concept.

Seth Goldman, founder of Honest Tea, coaches Ron Holloway, co-founder of Woofbowl, on expansion and how to market a growing food brand.

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 read people, and his first branding deal, with the University of Michigan’s Fab Five, immersed him in the skills needed to identify talent. Diana and Tom discuss the complex art of brand-creation, company-building, and finding the niche audience who will fiercely love your product. They also discuss Tom’s most recent branding venture, the oral-care line Made by Dentists. Additional research and information: Visit: ⁠Made By Dentists ⁠ Visit: ⁠Made by Dentists’s profile ⁠ Visit: ⁠Made by Dentists’s educational page⁠ Visit:⁠ Sun Bum⁠ Visit: ⁠Sun Bum’s profile (Original Air Date 12-16-2024)

Boston is more than just cobblestone streets and championship banners—it's a thriving ecosystem of innovators, dreamers, and entrepreneurs. Since the early days of American history, Boston has been a hub for entrepreneurial activity. However, the secret of Boston’s thriving local business scene lies in the strong sense of community support and collaboration. From neighborhood business associations and grassroots initiatives to vibrant networking events, Bostonians take pride in lifting one another up. In this episode, we’ll hear from Alafia Spencer, founder of Boston-based Dream Kid Spa, as she shares how some key community partnerships have helped her build her business and the role creativity plays for small-business owners when reaching customers and solving challenges. We’ll also hear from Johnny Charles, senior business consultant and VP of Business Banking at Chase, who will delve into the role of community-driven initiatives, how cultural diversity stemming from the unique neighborhoods scattered across the city fuels creativity, and what’s next for small businesses in a city that blends tradition with transformation. And finally, you'll get the latest economic insights and strategic guidance from Chase for Business CEO Ben Walter, to help your business navigate the second half of 2025.

In 2009, Mitch Fusek and Bill Bronsord, founders of Tunaskin, an aquatic apparel company, turned their passion for the ocean and aquatic sports into a now thriving business. What once started out as an online retail store nearly 15 years ago has grown into a flourishing brick-and-mortar business with four locations across the state of Florida. In this episode, Bronsord will describe how they’ve transformed their passion into a profitable business – sharing the good, the bad and the ugly. He will be joined by Chase executive Michele Grace, who will explain how mentorship and guidance are the building blocks to any business. This episode will provide practical insights, motivational stories, and actionable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to monetize their passions.

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–it’s all in the plan. And Ali lays out precisely what that plan looks like for brands that achieve cult status. Stanley, Kendra Scott, and Bogg Bag are extremely different companies–aside from the fact that each has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. And it turns out, they are all fascinating case studies in appealing to customers, both online and offline. Bogg Bag, founded by Kim Vaccarella, out of Lodi, New Jersey, landed on the Inc. 5000 this year and expects to book over $100 million in revenue by the end of 2024. Kendra Scott, the Texas-based jewelry brand, continues to evolve with its customers online–and meets them where they are on campuses, too. And the Stanley cup stans are seriously engaged and proudly express it through TikTok and other social media channels. They might wonder: How on earth is this a 110-year-old company? Donaldson explains, and also dishes about her interview with the marketing genius behind both the Stanley brand shift that brought it to a new generation and the proliferation of Crocs. Source notes and additional research and information: Read: ⁠How Preppy Cult Brands Captured the Imagination and Wallets of Female Consumers⁠, by Ali Donaldson, on Inc.com Read: ⁠How This Marketing Pro Got Crocs on Every Celebrity–and Also Was Behind the Stanley Tumbler Trend⁠ Listen: ⁠Kendra Scott interviewed on Inc.’s What I Know podcast⁠ Read: ⁠How Kendra Scott Crafted a Remarkably Wholesome Customer Service Philosophy ⁠ Read: A history of ⁠Stanley Cup⁠s, via Stanley1813.com Read: Dive into the 2024 ⁠Inc. 5000 list⁠ of fastest-growing companies in America Visit: ⁠Kendra Scott⁠ Visit: ⁠Bogg Bag⁠ ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ ⁠Spotify⁠ (Original Air Date 10-07-2024 )

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, New York, at the Sloomoo Institute. Links: ⁠Inc.com⁠ article: ⁠www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/from-the-ground-up-sloomoo-institute-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller-grief-as-startup-fuel.html⁠ Episode transcript: ⁠www.inc.com/transcript-from-the-ground-up-podcast-sloomoo-institute-founders-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller.html⁠ The Sloomoo Institute: ⁠https://sloomooinstitute.com/pages/new-york-2-0?utm_source=google.com&utm_medium=organic⁠ Slime play and care (PSA about slime removal!): ⁠https://sloomooinstitute.com/pages/slime-care⁠ *note to listeners: The concepts of death and depression, are mentioned in this episode, as is the fact of a school shooting, though none are discussed in depth. (Original Air Date 04-04-2024)

According to a recent study from Fundera by NerdWallet, women now make up nearly half (44 percent) of Seattle’s self-employed business owners. Despite this impressive statistic, women-owned startups often face significant challenges when attempting to secure capital. While venture capital is one of the best-known ways to fund a business, it doesn't always offer the best path to success. It often comes with tradeoffs such as loss of control and equity dilution, and in 2024 only 1 percent of women-led companies received VC funding. Self-funding, on the other hand, can be a powerful alternative, allowing entrepreneurs to maintain full control of their companies and make decisions independently. In this episode, host Abigail Bassett and Chase senior business consultant Shelia Winston delve into the advantages of self-funding, the benefits of business credit and diversifying your lines of credit, and the critical role business bankers can play in an entrepreneur’s journey. Listeners will learn how business bankers can provide essential mentorship, guidance, insights, and connections to help secure funding, build networks, and grow businesses.

What would you do if someone told you that you had just become a billionaire? Some people would quit their jobs on the spot, go on a shopping spree, or buy a mansion they never dreamed they could afford. But Lucy Guo? When a reporter told her the news that the valuation of her first company—in which she still maintains a sizable stake—had spiked, Guo recalls telling the journalist something along the lines of, “It’s all on paper, LMAO.” With her stake in data labeller Scale AI, Guo is now the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, a title she seized from pop icon Taylor Swift. She is now CEO of a second startup, Passes, which is a social platform for content creators—think OnlyFans meets Patreon. On the site, fans can have bespoke relationships with creators, from sharing messages and video calls, to having one-on-one golf lessons. Passes is quite different from her previous venture at Scale. “I felt like I experienced every challenge and I could go out and build a B2B AI company enterprise. And I think B2B and enterprise is actually much easier to build a large company than consumer,” Guo tells co-host Christine Lagorio-Chafkin on this week’s From the Ground Up. “Consumer is such a gamble. It's so tough, and I think it really is the toughest challenge a founder can do.” But Guo is no stranger to entrepreneurial challenges. Guo dropped out of college to pursue a Thiel Fellowship, and she used the grant money to build her first business—an app for home-cooked food delivery on her college campus. After that didn’t end well, she took jobs at tech companies Quora and Snap. The former is where she met Alexandr Wang, her Scale AI co-founder. Boredom and alleged clashes with Wang led Guo to leave Scale after two years, she says. As Guo notes, running Passes has been a challenge. Most recently, she and Passes have been embroiled in a lawsuit alleging that Passes knowingly allowed the distribution of child pornography on its platform. “I've never talked to this person,” Guo says of the accuser. She believes that her wealth has put a target on her back. “People are always going to be coming after you, and you need to show that you're not an easy target,” she says. Passes has since boosted content moderation on the platform, as well as made it strictly 18- and-older. But if Passes and Guo can overcome this challenge, Guo is convinced creators will benefit—and maybe even some of them will hit their own jaw-dropping wealth milestones. “I really do think we have the opportunity to really help creators with this … and turn them from these smaller businesses to large, potentially unicorns. I think we have the opportunity, maybe not in the next three years, but in the next 10 years, creating some unicorn creators.” Additional research and information:To read more Inc’s coverage on Lucy Guo: Class-Action Complaint Alleges That Passes Distributes Illicit ContentLucy Guo Doesn’t Shy Away From Controversy. It Finds HerLucy Guo Is Now the World’s Youngest Self-Made Woman Billionaire, Beating Taylor Swift Lucy Guo’s Startup, Passes, Calls Child Pornography Lawsuit ‘Defamatory’ and Seeks Dismissal