

What I Know
Inc. Magazine
The greatest businesses weren’t born from moments of genius. They emerged after years of discovery--and often after years of failure. What I Know from Inc. magazine takes you inside the messy, painful, and--every so often--transcendent journey of starting a company. Through candid interviews, Inc. senior writer Christine Lagorio-Chafkin draws out the real grit and true lessons behind innovative companies and remarkable brands.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 1, 2025 • 5min
EXPERT EXCHANGE: You Are Not Your Business. Here’s Why That Matters
In this episode, Dr. Gina Anderson, CEO and co-founder of Luma Brighter Learning, and Marisa Murgatroyd, Founder of Live Your Message, continue their conversation.
In this segment, they discuss learning how to separate yourself from your business, evolve your strategy, and give your company what it really needs to thrive.

Nov 14, 2024 • 11min
Glenfiddich presents the inaugural Legacy Award to Smarsh - FROM INC. STUDIO AND GLENFIDDICH
This is a special segment in collaboration with our partner at Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Inc. Editor-in-Chief Mike Hoffman spoke with Smarsh Founder Stephen Marsh about his remarkable journey, the legacy he has built, and the honor of being the first recipient of the inaugural Legacy Award presented by Glenfiddich at this year's Inc. 5000 gala.

Oct 1, 2024 • 60min
Rahul Vohra’s Productivity Playbook
Aisha Bowe talks with Rahul Vohra, founder of Superhuman. Designed to integrate seamlessly with Gmail and Outlook, Superhuman uses features like AI, summarization, and split inbox to create the fastest email experience ever made. Nothing is more valuable to founders than time. This episode offers wisdom from experienced founders about navigating the marathon of entrepreneurship, with insights on how they keep themselves and their teams productive on a day-to-day basis without burning out.

Sep 24, 2024 • 44min
How to Build Brand Awareness Without Social Media
For many small businesses, social media is the only way to reach customers. But are echo-chamber algorithms stopping you from reaching the right customers? Beatrice Dixon talks with Rachel Roff, Founder of Urban Skin RX, about creating inclusive marketing campaigns, and come away with proven strategies for freeing your brand’s dependence on social media.

Aug 20, 2024 • 48min
Managing Cash Flow to Drive Startup Success
On today’s episode host Aisha Bowe talks with the two founders of Farther: Brad Genser and Taylor Matthews. Farther is a technology-centric wealth management firm -- combining expert knowledge with cutting edge tech to create a more holistic approach to money management for their clients.In all stages of its growth, your company’s success or failure will be determined by how you manage its cash flow. This episode offers hard-earned advice from founders about how to make sure well-managed cash flow lets your company scale to its next level.

Aug 6, 2024 • 49min
Investing in the Next Generation of Brands
Today’s episode comes from the Your Next Move vault and is a conversation between Bea Dixon and Jenny Fleiss. Jenny is a powerhouse entrepreneur who co-founded Rent the Runway to solve the problem of how to attend multiple weddings per season without either a limitless budget or reusing the same attire endlessly.In their conversation, they discuss how this idea became a super successful reality, and how Jenny learned to trust her people… and herself as a leader

Jul 23, 2024 • 42min
Becoming the Best Leader for Your Growing Company
Aisha Bowe talks with Shan-Lyn Ma, co-founder and co-CEO of Zola. One of the biggest challenges of being the founder of a high-growth company is adjusting to the changing demands of leading that enterprise. This episodes offers advice on how to navigate growing and managing teams through all of the stages of a company and how those needs change as a company progresses. It also features hard-earned wisdom about these journeys.

Jun 25, 2024 • 51min
Building the Best Entrepreneurial You
Patrick Dossett, co-founder and CEO of Madefor, talks with Bea Dixon about how his time in the Navy SEALs prepared him for founding his own startup and his tips for success. Discover ways to think differently about how you lead and grow your business.

Jun 11, 2024 • 45min
Creating a Roadmap to Profitability
It’s hard to plan a trip when you’re not sure how to get there. So, it helps to ask for directions. For Your Next Move, founders who’ve successfully charted a course to long-term financial success and big valuations share the paths they took—and also how they were able to right-size their roadmap as their companies grew. In this episode, host Aisha Bowe interviews Suneera Madhani, Founder and CEO of Worth AI.

May 28, 2024 • 52min
Building a Company for the Next Generation
Today’s episode comes from the Your Next Move vault and is a conversation between Bea Dixon and Tim Brown. Tim is the co-founder and co-CEO of AllBirds -- a mission-driven clothing brand focusing on innovating around sustainable materials. In their conversation, they cover Tim’s evolution from professional soccer player to entrepreneur and how to build a strong team.