
What I Know
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.
Latest episodes

Aug 30, 2021 • 40min
Evan Horowitz and Geoffrey Goldberg of Movers+Shakers: Add Fuel to the Fire
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks with Evan Horowitz and Geoffrey Goldberg, founders of the Los Angeles-based brand-marketing firm Movers+Shakers. Movers+Shakers is #78 on the 2021 Inc. 5000 list.

Aug 17, 2021 • 55min
Eren Bali of Carbon Health: Instinct Versus Data
To celebrate the launch of the 2021 Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest growing private companies, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews the co-founder and chief executive of Carbon Health, the startup aiming to make health-care more accessible and affordable--and which earned the No. 2 spot on the Inc. 5000 list with $45 million in 2020 revenue and an astounding 39,734 percent three-year growth rate.

Aug 2, 2021 • 43min
John Christakos and Maurice Blanks of Blu Dot: See Business Problems as Creative Challenges
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to John Christakos and Maurice Blanks--two of the three founders of Blu Dot Furniture--about how they used their design thinking to build a business.

Jul 19, 2021 • 54min
Cate Luzio of Luminary: Own Your Strengths
When she had the idea for an organization to elevate women in leadership roles and entrepreneurship, Cate Luzio didn’t even intend to start a company. Three years later, she’s built Luminary, a thousands-strong networking and career-coaching company that’s weathered the pandemic--and taken the opportunity to expand digitally and globally. She tells Christine Lagorio-Chafkin about the challenges she faced, and what she’s learned along the way.

Jul 6, 2021 • 56min
Sarah LaFleur: Be The Whole Person
On this episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Sarah LaFleur, founder and CEO of womenswear brand M.M. LeFleur.

Jun 21, 2021 • 40min
Garry Tan: There is No Normal Path for Starting a Company
Garry Tan is known for his investments in Coinbase and Instacart--but before cofounding and managing his fund, Initialized Capital, he was a partner at Y Combinator, where he advised more than 700 startups. He’d been down that road before--founding two of his own companies. Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Tan--now a thought-leader with a popular YouTube channel, about his journey from food-insecurity in the Bay Area to student to founder to investor, and what he’s learned along the way to shaking up venture capital and managing the flow of early-stage money to young companies.

Jun 7, 2021 • 47min
Ryan Petersen: Balancing Order and Disorder
Ryan Petersen founded Flexport in 2013, when he decided to break into and transform part of the global-shipping industry by bringing reliable data and tracking to even the smallest companies. Now he has more than $1 billion in revenue and 2200 employees globally--and the industry is facing an unprecedented challenge in the wake of the pandemic. Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Petersen about what he’s learned this year--and through the early chaotic days of scaling his company fast--about finding a balance between too much order and too much disorder when starting up.

May 24, 2021 • 46min
Sallie Krawcheck: Look For Things Others Don’t See
On today's episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Sallie Krawcheck. Sallie is the co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, the digital financial advisor that focuses on the money needs of women. She founded it in 2016, after spending decades as an analyst and executive on Wall Street.

May 10, 2021 • 41min
Fawn Weaver: Build a Culture of Confidence
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Fawn Weaver, the CEO and founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, bestselling author, and serial entrepreneur, about how she built her brand and company after setting out to tell the remarkable story of Nearest Green, the first known African-American master distiller and man who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey.

Apr 26, 2021 • 36min
Melissa Bernstein: Existential Fear and Entrepreneurship
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin interviews Melissa Bernstein, the co-founder of $500 million toy company Melissa & Doug and the author of a new book about mental health, LifeLines, about her own journey to building a company while suffering from depression.
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