
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

Nov 16, 2020 • 47min
Daina Trout: Investors Are Not Your Friends
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Daina Trout, co-founder and CEO of Health-Ade Kombucha, about starting a company with her husband and best friend, running a company during the pandemic, and managing relationships with investors.

Nov 9, 2020 • 50min
Matthew Prince: Radical Transparency
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Matthew Prince, co-founder of Cloudflare, about transparency as leader, election security and how his company has grown over the past decade.

Oct 26, 2020 • 51min
Steve Huffman: Build Your Vision of the Future--Then Multiply It By 10
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Steve Huffman, founder and CEO of Reddit, about the rise of the community The_Donald, political disinformation online, and running a 700-person company through this pandemic.

Oct 21, 2020 • 38min
BONUS: Maria Sharapova at the Inc. 5000 Vision Conference
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to tennis star Maria Sharapova about starting a company while in the midst of an entirely different career, finding balance in the pandemic, and her passions for design and branding.

Oct 5, 2020 • 48min
Holly Thaggard: Be a Master of Perception
On today’s episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks with Supergoop founder Holly Thaggard about changing an industry to break into it, being your brand’s visionary and spokesperson, and taking every meeting you can to get off the ground.

Sep 28, 2020 • 41min
Melissa Ben-Ishay: The Faking It Playbook
On today's episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Melissa Ben-Ishay, founder and CEO of Baked by Melissa, about tiny cupcakes, combatting imposter syndrome and stepping into the role of CEO at her company.

Sep 21, 2020 • 41min
John Mackey: The Delicate Balance of Purpose and Profit
On today's episode, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to John Mackey, founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market. They discuss company culture, learning from mistakes and his new book Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business.

Sep 14, 2020 • 48min
Scott Svenson: Managing the Tension
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Scott Svenson--co-founder, chairman and CEO of MOD Pizza--about the purpose behind his company’s existence and balancing that motivating mission with fiscal sustainability.

Aug 10, 2020 • 54min
Rich Kleiman: Instill Your Will on Your Future
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Rich Kleiman, co-founder of Thirty Five Ventures, about his partnership with NBA superstar Kevin Durant, his time at Roc Nation, and how to break out of complacency.

Jul 27, 2020 • 54min
Michael Acton Smith: Vision Without Execution is Just Hallucination
Christine Lagorio-Chafkin talks to Michael Acton Smith, co-founder and co-CEO of Calm, about executing on the day-to-day work of starting a business, serial entrepreneurship and digital monsters.
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