From Scratch with Jessica Harris

Privateer is a private equity firm focused on making investments in the cannabis industry as the legalization of marijuana continues throughout the United States. Some of Privateer’s portfolio companies include Leafly, a user-generated reviews website for all things cannabis related; Tilray, a producer of medical cannabis in British Columbia, Canada; and Marley Natural, a global brand in partnership with the Bob Marley family. Brendan speaks with Jessica Harris about how he built Privateer, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Warby Parker is an online eyeglass retailer that sells low cost vintage inspired glasses.  For each pair sold, Warby Parker provides a pair of glasses to low income people in more than 36 countries through non-profit partners like VisionSpring.  VisionSpring trains female entrepreneurs to give eye exams and sell glasses in their communities.  Neil co-founded Warby Parker with three classmates from Wharton Business School. Neil speaks with Jessica Harris about how he is helping to change the optical industry landscape by making attractive glasses more affordable to everyone, from scratch. Listen to the interview

MedShare is an organization that redistributes surplus medical equipment to hospitals in the developing world. These supplies include surgical instruments, gloves, stethoscopes, sutures, x-ray machines, wheelchairs, etc. AB started MedShare in 1998 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is originally from Mississippi. AB speaks with Jessica Harris about how he built MedShare, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Bonobos is an e-commerce company that sells men’s clothing. Bonobos started off with the goal of selling better fitting pants for men in 2007 and has expanded to include all type’s of men’s apparel. Bonobos was acquired by Walmart in 2017, after this interview was recorded. Andy speaks with Jessica Harris about how he built Bonobos, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Coravin produces a device that accesses wine without removing the cork. Through a medical grade needle, the Coravin System extracts a portion of the wine and replaces it with argon gas. Greg is also a medical device inventor who founded Intrinsic Therapeutics, a company focused on spinal disorders. Greg is a graduate of MIT and has degrees in nuclear and mechanical engineering. Greg speaks with Jessica Harris about how he was able to repurpose his expertise in the medical world to create his wine access technology, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Island Creek Oysters supplies oysters to more than 400 chefs across the United States. Restaurants that serve its oysters include Thomas Keller’s Per Se and French Laundry, the Eastern Standard in Boston, and the Oyster Bar in New York’s Grand Central Station. The company sells roughly 120,000 oysters per week, and close to 6 million oysters per year. Skip speaks with Jessica Harris about how he helped to pioneer the rebirth of the oyster industry in the United States, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Team Rubicon is an organization comprised of former veterans who apply their military experience to emergency situations, working as first responders internationally. Jake served in the military, in Iraq and Afghanistan, before returning to civilian life. He started Team Rubicon initially in response to the earthquake in Haiti. Jake speaks with Jessica Harris about how he repurposed his military skills to start Team Rubicon, from scratch. Listen to the interview

The XPrize Foundation drives innovation through competitions with the hopes of improving the human experience. Its prizes are focused on bold yet achievable projects, ranging from space exploration to the human genome. The first prize of $10 Million was awarded in 2004 to creators of the first piloted space craft. Peter is the co-author of the books Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think and Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World. Peter speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched the XPrize Foundation, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Dropbox is a file sharing and personal data storage company that allows users to access their content (Microsoft Word documents, photos, videos, etc.) from any of their devices. Prior to starting Dropbox, Drew started an online SAT prep company called Accolade (and yes, he scored 1600 on his SAT). Drew speaks with Jessica Harris about how he built Dropbox, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Oscar Health is focused on keeping health insurance simple. The company helps users connect directly to doctors, get prescriptions, and find insurance plans that are easier to navigate. Mario speaks with Jessica Harris about how he is bringing innovation to health insurance, from scratch. Listen to the interview