Problem Solvers

When the home security company SimpliSafe launched, it marketed itself entirely towards renters. After all, they were an underserved marketplace—no other home security system was made for people who rent apartments. But SimpliSafe wasn't growing as fast as its founders expected, so it dug into its customer data and discovered something surprising: Half its customers were home-owners, the people it explicitly wasn't trying to reach. Now it had a big decision to make: Does SimpliSafe keep going with renters, or change everything (including its product!) to court this new marketplace of customers? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To start the year 2020 right, take some lessons from the business world of Mark Wahlberg—who diligently, thoughtfully built himself into the most disciplined man in Hollywood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you sometimes feel like a loser? So does legendary fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg—and she admits it here! In this episode, Diane shares a healthy perspective on life... and how the most important thing is owning what you do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Change can be scary, and entrepreneurs are at the forefront of that conflict. We invent things. We create change. But of course, that change can be scary… for other people, or for ourselves. What then? On this episode, we dive deep into what transformative change looks like—by examining the surprising, weird, often alarming history of the elevator. (Episode comes to us via the podcast Pessimists Archive, which is another show hosted by Problem Solvers host Jason Feifer.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neal Goyal ran a ponzi scheme, defrauded investors out of roughly $9 million, and spent years in prison for his crime. Today he’s out, and we have a frank conversation about what leads someone to make the kind of decisions he made, and the amount of soul searching and self-repair required to come back from it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a story about change—and whether it’s something to resist, or an opportunity to take. And it all started when the founder of Edible Arrangements discovered that the word “edibles” had become associated with marijuana. It scared him. He tried to fight it. And then… something else happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are we not more comfortable selling ourselves? In this episode, host Jason Feifer reveals a common mistake he sees people make when pitching their work. Then, he turns to Jason Harris—CEO of the ad agency Mekanism, and author of the book "The Soulful Art of Persuasion"—for a plan on how to do better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you build an exciting career? Does networking matter? Does it matter what you study? In this episode, the interviewing tables are turned: College student Danielle Kraidin asks me her most pressing career questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people work with family or friends, but is that wise? And what do you do when things go wrong? Celebrated fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff has plenty of insight on this, because she works with plenty of friends—and her CEO is her brother! In this episode, she explains how she balances it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices