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How I Built This with Guy Raz

Latest episodes

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May 4, 2020 • 1h 6min

Cotopaxi: Davis Smith

By his mid-30's, Davis Smith had co-founded two businesses. The first ended well, but the second was such a disappointment that he wondered if he should even bother trying again. But he did. In 2014, he launched Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear company with two fluffy llamas as mascots and an expressed mission to do good in the world. The brand is now making tens of millions of dollars a year, and Davis hopes that the current pandemic will not slow its ambitions to grow and to give back generously. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apr 30, 2020 • 28min

How I Built Resilience: Live with José Andrés

When chef José Andrés isn't running Michelin-starred restaurants, he's feeding the masses through World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit he founded that brings food to people during humanitarian crises. The COVID-19 crisis has shut down his restaurants indefinitely, but José is busier than ever leading the relief efforts of World Central Kitchen, which has served more than 3 million people to date. José talked to Guy as part of our How I Built Resilience series: weekly online conversations with founders and entrepreneurs about how they're navigating these turbulent times.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apr 27, 2020 • 1h 5min

Fitbit: James Park

In 2006, James Park had what he describes as a "lightning bolt" moment when he first used a Nintendo Wii. Fascinated by its motion-tracking controller, James wondered if you could take the technology out of the living room and into the streets. Three years later, he and co-founder Eric Friedman launched the Fitbit Tracker, which allowed users to track their steps and compare progress with others. Sales took off, and Fitbit dominated the wearables market until the Apple Watch came along, forcing James and Eric to re-imagine the brand. Today, against a cloudy economic backdrop, James hopes Fitbit can grow into its role as a health and wellness service. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apr 23, 2020 • 19min

How I Built Resilience: Live with Simon Sinek

Each week, Guy is hosting online conversations with founders and entrepreneurs about how they're navigating these turbulent times. Today's conversation is with Simon Sinek, whose books about business — including "Start with Why," and "The Infinite Game" — offer guidance to founders that is especially timely right now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apr 20, 2020 • 1h 9min

Brooklinen: Vicki and Rich Fulop

On the first day of their Vegas vacation in 2012, Rich and Vicki Fulop sat down on their hotel bed and immediately had the same thought: "These sheets are really nice!" The fabric was the perfect blend of cool, crisp, and soft, but the sheets turned out to be way too expensive to buy. So, Vicki and Rich wondered if it was possible to make high-end linen at reasonable prices; linen that would appeal to a younger market, "not just our moms." After many stumbles, they built Brooklinen into a $100 million brand, and are hopeful they can withstand today's economic turbulence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apr 16, 2020 • 21min

How I Built Resilience: Live with David Neeleman and Tristan Walker

Each week, Guy will be hosting brief online conversations with founders and members of the How I Built This community about how they're navigating these uncertain times. This past week, Guy spoke with two former guests: David Neeleman of JetBlue Airways, and Tristan Walker of Walker & Company. David described how Azul Airlines, his Brazil-based company, has been directly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, and Tristan explained how he's innovating from home. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apr 13, 2020 • 1h 10min

Sweetgreen: Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman

Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman met at Georgetown University in 2003 and quickly bonded over their frustration at the lack of healthy food on campus. So during their senior year, along with a third friend, Nathaniel Ru, they decided to open a 500 square-foot restaurant serving fresh salads made with organic produce. They had no idea what they were doing and almost ran out of money five months in. But today, Sweetgreen has over 100 locations, and is using new technology to re-imagine the fast-casual model, even as it faces unprecedented challenges from the coronavirus crisis. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apr 9, 2020 • 14min

How I Built Resilience: Live with Susan Griffin-Black

Each week, Guy will be hosting brief online conversations with founders and members of the How I Built This community about how they're navigating these uncertain times. This past Friday, Guy spoke with Susan Griffin-Black, founder of EO Products. Susan's company has made a full pivot by only producing hand sanitizer and hand soap from their facilities in San Rafael, California. As she continues to run her business, Susan told Guy about protecting her employees while trying to make enough hand sanitizer for her community and frontline workers.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apr 6, 2020 • 1h 7min

S'well: Sarah Kauss

In 2009, Sarah Kauss had a well-paying job in real estate development, but she was itching to do something more. On a hike in Tucson with her mom, she got an idea for a business while swigging warm water from a metal thermos: why not design a water bottle that kept cold things cold and hot things hot, but was also beautiful to look at? Just six years after launch, S'well reportedly made $100 million; but today, Sarah is especially focused on how the brand can help eliminate plastic waste around the world. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apr 2, 2020 • 15min

How I Built Resilience: Live with Jeni Britton Bauer

Each week, Guy will be hosting brief online conversations with founders and members of the How I Built This community about how they're navigating these uncertain times. This past Friday, Guy spoke with Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. Jeni's company battled a Listeria outbreak in 2015 that almost broke her business, but she bounced back stronger than ever and is confident her company will survive this crisis, too.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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