The Growth Show (HubSpot)

Projects fail. Side-projects fail even more. But every once in awhile, a project comes along that shatters expectations (and maybe even a Google Sheet in the process). Yet all too often, we’re left wondering why? Mikael Cho, the CEO and founder of Unsplash, knows the answers to this question. Unsplash was once a side project itself. In today’s episode, Mikael explains which signs to keep a sharp eye on when you’re exploring side projects, and how he transitioned his own into the company it is today.

On a global scale, women only hold 29 percent of senior management positions. Not to make any sweeping assumptions, but that’s a far cry from gender equality. But 29 percent is also the highest percentage ever recorded in that category. And it’s thanks to folks like Mia Perdomo and Andrea de la Piedra -- the co-founders and co-CEOs of Aequales. Their consulting firm provides tools for closing gender gaps in the workplace in Latin America.

Artificial Intelligence. Automation. Bots. Technology has disrupted nearly every aspect of our daily lives. But author Kate O’Neill asks the question, are we steering that technology to create the best future, for the most people? In her latest work “Tech Humanist: How Data and Technology Shape the Future of Meaningful Human Experiences,” Kate explores how we can create more meaningful, intentional, and integrated experiences that better align with businesses and people.

Whether you prefer glamping, treehouses, or the trusty old tent, camping is all about getting outside. But navigating the trail to book public or private camping spots is a hassle. So Alyssa Ravasio founded Hipcamp, an online booking site connecting campers with landowners. Alyssa talks about the strength and confidence she found in camping at a young age and the three questions she needed to answer before deciding whether or not to found Hipcamp.

Chris Messina invented the hashtag and the concept of coworking spaces. Today, he works for Uber as a Developer Experience Lead. In this episode, Chris explains that the best thing you can do is to give your work away for free, why conversational interfaces will become commonplace by 2020, and how having an open source philosophy can make the internet a more diverse place.

[Mini Episode] The robots have arrived. Welcome! First stop: the kitchen. So we asked, is that really all that bad a thing? We sit down with robot restaurateur Michael Farid of Spyce to hear about why standing over hot stoves, endlessly stirring, chopping, and plating food might just be a thing of the past.

Andrew Rea started Binging with Babish almost by accident. And nearly 8M subscribers later, he’s grown it into one of the biggest shows on YouTube. His secret ingredient? His audience. Andrews talks about the show’s steady feed of audience insights and opens up about his own struggles with mental health and recovering from COVID-19.

Katie Doyle and Jay Adams, the co-founders of Brass Clothing, met when they were 14 years old. It’s on that foundation that they began Brass Clothing. With $25,000 in the bank from a Kickstarter campaign, they set out to build a company to rival fast fashion giants like H&M and Forever 21. They’re estimating $5M in revenue by end of 2017. In this episode, Katie and Jay share their perspective on fundraising and customer feedback, and how their evolving friendship has accelerated their company’s grow

[Mini Episode] Topo Designs president Jedd Rose believes the outdoor apparel design deserves better. And this week, producer Matt Brown helps us unpack how the company designs for urban and outdoor life. Jedd unpacks the company’s design principles and tells us why the best outdoor gear has more to do with memories than fabrics.

Davis Smith grew up like every other kid -- spearfishing piranhas in the Amazon, eating wild coconuts for snacks, and taking family adventures around Central and South America. During these early years, Davis also saw the abject poverty that others lived in first-hand. So he founded Cotopaxi, an outdoor brand committed to alleviating poverty and empowering communities through entrepreneurship.

Four years ago, Karen Millsap’s husband was shot and killed in the gym they co-owned. There was no warning. No response manual. What followed was a time of immense hardship, struggle, and reinvention. Karen joins us to talk about the importance of creating a psychologically safe work environment and the importance of building a culture of empathy and compassion. She offers ways you can ready your company to respond to even the toughest of life experiences.

What if one moment could change the course of your entire business? That pivotal moment came to Mike Brown, Founder of Death Wish Coffee, in the form of a free Super Bowl ad. In one night, their small business became a household name, all because they won a contest with Intuit. In this episode, Mike shares the story behind winning the $5-million-dollar ad slot, what it meant for the business, and how they dealt with quadrupling in size and revenue.

The Coolidge Corner Theater opened in 1933 during the Great Depression and has become a landmark in the city of Boston. But as non-essential businesses were ordered to close, it left many in the film industry wondering: Is it curtains for the indie theater system? Katherine Tallman, executive director at Coolidge Corner Theater, talks about pivoting online with Virtual Screening Room and whether she sees on-demand studio releases as the future of our moviegoing experience.

[Mini Episode] Take a look at your Instagram feed. You likely follow a few different influencers. But look a bit closer. Are each and every one of them human? Not if you’re one of the 1.5M followers of Lil’ Miquela. The rise in AI influencers might not be the stuff of nightmares or summer blockbusters, but it’s not that far off. Our producer Matthew Brown talks with Chris Detert of Influential about our human(less) future.

If there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s how much they loathe insurance companies. And yet, despite every technological revolution, the insurance industry continues to operate basically the same way it did in the Middle Ages. Dan Schreiber, co-founder of Lemonade, saw the fundamental wrong of insurance: If people don’t get paid for claims, insurance companies make more money. So he aligned the company with its customers and created a bot to make the process surprisingly more human.

The World’s Only Curious George Store sits in the heart of Harvard Square. It’s been there, in some form, since 1995. But behind the bright colors and the cheery facade, there’s been a fight raging to keep the store open since day one. In today’s episode, we tell the dramatic and little-known story of literature’s most mischievous monkey.

Kim Crowder is a consultant, whose expertise covers diversity, equity, and inclusion. In particular, she’s a corporate anti-racist trainer. To say the least, Kim has been busy lately. The recent protests in the US that started back on May 26 in Minneapolis in response to the death of George Floyd sparked a movement that also had companies taking a hard look at policy bias and racism in their own workplaces. But to make real, lasting change, it all starts at the top.

When Kat Schneider set out to raise funding for her company Ritual, she was four months pregnant. And she was given the choice: Start a company. Or start a family. You cannot do both. Kat talks about the early struggles in securing funding, how the mysteries behind vitamins made her launch the company, and why women’s health is essential to the company’s focus.

A former journalist turned communications strategist, Karen Wickre has lead communication efforts for both Google and Twitter. Today, she advises other prominent companies on building an effective communication strategy. In this episode, she tells us where companies go wrong when trying to work with journalists, how to avoid mind-numbingly bad copy, and how content creators should work with the rest of the company to convince the rest of the company that their work is vital.

In high school, Danielle Morrill started working at her father's business. After spending time as an analyst and the Head of Marketing for Twilio, she founded Mattermark, a business that helps companies uncover actionable insights in the wealth of data at their fingertips. In this episode, Danielle talks about expanding Mattermark’s target market, finding “work-life balance” when you start a company with close friends, and building a team when you’re early on in your startup’s journey.

Companies have great stories to tell, but they’re being drowned out by thousands of low-quality messages that journalists receive each day. Ricky Yean and his team at Upbeat realized that the problem is one of coordination. Journalists getting way too much of what they don’t need, and not enough of what they do. In this episode, Ricky talks about his solution, the increasing role of influencers in PR, and whether there’s even a future for humans in a more automated PR world.

People tend only buy one or two different types of wine, and one company is on a mission to change that. Winc uses machine learning to give subscribers personalized wine recommendations and deliver those recommendations to their doorsteps. In this episode, we chat with Xander Oxman, co-founder and CEO of Winc, about his experience building the wine recommendation service, and what advice he’d give other entrepreneurs on starting a company around their personal passions.

Julie Zhuo was Facebook’s first intern back in 2006. Today, more than a decade later, she’s their VP of Product Design. You can thank her for the newsfeed, “Reactions”, and a lot more. On today’s episode, Julie tells us how she got to where she is today -- despite having no formal background in design -- why her goal is for her team’s work to be “invisible”, and why changes to your product (even changes that make it better) are still incredibly hard to get users to like.

Before Doug Landis stepped into his current role as the Chief Storyteller at the file-sharing company Box, he was a Senior Director of Sales at Salesforce. In our last episode from INBOUND 2016, Doug explains why having a story to tell your customers is important, why there’s so often a divide between sales and marketing teams, and why it’s important to let out your “weekend self” sometimes. This episode features the song “Beats - Here I come” by SK, available under a Creative Commons Attribu

Watch any major awards ceremony. Not right now. You’re busy. But what those keen couple of eyes of yours will quickly notice is the way the camera moves. You can also see it on every reality tv, news, and competition show. In fact, once you see it, you'll never stop noticing it. And while the big, sweeping camera technique of these jibs might be etched into our collective brain matters at this point, this way we experience a production wasn’t even possible until the 1990s. The Growth Show is a special series brought to you by The Hustle Daily Show about how to grow a business, an idea, or a movement. Hosted by Matthew Brown.

Rob Go, Co-Founder of NextView Ventures, knows what the future of business looks like. In fact, he’s invested in it. As an early-stage VC, he’s backed many companies that made it big. In this episode, Rob shares his thoughts on what it takes to get traction for your product and what else he looks for in companies he invests in.

Uber. Amazon. Airbnb. Today’s top platforms all understand the power of connection. And Geoffrey Parker believes the greatest exchange in value comes from companies that put their customers first. Geoffrey’s latest work, “Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy and How to Make Them Work for You,” charts out the future of platforms and reveals how they will change the lives and careers of millions.

We spend so much of our life in school -- with classes, teachers, tests, and papers. So when structured learning isn’t around anymore, it can be jarring. Like your training wheels just got removed. Noah Kagan, the Chief Sumo at Sumo.com, has trained himself to keep learning new things all the time. Today on the show, he tells us how he manages to keep learning new skills, whether it’s marketing, mountain biking, or anything in between.

Many ecommerce companies face the same two problems: the cost of keeping inventory, and the money they have to swallow when a customer returns an item. Shan-Lyn Ma, the CEO and co-founder of Zola, has dodged both of those problems. Zola is an update on the wedding registry. In today’s episode, Shan-Lyn tells us about what she learned from her time working at the shopping website Gilt, her view on the future of ecommerce, and why it’s a good thing if a customer gets emotional when you’re doing user res

Tech has a diversity problem. And in recent years we’ve seen a wave of programs aimed at teaching young people of color to code. But the reality is that addressing the diversity problem is about much more than just teaching kids how to code. Brandon Nicholson is the founding executive director of the Hidden Genius Project, an organization that teaches engineering skills and equips students with leadership skills.

Not long ago, men’s shorts were long, with as many pockets as possible. But these days, they’re shrinking. And we can trace it all back to four friends with one simple idea. Today, we’re talking with Tom Montgomery, a co-founder of Chubbies, a men and women’s clothing company. Tom tells us what it’s like to bear the “bro” stereotype and sell a product that no one was asking for at the time.

Mark Hellendrung visited a local pub in his home town in Rhode Island. He was just looking for a drink, but he found himself on a journey to bring back the 125-year-old beer brand locals call ‘Gansett. But how do you balance tradition with innovation? With the weight of an entire community (and generations more) behind him, Mark finally brought The Narragansett Beer Company back home.

Luke Milton of Los Angeles’ top fitness center Training Mate knew he needed to act quickly. His three gym locations were ordered to close and his entire staff’s livelihoods hung in the balance of uncertainty. Luke not only moved his gym online within hours, but he brought with it the sense of community that’s won Training Mate so much acclaim. And it's this power of community that’s affirmed his faith in humanity.

Marcus Baskerville created Black is Beautiful -- a collaborative beer initiative amongst the brewing community and its customers -- in an attempt to bring awareness to the injustices that many people of color face daily. And you can now find this open source beer at 1,158 breweries, in 50 states, and 21 countries. And As someone who has personally dealt with the abuse of power by the police, this recent turmoil the country is facing has hit home for Marcus.

Back in 2011, Kathryn Minshew and Alexandra Cavoulacos founded the online career resource The Muse. Six years and 50 million users later, they decided to team up again to write a playbook - The New Rules of Work - for people looking to plot a course for their career and execute on it. In this episode, we talk to Kathryn about what getting taken down by government agents while working at the US Embassy in Cyprus taught her about what she truly valued, and why you should always wear pants.

More than a decade ago, Steve Blank helped lay the groundwork for The Lean Startup movement. Instead of innovating in a vacuum, he told entrepreneurs they needed to get outside and talk to customers. In this episode, Steve explains why innovation is fundamentally different in startups, how the Lean Startup can be applied almost anywhere, and what you should do if your company’s innovation engine starts to sputter.

Every year, the US throws out roughly 125 million tennis balls. That's enough to fill 21 Boeing 737s to the brim. And until recently, tennis balls were impossible to recycle. That's right, every ball ever produced would eventually end up in a landfill where it could take 400 years to decompose. But no more. The Hustle’s Matthew Brown visits West Virginia to track down what happens to tennis balls when they die. Check out The Hustle’s Side Hustles Database: https://offers.hubspot.com/side-hustle-ideas-database  Get the 5-minute newsletter keeping 2M+ innovators in the loop.

We're back -- now in special series form! That's right, the show you love and let stand in your podcast feeds returns for an all new run of growth stories. So here's how it works: New episodes launch on our cousin podcast The Hustle Daily Show. About a week later, you can catch the second wave over here on our original feed. Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Show to get new episodes when they drop (and your fair shake of business news each morning while you're at it). Our first episode back takes a dive into the mechanical wave pool of the future. Aventuur is planning to develop surf resorts in 11 cities across North America. But for their hefty price tag, success will take more than a perfect wave on demand. Hosted & produced by Matthew Brown // Previously released on The Hustle Daily Show // You're the best.

Just 10 weeks into her maternity leave, Vera Fischer was laid off after her company went through a major reorg. Now, 13 years later, she shares how she launched her successful all-in-one advertising and marketing agency, 97 Degrees West. This episode includes Heliotrope and Shift of Currents by Blue Dot Sessions, licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Bookshop is an online platform where you can buy books from local and independent bookstores. But founder Andy Hunter never imagined how quickly he’d need to scale the company after only launching in January. That’s because what bookstores were experimenting with in February became what they’d need to survive in March. Andy talks about how he’s not only taking on Amazon, but how Bookshop is creating virtual bookseller communities that are reflective and even larger than their physical ones.

There’s the hype. Sure. But there’s also the hysteria. For most, bots are either the thing that’ll carry our companies into the future, or they’re a skip away from subjugating the entire human race. Today, we’re talking to Adelyn Zhou, CMO of TOPBOTS. She gives us her take on companies using these technologies successfully, how you can build a AI or machine learning team yourself (if you really need one), and what we can really expect from our robot overlords.

Listoke Distillery is a gin and distillation school located just north of Dublin, Ireland. Owner Bronagh Conlon, herself a former healthcare worker and survivor of breast cancer, has a unique perspective on the need to protect essential workers and the general public. Within hours, she converted the company’s gin distillery to produce hand sanitizer. Bronagh talks about how she made that decision and what’s most important for leaders to focus on right now.

Kristen Kish’s road to Season 10 of Top Chef was winding, to say the least. She tried out business school for a spell, got in way over her head as an executive chef, and ended up working for one of the best-known culinary icons in the world. And the entire time, she was struggling with her own identity. In the last episode of The Turnaround season, we explain why appearing on Top Chef was only the second biggest turnaround in Kristen’s life.

Before it was banned for nearly a century, absinthe used to be one of the most popular drinks in the world. But somewhere along the way, it got a reputation for making people hallucinate and even go insane. How did it get such a bad reputation? Why was it made illegal in countries around the world for so long? And how did an entire industry come back from such dire straits?

During the Summer of 2014, customers and employees of Market Basket boycotted the company, demanding that the board of trustees reinstate Arthur T. Demoulas, the beloved president and CEO of the grocery store chain. This week, we tell the story of that protest, which is a good reminder that the people sitting around a boardroom table aren’t the only ones who own a company.

We all want to create content people remember (and hopefully, act on). But what makes some pieces of content easier to remember than others? The Neuroscientist Carmen Simon has researched just that and shared her findings in her book, Impossible to Ignore. In this episode, Carmen shares her researched-backed insights on how to create content that leaves a lasting impression.

This week is the first of our episodes from INBOUND 2016. First up is Alec Baldwin -- actor, comedian, and most recently, Donald Trump impersonator on Saturday Night Live. In this episode, he tells us why the role of Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock was the best job he’s ever had, how he prepared to play Trump, and why he almost didn’t take the gig in the first place. This episode features the song “Can't Shake You” by Mise, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Hims founder Andrew Dudum knew that less than 10 percent of men feel comfortable talking about their looks and health with their doctor. But even getting people to the doctor meant conflicting work schedules, travel, and countless more headaches along the way. So Andrew decided to not only destigmatize men’s self-care, but make access to prescriptions, products and medical advice easier and more affordable.

If you have a dog, then you know BarkBox. It’s customizable monthly subscription boxes are your dog’s favorite pieces of mail. Co-founder Matt Meeker believes the secret to the company’s success is putting every four-legged (and two-legged) friend first. Matt talks about how a pig, yes a pig, redefined the company’s personalization policies and why BARK has invested so heavily in customer service.

We all have habits -- some good, some bad. But why are some habits easy to form and others impossible to break? Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, has spent years trying to figure out what makes some products and behaviors more habitual than others. In this episode, Nir shares his findings on the secrets to creating habit-forming products and how to leverage these behaviors in your business, career, and life.

Amanda Spann is a serial entrepreneur, and after seeing major judgment errors like Pepsi's tone-deaf Kendall Jenner ad, she launched the site youneedablackperson.com. She meant it as a joke, but it’s rooted in a much larger issue. On today’s episode, Amanda explains how rapid growth and groupthink can poison a company’s better judgment, and how she’s avoiding having the same issues with her own products.

Joe De Sena founded Spartan with a single purpose: to change people’s lives. But growing the company has been the toughest race of Joe’s life. Its meant persevering through a near death experience, pivoting after a decade of failing business models, and setting one of the most ambitious growth goals ever.

Often called the Oscars of the food industry, the James Beard Foundation Awards are among the most coveted for chefs in America. But what's sold and packaged as prestige can sometimes become a distraction from managing the business that got you there. Host Matt Brown is joined by The New York Times food critic Brett Anderson & chef Chintan Pandya (Dhamaka, Semma, Adda, Unapologetic Foods) to learn that an award can not only change a winner's life but an entire industry as a whole.

What if everything around you was connected? That is our future, and Linden Tibbets, CEO of IFTTT, is at the center of it. IFTTT users have complete creative control over how they connect apps and products -- and the possibilities are endless. In this episode, Linden shares his predictions on the future of connectivity and the possible implications for humanity.

Have you ever been tortured by an idea? Amy Chang, CEO of Accompany, knows this feeling well. In fact, it’s what drove her to leave her seven-year stint at Google to start something new. In this episode, Amy shares her thought process behind some of her bolder decisions - from leaving Google to raising $20 million in three years with a product in beta - and the lessons she learned along the way.

The process of buying and selling used furniture is painful. It’s hard to know what you’re getting and who you’re getting it from. Reham Fagiri started AptDeco to solve that problem. The company has morphed from a scrappy team poaching furniture sales from Craigslist to operating an end-to-end buying, selling and delivery service. In this episode, she talks about how she got AptDeco off the ground and how she deals with the sometimes “explosive” problems she faces.

It seems like every company is trying to come up with an AI and machine learning strategy. Monica Rogati is an independent data science advisor, and she has some news: You can’t just lock a few data scientists in a room and expect them to sprinkle “magical machine learning dust” on everything. In this episode, she explains how a company can develop a successful data strategy, build a strong data team, and hire (and retain) talented data scientists.

When Payal Kadakia quit her job at Warner Music Group, she didn't have a backup plan. She knew she wasn't happy in her job, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to do next. After a few weeks of soul-searching, she decided on her next move: She was going to start a fitness membership to help people uncover new classes in their area. Five years, and a few business models later, ClassPass is helping hundreds of thousands of people ignore any excuse to not exercise.

There are a lot of different ways to move in your career. You can quit and move on to a new company. You can completely reinvent your job, or even reinvent your company. Rachel Blumenthal has moved in her career pretty much every way you can think of. Today, she’s the CEO and Founder of Rockets of Awesome, a children’s clothing membership. In this episode, she tells us how she knew when it was time to move on, how she did it gracefully, and some of the lessons she learned along the way.

It was the largest offer in Shark Tank history. Mark Cuban offered Arum Kang $30 million for her dating app Coffee Meets Bagel. But she and her sisters swiped left, and that decision made them the targets of keyboard cowboys who labeled them “foolish” and “greedy”. There was a specter of self-doubt, a discovery of the company’s real values, and a final rise above all the noise. Three years later, Kang feels zero regret for her decision to pass on the Shark’s tantalizing offer.

Kevin Kelly is a futurist and co-founder of Wired Magazine. His latest article looks at augmented reality's role in our future lives, in a world he calls the Mirror World. Kevin talks about how business leaders can be better futurists, and why it's not about being right but being ready.

If you work in some kind of office, you’ve probably spent a good amount of your time in group brainstorms. Sometimes they work, but often you’re left with a ton of really great ideas - and no action. Jake Knapp is probably the most vocal critic of the group brainstorm. He’s the creator of GV's (Google Ventures) sprint process, and the author of “Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days” in which he lays out a five-day alternative to group brainstorms that actually has

Christmas trees are big business in NYC. Running a tree lot takes grit and experience, and even then, it's a tough network to break into. All of the lots in the city are divided into separate territories, owned by only a handful of entrepreneurs. We spent the day working for NYC's busiest Christmas tree seller on Greg Walsh's busiest day of the year to better understand the wild logistics behind NYC’s Christmas tree economy and the tumultuous history of running a lot in this city. Get the Side Hustle Ideas Database: https://clickhubspot.com/ogv

While at Stanford University 12 years ago, Ramit Sethi made a big promise to the readers of his blog: He would teach them to become rich. Though he may regret his website’s name today, no one can question the following his blog, subsequent best-selling book, and numerous spin-off projects have amassed. In this episode, Ramit shares his story of turning his side project full-time, along with his advice on receiving feedback, dodging the typical new entrepreneur pitfalls, and mastering the art of persuasion.

While most publications are trying to keep their articles short and sweet, Tim Urban from 'Wait But Why' regularly dives deep on his topics, writing thousands of words on a given subject. He also illustrates every post - not with modern, sleek graphics, but with hand-drawn stick figures. In this episode, he explains just how he racks up a million pageviews regularly, how he builds and maintains his audience, and why not being an expert on something might make you better at teaching other people about it.

Today, we're bringing back one of our listeners' all-time favorite guests: Guy Kawasaki. In January 2015, Guy came on the show to talk about some of his counterintuitive social media strategies. Today, he joins us to talk about what's changed since then: the Snapchat vs. Instagram Stories debate; making the most of Facebook Live; and lessons from his book, The Art of the Start 2.0, on building great businesses.

Ryan Spaccavento, founder of Coffee on Cue, saw an opportunity for an underserved market of coffee drinkers -- business subscriptions and live events. But as companies closed its doors and live events locked its gates, Ryan found his businesses grinding to a halt. So he moved the company online, sold surplus beans to the general public, and distributed fresh coffee to virtual event goers' homes.

When we look for leadership characteristics, are we really building a workplace made for extroverts? We look for leaders to constantly speak up, network, and think on their feet. But what are we missing by excluding the strengths of introverts? Today on the show, we’re talking with Amma Marfo, a speaker, writer and editor, who thinks that we can do better. And she has a good idea of where we can start.

In 2011, IBM Watson beat Jeopardy mega-champion Ken Jennings, signaling a seismic shift in computing. Like the human mind, Watson can process massive amounts of information --- but in a fraction of the time it would take a normal person. In this episode, Zachary Walchuk, developer evangelist at IBM Watson, shares how computers are starting to think a lot more like humans and what it means for our future.

Sarah Cooper finds the satire in a normal office job in her blog - The Cooper Review. Today, Sarah is a full-time comedian. This week, in our second episode from INBOUND 2016, Sarah tells us how she makes typical life hysterical and what companies get wrong when they try to make content for regular people. This episode features the song “Sorriso (Parvo)” by J-K, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Julie Herendeen, a pioneer of the freemium model, knows better than most that sometimes your best marketing is free -- freemium to be exact. Julie’s experience has earned her the trust of top companies looking to implement a freemium model -- and in this episode, we get to cover just that. Julie schools us on how to avoid common pitfalls, induce virality, and succeed using the freemium model - in addition to the lessons she’s learned along the way.

One criticism of the gig economy is that it takes advantage of employees. Companies like Uber or Lyft classify their employees as independent contractors, disqualifying them from benefits. But Hello Alfred, a personal butler service, started by thinking about work differently. When they launched, they made their workforce all eligible for health insurance, 401Ks, and paid family leave. In this episode, co-founders Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck explain how their model works and scales.

If you’ve ever had to cater a meeting, you know the panic that comes along with it. The type of panic that sits deep in the pit of your stomach. Will the food be late? Will it be the same as you ordered? Or even worse, will it show up at all? Stefania Mallett heard these concerns first hand. Thousands of these concerns, in fact. All from customers at her previous company. And when that company went under? She knew exactly what problem to solve with her next company -- EzCater.

It’s August 21, 2017. There’s only one thing on people’s minds: The solar eclipse. Every brand under the sun jockeyed for the cultural zeitgeist, but it was MoonPie — throwing a little shade at Hostess — that won the day. The company’s viral tweet “Lol ok” broke brand social records and the ensuing demand sold out stores and shutdown the bakery. Dooley Tombras gives us a look into how how he made a humble snack cake one of the most out of this world brands on social.

After nearly three years, The Growth Show is officially taking a break. But we’re not stopping, by any means. We’ve already begun production on our next season. We’ll be back in 2018 with all new episodes, telling all new stories of companies bringing themselves back from the brink. Until then, subscribe to the podcast and we’ll see you in the New Year!

When Ed Razek, the CMO of Victoria’s Secret, made disparaging comments about Heidi Zak’s company ThirdLove, she stood up for herself and all women. Her response? An Open Letter to Victoria’s Secret in The New York Times. We talk with Heidi about the open letter, the aftermath that followed, and share the story of lingeries’ most interesting challenger brand.

There are so many advantages to starting a company that didn’t exist 10 years ago, but founders and CEOs face more competition than ever. At Alchemist Accelerator, Ravi Belani has helped budding companies navigate these changes - and as a result, has many lessons to share. In this episode, Ravi gives some concrete advice about how to break into the startup scene in 2016, explains why growth purgatory is much worse than hell, and why persistence is more important than intelligence.

Henry Ward, CEO of eShares, thinks that if you want to build a great product, a great team, and a great company, you've got to get real with yourself on what you're bad at. In this episode, we talk with Henry about some of his weaknesses, and hear his perspective on management, feedback, organizational structure, and a few other hot-button issues he's blogged about on Medium.

Danielle Mullen is the owner of Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery -- Chicago’s only black woman-owned bookstore. She’s worked tirelessly to build a community and improve literacy in the city. As the current crisis closed bookstores around the country, Danielle moved to online sales. But she wasn’t about to handover her store’s keys to the same online giant that’s put so many other independent bookstores out of business. Instead, she found a new platform.

Every single day at 9:15 AM, Molly Beck reaches out to a new person in her network. And if you’re trying to get to the next level in your career, you might want to consider doing the same thing. Molly is an entrepreneur and the author of a book called ‘Reach Out: The Simple Strategy You Need to Expand Your Network and Increase Your Influence.’

Beauty is a $450 billion industry. But traditionally, communication on beauty routines and products came from companies, not other customers. That is, until a little blog named Into the Gloss was launched. Using customer insights, the blog launched Glossier -- it’s own line of beauty products. Ali Weiss tells us how Glossier is giving the makeup industry got a much-needed makeover.

Nick Quah is almost synonymous with podcasts. His newsletter Hot Pod gives a weekly rundown on all things podcasts. And he recently partnered with LAist Studios to create his first podcast called Servant of Pod. And yes, it’s about podcasts. Wait, have we mentioned podcasts? Nick talks with Meghan about what went into creating his new show, how businesses are in a unique position to determine the future of podcasting, and why his gut questions whether branded podcasts should exist at all.

Our new season -- The Turnaround -- is right around the corner, but we wanted to give you a little preview of what’s to come. In this mini-episode, Dan Pink and Steve Blank both return to the show, and we ask them about a turnaround from their own lives. Have a turnaround story of your own? Record a voice memo, and send it to hello@thegrowthshow.com. You could end up on a future episode of the show!

If you’ve ever applied for a job in tech, you know just how painful it can be. Technical tests consume hours of your time, brain teasers leave you baffled, and culture fit questions juice your stress levels. On top of all this, you’re likely still trying to hold down your current position. Jason Shen, CEO and Co-Founder of Headlight, has spent months asking around to see how companies are hiring today. His results are telling, and they’ve given him an idea of how we should be hiring instead.

You know the drill. Quick brush in the morning, neglect the afternoon floss, and win your week with a second brush a few nights a week. Changing habits is hard, especially when it comes to dental care. Simon Enever founded Quip to fix oral care. He talks about the role of messaging in the early years, how customers are helping influence new products, and the company’s recent foray into selling offline.

Happy Valentine’s Day! This holiday has everything to do with relationships. And there’s one type of relationship that we talk about a lot on this show: co-founders. In the spirit of the day, we’re bringing back one of our favorite episodes with the co-founders of Gimlet Media. Alex and Matt tell us why they decided to document their entire experience starting Gimlet in a podcast called StartUp, how they got away with “sucking” at marketing and how they got listeners to love (like, really love) th

Steve Blank is not a prophet. But as one of the minds behind the highly influential Lean Startup movement, when Steve starts to look at the future of how we do business, people listen. Steve returns to explain why The Lean Startup is even more essential than ever for businesses right now as they work to not only survive the pandemic but set themselves up to thrive coming out of it.

Let’s be honest. There’s no such thing as a magic pill. But the vitamin industry sure makes it seem like a miracle cure is right there inside every bottle. Akash Shah co-founded Care/of, a subscription vitamin company, to make personalized healthy habits simple and transparent. He talks about how Care/of generates word of mouth marketing and where companies can build more trust with their customers.

In a world of unicorns, Anthony Tjan is an investor looking for sea turtles. He watched first hand as his company went bust the same day the Dotcom bubble burst. And he realized that good, steady growth powered by teams of good people is really the only thing that matters.  In this episode, Tony tells us how to learn from standout companies that promote goodness, how to surround yourself with good people, why you may want to cook dinner with more of your potential employees.

Innovation is great when it’s in an iPhone. But is it something you want to put inside your mouth? Well get ready, meat industry. Because your days are numbered. Ethan Brown at Beyond Meat is hoping his company’s mission of sustainable, plant-based protein will convert even the most hardcore carnivore. Lofty goals, but he tells us how you too can evolve your own company’s mission to create real change in the world.

When you’re one of the most recognizable companies on the planet, how do you decide on your next big idea? If you’re Michael McNally, you think about it all the time. Michael is the Senior Director of Brand Relations at LEGO, and he’s gone from building LEGO cities in his basement to rolling the world’s largest LEGO model into downtown Manhattan. Michael tells us how he approaches partnerships, gets his team out of creative ruts, and what it’s like meeting some memorable longtime LEGO fans.

During her time as Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, Patty McCord created the famous Netflix Culture Deck - one Sheryl Sandberg refers to as “...the most important document ever to come out of the Valley.” It comes as no surprise that Patty is a trusted advisor among bigwigs at places like Warby Parker, Bigcommerce, and Simply Hired. In today’s episode, Patty shares her firsthand advice on hiring invaluable teams, building a company culture, and dealing with the growing pains of scale.

Getting teams across an organization to work together fluidly, transparently, and productively can be a serious challenge - but it’s one Michael Pryor, CEO of Trello, is on a mission to solve. And for all measures, his company is on the fast track to solving it. In this episode, Michael shares the lessons he learned turning a side-project into an international company, and the tough things he had to learn along the way.

Buying clothing secondhand is nothing new -- but the way Anthony Marino is growing threadUP is. Before moving to thredUP, Marino worked for Virgin, under Richard Branson. He says thredUP is building many of Branson’s sensibilities into their growth strategy: Get the economics right first, then build your brand. In this episode, he talks about his personal crash course in ecommerce, how he innovates in a longstanding industry, and why consensus hiring is such a mistake for a growing company.

Piera Gelardi founded Refinery29 as a catalyst for women to claim their power. And today, she leads a digital media and entertainment empire. Piera talks about the important role her customers play in Refinery29 and 29Rooms, and how being a new mother impacts her creativity.

Following the death of George Floyd, Minnesota Freedom Fund found itself in the international spotlight. Over 900 thousand donations, from around the globe, came pouring in. And celebrity endorsements from folks like Mark Ruffalo guided their followers on how to help support protesters. As Greg Lewin quickly found out, he needed to not only scale operations at Minnesota Freedom Fund fast but maintain the integrity of its important mission to end discriminatory, coercive, and oppressive jailing.

Jon Westenberg is arguably one of the top writers on Medium. He has over 50 thousand followers, and his content receives over 300 thousand views in a month. By any measure, Jon is incredibly successful - but he’s also taken his fair share of knocks. In this episode, Jon talks about some of the secrets to his success on Medium - and how a few important failures shaped who he is today.

Six months after Karen Aiach’s daughter Ornella was born, she was diagnosed with Sanfilippo syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. Doctors told Karen her daughter would likely live for just over a decade. Left with no option, she created one herself. After only three weeks of receiving the news, and with no medical background, Karen cofounded Lysogene, a biotech company targeting the syndrome. In this episode, she reminds us why “no” or “never” is only the start of the conversation.

There’s a new trend in office design. And its common enemy? The open office floor plan. Phone booths that once littered our sidewalks have been given new life inside our modern offices. Producer Matt Brown joins us to break down why so many companies are answering the call to install private rooms in the office.

Hiten Shah has co-founded several successful businesses (Kissmetrics, Crazy Egg, and Quick Sprout), and advises an impressive roster of high-growth companies in his spare time. In this episode, Hiten shares some of his first-hand knowledge with us. He talks about how to avoid the common growth trap new companies fall into, what makes a great founder, and what you need to do to run a successful remote company. He even tells us a secret to parenthood!