Founder interviews

Podcast

Room & Board: how John Gabbert built a furniture giant without outside investment

How I Built This with Guy Raz May 11, 2026

---

Founder interviews 10

Bootstrapping 7

Business models 6

• A family betrayal became the founding moment for Room & Board
• Owning the design — not the factory — unlocks manufacturer economics
• Refused every private equity approach; built on an 8% profit target

Read more →

Founder interviews

Podcast

How to scale an events business, own a product category, and message a niche food brand

How I Built This with Guy Raz May 7, 2026

---

Founder interviews 10

Business models 8

Branding 6

• BuzzFeed is rebuilding from a going-concern notice through AI apps and community
• Franchise vs. marketplace: the right model depends on how much brand control you need
• In viral-first businesses, year-one novelty fades — community and subscription extend the runway

Read more →

Founder interviews

Podcast

How Gregg Renfrew built, lost, and reclaimed Beauty Counter

How I Built This with Guy Raz May 4, 2026

---

Founder interviews 10

Business models 7

Resilience & grit 6

• Why private equity ousted her six months after a $1B exit
• Direct sales wasn't the backup plan — it was the growth engine
• She bought her brand back in 48 hours with personal savings

Read more →

Founder interviews

Podcast

David Neeleman advises founders on growth, capital, and focus

How I Built This with Guy Raz April 30, 2026

---

Founder interviews 9

Business models 7

Fundraising & VC 6

• Why raising $9M for a pro league may derail a great gym business
• Convert to nonprofit to unlock funding for a mission-driven company
• Expand SKUs only after repurchase rate, stockouts, and demand align

Read more →

Case studies

Podcast

Vineyard Vines: How two brothers built a lifestyle brand from novelty ties

How I Built This with Guy Raz April 27, 2026

---

Case studies 10

Business models 7

Bootstrapping 6

• A shrinking market became an advantage: ties bought by choice signal more.
• Self-funded from credit card cash advances to $500M — no outside investors ever.
• Outside CEO failed because fashion culture and brand culture are incompatible.

Read more →

Founder interviews

Podcast

Eric Ryan's advice line: brand-building for early-stage consumer startups

How I Built This with Guy Raz April 23, 2026

---

Founder interviews 9

Branding 8

Business models 6

• Re-educating a market is harder than entering one — lead with broad appeal.
• Customisation turns a product into a cost-neutral content and experience flywheel.
• Raise money when you don't need it; use meetings to learn, not pitch.

Read more →

Case studies

Podcast

How Daniel Lubetzky built Kind bars after failing at peace

How I Built This with Guy Raz April 20, 2026

---

Case studies 10

MVP & prototyping 7

Niche selection 6

• Mission-first selling kills products — the product must earn its own sale.
• Transparent packaging and checkout placement gave Kind an unfair advantage.
• Sampling ROI: nine out of ten who tried a bar became buyers.

Read more →

Founder interviews

Podcast

How Boxed founder Chieh Huang advises early-stage founders on scaling

How I Built This with Guy Raz April 16, 2026

---

Founder interviews 10

Processes & SOPs 7

Business models 6

• Why your operational ceiling will destroy your brand before competition does
• Thin retail margins get worse once you factor long payment cycles
• A packaging innovation — not better ingredients — can unlock a stalled brand

Read more →

Origin stories

Podcast

How iRobot built the Roomba from military robots to consumer icon

How I Built This with Guy Raz April 13, 2026

---

Origin stories 10

Pivoting 8

Bootstrapping 7

• 12 years of military contracts accidentally built the skills Roomba needed
• An unsolicited Pepsi ad sold 250,000 units in six weeks
• Regulators blocked Amazon's $1.7B acquisition, handing the tech to China

Read more →

Founder interviews

Podcast

Steve Ells on focus, place-based brands, and reaching new markets

How I Built This with Guy Raz April 9, 2026

---

Founder interviews 10

Niche selection 8

Branding 6

• Why a tight product focus beats a broad range every time
• Sense of place is a craft brand's most defensible moat
• Building one-on-one customer relationships still drives scale

Read more →

Founder interviews

Podcast

Wingstop founder Antonio Swad: building and selling two franchise brands

How I Built This with Guy Raz April 6, 2026

---

Founder interviews 10

Fundraising & VC 7

Business models 6

• Why seller financing without M&A lawyers cost Swad $12 million
• Chicken wings were bar snacks — until Swad made them a meal
• Pizza Patron built a brand by serving customers no one else respected

Read more →

Case studies

Podcast

Advice Line: raising capital, fighting stigma, and scaling a niche food brand

How I Built This with Guy Raz April 2, 2026

---

Case studies 9

Growth hacking 7

Fundraising & VC 6

• Why taking the wrong investor money can destroy your brand values
• How to market a product women are too embarrassed to share publicly
• Why hitting $1M locally beats chasing international deals too early

Read more →

Founder interviews

Podcast

How Marc Lore built diapers.com, sold to Amazon, and then took on Amazon with Jet.com

How I Built This with Guy Raz March 30, 2026

---

Founder interviews 10

Business models 8

Fundraising & VC 6

• Amazon forced a $550M sale by threatening to take diaper prices to zero
• Packaging physics: adding a pound to an outgoing box costs just 10 cents
• Walmart paid $3.3B for Jet.com one year after launch

Read more →

Pricing psychology

Podcast

Marcia Kilgore on pricing transparency, brand fear, and sales friction

How I Built This with Guy Raz March 26, 2026

---

Pricing psychology 9

Conversion rate optimisation 8

Business models 6

• Beauty Pie caps markup at 3x cost; traditional brands go 10–20x.
• Fear of failure is a cover story — small ad tests beat paralysis.
• Reduce custom-order drop-off by defaulting to the most popular option.

Read more →

Founder interviews

Podcast

Vital Farms: how Matt O'Hayer built a nearly $1 billion pasture-raised egg brand

How I Built This with Guy Raz March 23, 2026

---

Founder interviews 10

Business models 8

Resilience & grit 7

• Why letting customers brag beats any marketing you can do
• How an upside-down franchise model turned small farms into a national brand
• From 9/11 bankruptcy to charter boats — the decade that built his judgement

Read more →