How I Built This with Guy Raz
About this creator
How I Built This with Guy Raz shares founder stories, company-building lessons, and practical insights from entrepreneurs behind iconic businesses.
Why they're in the library
Included for practical lessons from founder stories, company-building decisions, and candid reflections from entrepreneurs behind iconic businesses.
Showing 222 digests for How I Built This with Guy Raz.
Ava DuVernay: building Array from publicist to filmmaker to movement
How I Built This with Guy Raz
September 18, 2023
Origin stories
10
Business models
7
Identity & self-belief
6
- Winning Sundance brought no studio calls — only a Prada short film commission
- She invented her own distribution network using Black film festivals as infrastructure
- No Black women directors existed to model a career on, so she only chased making the film
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Steven Udvar-Hazy built the world's largest aircraft leasing empire
How I Built This with Guy Raz
September 4, 2023
Founder interviews
10
Business models
8
Bootstrapping
6
- Losing money running an airline taught him who really profits: the lessor.
- He brokered $95k in deals as a UCLA student using fake consulting letterhead.
- AIG's collapse wiped his fortune — he started the same business again the next day.
Founder interviews
Podcast
Max Levchin on building Affirm after PayPal and Slide
How I Built This with Guy Raz
June 20, 2022
Founder interviews
10
Business models
8
Bootstrapping
6
- Why credit cards and payday loans are structurally the same product
- Personal bad credit embarrassment sparked a billion-dollar fintech idea
- Building an internal startup incubator to stay engaged at a public company
Founder interviews
Podcast
Ava DuVernay on building Array and changing who gets to make films
How I Built This with Guy Raz
June 21, 2021
Founder interviews
10
Business models
7
Identity & self-belief
6
- Why winning Sundance still didn't open any studio doors
- Self-distributing films hand-to-hand built the infrastructure for Array
- Control over distribution matters more than studio approval
How Janice Bryant Howroyd built a billion-dollar staffing empire from $1,500
How I Built This with Guy Raz
December 28, 2020
Origin stories
10
Identity & self-belief
7
Business models
6
- From a $1,500 stake to a billion-dollar workforce empire
- Minority certification unlocked corporate contracts she never knew existed
- Proprietary technology beat giant incumbents on reporting and speed
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Raegan Moya-Jones built Aden + Anais from a kitchen table to $100M
How I Built This with Guy Raz
August 26, 2019
Founder interviews
10
Fundraising & VC
6
- A product gap spotted in Australia became a $100M US business.
- Selling controlling interest to investors cost her the company she built.
- Fired founders recover by letting go of anger, not holding onto it.
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Janice Bryant Howroyd built a billion-dollar staffing empire
How I Built This with Guy Raz
December 3, 2018
Founder interviews
10
Outsourcing & delegation
7
Business models
6
- $1,500 and a Beverly Hills rug shop started a billion-dollar firm.
- Minority-business certification unlocked contracts she didn't know existed.
- She built proprietary tech in-house rather than buy off the shelf.
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Brian Scudamore built 1-800-GOT-JUNK into a global franchise
How I Built This with Guy Raz
March 5, 2018
Founder interviews
10
Business models
7
Hiring & recruitment
6
- A $700 truck bought to pay for college became a global franchise.
- Firing your entire team can be the right — and necessary — move.
- The wrong president nearly destroyed 20 years of growth in months.
Founder interviews
Podcast
From baby blanket gap to $100M company: Aden + Anais
How I Built This with Guy Raz
July 17, 2017
Founder interviews
10
Niche selection
7
Outsourcing & delegation
5
- An unavailable product in the US became a $100M business
- Co-founder buyout nearly killed the company in the 2008 recession
- A royal baby photo crashed the website and sold out global stock
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Brian Scudamore built 1-800-GOT-JUNK from a $700 truck
How I Built This with Guy Raz
April 17, 2017
Founder interviews
10
Business models
8
Hiring & recruitment
6
- A $700 truck and a phone number became a $250M franchise empire.
- Firing your entire team can be the move that saves the company.
- The wrong COO nearly bankrupted 20 years of growth in 90 days.
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Steve Case built AOL and brought the internet to America
How I Built This with Guy Raz
April 3, 2017
Founder interviews
9
Pivoting
6
Management
5
- Community, not content, was AOL's real killer app from day one.
- AOL's decade of obscurity before becoming a household name.
- Why the Time Warner merger failed despite sound strategic logic.
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Manoj Bhargava built Five-Hour Energy into a category-defining product
How I Built This with Guy Raz
March 13, 2017
Founder interviews
10
MVP & prototyping
7
Business models
6
- A 2-ounce shot beats a 16-ounce can: tiredness and thirst are separate problems.
- Copycats from Coke, Pepsi, and Red Bull failed — product quality is non-negotiable.
- Determination beats passion: get up the 21st time, urgency beats planning.