How I Built This with Guy Raz

Sweetgreen: Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman

13 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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...

How I Built Resilience: Live with Susan Griffin-Black

09 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 the...

S'well: Sarah Kauss

06 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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...

How I Built Resilience: Live with Jeni Britton Bauer

02 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 the...

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company: Ken Grossman

30 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ken Grossman was experimenting with beer before he was old enough to buy it. As a high school student in the late 1960s, he bought his first home brew...

Ben & Jerry's: Ben Cohen And Jerry Greenfield (2017)

23 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the mid-1970s two childhood friends, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield decided to open an ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont. Their quirky little s...

Birchbox: Katia Beauchamp

16 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna launched Birchbox from business school in 2010, they set out to disrupt the beauty industry by delivering monthl...

Live From The HIBT Summit: Stacy Madison of Stacy's Pita Chips

12 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our ninth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Stacy Madison, co-founder of Stacy's Pita Chips. In this live conversation with Guy, ...

Stripe: Patrick and John Collison (2018)

09 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Brothers Patrick and John Collison founded and sold their first company before they turned 20. They created software to help eBay users manage invento...

Video Artist: Casey Neistat

02 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When Casey Neistat was a teenager, the odds were against him; he had dropped out of high school, was washing dishes to pay rent, and was a father by a...

Live From The HIBT Summit: Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

27 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our eighth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Jeni Britton Bauer, the founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. In this live conversa...

Lululemon Athletica: Chip Wilson (2018)

24 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

After noticing more and more people sign up for yoga in the late 1990s, Chip Wilson bet everything on an athletic apparel company aimed toward young p...

Eventbrite: Julia Hartz

17 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 2000s, Julia Hartz was helping develop TV shows for MTV and FX Networks, and seemed headed for a promising career in television. All of t...

Live From The HIBT Summit: David Neeleman of JetBlue Airways

13 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our seventh episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue Airways. In this live conversation with Guy,...

Panera Bread/Au Bon Pain: Ron Shaich (2018)

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1980s, Ron Shaich bought a small, struggling Boston bakery chain called Au Bon Pain, and built it out to 250 locations nationwide. Ron th...

M.M.LaFleur: Sarah LaFleur

03 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When she was working corporate jobs in New York City, Sarah LaFleur hated getting dressed in the morning; the choices in her closet felt overwhelming,...

Live From The HIBT Summit: Stewart Butterfield

30 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our sixth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Stewart Butterfield, the co-founder of Flickr and Slack. Both companies emerged out o...

Wikipedia: Jimmy Wales (2018)

27 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, Jimmy Wales was running an internet search company. That's when he began to experiment with the idea of an ...

Happy Family Organics: Shazi Visram

20 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

While she was a student at business school, Shazi Visram ran into an old friend-- a new mother of twins. The friend confided she felt like a bad mom ...

Spindrift: Bill Creelman

13 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Bill Creelman graduated from college in 1996 with a business plan — to sell smoked fish from Nantucket. But over time, that idea morphed unpredictab...

Live From The HIBT Summit: Marcia Kilgore

09 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our fifth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features serial entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore, founder of Bliss, FitFlop, BeautyPie and more. Th...

Dell Computers: Michael Dell (2018)

06 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Before it became fashionable to start a tech company in your dorm room, Michael Dell did exactly that. In 1983, he began selling upgrade kits for PC's...

Chicken Salad Chick: Stacy Brown (2018)

30 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

For many of us, chicken salad is just another sandwich filling, but Stacy Brown turned it into a $75 million business. In 2007, she was a divorced mot...

Live From The HIBT Summit: Tariq Farid Of Edible Arrangements

26 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Our fourth episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Tariq Farid, founder of Edible Arrangements. In a live conversation with Guy, Tariq ...

Steve Madden: Steve Madden (2018)

23 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Madden fell in love with the shoe business in the 1970's, when he sold platform shoes at a neighborhood store in Long Island, New York; that was...

Live From The HIBT Summit: Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger Of Instagram

19 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Our third live episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, co-founders of Instagram. They talk to Guy about...

Tate's Bake Shop: Kathleen King

16 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kathleen King was 11 years old when she started baking cookies to sell at her family's farm stand on Long Island. After college, she opened a small ba...

Live From The HIBT Summit: Troy Carter

12 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Our second episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features founder and investor Troy Carter, who re-started his career in the music business af...

Minted: Mariam Naficy (2018)

09 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2000, Mariam Naficy sold her first company, an online cosmetics store called Eve.com, for $110 million. Several years later, she got the entreprene...

Live From The HIBT Summit: Sara Blakely Of Spanx

05 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Our first episode from the 2019 How I Built This Summit features Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx. In front of a live audience, she tells Guy how she st...

Live Episode! OtterBox: Curt Richardson

02 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1980s and 90s, Curt Richardson started making simple plastic boxes in his garage in Fort Collins, Colorado. They were originally designed to ke...

Outdoor Voices: Tyler Haney

25 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2013, Tyler Haney was a 24-year-old graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York. One day on a jog, she realized that her workout outfits l...

Remembering Jake Burton Carpenter

21 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The founder of Burton Snowboards, Jake Burton Carpenter, has died. He was 65 years old. We are grateful that Jake shared his story with us in 2017 and...

Crate & Barrel: Gordon Segal (2017)

18 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 1962, Gordon Segal—with his wife Carole—opened a scrappy Chicago shop called Crate & Barrel. That store turned into a housewares empire that ha...

Evite: Selina Tobaccowala

11 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

At the height of the first dot-com boom, Selina Tobaccowala and college friend Al Lieb were determined to start a tech company. After a few false star...

Live Episode! Luke's Lobster: Luke Holden and Ben Conniff

07 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Luke Holden grew up in Maine, working on lobster boats and in his father's lobster processing plant. But his parents pushed him to find a more stable ...

FUBU: Daymond John (2018)

04 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Daymond John grew up during the 1980s in the heart of hip hop culture: Hollis, Queens. In his early 20s, he was working at Red Lobster and trying to f...

LÄRABAR: Lara Merriken (2018)

28 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2000, Lara Merriken was 32, recently divorced, and without a job when she decided to make energy bars by mixing cherries, dates, and almonds in her...

Gimlet Media: Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber

21 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Alex Blumberg made his early career by helping build two of the most successful shows in radio and podcasting: Planet Money and This American Life. In...

Live Episode! Milk Bar: Christina Tosi

14 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

For Christina Tosi, baking wasn't just a delicious childhood hobby – it was a daily creative outlet and a way to blow off steam. After college, she ...

The Knot: Carley Roney & David Liu (2018)

07 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When Carley Roney and David Liu got married, they had a seat-of-the-pants celebration on a sweltering Washington rooftop. They never planned to go int...

Live Episode! Walker & Company: Tristan Walker

30 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The very first time Tristan Walker shaved, he woke up the next morning with razor bumps all over his face. "I was like, what is this?" he remembers sa...

Headspace: Andy Puddicombe and Rich Pierson

23 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Andy Puddicombe is not your typical entrepreneur – in his early twenties, he gave away everything he owned to train as a Buddhist monk. But after te...

Stitch Fix: Katrina Lake (2018)

16 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2010, Katrina Lake recruited 20 friends for an experiment: she wanted to see if she could choose clothes for them that accurately matched their sty...

Dippin' Dots: Curt Jones

09 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 1980s, Curt Jones was working in a Kentucky lab, using liquid nitrogen to flash-freeze animal feed. He wondered if he could re-invigorate ...

The Life Is Good Company: Bert and John Jacobs

02 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 80s, brothers Bert and John Jacobs were living as nomads, traveling from college to college selling t-shirts out of their van. It wasn't a...

Aden + Anais: Raegan Moya-Jones (2019)

26 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Cotton muslin baby blankets are commonplace in Australia, where Raegan Moya-Jones grew up. But when she started a new life and family in NYC, she coul...

Stonyfield Yogurt: Gary Hirshberg (2017)

19 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 1983, two hippie farmers decided to sell homemade organic yogurt to help raise money for their educational farm in New Hampshire. As the enterprise...

Serial Entrepreneur: Marcia Kilgore (2018)

12 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

After high school, Marcia Kilgore moved to New York City with $300 in her pocket and no real plan. One step at a time, she became a successful serial ...

Shopify: Tobias Lütke

05 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2004, German programmer Tobias Lütke was living in Ottawa with his girlfriend. An avid snowboarder, he wanted to launch an online snowboard shop, ...

Live Episode! Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP: Angie & Dan Bastian

29 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Angie and Dan Bastian weren't trying to disrupt an industry or build a massive company – they just wanted to put aside some money for their kids' co...

Dyson: James Dyson (2018)

22 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 1979, James Dyson had an idea for a new vacuum cleaner — one that didn't use bags. It took him five years to perfect the design, building more th...

EO Products: Susan Griffin-Black & Brad Black

15 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1990s, Susan Griffin-Black was working for Esprit in San Francisco. On a business trip to London, she walked into a Covent Garden apothec...

Teach For America: Wendy Kopp (2017)

08 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 1989, college senior Wendy Kopp was trying to figure out how to improve public education in the US. For her senior thesis, she proposed creating a ...

Dave's Killer Bread: Dave Dahl

01 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Dave Dahl's entrepreneurial journey began in prison. In 1987, he was addicted to drugs and incarcerated for home burglary. For 15 years he bounced fro...

Yelp: Jeremy Stoppelman

24 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2004, two former Paypal engineers, Jeremy Stoppelman and Russ Simmons, were spit-balling new internet ideas. Out of their brainstorm came a site wh...

Chesapeake Bay Candle: Mei Xu (2017)

17 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Twenty-five years ago, after Mei Xu emigrated from China to the U.S., she loved going to Bloomingdale's to gaze at their housewares. She eventually st...

Allbirds: Tim Brown & Joey Zwillinger

10 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Growing up, Tim Brown discovered he was very good at two things: design and soccer. While playing professional soccer in New Zealand, he was turned of...

Live Episode! Tofurky: Seth Tibbott

03 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Seth Tibbott may be the only founder in the world who grew his business while living in a barn, a teepee, and a treehouse. His off-the-grid lifestyle ...

Stacy's Pita Chips: Stacy Madison

27 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1990's, Stacy Madison and her boyfriend Mark Andrus were selling pita sandwiches from a converted hot dog cart in Boston. They decided to bake ...

Zappos: Tony Hsieh (2017)

20 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Computer scientist Tony Hsieh made millions off the dot-com boom. But he didn't make his mark until he built Zappos — a customer service company tha...

Belkin International: Chet Pipkin

13 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chet Pipkin was the kind of kid who loved to take things apart and put them back together. As a young man in the early 1980s, he started hanging out i...

Framebridge: Susan Tynan (2017)

06 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Susan Tynan's experience in the ephemeral e-market of LivingSocial made her want to start a business that she could touch and feel. After being charge...

Live Episode! Peloton: John Foley

29 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

John Foley started climbing the rungs of the corporate ladder at a young age, first as a fast food server and eventually as an e-commerce executive. S...

Bumble: Whitney Wolfe (2017)

22 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

At age 22, Whitney Wolfe helped launch Tinder, one of the world's most popular dating apps. But a few years later, she left Tinder and filed a lawsuit...

Men's Wearhouse: George Zimmer

15 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 1970, George Zimmer was a college graduate with no real job prospects and little direction. That's when his father, an executive at a boy's clothin...

Chez Panisse: Alice Waters

08 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1960s, Alice Waters studied abroad in France – and discovered a culinary world far from the processed food popular in America. When she retur...

Springfree Trampoline: Keith Alexander & Steve Holmes

01 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 1980s, a New Zealand engineer named Keith Alexander wanted to buy a trampoline for his kids. After his wife said trampolines were too dang...

Compaq Computers: Rod Canion (2019)

25 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 1981, engineer Rod Canion left Texas Instruments and co-founded Compaq, which created the first IBM-compatible personal computer. This opened the d...

Away: Jen Rubio

18 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In early 2015, Jen Rubio was racing through an airport to catch a flight when her suitcase broke, leaving a trail of clothing behind her. She tried to...

Logic: Logic & Chris Zarou

11 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2010, Logic the rapper, born as Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, released his first official mixtape titled "Young, Broke & Infamous." At 20 years old, L...

Squarespace: Anthony Casalena

04 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Like many classic technology stories, Squarespace started in a college dorm room. In 2003, 21-year-old Anthony Casalena created a website-building too...

Eileen Fisher: Eileen Fisher (2017)

25 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 1983, Eileen Fisher signed up for a fashion trade show with no experience, no garments, no patterns or sketches – nothing but a few ideas for a w...

Burt's Bees: Roxanne Quimby

18 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1970s, Roxanne Quimby was trying to live a simpler life – one that rejected the pursuit of material comforts. She moved to Maine, built a cab...

TOMS: Blake Mycoskie (2019)

11 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Blake Mycoskie started and sold four businesses before age 30. But only in Argentina did he discover the idea he'd want to pursue long term. After see...

JetBlue Airways: David Neeleman

04 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the mid-90s, David Neeleman wanted to launch a new airline. He had already co-created a regional airline out of Salt Lake City that was acquired by...

Canva: Melanie Perkins

28 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When she was just 19 years old, Melanie Perkins dreamt of transforming the graphic design and publishing industries. But she started small, launching ...

Bonobos: Andy Dunn

21 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When Andy Dunn was in business school, his housemate Brian Spaly created a new type of men's pants: stylish, tailored trousers that fit well in both t...

Five Guys: Jerry Murrell (2019)

14 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jerry Murrell's mother used to tell him, you can always make money if you know how to make a good burger. In 1986 — after failing at a number of bus...

SoulCycle: Julie Rice & Elizabeth Cutler

07 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Before Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice met, they shared a common belief: New York City gyms didn't have the kind of exercise classes they craved, and ...

Remembering Herb Kelleher

04 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The co-founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher, has died. He was 87. We are grateful Herb shared his story with us in 2016. We are...

Kickstarter: Perry Chen (2018)

31 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 2000s, Perry Chen was trying to put on a concert in New Orleans when he thought, what if fans could fund this in advance? His idea didn't...

The Chipmunks: Ross Bagdasarian Jr. & Janice Karman (2017)

24 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Years after his father created a hit singing group of anthropomorphic rodents called The Chipmunks, Ross Bagdasarian Jr. made it his mission to revive...

Lisa Price Of Carol's Daughter At The HIBT Summit

20 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It's our final episode in our series from this year's How I Built This Summit! Today, we're featuring Lisa Price of the beauty brand Carol's Daughter....

Live Episode! Dollar Shave Club: Michael Dubin

17 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

At the end of 2010, Michael Dubin was working in marketing when he met a guy named Mark Levine at a holiday party. Mark was looking for ideas to get r...

Stitch Fix's Katrina Lake At The HIBT Summit

13 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we have another live episode from the How I Built This Summit, featuring Katrina Lake of Stitch Fix. Katrina sat down with Guy Raz in front of a...

Burton Snowboards: Jake Carpenter (2017)

10 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 1977, 23-year-old Jake Carpenter set out to design a better version of the Snurfer, a stand-up sled he loved to ride as a teenager. Working by hims...

Airbnb's Joe Gebbia At The HIBT Summit

06 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Next in our series of episodes from the How I Built This Summit: Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb. Joe sat down with Guy Raz in front of a live audien...

ActOne Group: Janice Bryant Howroyd

03 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 1970s Janice Bryant Howroyd moved to Los Angeles and began temping as a secretary. She soon realized there were many other young people in...

Lyft's John Zimmer At The HIBT Summit

29 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Next up in our series of episodes from the How I Built This Summit: John Zimmer, co-founder of Lyft. John sat down with Guy Raz in front of a live aud...

Live Episode! Glossier: Emily Weiss

26 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 2010, while working as a fashion assistant at Vogue, Emily Weiss started a beauty blog called Into The Gloss. She quickly attracted a following of ...

Method's Adam Lowry And Eric Ryan At The HIBT Summit

22 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This episode from the How I Built This Summit features Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, co-founders of Method cleaning products. Adam and Eric joined Guy Raz...

Whole Foods Market: John Mackey (2018)

19 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 1978, college drop-out John Mackey scraped together $45,000 to open his first health food store, "Safer Way." A few years later he co-founded Whole...

Rent The Runway's Jenn Hyman At The HIBT Summit

15 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Our first episode from the How I Built This Summit features Jenn Hyman, co-founder of Rent The Runway, a designer clothing rental service that pulls i...

DoorDash: Tony Xu

12 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 2013, Tony Xu was brainstorming ideas for a business school project when he identified a problem he wanted to solve: food delivery. For most restau...

Barre3: Sadie Lincoln (2017)

05 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Sadie Lincoln and her husband, Chris, had what seemed like the perfect life – well-paying jobs, a house in the Bay Area, two kids. But one day they ...

Betterment: Jon Stein

29 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

When Jon Stein realized he couldn't stand the sight of blood, he gave up the idea of becoming a doctor. Instead, he went into finance, but soon grew r...

Tempur-Pedic: Bobby Trussell

22 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

At age 40, Bobby Trussell's promising career in horse racing hit a dead end. With bills to pay and a family to support, he stumbled across a curious p...

Rent The Runway: Jenn Hyman (2018)

15 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Jenn Hyman got the idea for Rent the Runway in 2008, after she watched her sister overspend on a new dress rather than wear an old one to a party. Jen...

method: Adam Lowry & Eric Ryan

08 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 1990s, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan took on the notion that "green doesn't clean" by setting out to make soap that could clean a bathtub witho...