What I Know

In the past couple of years, TikTok has provided a platform for budding entrepreneurs to connect with their consumers. But how effective is this method, and can it lead to a new level for success for founders? In a panel discussion for Inc.’s Founders House at SXSW, Diana Ransom posed this question to FYSH Foods founder Zoya Biglary, Hot Take co-founder Gabrielle Brulotte, and Bloom Nutrition founder and president Mari Llewellyn. They discuss the importance of putting a face on your brand, being personable for your audience, and how TikTok is an effective marketing tool-provided your approach is on target.

Whether you’re crowdfunding, getting a bank loan, or seeking venture capital, you need to be able to pitch yourself and your business successfully. Today's episode features some of the biggest lessons learned from the founder of clean fragrance brand MOODEAUX, who has secured funding in an incredibly challenging market.

Karen Robinovitz and Sara Schiller had each been through multiple traumas when they found reinvention and joy through the unlikeliest of substances: slime. Yes, slime. They explain to hosts Diana Ransom and Christine Lagorio-Chafkin how they channeled their newfound joy, and passion for sensory play, into a business, the Sloomoo Institute. Sloomoo is a growing slime-museum business with four locations that makes some 600 gallons of slime each day. This episode was recorded live on-site in SoHo, New York, at the Sloomoo Institute Links: Inc.com article: www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/from-the-ground-up-sloomoo-institute-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller-grief-as-startup-fuel.html Episode transcript: www.inc.com/transcript-from-the-ground-up-podcast-sloomoo-institute-founders-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller.html The Sloomoo Institute: https://sloomooinstitute.com/pages/new-york-2-0?utm_source=google.com&utm_medium=organic Slime play and care (PSA about slime removal!): https://sloomooinstitute.com/pages/slime-care *note to listeners: The concepts of death and depression, are mentioned in this episode, as is the fact of a school shooting, though none are discussed in depth.

The impact of AI on finance departments will be huge.

How artificial intelligence is shaping the product journeys from procurement to end customers.

In this podcast, leaders in HR and AI reveal what it will take for businesses to get their staff on board.

The so-called “fifth quarter” could be your opportunity to give your business a competitive edge. Hear directly from successful small business owners Lauren Petrullo, of Mongoose Media, and John Wai of John Wai Martial Arts Academy about how they use the post-holiday season to grow their businesses. In this podcast, the entrepreneurs are joined by Meta executive Becky Bui to explain how this so-called “fifth quarter”—a period often overlooked by businesses as a slow season—can be the key to unlocking new cost-effective, quality leads that lead to sales, while building meaningful connections with customers.

The so-called “fifth quarter” could be your opportunity to give your business a competitive edge. Hear directly from successful small business owners Lauren Petrullo, of Mongoose Media, and John Wai of John Wai Martial Arts Academy about how they use the post-holiday season to grow their businesses. In this podcast, the entrepreneurs are joined by Meta executive Becky Bui to explain how this so-called “fifth quarter”—a period often overlooked by businesses as a slow season—can be the key to unlocking new cost-effective, quality leads that lead to sales, while building meaningful connections with customers.

Working together within a marriage can require give and take, but imagine working in the same company too. Melissa Ben-Ishay, co-founder and CEO of Baked by Melissa, and Adi Ben-Ishay, its director of technology and innovation, met by happenstance—to be honest, it was something out of a romance novel. Now, they're married with two kids and still running Baked by Melissa. How do they make this work? We sat down with them to discuss how they met, how they support each other, and how they iron out their disagreements while raising children and working to grow their business.

From the outside, founders seem to have so much freedom in running their own businesses. But how much control do they really have? When is it an advantage to retain control over decisions, and when is it time to let go? Christene Barberich, cofounder of Refinery 29 and author of the newsletter, A Tiny Apartment; and Rebecca Minkoff, founder of her own fashion brand, sat down to talk through the nuances of working with cofounders, selling a company, and watching it grown beyond a single person’s control.

The company’s director of finance explains how her job goes well beyond accounting. Tina Hetzer, director of finance at Pink Lily, is one of the rising financial stars who are helping to bring their businesses to the next level. She built Pink Lily’s finance team from scratch and has helped the company become one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country. In this podcast, part of the SAP-sponsored Growth Agents series, Hetzer discusses the cash-flow challenges unique to fashion retailers and explains how working at a smaller, founder-run company can fuel greater collaboration across the organization.

Diana Ransom and Scott Omelianuk talk with Stacy Spikes, Kathryn Minshew and Taryn Langer about how founders should approach dealing with the media. Stacy Spikes is the co-founder and CEO of MoviePass. Kathryn Minshew is the co-founder and former CEO of The Muse. Taryn Langer is the founder and president of Moxie Communications Group.

Duolingo’s freemium subscription model, beloved brand and strategic investments have allowed it to execute its educational mission and become a cultural touchstone. Matthew Skaruppa, CFO of Duolingo, is one of the rising financial stars who are helping to bring their businesses to the next level. Since he joined the company in 2020, Duolingo has grown its base of monthly active users by more than 80%. Each month, 75 million users hone their language skills on the Duolingo app. In this podcast, part of the SAP-sponsored Growth Agents series, Skaruppa discusses how his analytical background has allowed to him to be a more strategy-oriented CFO. For him, that has meant balancing big aspirations and finite resources, and turning the uncertainties of tomorrow into action today.

Inc. Executive Editor Diana Ransom and Editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk pull back the curtain on the world of entrepreneurship with some of the most successful founders in the world. Inc. Uncensored features frank and unfiltered conversations about what makes business leaders tick, the trends founders need to know to be successful, and the secrets that nobody really tells you before you start a business.

Mitch Reback, CFO of Sweetgreen, is one of the rising corporate financial stars who is helping to take their companies to the next level. When he started, Sweetgreen had 25 stores; today, there are more than 220—and Reback says the company is still in its “infancy.” In this podcast, part of the SAP-sponsored Growth Agents series, Reback takes a deep dive into his role as a growth agent. Capital is the engine that drives growth, and Reback says his job is to make sure the company has adequate capital to grow as well as determining how best to allocate it, including investments in stores, marketing, staff, and technology—or, as he puts it, to push innovation forward in a way that’s capital efficient.

Lindsay McCormick found inspiration in her pristine surroundings, back when she’d teach snowboarding in the winter and surfing in the summer. Respect for nature, where she spent so much of her time, led her to try to eliminate plastics and other landfill- or ocean-bound waste from her life, and to find healthy options. While traveling, she realized she was using a lot of tiny toothpaste tubes, and became fixated on trying to find a better way to brush, free from non-recyclable waste. What she ended up creating and selling in tiny, adorable glass apothecary jars online was Bite toothpaste bits. Over the years, she became committed to creating change for the planet, she tells host Christine Lagorio-Chafkin. Today, her company sells much more than sustainable toothpaste–including a whole suite of oral care, and even soap and deodorant–which went viral on TikTok. Today, the company, whose name stands for Because Its The Earth, has 10 employees and more than $10 million in sales.

A new podcast episode reveals insights from Principal on how to help small and midsize businesses develop the culture, compensation, and other factors that matter to their team.

Cotopaxi, the Salt Lake City-based outdoor-apparel company, wasn’t Davis Smith’s first business. But it was his first business inspired by a mission to do more than just sell stuff. In fact, the vision for giving back came before the company. And the mission to build a public-benefit corp with strong values came before he ever sold one technicolor backpack. He tells host Christine Lagorio-Chafkin about the inspiration for, and the making the “gear for good” company Cotopaxi, which now has more than 300 employees, and whose revenues have surpassed $100 million.