From the Ground Up

At this year's Inc Founders House event in Philadelphia, Editor-in-Chief Mike Hoffman spoke with Joao Gomes, Senior Vice Dean of Research and Professor of Finance at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, about the Future of Capitalism: Tariffs, Growth, and Markets. They delved into topics such as the consumer outlook, the decreasing trend of extravagant spending, the hiring slowdown in various job markets, the negative impact of Trump's tariffs, concerns regarding the supply chain, particularly from China, and the undervalued issue of immigration in the business community.

In this custom episode from our partners at Insperity, Inc. Editorial Director Bonny Ghosh chats with Roger Nicholson, SVP of Service Operations at Insperity, about the results of the Inc. 5000 CEO Survey. The conversation reveals how today’s top business leaders are laser-focused on workplace culture, adaptability, and the integration of generative AI. With only 35% of CEOs believing their teams are AI-ready, the conversation turns to the urgent need for upskilling as a retention and competitiveness strategy. Nicholson emphasizes that the companies best positioned for the future will be those that invest not just in technology—but in their people.

For today’s episode, we have a panel from this year’s Inc’s Founders House in Philadelphia. Social media director,  Andrea Hardalo and her fellow panelists: Woodie Hillyard, co-founder and CEO of the men’s personal care brand W, Arthur Leopold, co-founder and CEO of the ad platform called Agentio, and Alicia Yoon, founder and CEO of the Korean skin care beauty brand Peach & Lily, discuss the Future of E-Commerce. They chatted about the challenges of starting your business online, which trends are still relevant in their business strategies after the pandemic, and the difference in selling products on your website compared to selling them on social media.

Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea and Eat the Change, talks with Ron Holloway, co-founder of Woofbowl, about the importance of starting small.

Here's a panel from this year's Inc Founders House in Philadelphia. In this episode, staff reporter Ali Donaldson led a discussion about challenger brands—companies that punch above their weight to succeed. Her guests were Sarah Paiji Yoo, founder and CEO of Blueland, a microplastic-free cleaning products company; Babba Rivera, founder and CEO of the clean hair care line Ceremonia; and Justin Rosenberg, founder and CEO of the fast-casual chain Honeygrow. During the discussion, Sarah explained why she started her company, Babba emphasized the importance of having a person of color in the beauty industry, and Ali asked Justin why building community through your first brick-and-mortar locations matters.

Panera founder Ron Shaich coaches Johnny Yarusi on risk, resilience, and building the “greatest breakfast sandwich in America.”

The co-founder of Woofbowl discusses his mental health journey with Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea and Eat the Change.

Here is another panel discussion from our Inc Founders House showcase at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. The conversation was moderated by staff reporter Chloe Aiello and featured  Janeya Griffin, the founder of Equity Space Alliance Association, an organization dedicated to creating a more equitable future in commercial space exploration. Also joining the panel was Moriba Jah, the co-founder and chief scientist of GaiaVerse, an AI-driven decision intelligence platform. Together, they discussed the current state of the industry and the possibility of substantial generational prosperity that can result from taking bold risks.

How fast, honest communication turns problems into opportunities and strengthens client partnerships. 

Today we have another panel from this past year's Inc. Founder’s House at SXSW, here is a panel that was hosted by former Executive Editor Diana Ransom. She was joined by Sowmiya Chocka Narayanan the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Lily AI, a female founded retail AI company, Richard Socher, founder and CEO of you.com, a chat search assistant, and cofounder of AIX Ventures, an AI-focused venture capital firm that invests in early-stage AI startups, and Naeem Talukdar, who is the cofounder of Moon Valley AI, a startup developing an AI video generator that allows users to create cinematic videos and animations from text prompts. In this discussion, they spoke about future proofing your business by integrating AI to scale in many different industries. They also talked about how to use AI with guidelines and guardrails.