From the Ground Up

No matter how sturdy your supply chain is, sometimes, crisis hits. And sometimes, it's due to something that seems positive: A sudden surge in customer demand.For The Woobles and founder Justine Tiu, a huge order of her pre-started crochet kits was delivered with flaws. Could she get her customer orders out on time? For Bobbie infant formula co-founder Laura Modi, it was a nationwide formula shortage that caused her to rethink her customer communications--and cut off new orders on her website altogether. Hosts Diana Ransom and Christine Lagorio-Chafkin unpack all the complex supply-chain management issues and customer communications strategies that come with a sudden surge in demand.Article and TranscriptRead more about Bobbie.Bobbie's website.How Bobbie handled the formula shortage.Read more about The Woobles.The Woobles website.

This week, we’re following up our discussion about how to make sure your mission fits your business with an interview with one of the most fascinating sustainability experts working today: Vincent Stanley, Patagonia’s director of philosophy. Patagonia has been one of the most notable brands in environmentally responsible business practices and production for decades, and Vincent has been with the company, evangelizing about what makes Patagonia unique, since even before it was called Patagonia. Host Diana Ransom talks to Stanley and is told some stories from Patagonia's history that we've never heard before, revealing tipping points that caused the company to adapt its social mission from outdoor-enthusiasm to one that includes a sustainable supply chain and responsible manufacturing, and led to the adoption of a profit-donation model as well. He shares his perspective on making a company's mission more than just a statement, but a way of operating that builds trust and engagement among employees--and spurs creativity too.Read the full transcriptLearn more about social responsibility at PatagoniaRead more about The Future of the Responsible Company: What We've Learned from Patagonia's First 50 Years by Stanley and founder Yvon ChouinardLearn why Patagonia was Inc.'s 2022 Company of the Year

What happens when a company's giving back ... just isn't enough? In a special panel at this year’s SXSW festival, co-host and Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom led a discussion with Jacq and Scot Tatelman, the co-founders of State Bags, as well as Mandy Teefey, the CEO of Wondermind, which she co-founded with her daughter Selena Gomez. The conversation gets into the difficulties and successes of mission-driven businesses, and how these creative founders have adapted their missions to best serve the communities that inspired them.Read the story at Inc.com and see the full episode transcript. Read more about this conversation about mission-based businesses.Learn more about WondermindLearn more about State Bags

Which should come first, your killer idea or your ideal customer? So many questions about finding product-market fit were raised by our fascinating discussion with Michelle Cordeiro Grant of Gorgie, and Steven and Brittany Yeng of Skrewball. Christine Lagorio-Chafkin spoke with Jeff Bussgang, a venture capitalist and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, where he teaches a revered class all about product-market fit called Launching Technology Ventures. He has fascinating thoughts on why your early-stage startup should be an experimentation machine; the effect AI has had on startups testing their market; and some of the ethical considerations that put pressure on this process and disproportionately affect BIPOC and women founders.Learn more:Read this story and see full transcript on Inc.comFlybridge Capital Partners, Bussgang's early-stage venture-capital firm with offices in Boston and New York City and over $1 billion under management. Jeff Bussgang's Harvard Business School site. BrightHire, referenced at 5:02Read more about Classpass's pivot, referenced at 17:36 link Bussgang's post about ethical considerations early-stage founders need to make, referenced at 20:02 X Factor Ventures, referenced at 21:37 

Build it and they will come? It’s not so simple. Hosts Diana Ransom and Christine Lagorio-Chafkin spoke with founders who took two totally different approaches to a core business concept: finding product-market fit. They spoke with Michelle Cordeiro Grant, founder of the sugar-free energy drink Gorgie, and Brittany and Steven Yeng, founders of the peanut butter liquor brand Skrewball whiskey, about how they identified their markets, strategies they used to get their items on shelves, and how they applied consumer feedback to adjust what they were selling.Learn more:Michelle Cordeiro Grant’s websiteGorgieSkrewball WhiskeyInc. podcastsEpisode recap and full transcript

During her time at SXSW this year, Diana Ransom sat down with Shira Lazar, video blogger, personality, and founder/host of the web series “What’s Trending,” to discuss her journey in the creator economy space. Shira also gave Diana personal tips and strategies on how to capitalize on trends, using vlogging as a creative outlet, and how to be the face of a brand through social media outlets.

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.

After our conversation with the co-founders of the Sloomoo Institute, co-host Christine Lagorio-Chafkin followed up with clinical psychologist, author, and professor Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, about the concept of grief--and how to navigate it, especially when you’re extremely busy, or a founder. She explained the complex range of responses humans have to grief, and the unique ability founders might have when it comes to coping through being able to envision a transformation in the future. She also spoke about getting off the productivity-industrial complex’s “wellness hamster wheel” and instead embarking on your own journey. She shared insight into finding support systems for mental health--and establishing a healthy relationship with your co-founder.Show notes and links:Tracy’s company, Arcade Theraputics: https://arcadetherapeutics.com/about-us/Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary’s website: https://www.drtracyphd.com/Inc.com article on Sloomoo Institute episodeGrief as Startup Fuel: The Sloomoo Institute's Unusual Beginnings https://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/from-the-ground-up-sloomoo-institute-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller-grief-as-startup-fuel.htmlKaren Robinovitz and Sara Schiller had been through multiple businesses--and multiple traumas--before coming together to find reinvention and joy through an unlikely substance: slime.recap: https://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/from-the-ground-up-sloomoo-institute-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller-grief-as-startup-fuel.htmlTranscript of this episode: https://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/transcript-from-the-ground-up-tracy-dennis-on-grief.htmlDSM entry on Prolonged Grief Disorder: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/prolonged-grief-disorder

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 InstituteLinks:Inc.com article: www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/from-the-ground-up-sloomoo-institute-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller-grief-as-startup-fuel.htmlEpisode transcript: www.inc.com/transcript-from-the-ground-up-podcast-sloomoo-institute-founders-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller.htmlThe Sloomoo Institute: https://sloomooinstitute.com/pages/new-york-2-0?utm_source=google.com&utm_medium=organicSlime 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.

Join Inc. Executive Editor Diana Ransom and Editor-at-Large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin as they host From The Ground Up, a new podcast from Inc. that features frank and unfiltered conversations—with some of the most successful founders in the world—about navigating the role of the founder, the tips and tricks entrepreneurs need to know to be successful, and the secrets that nobody really tells you before you start a business.New episodes start April 4th, see you then!Website: https://www.inc.com/podcasts/from-the-ground-up