Show · Hosted by Guy Raz

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz interviews the world’s best-known entrepreneurs to learn how they built their iconic brands. In each episode, founders reveal deep, intimate moments of doubt and failure, and share insights on their eventual success. How I Built This is a master-class on innovation, cre

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18 episodes tracked · 11 guests covered · 11 pieces published, latest 2026-07-30

Chris Riccobono says tariffs pulled $9 million from UNTUCKit’s bank account
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Chris Riccobono says tariffs pulled $9 million from UNTUCKit’s bank account

The UNTUCKit founder turned an advice episode into a grim little postcard from the new retail math.

Jul 30, 2026
Chuck Surack says Sweetwater sales engineers can make nearly $500,000 a year in Fort Wayne
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Chuck Surack says Sweetwater sales engineers can make nearly $500,000 a year in Fort Wayne

The Sweetwater founder’s best argument against Amazon is not nostalgia for phone calls, it is a sales job that looks more like a paid residency for music gear obsessives.

Jul 27, 2026
Curt Richardson says OtterBox revenue fell after a $1.1 billion peak, but profit rose
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Curt Richardson says OtterBox revenue fell after a $1.1 billion peak, but profit rose

The OtterBox founder gave the rare founder update that actually explains what happens after a breakout product becomes boring.

Jul 23, 2026
Susan Griffin-Black says EO Products went from a $30,000 packaging account to owing $2 million after COVID sanitizer whiplash
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Susan Griffin-Black says EO Products went from a $30,000 packaging account to owing $2 million after COVID sanitizer whiplash

The EO Products founder turned a sanitizer surge into a warning about the ugly math behind sudden growth.

Jul 22, 2026
Joey Shamah says a fake Bloomingdale's buyout rumor sent e.l.f. from 300 orders a week to 18,000 a day
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Joey Shamah says a fake Bloomingdale's buyout rumor sent e.l.f. from 300 orders a week to 18,000 a day

The e.l.f. co-founder says the strangest growth hack in the brand's history was not a hack at all, just a chain email, a price panic, and a logistics nightmare.

Jul 21, 2026
Aman Narang says Toast's revenue fell over 90 percent during COVID before it cut 55 percent of staff
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Aman Narang says Toast's revenue fell over 90 percent during COVID before it cut 55 percent of staff

The Toast CEO's survival story is a reminder that being essential software for restaurants is fantastic right up until restaurants are legally unable to be restaurants.

Jul 20, 2026
Ronnen Harary says Spin Master became too rigid after he stopped being co-CEO
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Ronnen Harary says Spin Master became too rigid after he stopped being co-CEO

The PAW Patrol co-founder’s most revealing advice was not for a caller, it was the quiet admission that a hit-making toy company can get housebroken.

Jul 19, 2026
Krishna Kaliannan says he first coated Catalina Crunch cereal in a washing machine
How I Built This with Guy Raz·Money

Krishna Kaliannan says he first coated Catalina Crunch cereal in a washing machine

The Catalina Crunch founder's weirdest manufacturing hack is also the cleanest explanation of why making a modern keto cereal is much harder than making a pitch deck.

Jul 18, 2026
Jeni Britton says seed oil panic is too fad-like to build a frozen-fry brand around
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Jeni Britton says seed oil panic is too fad-like to build a frozen-fry brand around

The Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams founder told a beef-tallow fries startup to sell taste first, not online wellness panic.

Jul 17, 2026
Kenneth Cole says wholesale won't build your brand if you don't own the customer relationship
How I Built This with Guy Raz·Money

Kenneth Cole says wholesale won't build your brand if you don't own the customer relationship

On How I Built This, Cole gave a very department-store-era warning to modern founders: revenue through retailers can look like momentum while quietly leaving the brand in someone else's hands.

Jul 16, 2026
Tom Rinks says he would have settled the Taco Bell Chihuahua lawsuit for $200,000 before a $30.1 million jury award
How I Built This with Guy Raz·Money

Tom Rinks says he would have settled the Taco Bell Chihuahua lawsuit for $200,000 before a $30.1 million jury award

Before Sun Bum became a sunscreen juggernaut, Rinks says Taco Bell could have ended the Chihuahua fight for a fraction of what a jury later awarded.

Jul 15, 2026