After more than 20 years working in the shoe business, Wayne Edy decided to strike out on his own, risking most of his savings to launch his own brand. Knowing he was entering a crowded field, he focused on a niche sport—trail running—and developed a lightweight shoe with a rubber-cleat sole, well-suited to the terrain near his home in England's Lake Distric ... Show More
Jun 29
e.l.f. Cosmetics: Joey Shamah. The Dollar Store Formula That Built a Cosmetics Giant
In 2004, Joey Shamah and his partner launched a cosmetics company built on an idea that made almost no sense:Sell high-quality makeup for just $1.At the time, high quality beauty products were supposed to be expensive. The biggest brands spent fortunes on celebrity endorsements, ... Show More
1h 14m
Jun 22
STARR Restaurants: Stephen Starr. How a Non-Foodie Built Thriving Restaurants on Gut Instinct
Stephen Starr didn’t plan to get into the restaurant business.He set out to be a radio DJ. Then a nightclub owner. Then a music promoter.Along the way, he booked a young Jerry Seinfeld for $75, promoted shows for U2 and Madonna, and spent years pretending to be more successful th ... Show More
1h 14m
Nov 2020
Nike’s Phil Knight: How to sell without selling
Great branding is about identity – and it’s about matchmaking too. No one knows this better than the legendary co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight. When he and his partner, Hall of Fame track coach Bill Bowerman, started the sneaker company, they never tried to force-feed customers a ... Show More
35m 40s
Jul 2017
Nike’s Co-founder on Innovation, Culture, and Succession
Phil Knight, former chair and CEO of Nike, tells the story of starting the sports apparel and equipment giant after taking an entrepreneurship class at Stanford and teaming up with his former track coach, Bill Bowerman. Together (and with the help of a waffle iron) they changed h ... Show More
19m 39s
Mar 2018
Nike vs Adidas - Rebound | 5
Nike, the late starter struck gold with its “Just Do It” campaign. Launched in 1988, the shoe giant finally had a tagline as good as its shoes. Meanwhile, Adidas, the brand that started and found success long before Nike was even a dream, finds itself as the underdog. The America ... Show More
24m 4s
Mar 2018
Nike vs Adidas - The Defectors | 6
The rivalry between Nike and Adidas has been intense for decades, but always respectful. But with intensity comes… defectors. Just three at the beginning, who set out to create a “Disneyland for designers.” And it worked. For the first time in a long time, the Swoosh was outperfo ... Show More
19m 20s
Oct 2023
S8 E27: Engineering Data Normalization Rails and Automated Candidate Sourcing to Kill Hiring Friction with Valeriy Bykanov, Co-Founder of Prodigy
Valeriy Bykanov studied computer science in the Ukraine, and eventually in 2009, decided to start his own software development agency. After doing this for some time, he wanted to expand his horizons and moved to Berlin to join a startup. Outside of tech, he is married, and loves ... Show More
21 m