Julie Bornstein has a storied career that includes spearheading the e-commerce transformations of some of the world's most popular and successful retail brands. She was also at Stitch Fix as COO during a pivotal time just ahead of the fashion startup's IPO, but her latest move was to become a founder and start her own company for the first time. The Yes is a ... Show More
May 28
Best of Build Mode: Cofounders, Conflict and Compatibility
This week on Build Mode, we’re diving back into the archives for a special best-of episode all about effective partnerships, from cofounder relationships and team trust to investor dynamics and leadership communication. Host Isabelle Johannesen and producer Maggie Nye revisit som ... Show More
20m 53s
May 14
The 7-Failure Rule: How Forethought AI Found Product-Market Fit with Co-Founder Deon Nicholas
This week we're sharing our very first episode with Deon Nicholas, the co-founder and CEO of Forethought AI. In this episode, Nicholas shares how he built a company that puts customers (not hype) at the center. He unpacks his “7-Failure Rule,” the early experiments that shaped Fo ... Show More
45m 30s
Apr 30
Maintaining Momentum and Morale During the Long Road to FDA Approval with Robhy Bustami, BioticsAI
Surviving the long road to FDA approval isn’t just about building great technology, it’s about keeping your team motivated, finding the right investors, and learning how to operate when timelines are uncertain. This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Robbie Bu ... Show More
31m 51s
Oct 2022
TA3: Going Viral on Tik-Tok with Founder and CEO Leila Shams
<p>Even after failing out of design school, <a href="https://ta3swim.com/" target="_blank"><strong>TA3</strong></a> Founder and CEO, Leila Shams, still felt called to a career in the fashion industry. While designing for top brands in New York City, she created her own celebrity- ... Show More
1h 2m
Apr 2024
Loreal CEO Talks Haute Couture and Beauty
The CEO of French fashion house Chanel, Leena Nair, is a human resources veteran who had never run a company, spending decades at Unilever, before switching from the world of fast-moving consumer goods to haute couture and beauty. Francine Lacqua speaks to Leena Nair about her pr ... Show More
24 m
May 2015
Susan Koger (ModCloth) - Find Your Venture's Emotional Core
Susan Koger, co-founder and chief creative officer of the online retailer ModCloth, shares lessons that transcend the fashion industry. Reflecting on her startup's early years and challenges along the way, Koger explains how emotion not only connects customers to a brand, it conn ... Show More
59m 41s
Jun 2022
#54: The Boutique Approach to Taking on the Big Box Stores
Stephanie’s cracked the hardest part – her Austin, TX, designer boutiques have seen record growth this past year despite the pandemic. She knows for a fact she’s taking sales away from the big hitters like Nordstroms, Revolve and Amazon - her customers just prefer the personal to ... Show More
31m 40s
May 2025
Fidji Simo - Creating Delightful Consumer Experiences - [Invest Like the Best, CLASSICS]
Welcome to this classic episode. Classics are my favorite episodes from the past 10 years, published once a month. These are N of 1 conversations with N of 1 people. In the midst of her transition to OpenAI, we are spotlighting the force that is Fidji Simo. She is the former CEO ... Show More
1h 12m
Apr 2025
Business Daily meets: Julia Hartz
From noticing a gap in the market, to launching a start-up with her husband, CEO Julia Hartz tells us how she's built Eventbrite to become one of the biggest event ticketing platforms in the world, distributing 272 million tickets to more than 1.7 million global events in 2024. T ... Show More
17m 28s