In the early 2000s, Stewart Butterfield tried to build a weird, massively multiplayer online game, but the venture failed. Instead, he and his co-founders used the technology they developed to create the photo-sharing site Flickr. After Flickr was acquired by Yahoo in 2005, Butterfield went back to the online game idea, only to fail again. But the office mes ... Show More
Oct 6
Pressbox and Tide Cleaners: Vijen Patel. The $1.99 Gamble That Built a National Brand
What if the best startup isn’t sexy at all? In 2013, Vijen Patel left private equity to pursue “the least-worst idea”: dry cleaning. No patents. No app wizardry. Just laundry lockers in high-rises, ruthless unit economics, and a $1.99-a-shirt price that was seared into America’s ... Show More
1h 6m
Oct 2
Advice Line with Tony Xu of Doordash
Tony Xu, founder of DoorDash, joins Guy on the Advice Line to answer questions from three early-stage entrepreneurs. Plus, Tony updates Guy on his latest ventures: expanding into grocery and retail delivery - and taking on international markets.First, we hear from Ron in Portland ... Show More
49m 13s
Jul 2018
eBay vs PayPal - Going Once, Going Twice | 1
At the dawn of the dotcom era, a Silicon Valley tech geek on a personal vendetta rolls out the world’s first e-commerce site. Vintage lunchboxes? Second-hand guitars? B-list celebrity autographs? It all finds a home on AuctionWeb, and before long the site’s growth is skyrocketing ... Show More
23m 46s
Jul 2014
SPI 117: Broke on a Friend’s Couch to Successful Entrepreneur with Dwight Peters of BackersHub
#117: Today’s guest on the podcast, Dwight Peters, had started a number of different businesses that didn’t go according to plan, which eventually led him to going broke and having to stay on his friend’s couch while he figured out his next move. His perseverance paid off, howeve ... Show More
29m 14s
Oct 2019
Facebook vs Snapchat - The Offer | 3
It’s November 2013, and Mark Zuckerberg is about to make Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy an offer he thinks they can't refuse. But when Spiegel and Murphy do the unimaginable, it prompts Facebook to compete — by copying.Snapchat is gathering steam, but data leaks are hurting the co ... Show More
26m 21s
Oct 2019
Facebook vs Snapchat - Facebook Fights Back | 4
It's September 2015 and Snapchat has just hit on a game-changer for the young company: filters that augment users' faces. Thanks to some celebrity love, the new feature becomes wildly popular. But Mark Zuckerberg is watching closely, and acquires a competing startup.Then, Zuckerb ... Show More
22m 50s
May 2023
Encore: Tesla vs Detroit | Elon Musk...It's Complicated | 5
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter was… messy, to say the least, and now the multi-billionaire is the CEO of three different companies. That’s got investors wondering: can he handle it? And what’s the plan if he can’t?
To dive into this question, we’re talking to Dana Hull, Bloomber ... Show More
43m 32s