From the Ground Up – Details, episodes & analysis

Inc. editor-in-chief Mike Hofman and Salesforce's Adam Alfano talk about sales leadership and best practices based on an exclusive survey of Inc. 5000 companies.

Welcome to Inc's From the Ground Up Summer programming! While we’re hard at work on season two of the show, we wanted to keep bringing you astute conversations , courtesy of our live events throughout the year. In this segment we have Editor In Chief, Mike Hofman in a fireside chat with La Colombe Coffee Founder, Todd Carmichael at Inc's Founders House in Philadelphia. Carmichael transformed La Colombe from a local Philadelphia roaster into a global coffee powerhouse. We hear about the journey that began with opening a local coffee shop, led to a $900 million sale to Chobani, and transitioned with the decision to step down as CEO to start a new venture, Rebel Beverage Labs.

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 Wondermind Learn 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.com Flybridge 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 5:02 Read 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 website Gorgie Skrewball Whiskey Inc. podcasts Episode 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 episode Grief 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.html Karen 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.html Transcript of this episode: https://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/transcript-from-the-ground-up-tracy-dennis-on-grief.html DSM 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 Institute Links: Inc.com article: www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/from-the-ground-up-sloomoo-institute-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller-grief-as-startup-fuel.html Episode transcript: www.inc.com/transcript-from-the-ground-up-podcast-sloomoo-institute-founders-karen-robinovitz-sara-schiller.html The Sloomoo Institute: https://sloomooinstitute.com/pages/new-york-2-0?utm_source=google.com&utm_medium=organic Slime 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