Business Unusual

When Yvon Chouinard started making climbing pitons in a chicken coop behind his parent's house, he had no interest in creating one of the world's most iconic outdoor brands. He and his fellow climbers just wanted higher quality tools that left a smaller environmental footprint.But the 83-year-old did more than create a $1 billion brand known around the world from professional climbers to runway models. He created a company that has become synonymous with fighting climate change and supporting...

In 2000, no one would've expected that an industry like women's undergarments had room for breakthrough innovation, let alone one worth over a billion dollars. And despite people laughing in her face, Sara Blakely had dreams of building SPANX in to a $20 million company. In this week's episode, we reveal how this former door-to-door fax machine saleswoman eclipsed ever her own goals, building SPANX to a $1.2B+ brand.

Growing up in Australia, Shan-Lyn Ma felt cut off from the excitement of the early 2000s tech boom in Silicon Valley. So she got there as soon as possible.After getting her MBA at Stanford, working at her dream company, Yahoo, and building her skills as a product developer, Shan-Lyn decided to optimize an industry she and many of her friends took part in multiple weekends a year—weddings.In this week's episode we learn how Zola became a one-stop shop for wedding planning, honeymoon plan...

Sometimes you need to break the rules in order to create a new societal reality. And when Whitney Wolfe Heard created Bumble, that's exactly what she did.In this week's episode, we reveal how Wolfe Heard took traditional dating and product development concepts and turned them upside down to create one of the world's leading online dating apps, and became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire.

Before Wolfgang Puck, the words "celebrity" and "chef" were never found in the same sentence. That all changed in 1982 when Puck opened Spago in West Hollywood.With its open kitchen, delicious food, parade of A-list celebrities, and ebullient chef, Spago catapulted Puck into worldwide stardom while his cookware, cookbooks, and regular television appearances made him a household name. In this week's episode, we learn how a boy from Austria, who never felt good enough, conquered the c...

IKEA is a $45.5 billion global conglomerate. But did you know this furniture empire was all started by a 17-year-old boy from a small Swedish town?In our kickoff to Season 3, we're diving into learn how Ingvar Kamprad, a small-town Swedish boy, went from a modest upbringing selling pens to his neighbors to founding one of the world's biggest and most recognizable furniture stores.

You don’t have to be a fashion insider to know the name Kendra Scott. It’s inscribed in gold letters over the door of more than 100 stores where customers not only find a perfect piece of jewelry but an experience like no other.But jewelry is only half the story of the woman who Forbes recently ranked ahead of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé on a list of the country’s “richest self-made women.” The $1 billion-dollar brand that started as a $500 side project when she was pregnant and on bed rest is d...

Being in an established industry doesn't mean that there's no room for innovation. And Gary Keller did just that when he left the real estate brokerage he worked for, partnered with Joe Williams, and launched Keller Williams Realty. In this episode, Arun shares how thinking differently allowed Keller Williams to attract top real estate agents and grow the company into one of the largest in the Unites States.

Before Alamo Drafthouse came along, the movie theater experience wasn't an experience at all. That all changed in 1997 when Tim and Karrie League opened the first Drafthouse in Austin, Texas. Now with dozens of locations across the country, the duo has managed to do what other theater chains couldn't in the streaming era—get people to see a movie outside their homes. In this week's episode, how Alamo Drafthouse changed what it meant to go to the movies and why it's a special place for directo...

Sometimes size does matter, and in the case of P. Terry's burger stand, smaller actually played in their favor. In this episode, we share the story of P. Terry's founder Patrick Terry, and how he was able to use their small size, to build one of Austin's favorite burger joints.