From Scratch with Jessica Harris

By Jessica HarrisBusiness Entrepreneurship Marketing Careers

From Scratch with Jessica Harris episodes

June 11, 2015 Rob Kalin
Rob Kalin initially started Etsy—the online marketplace for handmade goods—as a way to sell his own furniture in 2005. The company has become a vehicle for more than one million artisans who sell their products—ranging from knit-wear to musical instruments to clocks—through the site.
Rob speaks with Jessica Harris about how he built Etsy, from scratch.
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32 min
May 28, 2015 Rodney Brooks
Dr. Rodney Brooks is the co-founder of Rethink Robotics, a company that makes robots for the manufacturing industry. Rethink’s first robot, Baxter, was introduced in October 2012 with the goal of increasing US manufacturing productivity. Prior to Rethink, Dr. Brooks co-founded iRobot, which makes robots for the consumer and defense industries. iRobot’s first consumer product was the Roomba, a vacuum robot, introduced in 2002. Dr. Brooks is professor emeritus at MIT, where he was on the faculty from 1984 to 2010.
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32 min
May 28, 2015 Darrell Cavens
Zulily is an e-commerce company focused on products for mothers and their children. The company offers daily flash sales of boutique and leading brands at discounted prices.
Darrell launched Zulily in 2009 with Mark Vadon, the founder of the online diamond merchant Blue Nile.
Darrell speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched Zulily, from scratch.
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19 min
May 07, 2015 David Karp
David developed an interest in computer programming when he was 11 years old. Instead of finishing high school he started working, and innovating, in the online community. Tumblr is a leading micro blogging and social media tool where creators can upload images, video, audio clips and bursts of text. The site– with more than 50 million creators serving 140 million people monthly– was an outgrowth of David’s own interest in improving his personal online expression. The company was sold to Yahoo in May, 2013 for $1.1 Billion.
David speaks with Jessica Harris about how he built Tumblr, from scratch.
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32 min
April 09, 2015 Uri Levine
Waze is a crowd sourced traffic navigation app. Drivers share real-time traffic and road information to help other users on the same route. Uri founded Waze in Israel in 2007 and the company was sold to Google in 2013 for $1.1 Billion. Uri is also the founder of FeeX, which also uses crowd sourced information— […]
32 min
February 05, 2015 Jeffrey Hollender
Jeffrey Hollender set out to build a company that was both profitable and environmentally sustainable. Seventh Generation makes cleaning and sanitary products that focus on resource conservation and eco-friendly business practices. Jeffrey is the author of several books and an advocate of corporate and environmental responsibility.
Jeffrey discusses with Jessica Harris how he has helped to pioneer safer cleaning, from scratch.
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32 min
December 18, 2014 Andy Goldsworthy
Some sculptors work with materials like bronze or marble, which last forever; but others build sculptures made of ice or snow, which last only a few moments. Who are some of the sculptors producing ephemeral art? Jessica speaks with one such pioneer, Andy Goldsworthy.
Andy’s outdoor sculptures have been shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, The National Gallery in Washington DC, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others. Andy discusses how he has built a successful life building sculptures outdoors, and from scratch.
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19 min
November 27, 2014 Israel Ganot
Gazelle is a company that resells used electronic equipment including iPhones, BlackBerries, iPads, and recent Apple computers, among other items. Prior to starting Gazelle, Israel was at eBay where he helped to build the international business and worked with eBay’s M&A team to acquire PayPal, which he subsequently joined. He was formerly a research analyst at Goldman Sachs.
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32 min
September 11, 2014 Marc DaCosta
Enigma is a company that uses the internet to make public data available and understandable to users. Enigma links across various databases to uncover relevant facts that a user might not notice by looking at a single data set. The universe of data sources to choose among includes SEC filings, public health records, government spending […]
19 min
July 17, 2014 Jake Wood
Team Rubicon is an organization comprised of former veterans who apply their military experience to emergency situations, working as first responders internationally. Jake served in the military, in Iraq and Afghanistan, before returning to civilian life. He started Team Rubicon initially in response to the earthquake in Haiti. Jake speaks with Jessica about how he […]
32 min