Ah, 2024. So much to say! For our last episode of the season, we analyze the biggest small-business and workplace topics of the past year and highlight what’s on the horizon for 2025. Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom and editor-at-large Chrsitine Lagorio-Chafkin sat down with senior editor Tim Crino, and staff writer Sarah Lynch to discuss the annual changes that have taken place here at Inc., the massive layoffs in the tech sector, DEI backlash, and the generational workplace mismatch between managers and Gen Z employees. Also, we look ahead to Trump’s proposed tariffs and the new wave of crypto hype and scams. Don’t worry, we are optimistic about a few things in the startup landscape, though.

Additional research and information: 

To read more from our Inc. 5000 coverage:

How Tiny Changes Have Reaped Enormous Results at America’s Fastest-Growing Company  

How Inflation Shaped the Companies of the Inc. 5000

To read our coverage from the tech layoffs:

Employees Are Still Worried About Layoffs

The 2024 Layoff Landscape Is Better Than You Might Think

To read our coverage of Gen Z in the workplace:

Gen-Z Hits Some Bumps as it Enters the Workforce

Are You Leading on Empty? How to Recognize and Combat Manager Burnout

Why Gen-Z Workers Are Consciously ‘Unbossing’

To read our coverage DEI Backlash:

U.S. Workers Might Be Souring on DEI

Here Are the Most Common Anti-DEI Legal Cases Right Now — and What You Need to Know About Them

To read more on tariffs and crypto:

Here’s What Trump Says About Tariffs, and How They Would Work

New Trump Crypto Venture Gets Boost From GOP Candidate Himself 

If you grew up in the ’90s, the “¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!" chihuahua commercial was inescapable. Remember the vital-to-surfers sunscreen Sun Bum? Both of these memorable branding moments were created by serial entrepreneur Tom Rinks.

Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom sat down with Tom for this episode of From the Ground Up to discuss his unusual path to becoming a branding whiz—and what he’s learned about identifying human desire along the way. His early job of selling furniture taught him how to read people, and his first branding deal, with the University of Michigan’s Fab Five, immersed him in the skills needed to identify talent. Diana and Tom discuss the complex art of brand-creation, company-building, and finding the niche audience who will fiercely love your product. They also discuss Tom’s most recent branding venture, the oral-care line Made by Dentists.

Additional research and information:

Visit: Made By Dentists

Visit: Made by Dentists’s profile

Visit: Made by Dentists’s educational page

Visit: Sun Bum

Visit: Sun Bum’s profile

Honing one's craft. Dedicating many, many hours to perfecting a skill set. Entrepreneurship can, in some ways, resemble the work life of a professional athlete. Ayesha Curry is certainly focused on her burgeoning lifestyle and culinary brand, Sweet July, and the multiple businesses within it—but that’s where she might say the similarities she has with her husband, NBA star Stephen Curry, end.

Whereas Steph brings a calm sense of logic to business and philanthropic decisions, Ayesha says she’s the kind of creative founder who brings passion to a project. In this interview with Inc. editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, Ayesha describes how, when building Sweet July, she built in soul: It is designed to empower and celebrate women and BIPOC creators, and multiple arms of the business were inspired by her family’s Jamaican heritage.

Ayesha explains to Christine how she’s navigated her career from aspiring chef to business owner, including the early tumultuous moments in the company, how she delegates responsibility to her small team, and how she creates an atmosphere of autonomy and trust. They also discuss the Currys’ Oakland-based philanthropic endeavor, Eat. Learn. Play., which builds playgrounds, opens access to nutrition, and fosters literacy skills through partnerships with local schools.

Additional research and information:

To read our Inc. 5000 coverage on Ayesha Curry: How Ayesha Curry Cooked Up Her Own Business Empire  

Read more on Ayesha Curry on Inc.com: Ayesha Curry Launches a Food Startup, So You Can Eat Like a Golden State Warrior

Visit: Sweet July

To learn more about: Sweet July bio

Visit: Sweet July’s Instagram

Visit: Eat. Learn. Play.

Have you ever wondered what happened to your favorite kettle chip brand or kombucha in your local supermarket? Don’t see your favorite cranberry sauce for the holidays?

For this episode, Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom and editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin spoke with editor-at-large Tom Foster about his recent article, “Why Are So Many Supermarket Brands Losing Shelf Space?” By the end of last year, the total amount of early-stage venture-capital funding for consumer-product brands was down about 60 percent from its 2021 high. And new product launches were down about 70 percent in the same period, according to consumer-products data provider Spins. What’s going on? Is it a CPG rupture?

Paul Voge, co-founder of the sparkling water brand Aura Bora, told Tom that getting on store shelves “is astronomically harder today.” He adds that “I had a smaller, worse business in 2019, and it was easier to run than my larger, better business today.” One thing’s clear: Gone are the days of consumer-product brands being able to use the strategies of Silicon Valley tech startups to fuel their rapid growth.

This fascinating conversation explains why this is happening in so many supermarkets, how having shelf space for a product in a supermarket is like paying rent for an apartment, and how brands such as Me & the Bees lemonade and Aura Bora are finding ways to thrive in this industry by being creative and navigating their business relationships.

Additional research and information: 

Read Tom Foster’s story on Inc.com: Why Are So Many Supermarket Brands Losing Shelf Space?

Read another article from Tom Foster on Inc.com: At This Company, the Free Office Lunches Are So Good, Even Remote Employees Can’t Resist

To learn more about Me & the Bees lemonade and Mikaila Ulmer on Inc.com: Forget an "$11 M Contract" with Whole Foods. This Kid Did Better

To learn more about Aura Bora and Paul Voge on Inc.com read: Scott Galloway Called Public Universities ‘America’s Greatest Innovation.’ These Founders Agree

Visit: Me & The Bees Lemonade

Visit: Me & The Bees Lemonade’s bio

Visit: Aura Bora

Visit: Aura Bora’s bio

You’ve seen the headlines: Gen-Z Getting Fired. Employers Avoiding Hiring Gen-Z Employees. Perhaps to understand the generational struggle in American businesses today, we need to look back to March 2020. Simon Sinek, the author and speaker on business leadership, says the emotionality and intensity of the early pandemic taught him a great deal about himself and his relationships—in and out of the office—and even how to lead a new-era employee.

These moments contributed to the creation of the Optimism Company, Sinek’s digital learning platform, which helps companies inspire and develop their employees. Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom sat down with Sinek for what resulted in a deep discussion about how we think about emotion in the workplace, grappling with unproductivity, the complex relationship between friendship and entrepreneurship, the meaning of confidant ignorance, and, the question on so many leaders’ minds, how do we actually manage Gen-Z?

This is a special segment in collaboration with our partner at Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Inc. Editor-in-Chief Mike Hoffman spoke with Smarsh Founder Stephen Marsh about his remarkable journey, the legacy he has built, and the honor of being the first recipient of the inaugural Legacy Award presented by Glenfiddich at this year's Inc. 5000 gala.

It’s a young company, but its legacy spans generations. And thanks to Fawn Weaver, the story and legacy of her whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest, is becoming ever more expansive.

Its most recent chapter: The company reached a $1.1 billion valuation in 2024. However, none of this would have been possible without Weaver, Uncle Nearest’s founder and CEO, who envisions herself as not just an executive and leader, but also as the company’s chief historian. She’s made it her mission to build a brand honest to the legacy of a man named Nearest Green, or Uncle Nearest, the formerly enslaved laborer who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey.

Weaver has spent much of the past decade researching and piecing together the story of Nearest Green. Her book Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green, and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest was released in June.

Inc. editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin sat down with Weaver recently to discuss her legacy as well: This year she became one of the first-ever African American women to run a company valued at more than $1 billion.

Additional research and information:

Christine interviewed Fawn Weaver in this 2021 episode of the What I Know podcast

Read Fawn Weaver’s advice on Creating a Winning Team on Inc.com

Visit: Uncle Nearest

For more on Fawn Weaver

Visit: Fawn Weaver’s Instagram

For more on Love & Whiskey

Apple Podcasts

Spotify 

The shapewear brand that exploded onto the scene with the most famous pitchwoman in the business as a co-founder recently hit a major milestone: Kim Kardashian’s Skims is now a unicorn four times over.

Writer Max Berlinger sat down to talk with Kardashian for his feature article in our September issue of Inc. magazine—so Christine and Diana sat down to talk with Max to get the behind-the-scenes. He delivered.

Kardashian launched her shapewear brand, Skims, in 2019 in Los Angeles, and over the past three years, the company more than quintupled its annual revenue to nearly $713 million in 2023. That landed it at No. 1,168 on our annual Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies. Just over a year ago, Skims raised a round of funding that catapulted its valuation to $4 billion.

Kardashian created Skims out of personal need—with the side benefit that it might just change people’s perspectives on shapewear. She wanted to make the brand fun. Cheeky, even. It is all about owning the shape of your body. However, the brand’s progress also has a lot to do with its CEO and co-founder, Jens Grede, who has launched other successful companies. He and his wife—Emma Grede, the third founding partner at Skims—have long worked closely with the Kardashian family.

Additional research and information:

Read on Inc.com : The Inside Story of How Kim Kardashian Made Shapewear Sexy

Read Max Berlinger’s story on Inc.com: Skims Is a Huge Hit for Kim Kardashian. But Is It Ready for an IPO?

Read on Inc.com: Skims Inc 5000 profile

For more Inc.com coverage on Skims: The WNBA Is Teaming Up With Women-Led Businesses

For more Inc.com coverage on Emma Grede: How to Successfully Launch Products in Crowded Categories, According to Emma Grede

Visit Skims

Visit Skims’ Youtube

Visit Skims Instagram page

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Before Monte Deere joined Kizik, the hands-free shoe brand, as chief executive, he had zero experience in selling consumer products–—and no experience in footwear. Heck, he’d never been a CEO before.

But Kizik’s Kizik founder Mike Pratt had worked with Deere previously– and took a bet on him. Deere was tasked with recruiting a dream team of executives with experience at brands such as Hoka, Converse, and Nike--"—“shoe dogs,”" as he likes to call them, a reference to Nike founder Phil Knight's Knight’s memoir--—to complement the “"cool contingency of innovators”" led by Pratt.

This year, Kizik is #No. 407 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest fastest-growing companies in America. In 2023, its revenue was more thanover $100 million. In an interview with Inc. editor editor-at at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, Deere explains Kizik’s pandemic-era brand transformation, how it found its loyal customers, and its expansion into DTC and wholesale–—plus its fascinating collaborations. Monte believes that soon 10% percent of the global footwear market could soon be hands hands-free.

Following our regular episode, we have a special segment in collaboration with our partner at Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Inc. Editor-in-Chief Mike Hoffman spoke with Smarsh Founder Stephen Marsh about his remarkable journey, the legacy he has built, and the honor of being the first recipient of the inaugural Legacy Award presented by Glenfiddich at this year's Inc. 5000 gala. Skillfully Crafted, Enjoy Responsibly. Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky ©2024 Imported by William Grant & Sons, Inc. New York, NY.

Additional research and information:

Read on Inc.com: Is Kizik Building the Next Billion-Dollar Sneaker Brand?

Read on Inc.com: Kizik Inc 5000 profile

Visit Kizik website:

https://kizik.com/pages/about-us

Visit Hands Free Labs Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/handsfreelabs/

Visit Kizik’s YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRjtGcRZbkj4yQ3SrU4YcDQ

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Dilip Rao had what he would call “the perfect life” until he was in a car accident on July 5, 2014, in New York City. What followed changed his outlook—and his values. That same year, he founded Sharebite to change the way workplaces bring their employees together for, and show them appreciation through, meals. And he built in a mission that has helped bolster struggling restaurants—and combat food insecurity.

The company, of which Dilip is now CEO, is a meal benefit platform built for the modern workforce—one in which some workers are hybrid, some fully in-person, some fully remote—and all want to feel appreciated. It specializes in feeding in-office and remote employees food they want from local restaurants–and lets companies chip in, to make each meal feel like a real benefit for workers. The chipping in goes further than that, though: Through Sharebite, each meal bought is equal to one meal donated.

Over the past three years, the company has had a growth rate of 4,914 percent, and it landed at No. 56 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. For this episode of “From the Ground Up,” Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom spoke with Dilip about his accident and recovery process, his stoic philosophy, and Sharebite’s lightning-fast growth.

Source notes and additional research and information:

Read: How This Food-Ordering Platform Gave Restaurants a Lifeline During Covid https://www.inc.com/magazine/202112/diana-ransom/sharebite-food-ordering-restaurants-covid-community.html by Diana Ransom, on Inc.com

Read: Sharebite’s Inc. 5000 profile

https://www.inc.com/profile/sharebite

Visit Sharebite’s website

https://sharebite.com/