Something is happening in the world of business. Upstart brands are taking on the empires that have long-dominated trillion-dollar consumer sectors.

My guest on the podcast today is Lawrence Ingrassia, former business and economics editor and deputy managing editor at the New York Times.

In his new book, Billion Dollar Brand Club, Lawrence explores a growing number of digital entrepreneurs have found new and creative ways to crack the code on the bonanza of physical goods that move through our lives every day.

We're talking about billion-dollar disruptive brands like Dollar Shave Club, Casper with its mattresses, and Warby Parker which mails you five pairs of glasses to choose from.

Taken in isolation, each of these brands might appear as a rarely successful startup with the bravado to confront a Goliath. But when taken together, these businesses represent a seismic shift in a business model that has lasted more than a century.