Planet Purpose

From the outside, founders seem to have so much freedom in running their own businesses. But how much control do they really have? When is it an advantage to retain control over decisions, and when is it time to let go? Christene Barberich, cofounder of Refinery 29 and author of the newsletter, A Tiny Apartment; and Rebecca Minkoff, founder of her own fashion brand, sat down to talk through the nuances of working with cofounders, selling a company, and watching it grown beyond a single person’s control.

The company’s director of finance explains how her job goes well beyond accounting. Tina Hetzer, director of finance at Pink Lily, is one of the rising financial stars who are helping to bring their businesses to the next level. She built Pink Lily’s finance team from scratch and has helped the company become one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country. In this podcast, part of the SAP-sponsored Growth Agents series, Hetzer discusses the cash-flow challenges unique to fashion retailers and explains how working at a smaller, founder-run company can fuel greater collaboration across the organization.  

Diana Ransom and Scott Omelianuk talk with Stacy Spikes, Kathryn Minshew and Taryn Langer about how founders should approach dealing with the media. Stacy Spikes is the co-founder and CEO of MoviePass. Kathryn Minshew is the co-founder and former CEO of The Muse. Taryn Langer is the founder and president of Moxie Communications Group.

Duolingo’s freemium subscription model, beloved brand and strategic investments have allowed it to execute its educational mission and become a cultural touchstone. Matthew Skaruppa, CFO of Duolingo, is one of the rising financial stars who are helping to bring their businesses to the next level. Since he joined the company in 2020, Duolingo has grown its base of monthly active users by more than 80%. Each month, 75 million users hone their language skills on the Duolingo app. In this podcast, part of the SAP-sponsored Growth Agents series, Skaruppa discusses how his analytical background has allowed to him to be a more strategy-oriented CFO. For him, that has meant balancing big aspirations and finite resources, and turning the uncertainties of tomorrow into action today.

Inc. Executive Editor Diana Ransom and Editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk pull back the curtain on the world of entrepreneurship with some of the most successful founders in the world. Inc. Uncensored features frank and unfiltered conversations about what makes business leaders tick, the trends founders need to know to be successful, and the secrets that nobody really tells you before you start a business.

Mitch Reback, CFO of Sweetgreen, is one of the rising corporate financial stars who is helping to take their companies to the next level. When he started, Sweetgreen had 25 stores; today, there are more than 220—and Reback says the company is still in its “infancy.” In this podcast, part of the SAP-sponsored Growth Agents series, Reback takes a deep dive into his role as a growth agent. Capital is the engine that drives growth, and Reback says his job is to make sure the company has adequate capital to grow as well as determining how best to allocate it, including investments in stores, marketing, staff, and technology—or, as he puts it, to push innovation forward in a way that’s capital efficient.