The Entrepreneurs

This week we hear the story of Herschel Supply, the brand built by two Canadian brothers in 2009 that now sells millions of bags a year in more than 70 countries. Co-founder Lyndon Cormack tells us how the company grew so successfully.

Founded in 2010, WeWork has become a global co-working behemoth. Operating almost 200 offices around the world from Bogota to Berlin the company now has a staggering valuation of $17bn. Two years ago we featured WeWork’s co-founder, Miguel McKelvey, who this week returns to share the secrets of the company’s rapid growth, why its membership has expanded beyond just start-ups and what he thinks the workplace might look like in the future.

Chris Kontos is an Athens-based photographer and DJ who focused his creative efforts with a friend in 2013 to launch a print magazine called ‘Kennedy’. Filled with gorgeous photo essays and profiles, Chris calls his passion-project a “biannual journal of curiosities”. This week he shares why and how ‘Kennedy’ came to be.

Ajaz Ahmed founded the creative and design agency AKQA after dropping out of university in the mid-1990s to help brands take advantage of the burgeoning digital revolution. AKQA now has more than 2,000 employees across 21 studios around the world. This week Ahmed shares the secrets to a good campaign and why he sold a majority stake of AKQA to the advertising giant WPP.

On a trekking adventure through Nepal, John Wood noticed the lack of quality children’s books and learning materials. After returning home and quitting his executive job at Microsoft, he created Room to Read, one of the fastest growing non-profits in the world. This week John shares why he ditched his career to deliver books to far-flung regions on the back of a yak.

As big corporations hunt for entrepreneurial candidates with digital know-how, smaller start-ups search for experienced executives to help them scale. Executive search firm Gordon and Eden is on a mission to bridge the start-up-corporate divide. The firm’s founders Sam Gordon and Sophie Eden share their unique business model and explain why old-school headhunters haven’t yet caught up with the digital age.

US entrepreneur Jeff Lynn is the co-founder and CEO of Seedrs, an equity-based crowdfunding service in London. Users can invest in start-ups on the platform – often for as little as £10 – and receive shares in return. It’s a way for start-ups to raise funds and for the little guy to own a piece of the pie. But how did Jeff build Seedrs? This week he shares his inspiration, top tips and lessons learnt.

Jan Chipchase is the founder of Studio D Radiodurans, a consultancy that’s perhaps like none other in the world. He and his team travel to the far edges of the earth on behalf of clients to immerse themselves in difficult environments and understand human behaviour. He’s recently distilled his years of experience into a beautiful crowdfunded guide called 'The Field Study Handbook'. This week Jan shares lessons for travelling anywhere, making sense of the world and making a difference.

In July 1946, a French automobile engineer turned fashion designer named Louis Réard invented a revealing two-piece swimsuit called the bikini. Réard created a company and made bikinis for decades until his death in the mid-1980s, when the brand went dormant. This week on Eureka we meet Richard Emanuel, the Scottish entrepreneur on a mission to revive Réard to its former glory.

In the world of high-end, long-lasting and much-loved furniture brands, Vitsœ is perhaps without rival. For more than 50 years, the company has manufactured and sold furniture designed by the legendary Dieter Rams. But how do you sustain a legacy of top design, not to mention a profitable business model, for more than half a century? This week we meet Vitsœ’s managing director Mark Adams – the man who saved the company from bankruptcy and who has ambitious plans for the brand’s future.