From near bankruptcy after a devastating flood to a $13.7 billion Amazon acquisition, Whole Foods founder John Mackey reveals how a small health food store became an empire that revolutionized American eating.

Discover how a single near-death experience transformed a 25-year-old college dropout into the pioneer of the organic food movement. Mackey shares raw insights from the frontlines: how he turned hostile customers into evangelists, survived multiple extinction-level threats, and built a mission-driven billion-dollar business without compromising its soul.

John Mackey is the co-founder of Whole Foods Market, where he was the CEO of the company from 1980 to 2022. He is the author of the bestselling book, Conscious Capitalism.

Newsletter - The Brain Food newsletter delivers actionable insights and thoughtful ideas every Sunday. It takes 5 minutes to read, and it’s completely free. Learn more and sign up at https://fs.blog/newsletter/

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Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tkppodcast

00:00 Introduction

02:30 From Safer Way to Whole Foods: The Early Days

03:46 The Struggles and Successes of Whole Foods

05:22 Navigating Criticism and Market Realities

08:36 The Lamar Location and the 100-Year Flood

10:46 Rebuilding and Realizing Stakeholder Value

14:57 Learning the Retail Ropes

22:35 Growth, Challenges, and Entrepreneurial Resilience

35:51 Acquisitions and Expanding the Whole Foods Empire

41:17 The Drive to Build a Chain

42:17 Founder-Led vs. Professional Management

44:38 Challenges of Bureaucracy

46:56 The Importance of Cost Control

50:44 Entrepreneurial Spirit and Creativity

52:56 Facing Leadership Challenges

01:02:57 The Amazon Merger

01:19:01 Capitalism vs. Socialism

01:26:27 The Illusion of Control in Socialism

01:27:44 The Kibbutz Experiment: Idealism vs. Reality

01:30:53 Capitalism: A Win-Win Game

01:32:04 The Power of Win-Win-Win Philosophy

01:34:28 A Personal Story: Winning Over Deborah

01:37:29 The Role of Business Planning

01:38:49 Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs

01:49:12 The Hero's Journey: Advice for Young Entrepreneurs

01:51:05 Introducing Love Life: A Holistic Health Venture

01:57:18 The Importance of Whole Foods and Nutrition

02:08:09 Concluding Thoughts on Success and Happiness

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Episode 642: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Garry Tan ( https://x.com/garrytan ), CEO of Y Combinator, about the sauce that makes YC outperform the rest of Silicon Valley plus lessons from Paul Graham, Peter Thiel and Garry’s first million. 

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Show Notes: 

(0:00) Winning the game

(3:16) Being the Harvard of startups

(7:31) How YC outperforms most Silicon Valley investors

(9:36) Spotting extreme winners

(14:14) Capital-as-a-service

(16:34) How Garry hustled at 14 to get his into financial security

(23:04) Turning down Peter Thiel's offer to start Palantir

(32:20) Garry's first million

(44:57) Early days at YC

(51:31) The edge of startups with a 2-pizza team

(54:36) Advice for founders in AI

(1:05:57) The spoon-bending story

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Links:

• YC - https://www.ycombinator.com/

• Founding Sales - https://www.foundingsales.com/

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Check Out Shaan's Stuff:

Need to hire? You should use the same service Shaan uses to hire developers, designers, & Virtual Assistants → it’s called Shepherd (tell ‘em Shaan sent you): https://bit.ly/SupportShepherd

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Check Out Sam's Stuff:

• Hampton - https://www.joinhampton.com/

• Ideation Bootcamp - https://www.ideationbootcamp.co/

• Copy That - https://copythat.com

• Hampton Wealth Survey - https://joinhampton.com/wealth

• Sam’s List - http://samslist.co/

My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by The HubSpot Podcast Network // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano

Meta is a company everyone knows (literally, everyone). But, somehow, it’s also a company that few people feel they actually understand. Their products are used by more humans than any other’s in history — almost half of the entire world’s population daily. But… what is Meta? Why do they do what they do? How do they do what they do? Ask ten people and you’ll likely get ten very different sets of answers.

Today, we dive deeper than we’ve ever gone trying to find Acquired’s answers to those questions. And after months of research and 6+ hours of incredible stories about how they (and really “they” being Mark himself) bet it all and win time and time again in the face of overwhelming odds, we arrive at our answers. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, AI, Oculus, Orion, it’s all here. Tune in for one of the greatest corporate stories of all time: Meta, a Mark Zuckerberg Production.

Sponsors:

Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn

Links:

• Please take our 2024 Acquired Survey if you have a minute. It'd mean the world to us! https://acquired.fm/survey
• Our past episodes on Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, Snapchat, the Snap IPO, TikTok, NVIDIA, Microsoft, and the Mark Zuckerberg Interview
• Worldly Partners: Meta multi-decade study
• Episode sources

Carve Outs:

• Ben Cohen’s piece on NotebookLM
• Mr. McMahon
• The Dwarkesh Podcast

More Acquired!:

• Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
• Join the Slack
• Subscribe to ACQ2
• Merch Store!

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

There are a lot of reasons, including heavy regulations, high taxes, and competition from illegal weed shops. Most operators are losing money and waiting for Washington to get out of the way. In the meantime, it’s not that easy being green. (Part two of a four-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Jon Caulkins, professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Adam Goers, senior vice president of The Cannabist Company and chairperson of the Coalition for Cannabis Scheduling Reform.
  • Precious Osagie-Erese, founder and C.E.O. of Precious Canna Co.
  • Nikesh Patel, C.E.O. of Mammoth Distribution.
  • Nikesh Patel, director of the San Francisco Office of Cannabis.
  • Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Most Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana for Medical, Recreational Use," (Pew Research Center, 2024).
  • "Whitney Economics U.S. Legal Cannabis Forecast - 2024 - 2035," by Beau Whitney (Whitney Economics, 2024).
  • "Beer Sellers Use a Loophole to Break Into Weed Drinks Market," by Redd Brown (Bloomberg, 2024).
  • "Cannabis Producer Seeks Boston Beer Merger," by Lauren Thomas (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).
  • "California's 'Apple Store of Weed' Declares Bankruptcy With $410M in Debt," by Lester Black (SFGate, 2024).
  • "Is the State Democratic Chair Influencing Who Can Sell Legal Weed in this N.J. City?" by Jelani Gibson (NJ.com, 2023).
  • "When Prohibition Works: Comparing Fireworks and Cannabis Regulations, Markets, and Harms," by Jonathan P. Caulkins and Kristina Vaia Reimer (International Journal of Drug Policy, 2023).
  • "Did Minnesota Accidentally Legalize Weed?" by Paul Demko (Politico, 2022).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Is America Switching From Booze to Weed?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "The Economics of Sports Gambling," by Freakonomics Radio (2019).

This week we are joined by Jon Chu of Khosla Ventures

We talked about:

Great chatting with Jon

Connect with Jon below:

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jchu/

X: ⁠https://x.com/heyjchu

Business Podcast by Roohi

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://businesspodcast.transistor.fm/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/roohi_kr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/roohi-kazi-53174113b/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join the Business Podcast by Roohi WhatsApp group here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://chat.whatsapp.com/EaW4eKQ3qU64ifwf17UTIT

In this episode, a16z co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz explore the fascinating intersection of AI and crypto, highlighting the rise of Truth Terminal (@truth_terminal), an autonomous chatbot developed by AI researcher Andy Ayrey. With its own X account, Truth Terminal generates original and often hilarious content independently. 

Marc's interaction with the bot recently took a surprising turn when he decided to grant it $50,000 in Bitcoin. This funding sparked Truth Terminal’s ambition to launch its own token, eventually leading to the creation of the meme coin “GOAT” by an anonymous developer. “GOAT” recently skyrocketed to a $300m valuation. 

Join Ben and Marc as they discuss how this still unfolding story reflects the potential for community-driven systems and its implications for the future of digital assets. Enjoy!

Watch the FULL episode:  https://youtu.be/EKspo1FLj-4

Resources: 

Marc on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca

Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/

Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz

Stay Updated: 

Find us on X: https://twitter.com/a16z

Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

The views expressed here are those of the individual personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any a16z funds. PLEASE SEE MORE HERE: https://a16z.com/disclosures/

When one of the big names on the market is calling for a collapse, what’s the average investor to do? Create a peace of mind hedge.   

(00:22) Jason Moser and Dylan Lewis discuss:

- Nassim Taleb’s recent calls for a market drop and why he’s focused on the U.S. dollar, domestic debt, and S&P 500 concentration. 

- What investors can learn from someone focused on tail-risk hedging.

- The peace of mind hedges investors can put in place for their own portfolios 

(19:35) Asit Sharma and Mary Long discuss Sonos’s ongoing recovery after rushing to release an app before it was ready for prime time. 

Visit our sponsor at www.landroverusa.com

Companies discussed: AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, SONO

Host: Dylan Lewis

Guests: Jason Moser, Mary Long, Asit Sharma

Producer: Mary Long

Engineers: RIck Engdahl

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Clouds are gathering over the Sunshine State’s housing market. Especially along the state’s Gulf Coast, housing inventory is up and buyer interest is slowing. WSJ’s Deborah Acosta talks through the cooling-off of one of America’s biggest housing booms and what it says about what it means to live in Florida now.

Further Listening:

- Is Asheville No Longer a 'Climate Haven? 

- Years After Surfside Collapse, Florida Condos Are In Crisis 

Further Reading:

- The Great Florida Migration Is Coming Undone 

- Why the Tampa Area Is So Vulnerable to a Hurricane 

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Todays show:

Cacheflow’s Sarika Garg joins Alex Wilhelm to discuss the challenges of B2B software sales (4:26), finding product-market fit (14:08), HubSpot's acquisition of Cacheflow (17:32), and more!

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Cacheflow’s Sarika Garg joins Alex

(2:25) Sarika Garg's startup journey and founding of Cacheflow

(4:26) Challenges in B2B software sales, managing billing complexities, and SaaS explosion

(10:09) Initial funding, product development, and growth

(10:34) AssemblyAI - Get 100 free hours to start building at https://www.assemblyai.com/twist

(14:08) Finding product-market fit and scaling strategies

(17:32) HubSpot's acquisition of Cacheflow

(21:20) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist

(22:24) Preparing for Series A and positioning as an AI company

(24:57) Deal with HubSpot and integration plans

(29:41) Runway - Sign up at ⁠https://runway.com/twist⁠ to get your first 3 months free

(30:58) Diverse cap table, early exit, and founder lessons

(33:45) Importance of a part-time CFO and organizational efficiency

(37:26) Integration with HubSpot's Commerce Hub

(39:02) Shifts in SaaS buying behavior and future plans at HubSpot

(47:01) Remote work’s impact

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Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/

Check out the TWIST500: twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

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Check out Cacheflow: https://www.getcacheflow.com

Check out Alex’s articles on Cacheflow:

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Follow Sarika:

X: https://x.com/sarikagarg

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarikagarg

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Follow Alex:

X: https://x.com/alex

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm

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Thank you to our partners:

(10:34) AssemblyAI - Get 100 free hours to start building at https://www.assemblyai.com/twist

(21:20) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://www.vanta.com/twist

(29:41) Runway - Sign up at ⁠https://runway.com/twist to get your first 3 months free

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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis

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Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com

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Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

In our final episode, we get a break in the case of the missing minister: According to our sources, Chinese officials were told that Qin disappeared due to an explosive allegation. We dig into that story and its consequences for Fu and for Qin – Xi Jinping’s trusted aide. 

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