How I Built This
Searchable database of How I Built This entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship stories. Find episodes, founder profiles, and company histories from Guy Raz's iconic podcast.
STARR Restaurants: Stephen Starr. How a Non-Foodie Built Thriving Restaurants on Gut Instinct
Stephen Starr built a restaurant empire without ever caring about food. Starting from Atlantic City boardwalk sales and comedy clubs, he launched STARR Restaurant Group in 1995 and now runs more than 40 acclaimed venues including Buddakan, Le Diplomate, and Makoto. His secret? Treating dining as theater and obsessing over every sensory detail, from lighting to music to the greeting at the door. The result is nine of the 100 highest-grossing independent restaurants in America.
Advice Line with Shazi Visram of Happy Family Organics
Shazi Visram, founder of Happy Family Organics, joins Guy Raz to coach three early-stage founders on scaling, distribution, and investment. Daisy weighs expanding her UK barefoot shoe brand into the US, Rachel debates private labeling her protein sprinkle concept, and Andrew contemplates raising capital for his scented soil additive. The conversation balances practical go-to-market advice with Shazi's philosophy that entrepreneurship is one of the most creative outlets a person can have.
Build-A-Bear: Maxine Clark. A Former Shoe Executive Launches a Stuffed Animal Empire
A former shoe executive turned retail on its head by founding Build-A-Bear Workshop in 1997, creating a global brand where kids stuff their own stuffed animals. Maxine Clark shares how the make-your-own concept evolved from a simple mall kiosk into a billion-dollar experience brand, the strategic bets that defined its culture, and why emotional connection - not transactions - built the company's most durable competitive advantage.
Stephen Starr
Stephen Starr is the founder and chairman of STARR Restaurant Group, a Philadelphia hospitality company with more than 40 acclaimed restaurants. A former concert promoter for U2 and Madonna, he has won Outstanding Restaurateur awards from the James Beard Foundation and Bon Appétit.
1 episode
Maxine Clark
Maxine Clark is the founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop, the make-your-own stuffed animal retail chain she launched in 1997 after a 20-year retail career. She grew the concept into a global brand generating billions in sales.
1 episode
Tobias Lütke
German-Canadian entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Shopify, the e-commerce platform powering millions of merchants worldwide. A former programmer and snowboarder, he built Shopify from a snowboard shop to a $150 billion public company.
1 episode
Brian Smith
Brian Smith is the founder of UGG, the iconic sheepskin footwear brand. Born in Australia, he launched UGG in 1978 with a $500 loan and 500 imported boots, building it into a global billion-dollar brand before selling to Deckers in 1995.
1 episode
STARR Restaurant Group
STARR Restaurant Group is a Philadelphia-based hospitality company that operates more than 40 acclaimed restaurants across the United States, including Buddakan, Le Diplomate, Parc, Makoto, and Pastis.
1 episode
Build-A-Bear
Build-A-Bear Workshop is a global retail-entertainment brand founded in 1997 that lets kids create their own stuffed animals. With hundreds of stores worldwide, the company has sold over 200 million bears and generated billions in revenue.
1 episode
Shopify
Shopify is a Canadian multinational e-commerce company that provides a complete platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Founded by Tobias Lütke in 2006, it now powers over 5 million merchants worldwide.
1 episode
UGG
UGG is an American fashion company known for its sheepskin boots, founded in 1978 by Brian Smith in California.
1 episode