Episodes

Guy Raz hosts a special mashup episode of How I Built This: The Advice Line, pairing three callers with three veteran founders to tackle scaling questions. Travis Boersma of Dutch Bros Coffee helps Andy from Nashville decide whether a brick-and-mortar burger joint can supercharge his food truck business. Michael Preysman of Everlane advises Tiffany from Cape Cod on breaking into large retailers with her inspirational jewelry brand. Chris Ruder of Spikeball counsels Peter from South Dakota on expanding his ice skating apparel to overseas markets.

Paul Hedrick grew up in Texas and saw an unmet need for high-quality cowboy boots at an accessible price. After being rejected by Harvard Business School and leaving his consulting career, he sketched a boot design in Microsoft Paint and launched Tecovas in 2015 with just $100,000. Today, the Austin-based brand expects over $300 million in sales, operates more than 40 stores, and is opening a flagship in SoHo. Hedrick shares how obsessive product focus, bold retail bets, and a willingness to learn from failure built a western-wear empire.

Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe joins Guy Raz on the Advice Line to answer questions from three early-stage founders navigating the challenges of building sustainable businesses. Ashley Vetter seeks guidance on scaling her dairy-free ice cream brand, Kwadwo Som-Pimpong weighs the risk of leaving his engineering job for his furniture studio, and Robert Button looks for strategies to move his portable rope tow system from niche backcountry gear to mainstream adoption. Scaringe draws on his experience building Rivian through supply chain crises and market shifts to offer practical advice on capital, product-market fit, and weathering uncertainty.

Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie built Substack to give writers a direct relationship with readers, bypassing legacy publishers. After early skepticism, the platform grew to over 35 million active users and 5 million paid subscriptions. The co-founders discuss why writers are willing to pay for newsletters, how Substack weathered a potential threat from Elon Musk, and their vision for independent media. Their journey shows that building a "getaway vehicle" for journalists requires conviction, a sustainable business model, and the willingness to let writers own their audiences.

On this Advice Line episode of How I Built This Lab, Guy Raz is joined by Sir Richard Branson to coach three founders through real business challenges. Lola Banjo calls in about staying mission-driven while scaling Silver & Riley, Ross Novotny seeks a marketing framework for his new pool-subscription category, and Andrew Perez asks how to turn Lone Wolf Granola from a local juice-bar ingredient into a national CPG brand. Branson answers each with the same principle that built Virgin: solve a real frustration, obsess over the customer experience, and create marketing that makes people smile.

Brad Baxter left Ford Motor Company in his mid-20s to pursue entrepreneurship, eventually turning a frustrating cat litter problem into Litter-Robot. After years of part-time selling and a nearly fatal cash crunch, Brad retooled his product, hired a marketing partner, and grew Whisker into a $300 million pet-tech brand. He shares the messy, hands-on details of building an automatic litter box that actually works.

Guy Raz brings back Duolingo co-founder Luis von Ahn for an Advice Line episode, where three founders seek guidance on scaling community-focused businesses. Steph Krim shares her journey turning refurbished vending machines into local art showcases in Chicago. Blair Hastie talks about designing sustainable tech accessories with Bear. Stephanie Carlson explains how her garden-design venture evolved into biophilic interior spaces. Luis offers practical advice on product focus, design intuition, and letting customer demand shape your business model.

Guy Raz sits down with Danny Winer, CEO and co-founder of HexClad, to unpack how a late-in-life pivot from a stable marketing career created a half-billion dollar cookware empire. Winer reveals the accidental discovery of hybrid non-stick technology that led him to co-found HexClad with Cole Mecray in 2016, and why securing Gordon Ramsay as an equity partner in 2021 became the brand's defining moment. He shares the operational grit behind scaling a direct-to-consumer kitchen brand while staying true to product-first principles.

Jonathan Neman joins Guy Raz on the Advice Line to help three early-stage founders navigate growth, scaling, and product decisions. First, Dini from Maryland wrestles with keeping her pies' soul intact as demand grows. Next, Matt in Massachusetts balances ambition against the risk of expanding too fast with his mushroom farm. Finally, Joey in Chicago debates whether to add menu items or stay laser-focused on wings and fries. Plus, Neman shares how Sweetgreen is automating salad assembly with its Infinite Kitchen while trying to preserve the human touch that made it a $3 billion brand.

Guy Raz sits down with Snap Inc. co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel to explore how a Stanford design project became one of the world's most influential social media platforms. Spiegel reveals why he turned down a $3 billion offer from Mark Zuckerberg, the internal battles that nearly sank the company, and how Snapchat's camera-first vision evolved into a bold bet on augmented reality and Spectacles.

Bonobos co-founder Andy Dunn joins Guy Raz on the Advice Line to help three early-stage founders tackle real business challenges. Michele in Connecticut seeks positioning advice for her tennis-inspired apparel brand Top Banana. Alek in Chicago wants to reach more health-conscious drinkers with his naturally-flavored vodka at Broda Beverage Company. Sabrina in Philadelphia weighs DTC versus wholesale for her handmade biscotti company House of Biscotti. Andy also shares how his latest venture, Pie, was inspired by his own struggle with loneliness after moving during the pandemic.

William Wang grew up in Taiwan and Southern California, built a $600 million monitor empire, and lost it all before founding Vizio. He explains how a devastating plane crash and a second-mortgage gamble led him to create the company that would outsell Samsung in American living rooms, and why Walmart eventually bought it for $2.3 billion.