Episodes

Antonio Swad turned a simple chicken wing restaurant into a nationwide franchise empire, then made the shocking decision to walk away just as it peaked. His story reveals how an Italian immigrant built Wingstop from a single North Carolina location to over 1,400 restaurants worldwide, leveraging a laser focus on one iconic product and relentless operational discipline. The exit came when private equity offered a life-changing sum—but the real lesson is in knowing when to sell, and what comes after.

Angie and Dan Bastian, the founders behind Angie's Boom Chicka Pop, return to The Advice Line to guide founders through the messy middle of growth. In this episode, they counsel Michelle Pusateri of Nana Joe's Granola on raising capital without selling out, Gloria Kolb of Elida on breaking the stigma around pelvic health, and Eric Poulin of MapleRoo on scaling authentically in a crowded market. Their advice? Stay rooted in mission, let your passion show, and remember that slow, steady wins the race.

Marc Lore turned diapers into a billion-dollar empire with Diapers.com, only to be forced into a $545 million sale to Amazon after a brutal price war. Rather than walk away, he launched Jet.com, raised $750 million, and sold it to Walmart for $3.3 billion. Lore explains how he built two e-commerce giants, why competing with Amazon requires more than just capital, and what it takes to reinvent yourself after a devastating corporate surrender.

In this Advice Line episode, serial entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore, founder of Beauty Pie, guides three early-stage founders through pressing business challenges. Victor Garcia of Sol Dias Ice Cream weighs expanding retail versus wholesale. Lydia Welsh of Clerstory struggles with fear of rejection in marketing her skincare line. Jack Boland of Wompy Bikes aims to optimize his custom bike bag sales funnel. Marcia offers a masterclass in practical founder coaching with advice on testing with ads, simplifying choices, and creating flagship experiences.

Matt O'Hayer turned 20 hens on a Texas scrub patch into Vital Farms, a nearly $1 billion pasture-raised egg empire. After a chance encounter with deeply orange yolks sparked his obsession, he built a business that treats farmers as partners and eggs as a story. The episode explores how he scaled conscious capitalism, pioneered radical transparency through traceability, and proved that even commodities can command premium when you educate the market first. His lesson: re-branding something as humble as an egg requires relentless education and unwavering standards.

Guy Raz hosts an Advice Line mashup with WeWork's Miguel McKelvey, Paperless Post's Alexa Hirschfeld, and Chomps co-founders Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali. Three founders call in with value-proposition dilemmas: Megan Downey needs to prove the ROI of her Shiki Wrap pop-up demos, Amanda Ballweg can't make Woofsie's dog enrichment cards click with online shoppers, and Mark Goldfarb wants to hire without compromising his artisanal pesto brand. Together they reveal how to translate product features into clear customer value, turn live experiences into scalable content, and hire people who embody the brand's mission.

Aaron Krause turned a shelved car-detailing sponge into Scrub Daddy, Shark Tank's most successful product ever. After 3M acquired his buffing pad company but left a box of unused foam sponges behind, Krause accidentally discovered their temperature-changing texture while cleaning his house. The smiley-face scrubber launched in 2012, earned Lori Greiner's $200,000 investment, and built a $926 million retail empire. From QVC blowouts to 257,000 retail locations, Scrub Daddy proves that the right market fit can resurrect even the most forgotten invention.

Hernan Lopez, co-founder of the podcast network Wondery, returns to The Advice Line to help three founders navigate critical growth decisions. Heather Sloan of Heali Medical weighs DTC expansion against her retail success. Noelle Audi of Studious Monday debates whether to rebrand her modest uniform business. Casey O'Leary of Snake River Seed Cooperative seeks creative ways to monetize her cooperative's bioregional mission. Lopez draws on his experience building Wondery and navigating its acquisition by Amazon to offer sharp, practical guidance on unit economics, brand naming, and storytelling strategy.

Beryl Stafford turned personal crisis into a $100 million empire. After her marriage collapsed in her early 40s, the stay-at-home mom began baking oat bars with her daughter in their Boulder kitchen. What started as a humble hobby-wrapped in Saran wrap and sold to local coffee shops-gradually grew into Bobo's, a national brand through grassroots demos, Whole Foods expansion, and strategic leadership hires. By embracing authenticity over trends and learning every role herself, Beryl built a profitable, vertically integrated snack company that proves grit can outweigh credentials.

WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey dispenses unfiltered advice to three founders at growth plateaus. A high-end pants maker learns to embed her "why" everywhere, a grief care business discovers AI-optimized content could be its new growth engine, and a history merch brand $750K strong realizes polished Instagram is losing to raw storytelling. Miguel's prescription: tell your story so relentlessly that customers can't forget you exist.

Cameron Healy founded Kettle Chips with a $10,000 loan and a unique kettle-cooked process. He launched in the UK first-a risky move-before expanding across the US, where Kettle became the top natural chip. Healy also founded Kona Brewing, a craft beer brand that struggled for years before succeeding. His story reveals how curiosity, resilience, and betting against conventional wisdom can build a category king.

Guy Raz teams up with Alexa Hirschfeld, co-founder of Paperless Post, to tackle real challenges from early-stage founders. This Advice Line features three callers: Jess Walker of 5.Post on navigating brand identity in a collaboration, Carolyn Horesky of The Creative Garland Company on scaling handmade production, and Sayuri Tsuchitani of Sumo Yoga on educating consumers about an unfamiliar concept. Alexa offers insights on brand architecture, incremental scaling, and product positioning.