Episodes

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.

Jim McKelvey, co-founder of Square, lost a $2,000 sale when a customer wanted to pay with American Express but his studio only took Visa and MasterCard. That moment, holding his iPhone and realizing it couldn't read a credit card, sparked a question. Years later, that question became a $10 billion company. McKelvey shares how Square navigated regulatory mazes, built simple hardware, and turned a lost sale into a payments empire by inventing an entire stack, not just a product.

Guy Raz hosts an Advice Line special with Chomps co-founders Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali, who offer real-time guidance to three founders facing growth dilemmas. Yadi Derisse contemplates expansion beyond her successful campus empanada shop. Zachary Bonder wrestles with e-commerce logistics for his frozen pies. Josh Shrenko seeks direction for his niche Smallmouth Bass apparel brand. The Chomps founders draw on their 13-year journey to advise on scaling thoughtfully, avoiding premature complexity, and staying close to core customers.

John Osher turned a $20,000 garage prototype into Spinbrush, the $5 electric toothbrush that became America's best-seller and generated a $475 million exit. Guy Raz sits down with Osher to explore how in-store demos, relentless iteration, and a landmark deal with Procter & Gamble built a consumer empire—and why the success came with deep personal regret about what was lost along the way.

Julia Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite, returns to The Advice Line to help three founders navigate critical business challenges. From balancing dual revenue streams to building print magazine audiences in a digital world, Hartz shares her hard-won wisdom on creating sustainable flywheels and community-driven growth. Her insights bridge the gap between startup idealism and operational reality.

Reed Hastings co-founded Netflix in 1997 and led it from a DVD-by-mail service into the world's leading streaming platform, pioneering original content with House of Cards and expanding to over 190 countries. His counterintuitive management philosophy replaced the corporate family metaphor with a championship sports team mindset, favoring radical candor, high talent density, and generous severance for adequate performers. Hastings stepped down as CEO in 2023, passing the reins to Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, and now chairs the board while pursuing a new challenge: running a Utah ski resort.

Guy Raz hosts an advice line featuring Betterment founder Jon Stein, who helps three entrepreneurs navigate scaling challenges. Dan Criss of Heretic Yerba seeks focus among multiple growth paths, Mike Smith of MTS Woodworking debates taking on debt to expand his basement workshop, and Maggie MacDonald of Floofball weighs channel priorities for her soccer-themed dog toy line. Stein draws on his fintech experience to offer practical guidance on sequencing growth, pricing power, and strategic channel selection.

Two French sports executives left comfortable corporate jobs to create a running shoe that looked like a "clown shoe"—with an absurdly thick midsole. Runners mocked it until they tried it. The Hoka's plush cushioning reduced fatigue and made downhill running feel effortless. Despite 98% of retailers rejecting the design, word spread through ultrarunners. A partnership with Deckers Brands accelerated growth, transforming a $3 million startup into a $2 billion giant by making "maximalist" running mainstream.