Out-Teach Your Competition
with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier HanssonThroughout its tenure, 37signals has consistently grown without spending much on marketing.
Small BusinessSmall Business
Company Meet-Up: Amsterdam Edition
with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier HanssonMeetups offer remote companies an opportunity to gather away from the day-to-day for more in-depth conversations that foster deeper relationships for the team and bigger leaps for the company.
Small BusinessDecisions are Temporary
with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier HanssonCo-founders of 37signals, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson discuss decision making within an organization. Small businesses have the advantage of being nimble and able to change course quickly, so there’s no reason to get caught up in the “what ifs.”
Small Business, DHH and Jason FriedThe Humble Fungus
with Jesse NollerA career climbing the ladder in tech and software left Jesse Noller feeling disillusioned and isolated. He found connection, community, and purpose in a different kind of complex distributed system—mushrooms. Today he’s the proprietor of a spore-to-table business called The Humble Fungus. (Content...
Small BusinessBabies at Work
with Leah Silber and Emily Hall WarrenWe talk to two very different small businesses about their Babies at Work programs, where new parents can have their infants with them at the office. With COVID sending so many office workers home—and pushing women out of the workforce altogether—acknowledging employees’ whole selves is more...
Small BusinessFarewell, West Loop
with Jim Graziano and Jeremy JonesBasecamp has closed its physical office after a 10-year run in Chicago’s West Loop area. In this episode, we say good-bye to the neighborhood and two of its businesses. J.P. Graziano and un-cooked are small, family-owned restaurants on either side of the longevity spectrum: Jim Graziano is the...
Small BusinessThe Bookshop Around the Corner
with Andy HunterAndy Hunter launched Bookshop.org in January as a platform to help independent bookstores take and fulfill online orders. Shortly afterward, the pandemic forced small businesses to close their physical doors and Bookshop.org found itself trying to manage three years of growth in three months. Andy...
Big Tech, Small BusinessBubble Wrap & Prayers
with Selene Idell, Annie Scholl, and Megan George CainThe government may not consider comic book shops, indoor plant stores, and small boutiques “essential,” but these businesses are vital to the unique fabric of their neighborhoods and downtowns. Without foot traffic, they’re finding new ways to connect with customers and stay afloat, all while...
Small BusinessKids Incorporated
with Nancy Mork, Shannon Merenstein, and Omowalle CasselleEndless Zoom meetings, being cut off from friends, the widespread cancellation of summer fun, ricocheting between boredom and anxiety—kids have it pretty rough! And it’s no picnic for their parents, either. In this episode, businesses built on offering in-person enrichment for children talk about...
Small BusinessThe Soul of an Entrepreneur
with David SaxDavid Sax is the author of the new book The Soul of an Entrepreneur: Work and Life Beyond the Startup Myth. He comes on the show to debunk the Silicon Valley narrative that only a rarefied subset of people can succeed as founders, and shares examples from his book of business owners whose complex...
Small BusinessWork Out From Home
with Aya Cook, Deborah Hirsch, and Chris PattonFitness studios, like many other businesses, had to scramble to change over from in-person to virtual operations almost overnight. In this episode, three business owners in the fitness and wellness industry share their stories of how they’ve pivoted and how they’re continuing to look after their...
Small BusinessRug Life
with Irin Carmon and Jarred LustgartenJarred Lustgarten left a Wall Street career to start a rug-cleaning business with $600 in borrowed money and a stack of flyers. A decade later, J.L. Carpet & Upholstery is profitable and Jarred has a very visible reminder on his hands of his commitment to his vocation.
Small BusinessLab Week
with Mohammad A. Mahdi, Mohammad M. Mahdi, Anthony Duncan, and Natalie NageleGet out your Bunsen burner! It’s time to do some experiments. In this episode, we talk to two businesses that aren’t afraid to try new things. First, the three founders of The Mad Optimist, a soap company in Indiana, talk about letting customers choose what they pay for their products. Then Natalie...
Small BusinessNevermore, Amazon
with Danny CaineIn the spring of 2019, Danny Caine, the owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, overheard a customer saying she could buy a new hardcover online for $15. Danny took to Twitter to explain the economics of independent bookstores and the thread went viral, putting the 32-year-old small...
Big Tech, Small BusinessSlow Fashion
with David Hieatt“Dreams shouldn’t be sensible.” In 2011, David and Clare Hieatt launched Hiut Denim in a small Welsh town that had been home to a jeans factory for 40 years. The Hieatts saw an opportunity to restore those lost jobs—and to do it in a way that fit with their ideas about building a sustainable...
Small BusinessNo Half Measures
with Pam DanielsPam Daniels had an idea to make an everyday household item more useful and fun. When her first plan to get her product into the world fell through, she found a different path.
Small BusinessUnplugged from the Matrix
with Kenneth CoatsIn 2007, Kenneth Coats started a business helping Chicagoans expunge their arrest records so they could improve their job prospects. After a challenge from the Illinois Attorney General shut down that venture, Kenneth reinvented his business with an assist from a local clinic that provides free...
Small BusinessThe Myth of the Overnight Sensation
with Bobby EdwardsBefore the viral unicorn poop video, before the appearances on Shark Tank and Dr. Oz and Howard Stern—Bobby Edwards was showing his invention at conventions and sending it to alternative health bloggers in hopes of getting coverage. The invention? Squatty Potty, a plastic stool that puts you in a...
Small BusinessThe Bean Machine
with Erika Hildnertaps mic Is this thing on? We’re back from sabbatical! In our first post-hiatus episode, Shaun heads to Denver to visit his sister, who left a catering job at a big restaurant chain to run a coffee shop out of a Volkswagen Bus that she bought on impulse off Craigslist. Erika Hildner shares what...
Small BusinessGo Behind the Scenes
with Jason Fried, Shannon McCann, Amy Emberling, and Frank CarolloA famous guy once said, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” But he was a grifter. In fact, going behind the scenes—whether it’s a factory tour or cooking show—can be a valuable experience for both visitors and guides. In this episode, we crash a middle school field trip to the Method...
Small BusinessYou Need Less Than You Think
with Athina Wang, Florence Shin, Luke Saunders, and Adam HuberWho needs a fancy office when you can work out of a dingy food court? Who needs fancy equipment when you can buy what you need at Walmart? Who needs to hire an SEO specialist? What does an SEO specialist do, anyway? (A question for another episode, or maybe another podcast altogether.) On this...
Small BusinessLife After Shark Tank
with Melissa Butler, Joe Moore, and Chris RuderThe ABC show Shark Tank is irresistible reality programming: Entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to a panel of famous investors and have the potential to make a life-changing deal. But as with any reality show, there’s much more to the Shark Tank experience than what gets shown on TV. We talk to...
Small BusinessStart Making Something
with Grant Rodiek, Chel Cortes, and Fred PerottaNew year, new you! If you started 2018 with an idea for a product, business, or creative pursuit, now is the time to start making something. In this episode: A tabletop game designer finds that sometimes, all you need to get going is a pack of index cards and a marker; a skincare blogger tries her...
Small BusinessCan You Sell Water? Part 2
with Tim Krepp, Beth Kregor, Maria Mendez, and Abraham CelioSome of the tech industry’s most vaunted companies revel in their origins as mavericks or rule-breakers, having flouted regulations in the name of disruption. That kind of risk-taking is celebrated in Silicon Valley but punished in other places, most notably minority communities. In this episode: A...
Small Business