Afleveringen
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Former finance executive Cate Luzio founded and self-funded the professional-network platform Luminary in late 2018 with the mission to uplift, upskill, and propel women and allies forward through all phases of their professional journeys. Luminary is a gender inclusive B2C and B2B global professional education and networking platform. Today the company has more than 15,000 members globally across 30 countries and leads more than 20 workshops, programs and events each month in person and virtually.
Not only did Cate appear on our Female Founders list in 2019 and 2021, but in 2024 and this year she also joined our Female Founders board of advisers and helped review the 2025 list.
Our hosts, Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom and Inc. editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, sit down with Cate in a special roundtable discussion to wrap up our Female Founders 2025 series. They chat about the state of women in entrepreneurship, why women are the masters of bootstrapping, and how founders–and we as a culture–can look beyond funding for metrics of success.
During the roundtable chat, Cate highlights some of the founders who stood out to her this year, including LTK’s Amber Venz Box, Chelsea Hirschhorn of Frida Baby, Rosanna Berardi of her eponymous immigration law firm, and Beleaf Medical’s Mitch Meyers. Cate shares some of their inspiring stories, which cross many business sectors in historically male-dominated industries such as tech, engineering, and climate. She says these women entrepreneurs are changing the pattern, and are “saying, ‘No, I'm in this, and I'm building amazing companies to change the world.’”
Additional research and information: Inc.’s 2025 Female Founder List
Read more about Cate at Inc.com: There’s a boom in female founders right now
Cate Luzio on the Female Founders 2021 List of 100
Visit: Luminary
**and a correction at minute 32:34 Cate says LTK's cofounder and president's name is Amber Benz Vox. Her name is Amber Venz Box. -
Babba Rivera, the founder and CEO of clean-beauty company Ceremonia, is a cover subject of Inc. magazine’s 2025 Female Founder issue. Her heritage is both an inspiration and a driving force for her brand.
When Babba Rivera was growing up, her Chilean family moved to Sweden to escape the brutal Pinochet dictatorship. She spent her early career working at startups in both Sweden and the U.S., at Uber and at the luggage upstart Away, where she was director of marketing. During that time, Babba was spending an hour every morning styling her hair with really “toxic, unhelpful products.” As a Latinx woman, she didn’t see any products that were designed with her heritage or type of hair in mind. So, in 2020, she founded Ceremonia, an aspirational natural-ingredient brand that seeks to fill a void in the beauty market for her fellow Latinx consumers.
For Inc. magazine’s Female Founders 2025 series, Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom sat down with Babba to chat about her background and where the seeds for Ceremonia took root. They discussed how Babba felt that working at Uber in her 20s was like getting paid to go to business school, how she created a knowledge exchange with another founder to learn about the beauty business, and how her company’s product development is constantly evolving with the help of customer feedback. Joining Diana is Inc. editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, as well as special guest Cate Luzio, founder and CEO of Luminary.
Additional research and information:
Inc.’s 2025 Female Founder List
Read more about Babba and Ceremonia at Inc.
Visit: Ceremonia -
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Half of Americans live in child care deserts. For many more, child care is unaffordable. Paid leave for parents is far from universal. Reshma Saujani is on a mission to change all this.
Reshma is best known for having founded Girls Who Code in 2012 during her run for the U.S. Congress. She has raised $100 million and taught 670,000 girls programming skills over the past decade. Now, Reshma has turned her sights on building her second nonprofit, Moms First, which focuses on making women’s lives better in the workplace through paid family leave, improved child care, and pay equity for moms. Today, Moms First is a community of 1.1 million.
For Inc. magazine’s Female Founders 2025 series, Inc. editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin sits down with Reshma to chat about how she is bringing everything she learned from scaling Girls Who Code into her new venture, the potential lasting impact of the war on DEI programs, and the ongoing fight against the rising cost of child care in this country. Along with Inc. executive editor and co-host Diana Ransom, Luminary founder and CEO Cate Luzio joins the conversation as a special guest.
Additional research and information:
Inc.’s 2024 Female Founder’s list (2025 out soon!)
Read more about Reshma and Moms First (previously The Marshall Plan for Moms) at Inc.com: https://www.inc.com/rebecca-deczynski/marshall-plan-for-moms-mothers-day-ad-flexible-work-policies.html
Check out My So-Called Midlife with Reshma Saujani Podcast
Visit: Moms First
Visit: Girls Who Code -
In this episode, Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom and editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin host a roundtable discussion with some of the reporters who contributed to Inc. magazine’s 2025 Female Founders issue. They are joined by freelancer writer Issie Lapowsky and senior editor Rebecca Deczynski to discuss how the state of female entrepreneurship is rapidly changing in this political moment.
In putting together the 2025 Female Founders issue of Inc., Diana noticed an interesting phenomenon: There were a significant number of women entrepreneurs who’d bought back their businesses or returned to the helm of their startups after having stepped away. What’s going on? We discuss.
Also: The challenges—and remarkable innovations—of women-founded companies in health care.
And finally! Celebrity business overload! Could 2025 see a shift in strategy, with brands leaning more on social media influencers and fans to reduce their reliance on costly A-list celebrities? What industries are still ripe for celebrity founders? Which are essentially over? And, the eternal question: What’s the real ROI for a brand when it enlists a celebrity co-founder or spokesperson?
Additional research and information:
Inc.’s 2024 Female Founder’s list (2025 out soon!)
Listen to Chrisitine’s interview with Anu Duggal about the state of female founders in 2024
To read more from Inc.com about embattled DEI: The Anti-DEI Lawsuit Against the Fearless Fund Was Just Settled
To find out more about Female Founder funding read: What Female Founders Can Do to Raise Money Right Now, Next Year, and Beyond, According to This VC -
The serial founder says the legacy pasta brands have made their beds. So she made a new one.
Jen Zeszut’s mac and cheese brand, Goodles, is designed not just to stand out in the aisle—with rainbow-hued packaging amid a sea of beige and blue—but also to carve out a new customer for the classic pasta recipe: young adults who like convenience, but who aim to eat something healthier than your standard boxed fare.
This meant changing adopting new market strategies in addition to creating a nutrient-packed mac and cheese. Jen is not a first-time founder, nor is she a stranger to the consumer packaged goods landscape. She left her role as CEO of the baby food company Cerebelly to launch Goodles in 2021, and the brand has been on the rise ever since. Today, it’s the fastest-growing mac and cheese in the U.S. and the seventh-fastest-growing natural food brand in the U.S. grocery category.
For our mini-series highlighting Inc.’s 2025 Female Founders honorees, executive editor Diana Ransom sat down with Jen to discuss Goodles’s rapid growth, scrappy but innovative marketing, bringing in incremental customers, and how she raised $27 million for seed round funding.
Additional research and information:
Inc.’s 2024 Female Founder’s list (2025 out soon!)
Read more on Jen Zeszut and Goodles on Inc.com: If You Cannot Outspend Your Competition, Out-Weird Them
Visit: Goodles
Visit: Goodles’s bio -
To kick off our fourth season of From the Ground Up, Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom and editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin are speaking with founders who will be appearing on Inc. magazine’s Female Founders 2025 list. Our first guest is serial entrepreneur Jeni Britton.
She’s best known for rethinking flavor creation in ice cream, and is the founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, which has close to 100 scoop shops around the country and over $150 million in revenue.
During the pandemic, Britton took a step back from day-to-day management of her company—and that got her thinking about her own health. Christine sat down with Jeni to talk about the mental and physical health inspirations for her new business, Floura. Starting up a second time wasn’t the plan—but Jeni explains what her prior experience in retail and culinary experimentation armed her with for this next journey, and what she knows will still be a challenge. Plus: We get a peek into the burgeoning ecosystem of upcycled food, as Jeni explains the unconventional composition of her new fruit-leather bars, which includes watermelon rinds and apple cores.
Additional research and information:
Inc.’s 2024 Female Founder’s list (2025 out soon!)
Read more on Jeni Britton and her new business, Floura, on Inc.com: How the Founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams Knew It Was Time for a Second Act
Why Jeni of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams Won’t Stop Talking About Fiber
From the Inc.com archives: This Ice Cream Retailer Figured Out How to Turn a Logistical Nightmare Into a Stellar Brand Experience
Visit: Floura.com -
This is a special segment in collaboration with our partner at Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Inc. Editor-in-Chief Mike Hoffman spoke with Smarsh Founder Stephen Marsh about his remarkable journey, the legacy he has built, and the honor of being the first recipient of the inaugural Legacy Award presented by Glenfiddich at this year's Inc. 5000 gala.
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Ah, 2024. So much to say! For our last episode of the season, we analyze the biggest small-business and workplace topics of the past year and highlight what’s on the horizon for 2025. Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom and editor-at-large Chrsitine Lagorio-Chafkin sat down with senior editor Tim Crino, and staff writer Sarah Lynch to discuss the annual changes that have taken place here at Inc., the massive layoffs in the tech sector, DEI backlash, and the generational workplace mismatch between managers and Gen Z employees. Also, we look ahead to Trump’s proposed tariffs and the new wave of crypto hype and scams. Don’t worry, we are optimistic about a few things in the startup landscape, though.
Additional research and information:
To read more from our Inc. 5000 coverage:
How Tiny Changes Have Reaped Enormous Results at America’s Fastest-Growing Company
How Inflation Shaped the Companies of the Inc. 5000
To read our coverage from the tech layoffs:
Employees Are Still Worried About Layoffs
The 2024 Layoff Landscape Is Better Than You Might Think
To read our coverage of Gen Z in the workplace:
Gen-Z Hits Some Bumps as it Enters the Workforce
Are You Leading on Empty? How to Recognize and Combat Manager Burnout
Why Gen-Z Workers Are Consciously ‘Unbossing’
To read our coverage DEI Backlash:
U.S. Workers Might Be Souring on DEI
Here Are the Most Common Anti-DEI Legal Cases Right Now — and What You Need to Know About Them
To read more on tariffs and crypto:
Here’s What Trump Says About Tariffs, and How They Would Work
New Trump Crypto Venture Gets Boost From GOP Candidate Himself -
If you grew up in the ’90s, the “¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!" chihuahua commercial was inescapable. Remember the vital-to-surfers sunscreen Sun Bum? Both of these memorable branding moments were created by serial entrepreneur Tom Rinks.
Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom sat down with Tom for this episode of From the Ground Up to discuss his unusual path to becoming a branding whiz—and what he’s learned about identifying human desire along the way. His early job of selling furniture taught him how to read people, and his first branding deal, with the University of Michigan’s Fab Five, immersed him in the skills needed to identify talent. Diana and Tom discuss the complex art of brand-creation, company-building, and finding the niche audience who will fiercely love your product. They also discuss Tom’s most recent branding venture, the oral-care line Made by Dentists.
Additional research and information:
Visit: Made By Dentists
Visit: Made by Dentists’s profile
Visit: Made by Dentists’s educational page
Visit: Sun Bum
Visit: Sun Bum’s profile -
Honing one's craft. Dedicating many, many hours to perfecting a skill set. Entrepreneurship can, in some ways, resemble the work life of a professional athlete. Ayesha Curry is certainly focused on her burgeoning lifestyle and culinary brand, Sweet July, and the multiple businesses within it—but that’s where she might say the similarities she has with her husband, NBA star Stephen Curry, end.
Whereas Steph brings a calm sense of logic to business and philanthropic decisions, Ayesha says she’s the kind of creative founder who brings passion to a project. In this interview with Inc. editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, Ayesha describes how, when building Sweet July, she built in soul: It is designed to empower and celebrate women and BIPOC creators, and multiple arms of the business were inspired by her family’s Jamaican heritage.
Ayesha explains to Christine how she’s navigated her career from aspiring chef to business owner, including the early tumultuous moments in the company, how she delegates responsibility to her small team, and how she creates an atmosphere of autonomy and trust. They also discuss the Currys’ Oakland-based philanthropic endeavor, Eat. Learn. Play., which builds playgrounds, opens access to nutrition, and fosters literacy skills through partnerships with local schools.
Additional research and information:
To read our Inc. 5000 coverage on Ayesha Curry: How Ayesha Curry Cooked Up Her Own Business Empire
Read more on Ayesha Curry on Inc.com: Ayesha Curry Launches a Food Startup, So You Can Eat Like a Golden State Warrior
Visit: Sweet July
To learn more about: Sweet July bio
Visit: Sweet July’s Instagram
Visit: Eat. Learn. Play. -
Have you ever wondered what happened to your favorite kettle chip brand or kombucha in your local supermarket? Don’t see your favorite cranberry sauce for the holidays?
For this episode, Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom and editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin spoke with editor-at-large Tom Foster about his recent article, “Why Are So Many Supermarket Brands Losing Shelf Space?” By the end of last year, the total amount of early-stage venture-capital funding for consumer-product brands was down about 60 percent from its 2021 high. And new product launches were down about 70 percent in the same period, according to consumer-products data provider Spins. What’s going on? Is it a CPG rupture?
Paul Voge, co-founder of the sparkling water brand Aura Bora, told Tom that getting on store shelves “is astronomically harder today.” He adds that “I had a smaller, worse business in 2019, and it was easier to run than my larger, better business today.” One thing’s clear: Gone are the days of consumer-product brands being able to use the strategies of Silicon Valley tech startups to fuel their rapid growth.
This fascinating conversation explains why this is happening in so many supermarkets, how having shelf space for a product in a supermarket is like paying rent for an apartment, and how brands such as Me & the Bees lemonade and Aura Bora are finding ways to thrive in this industry by being creative and navigating their business relationships.
Additional research and information:
Read Tom Foster’s story on Inc.com: Why Are So Many Supermarket Brands Losing Shelf Space?
Read another article from Tom Foster on Inc.com: At This Company, the Free Office Lunches Are So Good, Even Remote Employees Can’t Resist
To learn more about Me & the Bees lemonade and Mikaila Ulmer on Inc.com: Forget an "$11 M Contract" with Whole Foods. This Kid Did Better
To learn more about Aura Bora and Paul Voge on Inc.com read: Scott Galloway Called Public Universities ‘America’s Greatest Innovation.’ These Founders Agree
Visit: Me & The Bees Lemonade
Visit: Me & The Bees Lemonade’s bio
Visit: Aura Bora
Visit: Aura Bora’s bio -
You’ve seen the headlines: Gen-Z Getting Fired. Employers Avoiding Hiring Gen-Z Employees. Perhaps to understand the generational struggle in American businesses today, we need to look back to March 2020. Simon Sinek, the author and speaker on business leadership, says the emotionality and intensity of the early pandemic taught him a great deal about himself and his relationships—in and out of the office—and even how to lead a new-era employee.
These moments contributed to the creation of the Optimism Company, Sinek’s digital learning platform, which helps companies inspire and develop their employees. Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom sat down with Sinek for what resulted in a deep discussion about how we think about emotion in the workplace, grappling with unproductivity, the complex relationship between friendship and entrepreneurship, the meaning of confidant ignorance, and, the question on so many leaders’ minds, how do we actually manage Gen-Z? -
It’s a young company, but its legacy spans generations. And thanks to Fawn Weaver, the story and legacy of her whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest, is becoming ever more expansive.
Its most recent chapter: The company reached a $1.1 billion valuation in 2024. However, none of this would have been possible without Weaver, Uncle Nearest’s founder and CEO, who envisions herself as not just an executive and leader, but also as the company’s chief historian. She’s made it her mission to build a brand honest to the legacy of a man named Nearest Green, or Uncle Nearest, the formerly enslaved laborer who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey.
Weaver has spent much of the past decade researching and piecing together the story of Nearest Green. Her book Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green, and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest was released in June.
Inc. editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin sat down with Weaver recently to discuss her legacy as well: This year she became one of the first-ever African American women to run a company valued at more than $1 billion.
Additional research and information:
Christine interviewed Fawn Weaver in this 2021 episode of the What I Know podcast
Read Fawn Weaver’s advice on Creating a Winning Team on Inc.com
Visit: Uncle Nearest
For more on Fawn Weaver
Visit: Fawn Weaver’s Instagram
For more on Love & Whiskey
Apple Podcasts
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The shapewear brand that exploded onto the scene with the most famous pitchwoman in the business as a co-founder recently hit a major milestone: Kim Kardashian’s Skims is now a unicorn four times over.
Writer Max Berlinger sat down to talk with Kardashian for his feature article in our September issue of Inc. magazine—so Christine and Diana sat down to talk with Max to get the behind-the-scenes. He delivered.
Kardashian launched her shapewear brand, Skims, in 2019 in Los Angeles, and over the past three years, the company more than quintupled its annual revenue to nearly $713 million in 2023. That landed it at No. 1,168 on our annual Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies. Just over a year ago, Skims raised a round of funding that catapulted its valuation to $4 billion.
Kardashian created Skims out of personal need—with the side benefit that it might just change people’s perspectives on shapewear. She wanted to make the brand fun. Cheeky, even. It is all about owning the shape of your body. However, the brand’s progress also has a lot to do with its CEO and co-founder, Jens Grede, who has launched other successful companies. He and his wife—Emma Grede, the third founding partner at Skims—have long worked closely with the Kardashian family.
Additional research and information:
Read on Inc.com : The Inside Story of How Kim Kardashian Made Shapewear Sexy
Read Max Berlinger’s story on Inc.com: Skims Is a Huge Hit for Kim Kardashian. But Is It Ready for an IPO?
Read on Inc.com: Skims Inc 5000 profile
For more Inc.com coverage on Skims: The WNBA Is Teaming Up With Women-Led Businesses
For more Inc.com coverage on Emma Grede: How to Successfully Launch Products in Crowded Categories, According to Emma Grede
Visit Skims
Visit Skims’ Youtube
Visit Skims Instagram page
Apple Podcasts
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Before Monte Deere joined Kizik, the hands-free shoe brand, as chief executive, he had zero experience in selling consumer products–—and no experience in footwear. Heck, he’d never been a CEO before.
But Kizik’s Kizik founder Mike Pratt had worked with Deere previously– and took a bet on him. Deere was tasked with recruiting a dream team of executives with experience at brands such as Hoka, Converse, and Nike--"—“shoe dogs,”" as he likes to call them, a reference to Nike founder Phil Knight's Knight’s memoir--—to complement the “"cool contingency of innovators”" led by Pratt.
This year, Kizik is #No. 407 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest fastest-growing companies in America. In 2023, its revenue was more thanover $100 million. In an interview with Inc. editor editor-at at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, Deere explains Kizik’s pandemic-era brand transformation, how it found its loyal customers, and its expansion into DTC and wholesale–—plus its fascinating collaborations. Monte believes that soon 10% percent of the global footwear market could soon be hands hands-free.
Following our regular episode, we have a special segment in collaboration with our partner at Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Inc. Editor-in-Chief Mike Hoffman spoke with Smarsh Founder Stephen Marsh about his remarkable journey, the legacy he has built, and the honor of being the first recipient of the inaugural Legacy Award presented by Glenfiddich at this year's Inc. 5000 gala. Skillfully Crafted, Enjoy Responsibly. Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky ©2024 Imported by William Grant & Sons, Inc. New York, NY.
Additional research and information:
Read on Inc.com: Is Kizik Building the Next Billion-Dollar Sneaker Brand?
Read on Inc.com: Kizik Inc 5000 profile
Visit Kizik website:
https://kizik.com/pages/about-us
Visit Hands Free Labs Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/handsfreelabs/
Visit Kizik’s YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRjtGcRZbkj4yQ3SrU4YcDQ
Apple Podcasts
Spotify -
Dilip Rao had what he would call “the perfect life” until he was in a car accident on July 5, 2014, in New York City. What followed changed his outlook—and his values. That same year, he founded Sharebite to change the way workplaces bring their employees together for, and show them appreciation through, meals. And he built in a mission that has helped bolster struggling restaurants—and combat food insecurity.
The company, of which Dilip is now CEO, is a meal benefit platform built for the modern workforce—one in which some workers are hybrid, some fully in-person, some fully remote—and all want to feel appreciated. It specializes in feeding in-office and remote employees food they want from local restaurants–and lets companies chip in, to make each meal feel like a real benefit for workers. The chipping in goes further than that, though: Through Sharebite, each meal bought is equal to one meal donated.
Over the past three years, the company has had a growth rate of 4,914 percent, and it landed at No. 56 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. For this episode of “From the Ground Up,” Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom spoke with Dilip about his accident and recovery process, his stoic philosophy, and Sharebite’s lightning-fast growth.
Source notes and additional research and information:
Read: How This Food-Ordering Platform Gave Restaurants a Lifeline During Covid https://www.inc.com/magazine/202112/diana-ransom/sharebite-food-ordering-restaurants-covid-community.html by Diana Ransom, on Inc.com
Read: Sharebite’s Inc. 5000 profile
https://www.inc.com/profile/sharebite
Visit Sharebite’s website
https://sharebite.com/ -
This week, we kick off our Inc. feature coverage by exploring the making of–and proliferation of–cult brands. In this episode, executive editor Diana Ransom and editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin invite Inc. staff writer Ali Donaldson to talk about an article she wrote that broke open a lot of consumer trends we’ve seen over recent years–and explained the anatomy of consumer-product virality. Certain brands seem to grow cult followings almost overnight. Turns out that’s no happy accident–it’s all in the plan. And Ali lays out precisely what that plan looks like for brands that achieve cult status.
Stanley, Kendra Scott, and Bogg Bag are extremely different companies–aside from the fact that each has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. And it turns out, they are all fascinating case studies in appealing to customers, both online and offline. Bogg Bag, founded by Kim Vaccarella, out of Lodi, New Jersey, landed on the Inc. 5000 this year and expects to book over $100 million in revenue by the end of 2024. Kendra Scott, the Texas-based jewelry brand, continues to evolve with its customers online–and meets them where they are on campuses, too. And the Stanley cup stans are seriously engaged and proudly express it through TikTok and other social media channels. They might wonder: How on earth is this a 110-year-old company? Donaldson explains, and also dishes about her interview with the marketing genius behind both the Stanley brand shift that brought it to a new generation and the proliferation of Crocs.
Source notes and additional research and information:
Read: How Preppy Cult Brands Captured the Imagination and Wallets of Female Consumers, by Ali Donaldson, on Inc.com
Read: How This Marketing Pro Got Crocs on Every Celebrity–and Also Was Behind the Stanley Tumbler Trend
Listen: Kendra Scott interviewed on Inc.’s What I Know podcast
Read: How Kendra Scott Crafted a Remarkably Wholesome Customer Service Philosophy
Read: A history of Stanley Cups, via Stanley1813.com
Read: Dive into the 2024 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America
Visit: Kendra Scott
Visit: Bogg Bag
Apple Podcasts
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Ariel Kaye spent 10 years working in advertising and brand development in New York City before launching the Los Angeles-based home-goods brand Parachute. So she was equipped with insight into consumer purchase behavior and folks’ growing interest in comfort, quality, craftsmanship, and social responsibility—all of which are now tenets of the Parachute brand.
When it launched in 2014, Parachute was not only early to focus on sustainability and quality, but also early to the direct-to-consumer party. “We immediately saw this massive reaction from the customer,” Kaye says. And venture capitalists agreed. Parachute raised $47 million by 2018. Kaye didn’t stop there: She pursued an omnichannel strategy, starting with opening her first location in Venice, California.
It’s been a wild ride. She now has 25 stores, and plenty of brand collaborations. While the company has had moments of profitability, sustained profits have remained elusive. It’s a fascinating moment in time, as DTC companies across the United States continue a slow death march, and Kaye has stepped down as CEO of her brand. Inc. executive editor Diana Ransom and Kaye get into the future of Parachute in its quest for sustained profitability, what sustainability and circularity mean to brands today, and what it’s like stepping down from the helm of the company she founded.
Read more about Ariel, Parachute, and the brand’s quest for profitability, on Inc.com
How Ariel Kaye opened Parachute’s first brick-and-mortar storefront, on Inc.com
Parachute’s website
Parachute’s mentorship and grant program for Black-owned small businesses
Read more about Supercircle saves textiles from landfills: How a Supply Chain Startup Is Making Recycling in the Apparel Industry Scalable
Apple Podcasts
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Are you ready to take advantage of AI and the latest performance marketing tools to elevate your holiday sales? The explosion of AI tools in recent years has transformed key sectors like medicine and finance, but AI is also empowering small and medium-size businesses as they seek to elevate sales via online advertising. This impact is most evident during the all-important holiday season, when last year alone, AI-driven predictive recommendations generated nearly $200 billion in sales, according to Salesforce. From personalization and creative diversification to lead generation and customer support, AI offers a wide range of capabilities for companies looking to create efficiencies, unlock new audiences, and ultimately drive sales. But while AI is the latest trend helping SMBs level up their game, the question is, how else can marketers set up their ad strategies to maximize performance through Q4?
In this custom episode, Skai Blue Media Founder Rakia Reynolds sits down with Meta’s Director of Small Business Group North America Becky Bui, KiwiCo Associate Director of Marketing Jonathan Fukuhara, and Jewels & Aces Founder & Designer Grace Wong. They discuss when you should get serious about planning for the holiday season, when the right time to integrate AI into your marketing strategy is, and which tools are most appropriate and for which outcomes? And, finally, how you can make the most of measurement and testing to prepare for the peak sales season. -
Anu Duggal has funded the businesses of hundreds of women—and has seen multiple hundred-million-dollar-plus exits. Now, she’s trying to make a statement.
For our season opener, we sat down with Anu Duggal, the founding partner of Female Founders Fund, a seed-stage venture capitalist fund focused on providing early-stage funding for startups by women entrepreneurs. Female Founders Fund has invested in more than 75 companies, including the digital financial service Tala, the razor company Billie, and the women’s health care company Maven Clinic. Ten years into running her fund, Duggal says she still has something to prove: “We’re really trying to make more of a statement than your typical VC fund that’s only looking for returns.”
Since starting Female Founders Fund in 2014, Anu has been a helping hand for female founders, but how is she navigating what companies to invest in during an election year? She speaks to Inc. editor-at-large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin about pulling back from funding direct-to-consumer brands, whether AI startups are forming a bubble, the female founder ecosystem, and her journey from being an entrepreneur to leading a fund working to bolster startups by women—and proving a point along the way.
Article and transcript
Read more about Female Founder Fund
The Female Founders Fund website
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