How I Built This
Searchable database of How I Built This entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship stories. Find episodes, founder profiles, and company histories from Guy Raz's iconic podcast.
Advice Line with Sarah LaFleur of M. M. LaFleur
Guy Raz brings back Sarah LaFleur, founder and CEO of M.M. LaFleur, to field real-time questions from founders navigating self-doubt, pricing perception, and shifting consumer behavior. Two callers pitch their businesses - a muscle-recovery soap and tick-protective socks - and Sarah offers practical, hard-won advice drawn from rebuilding her own brand through COVID, a bank collapse, and near-failure.
NVIDIA: Jensen Huang. From near collapse to becoming the world’s biggest company
Jensen Huang sits down to recount how NVIDIA went from selling 250,000 defective chips and laying off two-thirds of its staff to building the most dominant company in the world by market capitalization. Guy Raz unpacks the near-collapse, the $5 million bet with Sega, and Jensen's decade-long wager on CUDA when every investor was running for the exits. It's the story of what it actually costs to build something most people said couldn't be done.
Advice Line: New Offerings, Bigger Markets
Boxed founder Chieh Huang joins Guy Raz to coach three founders navigating product expansion. Christina Latraverse of Seagrass Pottery debates scaling physical studios versus wholesale. Hernan Lopez of Wondery guides Jim Kersley through the retail versus direct-to-consumer tradeoff for Lemur Strap. David Neilman helps William Carroll of Tool Club think through shifting consumer behavior around tool rentals. Every call explores the same question: how to grow without losing what makes the business work.
Jensen Huang
Jensen Huang is the co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, which builds graphics processors and AI computing platforms. Born in Taiwan and raised in the United States, he co-founded NVIDIA in 1993 and built it into the world's largest public company.
1 episode
John Gabbert
John Gabbert founded Room & Board in 1980 after leaving his family's furniture business. The Minneapolis-based company creates modern, timeless furnishings crafted by U.S. artisans. Gabbert's leadership earned him induction into the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame.
1 episode
Gregg Renfrew
Gregg Renfrew is an American entrepreneur and founder of clean beauty brand Beautycounter, launched in 2013. She previously co-launched The Wedding List, acquired by Martha Stewart in 2001. Renfrew is a pioneer in the clean beauty movement and now leads Counter.
1 episode
Ian Murray
Ian Murray co-founded Vineyard Vines with his brother Shep in 1998, launching the brand from Martha's Vineyard with a line of neckties. What began as a small operation has grown into a nationwide lifestyle brand with over 100 retail locations.
1 episode
NVIDIA
NVIDIA is a US technology company that invented the GPU in 1999. It started in gaming and now powers AI infrastructure, data centers, and autonomous vehicles worldwide. Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, the company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
1 episode
Room & Board
Room & Board is an American modern furniture retailer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company offers handcrafted, American-made furniture and home furnishings, operating as a privately held, employee-owned business.
1 episode
Beautycounter
Beautycounter was a direct-to-consumer clean beauty company selling skincare and cosmetics. Founded in 2011, it grew to 150 products through 65,000 consultants with a mission to get safer products into everyone's hands before entering administration in 2024.
1 episode
Vineyard Vines
Vineyard Vines is an American clothing and accessory retailer founded in 1998 on Martha's Vineyard by brothers Shep and Ian Murray. The family-owned company creates classic, preppy apparel with a relaxed, timeless aesthetic.
1 episode