Growing up in the ‘80s in New Jersey, Marc Ecko loved hip hop, graffiti art, and painting t-shirts for friends. His passion soon bloomed into a full-on business: ECKO UNLTD, a streetwear brand known for its iconic rhino logo. By the 1990’s, the brand had become a cultural force, but not without its share of bad deals, daunting debt, and a close brush with bankruptcy.  Eager to keep innovating, Marc launched COMPLEX, a media company hyper-focused on “convergence” culture: hip hop, fashion, sports and pop culture. Within a decade, COMPLEX had weathered the financial crisis, and emerged prof ..read more

Tarte cosmetics founder and CEO Maureen Kelly joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three early-stage founders about their marketing strategies. Today we meet Kristina, who’s designed sweat-wicking underwear that's both functional and stylish. Then Ashley, who recently launched a line of chemical-free hair care products. And Marcelle, the owner of an international career coaching service. If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you’d like answered. Se ..read more

Brothers Dick and Peter Dreissigacker used their experience as Olympic-level rowers to build a rowing machine that captured the sensation of being on the water. Initially made of bicycle parts in a Vermont barn, the machines had a limited market at first: mostly rowing clubs and schools that competed in the sport. But in the 2000’s, business began to take off when Greg Glassman, the founder of Crossfit, began putting the machines into his gyms. Today Concept2 sells rowing machines to thousands of gyms and teams around the world, plus rowers, stationary bikes and skiing machines for people ..read more

Sun Bum co-founder Tom Rinks joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three early-stage founders about refining their brand identities.  Today we meet Wendy, a former comedian whose sugar scrub takes the sticky-icky off your hands. Then Allyson, who went from producing reality television to trucker hats designed for women’s heads. And Zephyrus, an opera performer with a new way for kids to hear their favorite bedtime stories. If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one minute message that tells us about your business and a specific qu ..read more

The Theragun was born out of a late-night experiment with a Makita jigsaw, by a man searching desperately for pain relief in his arm. Jason Wersland was studying to become a chiropractor when he got injured in a motorcycle accident. While casting about for solutions, he discovered that the percussive massage from his jury-rigged power tool helped ease his pain and increase range of motion. Jason soon discovered the device worked on his patients, so he MacGyvered hundreds more jigsaws, initially using fence posts and cat toys as add-ons.  Over time, with endorsements from top athletes and ..read more

Orgain founder and CEO Andrew Abraham joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three early-stage founders about strategically positioning their products.   Today we meet Brynn, who’s tackling cavities and dental anxiety with an electric flosser. Then Turner, a radiologist mixing up craft cocktails for the golf course. And Catherine, whose pasta sauces and dressings help ease the weeknight dinner juggle.  If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you ..read more

When Madeline Haydon decided to turn her homemade, plant-based coffee creamer into a business, she didn’t fit the mold of a typical founder. She was a woman of color, pregnant with her second child, and had no experience in the food industry. At first, almost all of her sales were through Amazon, and she struggled to convince investors to take a risk on her. But over 10 years, she grew nutpods from a $30,000 Kickstarter campaign into a leading coffee creamer brand, now available in 15,000 stores across the US.  This episode was produced by Alex Cheng with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It wa ..read more

Clif Bar founder Gary Erickson joins Guy on the Advice Line, where they answer questions from three early-stage founders about expanding their customer base. Today we meet James, who recycles water bottles into one of the most sustainable plastics on the market. Then Valerie, a leathercrafter with a co-op of artisans born from a strike against Etsy. And finally, Elsie, who accidentally invented a pet hair remover while cleaning her dog’s muddy pawprints. If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one minute message that tells us about your business and a specific ..read more

Every summer for the past seven decades, 50 high school seniors—one from every state—descend on Mobile, Alabama to take part in one of the country’s most lucrative scholarship competitions for teen girls.  The Competition takes you behind the scenes of the Distinguished Young Women (DYW) program, and follows seven girls as they experience the highs and lows of competing for two weeks, away from home and under the most high-stress circumstances. Some girls enter for the money, some for prestige. All of them are used to being the best and the brightest. But only one will walk away with the ..read more

As co-founder of Twitter and founder of Blogger and Medium, Evan Williams literally helped change the conversation: he understood that real-time connectivity—being able to write a post and have people read it seconds later—was the future of engagement online. A Nebraska farm boy who dropped out of college, Ev ran into several business failures before starting Blogger, and—after it sold to Google—launching Twitter with Jack Dorsey and others. Ev also came to learn that he understood product better than people, a trait that would contribute to his eventual ouster as Twitter CEO. A ..read more