built
Aaron Krause did not set out to reinvent the kitchen sponge. He was a car detailer, building buffing pads and the machines that made them. To clean his greasy h…
Colin Angle didn’t start out trying to clean people’s floors. He started out trying to shape the future–with robots. In the early days of iRobot, there was no b…
Gregg Renfrew started a movement by making better-for-you cosmetics, then enlisted an army of women to build the business through direct sales. But after sellin…
John Gabbert built a massive furniture brand. But in order to do it, he had to defy his family. John grew up working at his dad’s furniture store in the suburbs…
In 2004, German programmer Tobias Lütke was living in Ottawa with his girlfriend. An avid snowboarder, he wanted to launch an online snowboard shop, but found t…
When Maxine Clark left a top job in retail to start a make-your-own stuffed animal store, people thought she’d lost her mind. Investors doubted it. Friends ques…
Stephen Starr didn’t plan to get into the restaurant business. He set out to be a radio DJ. Then a nightclub owner. Then a music promoter. Along the way, he boo…
In 2004, Joey Shamah and his partner launched a cosmetics company built on an idea that made almost no sense: Sell high-quality makeup for just $1. At the time,…
Chuck Surack never planned to build one of America's largest online retailers. He just wanted to be a musician. So right after high school, he took his sax and …
Many founders think the hardest thing about business is finding customers. It's not. It's surviving success. When Lily Kanter and Serena Dugan launched a luxury…
