It takes audacity to start a company, grit to grow it, and community to survive the ordeal. Join Inc. Executive Editor Diana Ransom and Editor-at-Large Christin...
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
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48:02
Leadership For a New Generation
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?
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58:26
Glenfiddich presents the inaugural Legacy Award to Smarsh - FROM INC. STUDIO AND GLENFIDDICH
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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9:49
The Billion-Dollar Whiskey Story
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
Spotify
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57:34
Let’s Talk About Skims!
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
Spotify
It takes audacity to start a company, grit to grow it, and community to survive the ordeal. Join Inc. Executive Editor Diana Ransom and Editor-at-Large Christine Lagorio-Chafkin as they host From the Ground Up, a new podcast from Inc. that features frank and unfiltered conversations—with some of the most successful founders in the world—about navigating the role of the founder, the tips and tricks entrepreneurs need to know to be successful, and the secrets that nobody really tells you before you start a business.
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