How They Built It: Founding Stories from Category Defining Companies

“Trust is not what makes successful co-founding relationships. Having the world-class skillset that you need to succeed is what will then form that trust that will allow you to succeed.” – Delian Asparahouv  We explore space manufacturing, microgravity, and building factories in outer space. We’re joined by Delian Asparouhov, Co-Founder of Varda Space Industries. We cover leaning into your superpo...

“I’m in the camp that is super passionate about space as a tool for transformation. So what energizes me is getting humans into space.” — Dylan Taylor We explore building the Berkshire Hathaway of outer space. We’re joined by Dylan Taylor, Founder and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings. We cover the evolution of space technology, private space companies vs. government contracts, and what's next for com...

“The Iron Law of Ecommerce across everything I’ve ever started is that I start out thinking I’m selling to people like me and it always turns out that it’s 45-year old women that are buying the product.” — Justin Mares Learn how Justin Mares identifies trends and builds direct-to-consumer businesses (and brands) to own them. Including all of the hard lessons that Justin has learned along the way,...

“The Iron Law of Ecommerce across everything I’ve ever started is that I start out thinking I’m selling to people like me and it always turns out that it’s 45-year old women that are buying the product.” — Justin Mares Learn how Justin Mares identifies trends and builds direct-to-consumer businesses (and brands) to own them. Including all of the hard lessons that Justin has learned along the way,...

“The human body is one of the most complex adaptive symptoms out there in the universe.” – Andrew Herr We explore bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. We’re joined by Andrew Herr, Fount’s Founder and CEO. We cover human performance and biotech strategy, the limitations of military power for political goals, and using experiments to improve performance. Explore the episode no...

“The human body is one of the most complex adaptive symptoms out there in the universe.” – Andrew Herr We explore bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. We’re joined by Andrew Herr, Fount’s Founder and CEO. We cover human performance and biotech strategy, the limitations of military power for political goals, and using experiments to improve performance. Explore the episode no...

“Ultimately, transparency to your customers is extremely important, no matter how difficult it is to display.” — Jivko Bojinov We explore building and scaling a fulfillment business with Jivko Bojinov, ShipBob’s Co-Founder. We cover the challenges of a fulfillment business, ShipBob’s custom warehouse algorithms, and the importance of transparency with staff and customers alike. Explore the episode...

“Ultimately, transparency to your customers is extremely important, no matter how difficult it is to display.” — Jivko Bojinov We explore building and scaling a fulfillment business with Jivko Bojinov, ShipBob’s Co-Founder. We cover the challenges of a fulfillment business, ShipBob’s custom warehouse algorithms, and the importance of transparency with staff and customers alike. Explore the episode...

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we sit down with iconic design studio Clearleft’s founder Andy Budd to learn the approach to designing and building products that he’s honed over decades. We go deep on everything from the design process to what makes a product great, and how Andy approaches managing and building design teams. It’s a masterclass in product design from one of the world’s b...

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we profile Kevita and Flying Embers—two innovative beverage companies that have built big businesses focused on fermentation. Kevita created an entirely new category with their sparkling probiotic drinks with live cultures, and it was sold for $200M. Flying Embers is picking up where Kevita left off and applying novel fermentation technologies to create a...

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we decode how Elo Health has created an entirely new Smart Nutrition category. Elo’s Smart Supplements and Smart Protein improve your energy, focus, and more with vitamins and supplements made just for you. Elo finds and fills your nutrient gaps with a mix of blood testing, your wearable activity data, and one-on-one dietitian support. Learn more about yo...

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders we sit down with Michael Sheetz, CNBC’s Space Reporter, to explore the Cambrian explosion that’s taking place in space. We break down the landscape of companies, from launch providers to imaging and communication satellite companies, to understand the future of space. We explore the intertwined web of science, technology, and defense focuses that’s powerin...

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we decode how Public is building the investment platform of the future — from their initial focus on fractional shares, to adding alternative assets, how they’ve built social features and community into their platform, and more. Learn Public’s playbook for finding product market fit, achieving viral growth, building a multi-sided product, as well as their...

In Episode #118, we explore healthcare as a product rather than a service. We’re joined by Adrian Aoun, Forward’s CEO and Founder, and we cover why healthcare should be a product, not a service, being problem-oriented as a founder, and why the health insurance industry is destined to fall.  “Solutions don't really matter. Problems matter.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOO...

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Forward with Adrian Aoun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning to make MRIs an order of magnitude more efficient. As well as how they’ve built an asset light business in healthcare and what it takes to be a software-centric business within a heavily regulated industry. “I realized that th...

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Ezra with Emi Gal. Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #127, we explore bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. We’re joined by Andrew Herr, Fount’s Founder and CEO. We cover human performance and biotech strategy, the limitations of military power for political goals, and using experiments to improve performance. “The human body is one of the most complex adaptive symptoms out there in the universe.” – Andrew Herr EPISO...

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Fount with Andrew Herr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #125, we explore testosterone replacement therapy and building a telehealth company. We’re joined by Saad Alam, Hone Health’s Founder and CEO. We cover the basics of testosterone, the future of health management, and learnings from building a telehealth company. “When people say a good CEO basically works himself out of a job and spends 30 for 40% of his time recruiting, I thought that...

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Hone Health with Saad Alam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #108, we explore building a global blockchain that’s high-speed, climate neutral, and low-fee. We’re joined by Illia Polosukhin, NEAR Protocol’s Co-Founder. We cover why proof of stake beats proof of work, how NEAR approached scaling, and how Illia raised more than $10M to help fund aid in war-torn Ukraine.  “For me, web3 is not about decentralization. I think decentralization is just a...

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring NEAR Protocol with Illia Polosukhin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore the world’s least sexy $500M business. We’re joined by Carey Smith, Founder of Big Ass Fans. We cover the importance of humor in business, receiving and listening to feedback, and Carey’s investment philosophy with Unorthodox Ventures. “I think in some ways it's trite, but you really do learn an awful lot from failures. And the other thing you get from a failure—or certainly I did—was t...

We explore building the Apple Design Award-winning apps Halide and Spectre with Sebastiaan de With, Co-Founder and designer at Lux. We cover bridging the gap between visual design and product design, growing from one camera app to a photography company, and advice for those interested in creating and selling an app. “We will see the landscape littered with the burnt out husks of people that love t...