The Founder Hour

Vinny Dotolo is a Los Angeles-based chef and restaurateur, recognized for his contributions to the city’s food scene. He is the chef and co-owner of Jon & Vinny’s and Helen’s Wines, with locations in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Fairfax, Slauson, Studio City, and globally. He also operates Cookbook Market in Echo Park, Highland Park, and Larchmont Village, along with Carmelized Productions, a full-se...

Joel Madden is a musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as the lead vocalist for the pop-punk band Good Charlotte. Born in Maryland, Madden co-founded Good Charlotte in the mid-1990s with his twin brother, Benji Madden. The band rose to fame in the early 2000s with hits like "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" and "The Anthem," becoming a staple in the punk rock and alternative...

Troy Arntsen, co-founder and president of Voluspa, transformed a simple idea into a global luxury candle brand renowned for its exquisite scents and impeccable quality. Hailing from Minnesota, Troy was a self-described "daydreamer" who defied expectations when he traded a promising engineering career for the world of essential oils. His decision, met with initial doubts from his family, was fueled...

Taylor Hill's life took an unexpected turn at the age of 14 when she was discovered at a dude ranch in Colorado. Born in Illinois but raised in the mountains of Colorado, Taylor grew up snowboarding and enjoying the outdoors with her family. Her mother, a former hairdresser turned stay-at-home mom, instilled in her a sense of creativity and diligence that would serve her well in her future career....

Joe Gebbia's journey began in Georgia, where his early interest in sports led him to work as a ball boy for the Atlanta Hawks. However, his true passion lay in art, earning him the nickname "art guy" in school as he spent countless hours drawing from comic books. This passion led him to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he discovered industrial design and the work of Charles and Ray...

Michelle Wahler is an entrepreneur, business leader and mother. In 2005, she co-founded the active lifestyle company Beyond Yoga, where as CEO, she built the product and brand from the ground up. What started as a mere concept led to a global wholesale business, e-commerce site and opening of six retail stores, selling tens of millions of units around the world over the course of nearly 20 years....

In this episode of The Founder Hour, we have an insightful conversation with Max Levchin, a true trailblazer in the tech world. Max’s journey began in Ukraine, where he grew up in a family of scientists who instilled in him a deep respect for knowledge and discovery. After his family relocated to Crimea to escape the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster, Max discovered his passion for programming a...

Joe Kudla is the visionary founder and CEO of Vuori (pronounced VEE-YOUR-EE), a brand that's redefining activewear. Joe's path to success is anything but ordinary, including a career in fashion and modeling that took him to the fashion capitals of Italy and also, accounting. However, his entrepreneurial spirit led him back to the U.S., where he faced the challenges of launching his own business ve...

Niki Nakayama’s cooking is driven by intuition. At her two-Michelin-starred restaurant, n/naka in West Los Angeles, she masters modern kaiseki, a Japanese dining discipline focused on taste, texture, and presentation. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nakayama began her culinary career at Takao restaurant in Brentwood and refined her skills in Japan. She later opened Azami Sushi Café, gaining fame f...

Larry Fitzgibbon is the co-founder and CEO of Tastemade, a global video platform with hundreds of millions of monthly viewers. Under his leadership, Tastemade has created a vibrant community around its Food, Travel, and Home & Design programming, available across digital, mobile, streaming, and TV platforms. Larry helped raise over $130 million in venture capital from partners including Redpoint V...

Jennifer Hyman is the co-founder and CEO of Rent The Runway, a pioneering fashion technology company that has revolutionized the way women get dressed. Under her leadership, Rent The Runway has grown into a multi-million dollar business, offering clothing and accessory rentals from over 700 designer brands. Jennifer’s vision for a more sustainable and accessible fashion industry has garnered her n...

Aaron Levie is the co-founder and CEO of Box, a trailblazing enterprise content management and collaboration platform. Since starting Box in 2005, Aaron has led the company to become a global leader in cloud computing, transforming how businesses manage and share information. He is a prominent voice in the tech industry, frequently discussing the future of work and digital transformation. In this...

Angie Hicks is the co-founder of Angi (formerly Angie’s List). She started Angie’s List in 1995, which has grown over nearly 30 years from supporting a few cities, to the first national digital directory for home improvement, through an IPO, an acquisition and a rebrand. Hicks has worn many different hats during her time at Angi, but today, she is focused on getting back to basics and meeting dire...

Ray Dalio is an American billionaire investor, philanthropist, and author. He founded Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, in 1975 out of his two-bedroom apartment. Under his leadership, Bridgewater grew into one of the most successful investment firms globally, renowned for its innovative approaches to economics and finance. Dalio is also a celebrated author, having written the...

Keith Rabois is a Managing Director at Khosla Ventures and CEO of OpenStore, bringing over 20 years of experience as a founder, operator, and investor. At Khosla Ventures, he led early investments in DoorDash, Affirm, and Stripe, and co-founded Opendoor. Previously, at Founders Fund, he invested in Ramp, Trade Republic, and Aven, and personally invested early in YouTube, Airbnb, Palantir, Lyft, an...

Inspired by frequent trips to the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, Ken Grossman founded Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in 1980 and today it remains family-owned and operated. What started as a homebrewing hobby eventually grew into a well-honed craft, and later, one of the largest independent breweries in the U.S. Ken built the first brewhouse by hand in Chico, California after scouring salvage yards and...

For over 15 years, Amy Liu worked as a beauty executive at some of the fastest-growing prestige companies, including Smashbox, Kate Somerville, and Josie Maran Cosmetics. But as a longtime eczema sufferer, she couldn’t even enjoy the best part of working in the beauty industry: trying out all the products! Even the clean alternatives were super expensive or too clinical, like they were coming stra...

Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof Coffee and a pioneer in the Biohacking movement, is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, CEO of Upgrade Labs and Danger Coffee, and host of the Webby award-winning podcast, The Human Upgrade. As a maverick in health science and biotechnology entrepreneurship, Dave made history by selling the first product online—a caffeine-related item—from his dorm ro...

Marc Lore is a serial entrepreneur and self-made billionaire renowned for his innovative ventures in e-commerce. From an early age, he harbored a passion for growth and risk-taking, wanting to be a farmer when he was 4 years old. While not a farmer in the traditional sense, Marc's entrepreneurial journey mirrors the same principles of cultivating and nurturing ideas into successful enterprises. Ma...

Scott McNealy stands as a prominent figure in the tech industry, celebrated for his role as the co-founder and former CEO of Sun Microsystems. Established in 1982, Sun Microsystems quickly rose to prominence in Silicon Valley, renowned for its groundbreaking computer hardware, software, and network computing solutions. Its transformative contributions, such as Unix workstations and the Java progra...

Brian Smith is the innovative entrepreneur behind UGG, the iconic footwear brand known for its luxurious sheepskin boots. Originally from Australia, Brian founded UGG in 1978, aiming to bring the relaxed Australian lifestyle to the United States. His vision and determination transformed UGG from a small business into a global sensation, beloved for its comfort, quality, and distinctive style. Bria...

Ashley Tisdale rose to fame as an actress, singer, and producer. She gained prominence with her role as Sharpay Evans in Disney Channel's "High School Musical" franchise and as Maddie Fitzpatrick in "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody." Ashley’s versatile talents extended into music, where she released three studio albums, showcasing her pop sensibilities. In addition to her entertainment career, Ashle...

Curt Jones is the innovative mind behind Dippin' Dots, a revolutionary frozen treat that has captured the imagination of dessert lovers worldwide. As the founder and inventor, Curt pioneered a unique flash-freezing process in 1987, transforming ordinary ice cream into tiny, flavorful beads. This innovative approach not only created a delightful new way to enjoy frozen desserts but also opened up a...

Col Needham is the visionary founder and CEO of IMDb, the world's most comprehensive and trusted source for movie, TV, and celebrity content. With a passion for film and an unwavering commitment to providing invaluable information to movie enthusiasts worldwide, Col has played a pivotal role in shaping IMDb into the go-to platform for entertainment data. His innovative leadership has not only revo...

Stephen Kaufer is the co-founder and former CEO of Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel guidance platform which helps hundreds of millions of people each month become better travelers, from planning to booking to taking a trip. Before that, Steve was President of CDS, Inc., a successful independent software vendor specializing in programming and testing tools that was spun out of his first comp...