The Growth Show

[Mini Episode] Take a look at your Instagram feed. You likely follow a few different influencers. But look a bit closer. Are each and every one of them human? Not if you’re one of the 1.5M followers of Lil’ Miquela. The rise in AI influencers might not be the stuff of nightmares or summer blockbusters, but it’s not that far off. Our producer Matthew Brown talks with Chris Detert of Influential about our human(less) future.

Movement is the art of change. You pass through one physical location to the next, with decisions at every step. And whether that’s in dance or starting a company, movement is what inspires us. Payal Kadakia's career has taken a number of tough decisions -- some that could have derailed her entire career. We caught up with Payal for a live recording at INBOUND 2018. She tells us how she knew when to start ClassPass, and more recently, when to step down as CEO.

It’s August 21, 2017. There’s only one thing on people’s minds: The solar eclipse. Every brand under the sun jockeyed for the cultural zeitgeist, but it was MoonPie — throwing a little shade at Hostess — that won the day. The company’s viral tweet “Lol ok” broke brand social records and the ensuing demand sold out stores and shutdown the bakery. Dooley Tombras gives us a look into how how he made a humble snack cake one of the most out of this world brands on social.

Kristen Kish’s road to Season 10 of Top Chef was winding, to say the least. She tried out business school for a spell, got in way over her head as an executive chef, and ended up working for one of the best-known culinary icons in the world. And the entire time, she was struggling with her own identity. In the last episode of The Turnaround season, we explain why appearing on Top Chef was only the second biggest turnaround in Kristen’s life.

During the Summer of 2014, customers and employees of Market Basket boycotted the company, demanding that the board of trustees reinstate Arthur T. Demoulas, the beloved president and CEO of the grocery store chain. This week, we tell the story of that protest, which is a good reminder that the people sitting around a boardroom table aren’t the only ones who own a company.

The World’s Only Curious George Store sits in the heart of Harvard Square. It’s been there, in some form, since 1995. But behind the bright colors and the cheery facade, there’s been a fight raging to keep the store open since day one. In today’s episode, we tell the dramatic and little-known story of literature’s most mischievous monkey.

Nintendo is known for constantly reinventing the video game landscape. But a few years ago, they had just released their slowest-selling product of all time. Sales were so bad that the president of the company cut his salary in half. And for the first time since entering the video game market, they were operating at a loss. In today’s episode, we look at how they got there. And how they managed to turn things around.

Before it was banned for nearly a century, absinthe used to be one of the most popular drinks in the world. But somewhere along the way, it got a reputation for making people hallucinate and even go insane. How did it get such a bad reputation? Why was it made illegal in countries around the world for so long? And how did an entire industry come back from such dire straits?

Mark Hellendrung visited a local pub in his home town in Rhode Island. He was just looking for a drink, but he found himself on a journey to bring back the 125-year-old beer brand locals call ‘Gansett. But how do you balance tradition with innovation? With the weight of an entire community (and generations more) behind him, Mark finally brought The Narragansett Beer Company back home.

Our new season -- The Turnaround -- is right around the corner, but we wanted to give you a little preview of what’s to come. In this mini-episode, Dan Pink and Steve Blank both return to the show, and we ask them about a turnaround from their own lives. Have a turnaround story of your own? Record a voice memo, and send it to hello@thegrowthshow.com. You could end up on a future episode of the show!

After nearly three years, The Growth Show is officially taking a break. But we’re not stopping, by any means. We’ve already begun production on our next season. We’ll be back in 2018 with all new episodes, telling all new stories of companies bringing themselves back from the brink. Until then, subscribe to the podcast and we’ll see you in the New Year!

We spend so much of our life in school -- with classes, teachers, tests, and papers. So when structured learning isn’t around anymore, it can be jarring. Like your training wheels just got removed. Noah Kagan, the Chief Sumo at Sumo.com, has trained himself to keep learning new things all the time. Today on the show, he tells us how he manages to keep learning new skills, whether it’s marketing, mountain biking, or anything in between.

If you’ve ever applied for a job in tech, you know just how painful it can be. Technical tests consume hours of your time, brain teasers leave you baffled, and culture fit questions juice your stress levels. On top of all this, you’re likely still trying to hold down your current position. Jason Shen, CEO and Co-Founder of Headlight, has spent months asking around to see how companies are hiring today. His results are telling, and they’ve given him an idea of how we should be hiring instead.

When you’re one of the most recognizable companies on the planet, how do you decide on your next big idea? If you’re Michael McNally, you think about it all the time. Michael is the Senior Director of Brand Relations at LEGO, and he’s gone from building LEGO cities in his basement to rolling the world’s largest LEGO model into downtown Manhattan. Michael tells us how he approaches partnerships, gets his team out of creative ruts, and what it’s like meeting some memorable longtime LEGO fans.

Every single day at 9:15 AM, Molly Beck reaches out to a new person in her network. And if you’re trying to get to the next level in your career, you might want to consider doing the same thing. Molly is an entrepreneur and the author of a book called ‘Reach Out: The Simple Strategy You Need to Expand Your Network and Increase Your Influence.’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out HubSpot’s latest podcast, called Weird Work! Each week, host Sam Balter talks with folks who work some of the weirdest jobs out there. The new show features guests like a dinosaur erotica writer, a professional bridesmaid, and an ASMR artist. In this episode, Meghan talks with Sam about what listeners can expect, and why the people with the strangest jobs are actually a lot more normal than Sam’s own co-workers.

Innovation is great when it’s in an iPhone. But is it something you want to put inside your mouth? Well get ready, meat industry. Because your days are numbered. Ethan Brown at Beyond Meat is hoping his company’s mission of sustainable, plant-based protein will convert even the most hardcore carnivore. Lofty goals, but he tells us how you too can evolve your own company’s mission to create real change in the world.

There’s the hype. Sure. But there’s also the hysteria. For most, bots are either the thing that’ll carry our companies into the future, or they’re a skip away from subjugating the entire human race. Today, we’re talking to Adelyn Zhou, CMO of TOPBOTS. She gives us her take on companies using these technologies successfully, how you can build a AI or machine learning team yourself (if you really need one), and what we can really expect from our robot overlords.

When we look for leadership characteristics, are we really building a workplace made for extroverts? We look for leaders to constantly speak up, network, and think on their feet. But what are we missing by excluding the strengths of introverts? Today on the show, we’re talking with Amma Marfo, a speaker, writer and editor, who thinks that we can do better. And she has a good idea of where we can start.

Four years ago, Karen Millsap’s husband was shot and killed in the gym they co-owned. There was no warning. No response manual. What followed was a time of immense hardship, struggle, and reinvention. Karen joins us to talk about the importance of creating a psychologically safe work environment and the importance of building a culture of empathy and compassion. She offers ways you can ready your company to respond to even the toughest of life experiences.