The Growth Show

People tend only buy one or two different types of wine, and one company is on a mission to change that. Winc uses machine learning to give subscribers personalized wine recommendations and deliver those recommendations to their doorsteps. In this episode, we chat with Xander Oxman, co-founder and CEO of Winc, about his experience building the wine recommendation service, and what advice he’d give other entrepreneurs on starting a company around their personal passions.

In high school, Danielle Morrill started working at her father's business. After spending time as an analyst and the Head of Marketing for Twilio, she founded Mattermark, a business that helps companies uncover actionable insights in the wealth of data at their fingertips. In this episode, Danielle talks about expanding Mattermark’s target market, finding “work-life balance” when you start a company with close friends, and building a team when you’re early on in your startup’s journey.

In 2011, IBM Watson beat Jeopardy mega-champion Ken Jennings, signaling a seismic shift in computing. Like the human mind, Watson can process massive amounts of information --- but in a fraction of the time it would take a normal person. In this episode, Zachary Walchuk, developer evangelist at IBM Watson, shares how computers are starting to think a lot more like humans and what it means for our future.

During her time as Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, Patty McCord created the famous Netflix Culture Deck - one Sheryl Sandberg refers to as “...the most important document ever to come out of the Valley.” It comes as no surprise that Patty is a trusted advisor among bigwigs at places like Warby Parker, Bigcommerce, and Simply Hired. In today’s episode, Patty shares her firsthand advice on hiring invaluable teams, building a company culture, and dealing with the growing pains of scale.

Katie Doyle and Jay Adams, the co-founders of Brass Clothing, met when they were 14 years old. It’s on that foundation that they began Brass Clothing. With $25,000 in the bank from a Kickstarter campaign, they set out to build a company to rival fast fashion giants like H&M and Forever 21. They’re estimating $5M in revenue by end of 2017. In this episode, Katie and Jay share their perspective on fundraising and customer feedback, and how their evolving friendship has accelerated their company’s grow

What if everything around you was connected? That is our future, and Linden Tibbets, CEO of IFTTT, is at the center of it. IFTTT users have complete creative control over how they connect apps and products -- and the possibilities are endless. In this episode, Linden shares his predictions on the future of connectivity and the possible implications for humanity.

Jon Westenberg is arguably one of the top writers on Medium. He has over 50 thousand followers, and his content receives over 300 thousand views in a month. By any measure, Jon is incredibly successful - but he’s also taken his fair share of knocks. In this episode, Jon talks about some of the secrets to his success on Medium - and how a few important failures shaped who he is today.

Imagine starting a company with your significant other. Does that sound like a dream...or a nightmare? For married couple Anna and Nathan Bond, it seemed only natural to start a business together. Years ago, they began Rifle Paper Co., a stationery company, out of their garage. In this episode, Anna and Nathan share the real implications of having your business partner and romantic partner be the same person in your life - and how their relationship has been a key to growing Rifle Paper Co.

Over 3 million educated women in the U.S. are looking to re-enter the workforce after taking a career break - yet only 40% secure full-time jobs, according to the Center for Talent Innovation. That’s where Jennifer Gefsky, founder of Après, comes in. In this episode, Jennifer shares advice on how to prepare for a career break, what to do during the gap to ensure an easy transition back, and what businesses around the world have to gain from hiring these valuable candidates.

Suhail Doshi, the founder of Mixpanel, is not afraid to question the way things are done. It all started in 2009. Suhail challenged the “golden metric” of website success and opened the door to more detailed analytics. Today, Mixpanel has nearly 4,000 customers at companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Venmo. In this episode, Suhail shares how he managed to grow his company during a recession using his passion, discipline, luck, and unconventional way of thinking all along the way.

On paper, the hiring process appears fairly straightforward: read applications, interview, hire top talent, and then rinse and repeat … right? Well, not exactly. The thing is, the conventional hiring process is broken -- and Jon Bischke, CEO of Entelo, has made it his mission to mend it. In this episode, Jon schools us on the top mistakes managers make in the hiring process and the tactics you can employ to be better at recruiting the right talent to grow your team.

Are computers replacing humans? In short: not yet. That’s what Ryan Block, co-founder of Begin, believes, anyway - and he knows a thing or two about bots. In fact, his team is building one of their own, one that helps you stay on top of everything you've got going on. Ryan knows better than most what the bot timeline means for humans, and despite huge tech advancements, he’s largely skeptical. In fact, he claims we’re “15 Nobel Prizes away” from anything that could even remotely replace humans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People pay for convenience. In fact, the Journal of Economic Perspectives found that consumers are willing to pay 20% more for a product purchased at a convenience store. Kevin Gibbon, the founder of Shyp, experienced this firsthand during his college years as an eBay PowerSeller. During that time, there was one major inhibitor on his business’ scale: the shipping process. Kevin decided to take matters into his own hands, and started Shyp, an uber-convenient shipping service.

Victoria Ransom has never been afraid of doing things a little differently than her peers. By never shying away from the risks associated with making big changes, Victoria has reaped the rewards - one of them being an acquisition by Google for a reported $450 million. In this episode, Victoria tells us about the risks and rewards of being acquired by Google and the power of taking a break to unlock career growth.

Meet Frank Warren, the person who likely keeps the most secrets in the world. Twelve years ago, Frank asked people to anonymously send their secrets to him on a pre-stamped postcard. More than a decade later, his social experiment turned into one of the most-visited ad-free blogs in the world. In this episode, Frank shares why vulnerability was the key to PostSecret’s growth, and how it can be used to strengthen your core relationships, leadership skills, and business.

charity: water’s founder, Scott Harrison, spent 10 years as a club promoter before starting his nonprofit. A decade later, he’s managed to help over 6 million people get access to clean water. How did he rapidly grow charity: water with no experience in the nonprofit sector? He attributes his success to an often-undervalued quality: being naive. In this episode, Scott explains the perspective he’s gained being an outsider in the nonprofit sector and how this has helped him rapidly grow his organizatio

Bill Walton’s life is one of extremes. Back in the 80s, he was a talented player on the Celtics. He's also experienced some deeply difficult situations with his health. At one point, he didn’t think he’d be able to walk again. To navigate these ups and downs, he’s leaned on lessons from three of the most influential leaders of his life: John Wooden, his basketball coach at UCLA; Larry Bird, his teammate on the Celtics; and Jerry Garcia, his idol in The Grateful Dead.

As the Chief Creative Officer of GE, Andy Goldberg led the charge in developing new stories on emerging platforms and broadening General Electric's brand reach in the process. One of Andy's recent efforts was launching a podcast called "The Message." In the few weeks after launch, it shot up to the top of the iTunes charts, beating out hits like "Serial." On today's show, Andy shares advice on how to actually push a brand to explore these new, creative pursuits while still staying true to a company's roots.

Part of being an exceptional leader means setting a solid vision for your team - and getting them on board to execute your vision together. But that is easier said than done. Even if you have a great idea, getting your team to understand and support your vision comes with a host of challenges. Enter communications experts Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez. In their new book, "Illuminate," Nancy and Patti dive into research and real examples from companies like Apple, Disney, and IBM.

For Michael McNally, working at LEGO was destiny. As a kid, he was a die-hard LEGO fanatic. So when he stumbled on a LEGO job listing as an adult, he knew he had to take a chance and apply. Seventeen years later, he couldn't be happier with his choice. In this episode of The Growth Show, Michael shares stories about what it's been like to work for such an iconic company - and his experiences shaping the future of the LEGO brand.