The Growth Show

Christmas trees are big business in NYC. Running a tree lot takes grit and experience, and even then, it's a tough network to break into. All of the lots in the city are divided into separate territories, owned by only a handful of entrepreneurs. We spent the day working for NYC's busiest Christmas tree seller on Greg Walsh's busiest day of the year to better understand the wild logistics behind NYC’s Christmas tree economy and the tumultuous history of running a lot in this city. Get the Side Hustle Ideas Database: https://clickhubspot.com/ogv

Often called the Oscars of the food industry, the James Beard Foundation Awards are among the most coveted for chefs in America. But what's sold and packaged as prestige can sometimes become a distraction from managing the business that got you there. Host Matt Brown is joined by The New York Times food critic Brett Anderson & chef Chintan Pandya (Dhamaka, Semma, Adda, Unapologetic Foods) to learn that an award can not only change a winner's life but an entire industry as a whole.

Every year, the US throws out roughly 125 million tennis balls. That's enough to fill 21 Boeing 737s to the brim. And until recently, tennis balls were impossible to recycle. That's right, every ball ever produced would eventually end up in a landfill where it could take 400 years to decompose. But no more. The Hustle’s Matthew Brown visits West Virginia to track down what happens to tennis balls when they die. Check out The Hustle’s Side Hustles Database: https://offers.hubspot.com/side-hustle-ideas-database  Get the 5-minute newsletter keeping 2M+ innovators in the loop.

Watch any major awards ceremony. Not right now. You’re busy. But what those keen couple of eyes of yours will quickly notice is the way the camera moves. You can also see it on every reality tv, news, and competition show. In fact, once you see it, you'll never stop noticing it. And while the big, sweeping camera technique of these jibs might be etched into our collective brain matters at this point, this way we experience a production wasn’t even possible until the 1990s. The Growth Show is a special series brought to you by The Hustle Daily Show about how to grow a business, an idea, or a movement. Hosted by Matthew Brown.

Let's face it: Smoking is just f--ing cool. Run go watch any of the biggest films and tv from the past year. What do you notice? They all feature cigarettes and vapes. The dangers of smoking are well documented. But today, many Gen Z who try e-cigarettes remain e-cigarette users (CDC). So we talk with a new company called Blip about how they plan to un-hook an entire generation. The Growth Show is a special series brought to you by The Hustle Daily Show // Hosted and produced by Matthew Brown.

We're back -- now in special series form! That's right, the show you love and let stand in your podcast feeds returns for an all new run of growth stories. So here's how it works: New episodes launch on our cousin podcast The Hustle Daily Show. About a week later, you can catch the second wave over here on our original feed. Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Show to get new episodes when they drop (and your fair shake of business news each morning while you're at it). Our first episode back takes a dive into the mechanical wave pool of the future. Aventuur is planning to develop surf resorts in 11 cities across North America. But for their hefty price tag, success will take more than a perfect wave on demand. Hosted & produced by Matthew Brown // Previously released on The Hustle Daily Show // You're the best.

Kevin Kelly is a futurist and co-founder of Wired Magazine. His latest article looks at augmented reality's role in our future lives, in a world he calls the Mirror World. Kevin talks about how business leaders can be better futurists, and why it's not about being right but being ready. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following the death of George Floyd, Minnesota Freedom Fund found itself in the international spotlight. Over 900 thousand donations, from around the globe, came pouring in. And celebrity endorsements from folks like Mark Ruffalo guided their followers on how to help support protesters. As Greg Lewin quickly found out, he needed to not only scale operations at Minnesota Freedom Fund fast but maintain the integrity of its important mission to end discriminatory, coercive, and oppressive jailing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a global scale, women only hold 29 percent of senior management positions. Not to make any sweeping assumptions, but that’s a far cry from gender equality. But 29 percent is also the highest percentage ever recorded in that category. And it’s thanks to folks like Mia Perdomo and Andrea de la Piedra -- the co-founders and co-CEOs of Aequales. Their consulting firm provides tools for closing gender gaps in the workplace in Latin America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marcus Baskerville created Black is Beautiful -- a collaborative beer initiative amongst the brewing community and its customers -- in an attempt to bring awareness to the injustices that many people of color face daily. And you can now find this open source beer at 1,158 breweries, in 50 states, and 21 countries. And As someone who has personally dealt with the abuse of power by the police, this recent turmoil the country is facing has hit home for Marcus.

If you have a dog, then you know BarkBox. It’s customizable monthly subscription boxes are your dog’s favorite pieces of mail. Co-founder Matt Meeker believes the secret to the company’s success is putting every four-legged (and two-legged) friend first. Matt talks about how a pig, yes a pig, redefined the company’s personalization policies and why BARK has invested so heavily in customer service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rodney Williams founded LISTNR with one thing in mind: simplicity. He saw that the way we buy items involves too many steps. And it could all be solved through the use of sound. LISTNR uses ultrasonic sound to transfer data. That means truly contactless transactions -- be it at the coffee shop, the drive through, or your next concert. Remember concerts? Register for INBOUND 2020: Inbound.com/register Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Rea started Binging with Babish almost by accident. And nearly 8M subscribers later, he’s grown it into one of the biggest shows on YouTube. His secret ingredient? His audience. Andrews talks about the show’s steady feed of audience insights and opens up about his own struggles with mental health and recovering from COVID-19. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kim Crowder is a consultant, whose expertise covers diversity, equity, and inclusion. In particular, she’s a corporate anti-racist trainer. To say the least, Kim has been busy lately. The recent protests in the US that started back on May 26 in Minneapolis in response to the death of George Floyd sparked a movement that also had companies taking a hard look at policy bias and racism in their own workplaces. But to make real, lasting change, it all starts at the top. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Quah is almost synonymous with podcasts. His newsletter Hot Pod gives a weekly rundown on all things podcasts. And he recently partnered with LAist Studios to create his first podcast called Servant of Pod. And yes, it’s about podcasts. Wait, have we mentioned podcasts? Nick talks with Meghan about what went into creating his new show, how businesses are in a unique position to determine the future of podcasting, and why his gut questions whether branded podcasts should exist at all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tinashe Blanchet is the founder of The Learning Lab, a New Orleans-based non-profit organization and education space that hosts two summer camps. But given the need for social distancing, Tinashe had to quickly move both camps to fully virtual. She talks about how, for the safety of everyone at the camps, she stood in opposition of local government recommendations. And Tinashe explains why the work being done today will help shape the way technology is used in classrooms in the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steve Blank is not a prophet. But as one of the minds behind the highly influential Lean Startup movement, when Steve starts to look at the future of how we do business, people listen. Steve returns to explain why The Lean Startup is even more essential than ever for businesses right now as they work to not only survive the pandemic but set themselves up to thrive coming out of it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Coolidge Corner Theater opened in 1933 during the Great Depression and has become a landmark in the city of Boston. But as non-essential businesses were ordered to close, it left many in the film industry wondering: Is it curtains for the indie theater system? Katherine Tallman, executive director at Coolidge Corner Theater, talks about pivoting online with Virtual Screening Room and whether she sees on-demand studio releases as the future of our moviegoing experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bookshop is an online platform where you can buy books from local and independent bookstores. But founder Andy Hunter never imagined how quickly he’d need to scale the company after only launching in January. That’s because what bookstores were experimenting with in February became what they’d need to survive in March. Andy talks about how he’s not only taking on Amazon, but how Bookshop is creating virtual bookseller communities that are reflective and even larger than their physical ones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danielle Mullen is the owner of Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery -- Chicago’s only black woman-owned bookstore. She’s worked tirelessly to build a community and improve literacy in the city. As the current crisis closed bookstores around the country, Danielle moved to online sales. But she wasn’t about to handover her store’s keys to the same online giant that’s put so many other independent bookstores out of business. Instead, she found a new platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices