Last EditedMar 17, 2021 6:12 AMHomepagehttps://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-thisStatusListeningListened9To ListenKhan Academy: Sal Khan : How I Built This with Guy RazIn 2009, Sal Khan walked away from a high-paying job to start a business that had no way of making money. His idea to launch a non-profit teaching platform was ignited five years earlier, when he was helping his young cousins do math homework over the computer.www.npr.orgHow I Built Resilience: Brian Chesky of Airbnb : How I Built This with Guy RazIn the early stages of the lockdown, Airbnb was in a freefall: it lost 80 percent of its business and laid off a quarter of its staff. But CEO Brian Chesky tells Guy that as people start to travel again-in cars, and closer to home-the company is beginning to recover.www.npr.orgListenedHow I Built Resilience: Dr. Iman Abuzeid of Incredible Health : How I Built This with Guy RazDr. Iman Abuzeid is the co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health, a digital platform that helps streamline the hiring process for nurses and recruiting hospitals. After seeing an increased demand for nurses in April, and a shift to hiring digitally, the platform has now been able to expedite the hiring process to 15 days or less, compared to an industry standard of 90 days.www.npr.orgDropbox: Drew Houston : How I Built This with Guy RazIn 2006, Drew Houston got on a bus from Boston heading to New York. He planned to use the three-hour ride to get some work done, so he opened his laptop, and realized he had left his thumb drive with all of his work files at home.www.npr.orgmethod: Adam Lowry & Eric Ryan (2018) : How I Built This with Guy RazIn the late 1990s, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan took on the notion that "green doesn't clean" by setting out to make soap that could clean a bathtub without harming the environment. Adam started experimenting with baking soda, vinegar, and scented oils, while Eric worked on making sleek bottles that looked good on a kitchen counter.www.npr.orgHow I Built Resilience: Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp : How I Built This with Guy RazYelp founder Jeremy Stoppelman says his leadership team anticipated a "nuclear winter" after the pandemic hit. But as businesses start to re-open, and ad revenues on the site creep back up, Yelp is bringing back furloughed employees and adding Covid-conscious features to its listings.www.npr.orgHow I Built Resilience: John Zimmer of Lyft : How I Built This with Guy RazThis year has brought unexpected challenges to Lyft, starting with a 75 percent drop in rideshares at the beginning of the pandemic. But co-founder John Zimmer says ride-hailing is returning, and the company is continuing to diversify with car, scooter, and bike rentals.www.npr.orgCalendly: Tope Awotona : How I Built This with Guy RazAfter emigrating from Nigeria to the US to attend college, Tope Awotona worked as a door-to-door salesman and eventually set out to become a tech entrepreneur. He launched a series of e-commerce businesses that quickly fizzled when he realized he had no passion for them.www.npr.orgHow I Built Resilience: Luke Holden and Ben Conniff of Luke's Lobster : How I Built This with Guy RazCOVID-19's impact on the seafood industry hit Luke Holden and Ben Conniff hard; in March they closed their restaurants and laid off 300 employees. Since then, Luke's Lobster has been able to stay afloat by upstarting an e-commerce website, but their focus remains on sustaining the local seafood economy of Maine.www.npr.orgChilewich: Sandy Chilewich : How I Built This with Guy RazOne night in 1978, for fun, Sandy Chilewich and her friend, Kathy Moskal, tried bleaching their black cotton shoes, and dyeing them a new color. They were just fooling around in their Manhattan loft, but that experiment sparked the idea for Hue, a line of colorful shoes, stockings, tights, and accessories.www.npr.orgHow I Built Resilience: Niraj Shah and Steve Conine of Wayfair : How I Built This with Guy RazDespite the economic crisis, Wayfair has seen an 84 percent sales spike, leading them to profitability during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine have also dealt with unexpected challenges, from hundreds of layoffs in February to employee-staged protests outside Wayfair's office in June.www.npr.org
