How I Built This

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Mar 17, 2021 6:12 AM

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https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this

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Khan Academy: Sal Khan : How I Built This with Guy Raz

In 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.

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Khan Academy: Sal Khan : How I Built This with Guy Raz

How I Built Resilience: Brian Chesky of Airbnb : How I Built This with Guy Raz

In 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.

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How I Built Resilience: Brian Chesky of Airbnb : How I Built This with Guy Raz

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How I Built Resilience: Dr. Iman Abuzeid of Incredible Health : How I Built This with Guy Raz

Dr. 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.

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How I Built Resilience: Dr. Iman Abuzeid of Incredible Health : How I Built This with Guy Raz

Dropbox: Drew Houston : How I Built This with Guy Raz

In 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.

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Dropbox: Drew Houston : How I Built This with Guy Raz

method: Adam Lowry & Eric Ryan (2018) : How I Built This with Guy Raz

In 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.

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method: Adam Lowry & Eric Ryan (2018) : How I Built This with Guy Raz

How I Built Resilience: Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp : How I Built This with Guy Raz

Yelp 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.

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How I Built Resilience: Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp : How I Built This with Guy Raz

How I Built Resilience: John Zimmer of Lyft : How I Built This with Guy Raz

This 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.

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How I Built Resilience: John Zimmer of Lyft : How I Built This with Guy Raz

Calendly: Tope Awotona : How I Built This with Guy Raz

After 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.

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Calendly: Tope Awotona : How I Built This with Guy Raz

How I Built Resilience: Luke Holden and Ben Conniff of Luke's Lobster : How I Built This with Guy Raz

COVID-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.

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How I Built Resilience: Luke Holden and Ben Conniff of Luke's Lobster : How I Built This with Guy Raz

Chilewich: Sandy Chilewich : How I Built This with Guy Raz

One 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.

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Chilewich: Sandy Chilewich : How I Built This with Guy Raz

How I Built Resilience: Niraj Shah and Steve Conine of Wayfair : How I Built This with Guy Raz

Despite 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.

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How I Built Resilience: Niraj Shah and Steve Conine of Wayfair : How I Built This with Guy Raz