CATEGORIES

The Humbling of Andy Dunn

This is the story of a founder who hit it big and suffered a mental breakdown-and his efforts to win back the trust and relationships he wrecked in the process. One day at a time. One person at a time.

Save Yourself—Then Save the Company

After a devastating customer experience, I regrouped and analyzed everything about my business-and then took my company back.

She's Outgrown the Garage and Is Ready for the Next Step. He Has the Experience to Guide Her

Boxed co-founder Chieh Huang helps Bearaby founder Kathrin Hamm navigate the thorny issues that arise when managing a rapidly growing business.

The Future of ...WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE RUNWAY IN FADS, FASHION, AND FIRMWARE

I think influencer marketing should become more plugand-play, like with Facebook ads."

NET ZERO

Give a ton of a carbon, take a ton. That's what we must do by 2050 or face climate catastrophe. Remarkably, it's possible with pretty simple math: Seven pioneering entrepreneurs plus seven technologies plus seven economic pathways equals a cool, carbon-neutral planet-and continued prosperity.

She Wants to Turn Her Brand Into a Following... And Her Mentor Knows How It's Done.

Emma Grede, co-founder of fashion brands Skims and Good American, shares business advice with KIN Apparel founder Philomina Kane.

A Killing in Cannabis

Tushar Atre was a longtime Silicon Valley entrepreneur when, in 2017, lured by the promise of a growing market, he launched a startup aimed at revolutionizing the extraction of cannabis. Within two years, he was dead and trailed by a cloud of questions about the true nature of America's newest gold rush.

The Power of 2

Conventional wisdom says that starting a fast-growth business with your spouse is too risky, too intense, too fraught with potential drama. But these couples have turned their partnerships into their superpowers.

Well Coached, Well Played

Tip Sheet

The Fastest Growing Companies Coast to Coast

To browse all 923 companies in the 2022 inc. Regionals, go to inc.Com/2022-regionals. These homegrown powerhouses are racking up the revenue, and poised to make this year's inc. 5000. They're also rich with hard-earned local knowledge about how to generate and manage growth that's off the charts.

HR Tech Helps SMBs Navigate the “Great Resignation

As the employer-employee paradigm goes through a period of turbulent change, HR technology provides a lifeline for small and midsize businesses

Let's Click on It

Selling a company is complicated. Get advice from the founders of companies such as Qualtrics, Bonobos, and Chewy at inc.com/ exit-interview.

I WAS WRONG CHASING THE ILLUSION OF "SUCCESS"

Amber Venz Box was a designer and personal shopper-turned blogger when, in 2011, at the age of 23, she founded the influencer-commission network RewardStyle. By 2021, the Dallas-based company had expanded into a global influencer-marketing platform, rebranded as LTK (short for LikeToKnowlt), and earned a valuation of $2 billion. As the company morphed, so did the founder's sense of its purpose.

FIELDS OF SCHEMES

When naming rights go wrong, they put a startup's calamities in bright lights and an entrepreneur's legacy in the hall of shame.

BETHENNY FRANKEL IS NOT WHO YOU THINK SHE IS

The former reality star is brash, ambitious, and most definitely underestimated. And that's precisely why she's such a brutally effective entrepreneur. Here's how she built her empire.

Out the Other Side

The burden of leading can be heavy even in the best of times. Coupled with the depression that afflicts so many founders, it can overwhelm their soul ... or forge it into something stronger.

The Future of...Fixing Pharmaceuticals

Eric Edwards is cofounder and chief executive officer of Phlow, a public benefit pharmaceutical corporation. He previously co-founded pharmaceutical company Kaléo, where, among other roles, he was responsible for overall scientific strategy and pharmaceutical development programs. Following an unprecedented year for the pharmaceutical industry, including leaps in vaccine technology and supply chain shortages, Inc. asked Edwards to share his vision for the future of pharmaceuticals.

She Broke the Bank

Luvleen Sidhu was just 28 when she founded BankMobile with a lofty mission: to reinvent banking for millions of Americans through the power of tech. The 2015 launch presciently anticipated the coming rise in mobile banking, and six years later the Radnor, Pennsylvania based business merged with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in a transaction worth $150 million. That made Sidhu the youngest female founder and CEO ever to take a company public, and led her to even grander goals: Still at the helm of the company—now called BM Technologies—she says she wants to “create ripple effects and inspire other women.” Here’s why you should put your money on her to do just that.

Meet Your Future Banker

In 2021, Brian Armstrong proved the digital economy doesn’t need the U.S. Dollar. Here’s why that’s important—why it matters to you —and why it makes his juggernaut, coinbase, inc.’s company of the year.

Fake It Till You Make... A Mess

When the media company Ozy unraveled last fall, its CEO, Carlos Watson-the would-be wizard of Ozy-stood accused of inflating performance, inventing partners, and looking the other way when his co-founder impersonated a YouTube exec to potential investors. It wasn't, however, the first time a finding hungry, win-at-any-cost entrepreneur would take preposterously desperate measures: Cook the books? Check. Conspire to traffic cocaine? Hey, it's financing! Dress like Steve Jobs? Sadly, yes. Take a look at some who crossed the line from unbridled hype to “Let me explain, Your Honor.” – BILL SHAPIRO

Force of Habit

THE CALORIE COUNTING CARDIO TRAINING STATIONARY BIKE GAMIFICATION STRESS REDUCING PSYCHO OPTIMIZING PEOPLE CENTERING WEIGHT LOSS SUBSCRIPTIONATING WHATEVER BEHAVIOR NEXT NEEDS CHANGING COMPANY | Noom’s founders built an overnight-success weight-loss app after years of failure. Now they’re working to parlay their big hit into a string of them.

IS YOUR HIRING IN NEED OF HELP?

TIP SHEET

Chris and Shivani VS. the World

Venture investor Chris Sacca talks with Shivani Siroya, founder of fintech company Tala, about scaling up your business without locking it down.

Flipping The Scrip

In 2011, tech industry veteran Doug Hirsch launched digital health care marketplace GoodRx with Scott Marlette and Trevor Bezdek. With 20 million people now using it every month to find affordable prescription medications, GoodRx has saved them $30 billion. Hirsch has continued to serve as co-CEO since taking the company public last year. We asked him how he’s kept it healthy through all the changes.

Kara Goldin – Making a Bigger Splash

Hint founder and CEO Kara Goldin talks to Park Place Payments founder and CEO Samantha Ettus about breaking into a new industry with an unconventional strategy.

Farming Grows Up

A group of startups raises lettuce, tomatoes, and berries in high-rise plant factories. The founders aren’t farmers; they’re technologists who have shown that even the most grounded industry can be radically reinvented.

How Delane Parnell Beat the Game at Its Own Game

He was the living embodiment of the American Dream, a tireless entrepreneur who fought his way from Detroit’s meanest streets. Then Delane Parnell faced the moment that would define his gaming venture—and his life.

Down to Their Last Dollar

Businesses fail every day, from world-beaters (like TWA and Lehman Brothers) to sexy high-fliers (DeLorean, Enron) to Steady Eddie, old-school icons (Toys “R” Us, Sears). Sometimes, of course, market conditions simply turn Sisyphean. But often, when that boulder starts to roll backward, a leader’s grit, imagination, resourcefulness, and ability to conjure a little luck can mean the difference between a brave new chapter and, well, Chapter 11. Here, four businesses that went from nearly bust to total gangbusters.

She has dreams of an IPO he knows how to make them reality

Liz Young, founder of real estate startup Realm, talks scaling up with Robert Reffkin, founder and CEO of Compass (No. 71, 2018 Inc. 5000), the largest independent real estate brokerage in the U.S. By Graham Winfrey

Easing The Heavy Lift

Stord’s cloud-based warehousing platform started as a student project. It could revolutionize the global supply chain.