The Entrepreneurs
A weekly deep dive into global business. Inspiring stories from startups to legacy brands in hospitality, design, fashion, and retail.
Latest Episodes
Plus
Cathryn Woodruff and Julie Schott are the co-founders of Plus, a personal care brand making body wash in dissolvable packaging. The just-add-water idea brings together Woodruff’s passion for sustainable and purpose-driven brands, and Schott’s years of experience covering the beauty industry at ‘Elle’ magazine, where she noticed a huge waste…
The Mills Fabrica and Athletic Brewing Company
Christian Layolle is the UK head of The Mills Fabrica, which recently opened a new location in London’s King’s Cross. Aimed at bringing sustainable innovations to scale, it’s the long-awaited expansion of the Nan Fung Group’s business-incubator concept launched in Hong Kong in 2018. Plus: we head to Connecticut to…
Saint Ogun and Tickr
Nic Akinnibosun and Rico Oyejobi are the co-founders of Saint Ogun, a rum blended with spirits from five noted distilleries which celebrates the pair’s shared heritage and passions. Plus: we look at investment app Tickr with co-founder Tom McGillycuddy. The Certified B company has created a platform that allows people…
Polaroid and Petit Pli
Oskar Smolokowski is the chairman of Polaroid, the classic instant-photography brand that many thought was lost to time when its last film factory closed in 2008. Smolokowski and the Berlin-based start-up The Impossible Project not only revived the brand but have also created new cameras and film. Plus: aeronautical engineer…
Oura
Harpreet Singh Rai is CEO of Oura, a Finnish company launched in 2013. Oura’s lightweight ring, which is designed to be worn all day, evaluates sleep and activity to give its wearer minute details about their health and wellbeing. Metrics such as heart-rate variability, respiratory rate and body temperature can…
Lick and Karana
Lucas London is CEO and co-founder of Lick, a UK-based home-décor brand launched in 2020, which makes paint, wallpaper and blinds. The company recently partnered with Made.com and is aiming to inspire more people to take on home renovations. Plus: Monocle’s Nina Milhaud speaks to Karana co-founder Blair Crichton about…
Sustenir Agriculture and Hammerhead
Benjamin Swan is CEO and co-founder of Sustenir Agriculture, a Singapore-based company that has created a unique vertical farming model to help tackle food insecurity, reduce waste and lower the carbon footprint of food production. Plus: we hear from Hammerhead CEO and founder Pieter Morgan on creating a bike computer…
Nordic Knots and The True Honey Co
Liza Lazerow and Fabian Berglund are two of the co-founders of Nordic Knots, a Stockholm-based brand making rugs inspired by natural light in the Nordics and classic Scandinavian design. Plus: we meet Jim McMillan, the founder of The True Honey Co, a brand he was inspired to launch in 2013…
The Lost Explorer and Vision-Box
David de Rothschild is a conservationist and explorer, and the entrepreneur behind The Lost Explorer, an award-winning mezcal brand he created to show how production of the famed Mexican spirit could be done in a more sustainable way. Known for his adventures, De Rothschild discusses why mezcal had nothing to…
Ace Hotel
Brad Wilson is the president of the Ace Hotel group, which is set to open its latest property in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill with a Toronto property soon to follow. The first Ace Hotel was founded in Seattle in 1999 by partners Alex Calderwood, Wade Weigel and Doug Herrick, and Wilson…
