The Entrepreneurs
A weekly deep dive into global business. Inspiring stories from startups to legacy brands in hospitality, design, fashion, and retail.
Latest Episodes
Fully
David Kahl is the CEO and founder of Fully, a Portland-based office-furniture brand designing desks and chairs which, it says, encourage a more active and energetic workspace. Kahl started his professional life as an accountant. The job took him to Manhattan, where he lived through the horrors of September 11th,…
Eureka 173: Spinbox
Stephen Ying is the founder of Spinbox, a company making portable turntables with the aim of bringing music on vinyl to new audiences. Ying is a classically trained musician who also tours the world as DJ QuestionMark. By creating Spinbox he was hoping to introduce more people to a DIY…
Huel
Julian Hearn is the founder of nutrition brand Huel, one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK. Hearn sold a previous business for a tidy sum in 2011 before launching Huel in 2015 with input from nutrition expert James Collier. The company has sold more than 40 million meals in…
Eureka 172: Warner’s Distillery
Tom Warner is the co-founder and director of Warner’s Distillery, the UK’s largest independent gin brand. It’s based on a 200-year-old farm in Northamptonshire that has been in the family for generations; now it boasts a two-hectare botanical garden, more than 400,000 bees and bountiful berries that go into a…
Duolingo
Luis von Ahn is co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, the world’s most popular language-learning tool, teaching more than 35 languages to 300 million people globally. Presented like a game, the platform plays to our competitive nature: a passive-aggressive owl called Duo reminds users to practise daily. The company is also…
Eureka 171: Turntablista
Monocle’s Alexei Korolyov meets Masha Dabelka, a Russian DJ, artist and founder of Turntablista, a school in Vienna teaching the art of turntablism and nurturing women DJs. Dabelka launched the project after winning a contest and bursary from Vienna Business Agency’s creative centre Departure. The school gives students an opportunity…
Folk
Folk’s creative director Cathal McAteer founded the streetwear label in 2002 after moving to London from Glasgow. Known for their lush materials, wearable feel and smart details, Folk’s clothes have cult status worldwide. The brand recently launched a low-impact partnership with retail giant John Lewis called It’s All Good Folk.
Eureka 170: Year & Day
Kathryn Duryea is the CEO and founder of Year & Day, the San Francisco-based tableware company making ceramics, cutlery and glassware. In creating a brand that helps people connect around the table at home, she set out on her own, finding partners in Italy and Portugal to craft the necessary…
Norma Kamali
This New York-based fashion designer, whose career spans five decades, has always been ahead of the curve, whether reusing parachute silk, designing the sleeping-bag puffer coat that made her name, becoming obsessed with personal health or championing gender-neutral clothing. She has designed pieces for Whitney Houston, Farrah Fawcett, Bianca Jagger,…
Eureka 169: KOA
Hiro Shinn and Ty McLaren are the founders of KOA, a New York-based men’s skincare brand inspired by the natural beauty of Hawaii. They started their careers together in investment banking but quickly decided that they were more interested in building a brand of their own.
