How I Built This

Uh, before we start, I just want to say thank you so much.

Um, I've learned so much from listening to "How I Built This" over the past years, and it's quite surreal to actually be here.

Today, uh, I'm Juliet Bruce, and I'm calling from Provence, uh, in the south of France.

I'm the founder and creator of Cooler Wand.

[upbeat music] All right, we're gonna take a quick break, but we'll be right back with another caller and another round of advice.

Stay with us.

I'm Guy Raz, and you're listening to The Advice Line right here on How I Built This.

Starting a small business is the fun part.

He has a podcast that's very popular.

It's called How I Built This.

I'm a big fan of that podcast, and he always finishes his interviews with this, so I'm gonna steal it from him.

But-

And I left.

Welcome to How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.

I'm Guy Raz, and on the show today, how Kim Vaccarella set out to build a better beach bag, gave up on it too early, and then got back in the game to grow Bog Bag into a multi-million dollar brand.

One of the biggest challenges for any entrepreneur is knowing when to quit.

When we come back in just a moment, Kim takes her bags to a trade show for the first and almost the last time.

Stay with us.

I'm Guy Raz, and you're listening to How I Built This.

As I mentioned earlier, every founder I talk to does it all.

Today, I'm gonna talk to somebody who has achieved enormous success through investigating this very process.

Guy Raz is a pioneering podcaster, uh, and perhaps his signature show, he's got several shows, but his, probably his most famous show is called How I Built This, where he talks to titans of industry about how they got there.

In the process of making the show, Guy has become a titan of the podcasting industry.

His other shows include Wow in the World and The Great Creators.

He's also written a number of books, including one called How I Built This.

We first aired this episode in January of 2025, and we're bringing it back now because, uh, you loved it then, and so I suspect a lot of you will love it now.

In this conversation, we talk about the challenge and gift of failure, getting comfortable with discomfort and risk, the notion of luck, the balance between your relationships and your work, why scale is not always the answer, success versus happiness, and much more.

And I called back right away and they said, uh, and I said, "I'm in Washington, DC.

And about two months after that show, our sales just disappeared completely.

Welcome to How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.

I'm Guy Raz, and on the show today, how a family potato chip company gave rise to a brand-new family business, Late July, a brand of organic snacks that struggled for years until it found its hero product.

There's something that happens when you build your business around a highly specific type of product.

When we come back in just a moment, Nicole looks for a way to revive her sales and faces a major crisis personally and financially when her dad dies.

Stay with us.

I'm Guy Raz, and you're listening to How I Built This.

We get support from U.S. Bank.

Whether they liked it or not, it struck a chord, and, and that's, that's marketing 101.

Welcome to How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.

I'm Guy Raz, and on the show today, how the ambition to build a tougher and colder cooler led to Yeti, a high-end brand that does over $2 billion in sales.

It's easy to assume that founders who come up with an idea for a niche market secretly have bigger ambitions.

When we come back in just a moment, Roy and Ryan head down that path to a brand-new manufacturer, and it works out great until they get a horrible piece of news.

Stay with us.

I'm Guy Raz, and you're listening to How I Built This.

This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card.

Welcome back to Seven Minute Books.

I'm Sam, and today we're cracking open How I Built This by Guy Raz.

So Sophie, you've listened to the podcast for ages.

What did you think when he turned it into a book?

I remember one investor who said what I was doing was terrible, that women should be breastfeeding, that his wife had breastfed all of their kids exclusively, and he only knew the world by which breastfeeding worked and couldn't understand why I would dedicate my time, energy, and capital to going to making something that the world didn't need.

Welcome to How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.

I'm Guy Raz, and on the show today, how Laura Modi broke through one of the toughest barriers in food to build Bobbie, an infant formula startup that's taking market share from two industry giants.

Baby formula is one of those products most of us probably don't think much about until we need it, and when you do need it, it suddenly becomes one of the most important things you'll ever buy.

When we come back in just a moment, Laura gets an unexpected visit from the FDA, which sets her business back by a year and a half.

Stay with us.

I'm Guy Raz, and you're listening to How I Built This.

This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card.