Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2017 i Entrepreneur Magazine

IN 1894, a New York Times writer warned against the dangers of riding a bicycle, predicting that it would lead to “weakness of mind, general lunacy, and homicidal mania.” In 1925, the dean of Princeton University asserted that cars would make young people “look lightly at the moral code.” For years, I’ve kept a collection of these bonkers predictions. They’ve always struck me as funny—and, critically, as proof that innovation isn’t as scary as it seems. I think about them anytime someone confuses “new” with “threatening.” And then one day, it hit me: This would make a great podcast. Did I know how to podcast? Not a clue. But it seemed like a fun idea. A friend gave me a used microphone, I teamed up with a guy I met…

Since its launch in 2013, Zola has had one way to make money: wedding registries. The company makes registries easier and more efficient—for example, offering the ability to curate them from dozens of brands, to delay shipping gifts until after the nuptials, and to allow guests to pool funds into group gifts or honeymoon experiences. This has attracted hundreds of thousands of lovebirds to the site. Zola takes a 40 percent cut, on average, of gifts purchased directly from its marketplace and a smaller slice of items purchased through affiliates. It’s a straightforward business model, but last year, founder and CEO Shan-Lyn Ma was eager to expand. She knew what users wanted. “The number one request from couples was help with planning more of their wedding,” Ma says. But she…

Q I’m about to start my own business, but I want someone to help juggle the responsibilities. How do I find a cofounder who’s the right fit? —ELIZABETH L. TO COFOUND or not to cofound? It’s a complicated question many entrepreneurs face, and the search for a partner can feel more like a game of roulette than a calculated business decision. Do you need a cofounder to succeed? Not necessarily. But if you want to build a dynamic duo, there are several factors to consider as you begin your hunt. Elizabeth, if you were located in Denver, I’d have you sit down for coffee with Andrew Schremp, a friend of mine and the founder and CEO of Health Sqyre, a patient-oriented online marketplace for medical equipment. He went through a…

David Chang is losing his voice. It’s been a busy few days, even by Changian standards. In addition to darting between the seven restaurants he runs in New York, overseeing the six others scattered from Sydney to Toronto, plotting new ventures and partnerships, and accommodating the usual army of journalists ravenous for his attention, he had just flung open the doors of Fuku Wall Street, the sixth location of his fried-chicken chain. And the very next morning, he appeared outside the restaurant’s East Village address to greet sneakerheads waiting in a line for the release of his limited edition Nike Dunks: black denim high-tops emblazoned with a cartoon peach, the logo of Chang’s restaurant empire, Momofuku. The Nike collaboration is the sort of thing that might invite snark—are we really…

“Oh my God, that’s terrible!” Dylan Lauren has just taken a bite out of an organic peanut butter cup, let out a sound almost identical to Lucille Ball’s signature “uugh,” and promptly spat out the barely masticated substance into a napkin. She then slides one across the table and suggests that I try it for myself. So I do, and she’s right—it’s terrible, and tastes every bit as you’d expect a sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free Reese’s-cup facsimile would. I’m sitting in on a biweekly licensing meeting at the Upper East Side headquarters of Dylan’s Candy Bar, where buyers Lauren Ulstad and Michele Polito present Lauren, who is the cofounder and CEO of the eponymous confectionery empire (and is intent on tasting and testing every single thing her company sells), with samples…

FANNY PEREZ / Las Delicias de Fanny The Ecuador native runs a catering company, servicing events with up to a thousand guests. “She makes the best roasted pork you’ve ever tasted,” Waldman Rodriguez says. MAYA MACLAUGHLIN / Maya’s Jams MacLaughlin’s jams are sold at Whole Foods in Harlem. “A cookie maker used her jam for a filled cookie, which is just off the hook,” the CEO says. ISABEL GUNTHER / Little Green Gourmets Inspired by her toddler, Gunther launched a healthy-meals delivery service for kids—carrot mac and cheese!—that caters to homes and schools in New York City.…

Richard Weissman knows the value of a good lesson. In 1980, when his parents opened The Learning Experience, a private preschool in Boca Raton, Fla., he learned about hard work, spending his after-school hours mopping floors and cleaning toilets. In 1987, after cofounding a new learning center franchise concept, Tutor Time, with his parents, he learned about the perils of rapid growth: Success came quickly, too quickly to manage, and by 1999 the Weissmans were no longer running the business. Weissman moved on to a less-than-satisfying stint in private equity, where he concluded that his business roots still rested with business ownership and education. That was why, in 2001, he set out to revive his parents’ original brand, The Learning Experience, with a handful of locations. But his plan for…

Back in February 2012, Anna Dey called her dad in Cleveland with what seemed like an impulsive request. “You’re not happy with your career, and you’re still 10 years away from retiring,” she said. “I want you to help me open a gym.” ¶ His reply? “Hell, no.” ¶ She’d expected as much. Her dad, Von Hollingsworth, had spent 30 years in the electronics-distribution industry. He had a comfortable, stable career, and he wasn’t going to throw it away on a lark. But to Dey this was no lark. Then 24 and just two years out of college, she was a sales manager for Altria, which used to be known as Philip Morris. Basically, she sold cigarettes. But her real passion was fitness. All day, she thought about her workouts.…

EVERY BUSY ENTREPRENEUR knows you have to take breaks. And yet breaks often take a backseat to, you know, attending to the vast amount of work we have to do on a daily basis. But therein lies the paradox of breaks. Working for long, uninterrupted hours, day after day, may make you feel productive, but, in reality, it’s likely hurting your performance. The fact is: Breaks work. Studies show that people who take a breather approximately every hour perform better than those who work for several hours straight. Others have found that our brain activity actually increases when we let our minds wander. There are cognitive benefits to be had from taking breaks, and productivity gains to be seized. You just have to do it right. Here are three proven…

There’s a saying among pilots about certain types of human error: “There are those who have, and those who will.” Starting and building a business is much the same—no matter how good you are, how hard you try, or even how much you care, sooner or later you’re going to get it completely and horrifyingly wrong. The good news is that, at least some of the time, and more often than you might think, these catastrophes are not only salvageable but can lead to some of the most valuable client relationships you’ll have. I am the cofounder of a talent management software company that has grown by nearly 300 percent over the past several years. A while back, I was asked to join one of my account managers and her…

Hanson Grant was sitting in his dorm room at Babson College, trying to figure out how to write on the walls. “I couldn’t drill holes to set up a whiteboard, and I couldn’t paint my walls with dry-erase paint,” he says. “So I thought, What if I could peel and stick a whiteboard on the wall?” That led him to develop a film that affixes to surfaces, turning almost anything, even his desk or closet, into a dry-erase board. He raised $10,100 on Kickstarter. A local NBC news story brought in 200 orders overnight through a website he set up. USA Today, the Today show, and others followed, fueling growth. A year later, in 2015, Grant put his product on Amazon, hoping to keep the momentum going. Think Board quickly…

It’s 1 pm on a Thursday, and Bobby Flay is sitting in his favorite spot to conduct daily business: the corner banquette in the front window at Gato, the Lower Manhattan outpost of his fine-dining empire. He is dressed casually in a dark-blue henley and jeans, wrapping up a call as his team gets situated around him for the first agenda item of the day: testing 10 new cocktails. Marlene is the new bar manager, and this is her first time pitching the boss her own concoctions. She’s a bit nervous, but she’s done her homework. And Flay is impressed, on the whole, with her creations. But he zeroes in on one drink in particular. “You know what the surprising flavor in here is,” he tells her with genuine admiration,…

1 / Food-waste removal Detroit Dirt’s bread and butter comes from removing food waste from clients’ operations. “It’s the same as any waste management operation. We charge our clients and partners to pick up their food waste two or three times a week.” 2 / Community orders “Anybody can call me directly and order compost,” Murray explains. “It could be an elderly lady with a green thumb tending to her home garden, or an urban farmer working on a larger plot of land.” 3 / Retail partnerships This spring, Detroit Dirt partnered with local lifestyle brand Shinola, which sold five-pound boxes of compost (in sustainable packaging) in stores for $30 each. Big-box stores have come calling too, but she’s expanding slowly for now. “We’re trying to be smart about our…