Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2018 i Entrepreneur's Startups

John Foley can’t find his desk. The cofounder and CEO of Peloton is showing me around the Manhattan headquarters of his company—which streams boutique-style cycling classes to high-tech, at-home exercise bikes—and explains that the open floor plan was recently rearranged. It’s something they do every six months to keep the space feeling fresh and get different departments talking, he says. It’s a practice he loves, and he stands by it. Though it can be disorienting. “Oh, here it is!” He practically giggles. It turns out his desk is now next to Hisao Kushi’s, one of his cofounders. As our tour continues through the offices, Foley is warm and affable with the ever-increasing number of staffers. The company moved here a year and a half ago and took up two full…

As the franchise world continues to grow and evolve, there are more and more opportunities available for just about every investment level and lifestyle. If you’re on the hunt for an affordable franchise, start your search here with our lists of the top franchises that can be started for less than $50,000, less than $100,000, and less than $150,000. And because where you spend your time can be as important a consideration as how you spend your money, we’ve also identified the franchises on this list that can be run from home or from a mobile unit, without the need for an office or retail space. These franchises are ranked based on the scores they received in Entrepreneur’s 2018 Franchise 500 ranking, determined by a comprehensive…

Amazon has grown into the largest internet retailer in the world; it’s home to an Oscar- and Emmy-winning production studio; its subscription service, Amazon Prime, reached 90 million members last year (up from 58 million in 2016); and it’s made founder Jeff Bezos one of the richest men on the planet. This success alone—to see opportunities where others haven’t, and move into them faster than others can—makes him one of the most daring entrepreneurs of all time. But alongside that, Bezos has proven himself adept at taking on totally unexpected challenges. Case in point: Last year’s purchase of Whole Foods markets and his stewardship of The Washington Post . In sum, Bezos doesn’t just buy a company—he uses it to rethink an industry. To understand how…

THE BUILDING ON CONOVER STREET in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn that houses Sunny’s Bar isn’t much to look at—just a squat utilitarian block of red-painted brick with a sign hanging over the front door that announces, helpfully, bar. In the froth and churn of Brooklyn real estate, buildings like it go down all the time to make way for offices and condos. But for owner Tone Balzano Johansen, widow of beloved longtime proprietor Sunny Balzano (who died in 2016), it’s sacred space. It’s 100 years of Balzano family history, the place teeming with the ghosts of longshoremen and artists, a place where live music is something you do, not listen to. It’s a piece of old Brooklyn still doggedly refusing to knuckle under to the new world order.…

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. And when…

Waxing the City salons are all about making a woman feel like the best version of herself. But for Jane and Jo Haubrich, the owners of two franchise locations in Minnesota, that mission applies to their customers and employees. The sisters grew up in a farming family of eight, and while they dreamed of taking over the farm, their father told them that the agriculture world was no place for women. Undaunted, they looked for opportunities elsewhere. They ended up building successful careers across varied industries, such as healthcare, hospitality, consulting, and magazine publishing. In 2013, they became Waxing the City franchisees, and they vowed to do everything they could to provide career opportunity to all women in their community—pointedly hiring those who have battled obstacles…

IT’S a weekday morning and Howard Mierau’s 2-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter is paddling in a heated pool at the Goldfish Swim School franchise in Needham, Mass. The blond-haired, blue-eyed toddler, clad in a baby-blue swimsuit, spends two or more mornings a week here learning water safety and swimming techniques, while her grandfather watches from the tiki-themed viewing area. And when they’re not at Goldfish, they’re at another franchise, Gymboree Play & Music. This all looks quite different from when Mierau raised his own daughter decades ago. Back then, his wife stayed home while he worked as a computer programmer. But that daughter grew up, got married, and had a child of her own—and because she and her husband work full time and want to make sure their daughter is fully occupied and looked…

When Amol Kohli took his first job at a Friendly’s restaurant in Philadelphia, he was 15 and had one goal in mind: work his way up to manager, so he could beef up his college applications. He set out to become indispensable, learning every position in the restaurant. Need a server? Kohli was there. Down a dishwasher? Kohli filled in. Short a cook? He could do that, too. His bosses took notice, and he earned that manager position, working until he departed for college. After graduation, he returned to the business he knew inside and out and became a franchisee. Now Kohli owns 12 Friendly’s locations in the Philadelphia area, as well as four Tilted Kilt pubs. As the 30-year-old navigates the business world, he’s learned how to connect with…

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…