Inc.

“I’d ask the employee what he or she thinks should happen, and then we’d work together to find consensus on an action plan. That allows us to get buy-in for consequences. It makes it more likely that folks will follow through, and if it does get to t

WHEN YOU OPEN THIS ISSUE and read the 2017 installment of our annual How I Did It feature, you’ll find that a couple of reactions are unavoidable. I contend you won’t be able to read these great entrepreneurs’ words without marveling at the amazing m

Sheryl Sandberg | Facebook → Social media By early 2015, Sheryl Sandberg seemed to have it all: a powerful role as the chief operating officer of Facebook; an influential voice for women in corporate America as the author of Lean In; and a happy, su

Rachel and Andy Berliner Amy’s Kitchen → Organic frozen-food entrées In 1987, Rachel and Andy Berliner launched their organic vegetarian frozen-food empire with a single pot pie out of their Petaluma, California, kitchen. Rachel, then pregnant with

Arianna Huffington | Thrive Global → Media and wellness Arianna Huffington, the co-founder of the Huffington Post, surprised many when she announced last year that she would be stepping down. She is throwing her energy behind a second startup, Thriv

Steph Korey and Jen Rubio | Away → Luggage manufacturer Steph Korey (left) and Jen Rubio had a problem. Their planned launch of Away, a new luggage brand, was fast approaching–and none of their suitcases would be ready to sell in time. Luckily, the

John Boiler | 72andSunny → Advertising agency In a past life, John Boiler was a revered creative director at Wieden + Kennedy, the West Coast advertising agency that helped put Nike on the map with iconic campaigns such as “Just Do It.” He was also

James Alefantis | Comet Ping Pong → Pizzeria Of all the bizarre turns in the 2016 presidential race, few top Pizzagate. The conspiracy theory, spread across alt-right media, centered on the idea that Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, one of her top

Ben Weiss | Bai Brands → Beverages Bai Brands founder Ben Weiss created a low-calorie, low-sugar, antioxidant-rich beverage based on coffeefruit–the bitter pulp that surrounds coffee beans and is usually discarded. After launching from his Princeton

Katia Beauchamp | Birchbox → Beauty products sampling service Katia Beauchamp launched Birchbox, along with Harvard B-school classmate Hayley Barna, in New York City in 2010. They vaulted the beauty product sampling service to more than a million su

Hayden Slater | Pressed Juicery → Fresh juice retailer Hayden Slater opened Pressed Juicery in 2010 with two friends who shared his devotion to fresh juice. Each put in $30,000. They set up in the back of a Beverly Hills cupcake shop. Just as the co

THE DIGITAL AGE HAS MADE so much about entrepreneur ship easier. There are services to take care of everything, including human resources (Zenefits), office space (WeWork), manufacturing (Alibaba), and fundraising (Indiegogo). If you have a whim and

NO ONE LAUNCHES AN INITIATIVE assuming it’s going to fail. “We start with truly high hopes for any project,” says Meir Statman, a professor of finance at Santa Clara University and author of Finance for Normal People. “But then things happen.” The ma

THERE’S A COMMON MISTAKE many entrepreneurs make once they’ve had their initial taste of success. Long before they’ve exhausted the growth possibilities of their first company, they decide to start another one in a totally unrelated business they kno

The internet of things promises to bring any company into the future. How you too can come along for the ride

IT’S 1890. YOU OWN A SMALL insurance company that sells accident protection and marine policies. Your business is growing quickly but faces one key challenge: There’s no electric light. Your productivity rises and sets with the sun. (Gas lamps are av

IN 2014, HOME DECOR retailer Garden Ridge spent more than $20 million to rebrand itself—a new logo, new store layouts, and a new name, At Home. But giving the 35-year-old Plano, Texas–based chain’s staff a reboot was a challenge. “We had fairly jaded

Coffee snobs—in the form of roboticists, computer scientists, and engineers—are building businesses that claim to brew a better cup of coffee. Take a look inside the entrepreneur-fueled coffee arms race, which has attracted more than $300 million in

Entrepreneurs are told to go big or go home. Stop obsessing over scale, and perfect the basics