Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today’s innovative company builders.
Reworking Our Workplaces
THE ICE CREAM FLAVOR MAKER • Tyler Malek’s taste buds allow a Danny Meyer-backed chain of scoop shops to use ingredients such as bone marrow.
May I Ask Who’s Calling? • Chatting with customers by text allows business owners to send information quickly and cheaply at scale, prompting some companies to ditch their landlines completely. So, are voice calls obsolete? Inc. asked two founders to talk it through.
How Amazon Reshaped the World • Having conquered online retail, Amazon expanded expeditiously into cloud computing, media, and advertising. How? Bezonomics—the title of my book and the term I gave to CEO Jeff Bezos’s formula for success. It involves an obsession with customers, a mania for innovation, and a long-term point of view. But more than that, Bezos was first to deeply integrate data, machine learning, the internet of things, and A.I. into his company’s decision-making process, ensuring that Amazon would be driven by facts and radical transparency—and incredibly useful while working from home under lockdown.
Build a Better Bottle—From Paper • Seeking an eco-friendly detergent bottle, California mom Julie Corbett created her own.
Place of Business RENO, NEVADA • The Biggest Little City in the World wants you to know that it’s more than a casino town. As founders flee competitive startup hubs like the Bay Area, lower costs and a deepening talent pool have entrepreneurs going all in on Reno.
Andy Dunn
IS YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE HUMAN ENOUGH? • Fighting it out on price is difficult. Making a genuine connection with customers will bond them to you.
The Germinator
DTC Isn’t Dead—It’s Everywhere • Rumors abound of the end of direct-to-consumer e-commerce. So why are DTC sales expected to grow almost 25 percent this year?
Incubator or Accelerator? • While incubators generally help get companies started and accelerators speed their development, the line has blurred between the two as each adopts characteristics from the other. The result is a plethora of specialized options. Find the right fit for your company here.
How SMBs Can Build Growth-Ready Teams • Planning for the long term should continue despite short-term challenges in other areas.
How I Get It All Done (From Home) • For Modern Fertility’s Afton Vechery, the biggest adjustment to going remote during the coronavirus crisis has been minor but symbolic: “I’ve had to switch from contacts to glasses because of all the screen time and video calls,” she says. Vechery cofounded her home-fertility-test startup, which has $22 million in funding, in 2017. While many now have plenty of time on their hands for, well, fertility, Vechery is busier than ever. Here’s how she stays productive.
Find the Right Balance Between Humans and Bots • Before you build that A.I. platform, it might be wise to use real people to perfect the process—and to see if you even need it.
Tough Love From an Entrepreneurial Curmudgeon • Startups make lots of mistakes. The founder of Big Ass Fans is here to help.
Selling Ain’t Telling • Useful lessons from the frontlines of modern mythmaking.
Whom Are You Not Serving? Diversify Your Customer Base • Sequoia Ferguson and Consuelo Rosales tapped new markets to boost their businesses.
WHEN PLAN B IS A BEAUTY • Somewhere between a hockey-stick growth curve and a hit-the-wall failure lives “the pivot.” A deceptively sunny term, the pivot typically involves equal parts bug-eyed fear, rapid rereading of the market, hardnosed assessment of resources, and...