To Improve Is to Change. to Be the Best Is to Change Often

To improve is to change. To be the best is to change often.

Introducing the 2019 Mercedes-Benz C-Class. It’s the total package of intelligence, style and performance. The new C-Class has more groundbreaking driver assistance technology than ever before, with strikingly redesigned headlamps and a powerfully efﬁcient engine. The 2019 C-Class proves it’s possible to make the best, better. Learn more at MBUSA.com/C-Class.

2019 C300 Sport Sedan shown in Iridium Silver metallic paint. Optional equipment shown and described. Vehicle available fall 2018. ©2018 Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC For more information, call 1-800-FOR-MERCEDES, or visit MBUSA.com. W and M The Weapon Secret (Business) Derek Jeter’s Funding Guide The Female Founder’s ANNE WOJCICKI SALLIE KRAWCHECK REESE WITHERSPOON SHONDA RHIMES ensuring greatensuring leadership. on overcoming failure—and Brownenlisted to share her wisdom all have Nutanix and IBM, Pixar, Brené Brown ost ost omen

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The new Sprinter. Coming soon. Available in diesel or gas, our most capable van ever is about to roll off the assembly line. With the safety, technology, and custom conﬁgurations you need to get the job done. Learn more at mbvans.com Built for you. The new Sprinter. Built in the USA. Mercedes-Benz factory in North Charleston, South Carolina The UPS Store® locations are independently owned and operated by franchisees of The UPS Store, Inc. in the USA and by its master licensee and its franchisees in Canada. Services, pricing and hours of operation may vary by location. Copyright © 2018 The UPS Store, Inc. Every ing for small business. And, of course, shipping. Fast is a Gig-speed network that gets business done.

Beyond Fast is technology that makes business boom.

Comcast built the nation’s largest Gig-speed network to deliver unrelenting speeds to more businesses in more places. Now we’re going beyond with Gig-speed enabled solutions that enhance your employee and customer experiences. 4G network backup offers complete reliability for your business, so you can keep going for up to 6 hours even if the power goes out or a connection is lost. WiFi analytics generates insights about what your customers want—to keep them coming back. Award-winning conference call features eliminate the need for dial-ins and PINs so you can join calls with a single tap. X⇒ nity Stream for Business brings live TV content to customers and their employees on any device without the need or expense of additional equipment. All of which improves the way you do business so you can go beyond. Take your business beyond. ComcastBusiness.com

Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. Voice: If there is a power outage or network issue, calling, including calls to 911, may not be available. TV: Stream for Business limited to up to 5 simultaneous streams. Available for Private viewing only. Not available for bars and restaurants. Internet: Connection Pro 4G backup requires Comcast Business Internet at additional monthly charge. Maximum download 940 Mbps when hardwired via Ethernet. Actual speeds vary and are not guaranteed. ©2018 Comcast. All rights reserved. CONTENTS OCTOBER 2018 48 Female Founders 100 Morgan DeBaun, founder of media company Blavity, one of 100 entrepreneurs honored in our list of groundbreaking women.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KELIA ANNE ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 5 CONTENTS FEATURES

Against All Odds Horseracing has been one of the few legal ways to bet in the U.S., but that’s about to change. The woman behind the Preakness is 40 leaning into the curves. BY MARIA ASPAN

26 The Good, the Bad and the Internet Their friendship helped them co-found Reddit. But running the company drove them apart—and then back together. An exclusive excerpt from We Are the Nerds. BY CHRISTINE LAGORIO-CHAFKIN 48 Female Founders 100 What’s it like being a female entrepreneur? 88 Inc. and Fast Company teamed up to get some Say No to an IPO answers—directly from the source. Taking a company public is no longer the greatest measure of 66 68 72 82 success. Inc.’s 100 Private Titans Balancing Derek Founder. The Unlikely have chosen the freedom and the Scales Jeter’s CEO. Mama. Business of unfettered growth that come with An essential Secret The messy Being Brené having more control. collection of Weapon reality of running Being a BY BILL SAPORITO venture capital Jaymee Messler, a company social worker, and angel funds co-founder of while becoming leadership guru, that seek out the Players’ a mother. and best -selling women. Tribune, climbed author is hard BY KIMBERLY to the top of enough. Run- WEISUL the male- ning her own dominated business makes sports world. life even more She explains complicated. how she did it. BY MARIA ASPAN ON THE COVER AS TOLD TO BRENÉ BROWN, LEADERSHIP YASMIN GAGNÉ GURU, PHOTOGRAPHED IN AUSTIN BY RAMONA ROSALES

6 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG KAHN “My unlimited 2% cash back is more than a perk. It’s our healthcare.”

— Ken Jacobus, Good Start Packaging CEO

ĉĝĦĈęěħĚĭīĪĝĜĝĝĥĝĜ "% ġĦěęīĠĚęěģĬħħǉĝĪĠĝęĤĬĠěęĪĝĬħĠġīĝĥĨĤħıĝĝī ćĥęğġĦĝįĠęĬēČĊćċćĒăĂ!vāÿđĆĀÿāĉěħĭĤĜĜħĞħĪıħĭĪĚĭīġĦĝīī

āęĨġĬęĤčĦĝěħĥ×đĥęĤĤĀĭīġĦĝīī

ĐĝęĤěĭīĬħĥĝĪīĨęġĜĞħĪĪĝęĤīĬħĪġĝīāĪĝĜġĬęĨĨĪħĮęĤĪĝĩĭġĪĝĜ čǉĝĪĝĜĚıāęĨġĬęĤčĦĝĀęĦģÕēđÿÖČÿƣ! 'āęĨġĬęĤčĦĝ CONTENTS44 OCTOBER 2018 Active Learning 12 Editor’s Letter With Unruly Splats, The women who’ll lead us Bryanne Leeming 15 Launch invented a way to Why venture capital firms teach kids how to are finally hiring women. code—during play Plus: A haunted house gets time. into its customers’ heads; and the Jargonator 18 Double Duty Running a business while running for Congress 20 The Destination What city boasts the greatest concentration of women startup founders? Chicago 24 Discuss Are all-female working spaces good or bad for startups? 24 So Much for Retirement Grandmas are the secret ingredient in this company’s formula 34 Swimming With Sharks A comprehensive look at the benefits of being a Shark Tank contestant 36 Helaine Olen How to keep your investors happy 38 Inc. 5000 Insights How to cut perks without crushing morale 46 Norm Brodsky The only opinion that matters is yours 96 Inc. Life Sheena Yaitanes might have an MBA, but her true passion is color— and it shows

8 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNIE MARIE MUSSELMAN EVERYTHING WE EVER IMAGINED

AND THEN SOME

INTRODUCING THE ALL-NEW 2019 RDX

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RDX SH-AWD® with Advance Package shown. ©2018 Acura. Acura, RDX, SH-AWD, True Touchpad Interface, and the stylized “A” logo are trademarks of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. ELS Studio is a registered trademark of Panasonic Corporation of America. All rights reserved. *Based on U.S. News & World Report Luxury Compact SUVs segmentation as of 2/20/2018. Cargo capacity based on manufacturer’s data. Based on SAE J1100 cargo volume measurement standard plus loor space between rst and second seats and front seats moved forward. This gure compares more accurately with most competitive measurements. EDITOR IN CHIEF JAMES LEDBETTER VICE PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER RICHARD RUSSEY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EDITORIAL JON FINE MANAGING EDITOR, CONTENT STRATEGIES JANICE LOMBARDO EXECUTIVE EDITORS LAURA LORBER, DANIELLE SACKS SAN FRANCISCO BUREAU CHIEF JEFF BERCOVICI MANAGING EDITOR, INC.COM LINDSAY BLAKELY FEATURES EDITOR DIANA RANSOM SENIOR EDITORS DOUG CANTOR, JENNIFER EUM, GRAHAM WINFREY EDITORS-AT-LARGE MARIA ASPAN, LEIGH BUCHANAN, TOM FOSTER, BURT HELM, BILL SAPORITO, KIMBERLY WEISUL SENIOR WRITER CHRISTINE LAGORIO-CHAFKIN STAFF WRITERS EMILY CANAL, KEVIN J. RYAN, WILL YAKOWICZ STAFF REPORTER MARIA GUADALUPE GONZALEZ

CREATIVE DIRECTOR BLAKE TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR TRAVIS RUSE DIGITAL DESIGN AND DATA DIRECTOR KRISTIN LENZ ART DIRECTOR SARAH GARCEA DEPUTY PHOTO EDITOR ERNIE MONTEIRO ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR SAMANTHA KELLY ASSOCIATE DIGITAL PHOTO EDITOR ELLISE VERHEYEN DIGITAL PRODUCTION MANAGER JOEL FROUDE ASSISTANT EDITOR CAMERON ALBERT-DEITCH WEB PRODUCERS SOPHIE DOWNES, BRITTANY MORSE ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR TIM CRINO EDITORIAL ASSISTANT MICHELLE CHENG COPY CHIEF DAVID SUTTER RESEARCH DIRECTOR MARLI GUZZETTA PRODUCTION MANAGER GREY THORNBERRY COPY EDITOR PAM WARREN

BOARD OF ADVISERS ELIZABETH GORE, CHRIS HEIVLY, PHIL LIBIN, POONEH MOHAJER, DOUG TATUM, AMIR TEHRANI, NOAM WASSERMAN SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR NORM BRODSKY CONTRIBUTING EDITORS COELI CARR, JASON FRIED, THOMAS GOETZ, KATHY KRISTOF, ETELKA LEHOCZKY, SHEILA MARIKAR, ARNOBIO MORELIX, BILL MURPHY JR., HELAINE OLEN, KATE ROCKWOOD, BEN SCHOTT, AMY WEBB INTERN JEMIMA MCEVOY

HOW TO INC. INTEGRATED MARKETING INC. SPONSORSHIP SALES REACH US VICE PRESIDENT JENNIFER HENKUS NEW YORK SALES DIRECTOR KERI HAMMER 212-389-5300 ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS, INTEGRATED MARKETING SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES AMY CHRISTIANSEN, MEREDITH DELUCA, ALAN MOY 212-389-5300 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE CHRISTINE FULGIERI, HANNAH HASHMI MIDWEST SALES DIRECTOR MEREDITH WISNIEWSKI 708-929-8126 Inc., P.O. Box 3136 SALES AND MARKETING COORDINATOR NORTHWEST SALES DIRECTOR MARIAM MURRAY 415-999-7160 BENJAMIN GRANATH Harlan, IA 51593-0202 DETROIT ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE GEORGE WALTER 248-709-0727 RESEARCH DIRECTOR REG UNGBERG 800-234-0999 ATLANTA REP JASON ALBAUM 404-892-0760 DALLAS REP STEVEN G. TIERNEY 972-625-6688 icmcustserv@cdsfulfillment.com LOS ANGELES MANAGER LISA CARDEN 310-614-2070 SENIOR ADVISER IRVIN V. FALK OFFICE OF SENIOR ADVISER, AUTOS BRUCE MCNAUGHTON PUBLIC RELATIONS DREW KERR 212-849-8250 THE PUBLISHER FRANCHISE AND MARKETPLACE TOM EMERSON 516-442-5248 7 World Trade Center New York, NY 10007-2195 212-389-5300 MANSUETO VENTURES LLC PRINT PRODUCTION SENIOR MANAGER, DIGITAL CAMPAIGN STRATEGY MEAGHAN CURRAN mansueto.com CHAIRMAN JOE MANSUETO GROUP DIRECTOR KATHLEEN O’LEARY CEO ADVERTISING OPERATIONS MANAGER SUNG WOON KIL MANAGER, DIGITAL CAMPAIGN STRATEGY EDITORIAL PHONE ERIC SCHURENBERG JOCELLE ARCILLA CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER JOHN DONNELLY FINANCE MANAGER BOB BRONZO 212-389-5377 ASSOCIATE MANAGER, DIGITAL CAMPAIGN STRATEGY CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER MARK ROSENBERG GROUP MANAGER JANE HAZEL FAX 212-389-5379 THOMPSON WALL CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER BILL RIORDAN ASSOCIATE MANAGER DAVE POWELL WEB inc.com DIGITAL AD OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE JAHREN PRINCE VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR PATRICK HAINAULT MV DIRECT TO CONSUMER INTEGRATED PRODUCTS AND PLANNING [email protected] ASSISTANT TO THE CEO AND CRO ANNA MEYER VICE PRESIDENT ANNE MARIE O’KEEFE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY PERMISSIONS DIRECTORS TYLER ADAMS, MARCIE ROSENSTOCK CHRISSIE LAMOND [email protected] MV LIVE SENIOR MANAGERS JULIA PAN, REBECCA SULLIVAN PRODUCT MANAGER CIA BERNALES VICE PRESIDENT BREANA MURPHY INC. 500/INC. 5000 ASSISTANT MARKETING MANAGER ZALINI PERSAUD SENIOR ACCOUNT STRATEGISTS MARIO GUARDADO, INFORMATION EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, CONFERENCES AND EVENTS KIRK INOCENCIO [email protected] TENNILLE M. ROBINSON MV ENGINEERING DIGITAL PLANNER ALLISON CHEEK EVENT MANAGER, CONFERENCES AND EVENTS VICE PRESIDENT JASON TAGG DIRECTOR, DATA SCIENCE AND YIELD OPTIMIZATION REPRINTS ALEJANDRA VALDES JAMES VAN SWERINGEN LEAD DEVELOPER JOHN GUARAGNO 800-290-5460 ext. 128 EVENT PRODUCER JULIANNA CERCHIO [email protected] SENIOR DEVELOPERS AMINE BELKADI, DIGITAL GROWTH YONGZHI HUANG MV ENTERTAINMENT BACK ISSUES DEVELOPERS DAVID CHAN, BRIAN JIN, VICE PRESIDENT ALLISON FASS 800-234-0999 VICE PRESIDENT SCOTT MEBUS NICK MANNING, ADAM NOONAN-KELLY GROUP DIRECTOR STEPHANIE MEYERS DIRECTOR OF VIDEO CHRIS BEIER INTERACTIVE MEDIA DEVELOPER EDITORIAL PRODUCT MANAGER CAYLEIGH PARRISH DIRECTOR OF VIDEO PRODUCTION NATHAN BROADDUS STRATEGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Our subscribers list is SANDRA PASQUARIELLO VALERIE HEINMETS occasionally made available MANAGING PRODUCER VICTORIA GRACE DIGITAL DESIGN SOCIAL MEDIA PRODUCER ASHLEY WEBSTER to carefully selected firms VIDEO PRODUCERS JAMES ATAMIAN, DIRECTOR HAEWON KYE SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNS TIM MCAWARD, whose products or services MATT KWIECINSKI may be of interest to you. SENIOR ART DIRECTORS JANET WAEGEL, ZACH WILLIAMS If you prefer not to receive VIDEO EDITORS ZANDER PADGET, FRANK ZADLO DANIEL WHITELEY information from these VIDEO CONTRIBUTOR LEE HAVLICEK ART DIRECTOR ASHLEY O'BRION FINANCIAL AND CORPORATE SERVICES firms, write to the subscription SOCIAL VIDEO DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY CHRIS ALLEN FINANCIAL DIRECTOR BILL STRICKLAND service address above. CONSULTANT CARLY STERN DESIGNER DARIA WILCZYNSKA CONTROLLER EVE PAI SCHNEIDER inc.com/customercare MV WORKS ACCOUNT MANAGER JACQUELINE NURSE VICE PRESIDENT DARCY LEWIS DIGITAL OPERATIONS STAFF ACCOUNTANT SHARITA NEVERSON EXECUTIVE EDITOR, CONTENT STRATEGIES GROUP DIRECTOR, DIGITAL REVENUE OPERATIONS ACCOUNTS PAYABLE MANAGER MARILOU ORDILLAS JON GELBERG JONELLE LASALA PAYROLL MANAGER/ACCOUNTANT CHAREYL RAMOS ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FACILITIES RANDY DAVIS JENNIFER BOBBIN SELIN SONMEZ LEGAL AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS ALISON ANTHOINE DIRECTOR, BRANDED CONTENT PETE FRANCO SENIOR MANAGER, DIGITAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER CAITLIN PIKE NINA RUBIO ACCOUNT MANAGERS ABIGAIL BARON, SHANNON BOERNER, CASIE LESSER, ASHLEY MOELLERING FREELANCE PRODUCER MICHELLE TARNOK

10 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● PROTECTED IN THE FACE OF THE UNEXPECTED

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ost entrepreneurs pound a long and diicult road, but it’s well documented that women have the toughest time. A small library’s worth of studies has shown that female founders receive a tiny sliver of the tens of billions in venture capital that are invested each year. What’s worse, a depressing number of those who have tried to secure such funding say they were discriminated against. Inc. part- nered with our sibling publication, Fast Company, for our first- ever State of Women and Entrepreneurship survey (see page 53). It reveals that 62 percent of women seeking funding report that they have encountered bias in the process. These findings are stubborn and aggravating, yet the big picture for female entrepreneurship is far from bleak. Women are launching more companies now than in recent decades. And, as editor- at-large Kimberly Weisul notes in “What #MeToo Means for Silicon Valley” (page 15), many of the largest venture capital firms are now rushing to add women to their boardrooms. Moreover, as our inaugural Female Founders 100 list demonstrates (page 48), American business is teeming with creative, ambitious, and thriving The management drama at Reddit over the years has been nearly as combative as the site’s women-led companies. Executive editor Danielle infamous content. Inc. senior staff writer Christine Sacks and her team have assembled an all-star Lagorio-Chafkin had unprecedented access roster of fascinating female founders from a vast to Reddit’s top leaders—including (from left) co-founders Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian— array of industries. Some of them, like Anne for her new book We Are the Nerds, which is Wojcicki of 23andMe, are already familiar to Inc. excerpted beginning on page 26. readers. Others, like Rachel Haurwitz and Jennifer Doudna of Caribou Biosciences and Tina Sharkey of Brandless, are newcomers to our pages whom In our September issue, we miscalculated the revenue we think you’ll be hearing a lot more about soon. for the freight company Flexport, which resulted in its being incorrectly ranked on the Inc. 500 list. The world of business has been achingly slow Flexport’s three-year growth was 15,911 percent, to create equal opportunities for women and and its 2017 revenue was $224.7 million. Its correct other underrepresented groups. But we are con- ranking is No. 8. Inc. regrets the error. fident that as change takes hold, the women you’ll read about in this issue will be the women taking the lead.

James Ledbetter [email protected] FROM TOP: SHAYAN ASGHARNIA; DAVID PAUL MORRIS/GETTY PAUL ASGHARNIA; DAVID SHAYAN TOP: FROM

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The F1 FORMULA 1 logo, F1 Logo, F1, FORMULA 1, UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX and related marks are trade marks of Formula One Licensing BV, a Formula 1 company. All rights reserved. IN SEASON Haunted houses are not just for Halloween PG. 22 Launch

WHAT #METOO MEANS FOR SILICON VALLEY It’s taken a series of scandals to get venture capital ﬁrms to (ﬁnally) hire female partners. BY KIMBERLY WEISUL

The venture capital industry, which last year doled out $84 billion to startups, manages a neat trick. While relatively new—and devoted to seeking out what’s next for business and the world—it’s as old-fashioned as it gets, comprising overwhelmingly male, overwhelmingly white partnerships who overwhelmingly do business with those who remind them of their younger selves.

ISTOCK As of last year, at the top 100 venture

ILLUSTRATION BY ADAM SIMPSON ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 15 16 squarely inthemiddleof#MeToo. after Susan Fowler leftUber, SiliconValley women were Five years afterEllenPao suedKleinerPerkins, sixmonths and, amongothers, Steve Jurvetson, ofDFJ. theco-founder followed against Dave McClure, of500Startups, co-founder had $300millionundermanagement.Accusations quickly andmanagingpartnerofBinary Capital,which co-founder faced inappropriate advances from Justin Caldbeck,the but thisdataapparently didn’t convince. Whatdid? Venture capitalists pridethemselves onbeing data-driven, than companieswithnowomen amongtheseniorranks. least 30percent femalehave netmargins 6percent higher bottom quartile. Andcompanieswhoseleadersare at average profitability thancompaniesinthe sity are 21percent more likely tohave above- companies inthetopquartileforgenderdiver- homogeneous teams. According toMcKinsey, more carefully andbemore innovative than teams have longbeenknown toprocess facts showed thatdiverse teamsperformbetter. Such Portfolia. “Every oneisnow lookingforone.” Trish Costello, thefounderofinvesting platform Silicon Valley didnothave awoman partner,” says four years ago, 75percent of theventure fundsin support forthenext femaleteam.Still, “three or bedoublydiiculttoget ment goessouth,it’ll invest inwomen. Theyknow thatifinvest- And somewomen VCs admittheyare reluctant to little reason tothinkventure capitalisdiferent.) much diference. (For that,you needthree; there’s wise all-malepublic-company board won’t make and research shows thatonewoman onanother- woman onanall-maleteamisgenerally notfun, change anindustry overnight. Beingtheonly general partner. section ofChineseandNorth Americantech,to promoted ConnieChan,anexpert ontheinter- $300 millioncryptocurrency fund;inJuly, it Horowitz hired KatieHaun asageneral partnertorunanew Ventures, andBain Capitaldidthesame. InJune, Andreessen Capital soonfollowed. Thisyear, BoxGroup, Redpoint Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital,andFirstMark General Catalyst hired itsfirst femalemanagingpartner. MBAs got thosedegrees from Harvard. 1 percent were black.Andalmost aquarterofVCs with Two percent ofventure capitalists were Hispanic.Not even firms, only8percent ofinvesting partnerswere women. ● As were SiliconValley men.BinaryCapitalcollapsed. Rewind toJune 2017, whensix women saidtheyhad All thisdidn’t happenbecausenewdata A handfulofbrand-name appointmentswon’t But someofthatisfinallychanging. InSeptember2017, INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 OCTOBER “Always drainingaftera beingtheonly while.”woman intheroom.It’s on —A female founder responding tothequestion Inc. and

● Fast Company Company Fast ● ● ● ● ● ’s State of Women andEntrepreneurship survey. and SilpaKovvali Harvard study by studyby Harvard exits are profitable, exits areprofitable, increased female partner hires by partner hires by their profitable of venture capital capital of venture venture capital Paul Gompers Paul Gompers 9.7 showed that showed that so this leap is so thisleapis 10 firms that firms that increased a bigdeal. than 30% than 30% ↓ A recent A recent exits by “What was the most difficult part of raising money?” ofraisingmoney?” “What was themostdifficultpart Fewer old boys’ network willfinallybecome abitmore modern. a very recent spasm offear—one ofthelast redoubts ofthe bad behavior andshortsighted investment theses, andafter knock itoutofthepark.Andmaybe—after many years of old guard thought.Maybe thosenewfemalepartnerswill producing seriousresults was always alotbroader thanthe sive experience buildingproducts, leadingteams, and president atQuora. previously beenanearly-stage investor andavice Smith, thefirst femalepartneratBain Capital,had she becamethefirst femalepartneratFirstMark. Sarah other venture capitalists. Tragically, theargument con- ably ofcompaniesthatmadetruckloadsmoneyfor been techwizards orsuccessful founder-CEOs—prefer- theory insists successfulventure capitalists needtohave brotopias. It’s just thepipeline, don’t you see?Thepipeline co-founder. “For thefirst time, you hadfirmsfallapart.” says Jess Lee, aSequoiaCapitalpartnerandPolyvore first timesthere were real consequencestobadbehavior,” McClure lost hisjob. SodidJurvetson. “Thiswas oneofthe KIMBERLY WEISUL % % Like SiliconValley was always supposed tobe. As itturnsout,maybe thepipelineofthosewithimpres- Venture capitalists insist thattheydidn’t meantobuild at Shutterstock andWeight Watchers before Catherine Ulrichhadbeenchiefproduct oicer spent sixyears atBessemerVenture Partners. she’d managedtechteamsatPinterest and as general partnerby Benchmark,although cal,” proclaimed Sarah Tavel, uponbeinghired makings ofagoodVC afterall.“I’mnottechni- degree orafounder’s pedigree tohave the Maybe you didn’t have tohave anengineering of takingit? behaves abominablytoward awoman who’s sick party-boy partnereveryone loves tohave around done nothingwrong loseshisfirmbecausethe tion.) Whatifaventure capitalist whothinkshe’s behavior? (Hispartnerknewabouthisreputa- Caldbeck have gottenaway withsuchbad worrying. If Binaryhadn’t beenall-male, would worthy woman? More crucially, firmsstarted couldn’t menfindasingle thesewell-connected male partnershipsstarted tolooksinister. Why so fewwomen withnine-figure exits.) CEOs, it’s notentirely surprisingthatthere are 3 percent ofventure capitalgoingtofemale those qualifications. (Ofcourse, withlessthan tends, there just aren’t many women whomeet And suddenly, women were gettinghired. But afterBinaryCapitalimploded,thoseall- is an Inc. editor-at-large .

GETTY you live. know where if itdoesn’t can’t knock Opportunity MAKE THE WORLD RUN BETTER. RUNMAKE THEWORLD THE BEST-RUN BUSINESSES IS A BEST-RUN BUSINESS. COMPARTAMOS For more, go tosap.com/opportunity Compartamos usesSAP still don’thaveabankaccount. In LatinAmerica,millionsofpeople Source: The World Bank. © 2018 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. country, andtheirworld. improve theircommunities, So theycanusetheirtalentsto previously underservedpeople. products andopportunitiesto solutions tohelpbringfinancial ® mobile mobile “It is so nasty now, I wouldn’t put myself—or my family— The Jargonator through even a local election.” —A female founder explaining Swatting the buzzwords why she’d never run for ofﬁce, on Inc. and Fast Company ’s Women’s survey. of business since 2014. BY BEN SCHOTT This Might Make Running a Business Look Easy

ACCIDENTAL COLLABORATION • noun When “free-range” employees with unassigned workspaces have serendipitous interactions: “You see people around talking about, ‘Hey, what do you see in the market?’ and it spawns some new ideas.” That’s right, folks: They’ve invented the water cooler. Source: NBC Dallas-Fort Worth

PLASTIGLOMERATE • noun Not Her Day Job (Yet) Tedra Cobb, founder and congressional candidate, rallying A “multi-composite material made hard the crowd at the Ogdensburg, New York, International Seaway Festival parade. by agglutination of rock and molten plastic.” Or: how capitalism is literally This spring, a typical workday for Tedra Cobb consisted of running embedding our pollution into the communication and leadership training for a health care firm followed foundations of the planet. Let’s celebrate this achievement with commemorative by glad-handing with hundreds of supporters at night. She’s the founder key chains, Frisbees, and fidget spinners. of Canton, New York–based consulting firm Tedra L. Cobb & Associates— Source: GSA Today and the Democratic congressional candidate in New York’s 21st District. Which, she admits, breeds a certain amount of chaos. “I haven’t been getting in an hour per day at the gym, I’ll tell you that,” she says. Two other female founders are also juggling running businesses with running for Congress. One of them, Cindy Axne, co-founder of digital design firm Creation Agents in West Des Moines, Iowa, has a business partner—in this case, her husband—to share work duties with when her focus on being the Democratic candidate in Iowa’s 3rd District gets in the way. Meanwhile, Candius Stearns, the Republican running for SADOPOPULISM • noun the open seat in Michigan’s 9th District, is founder and CEO of two “Promise people things, but then when Troy-based companies: DFBenefits, a benefits brokerage, and DFB TPA you get power ... you deliberately make the Services, a third-party benefits administrator. She’s considered the suffering worse for your critical constitu- ency.” Wait. Is this political, or is it iTunes? underdog in her race—but her experiences have familiarized her with Source: Timothy Snyder, The Road to Unfreedom that framing. “It’s like being a small-business owner,” she says. “You don’t have huge venture capitalists propping you up and pouring money into your business—you’ve just gotta make it happen.” —KEVIN J. RYAN

SEEN AND HEARD ON INC.COM “I do this thing where I go:

Tonight I eat ice cream, I stay CYBERLOAFING • noun in bed, I turn into my emo Think personal internet use on company time is “counterproductive work teenage self—then tomorrow behavior”? Think again! “Cyberloaﬁng” indicates employee “underload”; surﬁng I wake up and start fresh.” the web “helps employees cope with workplace boredom.” Hmmm. Maybe the YAEL AFLALO, founder and CEO, Reformation real word to swat here is underload.

Source: Computers in Human Behavior LEGER PATRICK (4); MICHAEL PARKIN JACOBS; STEVE LEFT: TOP FROM CLOCKWISE

18 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● SHOWCASE YOUR COMPANY WITH YOUR VERY OWN INC. VERIFIED PROFILE. Take advantage of your dedicated presence at Inc., the go-to source for all things entrepreneurial, and showcase your business in a trusted context. Increase revenue by generating more quality leads and prospects through online search. Learn more at Inc.com/Veriﬁ ed The Destination CHICAGO The nation’s third-largest city boasts the greatest concentration of women founders. By Zoë Henry

15 10 11

STARTUP NEIGHBORHOODS WHO TO KNOW

Legendary incu- Fried, 3 co-founder Shaniqua Davis 5 wanted bator 1871 is in the of medtech firm to expand Noirefy—the historic Merchandise ExplORer Surgical. minority job portal she Mart building in the Google 4 opened founded—so she turned River North nabe; offices here in 2015. RED FLAGS around it is clustered Also here: food data to Chicago tech’s It Girls: the city’s “biggest company Food Gerri Kahnweiler 7 and Illinois has billions “Chicago has a concentration of Genius and work- Cayla Weisberg, 6 who in unpaid debt and reputation for not startup activity,” says place caterer Crafty. run InvestHer. “They were nearly saw its credit having early-stage Julie Roth Novack. really helpful for me” in rating lowered to junk capital,” says Thiers, 1 She co-founded Medical device status. “It hampers “which is not event-planner plat- company Attune starting conversations our ability to create unfounded. There form PartySlate, Medical, agtech firm with investors, Davis says. more incentives” to is a conservatism which is based there, Hazel Technologies, The two have invested in bring firms to the to investing in as are personalized and battery-tech Codeverse, PartySlate, and state,” says 1871’s companies here.” clothier Trunk Club, startup SiNode 11 other women-led ventures. Ziegler. “It’s the only ExplORer’s Fried Groupon, and park- Systems call the drawback to starting agrees, but sees ing app SpotHero. up-and-coming a company here,” hopeful signs that Bronzeville home. Roughly 3,000 startups echoes Melissa some players West Loop—famed 1871 CEO Betsy Kaufman, 8 execu- who’ve scored big for world-class Ziegler says the area are located in Chicago. tive director of North- in recent exits are restaurants such as is a hotbed for “aspir- Nearly 34 percent are run western University’s now starting to cut Avec 2 —is “really ing entrepreneurs on by women—the most of incubator, the checks to local hot,” says Jennifer the South Side.” any major U.S. city. Garage. .9 “It’s a up-and-comers.

Source: Startup Genome conversation stopper.” (3); LINDMAN; KAILLEY COMPANIES COURTESY (2); SHERI WHITKO; COMPANIES COURTESY ISTOCK; LEFT: SPREAD FROM COMPANY LA MERE; COURTESY GOOGLE; KYLE TEK CHUNG; COURTESY (4); COMPANIES COURTESY

20 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES TAYLOR RECENTLY FUNDED STARTUPS WHO TO KNOW TALENT PIPELINE

$117 MILLION Uptake Genevieve Thiers 13 was one of the Chicago churns ness school statis- (predictive data analytics) ﬁrst women in Chicago tech to score out highly skilled tics—over a third of $80 MILLION Tempus grads. The Univer- graduates stay in (clinical data analytics) a notable exit: She sold a majority sity of Chicago Chicago.” DePaul stake in her nanny platform, Sittercity, $80 MILLION VillageMD and Northwestern University, Univer- (logistics tech) in 2009. Now she writes $25,000 graduate around sity of Illinois Chi- checks to invest in promising 1,700 and 2,600 cago, Loyola, and RECENT BIG EXITS women-led companies, and also respectively—fig- Columbia College ures that do not also turn out engi- $800 MILLION Payments platform hosts well-attended monthly “tech Braintree, to PayPal (2013) include graduates neers. Helping salons” at her Lincoln Park home. from their highly the city attract and $600 MILLION Healthy snack bar “Genevieve was our ﬁrst early suc- regarded business hold onto talent, company RxBar, 10 to Kellogg’s (2017) cess,” says PartySlate’s Novack. “It schools. And, says says the Garage’s $192.5 MILLION Restaurant delivery has been really helpful for women 1871’s CEO Ziegler, Kaufman, is how it service GrubHub, 11 in its IPO (2014) to have a role model like that.” “look at the busi- “blends what I love about New York— that big-city vibe with lots of culture, bars and restaurants—with a more approachable feel.”

6 9

The Garage at Northwestern University features an augmented/virtual 5 reality lab. 16

17 2 14

COMPANIES TO WATCH WHO TO KNOW WHERE TO TALK SHOP

Monica Royer— husband just last When Penny Pritzker, 12 Trendy River North’s women and minor- sister of Bonobos year; this summer, billionaire entrepreneur Chicago Cut Steak- ity founders into founder Andy they raised house, a block from tech. Find her and Dunn—runs baby- $10 million. and Obama’s secretary of Merchandise Mart, others there chat- clothing company commerce, wrapped up in is a techie favorite. ting over tacos and Monica + Andy. 14 Katlin Smith D.C., she knew she’d “Lots of investors margaritas. She’s raised more launched Simple come back home. “I saw dine there,” says than $2 million, and Mills 16 in 2013. this explosion at the Fiona McEntee, Thiers holds court borrowed from her It quickly became co-founder of her at Celeste, 17 a brother (and others) a leading natural intersection of technology, eponymous law swanky restaurant by opening stores baked goods brand. innovation, and estab- firm. and bar just around for her e-commerce Its products have lished companies in the corner from company in only healthy ingredi- Chicago,” says Pritzker, a Another key 1871—where inves- Chicago, Atlanta, ents, like almond Microsoft board member haunt: West Loop’s tors, founders, and and New York City. flour and coconut Bar Takito, close food nerds enjoy sugar. Says Fried, and chairwoman of her to Google, says American fare: Thiers’s top com- Smith’s friend and investment firm, PSP Brenda Darden grilled cheese, pany to watch is fellow founder and Capital Partners. She Wilkerson, CEO of fried chicken, and Codeverse, 15 a food enthusiast: hosts regular networking AnitaB.org, which popcorn sweet- coding boot camp “If any company is dinners for local founders seeks to bring breads. for kids ages 6 headed for a big through 12. exit in Chicago, it’s at her home, and co-leads Co-founder Katy Simple Mills.” an initiative to help Chi- In 2017, Chicago-area tech Lynch launched the cago remain a top tech investments topped $1.5 billion. business with her destination. Source: Dow Jones VentureSource “I try not to watch the markets. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone is wrong.”–Sallie Krawcheck, Ellevest co-founder–and former exec at the publicly held Bank of America–at Dell’s recent DWEN conference. (For more from Krawcheck, see page 50.)

IN SEASON Horror Business What should go through your customers’ minds? Melissa Carbone knows what she wants for hers. “I don’t want them to think about the crappy day they had at work or the dishes in the sink. All I want them to be thinking about is ‘What’s coming around this next corner to ruin me?’ ” Naturally: She and her ex-spouse, Alyson Richards, co-founded the Los Angeles–based Ten Thirty One Productions, creator of haunted houses and events intended to terrify. They got started in 2007, hosting haunted-house parties in their yard—their friends would dress as, say, werewolves and chase around a couple hundred kids, while parents sipped “witches’ brew” (champagne). Halloween events could keep the company aﬂoat—even though its haunted-house productions can cost $1.7 million, including $250,000 for costumes and makeup—but it has also staged spring and summer events: the Great Horror Campout and the Great Horror Movie Night. Event company Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group bought Carbone and Richards’s business in January, but the two are staying on to create more horrors and, presumably, share key trade secrets—like where in their haunted-house bathrooms they stash a character or two for an extra frisson of fright. —EMILY CANAL FROM TOP: GETTY; COURTESY COMPANY (3) COMPANY COURTESY GETTY; TOP: FROM

22 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ●

“I race cars, extreme ski, skydive . . . If it generates adrenaline, all the stress goes away.” —A (very intense) female founder, responding to “How do you manage stress and anxiety?” on Inc. and Fast Company ’s Women’s survey.

DISCUSS What All-Female Spaces Mean for Founders The Wing in New York City—whose founder made our Female Founders 100 list (see page 60)—the Coven in Minneapolis: Women-only co-working spaces are spreading. They’re intended to give opportunities to network and build businesses, without fear of gender-based discrimination, KNIT ONE, distraction, or harassment. We hashed out the issues such spaces raise with PURL TWO, two founders who know them well. —ZOË HENRY BIZ DEV THREE “People send us pictures of the crazy blankets KATYA LIBIN J MASE III and sweaters they’re Co-founder of Transgender knitting,” sighs Faustine women-only founder of Badrichani. This isn’t networking plat- Seattle-based some weird Tinder story, form Heymama talent agency we swear: Badrichani’s (Rebecca Minkoff and AwQward three-year-old startup, Drybar’s Alli Webb Wooln, contracts with are members) grandmas—and only grandmas—to hand-knit the company’s hats, ● What are ● blankets, and snoods. Peace of mind. the benefits That’s true. Wooln currently works You don’t have to think But often, women’s spaces with nine nanas. Its of these flagship beanies retail for about discrimination, so women-only don’t include others: trans- $145. Grandmas get paid you can focus on your masculine and gender 30 percent of the whole- company. spaces? nonbinary founders, for sale price (which is example. generally half of what ● consumers pay). Besides Some of these clubs ● being available online, are unreasonable for Many of these Many entrepreneurs Wooln wares are for sale in five retail shops; Bad- most people. We have spaces charge would find $35 per richani and co-founder made the choice to charge hundreds of month inaccessible too. Margaux Rousseau only $35 per month. dollars per Women-only groups expect that number will Our funds are tight, could support lower- double this winter. but it’s worth it. month. Is that income populations—one The two have a simple exclusionary? idea is to have wealthier test for grandmothers members sponsor other ● who deluge them with groups. photos of knitwear: “We Not necessarily. give them one item to But through groups Do women- make,” says Badrichani. like Heymama, we’re ● “You know if it’s going to hoping to give more only spaces help Networks matter. I know work.” Sometimes, it women access to funding businesses’ many people who are works better than she’d and mentorship so we can bottom lines? making drastically different imagine. Annie Ganter get to that point. numbers because they (above), grandma of five have access to mentorship who’s “older than 60 but from peers. younger than 90,” knits ● for Wooln and also dab- It’s hard to say. But if they Is an bles in biz dev: She struck let it slide and let one man all-female ● a deal with Cutchogue, in, then it could be five As a transmasculine New York, shop Phoebe & people, and all of a sudden workplace like entrepreneur, I know that Belle to carry Wooln’s it changes the nature of the Wing the Wing and Heymama wares. That’s good for what they promised. discriminatory? aren’t spaces I would business, but perhaps venture into. that’s secondary to something even bigger, Ganter suggests: making ADVANTAGE MASE. The drawbacks to such women-only spaces extend to the legal realm. The “a grandmother feel New York City Commission on Human Rights has launched an investigation into the Wing over important and happy.”

whether it violates a local law prohibiting gender-based discrimination against potential customers. —JEMIMA MCEVOY (2); LEGER ERIK MELVIN PATRICK LEFT: FROM

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Book Excerpt WE ARE THE NERDS Reddit’s co-founders patched their fractured friendship to save the company that deﬁned them. BY CHRISTINE LAGORIO-CHAFKIN

teve Human had been seeing a therapist for a few years, and perhaps thanks to the rising tide of Silicon Valley, that individual, Cameron Yarbrough, had transi- tioned from mere “therapist” to “executive coach.” At multiple sessions with Yarbrough, Hufman later recalled, he lamented his ailing relationship with Alexis Ohanian, and admitted that he had a litany of long- standing issues they’d been avoiding hashing out. Huf- man knew that over their years of mild estrangement, each had grown even more diferent, but that didn’t change the fact that he missed his old friend. With Yarbrough’s encouragement, Hufman reached out to Ohanian. Hufman tried to plan a dinner for University of Virginia roomies and best buds them, but tracking down Ohanian and getting him Steve Human and Alexis Ohanian launched Reddit to cement a plan was “a pain in the ass,” he said. So Hufman in 2005, graduates of Y Combinator’s initial class. saw it as a minor victory when Ohanian appeared at 5A5, a Their site, a collection of communities of everyone Japanese steakhouse in the Embarcadero that Hufman loved, from cupcake lovers to perverts, made them wealthy at close to the appointed time one evening in early 2015. Once and famous—Human the code-writing maestro Ohanian was seated across from him, Hufman couldn’t hide and Ohanian, creator of Reddit’s alien logo, its his frustrations. “Dude, I’m trying to make an efort and I can’t public face. Pressures over content and growth get you to respond to my texts.’” would split them from the company and each other. Ohanian, almost invariably considerate and charismatic As told in We Are the Nerds, they reclaimed the in person, apologized. As steaks and cocktails arrived, the men helm when a series of escalating crises threatened began to hash out what had happened back at Reddit so many Reddit’s existence. But could they ever repair years ago when Ohanian hired contract programmers behind their relationship? Hufman’s back. It’d been two years into their running Reddit within Condé

ILLUSTRATION BY ANDY MARTIN ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 27 Nast, which had acquired it in 2006, just a year and a half into THE Ohanian would be returning to serve Reddit’s life. The new “corporate overlords,” as the guys dubbed PLAYERS on Reddit’s new board. Over days and Condé Nast and its parent, Advance Publications, had in fact weeks, Hufman dwelled on the situa- From top: Steve granted Reddit a great degree of autonomy. With Ohanian living Huffman created tion, and came to the realization that in New York, drumming up press and managing the Reddit Reddit’s code; Alexis Ohanian must have received shares of community, and Hufman in San Francisco with a meager Ohanian created its Reddit in an agreement to lock in his soul. After selling programming staf, the site had grown nicely. Reddit to Condé board position. That fact didn’t just Within two years, Ohanian had moved to San Francisco, Nast in 2006, they sting; it burned. and in with Hufman, to a Mission District apartment. Though left to do other “You didn’t even tell me you were they’d lived together during college, in this new arrangement things. But Reddit going back,” Hufman said to Ohanian, began to spiral out it became clear quickly that being around each other 24 hours of control in 2014, at the steakhouse years later. “Mean- a day wasn’t healthy. They got along personally, for the most and in November while, I wanted to be back, and then part, but their passions at work weren’t in sync, and when they Ellen Pao replaced I almost felt like you were keeping Yishan Wong as disagreed over whether to use their meager staf resources to CEO. Eight months me out.” As the men talked, a central, bolster the site’s technological back end (Hufman) or build later, Huffman unspoken question hovered above new, splashy media components (Ohanian), Hufman’s core replaced Pao. all else: Could they even trust each team sided with him. Ohanian didn’t accept losing well. other? That’s how distant Ohanian “We’d have some blowup fights at the oice,” Hufman said. and Hufman had grown. They agreed “I remember being pissed leaving work. I would drive us home to meet again for dinner. and I remember not speaking to him in the car. That’s when As the pair swapped stories and things were starting to deteriorate.” spoke about specific points of tension The pair weren’t confrontational, so this and other long- during that second dinner—at a place standing disputes had festered—and then scarred over. In 2009, Ohanian chose that specialized in once their contracts allowed, they each left Condé Nast. But in seafood, which Hufman hated— just over a year, Hufman asked for Ohanian’s help launching Hufman began to remember why another brand. It would take on Kayak’s travel search engine, they’d become friends in the first and rank flights by the “agony” their itineraries induced. He place. They shared a worldview, and, called it Hipmunk. Ohanian mocked up a charming little chip- beyond the alienating scafolding each munk mascot in aviator goggles, and took a position doing had erected around the other in sup- marketing for Hipmunk. He engineered a successful press position and years of relative silence, launch—one of the buzziest in Y Combinator’s history. And then they still liked each other. Even 10 he was dismissed abruptly at a meeting in a Manhattan bar by years later. Hufman and Ohanian Hufman’s co-founder, Adam Goldstein. “When I left Hipmunk, gingerly began circling around I pretty much left my relationship with Steve,” Ohanian said. another massive question: Could they ever work together again? n September 6, 2011, Reddit’s On Friday, July 10, 2015, Ellen Pao general manager, Erik Martin, posted her letter resigning from her posted on Reddit’s blog that Reddit position as interim chief executive of was no longer “a division of Condé Reddit. Hired first as a consultant, and Nast,” and instead would stand on later brought on as an executive, she’d its own as Reddit Inc., under the been at the company’s helm for eight greater umbrella of Advance Publi- months, ever since her friend Yishan cations. The post explained that Wong had abruptly bailed from the the new arrangement would set up CEO position after the company had been battered by contro- “reddit so that it can better handle future growth and opportu- versy after controversy, under a set of circumstances he’d later Onities.” He cited a statistic that when Reddit had been acquired call “unbelievable because it is so weird.” in 2006, it received about 700,000 page views per day. As of the Hufman and Ohanian met for an early lunch at Super Duper post, Reddit regularly got that much traic every 15 minutes. Burgers on San Francisco’s Market Street. It was going to be From his perch at Hipmunk, Hufman read Martin’s post a hell of a day, so they each inhaled a locally sourced, organic and seethed. He realized almost immediately that Ohanian burger. They were to meet Sam Altman, a Reddit board member had likely been involved in the spinout. He knew his former and the 30-year-old president of Y Combinator, outside the co-founder, his former best friend, had been there, having front door of 101 New Montgomery at noon. Altman was to somehow inserted himself into the Condé Nast bureaucracy usher Hufman, Reddit’s original creator, up into HQ to meet his they’d once together bemoaned. As Condé Nast had made new employees. As of this day, he was chief executive of Reddit. these plans, Hufman hadn’t been asked for advice. After Hufman, upon agreeing to step in after a botched dismissal reading the post, he felt waves of anger and embarrassment of a beloved employee had caused the site’s volunteer modera- hit him: He’d been intentionally kept in the dark for, what, tors to mutiny, had been given the decision by the board over

months? Years? There were pangs of jealousy at the fact that the past week about what role Ohanian would play in the future YISHAN WONG COURTESY SULLIVAN/GETTY; JUSTIN HARRIS/GETTY; JEROD MORRIS/GETTY; DAVID TOP: FROM

28 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● of Reddit. “If you want to work with Alexis, that’s awesome. nine months. He’d prepared a speech but didn’t want to read I’m perfectly comfortable if you say no,” Keith Rabois, a board from a piece of paper. So he ad-libbed, introducing himself, member, recalled to Wired that he’d told Hufman. Once in detailing his history, and explaining what he wanted to see out front of the Reddit oice, the three men shook hands, and of Reddit. It was not a slam dunk. He came across as enthusi- Ohanian and Altman accompanied Hufman past the doorman astic—if a little terrified. and into an elevator to the fifth floor, where the three went Some employees were unimpressed by his words, which straight to a small conference room and shut the door. Pao included multiple notes on issues that needed immediate was already inside. She had a list of journalists’ names and fixing. To others, they felt critical, arrogant: the Ultimate numbers they were to call. Creator of this thing telling everyone in the room they were Within minutes, a handful of reporters fired questions at the screwing it up. “It just rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,” incoming and former CEOs of Reddit. Altman did a lot of the a former stafer said. “They were like, fuck this guy.” talking. It was easy for him to hype Hufman to the journalists To Hufman, the crossed arms and dour expressions were a on the phone, since he had long respected him both as a pro- shock. He’d just left Hipmunk, where his longtime employees grammer and a leader. Plus, the potential magic of the come- ofered up encouragement and hugs. “That was not what I got back story was not lost on Altman. “He actually built Reddit. at Reddit,” he said. He wrote the code,” Altman said into the speaker at the center Other employees saw in Hufman’s words and tone a laser of the table. “The chance to get that back was so special.” focus on product, a specific set of goals in mind. “You could It was professional, clean, and cool. Somehow, everyone tell there was motivation, you could tell he was very intent managed to keep their answers to the questions about Pao’s on being back, and he had the confidence that he was ready departure positive. “She did an incredible job,” breezed to do it,” said Stephen Greenwood, a video producer. Altman. “She stepped into a really messy situation.” When Hufman took a few questions from the gathered stafers, Kara Swisher of Recode cut in and asked Pao directly whether she was fired, Pao managed to force out a laugh. “Thanks for getting right to the point,” she said, reiterating that she had resigned because of the board’s aggressive growth goals. She said that her departure was a “mutual decision” between including one about Pao’s ban of hard alcohol in the oice and herself and the board. (She’d later allege in her own book that moratorium on work events whose sole activity or focus was a board member had threatened her that if she didn’t resign, drinking: “So, are we allowed to drink now?” Sure, Hufman they’d “go to Plan B.”) Across the table, Hufman’s skin was said. His philosophy was: “I’m not gonna work at a company crawling. “I was just thinking, god, this is very awkward,” he where we’re gonna treat you like children. We’re gonna treat recalled later. “It’s kind of like being in a room with your ex you like adults, and in exchange, I want you to act like adults and your new girlfriend or something.” and look out for one another.” His heart was racing. The panic wasn’t just a response By the time Hufman was done introducing himself and to the reporters on the phone, or simply to being in the same making his attempt to rally the team, Pao had already left the room as Pao. Rather, it was in anticipation of the moments building. Despite having announced that she’d stay on as an that would come once the phone was hung up, once the four adviser, she would not be seen at 101 New Montgomery again. of them took the elevator one floor down. In just moments, Hufman grabbed his laptop and logged in to Reddit as he’d need to stand in front of nearly the entire staf of Reddit, u/spez, his longtime primary account. Already, questions were only a tiny handful of whom he’d ever met, and address them waiting for him. He typed a greeting into the comment box and en masse. He’d need to begin to build these individuals’ trust. then answered Redditors’ questions for the next 15 minutes. He’d need to inspire them. Hufman realized he wanted to immediately make good on his He felt moisture begin to accumulate on the surface of his goals, to meet the team, to make all that was wrong right. He skin as he stood in the elevator with Altman, Ohanian, and swiveled his chair around and introduced himself to the first Pao. When the doors opened on the fourth floor, he was a deer stafer he saw. “Hey, I’m Steve.” The employee looked at him in headlights: The entire staf was already gathered. He stood and grunted, “Hmm.” Hufman stared for a moment, then and breathed deeply for a couple minutes as Pao spoke first, turned back around to his computer. It took every ounce of delivering prepared remarks. Her words were a shock to many restraint he could muster not to fire the guy on the spot. junior stafers, who’d heard her repeat over and over in the Instead, he tried again. He turned to the person at the next past 10 days that she would not resign. To Hufman, her words computer. “Hey, I’m Steve.” It worked. “I’m Jack,” said an engi- were a blur. “This is almost over,” he told himself in order to neering team leader, Jack Lawson. They struck up a friendly cope. “Someday, this will just be a memory.” conversation. That afternoon, Hufman shook hands with and Hufman panned the crowd of unsmiling faces and realized introduced himself to about half of the 65 stafers. Turnover that each of these people had been through a week of hell, too. was high in the months following Hufman’s return: About 50 Heck, a year of purgatory for some. He’d be their third CEO in stafers left. But Reddit also began a significant hiring tear, and

● ● ● ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 29 it had more than 150 employees by the end of 2016. feedback on that.” They’re not best friends, and they are per- Ohanian’s new job’s best description might have been “sales- fectly fine with that. They had, after all, lived together on and man emeritus.” His title was just “co-founder.” In flashy sneak- of for eight years. They had their finances intertwined for ers and T-shirts, Ohanian had begun serving as a jet-setting years. Their legacies were still tied together, in Reddit. hype man. “He likes to travel, he likes to speak, he likes to talk In the future, making decisions that are good for business is about Reddit. I think 70 percent of the population just really perhaps the biggest change Reddit faces—though Hufman was falls for his charms, and many of them are CMOs,” Hufman poised to walk into that wind. Reddit had improbably survived a joked, with a little grin. “That works out great.” decade of management lax enough that its communities spiraled Zubair Jandali, Reddit’s dynamic chief of sales, had infor- out of control—and now everything, down to specific content, mally dubbed Ohanian “chief bullhorn.” One of Ohanian’s big was under the microscopes of multiple teams at Reddit: the successes was working with the producers of the sci-fi tech friendly, interactive community team; the secretive, ban- dystopia show Mr. Robot. During its third season, which aired enacting trust and safety team; its engineering counterpart, in 2017, they pulled of an elaborate integration in which there dubbed “anti-evil”; and the policy and legal groups. were nods to Reddit on the show and, simultaneously, clues In the summer of 2017 came a moment of epic relief for from the show unfolded in subreddits online. Steve Hufman. Finally, he had completed a new funding Months later, in mid-2017, Ohanian would visit South Korean round. The process of putting together the round—setting consumer electronics giant Samsung in New York City to try to terms that could shape the future of Reddit and its value to establish the framework for a $10 million partnership deal, the both existing shareholders and employees—had been a slog. very morning after his pregnant fiancée was featured wearing At least once during the yearlong process, he’d grown so only a thong and a silver belly chain on the cover of Vanity Fair. frustrated that he’d come close to calling of the efort. Now “Oh, that,” Ohanian said when the cover was mentioned it was done, which meant time for a victory lap. in the Samsung lobby. It was a long and glowing story focusing On July 31, dozens of articles appeared in the tech press on his courtship and pregnancy with Serena Williams. The under headlines reading some variation of “Reddit raised pregnancy had come to light the past April, when Williams $200 million in funding and is now valued at $1.8 billion.” Just made public what appeared to be intended as a private like that, six years after Advance Publications bestowed upon Snapchat pic of herself in a swimsuit with a tiny midsection its little acquisition the power to raise outside funding and bulge labeled “20 weeks.” Ohanian has said he’d been reluc- grow like a startup, Reddit joined a new echelon of Silicon tant to participate in big, splashy, overtly personal press, but was game to do whatever Williams wanted—and she had already decided to participate in the story. “You’ll always be her assistant,” joked Ohanian’s longtime assistant, Elisabeth Garvin. Ohanian threw Garvin an almost undetectable side-eye, and joked about the magazine photographs: “It killed a couple birds with one stone. I’d been meaning to schedule both engagement and maternity photo shoots for Valley elite. It was now a unicorn, a private company valued at Serena. Now we have both—taken by Annie Leibovitz.” $1 billion or more, like Palantir or Pinterest. There were only about 200 of these companies in the world, and a hundred in wo years after those awkward dinners, the United States. each of the men said he had finally Something else miraculous happened over the summer of accepted the other for the person he had 2017: Reddit’s traic grew to such an extent that Amazon’s become. Ohanian deferred to Hufman web analytics arm, Alexa, the primary site-ranking service, on business matters—gone was his considered it the fourth most popular website in the U.S., mandate of “let Alexis be Alexis.” behind only Google, YouTube, and Facebook. Ohanian grew to appreciate his new August and September 2017 went by without a single major position: Making money and converting community flare-up—the first time a late summer and autumn traic to money were clear goals, something he’d never had had passed in five years without Reddit nearly strangling itself beforeT at Reddit. Hufman had come to accept Ohanian’s wild, out of existence. Hufman’s past cycles of self-doubt seemed jet-setting lifestyle, and had even become prone to smile at his to have lifted. There was joy for him in experiencing the daily appearances on magazine covers and talk shows, which had rhythm of Reddit’s new home at 420 Taylor Street, the flow accelerated thanks to his extraordinarily famous fiancée. of staf pausing to chat on their way to their workstations. He Perhaps most encouraging for their relationship, the could often be found with his laptop on a couch in front of the pair had again begun to banter like brothers. They were not elevators on the third floor, his feet in scrufy Adidas soccer together in the oice a lot, but when Hufman was asked how shoes, propped up, greeting anyone who walked by. working side by side was going, he was so comfortable that he went straight for a joke: “Smells so good, I can’t concentrate.” CHRISTINE LAGORIO-CHAFKIN is Inc.’s senior writer. We Are the Nerds Ohanian laughed, too: “People have given me really great (Hachette Books) will arrive in bookstores on October 2.

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THE BENEFITS AND PERKS Attracting America’s Top Female Talent Be ﬂ exible and creative – and give the gift of time

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2. Grow in your role. There’s value to 3JHIU4J[FE#FOFmUTGPS being in the slow cooker. You can’t micro- &WFSZ4J[F&OUFSQSJTF wave yourself as a leader. Soak Of course, not every business can and marinate in the role that you’re in. afford this kind of approach – smaller businesses might instead coordinate an 3. Earn your way. -FUZPVSQFSGPSNBODF Jamie Lee employee discount at a local gym. TQFBLGPSJUTFMG%POUGPSDFZPVSXBZVQ SVP & Chief Service O cer i"MMDBSFUBLFSTNVTUMPPLBUBMMPGUIF the corporate ladder. IFBMUIBOEmOBODJBMQSPUFDUJPOCFOFmUT available to us,” Mullins adds. “We have 4. Relationships ﬁ rst, results second. to make sure we don’t put our family in Results come easier and quicker to a BmOBODJBMCJOEJGTPNFUIJOHIBQQFOTw person who values relationships. "GUFSPGGFSJOHNBKPSNFEJDBMJOTVSBODF for employees, another attractive option 5. Keep perspective. You’re a human, then for small businesses is employee-paid mother, sister and wife. Career may be a big WPMVOUBSZJOTVSBODFCFOFmUT QBSUPGXIPZPVBSF CVUJUTIPVMEOUEFmOF “Cost is always a consideration, you completely. especially when a company is small and growing,” Mullins says. “Once a participation is employee-paid.” small-business owner discovered when company provides employees with "nBDIBTUIFUFDIOPMPHZBOEDBSSJFS she was diagnosed with cancer. “When primary health insurance, adding partnerships to support small businesses the recession hit, I considered dropping WPMVOUBSZCFOFmUTMJLFBDDJEFOU DBODFS JOQSPWJEJOHnFYJCMFQMBOTMJLFUIFTFUP my cancer insurance policy, but my and disability insurance is a cost- attract and retain top talent. husband recommended not to because effective way to extend offerings without &WFSZTNBMMCVTJOFTTDBOCFOFmU we’d just lost a dear friend to cancer. I adding to the employer’s costs, because GSPNHPPECFOFmUT BT4VTBO%SPFHF B am so thankful we had that policy.”

Z180938 ;OPZHY[PJSLPZMVYPUMVYTH[PVUHSW\YWVZLZVUS`(ÅHJOLYLPUTLHUZ(TLYPJHU-HTPS`3PML EXP 8/19 (ZZ\YHUJL*VTWHU`VM*VS\TI\ZHUK(TLYPJHU-HTPS`3PML(ZZ\YHUJL*VTWHU`VM5L^@VYR DATA CENTER YES, THERE IS A SHARK TANK BUMP Going on the ABC founder fest Shark Tank—which starts its 10th season on October 7—doesn’t guarantee a deal with a celebrity investor. But, a detailed Inc. analysis shows, it practically guarantees a revenue boost, especially for the entrepreneurs who’ve appeared on the show in more recent seasons. Which makes sense: As Shark Tank became a cultural mainstay and ratings increased, so did its promotional oomph and the returns of founders who braved its turbulent waters. In other words, the Shark Tank bump is real, so if you can get on the show, do it: A startup’s revenue jumps by an average of 250 percent the year after its founder makes an appearance. As detailed here, though, some businesses see a far more dramatic boost. ▶ EMILY CANAL

HOW WE TRACKED THE DEALS Reely Hooked Fish Inc. gathered detailed data from more than 250 Co. landed a big companies that appeared on the show’s ﬁrst nine gain. The seller of seasons, regardless of whether they were offered a smoked ﬁsh dip went deal. All data on these pages are derived from that in the Tank in 2017. sample. (Some companies chose to remain anony- The year before, its mous.) Of those businesses, the smallest one’s revenue was $3,000. revenue will be around $1,000 this year; the largest It projects revenue of expects its revenue to hit $100 million. $400,000 for 2018. SHARK DEAL NO SHARK DEAL SEASON A Shark Tank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 bump doesn’t always last. Some companies that saw huge growth spikes after being on the show saw them contract just as quickly. REVENUE GROWTH

−2 years before Shark year −1 Shark year +1

THE SHARKS’ SCORECARDS Mr. Wonderful’s record isn’t—and other fodder for on-air trash talk. BARBARA CORCORAN invested in MARK CUBAN backed Reely Hooked LORI GREINER sometimes brings her Saavy Naturals in season 7; the body- Fish Co. in season 9. The next year, Shark Tank companies on QVC—as she scrub company’s revenue spiked nicely company revenue shot up 3,000 did with the adhesives company FiberFix, two years after its episode aired. percent—one of the largest jumps her biggest hit on the chart below. any Shark company has recorded. 5,000% 5,000% 5,000%

4,000% 4,000% 4,000%

3,000% 3,000% 3,000%

2,000% 2,000% 2,000%

1,000% 1,000% 1,000%

0% 0% 0% −100% −100% −100%

−1 Shark year +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 −1 Shark year +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 −1 Shark year +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 (6) GETTY IMAGES LEFT: SPREAD FROM

34 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● DATA VISUALIZATION BY PITCH INTERACTIVE Single company’s location REVENUE GROWTH 2,600% 2 companies 9 companies Sock startup Bombas got a boost in revenue 2,400% the year after appear- ing on Shark Tank— and has only gone up from there, as its 2,200% massive growth from 2017 to 2018 shows. This company It reached No. 175 on didn’t get a deal. this year’s Inc. 500. 2,000% But that didn’t matter: Since its appearance in season 4, its 1,800% revenue growth of WHERE TO FIND THEM Aside from the nation’s biggest over 2,000 per- cities, the hot spots for the companies that shared their cent has made it data with us are Florida and the upper Midwest. the best performer 1,600% Inc. measured that left the Tank HOW THE INC.-ANALYZED COMPANIES OF empty-handed. THE PAST FIVE SEASONS ARE FARING TODAY 1,400% TOTAL COMPANIES COMPANIES COMPANIES STILL THAT ARE ON SHOW OPERATING PROFITABLE 1,200% SEASON 5 38 32 30 SEASON 6 41 36 33 1,000% SEASON 7 46 45 34

SEASON 8 800% 36 36 28 SEASON 9 49 49 33 600% GIRLS VS. BOYS Among the companies analyzed, far more men than 400% women appeared in the Tank. But on a percentage basis, women contestants did slightly better at winning deals—56 percent, versus 55 percent for men.

200% MALE CONTESTANTS = 102 FEMALE CONTESTANTS = 43

−100% +2 + FUNDED = 56 FUNDED = 24

ROBERT HERJAVEC‘s delayed big hit DAYMOND JOHN proves the Shark Tank KEVIN O’LEARY provides evidence below—season 5’s HoodiePillow—took bump can continue years after episodes that not all Shark Tank bumps last. a few years before becoming his air. That’s the case with Bombas, the However, some of his companies, like fastest-growing investment.* season 6 sock startup John backed— season 7’s 3-D card startup Lovepop, and which is still skyrocketing. are still growing. 5,000% 5,000% 5,000%

4,000% 4,000% 4,000%

3,000% 3,000% 3,000%

2,000% 2,000% 2,000%

1,000% 1,000% 1,000%

0% 0% 0% −100% −100% −100% −1 Shark year +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 −1 Shark year +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 −1 Shark year +1 +2 +3 +4 +5

*Herjavec invested in a fourth-season company—in 2012—that is still going strong in 2018 (six years past its Shark year). 36 line forwomen ofcolor, says sheusedtosendoutshortmonthly and CEOofMented Cosmetics, aNew York City–based beauty “That’s whenIknewhow importantupdatesare.” texting, orcallingafterreceiving previous updates,” Leerecalls. me, because itwasn’t like he’d beenimmediatelyemailing, ried thattheradio silencemeanttrouble. “It was interesting to tor email.Two weeks later, anangelinvestor reached out,wor- lesson afterhegotbusyanddidn’t sendouthismonthlyinves- that makes Korean sauces andsnacks, says helearnedthis Theo Lee, andCEOofKPop co-founder Foods, startup anL.A. STAY INTOUCH CHOOSE YOUR INVESTORS WISELY D.C. Sohow exactly canyou keep your moneypeoplehappy? for findingpublicpolicyexperts that’s basedinWashington, setts, andanadvisoryboard memberfor 202works, aplatform professor offinanceatGordon CollegeinWenham, Massachu- Theory andPracticeTheory according toastudypublishedinthejournal tensions andlong-term stress atinvestor-funded startups, as well.” Thatsortofdiversity ofexperience mayhelpreduce have physicians, software executives, andsomefinance folks ent skillsets. “We wanted awell-rounded mix,” hesays. “We as your investors aboutwhere you’re takingthecompany.” valuation orexit strategy: “It’s importanttobeonthesamepage ments by peoplewhowouldn’t committothefounders’desired costs. Mughal saysheandhispartnersturneddown invest- designed totrack medicaldevicesandreduce hospitalsurgical Optio Surgical, aLakewood, maker Colorado–based ofsoftware were selective,” saysRyan andCEOof Mughal, theco-founder for backers whoare alignedwithyour long-term vision.“We

How you communicateisalso key. KJMiller, theco-founder Mughal alsorecommends lookingforbackers withdifer- ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 2018 OCTOBER Regular updatestoyour investors are amust. in2014. management,” saysAlexander Lowry, a faces asetback.“It’s allaboutstakeholder even whenyou disagree oryour business opinions canhelpmaintainthepeace, demonstrating respect foryour backers’ relationships. about how tofixproblems cansouryour diferences ofopinion to deep-seated Everything from personalityconflicts sometimes that’s easiersaidthandone. them happy isakey partofyour job. Yet for your business, you know thatkeeping f you’ve successfully Good communications practices and Good communicationspractices and ● ● If you can,bepicky—and look ● should you keep themhappy? Congrats onfindinginvestors. Now, how the Money People Make Nice With OLEN HELAINE ● ● ● landedinvestors Entrepreneurship SPREAD SPREAD THE WEALTH VALUE YOUR INVESTORS AVOID SURPRISES ute value andhelpanentrepreneur out.” “Many investors feelgood,” hesays, “if theyare abletocontrib- same timeshowing hisinvestors thathevalues theircounsel. seeming like theyneedtoread anovel every timeIemailthem.” pier theyare. Butdoingitinabulletedmannerkeeps itfrom love data,” Millerlaughs. “The more Icangive them,thehap- information butbeeasiertodigest.Her investors “actually do So sheswitchedtobulletedemails, whichwould provide more asking forinformationshecouldhave easilyprovided upfront. qués. Butshewould oftengetbackquestionsfrom investors, updates, thinkingpeopledidn’t want toread lengthy communi- and introductionsthathave and possibleconnections. Asaresult, he’s received feedback focusing itsefortsandaskingthemtoreach outwithadvice notes toinvestors describingwhere the company iscurrently take themuponit. than theirmoney, andiftheyofersomespecificexpertise, hoping you fail.Somake your investors feelneededformore because theywant secretly ittodowell—not becausethey’re we’re stillmoving toward ourtarget,” sheexplains. more positive information.“Thisway, ourinvestors know to putitinsomecontext. Second,shequicklyfollows upwith like amissedgoal,shedoestwo things. First,shemakes sure the investors’ trustinyou andyour team,” shestates. with seed-andventure capital–funded startups. “It destroys of Kruze Consulting, aSan firmthatworks Francisco–based burn through itsaccumulatedfunds, saysVanessa Kruze, CEO to learnfrom anoutsidesource thatyour businessisaboutto bad news;tryingtohideitwillonlyupsetthem.No Lee sayshealways makes sure toaddalinehis monthly Miller sayswhensheneedstocommunicatesomething Don’t beanostrich.Investors They’ve invested inyourThey’ve company improv of of author of finance journalist, the a veteran personal ( Helaine Olen Why Personal Finance Finance Personal Why Complicated Exposing the Dark Side Side Dark the Exposing Doesn’t Have to Be Be to Have Doesn’t of the Personal Finance Finance Personal the of Industry, Industry, @helaineolen The Index Card: Card: Index The ed KPop’s bottomline, atthe and co-author Pound Foolish: Foolish: Pound . ) is will one wants one wants findout

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WHEN BRIGHT TALENT MEETS A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY, IT CREATES AN INFIRNO® For more than 60 years, Lockheed Martin has produced innovative global security and aerospace technologies in Florida. One of their ALISSA WINDHAM newest projects in the state is INFIRNO®, a high-performance targeting sensor for air, maritime and ground platforms. It has high- deﬁ nition optical sensors that enable users to identify, track and engage multiple targets at extended ranges, while also providing FRANK ST. JOHN intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

Alissa Windham had the opportunity to work as a systems “ Our success – and our nation’s engineering intern on the INFIRNO® team during the design technological advantage – depends phase. In fact, the skills she developed through her courses at on a constant supply of highly trained, the University of Florida’s College of Engineering prepared her for highly capable technical talent.” multiple internships at Lockheed Martin. Getting that real-world – Frank St. John, Executive Vice President of experience helped her gain fundamental skills and ultimately fi nd Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control a future with the Fortune 100 company, where she is employed as a full-time systems engineer. To maintain that standard of excellence, Florida colleges and universities are committed to collaborating with companies to ensure that STEM programs and high-tech curriculums are FLORIDA TALENT BY THE NUMBERS relevant to industry needs and remain on the cutting edge of innovation. 1st 3rd in high-tech largest employment in the workforce in “ Florida is able to keep high-quality Southeast the U.S. talent in the state, giving high-tech 38K+ 311K+ companies like Lockheed Martin and annual STEM high-tech others access to employees who are graduates employees critical to our businesses’ success.” – Frank St. John, Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Alissa is just one of Florida’s 38,000+ STEM graduates helping tech companies compete and succeed in the industry. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Executive Vice To learn more about the Florida-Lockheed Martin talent partnership, visit fl oridathefutureishere.com/LMtalent. President Frank St. John, who began his career with the company more than 25 years ago as an intern, believes that access to educated, prepared talent is critical to the company’s future. INC. 5000 INSIGHTS HOW DO YOU CUT A WORK PERK WITHOUT HURTING MORALE? Advice from the founders of America’s fastest-growing companies. As told to Kate Rockwood “Tell them why. I’m a “We gave everyone a sugar-free Red Bull paid gym membership. addict, and we used Some never used it. So to stock the fridge we scaled back: If you with cases—spending go to the gym five times $300 a month. A few a month, the benefit years ago, I told them: stays alive. If not, it A penny times 10 drops. We were trans- isn’t much, but times parent when answering a million is serious questions—that mini- money. We have four mized morale dip.” times as many em- — ployees now—I can’t BISSER GEORGIEV imagine how much Founder and CEO, LiveTrends Design Group we’d be spending if I (consumer products and hadn’t stopped. But if services) you don’t give them a 2017 RANK 256 reason, they’ll make it GROWTH 1,662% up: Is the company REVENUE $12.8 MILLION going under? Is he just being punitive?” — “When we had a handful GUY BAUER of employees, people Founder and CEO, Guy Bauer Productions had pretty flexible (advertising and schedules, and if some- marketing) one needed the day off 2017 RANK 833 or to go to the dentist, GROWTH 543% they’d just text me. REVENUE $3.1 MILLION But when you have 40 people texting for a day off, you need proce- dures. I brought every- “When we had three one into a meeting and or four employees, told them that as we everyone had a key to scaled, we’d have to put our shop and could more policies in place. work on their cars or Survival depends on it. friends’ cars anytime. When you phrase it that As we grew, that way, scheduling time off wasn’t practical. two weeks in advance When we said that doesn’t seem so bad.” wasn’t going to work — anymore, we made ARMIR HARRIS sure to set up em- Founder and CEO, Shofur (logistics and ployee shop time on transportation) certain weekends.” 2017 RANK 21 — GROWTH 10,448% LACEY STEEN REVENUE $12.1 MILLION Co-founder and vice president, Move Bumpers (manufacturing) 2018 RANK 204 GROWTH 2,223% “How you preface any perk is key. Early on, we let everyone work a REVENUE $4.9 MILLION four-day week. I made it clear there was no guarantee we’d do

Rankings and data were it forever. Almost immediately, the culture changed for the worse: taken from the 2017 and 2018 Inc. 5000. Growth People didn’t want to stay late, they didn’t want to help out on the is three-year revenue growth; revenue listed is for the year prior to weekend, it wasn’t as collaborative. I gathered everyone and told the Inc. 5000 ranking. them the results weren’t manifesting. People got it. No one quit.” — TOM GIMBEL Founder and CEO, LaSalle Network (human resources) 2017 RANK 4,450 GROWTH 56% REVENUE $55.5 MILLION

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40 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● The Slog and the Glory

Fog, mud, and rivals couldn’t stop Justify (ridden by Mike Smith, in white silks) from winning the 143rd Preakness Stakes in May. Three weeks later, the three-year-old chestnut colt would claim the Triple Crown, raising the sport’s profile, if only briefly. When Justify crossed the finish line at the storied but struggling Pimlico track in Baltimore, few fans were watching more closely than Belinda Stronach, chairman and president of the Stronach Group. Her family business, which owns Pimlico and five other tracks, employs some 3,500 full-time people and claims to be the largest private horse-track owner in America. Now, for her company to thrive, Stronach must take on the sport’s entrenched analog problems while facing some modern challenges of the digital age. Five days before this year’s Preakness, the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting— changing the landscape for horse racing, previously the only sport that Congress had exempted, and setting off a race across the gaming industry to capture a new group of legal sports bettors. The Limits of Old-World Charm A Preakness guest (right) places her bet. The Stronach Group, which handled about 40 percent of the $11 billion bet on horses last year, is developing an app to make the process more high- tech. “Horseracing is the last great sporting legacy platform that has not yet fully modernized,” Stronach says. She’s facing other handicaps: 148-year-old Pimlico has its charms, including a ready room for jockeys and buglers (below), but it is also known for leaky roofs and aging infrastruc- ture. Renovations have been estimated to cost $300 million, money that the Stronach Group won’t spend without state support. But moving the Preakness to Laurel Park, the company’s track outside Baltimore, upsets traditionalists—and requires legislative signoff. “We’re committed to racing in Maryland," Stronach says, "but we need a venue that can accommodate all of those [modern] things.”

42 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● A Star-Studded Winner’s Circle It can’t control the weather, but Stronach’s company has worked to polish every other aspect of racing, a once- glamorous sport ﬁghting a long decline. A Canadian celebrity who’s known as much for her A-list circles as for her business and political careers, Stronach is amping up the “front of house” food, entertainment, and VIPs at her tracks. Preakness guests this year included celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, and musicians Ne-Yo and Post Malone. “I’ve often heard people say, ‘Baseball can be pretty boring, football games can be pretty long,’ ” says Stronach. “The good thing about horseracing is that we constantly have races happening—and between the races, it becomes a super-fun day party.”

Taking the Reins Stronach, 52, wasn’t all that big on horses— unlike her father, Frank, 86, who founded auto-parts empire Magna International. “Growing up around the dinner table, I’m surrounded by horse lovers,” she laughs. "They'd talk and I’d tune out.” Stronach worked her way up Magna’s ranks to become CEO, but in 2004, she stepped down for a four-year headline-grabbing stint as a member of the Canadian Parliament. In 2011, after her family sold its controlling shares in Magna, she and Frank reshaped the company’s entertainment division, which became the Aurora, Ontario–based Stronach Group. “I’m always stressed on race days. I want to make sure things go as well as they can,” she said a few days after this year’s Preakness, as she and her executive team started planning their improve ments for next year—though Justify’s race will be tough to top. “It was pretty dramatic watching the two front-runners come out of the fog and race to the finish line,” she added. “You have total respect for the athleticism, and for the challenges.” ungluing them from screens and keeping them active. Her company, Unruly Stu- dios, has already had a successful Kick- starter campaign, raised $600,000 from investors, landed in an Amazon accelerator, and scored staf and advisers from Mattel, Disney, and MIT Media Lab. In August, it won the Small Biz Salute Pitch Of, a contest sponsored by the UPS Store and Inc. that drew thousands of appli- cants from across the U.S. The daughter of New Hampshire restaurateurs, Leeming has long imagined a career among kids. For the first prototype, Leeming cadged some engineering advice, and then she and her husband went to Home Depot and “spent the weekend building a Flowering STEM frame,” she says. “Then I Unruly Studios’ went to a maker space and founder, Bryanne learned how to solder and Leeming, and her company’s use Arduino,” a prototyp- Unruly Splats ing platform for interactive units (at rest on table; in motion electronic objects. The in foreground). resulting 4'X4' wood surface, embedded with electronics, barely squeezed into her car when she carried it to schools and other sites so kids could test it. (More than 3,000 have.) Splats now comprise multiple tiles. Leeming had assumed her team would supply game ideas. But, she says, after soliciting feedback from kids at every RISING STARS audition—and winding up with hundreds of new ideas, mostly executed in A SPLATTACULAR START crayon—“I realized how much better it CAN YOU TEACH KIDS would be to open it up and let kids make the games.” HOW TO CODE DURING The approach is resonating. “Quite a PLAY TIME? UNRULY few students whom teachers had identi- fied as uninspired really took to Splats,” SPLATS DO JUST THAT. says Jason Behrens, innovation director for Somerville, Massachusetts’s public schools, where fifth- and sixth-graders at Winter Hill Community Innovation In 2015, Bryanne Leeming was daydreaming in class at Babson School piloted Splats earlier this year. College. “Two words came into my mind: electronic playground,” Currently, two tiles cost $149.99, and says Leeming, 28. The idea kept her at her computer until 3 a.m., Unruly Studios is fulfilling orders from as she Googled everything from “MIT Media Lab research” to the its $42,500 Kickstarter campaign, along toys she’d played with as a child. with those from the 20 or so schools That daydream evolved into floor tiles dubbed Unruly Splats, piloting Splats. “When we talk about because their embedded blotch-shaped lights resemble spilled milk. coding, people think the marketplace for Splats light up and make sounds, including speech, as kids race schools is the computer lab,” says Amon around and jump on them. Using an app, children can program the Millner, an assistant professor at Olin Splats to change their responses, modify preloaded games, or simu- College of Engineering and an Unruly late musical instruments. advisor. “The gym can be part of that Leeming’s bigger game is to teach kids coding and STEM while landscape.” —LEIGH BUCHANAN

44 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNIE MARIE MUSSELMAN Congratulations

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MIKE JARRETT 46 finally managedtoborrow themoneyheneeded from afurni- Clark, inhisidea.After strikingoutwitheverybody else, he trying tointerest well-known musicpromoters, including Dick Forum, andIwasn’t alone. Nader hadalready spentfouryears to hearabunchofwashed-up rock ’n’ roll bandstofilltheFelt strong. Icouldn’t imaginethatenoughpeoplewould want 100 with“IWant toHold Your Hand.” Motown was alsogoing hits in1969—five years aftertheyfirsttoppedtheBillboard Hot ish Invasion setofby theBeatles, whoscored three U.S. No. 1 heard. Understand, thecountrywas stillexperiencing the Brit- $25,000 tohelp fundit.“Whatdoyou think?” heasked. Forum inMadison Square Garden. He wanted metoputup 1950s. He was planningtostagethefirstconcertat Felt rock ’n’roll concertbusinessfeaturingperformersfrom the named Richard Nader cametoseeme. He hadanideafora 26-year-old lawyer withmy own practice inBrooklyn. Aguy wrong.” AndthenItoldhimastory. doesn’t matterwhatIthink.Allthatmattersisyou think.” gave Charlesthesameanswer I’ve given alltheothers:“It First-time entrepreneurs always want toknow whatIthink. of my ideaforabusiness?”over andover forthepast50years. cryptocurrency?” heasked. andlikelywell-constructed tolast.“Whatdoyou thinkabout ing fast,buthesaidwas trading onlythefewthatwere of cryptocurrency atthetime, andthenumberhadbeengrow- cies like bitcoin.There were actuallymore than1,500types

I toldhimthoughtitwas thestupidestideaIhadever It happened inearly1969, whenIwas anewlyminted, “Sure, Ihave anopinion,” Isaid.“So what?Imaybe “But you musthave anopinion,” Charlesinsisted. I’ve heard someversion ofthequestion“Whatdoyou think ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 2018 OCTOBER ● new business idea? Don’t ask. new businessidea?Don’t You want to know what Ithinkof your That Maters The Only Opinion NORM BRODSKY ● ● ● ● fund ofcryptocurren- he said,was ahedge starting. Thebusiness, a businesshewas see meforadviceabout named Charlescameto bright young man few monthsago, ● STREET SMARTS a know whathappens. me. Iasked himtokeep mepostedonhisprogress. I’llletyou was thelikeliest way toraise themoneyheneeded.He thanked my thoughtsonhow hemightimplementtheideaandwhat asking meabouthisidea.Itoldhimwas very willingtoofer chance onabusiness. full ofnaysayers happy to tellyou how crazy you are totake a or listentootherpeople’s opinionsoftheirideas. Theworld is contrary, Ihave urged themasforcefully asIcannottoaskfor neurs startingbusinesseswhatIthinkoftheirideas. Onthe transforming therock ’n’roll concertbusiness. wound upmakinghimmillionsandofdollars been about“thestupidestideaIhadever heard.” Thatidea Garden. It was hisway ofreminding mehow wrong Ihad me two front-row tickets tohisconcerts inMadison Square staging oldiesconcertstoday, nineyears afterhisdeath. A company bearinghisnamethathestartedin1989isstill He even produced anoldiesmovie basedontheconcerts. giant venues throughout theUnited States andGreat Britain. 4,500 people, tothemainarena, whichheldupto20,000. from theFelt Forum, whichcouldaccommodateabout They were sopopular, infact,thattheyhadtobemoved concerts hewent ontoproduce atMadison Square Garden. and thePlatters. others, BillHaley andHisComets, theCoasters, theShirelles, concerts onOctober18, 1969, withperformancesby, among ture manufacturer and putonhisﬁrsttwo Rock &Roll Revival I thinkmy storyconvinced Charlesthatthere was nopoint I gotthemessage. Sincethen,Ihave never toldentrepre- In theearlydaysofhisbusiness, Nader would always send Over thenext 40years, Nader tookhisoldiesshows to Both shows soldout.Sodidalmostallofthe25oldies @normbrodsky Follow himon Twitter: for Entrepreneurs for All-Purpose Tool Kit Kit Tool All-Purpose of of He istheco-author veteran entrepreneur. Norm Brodsky isa Street Smarts: An An Smarts: Street . .

SHAYAN ASGHARNIA INC. BRANDED CONTENT / SUBARU “We believe in investing in our communities,” says Tom Doll (left), President and CEO of Subaru of HEALING America. COMMUNITIES ONE ACT AT A TIME With the Subaru Love Promise, the car company is taking a stand in an age of divisiveness.

Subaru of America President and CEO communities,” Doll says. “We wanted to 200 pets in one week, they took action Tom Doll was on his way to a speaking become a positive force in the communities immediately. After getting a list of needs engagement in 2013, thinking about the where we live and work, simply because it from the shelter’s manager, employees state of the company. It was holding its is the right thing to do.” After a few meetings HUKJ\Z[VTLYZÄSSLK[^V:\IHY\-VYLZ[LYZ own against its 30 closest competitors. The with team members, the Subaru Love with supplies for the pets in need. The brand had amassed a loyal customer base Promise was born. The idea was simple: KLHSLYZOPWYLTHPUZHKYVWVќJLU[LYMVY and developed a reputation for supporting Empower the retailer network to get involved supplies that are donated to the shelter causes important to Subaru drivers. and do good works in their communities, and new pet owners. Through programs like Share the Love, an helping people or causes in need. annual event during which Subaru donates In addition to supporting charities that $250 per car purchased between mid- “We work in an industry where millions address environmental issues, education, November and December 31 to various of dollars are spent like it’s nothing,” Doll pets, healthcare, and their communities, charities, the company has generated more says. “But you give these local, hometown :\IHY\YL[HPSLYZHYLTHRPUNHKPќ LYLUJL than $118 million in donations between charities $15,000 or $25,000, and to them in individual lives. One of Doll’s favorite 2007 and 2017. that’s life-changing money. They’re so stories is about a young man in Sioux LJPLU[HUKP[YLHSS`THRLZHKPќ LYLUJL¹ Falls, South Dakota, who was part of a START WITH A GOAL group that vandalized some of the cars at Doll began thinking about how Subaru LOVE IN ACTION Schulte Subaru. Video surveillance helped JV\SKTHRLHIPNNLYKPќLYLUJLPU[OL^VYSK The results are remarkable. In June 2018, [OLWVSPJL[VÄUK[OLNYV\W;OLYL[HPS He had often talked about the “human the team at Subaru of Bend, in Bend, location owner’s compassion led him to footprint”—the impact that people have on Oregon, raised nearly $42,000 to support VќLYVULVM[OLTHQVI;VKH`[OL`V\UN others’ lives through daily interactions. From Grandma’s House of Central Oregon. This man remains a valued employee. their grocery store cashier to their boss, shelter gives homeless and transitional people can have a positive or negative pregnant women and mothers with young “That’s the Subaru Love Promise in action,” LќLJ[VUV[OLYZ"P[»ZHJOVPJL0[^HZ[OLUOL children a safe place to live. In addition to Doll says. “The most surprising thing to me realized the tidal wave of love and positive [OLM\UKZV^ULYZTHUHNLYZZHSLZZ[Hќ is that we’ve taken a business that is about impact the enormous network of Subaru and customers showered the mothers, selling and turned it into a business where retailers could put into motion nationwide. babies, and children with gifts. we pride ourselves on giving. Our retailers are actively looking for ways to make their “The goal was to make every interaction In February 2018, when the team at North communities better. And once you start with Subaru a positive one—not just in End Subaru of Lunenburg, Massachusetts, doing that, it’s hard to stop.” donations, but in actions rooted in love found out that nearby Sterling Animal and respect that help the people in their Shelter was going to receive more than Learn more at subaru.com/love-promise. Our First-Ever STATE OF WOMEN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Survey 53

The Female Founder’s FUNDING GUIDE 66 female

How I Did It JAYMEE MESSLER OF THE PLAYERS’ TRIBUNE 68

FOUNDER. CEO. MAMA A Portfolio 72

The Unlikely Business of Being BRENÉ BROWN 82 founders

The 100 pioneers, empire-builders, movement makers, innovators, creatives, serial entrepreneurs, and geeks building the most exciting businesses in America.

● ● ● ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 49 100 Ff

There’s one thing women have no shortage of: energy. The kind of boundless energy to convert dreams into action, to chase ambition fearlessly, to let nothing get in their way. For some of our Female Founders 100, it’s the ﬁrst time they have hatched a company. Others have been at this for decades. This is just the beginning of a conversation with—and the building of a vibrant community by—the women whose smarts are rattling industries far and wide.

female—and more than $40 million Morgan DeBaun in funding. The controversial goal, BLAVITY which the founders hope to accom- plish within five to 10 years, is to DeBaun was sitting in a cubicle at Intuit, release FDA-approved therapies that reeling from the shooting of Michael could attack everything from cancer Brown near her hometown St. Louis. to cystic fibrosis, as well as to engi- Frustrated by the dearth of black media, neer malaria-resistant mosquitoes. she quit her job and launched a digital First, though, they have to survive their media platform for black Millen nials. “For ongoing patent dispute with MIT. a really long period of time, I wanted to —Kevin J. Ryan find an idea that made being broke worth it, even if we didn’t get a big, billion-dollar Reese Witherspoon Sarah Kauss exit,” she says. The Los Angeles–based HELLO SUNSHINE/DRAPER JAMES S’WELL media company recently launched Every year seems like Witherspoon’s She turned a water bottle into a 21Ninety.com, for women of color, acquired year, but the past few set records. In $100 million-plus art canvas. 2016, she launched Hello Sunshine, travel site TravelNoire.com, raised $6.5 a new storytelling vehicle that aims Sallie Krawcheck million in funding, and opened a tech to change the narrative around office in Atlanta—a hot spot, DeBaun says, women—then went on to produce, ELLEVEST for African American computer science star in, and win Emmys for HBO’s Big Krawcheck jokes that she’s the only majors. —Kate Rockwood Little Lies while running her fashion person to have been fired on the front and homewares brand, Draper page of The Wall Street Journal— James. Whether it’s through Hulu twice. But her Wall Street gigs—head and Apple TV—she’s locked in devel- of global wealth management at opment deals with both—her own Bank of America Merrill Lynch and CFO of Citigroup—prepared her for Moj Mahdara on-demand TV channel, or her book BEAUTYCON MEDIA club rivaling Oprah’s, Witherspoon is her next mission: building an investing platform specifically for women. Why host a beauty trade show when channeling her smarts and financial you can throw a party? power to fix the gender imbalance in “There’s a reason women rank entertainment. —Tom Foster finance 33rd out of the 33 industries that serve them,” Krawcheck says. Angela Antony Rachel Haurwitz & “They feel talked down to, misunder- SCOUTIBLE stood.” Her answer is a four-year-old She gamified the talent slog. Jennifer Doudna investing platform that is driven by an CARIBOU BIOSCIENCES investor’s goals—like buying a house, In the future, deadly diseases will be paying for child care, or retiring by a Kendra Scott snipped from your DNA like lines of certain age. Krawcheck hopes Elle- KENDRA SCOTT bad code. At least that’s how the vest, the fastest of the so-called Scott was desperate. She’d started University of California at Berkeley robo-advisers to reach $100 million in her eponymous jewelry line in 2002, biochemistry professor (Doudna) assets under management, will help and spent six years getting distribu- and her former-student-turned-CEO close what she calls the “investment tion in several hundred boutiques (Haurwitz) envision it. Doudna’s gap,” or the fact women invest less around the country. Business was research team at Berkeley published than men and, on average, keep 68 OK—“enough to live on”—but then the first paper illustrating Crispr’s percent of their money in cash. “This the financial crisis hit, and in 2009 gene-editing abilities back in 2012, is quit-your-job money,” she says. many of those boutiques had to shut and then spun it out into the “This is get-out-of-a-bad-relation- down. “It was horrifying—like, oh, my Berkeley-based company, which now ship money. This is important.” god, I’m going to lose my company,” has 50 employees—half of whom are —Kimberly Weisul she remembers. What to do in the HAIR BY FELICIA LEATHERWOOD; MAKE UP BY AYISAT ADELAKUN AYISAT MAKE UP BY FELICIA LEATHERWOOD; HAIR BY

50 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHLOE CUSHMAN “We want to be the biggest, blackest thıng in tech.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY KELIA ANNE ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 51 100 Tina Sharkey BRANDLESS Ff To hear Sharkey tell it, the face of a retail collapse? Open her own store, $240 million in venture of course. The designer struggled to find an capital she raised this sum- investor, until a local Austin banker who mer pretty much just fell happened to like Scott’s jewelry agreed to into her lap: “A couple of give her a loan, if she put everything she VCs who were friends said, owned up as collateral. Today her business is ‘I hear you guys are up to valued at a billion dollars, and Scott still owns something—can we come the majority of it, making her one of the visit?’ ” The something— wealthiest self-made women in the country. —T.F. Gregg Renfrew trying to challenge every BEAUTYCOUNTER retailer from Target to Lynn Jurich When Renfrew was getting ready to pitch Whole Foods with Brand- less’s own line of consumer SUNRUN investors on her toxic-chemical-free beauty See page 76. brand, she kept hearing one piece of advice: staples, like blueberry flax Do not tell them that you want to go to Wash- granola or a 6.5-inch Nakiri Dawn Dickson ington and lobby for stricter regulation of the knife, all for $3 a pop—is personal-care industry. She promptly ignored as ambitious as it is auda- POPCOM the warning, and managed to raise money cious. This is hardly Shar- The vending machine will never be the same. anyway. The Santa Monica, California–based key’s first time around the company launched in 2013 and employs a block. The Mill Valley, Cali- Rachel Tipograph Mary Kay–like army of 30,000 independent salespeople. It also has doubled down on fornia, resident co-founded MIKMAK growing its other sales channels, including iVillage, and then sold it to Tipograph was the youngest exec at the e-commerce, partnerships with retailers like NBC Universal for $600 Gap—leading global social media in 2015— J. Crew and Target, and its own brick-and- million in 2006. With Soft- when she became aware of a vexing obstacle mortar stores—the first will open in New York Bank behind her and an for online brands: They either had massive City this fall. Meanwhile, Renfrew has enlisted customer-acquisition costs or were reliant on outpost on Target’s home her army of salespeople to help lobby law- turf of Minneapolis, run by behemoths like Amazon and Target. The rise makers, and recently brought 100 of them of e-commerce on social media added a with her to Washington. “Rather than win a the retailer’s former VP of new twist—most retailers that posted videos white Lexus or a pink Cadillac,” says Renfrew, merchandising, Sharkey’s on Facebook, Instagram, and Snap couldn’t “we do incentive trips to come to Capitol Hill.” gambit will be either spec- convert eyeballs to sales. Her Gap boss told —T.F. tacularly disastrous or glori- her: “If you can figure that out, it’s a billion- ously disruptive. –K.W. dollar idea.” So Tipograph quit her corporate job and persuaded Gary Vaynerchuk, among Steph Korey others, to invest $4 million in MikMak, which AWAY creates enterprise software for brands to do Warby Parker vets Korey and Jen Rubio just that. The three-year-old company—whose continue reinventing what a luggage brand clients include Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, and can be—no small feat in a category in which L’Oréal—is already profitable. at least two upstart competitors have already —Will Yakowicz folded. The even bigger triumph for the three-year-old company: reaching profitability in year two, unheard of for a venture- backed direct-to-consumer e-commerce startup. Says Korey: “We joke that we’re not going to be done until we have Away Airlines and it’s always on time.” —T.F. Nancy Hua APPTIMIZE Everyone needs an A/B test. Brené Brown BRENÉ BROWN EDUCATION AND Julie Wainwright RESEARCH GROUP THE REALREAL See page 82. After becoming the CEO of Pets.com in 1999, and then taking it public right before the dot-com crash, Wainwright was left with a Amy Sterner Nelson less-than-stellar reputation. By 2011, then in THE RIVETER her 50s, she decided to launch her second Nelson once worked on Wall Street, did a stint startup, a luxury consignment retailer that on President Obama’s national finance sells everything from Tiffany diamonds to committee, and was a corporate litigator. But Hermès Birkin bags, online and off. Seven when she was fundraising for her first startup years in, with nearly $300 million in venture last year, an investor questioned whether capital and over 40 percent annual revenue the mother of three was “physically up” for growth, Wainwright is eyeing an IPO—again. it. Biases like this, along with post-election “When you fail so publicly,” she says, “it frees galvanizing, were precisely what fueled you up to be more bold.” —T.F. Nelson to open the Riveter, a Seattle-based

52 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● 2018 SURVEY STATE OF WOMEN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

“Ready to Burn It Down”: Founders Talk Sexism, Money, and Politics BY KRISTIN LENZ AND MARIA ASPAN Starting any fast-growing business is difficult. Starting one while female, as the flood of headlines about #MeToo and VC funding shortfalls illustrates, can seem nearly impossible. “I was told I was too female, too old, even too blond: ‘You do not look like a CEO,’ ” says Jules Pieri, co-founder and CEO of the Grommet. Yet Pieri, who started her product launch platform in 2008 and last year sold a majority stake to Ace Hardware, is one of countless women to ignore naysay- ers, forge on—and find success. Inc. and Fast Company, our sister publication, asked women who have started all kinds of businesses just how they do it. The 279 respondents to our first State of Women and Entrepreneurship survey have seen it all: internal doubts, external harassment, subtle bias, and blatant discrimination. But they’ve also racked up some impressive records:

have more than $5 million in annual revenue, and more 38% than half of respondents are running profitable businesses.

Despite venture capital’s uneven playing field, 35% of these founders have raised more than $5 MILLION from outside investors. Bagging Its Competition And they’re aiming high: 40% of respondents say At Brandless, organic they want to build a fast-growth private business. ketchup, mustard, and Another 34% intend to sell their companies, and tomato sauce—along 11% want to take them public. with hundreds of other products—all cost $3 or less. For more ﬁndings from the survey, sponsored by Hiscox, please visit inc.com/female-founders-100.

PHOTOGRAPH BY SCOTTIE CAMERON ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 53 100 Ff

“I got a bottle of wine, sat on the couch with a friend, and talked about my vision of managing health from a smartphone.” 2018 SURVEY STATE OF WOMEN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Star Cunningham The Post-#MeToo 4D HEALTHWARE Landscape Aching from Crohn’s disease and chronic pain caused by the steel “Oh, honey, your numbers look great. rod lodged in her spine—inserted to correct childhood scoliosis— Who did them for you?” Yes, it really Cunningham, then an IBM executive, wondered how she could patch over the between-treatment holes in her insurance. “I got a is that bad; our respondents report bottle of wine, sat on the couch with a friend, and talked about my dismissive investors, groping vision of managing health from a smartphone,” says Cunning- engineers, and “just other bros in ham. She imagined a preventative technology that could monitor the industry being gross.” and predict shifts in an individual’s health, “just like Tesla knows what’s going on with every vehicle.” Cunningham’s six-year-old, Chicago-based tech company, which has raised $2.3 million in of respondents funding, now offers cancer patients services including medication experienced management and video check-ins with doctors—all through their harassment or phones. —Jemima McEvoy discrimination 53% in their capacity as founder. co-working space aimed at empower- ing women entrepreneurs. Since raising $4.75 million earlier this year, That’s roughly the same level of harassment the Riveter has expanded to Los reported by all women in a Washington Post/ABC Angeles, with outposts planned in News poll, if slightly better than the 60% of women who report some sort of unwanted sexual attention, Dallas and Denver. While some female- conduct, or comments in the workplace, according founded co-working spaces cater only to an EEOC study. to women, 30 percent of Riveter members are male. “If you want to change the future of work for women, you have to include all genders The worst harassers, according to our survey: in that conversation,” says Nelson. Investors and bankers ...... 58% —Michelle Cheng Sandra Oh Lin Vendors or suppliers ...... 50% Employees or subordinates ...... 27% KIWICO Stephanie Lampkin Trained as a chemical engineer, Lin Writes Avani Patel, founder and CEO of the Ember BLENDOOR had spent time in management at Lab, which advises consumer product startups: Bias in hiring can be a thing of the past. PayPal and eBay by the time she had her kids. When they were 3 and 5, her “There were times that Katie Forrest friends were so intrigued by her craft projects, she wondered: “Is this a investor meetings turned EPIC PROVISIONS business?” Seven years later, Lin has Because sustainably raised bison meat proved Kiwi Crates is one of the few into unwanted ‘dates.’ ” can become a catalyst for big food. subscription-box models that works. Inventive, high-quality science-and- Heidi Zak engineering kits for kids—like a trebu- THIRDLOVE chet that can launch a Ping-Pong ball of women seeking funding Because—finally—someone is making 10 feet in the air—have led to high experienced bias during the fundraising process. bras that aren’t one-size-fits-all. retention, low customer-acquisition 62% costs, nearly $100 million in revenue, Emily Heyward and a business that’s been profitable RED ANTLER for more than two years. “Investors don’t believe that Casper mattresses. Allbirds shoes. —Christine Lagorio-Chafkin women of color in tech can build Goby toothbrushes. They say there’s a IPO businesses, in part because Warby Parker of everything these days, Shanna Tellerman and the company you can thank for MODSY there are no examples,” writes creating the always-airy brand identi- What fun is redecorating a room if you Ramona Ortega, founder of ties of many of them is Red Antler, a can’t simulate it? personal finance startup My creative consultancy and marketing Money My Future. “If they don’t agency co-founded in 2007 by Hey- Polina Raygorodskaya ward, a veteran ad strategist. She’s so see us succeeding, it is hard to central to this universe that, when Red WANDERU believe we can.” Antler—now an equity partner in 75 Buses and trains can finally talk to startups—begins working with a new one another. company, “we know there are up to three companies launching at the Selina Tobaccowala How do female founders handle harassment? Almost none reported taking any formal action. same time in the same space—and GIXO we usually know because they’ve all Instead, most chose to end their professional rela- As president and CTO of Survey- tionships with the harasser or to confide in peers. approached us,” she says —T.F. Monkey, Tobaccowala was among the many people devastated when Dave

PHOTOGRAPH BY ELIZABETH DE LA PIEDRA ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 55

Ff years it will be50percentofourrevenue.” changingthecompanyradically,already profitablebusiness.“It’s andinafew ships aresolucrative,saysNaficy, they’re on 250,000 licensabledesignsfromtheMinted archive. These newpartner- line designretailertocreatean 1990s. Nowretailerssuchas West Elmand Target arepartnering with theon- Naficy, who founded herfirstcompany, storeEve.com, inthelate onlinebeauty have voted onthem.“We usethatdata Every week, Mintedgetsthousandsofdesigns;todate,millionsconsumers did sherealizethatshe’d dataengine. spendadecade buildingalust-worthy to exposeoriginaldesignsfromindieartists was throughcrowdsourcing.Little Serial entrepreneurNaficyfounded Mintedin 2007, bettingthatthebest way MINTED inner inventor. She stops atnothing to getkidsdiscovering their LITTLEBITS Ayah Bdeir ously co-founded Evite. wellness boom,” says Tobaccowala, who previ- cans were gettingleftoutofthishealthand fitness chainslike SoulCycle. “Everyday Ameri- alternative to the wave ofexpensive boutique fitness classes via theirsmartphones,apopulist that letsuserstake live-streamed oron-demand was a wake-up call.Soshestarted Gixo, anapp attributed to heartdisease, justaloss;it wasn’t in 2015. For Tobaccowala, Goldberg’s death, Sandberg’s Sheryl husband),diedunexpectedly 47-year-oldGoldberg, thecompany’s CEO (and

Mariam Naficy 100 —Jeff Bercovici —Jeff endless torrent of co-branded products based endless torrentofco-brandedproductsbased to predict what’s goingtosell,”to predict what’s says now the fastest-growing part of her ofher nowthefastest-growingpart billion-dollar fundto start herownhedgefund. 29, theinvestor leftbehind a jobmanaging Seidman-Becker lackfor doesn’t ambition: At CLEAR Seidman-Becker Caryn See page 78. PYMETRICS Frida Polli cannabis entrepreneur. cannabidiol brand,itmayas well beaserial If someone’s goingto buildthenextgreat CBD FOR LIFE Beth Stavola own Estée Lauder. Because theInstagram generationneedsits GLOSSIER Emily Weiss —T.F. designed abra with built-in sensorsthatcollect for.” whyThat’s theCosta Ricanentrepreneur theonespeople aren’t watch jaw pain—“typically women experience”—shortnessofbreath and result, symptoms ChongRodriguez says,“the cardiovascular research trialsisa woman. As a worldwide Heart diseaseistheleadingcauseofdeath BLOOMER TECH Alicia ChongRodriguez thecoasts. consumers between Because brandsneedto chat with the THE PARTICIPATION AGENCY Ruthie Schulder She took thetaboo outofplussize. UNIVERSAL STANDARD Polina Veksler timeDuncanHinesgot anupgrade. Because it’s FOODSTIRS Galit Laibow eventually betheonlyID you need. face—or your finger, or your eyeball—will food. IfSeidman-Becker hasher way, your Seahawks orSoundersgamesto buybeeror airports, orscantheirfingerprintatSeattle with thetouch ofafingeratmore than20U.S. scribers cannowmove through flightsecurity sub- global IDstandard ofthefuture. Clear’s use itto make herbiometricscompany the scans oftheirfaces, irises,andfingerprints—and peopleusing totechnology—an identify ability Seidman-Becker plansto take theunderlying startup outofbankruptcy for $5.87 million.Now By 37, she’d boughtanairportsecurity-screening — yet onlyoneinthree participants in —Burt Helm —Burt

DREW ALTIZER data from the heart, analyze it for 2018 SURVEY irregularities, and funnel vital informa- STATE OF WOMEN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP tion to a doctor. Chong Rodriguez, who’s getting her master’s at MIT, is currently beta testing the device, Money Matters hoping to get it to market next year. “We want to give women peace of mind “Getting told no a million times and help them live longer, healthier can be really disheartening,” writes lives,” she says. —K.J.R. one founder. Nevertheless, she— and many other women surveyed— Jaclyn Johnson persisted to start big, expensive, CREATE & CULTIVATE investor-backed businesses. When Johnson’s marketing agency Emma Mcilroy threw its first major event in 2015, she Women need more credentials to be taken seriously: WILDFANG 20% have their MBAs and 30% have other graduate faced a choice: “We could do this for Soon after launching her tomboy degrees. Compare that with survey answers from cheap in a hotel conference room, or apparel company, Mcilroy got an this year’s Inc. 5000 CEOs, who are 87% male: 15% we could make it beautiful and amaz- introduction to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. of those respondents have MBAs and 20% have ing … and Instagrammable.” She aimed She flew to Vegas to meet Hsieh for other graduate degrees. for the ’Gram—and attendees loved the lunch, and he asked, “If I had a magic affair. So did the sponsor, eager to wand, what could I do for you?” Mcilroy, reach ambitious young women, both in unprepared, babbled something about 37% of respondents needed over person and on social media. So John- wanting to work with his head of opera- son sold her agency, and today her tions and customer service. “When I $10 million events business—which got home I was like, ‘Fuck! I did not do hosts up to 40 events annually—cre- that question justice,’ ” says Mcilroy, who ates sponsored experiences meant to had previously worked at Nike with her $100,000 be both inspiring and shareable. —B.H. co-founder, Julia Parsley. She more than salvaged the conversation—even- to start their business. Rana el Kaliouby tually getting Hsieh to invest twice in AFFECTIVA her Portland, Oregon–based com- Because even machines need pany—but she’s also since built a brand Women use their own cash: 63% of respondents say emotional intelligence. imbued with social justice. Mcilroy, who they funded their startup through savings ... is queer, vocally pro-choice, and pro- Nichole Mustard immigration, animates her six-year-old company’s product line with these CREDIT KARMA tenets. “It’s so much more than just See page 74. ... versus 43% of Inc. 5000 CEOs. money,” she says of running a mission- based retailer that’s developed a cult Samantha Snabes following among celebs including Miley RE:3D Cyrus and Evan Rachel Wood. “You A member of the National Guard, have to live and breathe it in every facet Snabes wanted to be an astronaut, of your business.” —Hannah Wallace but a stint at NASA introduced her to Engineers Without Borders, inspiring Sascha Mayer her to bring sustainable technology MAMAVA 28% 35% to the developing world. Now, her Because what mother doesn’t need a TOOK VENTURE TOOK ANGEL company makes the Gigabot, a large- lactation pod to breastfeed in? CAPITAL FUNDING format 3-D printer that costs less than $10,000. Based in Houston, Austin, Way better than the averages: Only 2% of all VC goes and Puerto Rico, with customers in Renee Erickson to U.S.-based female-only founder teams, according 53 countries, RE:3D has created a SEA CREATURES to PitchBook, and roughly 3% goes to female CEOs. printer that can produce anything Jeff Bezos may own Seattle, but some- from battery-pack cases for electric one else dominates its restaurant motorcycles to replicas of dinosaur scene. bones. Snabes’s next goal: printing “I’ve seen men with really from trash—specifically, the ground- Shan-Lyn Ma up plastic water bottles that pollute so bad ideas, no traction, and many shorelines. And she’s still look- ZOLA no path to traction raise ing skyward: “I applied to be an astro- Ma was a director of product manage- naut in the last round,” she says. ment at Gilt Groupe when she got her millions of dollars. It’s just “With 18,000 other people.” —K.W. first opportunity to start a Gilt spinoff. not that way for black The venture eventually folded, but Gilt founder Kevin Ryan, a pioneer in New women,” writes Tanya Van York City tech, recognized Ma’s talent. Court, CEO and founder So when she pitched him the idea of a company that overhauled the anti- of kid-focused savings quated tradition of wedding registries— platform Goalsetter. think zapping porcelain bowls in a Bed Bath & Beyond—he immediately “Everything is scrutinized invested. Five years later, Zola has and the conversation starts become the fastest-growing wedding registry site in the U.S., valued at at no. You have to move $600 million and untethered to the them to yes.”

● ● ● ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 57 100 beauty venture a year and a half ago, but started 2018 SURVEY her entrepreneurial career in the 1990s, with the STATE OF WOMEN Ff spa chain Bliss. After selling a $30 million chunk AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP of it to LVMH in 1999, she started Soap and Glory, which sold for a reported $50 million. FitFlop Money Matters most expensive parts of e-commerce that once soon followed. Now, Kilgore is taking on the continued dogged Gilt—including inventory and returns. direct-to-consumer trend in an industry that has Ma’s mantra for what’s next: “How can we make plenty of margin to play with. “The retailer takes this bigger?” —T.F. 60 percent right off the bat,” she says. “People As more funds invest exclusively don’t know that if a factory makes a lipstick, that in women (see “The Female lipstick is available to any other brand that works Founder’s Funding Guide,” page Jessica Banks 66), some of our survey respon- ROCKPAPERROBOT with that factory.” The common thread through dents prioritize female backers. Adaptable furniture designed by a roboticist. all of Kilgore’s businesses: Every one has been entirely self-funded. —K.W.

Sarah Lacy Limor Fried of the women CHAIRMAN MOM ADAFRUIT INDUSTRIES who raised Because working moms shouldn’t be set All hail the high priestess of soldering, 38% money up to fail. sought out coding, and DIY hacking. female investors. Jessica O. Matthews Courtney Adeleye UNCHARTED POWER THE MANE CHOICE She energizes everyday objects. A YouTube following transformed into a black Of those founders ... natural hair care empire. 20% said they wanted female investors because they felt they’d Marcia Kilgore be taken more seriously. BEAUTY PIE Tracy DiNunzio 24% said they wanted to Some entrepreneurs will tell you that building TRADESY support female investors. their company was so hard they could never Every closet could use a cleanout—she ﬁgured 28% said female investors better do it again. Not Kilgore. She launched her latest out how to monetize it. understand their target market. 42% of the female founders make investments in other startups.

“I didn’t seek out just women—but I want to support female investors,” notes Mary Fox, CEO and co-founder of coaching platform Marlow. “It’s insane how few women are in this space.”

Meika Hollender 109 vs. 75 SUSTAIN NATURAL MALE FEMALE For the ﬁrst four years of Hollender’s no frills, female-focused sexual health CO-FOUNDERS CO-FOUNDERS startup, it was all about condoms. But 2017 marked a signiﬁcant expansion in Several founders have all-female the company’s “vagina-friendly” portfolio, with new product lines including management teams, but many organic tampons, pads, and, as of August, Thinx-style period undies. Hollender women cite men as important supporters. Of those respondents was able to move so swiftly, in part, because her co-founder and father, Jeffrey, who started their companies with started Seventh Generation. “We had the experience in this space and rela- partners, more chose men than tionships with manufacturers, so we were able to bring these products to women. market quickly,” says Meika, noting that condoms are still 50 percent of the

company’s sales, which have increased 300 percent in the past year. –J.M. ALEX KWOK

58 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ●

100 place women could stop into in the middle was valued at $1.75 billion. But don’t expect of the day’s hustle, spruce up, and network. Wojcicki to start splurging. “I’m a huge Ff Three years later, the Wing is a fast-growing, believer in being thrifty,” she says. “When we venture-backed, women-only co-working closed the GSK deal, we had confetti in the space with West Coast and international office. I saved it and reused it in my former Katlin Smith expansion on the horizon. Gelman envisions mother-in-law’s birthday present.” —K.J.R. SIMPLE MILLS the Wing not as a real estate company, but Paleo, keto, gluten-free—these days, a rather as an omnichannel business, includ- plethora of people are paying premium Fran Dunaway ing, among other things, “women doing TOMBOYX prices to pacify picky palates. Smith started whatever the fuck they want in 2018.” —C.L.C. Simple Mills in 2012, after eliminating pro- Because everyone should feel comfortable cessed food from her own diet. Initially, the in their second skin: undies. former management consultant thought Stina Ehrensvard she’d build the company while getting her YUBICO Chelsea Hirschhorn MBA at the University of Chicago. But after a Protecting us from hackers never seemed so FRIDABABY year of studies, crackers and cookies crowded easy. No one has applied clever design and cheeky out classes. “One quarter, I had just one class, humor to the least-sexy moments of parent- and missed five of the six sessions. The next Anne Wojcicki hood better than Hirschhorn. NoseFrida, the quarter, I flat-out forgot to sign up,” she says. 23ANDME country’s most popular baby-registry gift, is a Dropping out paid off: Today, Simple Mills Wojcicki has outlasted skeptics, haters, and snakelike tube with which parents can literally distributes to 14,000 grocery stores, includ- even the FDA, pushing the world’s largest suck the snot from their kids’ noses. Fridet ing Whole Foods and Kroger, and is the genealogy company into another ground- the Momwasher helps women with perineal fastest-growing cracker brand—and top- breaking year. In August, the DNA-testing care after childbirth; the Windi relieves baby selling baking mix brand—in the U.S. —B.H. company expanded its ancestry capabilities gas; and FridaBalls are testicle-protecting to include 12 additional African, East Asian, underwear for baby-wearing dads—to name Audrey Gelman and Native American populations. The a few of the Miami-based company’s 30 THE WING company also announced a partnership with products. “I probably get one or two emails “If you’d said I was gonna be CEO of some- GlaxoSmithKline that will give the pharma a week from parents who are working on thing, I would have laughed in your face,” says giant access to anonymized data for drug developing a product and need help com- Gelman. She was a hyper-connected publi- development purposes in exchange for $300 mercializing it,” says Hirschhorn, who’s now cist when she dreamed up the concept of a million. Even before the agreement, 23andMe producing a web-TV series featuring new product collaborations with parents, slated for release in 2019. —Diana Ransom Kim Malek Pat McGrath PAT MCGRATH LABS After two decades transforming runway models for Prada, Gucci, and SALT & STRAW other high-fashion houses with Swarovski-studded masks and lightning- She made farm-to-cone a thing. bolted cheeks, Mother—as those in the industry call the Jamaican-born, Kathryn Petralia British-raised New Yorker—finally unveiled her own makeup line in 2015. Pat McGrath Labs began with a limited-edition metallic “dust” that sold KABBAGE out, online, within six minutes. Three years later, the brand is doing $60 See page 77. million a year in sales, and, after a July investment by Eurazeo Brands, Melonee Wise has a valuation that tops $1 billion. –K.J.R. FETCH ROBOTICS The serial entrepreneur and CEO of the warehouse-robot maker has spent her career building better, smarter automatons. A trained mechanical engineer who’s regularly hailed as a leading visionary, Wise was an early employee at prominent (now-defunct) robotics accelerator Willow Garage and co-founded Unbounded Robotics before Fetch’s founders tapped her to lead their just-launched company. Since 2014, Wise has raised $48 million for Fetch and lined up more than 50 big customers, including Inditex (Zara’s parent company) and DHL, which use Fetch’s cloud-based software and warehouse hardware to analyze data as well as to sort and ship goods. Now Wise is hard at work on developing a robot with an arm— a component of “the holy grail of robotics in general,” as she puts it. —Maria Aspan Whitney Wolfe Herd BUMBLE Building a women-centric online dating and networking platform on track to hit $200 million in revenue this year hasn’t been enough to keep Wolfe Herd busy. So this summer, the Austin native launched Bumble Fund, which focuses on early-stage capital for

female-centric funds and women-run busi- MASUIKE/REDUX HIROKO

60 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● OCT 22–26 NEW YORK CITY 5 Days. 150 Dynamic Sessions. 300+ Speakers. 10,000 Attendees.

For tickets and more information visit FastCompany.com/Festival

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THE WELL-CONNECTED 2019 LINCOLN MKC 100 Ff “Approach it as nesses, applying the same attitude she applies to all her endeavors: “Let’s put women at the a labor of love, top and see what happens,” she says. “Hon- because when estly: It works better.” —C.L.C. you’re worrying Peggy Cherng PANDA EXPRESS about money, Turning Chinese takeout into a $3 billion people can family business. feel it.” Katrina Lake STITCHFIX Because retail needs something to be optimistic about. Jaymee Messler THE PLAYERS’ TRIBUNE See page 68. Carol Reiley DRIVE.AI Because self-driving cars need a brain. Anya Fernald BELCAMPO She invented Meat Camp for women.

Tina Roth Eisenberg CREATIVEMORNINGS, TATTLY, TEUXDEUX, CREATIVEGUILD Don’t complain—create. That’s the philosophy of the Swiss-born designer who has made a career out of turning side-projects into businesses. In 2008, disillusioned by big, expensive industry conferences, she launched Creative- Mornings, a monthly speaker series that has grown to 188 cities around the world. A slew of fussy to-do apps led Roth Eisenberg in 2009 to build Teux- deux, a more bare-bones, intuitive option. Aesthetic dismay with the temporary tattoos her daughter brought home in a goodie bag prompted her, in 2011, to create Tattly, now a thriving brand of artist-rendered temporary tats for kids and adults. Then earlier this year, she launched her most ambitious venture yet: CreativeGuild, a “LinkedIn for creative people.” More than 300,000 creatives, ranging from illus- trators to Dropbox product designers, signed on, along with 440 companies. “When people ask me how I come up with startup ideas, I tell them, ‘Don’t think of it as a ﬁnancial endeavor, approach it as a labor of love,’ ” says Roth Eisenberg, “because when you’re worrying about money, people can feel it.” —K.R.

62 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● PHOTOGRAPH BY JEN DESSINGER Amy Errett 2018 SURVEY MADISON REED STATE OF WOMEN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP What would be a dream gig for most was less than thrilling for Errett. The former CEO had nabbed a general partner position at Howard Economic and Schultz’s investment firm, Maveron, but “I got up every day thinking about how the CEOs I funded were having all the fun,” says Errett. So, Political Pulse in 2013, she decided to go big with Madison “I’m ready to burn it down, if women Reed, her direct-to-consumer startup that’s attempting to upend the $18 billion hair care and people of color continue to have industry with cleaner, customizable, at-home their rights curtailed.” These founders dye kits. The brand is now following in the are politically energized—some are footsteps of Drybar, with its own Color Bars even contemplating running for in New York City and San Francisco—and office: “If women are not represented $70 million in funding from investors including Maveron. —J.B. in our government, our needs will never be heard,” one founder writes. Amy Jain BAUBLEBAR 30% of respondents said they expect the economy See page 72. to be “worse” over the next 12 months. That’s more pessimistic than the CEOs responding to the Inc. Christina Lampe-Onnerud 5000 survey, which is largely male; only 10% expect the economy to worsen this year. CADENZA INNOVATION Electric cars and energy-efficient power grids need better batteries—and the Swedish-born serial entrepreneur and PhD has spent her say they’re more career inventing them. She has founded two politically active since the 2016 elections. battery startups: Boston-Power, which makes They cite donations, lithium-ion batteries; and, in 2012, Cadenza 51% marching in protests, Innovation, which is focused on creating better and calling/communi- and more energy-efficient packaging for cating with local battery power cells. Her new company has politicians ... raised over $10 million from angel investors, and lined up $6 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and three states. This ... and they’re ready to show up at the ballot year, New York’s state government agreed to box in November: use Cadenza technology to test a clean-energy “I became a citizen so I could project: “The energy problem is a global problem—but we’re not approaching it as a specifically vote as opposed to global problem,” says Lampe-Onnerud. “It just being on a green card,” becomes a local opportunity.” —M.A. writes Sarah Dusek, a native of England who became a citizen last year, and is co-founder and CEO of glamping-tent startup Under Canvas.

of respondents say they have considered running for ofﬁce, 22% and one respondent already has: “I am now a committee person in Philadelphia,” writes Felicite Moorman, co-founder and CEO of software startup Stratis. She was elected to that local role in May. “Baby steps.”

84% of women founders say they won’t vote for Trump in 2020 ... Koel Thomae NOOSA YOGHURT ... versus 61% from the Inc. 5000 survey. On a trip back home to Australia, Thomae discovered a velvety, tart, honey-infused yogurt. A series of events—a three-hour lunch with the family that owned the yogurt recipe, 79% of women surveyed have a somewhat to a modest windfall from working at beverage strongly unfavorable opinion of Trump, versus startup Izze (which sold to Pepsi), finding a 54% of Americans in late August, according to Gallup. dairy farmer in her adopted town of Boulder, Colorado—led to the launch of Noosa in 2010. Trump was never popular in this crowd (62% of these Now, with $220 million in revenue and private women self-identify as Democrats), but he’s losing equity backing, Noosa’s a contender in the support even from his 2016 voters. Only 15 women high-stakes yogurt wars. —K.W. founders say they would vote for Trump in 2020. Ff too (andshe’s Frank Ocean’s mom). Because peopleofcolorneedsunscreen UNSUN COSMETICS 64 Katonya Breaux fickle business. hometown—after decadesinanotoriously two She’s stillaforce for all women—and herDetroit TRACY REESE Tracy Reese dollar business. She turnedtheneighborhoodinto abillion- NEXTDOOR Sarah Leary enterprise software. needs Because even thecannabisindustry MJ FREEWAY Jessica Billingsley it didn’t, why even dothis?” cally lead with love,” shesays.“Itfeels good,andif creating more “conscious growth.” “Iunapologeti- Lincoln even pausedexpansionto focus on 130 franchises.Last year, thealways-mindful multimillion-dollar nationalchain with more than entire $250,000 savingsinto what isnowa 2008, after sheandherhusbandinvested their Barre3, aboutiquefitnessstudioshefounded in a muchmore authenticpitch. That insightledto collective, so women supporting women felt like was raisedbyhersinglemominanall-female Hour Fitness.Growing upinEugene, Oregon, she never sat well with Lincoln,alongtimeexec at24 Using supermodelsastheface ofgoodhealth BARRE3 Sadie Lincoln

● INC. 100 ● OCTOBER 2018 OCTOBER —M.C.

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● ● ● ing itto $2.7 billionbylate summer. billionto itsmarket$1 capinthepast year, bring- oversight addedroughly ofabusinessthat’s then figure outhow to make itinto reality.” dreaming up,” says Tosi oftech innovations, “and ciate thepure joyofcrazystuffthatpeople are of which there to appre-will soonbe16. “Ijusttry expansion ofproducts, operations,andlocations, and last year linedupfundingto helpjuice in 2008, while working at DavidChang’s empire, chain with acultfollowing. Tosi launchedMilkBar Milk icecream creations into aprofitable bakery Momofuku jujuto turnherCrackPieandCereal- reality-TV star hasusedgrit, ingenuity, andsome chefturnedentrepreneur and The trainedpastry MILK BAR Christina Tosi Because biopharmaneeds A.I. too. GNS HEALTHCARE Iya Khalil based retail. The force behindSerena &Lilyrethinks cause- BOON SUPPLY Lily Kanter shares have steadily climbedsince percent from theprior year, andthecompany’s the publicmarkets. In2017, revenue was up44 the tiny numberoffemale tech founders to crack pany. In2016, sheledasuccessfulIPO, joining strap herenterprise accountingsoftware com- business betrayals, andproduct failures to boot- industry. Sheovercame sexism,harassment, 1980s, justas women started dropping outofthe Tucker becameacomputer programmer inthe BLACKLINE Therese Tucker undetectable: ovarian cancer. Because shefound howto detect thealmost- NVISION Surbhi Sarna — —M.A. giving Tucker —M.A. —M.A. ofDefensein Department contracts. so far, along million with booking$7 millionin least $10.5 venture capital mate LouisPerna andhasraisedat co-founded thecompany with class- MIT-trained aerospaceengineer who ahugemilestonefor the space. It’s hurtle Accion-powered satellitesinto arescheduledto mercial partner program andanundisclosedcom- fornia, publichighschoolSTEM Cali- customers includingtheIrvine, technology. nextmonth, Starting is awaitingthefirstlaunchesofits ion propulsionenginesfor satellites, Accion Systems, which makestiny finally readytotakeoff. Literally: Four companyis yearsin,Bailey’s ACCION SYSTEMS Natalya Bailey college Fitzgerald was thefirstinherfamily to goto dad was posted inhermom’s native Philippines, An Air Force brat whose parents met when her POLICYGENIUS Jennifer Fitzgerald She’s madeediblestaste like ahigh-enddessert. KIVA CONFECTIONS Kristi KnoblichPalmer says Twine. “Ihaven’t donethatina year.” pany alot ofloans from my personalaccount,” crowd. “Inthebeginning,I was writing thecom- women andthegeneralclean-ingredient-seeking andtextures isresonatingall hairtypes with black Briogeo’s toxin-free lineofproducts for women of the top-selling haircare brandatSephora, cooking upnaturalhairandskinremedies. Now waxes from herchildhoodhomeonLong Island, into memoriesofsourcing butters, salts,and 2010, andthefinancecareer she’d builtfizzled better. That was untilhermother diedsuddenlyin Sachs, Twine feel didn’t like life couldgetmuch As a27-year-old vice president atGoldman BRIOGEO HAIRCARE Nancy Twine a platform thatcouldreplace aginginsurance and acolleaguetook aleave ofabsenceto build during thefinancialcrisis. After afew years, she herself consultingfor strugglinginsurancegiants Bank, lawschool,andMcKinsey, where shefound — followed bythePeace Corps, the World —J.M. .

COURTESY COMPANY brokers with a mix of automation and real, 2018 SURVEY Lauren Gropper STATE OF WOMEN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP digitally savvy humans. The New York City REPURPOSE startup acts as a broker and customer- No one was happier than Gropper to see service rep for big life-insurance partners, the headlines earlier this summer that Balancing Acts has expanded to car and home insur- industry giants McDonald’s and Starbucks Work. Family. Stress. Depression. ance, and is now looking into financial were turning their backs on plastic straws. planning, armed with $52 million in “It was great timing,” says Gropper, whose “Seriously, do you ask male funding from investors including Steve plant-based tableware company makes founders this line of questions?” —M.A. Case’s Revolution. 100 percent compostable coffee cups, one woman wrote. We do—but plates, utensils, and, as of eight months women founders were more Sarah Bellos ago, straws. After five frustrating years of forthcoming about how they STONY CREEK COLORS little traction convincing retailers that Reinventing what it means to be a tobacco shoppers want sustainable products, Los handle the stress and anxiety of farmer. Angeles–based Repurpose is preparing running a business, working 40 for an October debut in 357 Walmart to 60 hours a week, having a stores across the country. “The biggest personal life, and navigating Tyler Haney challenge has been waiting for everyone OUTDOOR VOICES else to catch up,” says Gropper. —J.M. more serious mental illness. If Haney is going to unseat everyone from Nike to Lululemon, she needs focus. That’s why, in part, she relocated her entire staff Kathryn Minshew of women founders have from New York City to Austin last year. “We THE MUSE children. 17% said they get to put blinders on. Not in a naive way, Because LinkedIn could use a younger, don’t want children or are hipper sister. 63% unsure. but we create the rules to our own game,” says Haney, who is anything but naive said their companies when it comes to building a technical-wear Claire Tomkins provide paid family leave apparel brand in the age of Instagram. Her FUTURE FAMILY for all employees —despite four-year-old company—with its signature 64% the high costs for early- Easing the roller coaster of infertility. color-blocked leggings—raised $57 million, stage startups. with an assist from J.Crew’s Mickey Drexler, who joined her board as chairman. “My Jesse Genet “I feel ethically obligated to focus has been to make products that are LUMI 10 times better than what’s out there, and Finding profitability in the unsexiest side of make it happen no matter a digital engine to get us more customers, e-commerce: boxes. what,” faster,” says Haney. —C.L.C. writes Olivia June, CEO and founder of women’s Jessica Richman networking platform Vina, which offers family leave but hasn’t had an employee need it yet. UBIOME When Oxford computational social science PhD Richman went to Sand Hill The biggest sacrifices women founders cite Road to raise money for her company come back to time with family and financial aiming to make gut tests as simple as security: “I pay myself less now than I made my swab-and-mail DNA tests, one investor first year out of college,” one respondent insisted: “The microbiome is a fad.” writes. Still, having her life revolve around her Microbiomes—the rich ecosystems of own startup “doesn’t feel like a sacrifice, and bacteria in and on our bodies—weren’t more of a luxury.” going anywhere. Now armed with $27 Many cite their husbands, along with their par- million, uBiome has 250 employees and ents, as helping them succeed the most in life ... offers genomic tests of individuals’ micro- ... and our respondents tend to be the biomes so a person can get never-before breadwinners; more than half said they earn Shonda Rhimes accessible information about their trillions more than their partner or spouse. of bacteria and gain insight into every- SHONDALAND thing from digestion issues to diseases “Storytelling is our business. Showing you like Crohn’s. —C.L.C. the extraordinary possibilities of your story of female founders say is why we exist.” So reads a manifesto Tracy Anderson they have suffered published by Shondaland.com, the new depression, website published by the production TRACY ANDERSON and 34% say their company Shondaland, which belongs to She’s diversifying her fitness empire far 45% company offers support the prolific TV hitmaker Rhimes. After a beyond celebs. for employees struggling 15-year run at ABC, during which she with mental illness. created such shows as Grey’s Anatomy, Shayla Creer Scandal, and How to Get Away With LIVE ALKALINE WATER Murder—with strong female leads, often Our survey respondents’ coping mechanisms for women of color—last summer Rhimes The first black-owned water company to land in Walmart. founder stress and anxiety include meditation, announced she was leaving the network exercise, and family time. But we like this for an estimated $100 million, multiyear respondent’s all-of-the-above approach: exclusive deal with Netflix, which shook Nancy Silverton Hollywood. Rhimes—whose hits are MOZZA RESTAURANT GROUP “Working out, sex, eating estimated to have earned Disney at least For making bread and pizza so good that healthily, smoking weed, $2 billion over the course of her career— she’s running Mario Batali’s joint. drinking, going to church/ already has eight shows in the works for Netflix, including one about Ellen Pao, the worshipping God.” former tech exec who famously battled sexism in Silicon Valley. —T.F. 100 Ff THE FEMALE FOUNDER'S FUNDING GUIDE

66 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ILLUSTRATION BY HANNA BARCZYK ounding teams that include men and women produce dramatically stronger valuation growth than all-male founding teams, according to research from First Round Capital. But startups with gender- diverse teams win just 18 percent of the venture capital pie. The F following funds are trying to change that. All have a stated mandate to invest in female founders. At present, there are fewer than 100 such funds in the United States; in aggregate, they likely have less than a billion dollars to invest. But given that women CEOs get only 2.7 percent of the approximately $80 billion in venture capital each year—or about $2 billion—that could be enough to begin to make a difference. These nine funds should be on every female founder’s radar, but stay tuned for the debut of our complete list of female-focused funds on inc.com. —KIMBERLY WEISUL

Backstage Capital Flanagan. All of Belle’s limited three venture funds and has Portfolia WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. partners are women. The fund invested more than $100 million MENLO PARK, CALIF. In May, when Backstage focuses on Michigan and other since 2005. Its portfolio com- By using a unique capital struc- Capital founder Arlan Hamilton areas that don’t attract a lot of panies include Poshly, Tot Squad, ture for her funds—each fund announced the formation of venture capital. Check sizes and Cognition Therapeutics. has a maximum of 249 inves- a $36 million fund to invest in range from $100,000 to tors and $10 million to invest— black women, she was surprised $1.5 million. The fund prefers Intel Capital Portfolia founder Trish Costello at the reaction. “They’re calling companies with $1 million or Diversity Fund is focusing on turning more it a diversity fund,” she tweeted. more in revenue. It’s invested in SANTA CLARA, CALIF. high-net-worth women into “I’m calling it an IT’S ABOUT Vital Vio, Digsite, and NopSec, At $125 million, Intel’s is the seed investors. So far, Portfolia DAMN TIME fund.” That new among others. largest diversity fund, and has has funds in categories such fund is her second; her first is been since it launched in 2015. as active aging and femtech, investing $5 million. Hamilton Female Founders Fund The fund invests broadly in with a total of $6 million under has now invested $4 million of NEW YORK CITY what it calls “underrepresented management. Investments that in 100 entrepreneurs who Entrepreneur Anu Duggal tech entrepreneurs”—women, include Joylux, UnaliWear, and are women, people of color, created Female Founders Fund minorities, people with disabili- RenovoRx. and/or members of the LGBTQ in 2014 to make early-stage ties, LGBTQ entrepreneurs, and community—including the investments in women-led veterans. The fund’s investments Rethink Impact founders of Tinsel, BeVisible, companies. Her first fund was include Brit + Co, Venafi, and WASHINGTON, D.C., NEW YORK CITY, Blendoor, and Uncharted Power. about $6 million, and took Vidcode. SAN FRANCISCO stakes in around 30 companies. Led by Jenny Abramson and BBG Ventures This year, Female Founders New Voices Fund launched in 2017, Rethink NEW YORK CITY raised a second fund, for $27 AMITYVILLE, N.Y. Impact is one of the newer BBG (“Built by Girls”) began million, with investors including When Richelieu Dennis sold his funds to invest solely in women. in 2014 as a $10 million fund Melinda Gates, Stitch Fix Sundial Brands to Unilever late But with $112 million in its started by AOL to invest in founder Katrina Lake, and Rent last year, the deal came with an coffers, it also may be the consumer internet and mobile the Runway co-founder Jenny unusual stipulation: Unilever and largest. (Intel Capital’s Diversity startups that have at least one Fleiss. The fund’s investments Sundial would set up a venture Fund also invests in people female founder. Helmed by include Zola, Maven Clinic, and fund to invest in entrepreneurs of color and other underrepre- former Martha Stewart Living Tala. Female Founders Fund also who are women of color. On July sented groups.) The fund’s Omnimedia CEO Susan Lyne, tracks the venture investments 9, Dennis officially launched the investors include Sheila John- it’s still following that mission, that are going to women-led $100 million New Voices Fund. son, co-founder of Black Enter- but now AOL is part of Oath. companies across the U.S.—the The fund will invest from seed tainment Television, and Sachiko BBG’s check sizes are generally numbers are eye-opening and stage to Series C, and concen- Kuno, who has co-founded two $100,000 to $250,000, and it surprisingly small. trate on consumer, technology, drug companies. Abramson does not take board seats at the and media/entertainment and her colleagues are looking businesses it invests in. So far, Golden Seeds companies. New Voices, which for women-led tech companies BBG’s portfolio companies NEW YORK CITY, ATLANTA, BOSTON, is structured as a B Corp, has that also intend to have a include Glamsquad, goTenna, HOUSTON, DALLAS, SILICON VALLEY invested in Beauty Bakerie, significant and positive social and HopSkipDrive. Golden Seeds was one of Beautycon Media, Envested, impact. Rethink typically makes the first angel groups to invest and McBride Sisters Wines. an investment at the Series A Belle Capital USA exclusively in women-led stage. Its portfolio companies DETROIT companies. It’s now one of the include Seedling, Neurotrack, Belle Capital is the successor to biggest and best-known, with and Werk. Phenomenelle Angels, both of headquarters in New York City which were started by Lauren and chapters in five other locations. Golden Seeds also runs

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Jeter’s Secret Weapon Derek Jeter might be the face of the Players’ Tribune, but his co-founder, Jaymee Messler—the former CMO of the talent ﬁrm that repped Jeter—runs the business, from fostering the athlete community to building its new L.A. production studio. How I Did It Discovering What Makes Athletes Tick

JAYMEE MESSLER THE PLAYERS’ TRIBUNE Messler’s sports management ﬁrm represented Derek Jeter until the baseball superstar retired. Then the duo hatched their own sports media company.

Jaymee Messler worked her way up from interesting to me, but my first job after being an assistant in the fast-talking, I graduated was actually working for male-dominated world of sports manage- a famous chef at the Watergate Hotel. ment to becoming the secret weapon It was before the Food Network was behind Derek Jeter’s media platform, the around, and I was able to start building Players’ Tribune. After she’d spent 12 a brand for this two-star Michelin years at Excel Sports Management— chef who had this huge personality. where she and the Yankees star, a client, I started out as an assistant, but I got THE NEW found each other—the two teamed up to really into the branding aspect and ALL-STARS “There are a lot hatch the platform, which is dedicated to built a role for myself. I would go more women now in publishing first-person stories by athletes. around the country with him, helping decision-making Says Jeter of his partner: “A lot of people to plan cooking demonstrations. roles in sports,” Messler says. “You’re said starting a new media company was a even seeing more of crazy idea, and many thought we would Someone introduced me to this tennis them on the field, fail. Jaymee is a true entrepreneur. She agent, Jef Schwartz, who worked at like Becky Hammon, is someone who believes strongly in her [talent agency] IMG. He represented Pete who’s on the bench with the Spurs, and vision and has pursued it fearlessly.” Sampras and Martina Hingis, and I inter- the Mavericks just Since the Tribune’s founding in 2014, viewed to be his assistant. I was obsessed hired their first Messler has raised $58 million for the with getting that job, and I was aggres- female assistant coach, Jenny New York City–based upstart, and now sive about getting it. I hand-delivered Boucek.” has set her sights on expanding into a thank-you note the next day. I stayed podcasts, TV, and feature films. with Jef for 19 years, eventually becom- —AS TOLD TO YASMIN GAGNÉ ing the chief marketing oicer of Excel Sports, the agency we built together. I was always into sports. I have a twin brother, and playing sports was how In the sports world, especially back we connected. When I was in college, then, there weren’t a lot of women I heard about this sports agency in in decision-making positions. I created Virginia called Octagon, which was the roles I had for myself, finding the

PHOTOGRAPH BY KAYLA REEFER ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 69 100 Ff intersection of management and Early in my career, a lot of wives marketing. There were a lot of chal- and girlfriends didn’t want me lenges in a really male environment: Everyone thought I was the assistant, involved with the players. It was all the time, unless someone made a a challenge I didn’t expect. specific point to introduce me with a title. My title was so important, because if I walked in somewhere with an athlete, people would assume I’ve learned so much in the past I was part of their entourage. four years about female athletes. Some of the problems that exist for Especially early in my career, a lot of them stem from the fact that they wives and girlfriends didn’t want me don’t have as much visibility. I want involved with the players. It was a to tell those stories: If you’re con- challenge I didn’t expect. I remember necting to these players, more people a couple of specific instances where I are going to want to watch them. If had a meeting with an athlete and his more people watch them, their sala- girlfriend and pitched an incredible ries will get higher. campaign and thought it went so well, and then afterward I was told Being inclusive and being diverse is she didn’t want me doing anything a huge priority for the platform in with them. Fielding A New Partnership general. It’s a challenge, because when you’re growing—we started with 30 “She had the courage and confidence I always felt I had to prove myself, to leave a notable and established employees and now have more than and go above and beyond to make job to pursue an idea she was deeply 100—you feel a sense of urgency to sure I was indispensable. But as a passionate about,” says Jeter of Messler, hire certain positions, but you want to his business partner. “She was willing result, there was never any balance to take that leap of faith.” be thoughtful about whom you hire. for personal life. I felt like if I wasn’t Now, I try to be a mentor to other there, or I wasn’t needed, things women: We always say, “How do we would go wrong. man of Legendary Entertainment, and send the elevator down?” he got the concept right away, because As a CMO, I saw a need for a platform he loves sports and he knew about I think there are a lot more women for athletes to be able to have a voice content. He was our first investor. now in decision-making roles in and share stories in an authentic way. sports. You’re even seeing more Derek, having worked in one of the We launched the day after Derek’s women on the field, like Becky country’s biggest media markets, saw last game. Every day, we published a Hammon, who’s on the bench with it too. We felt that trust has eroded new story: Russell Wilson wrote the Spurs, and then the Mavericks between players and reporters, about domestic violence, Blake Griin just hired their first female assistant because so many articles are headline- wrote about working for a racist boss, coach, Jenny Boucek. driven these days, and a lot of athletes the next week Danica Patrick wrote I worked with were wary of sharing about dating a fellow Nascar driver. Very early on in my career, I repre- their stories with news outlets. The more stories we told, the more sented a tennis player who would only athletes wanted to share their stories. wear Adidas on the court, even though I was ready for something new, and she was signed to another shoe brand. Derek was starting a new chapter. It I recently moved to L.A. to build out The night before Wimbledon, I had felt like the right opportunity for us to the production side of the company. to get a pair of Adidas shoes couriered launch a company on the heels of his Right now, we want to be diversifying to me and literally paint over the retirement. We met with a bunch of the way we tell athletes’ stories. Adidas stripes so no one could tell. VCs, and all of them said: “So, you’re We’re looking at developing scripted The young female assistant who sent telling me that you’re building a com- or unscripted video and audio con- me the shoes went on to become the pany that’s 100 percent reliant on tent. Our revenue growth was 30 head of a sports league, and we’re athlete contributions? Good luck with percent in 2017, and we’re going good friends now. Sometimes, we get that.” But then Derek introduced me to end 2018 with anywhere from together and we just laugh. I mean,

to Thomas Tull, who was the chair- 105 to 135 percent growth. look where we came from! GETTY

70 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● ALLNEW FEMALE FOUNDERS SPONSORED BY: SURVEY & SPECIAL REPORT

AN INC. + FAST COMPANY COLLABORATION

The editors of Inc. and Fast Company have of industries, geographies, and backgrounds, LAUNCHING ONLINE joined forces to conduct a first-ever joint this survey provides expert insight and frontline survey on female founders, the 2018 State perspective on the issues, trends, challenges, 09.18.2018 of Women and Entrepreneurship. Tapping and opportunities unique to female founders, INC.COM/ female business owners from a broad range their companies, and their roles as leaders. FEMALE-FOUNDERS-100 100 Ff Founder. CEO.

Amy Jain Mama. Co-founder and CEO of BaubleBar, a fashion accessories company. There’s a little-spoken-about reality among Even more challenging than female founders: The life stage at which running a company with kids women are starting companies happens to was being pregnant. I had hyperemesis, which is extreme coincide, for many, with the time they also morning sickness. I thought it decide to have a baby. was really bad with Chloe, and then I had it with Sienna and According to Inc. and Fast Company ’s 2018 realized it was a breeze with State of Women and Entrepreneurship survey Chloe. With Sienna, it stopped at 16 weeks. With Chloe, it (which begins on page 53), 63 percent of lasted about 20 weeks. female founders have kids, and 13 percent of I couldn’t function. I had nausea and couldn’t keep food those plan to have more. Twenty percent of the or liquids down. I was throwing ones who aren’t mothers intend to have kids. up a lot throughout the day. I lost weight and nutrients. It has Being an entrepreneur and having a baby is a snowball effect. inspiring—but messy. Trying to get pregnant can The people who got me through it were my team, be emotionally excruciating. Pregnancy messes whom I let know pretty early with your hormones. Childbirth wrecks your on that I had hyperemesis. I also had really bad pregnancy body. All this while you also happen to be brain, so I would spout gibber- running a company. These founders open up ish like, “Left, tree, blue,” and they’d be like, “Amy wants us to about everything from IVF and “pregnancy run an analysis if we’re going brain” to pumping between investor meetings. to open a retail store in Dallas.” And they would just do it. At one point, I couldn’t get Photographs by Holly Andres out of bed for weeks. I was in and out of the hospital, and my team just saved me. I developed a bond with the people who basically ran this company that will never, ever go away. —As told to Emily Canal

72 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● Morning, Without the Sickness Former investment banker Amy Jain with Chloe, 3, and Sienna, 11 months, in their Manhattan apartment.

“I think the hardest part of pregnancy if you’re running a young company is that it exacerbates the complexity of all the changes that are going on in your life–body and mind.” 100

Ff Full House Nichole Mustard (in checked shirt) and her wife, Dawn, a corporate- attorney-turned-stay-at- home-parent, with their kids Mason, 14, Sawyer, 9 (with Dawn), and 7-year- old twins, Maggie (in pink) and Anne, at their Nichole Mustard Orinda, California, home. Co-founder and chief revenue officer of Credit Karma, a personal finance site with a $4 billion valuation and $682 million in annual revenue.

Luckily, I’m in a relationship structure that has some optionality. We were living in Boston when Dawn got pregnant, and we had Mason in February 2004. It became legal in Massachusetts that May to get married, and by June, we were married. For the second child, I raised my hand and said, “I’ll do this.” Dawn said, “No, you’re not going to do this, because then I’m gonna have to rub your feet and give backrubs, so I’m gonna have the baby. Then if you want more kids, you do it.” We were trying for over 18 months and on that roller coaster of ups and downs every month. When the opportunity with Credit Karma came along, we decided to stop until we got resettled in the San Francisco area. I don’t know if we were just more relaxed or just lucky, but Dawn got pregnant. The timing was not good for me to carry the third child because when you’re in a startup, there are all kinds of chaos and having babies is just one more thing. We didn’t want to slow down the family and we didn’t want to slow down with the work. Dawn was more than willing to go for number three, and I think we were all surprised that it was three and four. I often say, if you’re going to write a book about my life, you should just get my cell phone and see what’s been texted to me: missing the first steps or missing the first lost tooth. Missing all of these moments means working really hard to create different moments for me with each of the kids so that we, too, have something special. Two years ago, we changed our maternity and paternity benefits to give our team members, male and female, three months paid time off, with four additional weeks for moms. I always joke that I get a year and a half off at some point in time to make up for those bonding moments that I missed with my kids when they were babies. But I think the tradeoffs that you make as a founder are tradeoffs that you chose. —As told to Maria Aspan “It’s the struggle of tradeoffs. Like, I could lie down and take a nap with my newborn baby, or I could get some work done, or I could have my newborn sleep on my chest while I’m getting work done. It almost always ended up the last way.”

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Ff Lynn Jurich Co-founder and CEO of Sunrun, the country’s largest provider of residential solar power, which has a market valuation of about $1.5 billion.

We had raised $250 million in venture capital, and we were not yet cash-flow positive. It was 2015, and the right time for the IPO. Unfortunately, that coincided with the birth of my first baby. Blythe was born on June 13. The IPO date was August 5. I didn’t consider waiting, because the IPO market can be open one day and shut the next. We started the investor road show when Blythe was 5 weeks old. I brought my mother and a baby nurse with me. All that support and the ability to afford child care are not available to all women. A road show is grueling, and I was nursing throughout the whole thing. I’d had a few advisers caution me that doing a road show was one of the hardest experiences of their lives—and most founders don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to feed a baby. We went to 30 cities. The investors didn’t know I had the baby with me. I traveled with a hospital-grade pump in a plastic case. Sometimes, I’d have to peel away and pump in a hedge-fund conference room. I walked into one of the first meetings and the investor pointed at the case and said, “What do you have in there? A solar panel?” I said, “No, a breast pump.” The look on his face was hilarious. —As told to Kimberly Weisul

A Public-Private Partnership Lynn Jurich at her Stinson Beach, California, home with Blythe, 3, and Pierce, born in August. Second Time Around Kathryn Petralia with Alex, 18, and Luca, 21 months, in their Atlanta home.

Kathryn Petralia Co-founder and president of Kabbage, a small-business online lender that did more than $200 million in revenue last year.

I was 21 and Mark was 22 when we got married. We waited eight years to have a kid, and when we did, we wanted one of us to be at home— we didn’t really care who it was. We joke that we had a race to see who could make the least amount of money and I lost. Mark was a day trader and he’s been an at-home parent since 2000. We were proud parents of an only child. But when Alex was in his last year of middle school, Mark was getting kind of sad. I was like, “Well, what if we had another kid?” And he said, “I think I like that idea.” I’m old—I was 46 at the time— so we had to use some science to make that work. When Luca was 2 weeks old, he went on a nursing strike and he never picked it up again. So I was exclusively pumping, and that is pretty challenging. I did learn that every airport has its own rules. Sometimes they want you to take every single container or bag of milk out so they can test each one with a wand. Sometimes they’d want to stick them in the machine. When I was in India for a week, I had to throw all that milk away. That’s just painful. Crying over spilled milk is a thing. Since I went through the IVF process, I have taken to telling women under 35: Freeze your eggs. Because even if you think you don’t want to have a baby, you might change your mind, and IVF gives you a lot of options. If I can gestate a baby at 46, anybody can. —As told to M.A.

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Frida Polli Co-founder and CEO of Pymetrics, an A.I.-powered recruiting software company whose clients include Unilever, Accenture, and Tesla.

I was a single mother raising my 6-year-old daughter, Ele, when I decided to start my company. I’ll never forget my dad pulling me aside and being like, “Are you sure you want to do this? You have a lot on your plate already.” But I was passionate about it. I didn’t want to look back in ﬁve or 10 years and regret not having tried it. And I wanted to inspire my daughter to pursue her dreams. When you’re a parent, child care issues come up all the time. When you’re a single parent, you don’t have a spouse, so you can be like, “Hey, by the way … ” One time, I had to bring Ele to an investor meeting. I remember walking in and saying, “Here she is—the newest member of the Pymetrics team.” I’m sure the whole thing would have been a turnoff for some investors. Luckily, they rolled with it. It was an endearing moment, and I think it kind of broke the ice. They ended up investing. When we were launching, I couldn’t stay until 10, 11, 12 at night when the engineers were all working. I couldn’t just not see my daughter for a month. I doubt anyone believes this anymore, but I think in those early days people questioned whether I was committed. My co-founder left the company last year, and I had a really rough time with it. I was going through all this self-doubt—can I even do this by myself? I’m a pretty open and emotional person, and one night I was crying. Ele came up to me and said, “Mom, are you crying about Julie leaving? It’s gonna be OK. You’re gonna do great.” It was the craziest thing that she knew what it was about and that she had such faith that things were going to be ﬁne. It means she sees how much passion I have Reverse Mentoring for the company and how much Frida Polli, a Harvard- and it means to me. I’m glad I’m teaching MIT-trained neuroscientist, her that I have something I love so with her daughters, Ele, 12, much. Hopefully that rubs off on her. and Rosie, 1, in their —As told to Kevin J. Ryan Manhattan apartment. ● ● ● ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 79

100 Ff The Unlikely Business of Being Brene` The social worker’s research launched her into the ranks of leadership gurus. Running her own business has been a little more complicated. By Maria Aspan

82 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● PHOTOGRAPH BY RAMONA ROSALES Therapist in Chief Companies including Pixar, IBM, and Nutanix have hired academic, author, and speaker Brené Brown to impart her wisdom on shame and vulnerability. 100 Ff Brené Brown knows how to pause. She knows how to take in a question, take in a breath, and ... really, really pause. It’s a killer conversational tool, especially if you speak, and of shame and vulnerability. Through her “grounded theory” listen, to people for a living. Which is what Brown—a licensed research—a methodology of collecting and coding interviews social worker and academic researcher turned TED Talk viral and other data sets—she started finding patterns of behaviors celebrity, turned best-selling author and leadership guru, and and drawing some basic but uncomfortable conclusions, includ- now turned founder and CEO—fundamentally does. ing: We all fail. But ignoring, or just recognizing, those failures Her pause confers reflection and authority. It makes you feel isn’t enough. Real leadership can happen only when we heard. Each prolonged silence is flattering to both Brown and her embrace our imperfections, work to overcome them, and take conversation partner: “What a great question,” the pause says, risks—when we are brave, in Brown’s parlance, and when we before imbuing her eventual response with thoughtful weight. “challenge the false stories we make up when we experience Sitting in the airy, two-story Houston headquarters that disappointment.” Brown’s book sales and speaking fees have allowed her busi- Part of what makes Brown’s work appealing is how she ness to occupy—and to decorate with cushy Restoration Hard- frames her call for intense self-reflection, by acknowledging ware furniture and the fresh flowers she buys her staf twice a that she struggles with this process as much as anyone else. month—the founder casts her mind back to life before fame. “It’s much easier to talk about what we want and need than Hands clasped before her mouth and blond head bowed, as if it is to talk about the fears, feelings, and scarcity that get in the in prayer, an occasional shake of her head punctuating her way,” she writes in her latest sure-to-be-bestseller, Dare to process, Brown thinks, a lot, before she speaks. Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. “I don’t mourn anything,” Brown says, “because … ”—and It was that sort of personal admission that made her famous. here she stops, for 11 silent seconds—“I am unapologetically In 2010, a few months before the publication of her first non- ambitious, and I’m not any more ambitious now than I was then.” academic book, The Gifts of Imperfection, Brown gave a However—and here she pauses again—“I don’t like being a 20-minute TEDxHouston Talk about her research, and the public person.” emotional breakdown, and therapy, it caused her. Her perfor- She is, and she isn’t. An Oprah-endorsed leadership consul- mance was funny, touching, honest—and soon viral, watched by tant to the likes of Pixar, IBM, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Bill some 35 million people. It launched Brown on a trajectory of & Melinda Gates Foundation, Brown, 52, is extremely well known in some circles. “Brené taught me that leadership requires admitting what you don’t know instead of pretending to know everything,” Melinda Gates says in an email. “I love her message that vulnerability is the key to building trust.” Other avowed fans include Hollywood celebrities Reese Wither- spoon, Amy Adams, and Kristen Bell; Laverne Cox, star of Orange Is the New Black, recently told Vanity Fair that Brown is one of her favorite writers—along with bell hooks, James Baldwin, and Shakespeare. But Brown’s name still gets blank looks in many quarters. She’s working on changing that this year, with a new book and a business reinvention and some other big plans to promote her work to people who don’t usually go for research that, as Brown acknowledges, sometimes gets dismissed as “touchy-feely” stuf. From Stage to Startup A PhD and research professor at the Univer- Brown working the crowd at a leadership conference at sity of Houston’s Graduate College of Social the Austin Convention Center in April, one of the 25 to 50 Work, Brown spent years studying the concepts speaking gigs she does every year.

84 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● advising CEOs, entrepreneurs, and the book-buying public—and riage to a pediatrician named Steve Alley, whom she met when figuring out how she would turn her research into a business. they were both lifeguards, and their life raising two children. Brown has spent the past few years trying to build a profitable Brown got her PhD in 2002 at the University of Houston and but mutable company that practices what she preaches. As with stayed on as a research professor, teaching courses ranging from any self-help journey, it’s a work in progress. During my visit to feminist practice to social welfare policy analysis. Then that the Brené Brown Education and Research Group in steamy 2010 TEDx Talk forever changed the course of her career. It mid-July, Brown is overseeing an organizational reboot tied to was followed by her 2012 book Daring Greatly, partially about the publication of Dare to Lead. The new book, she says, collects her resulting vulnerability “hangover” and the downsides—and 20 years of research, as well as new data on working with senior opportunities—of her instant celebrity. The related TED Talk executives, to propose four skill sets of better leadership. she gave that year now has had more than nine million views. Dare to Lead is scheduled for release in early October, and Then, in 2013, Brown gained the only fan who matters in the Brown has basically quarantined herself to write it all summer book industrial complex: Oprah. An invitation for Brown to under what’s partially a self-imposed crash deadline. She wants appear on Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday TV show turned into an her guide to good leadership to appear before the midterm interview feature in O magazine, and a business relationship elections in November. “We have just about the worst models of with the OWN network, where Brown gave an online course leadership that I have ever seen in my life,” she says. “When you (which is still available). By the end of that year, Brown had ask me, ‘Is anyone getting it right?’ I’d say certainly not political recruited a couple of friends so she could strike out on her leadership right now. Certainly not this administration.” own and figure out how to turn her cult of personality into a Which is another part of Brown’s authenticity: A white sustainable business. Christian living in the middle of the country, she takes firm, The company today remains very much a friends-and-family outspoken political stands—including for the Women’s March afair. Brown employs her twin younger sisters as her chief of and Black Lives Matter, and against the president’s staf and the head of her nonprofit operation. Charles “Chaz” immigration policies—which is more than you might expect from a peddler of leadership advice to a corporate audience. “She’s just so thoughtful, and so intentional about how she tackles these really diicult issues,” says Maisha Walker, founder and president of digital marketing firm Message Medium, and an African American woman who was impressed by Brown’s response to the deadly white supremacist riots in Charlottesville last year. “She doesn’t Kiley, Brown’s friend since their college days waiting tables, is shy away from the hard stuf.” now her chief financial oicer. “Brené has a pretty good toler- Some people, on both ends of the political spectrum, walked ance for risk—and a pretty good tolerance for failure,” he says. out of events during Brown’s book tour last year for Braving the But figuring out the right business for Brené Inc. hasn’t been Wilderness, which addressed navigating the hyperpartisan straightforward. Brown’s company, which now has 27 employ- Trump-era political climate. But that hasn’t stopped Brown ees, has always sold some sort of training for therapists and from doubling down on the hard stuf—or kept her from the coaches, who can get certified in Brown’s methods and licensed perpetual state of intense conversation and self-reflection she to use her intellectual property. Then, in 2015, Brown started up brings to her growing role as founder and CEO. her own direct-to-consumer online-education business. The It’s a process that’s involved false starts, the shutting down “Courage Works” course was immediately successful, according of successful products, and being honest—or what Brown to Brown and Kiley, who say that it generated $6 million in would call being courageous—about what she wants, and revenue and 100,000 customers in its first year. doesn’t want, to spend her time doing. “When I first started, I Yet Brown has turned down ofers of outside investment didn’t say no to anything, because I wanted to prove I could do that could help her expand quickly. Instead, she’s financed her it,” says Brown. Now, five years into turning her expertise into business mostly through her book sales and corporate speaking a real business, she says this will be the year of “saying no to a fees of up to $90,000 (though she says 30 percent of her work is lot of things, and getting really clear on who I want to be.” pro bono). The company also earns revenue from training and certifying facilitators, who use Brown’s methods to run their elling the story of a woman used to writing her own workshops, and from Brown’s occasional consulting gigs. own can be a tricky proposition. Brown grounds It’s money well spent, big companies say. “She talks about her books in biographical details, including her concepts that are incredibly relevant for transformational lead- childhood as Cassandra Brené Brown, oldest of ership, in a way that’s science-based and very human,” says four kids who grew up moving from San Antonio IBM’s Deb Bubb, who runs the tech giant’s corporate leader- to New Orleans and back to Texas. There were her ship, learning, and inclusion eforts, and who brought Brown T wild days bartending her way through UT Austin, into IBM’s internal development program. Dheeraj Pandey, getting sober from her “take the edge of” beer- CEO and co-founder of public cloud-computing company Nuta- and-cigarette habit, and finally finishing her bachelor’s degree nix, which has a market cap of about $10 billion, hired Brown to

OPPOSITE PAGE: STEVEN MILLER/COURTESY GLOBOFORCE MILLER/COURTESY STEVEN OPPOSITE PAGE: at age 29. There’s her loving, mindfully communicative mar- speak at the company’s customer conference this year and work

● ● ● ● ● ● OCTOBER 2018 ● INC. ● 85 The . (2012) sold half that, and the two (2012) sold half that, and the two (2010) sold more than a million million than a (2010) sold more editor-at-large Inc. is an Daring Greatly The renamed company will continue to consult with big company The renamed But finally starting to come together. in, it’s years Five so That may be an impossible goal for an organization With some justification. As Brown learned, to be female learned, to justification. As Brown some With In December, other things she can control. are There consulting- operations—the for-profit remaining Brown’s BookScan, to Nielsen Especially when, according subsequent books have sold more than 250,000 each. than 250,000 sold more subsequent books have than four million, more are sales says that U.S. (Brown to her directly trying to tie her books more now total.) She’s of Instead of selling “18 hours’ worth business operations. learned in a book I’ve to put everything I’m going courses, she says. [for] 20 bucks,” it away and just give other profession- continue to train And it will corporations. so they can be certified consultants to the IP, als in Brown’s the time have doesn’t of business clients Brown 95 percent to visit herself. or mental energy has to the day when her company is looking forward Brown she can definitively When the startup chaos. beyond moved chosen the right path for her business—and can say she’s some time of. take even “I will feel like Still, on a celebrity founder. clearly centered she me,” beyond live doesn’t work if this failure a massive it’s the struggles of through can work And if anyone reflects. the probably it’s business, and leading a reinventing, starting, to do it. As written the books on how literally who’s woman heal thyself.” quips: “Researcher, Brown Gifts of Imperfection MARIA ASPAN tection against the outside world. When her first TEDx Talk first TEDx Talk When her the outside world. tection against but yeah!’ not ‘Hell, was first thought “my in 2010, viral went know? “You she recalls. toothpaste back in the tube,’” the ‘Get this.’” control this, control this, ‘Control “If for nasty comments. is to become a target on the internet I put a system in place. a woman, in public and you’re you’re million a year,” or $40 a year $40,000 make if you care don’t that comments three you someone to give “Hire she advises. not.” that’s and delete the shit to, responding worth are online learning busi- Works the Courage shut down Brown into a of her company one arm converting She started ness. mental health profes- continue training which will nonprofit, and methods and soon research sionals and others in Brown’s colleges.teach them in schools and perhaps Leaders as Brave business once known and-workshops to the name of her new book: Dare share now Inc.—will realization: underlines a recent Lead. The rebranding in to be efective in order businesses tried diferent “We’ve she laughs. paid attention to the books,” scaling and never did the books become a side hustle?” “How copies, copies, ● ● ●

● ● .” Sighing sotto voce, Sighing sotto voce, .” ●

As soon as she utters the exasperated As soon as she utters the exasperated head falling into her hands, Brown Brown head falling into her hands, question: to the obvious is responding does she prioritize her load of How and writing, speaking, researching, running her company? starts it—and regrets Brown expletive, a perplexing it. It’s negotiating to erase a self-described from reaction “ﬁfth- with a family motto of Texan generation me admits to who even ‘lock and load,’” uuuuuuuck OCTOBER 2018 100 ●

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It’s a dichotomy between Brown’s ambition and her reluc- Brown’s between a dichotomy It’s Yes and no. “It’s on-brand for me, but not for the work,” but not for the work,” for me, on-brand “It’s and no. Yes “I don’t want to wake up one day and have 150 people up one day and have wake to want “I don’t So by late last year, Brown had finally forced herself to had finally forced Brown year, late last So by But as Brown built out her business, she became uncom- built out her business, But as Brown tant relationship with celebrity; between the woman who the woman between with celebrity; tant relationship of pro- built a wall and the one who’s vulnerability preaches she says, noting that being known for profanity risks alienat- for profanity noting that being known she says, being my the tension: Not “Here’s ing a wider audience. She to the work.” dangerous authentic self is incredibly the work.” not serve language can sometimes “My pauses. that the F-word is “very comfortable. That’s my cuss word.” cuss word.” my That’s comfortable. is “very that the F-word Brown? for Brené using it authentic and on-brand So isn’t working here, and five of them are researchers and 145 of 145 and researchers of them are and five here, working engineers and learning platform people. software them are that busi- “Running she says. to do,” not what I want That’s mutually exclusive.” joy list are ness and my confront a choice many founders are faced with. Running a with. Running faced are founders a choice many confront compatible wasn’t simply operation consumer large-scale and of physical a mixture with what she calls her “joy list,” and “the ones, her loved emotional health, connection with “I’ve in the world”—time. resource biggest unrenewable successful senior leadersfounders [and] very to a lot of talked long hours and never working deeply unhappy,” who are says. Brown enjoying the fruits of their labors, fortable with a big part of it—including the prospect of scal- the prospect fortable with a big part of it—including online-education required portal a for-profit Running ing. and engineers and marketing, salespeople and software to feel bums in seats … and having focusing on “getting felt a little outside of her “It Kiley says. particularly salesy,” Adds side.” on the marketing ethics to be pushing that hard should be a nonprofit.” that education “I realized Brown, with some senior leaders. “She’s become “She’s senior leaders. with some and a secret advantage, a competitive says Pandey, culture,” for our weapon engi- sometimes catches his who now “When it gets a little on Slack: vulnerability neers discussing by will defuse the tensions employees mated, Nutanix too ani Megan Or as here.’” to be vulnerable have you ‘Hey, saying, the puts it: “To co-CEO Evereve, retailer of apparel Tamte, Oprah.” like with, she’s people I hang around 86 86

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In this inaugural list, Inc. and Grant Thornton have teamed up to create an exclusive roster of the 100 largest, most vital private companies in America. These companies maintain growth and relevance as they continue to thrive. Big and Dynamic? burden of quarterly earnings reports and Wall Street’s what-have-you-done-for-me-lately attitude, the Private Titans are able to steer a steadier course. This freedom to innovate drives newer companies such as Slack or Warby Parker as much as it does the 165-year- Yes old Levi Strauss & Co. Being public once was the Inc.’s list of Private Titans includes those that have ultimate airmation of corporate reached the threshold of $250 million in annual sales success. If Wall Street blessed but continue to evolve. Large companies, both public your company by selling your and private, often stumble over their own bulk. Econ- stock—and taking a cut, of course— omies of scale begin to fail them. They get too big to you joined the pantheon of American businesses. But maneuver in a fast-changing market. Others simply not every company wants a seat in the stock market ride the momentum of a brand until it fades. Our temples. The irascible, nearly invisible Forrest Mars Sr. Private Titans list, developed in partnership with let a candy, M&M’s, do the talking for him. Amar Bose, audit, tax, and advisory firm Grant Thornton and the an electrical engineer and revered MIT faculty mem- research platform PitchBook (which has the same ber, created a breakthrough loudspeaker that let his owner as Inc.), is based on a measurement of each namesake company compete with consumer elec- company’s sales growth and employee growth, as well tronics giants. But Bose was described as someone as its power of social media, the telltale sign of how “addicted to innovation,” a pursuit he knew was better efective any company is in reaching its customers or suited to a private company, which his remains. target audience. You can find the expanded Private The Inc. Private Titans list ofers a window into Titans 1000 list at inc.com/private-titans. both this history and an emerging trend in American These are some of the truly iconic American business: Private companies are becoming the pre- companies. They include Levi Strauss, maker of the ferred vehicle for unfettered growth. Freed from the definitive America garment, and In-N-Out Burger, the GABRIELA HASBUN/REDUX

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2018 Private Titans 1000 California-based cult quick-serve restaurant that pioneered the gourmet burger five decades before anyone at Shake Shack picked up a spatula. Lynsi Snyder, 35, the granddaughter of In-N-Out founders Harry and Esther Snyder, has no plans to change the company’s status or sell franchises. Staying private isn’t just about keeping your mouth shut and your books closed. It’s also about being able to pursue a mission. New Age companies such as Specialized Bicycle Components, Yeti, and Clif Bar are as much dedicated to a lifestyle, both corporate and consumer, as they are to selling products. Not that they don’t want to increase sales and profits. But remaining private accords them the privilege of putting other constituencies—community, environment, employees—ahead of Wall Street in the pecking order if they so choose. Publicly owned companies don’t have that option. Staying private also means having the staying power to get you through wars, financial panics, recessions and depressions, and whatever else history can throw at you. The oldest companies on this list— Levi Strauss (1853), Cargill (1865), S.C. Johnson (1886), Hearst (1887), Carhartt (1889), Sunkist (1893), “There will and Cox Enterprises (1898)—have generations of probably be experience to apply to any scenario. a massive Private has come into vogue. The number of economy of publicly traded companies in the U.S. is at a modern experiences low. The trend is being underwritten by the billions and we’ll of dollars in funding now available to startups, which just be one are now under less pressure to feed their growth by player in that using public money. What an astonishing turnabout in economy, the same decade in which tech unicorns have vaulted but I think it into the public markets with multibillion-dollar valua- will be really, tions that far exceed their sales—and profits, if they really big.” even have any. Case in point: automaker Tesla. It’s a public company with a $50 billion-plus stock market BRIAN CHESKY, valuation—more than Ford’s. But genius entrepreneur CEO, AIRBNB The company that Elon Musk, Tesla’s co-founder and CEO, created a started by renting out furor in tweeting that he wanted to make the company air mattresses in spare rooms now has nearly private, like SpaceX, his commercial space operation, five million listings. which is soaring to new heights any way you look at it. Musk eventually backed down—but not because he couldn’t raise the money. Entrepreneurs like Mark Cuban lament that companies like Squarespace have shied away from the

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We are proud to partner with INC. to develop the 2018 Private Titans 1000 list and celebrate your success. We know that the best way to lend a helping hand is to begin by lending a listening ear. With focused attention, an action-oriented culture, and solutions tailored to your private company’s needs. Welcome to Grant Thornton. Welcome to Status Go™

© 2018 Grant Thornton LLP | All rights reserved | U.S. member ﬁrm of Grant Thornton International Ltd. public markets. For employees of these ﬁrms, going public is the chance to monetize and maximize their equity holdings. For the public, it’s a chance to invest in a growth company. Cuban got extraordinarily rich that way. The initial public ofering is hardly dead. Investors still eagerly await the IPOs of companies such as Stripe, Lyft, and Uber. But for many of the companies on this list, keeping heads down and a focus on the long term will be always take precedence over the glamour of the stock exchanges. That’s what has made them titans. —BILL SAPORITO

Advance Publications Andreessen Horowitz Media company including Venture capital firm that newspapers, Condé Nast had early investments in publications, and digital Skype and many social and television properties. media companies. Founded 1922 Founded 2009 Chairman Steven Newhouse Founders Marc Andreessen Headquarters Staten Island, N.Y. and Ben Horowitz Headquarters Menlo Park, Calif. Airbnb Ashley Furniture Online marketplace for Industries short-term rentals of homes, apartments, and Furniture manufacturer spare rooms. and retailer. Founded 1910 Founded 2008 Founded 1945 Benchmark Capital “The clif was CEO Mark Jansen CEO Brian Chesky CEO Todd Wanek Venture capital firm that Headquarters Sacramento always three Headquarters San Francisco Headquarters Arcadia, Wis. was an early investor in many internet companies. months away. Albertsons Aspen Skiing Company Founded 1995 BMC Sotware I mentally got General partners William Gurley Grocery store chain with Operates ski resorts Tech firm specializing in comfortable and hotels. et al. business and IT software. more than 2,300 locations Headquarters San Francisco with living in that recently acquired Founded 1946 Founded 1980 meal-kit company Plated. CEO Mike Kaplan CEO Peter Leav the world of Headquarters Aspen, Colo. Big Ass Fans Headquarters Houston Founded 1939 immense risk CEO Robert G. Miller Manufacturer of industrial Headquarters Boise, Idaho Bain & Company and residential ceiling fans Bose and threats.” and lighting fixtures. Management consulting Audio equipment designer, LOGAN GREEN, All Market and buyout firm. Founded 1999 including speakers CEO, LYFT CEO Lennie Rhoades and noise-canceling Producer and supplier of Founded 1973 Headquarters Lexington, Ky. He and co-founder coconut water under the Managing partner Manny Maceda headphones. John Zimmer turned brand name Vita Coco. Headquarters Boston Founded 1964 the concept of a Bloomberg L.P. CEO Philip Hess rideboard into a car- Founded 2004 Headquarters Framingham, Mass. sharing-app company CEO Michael Kirban Baker McKenzie Delivers software, data, and Headquarters New York City information, some via the that is still growing Multinational law firm. rapidly. Bloomberg Terminal. Cargill Founded 1949 Founded 1981 Global chair Paul Rawlinson A conglomerate including American Greetings CEO Michael Bloomberg Headquarters Chicago agricultural businesses and Producer of greeting cards, Headquarters New York City digital greetings, and party financial services. products. Founded 1865 Bass Pro Shops Blue Diamond Growers CEO David MacLennan Founded 1906 Retailer of hunting, fishing, Headquarters Wayzata, Minn. CEO John Beeder Agricultural cooperative Headquarters Westlake, Ohio and outdoor merchandise. that produces almonds and Founded 1972 almond products. CEO John Morris WINNI WINTERMEYER/REDUX Headquarters Springfield, Mo.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2018 Private Titans 1000 Carhart Conair Founded 1933 In-N-Out Burger CEO Joseph E. Gallo Clothing company special- Produces personal Headquarters Modesto, Calif. Fast food restaurant chain izing in work clothes. appliances and health primarily in the West and Founded 1889 and beauty products. Southwest. CEO Mark Valade Founded 1959 eClinicalWorks Founded 1948 Headquarters Dearborn, Mich. President Ronald Diamond Sells software used by health President Lynsi Snyder Headquarters East Windsor, N.J. care providers. Headquarters Irvine, Calif. Founded 1999 Casper CEO Girish Navani Sells mattresses and sleep Cox Enterprises Headquarters Westborough, Mass. Instacart accessories. Conglomerate with Provides same-day Founded 2014 holdings in media and grocery delivery. CEO Philip Krim automotive services. Edward Jones Founded 2012 Headquarters New York City Founded 1898 Investment and financial CEO Apoorva Mehta CEO Alex Taylor services adviser. Headquarters San Francisco Headquarters Atlanta Founded 1922 Cerberus Capital Managing partner James Weddle Management Headquarters St. Louis, Mo. Jersey Mike’s Franchise Private equity firm; owner of Creative Artists Agency Systems Staples and Avon, among Agency representing Sub shop chain with a others. entertainment and Fidelity Investments Garden State attitude. Founded 1992 sports clients. Financial services company Founded 1971 CEOs Steve Feinberg and Founded 1975 known for its mutual CEO Peter Cancro Frank Bruno President Richard Lovett funds and retirement plans. Headquarters Manasquan, N.J. Headquarters New York City Headquarters Los Angeles Founded 1946 CEO Abigail P. Johnson Headquarters Boston JUUL Labs Chobani Credit Karma Develops and sells Manufactures yogurt and Credit card marketplace and e-cigarettes. Forever 21 yogurt-based products. consumer financial website. Founded 2017 Founded 2005 Founded 2007 Fast fashion retailer. CEO Kevin Burns CEO Hamdi Ulukaya President Kenneth Lin Founded 1984 Headquarters San Francisco Headquarters Norwich, N.Y. Headquarters San Francisco CEO Do Won Chang Headquarters Los Angeles Koch Industries CKE Restaurant Dart Container Corp. International conglomerate Holdings Leading manufacturer of Global Logic with holdings in chemicals, Operates fast food food-service containers. Builds mobile apps and minerals, pulp and paper, restaurants, including Carl’s Founded 1963 digital interfaces for clients. energy, and more. Jr. and Hardee’s. President Jim Lammers Founded 2000 Founded 1967 Founded 1966 Headquarters Mason, Mich. CEO Shashank Samant CEO Charles G. Koch CEO Jason Marker Headquarters San Jose, Calif. Headquarters Wichita, Kan. Headquarters Franklin, Tenn. Dell Develops and sells Guggenheim Partners Kronos Clarivate Analytics computers and related Investment and financial Workforce organizational Provides subscription- products. advisory services firm. and management software. based services focused on Founded 1984 Founded 1999 Founded 1977 intellectual property. CEO Michael Dell CEO Mark Walter CEO Aron J. Ain Headquarters New York City and Founded 2016 Headquarters Round Rock, Texas Headquarters Lowell, Mass. CEO Jay Nadler Chicago Headquarters Philadelphia Digi-Key Hallmark Cards Landry’s Distributes electronic and IT Runs restaurants and enter- Clif Bar & Company and related components. Makes greeting cards and party products; owns the tainment outlets, including Produces healthy food Founded 1972 casinos and aquariums. products and drinks. Hallmark television channel. President Dave Doherty Founded 1980 Founded 1910 Founded 1992 Headquarters Thief River Falls, Minn. CEO Tilman Fertitta CEO Donald J. Hall Jr. CEO Kevin Cleary Headquarters Houston Headquarters Emeryville, Calif. Headquarters Kansas City, Mo. Duf & Phelps Global corporate financial Levi Strauss & Co. Coinbase and governance advisers. Hearst Communications Magazine, newspaper, Legendary blue jeans and Exchange for digital Founded 1932 apparel maker and retailer. currency such as bitcoin and CEO Noah Gottdiener broadcast, and business ethereum. information conglomerate. Founded 1873 Headquarters New York City CEO Chip Bergh Founded 2012 Founded 1887 Headquarters San Francisco CEO Brian Armstrong CEO Steven R. Swartz Headquarters San Francisco E. & J. Gallo Winery Headquarters New York City Wine and liquor producer and distributor.

© 2018 Grant Thornton LLP | All rights reserved | U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd. L.L.Bean McKinsey & Company Petco Retailer known for its cloth- Worldwide management Pet and pet supplies ing and outdoor equipment. consulting company. retailer. Founded 1912 Founded 1926 Founded 1965 CEO Stephen Smith Global managing partner CEO Ron Coughlin Headquarters Freeport, Maine Kevin Sneader Headquarters San Diego Headquarters New York City Love’s Travel Stops & Petsmart Country Stores MobilityWorks Sells dogs, cats, and other Chain of truck stops and Designs, rents, and sells pets and supplies. wheelchair-accessible vans convenience stores. Founded 1986 Founded 1964 and accessibility/mobility CEO J.K. Symancyk Executive chairman Tom Love products. Headquarters Phoenix Headquarters Oklahoma City Founded 1997 CEO Bill Koeblitz Headquarters Richfield, Ohio Pilot Freight Services Lowe’s Market Global transport and logistics Supermarket chain services provider. with locations in the The Nature’s Bounty Co. Founded 1970 Southwest. Supplier of vitamin CEO Gordon Branov Founded 1964 supplements. Headquarters Lima, Pa. CEO Roger Lowe Jr. Founded 1971 Headquarters Littlefield, Texas CEO Paul Sturman Headquarters Ronkonkoma, N.Y. Portillo’s Lyt Chicago-area hot dog, Italian Neustar beef, and chocolate cake The nation’s second- chain. largest on-demand Does cloud-based data transportation service. analytics and security for Founded 1963 CEO Michael Osanloo Founded 2012 major brands. Headquarters Oak Brook, ILL. CEO Logan Green Founded 1999 Headquarters San Francisco CEO Charles E. Gottdiener Headquarters Sterling, Va. Postmates Magic Johnson National courier network Enterprises New Balance that delivers goods locally. Investment company with Athletic footwear and Founded 2011 apparel seller still making CEO Bastian Lehmann holdings in real estate, Headquarters San Francisco restaurants, and theaters. sneakers in the U.S. Founded 1987 Founded 1906 CEO Earvin Johnson CEO Robert T. DeMartini Raymour & Flanigan Headquarters Los Angeles Headquarters Brighton, Mass. Furniture manufacturer and retailer. Mars Incorporated Niantic Founded 1947 Developer of video and AR CEO Neil Goldberg Global maker of candies, Headquarters Liverpool, N.Y. beverages, and pet food. games like Pokéman Go. Founded 1911 Founded 2010 CEO Grant F. Reid CEO John Hanke Red Apple Group Headquarters McLean, Va. Headquarters San Francisco Runs supermarkets and gas stations in Mary Kay Peloton the Northeast. Multilevel marketing Sells fitness cycles, tread- Founded 1971 company focused on health and mills and subscriptions to CEO John A. Catsimatidis beauty aids. Founded 1963 web-based exercise classes. Headquarters New York City CEO David B. Holl Headquarters Addison, Texas Founded 2012 CEO John Foley S.C. Johnson & Son Headquarters New York City Fifth-generation purveyor McGraw-Hill Education of household cleaning and Producer of educational Perdue Farms care products. materials, software, and Poultry grower, processor, Founded 1886 trade publications. and packager committed CEO H. Fisk Johnson Founded 1888 to animal welfare. Headquarters Racine, Wis. CEO Nana Banerjee Headquarters New York City Founded 1920 CEO Randy Day Headquarters Salisbury, Md.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2018 Private Titans 1000 Shamrock Foods Sunkist Growers/Fruit Founded 2002 Growers Supply CEO William Wang Food-service distributor Headquarters Irvine, Calif. to restaurants, hotels, Company and institutions. Marketing cooperative of orange growers and Wae House Founded 1922 processors. CEO Kent McClelland Southern-based diner chain. Headquarters Phoenix Founded 1893 CEO Russell L. Hanlin Founded 1955 Headquarters Valencia, Calif. CEO Walt Ehmer Sinclair Oil Headquarters Norcross, Ga. “It had to be Vertically integrated oil Taboola and gasoline company. Content-creation platform Warby Parker something Founded 1916 for the internet. Hipster home of socially CEO Ross B. Matthews responsible eyewear. meaningful. Headquarters Salt Lake City Founded 2007 CEO Adam Singolda Founded 2010 It had to make Headquarters New York City CEOs Dave Gilboa and a diference. Neil Blumenthal Slack Headquarters New York City I had to be truly Makes shareware for project- TGI Fridays excited every management teams. Casual dining chain. Founded 2009 Founded 1965 Wawa single day to CEO Stewart Butterfield CEO Aslam Khan Growing convenience wake up and Headquarters San Francisco Headquarters Dallas store chain known for get to work.” its hoagies. SpaceX Topgolf Entertainment Founded 1964 High-tech golf driving CEO Chris Gheysens APOORVA MEHTA, Makes and operates Headquarters Wawa, Pa. CEO, INSTACART reusable rockets to launch ranges and entertainment He started more satellites and humans. centers. than 20 companies Founded 2002 Founded 2000 Wegmans before he founded CEO Elon Musk CEO Dolf Berle Stylish northeastern the one that would Headquarters Hawthorne, Calif. Headquarters Dallas supermarket chain. fulfill his dreams. Founded 1916 Specialized Bicycle TPG Capital CEO Colleen Wegman Components Private equity investors in Headquarters Rochester, N.Y. technology, real estate, Maker of high-end health care, and more. racing cycles, trail bikes, WeWork and cycling accessories. Founded 1992 CEOs Jon Winkelried and Co-working space for Founded 1974 James Coulter budding professionals. CEO Mike Sinyard Headquarters Fort Worth Headquarters Morgan Hill, Calif. Founded 2010 CEO Adam Neumann True Value Headquarters New York City Squarespace Hardware store Website creation and cooperative chain. Wheels Up hosting service. Founded 1948 Private aviation provider; Founded 2003 CEO John Hartmann specializes in short-haul CEO Anthony Casalena Headquarters Chicago Headquarters New York City flights. Founded 2013 Uber CEO Kenny Dichter Stewart’s Shops Sometimes-controversial Headquarters New York City Ice cream shop and transportation platform. convenience store chain. Founded 2009 World Wide Technology Founded 1945 CEO Dara Khosrowshahi CEO Gary C. Dake Headquarters San Francisco Supply chain management Headquarters Ballston Spa, N.Y. and technology. Founded 1990 Vanguard Group CEO Jim Kavanaugh Stripe Investing company that Headquarters Maryland Heights, Mo. Online payment system popularized index funds. for businesses. Founded 1975 CEO Mortimer J. Buckley Yeti Founded 2010 Headquarters Valley Forge, Pa. CEO Patrick Collison Maker of high-end coolers, Headquarters San Francisco drink ware, and other Vizio outdoor equipment. Maker of flat-screen Founded 2006 CHRISTIAN PEACOCK/GETTY CHRISTIAN televisions, sound bars, and CEO Matt Reintjes other consumer electronics. Headquarters Austin

CONCEPTS APPEAL TO franchise because of their personal passion for travel coupled with low startup cost and the chance to be home-based, says Debbie FRANCHISE INVESTORS’ Fiorino, senior vice president of the Fort Lauderdale-based franchiser. UNIQUE NEEDS “In addition, we are one of the few franchises that give owners the option to work their franchise either full-time or part-time,” Fiorino notes. “Plus, being in the travel industry, they can take advantage of travel perks.” More than 1,200 Dream Vacations franchises operate in all 50 states. Over the next year, Fiorino says, the company anticipates growing its network by 15 percent. The balance of effi ciency and curb appeal of the My Place Hotels of America lodging franchise is one of its main attractions, says Ryan Rivett, president and chief executive offi cer of the Aberdeen, South Dakota-based company. “From the footprint of our engineered prototypes to the ease of operation of our platform, franchisee feedback affi rms our position as a leader in effi ciency. Doing that better than most has resulted in an exceptional franchise experience for guests, operators, and owners,” Rivett says. The franchise industry is diverse enough that investors can fi nd My Place has 44 locations up and running across 21 states. Over concepts fi tting nearly any need. From lifestyle businesses that blend the next year, the franchise is expected to open more than 70 entrepreneurship with personal fulfi llment to high-growth businesses locations. After early expansion near its Midwest roots, My Place with enough challenge and excitement for the most ambitious locations are popping up farther afi eld. “We’ve been very busy individual, today’s franchises have something for almost everyone. seeking new relationships beyond the Midwest—east and west, Prospects for Dream Vacations are initially attracted to the travel coast to coast,” Rivett says. Ŷ SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION FRANCHISE/MARKETPLACE DIVERSIFY YOUR PORTFOLIO

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72$'9(57,6(&217$&7ǩ:::',5(&7$&7,210(',$&20 Art at Work Inc. Life Yaitanes, who’s 34, grew up wanting to be an artist, lingering in art stores, admiring rows of pastels and paint, Color Her mulling what she could persuade her parents to buy. “Through art, I learned World the anatomy of skin tones,” she says. “Never start with an earth tone—create them, so you get a human-looking After Sheena Yaitanes color. Start with red, yellow, and blue.” got her MBA in 2010, she recalls, “there were no jobs.” She asked herself: What did she love most? “The ﬁrst thing that came out of my mouth,” she says, “was ‘color.’ ” So she became an apprentice to the L.A.-based abstract artist Stepha- nie Pryor. That experience informs Kosås, Yaitanes’s cosmetics company, which sells its wares through more than 100 retailers and enjoys a great rep for its rich colors and zero-waste philosophy. But Yaitanes still makes time to paint. —SHEILA MARIKAR

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96 ● INC. ● OCTOBER 2018 ● ● ● PHOTOGRAPH BY JOYCE KIM When you need someone to talk to about your retirement plan, it’s good to actually have a person.

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