The Business Model by Inc.

Anybody can have a good idea. It’s taking the next step that gives people more trouble.   On this Founder Group Chat, we have three founders who have turned their big idea into eight-figure-revenue businesses:  Paakow Essandoh of clothing brand Mizizi  Sara Jensen of wellness company Hugh & Grace  Allison Conrad of hair care brand Arey  Each of these founders has a personal story that inspired their company. With host Jennifer Conrad, they share how they took that initial spark and made it into something much bigger.

At the beginning of this year, you may have noticed a dip in the valuation of tech companies. It’s not all tech companies, but software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies specifically. But why?     Inc. staff writer Brian Contreras recently investigated this phenomenon and spoke with several industry experts to better understand exactly what’s happening with these companies. It’s what the industry is calling a SaaSpocalypse.     On this episode of The Business Model, Brian joins Inc. staff reporter Chloe Aiello to discuss why this trend is happening, what potential avenues are available for these companies to combat the dip in their valuations, and the implications for the industry.

If you’re a founder who’s early in your journey, or maybe you haven’t even started yet, this is the podcast for you.   Inc.’s Sarah Lynch gets advice on all kinds of topics — from fundraising through building company culture — from three successful founders, in three very different industries.   It’s time for the final installment of our Founder Group Chat with honorees from Inc.’s Female Founders 500: Rachel Liverman, founder and CEO of Glowbar; Angela Vranich, co-founder and chief product officer of Little Spoon; and Priyanka Jain, co-founder and CEO of Evvy.

As workers worry that AI will automate their jobs away, LinkedIn’s chief economic opportunity officer, Aneesh Raman, argues something different: AI is going to remove barriers for entrepreneurship and help accelerate self-employment and ownership.    In a new segment on the Business Model, Ramen joins Inc. staff reporter Kayla Webster to talk about his take on AI and the job market and his new book, Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI, which he co-wrote with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky.

Move over, golf. The new sport of the business world is padel.   The racket sport has exploded in popularity among the Oura-ring-wearing, cold-pressed-juice crowd, as Inc.’s Ali Donaldson reports. Padel clubs are opening en masse across the U.S., providing an opportunity for founders to network and build new wellness-focused ventures.    Donaldson joins Inc.’s Ben Sherry on this episode of 1 Smart Business Story to dig into the trend and whether it’ll last.

Many founders engage their customers with some type of membership or subscription model. But what’s perhaps more important is building a community.   On this episode of The Business Model, we present a Founder Group Chat of women who have made real relationships around their brands.  Inc.’s Sarah Lynch is joined by a trio of Female Founders 500 honorees who have done just that—Rachel Liverman, founder and CEO of Glowbar; Angela Vranich, co-founder and chief product officer of Little Spoon; and Priyanka Jain, co-founder and CEO of Evvy.   Each of these founders has gone beyond the basics of community building. Listen and watch for their insights on why a strong community makes a strong brand.

It’s been nearly a year since President Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs, making the markets go haywire and creating sky-high duties for all kinds of businesses.    “It was stunning for a lot of founders,” says Inc.’s Melissa Angell, who recently filed a deep report on the first year of Trump’s tariff agenda. While the Supreme Court eventually struck down Trump’s initial tariff slate, he hasn’t given up the fight and businesses are still reeling.     Angell joined host Chloe Aiello on this edition of The Business Model to review how businesses have responded to the year of uncertainty and discuss what comes next — including potential refunds and a new practice of “tariff stacking.”

Women manage $32 trillion in global spending and three-quarters of discretionary spending. Still, women are really dissatisfied with the products and services available to them, according to a 2024 BCG study.   This presents a unique opportunity for businesses founded by — and focused on — women.  On this episode of The Business Model, we’ve brought back three of this year’s Female Founders 500 honorees who are taking advantage of this moment: Rachel Liverman, founder and CEO of Glowbar; Angela Vranich, co-founder and chief product officer of Little Spoon; and Priyanka Jain, co-founder and CEO of Evvy.

If you’re an early-stage founder, striking the right balance between building a sustainable business model and raising capital to get there is one of the hardest challenges you’ll face.    Inc. editorial assistant Annabel Burba recently spoke with Tovala founder and CEO David Rabie about exactly that topic. Rabie opens up about how his startup nearly ran out of runway and how a series of pivots and emergency funding rounds saved it. His big takeaway? “I no longer count my chickens the way I used to.”    On this episode of The Business Model, Annabel joins Inc. senior editor Tim Crino to discuss why Rabie’s story stuck with her and what early-stage founders need to know about fundraising, including why the timing of when you raise can matter just as much as how much you raise.    *In the interest of full disclosure, Joe Mansueto, who owns Inc., is an investor in Tovala.

Last year, female-founded companies got barely over 1 percent of venture capital investment. It’s a shocking statistic, but not a surprising one to this week’s Founder Group Chat.   For this round, our panel includes three of this year’s Female Founders 500 honorees: Rachel Liverman, founder and CEO of Glowbar; Angela Vranich, co-founder and chief product officer of Little Spoon; and Priyanka Jain, co-founder and CEO of Evvy.   With Inc.’s Sarah Lynch moderating, these three tell their own fundraising stories and share how they cleared one of the biggest hurdles women face when starting a business.

You’ve probably heard about Anthropic’s ongoing battle with the Trump administration. It started with disputes over the federal government using Anthropic’s technology to kill autonomously and spy on Americans en masse. Then Trump deemed the leading AI firm a “supply chain risk,” prompting a countersuit from Anthropic and a sea of questions from users of Anthropic products, like Claude.     On this edition of The Business Model, Inc. AI reporter Ben Sherry joins Inc. host Chloe Aiello to explain the latest news, and how businesses and solopreneurs are responding to the government’s blacklisting of a top technology firm.

President Trump has ousted Kirsti Noem, the Department of Homeland Security secretary. The man tapped to replace her is Republican U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin.    Mullin has established himself as the most influential business owner in Trump’s Washington.     On this bonus episode of 1 Smart Business Story, our guest is journalist Issie Lapowsky. She’s been tracking Mullin’s ascent and just happened to be finishing up a feature on the senator when this news broke.     Lapowsky joined Inc. senior editor Rob Verger to explain how Mullin went from blue-collar businessman to nominee to inherit the most divisive and politically explosive federal agency.

Whether you’re an Olympic athlete or a business leader, sleep optimization is key to improving performance. Inc. staff reporter Chloe Aiello recently spoke with performance coach Sam Neame, who shared six strategies for sleep optimization.    “Something I found interesting about Sam’s recommendations [was] that your best night of sleep actually starts first thing in the morning,” says Chloe.     Chloe weighs in on unexpected practices that could lead to better rest. On this episode of The Business Model, she shares with Inc. senior editor Rebecca Deczynski why this topic resonated with her, what business leaders can learn from Olympic athletes about sleep for peak performance, and how they can apply these strategies in their business.

As a founder, chances are that you’re the best possible spokesperson for your brand. You’re its face and voice.  But you’re also in charge of running a business, managing people, developing the brand—the list goes on. How’s one person supposed to balance everything?    On this episode of Founder Group Chat, we’re giving you an insider’s take on how to do it all from three women who know how to do it all.    Inc. senior editor Rebecca Deczynski is joined by Sarah Paiji Yoo of Blueland, Dianna Cohen of Crown Affair, and Elly Ross of Lil Sweet Treat for the final installment of this Founder Group Chat.

The next big thing in artificial intelligence probably won’t look like OpenAI or Anthropic.   "Companies aren't really attempting to make their own big, foundational AI models anymore," says Ben Sherry, lead AI reporter at Inc. “Where founders are at today is saying, 'I don't have the money to make an AI model because it costs billions and billions of dollars and months and months of time and thousands of people. But I can use the AI that's available and create a really killer application or  collection of services that will kind of help me stand apart or solve a really specific, niche issue.’”    Ben recently hand-picked eight companies that are poised for massive growth this year. On this episode of The Business Model, he shares with Inc. reporter Chloe Aiello how he made his list and why these companies could be the next big thing — even if they’re not the next OpenAI.

When you’re a founder building your brand in public, things can get messy as the lines blur between your personal brand and your company’s brand. How do you keep them separate? When does it matter to do so?    Tough questions, but this Founder Group Chat has answers. Inc. senior editor Rebecca Deczynski gets the scoop from Dianna Cohen of Crown Affair; Sarah Paiji Yoo of Blueland; and Elly Ross of Lil Sweet Treat.

If the phrases “small business” and “email marketing” sound right for a company built in the past, think again.     Flodesk, which built a platform for small businesses and solopreneurs to create branded emails, has taken its idea to the bank. Once a Y Combinator reject, the company recently passed $36 million in annual recurring revenue and appointed co-founder Rebecca Shostak as CEO.    Shostak spent months in Vietnam working with the company’s tech team to build new AI features. Her next move aims to have the company competing with the likes of Canva, vibe-coding its own design and design elements.     Inc. reporter Jennifer Conrad joins senior editor Rob Verger to show how Flodesk is making the old technology of email new again.

It seems like there are endless options for platforms on which you can build your brand. Substack. TikTok. Email newsletters. LinkedIn. Instagram Reels. The list goes on. So, how’s a founder supposed to decide which one is right for them?     Inc.’s Rebecca Deczynski is back for another installment of Founder Group Chat with Sarah Paiji Yoo of Blueland, Dianna Cohen of Crown Affair, and Elly Ross of Lil Sweet Treat.   Each of these founders has built their brand on a different platform and on this episode, they share how they decided which one fit them best — and why it’s not a good idea to be everywhere all at once.

Testosterone is going mainstream. What used to be the stuff of bodybuilders is growing in popularity for everything from treating medical conditions to giving looksmaxxers an edge.     Now, big-name players like Hims and Rugiet are entering the testosterone space, which is rife with gray market providers — including some seemingly faceless, shady companies.     Inc.’s Sam Blum joins Chloe Aiello to take us into the red-pilled world of testosterone replacement therapy.    Then, Sam and Chloe talk over their news obsessions this week including GLP-1s and eating disorders, and a battle between prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket.     Also, an update on our brand: This Monday edition of The Business Model, which we had been calling “Circling Back,” will now be called “1 Smart Business Story.” Why? Well, Inc. just launched a new newsletter on Beehiiv with the same name. Subscribe today to get a can’t-miss business story every week in both newsletter and podcast form.     If you happened to have an affinity for the “Circling Back” brand, don’t worry: Our closing segment at the end of each Monday episode will now be called “Circling Back,” where we fill you in on what we are obsessed with right now.

The idea of getting in front of a camera is intimidating for many people, even nightmare-inducing.   But for many founders in today’s climate, building your brand in public can feel like a necessity. Especially if you’re bootstrapped, serving as both founder and face of the brand saves cash and makes sure you get it right (or as close to right as possible). Still, it’s a daunting job and one that’s bound to lead to some errors.   Fortunately, this Founder Group Chat includes three women who have built their companies while using themselves as both founder and spokesperson. One made a splash on Shark Tank. Another has become a viral TikToker. A third made her breakthrough in an unlikely way: a viral Google Doc.     With Inc. senior editor Rebecca Deczynski as host and moderator, here’s our latest panel of founders:   Sarah Paiji Yoo, co-founder and CEO of Blueland  Elly Ross, founder of Lil Sweet Treat  Dianna Cohen, founder of Crown Affair  They’ll be our group for the next few episodes, starting with Storytelling 101: A lesson on telling your story in an authentic way.   Short text description for thumbnail (8 words or less):  How to share an authentic brand story