StartUp Podcast

Ever since he was young, Shane McAnally knew he wanted to be a country music star. But as a gay man, he didn’t fit the Nashville mold, and so he hid his true identity for years as he struggled to break through. Little did he know that coming out would prove the key to his success.  We created a playlist of Shane McAnally hits, from artists like Kenny Chesney and Kacey Musgraves. You can find it at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0ixldv7V7QUegFLYo3k5RN?si=Slqyo5ypQO6LiRydT-PbTQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aline Brosh McKenna got her big break as the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada. But even after successful box office hits and many years in Hollywood, she found herself having to compromise her vision over and over again. So she took matters into her own hands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Janice Bryant Howroyd’s company started in the front of a rug shop with just a phone, a fax machine, and a lot of hustle. 40 years later, that company is a huge multinational serving some of the biggest Fortune 500 companies in the world. It earns over a billion dollars in revenue, making Janice the first African-American woman to start and run a billion dollar business. But her journey to CEO wasn’t an easy one. Janice talks with Alex about the people who encouraged her down that path, and her realization that being brilliant and owning your brilliance are two different things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Comedian Nick Kroll became a star by playing a cast of over-the-top characters like Bobby Bottleservice and Gil Faizon. But for years he was careful to keep his own story out of his comedy. Now, with his hit show Big Mouth, Nick is taking on his most challenging material yet: his adolescence.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we’re sharing the first episode of Esther Perel’s new show How’s Work? In it, the couples therapist behind the beloved show Where Should We Begin? sits down with coworkers, cofounders and colleagues, and brings her inimitable perspective to workplace relationships and conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In November 1995, Ira Glass quietly launched the first episode of This American Life. The rest, as they say, is history. Today his show is a colossal success and Ira Glass is a household name. But in the intervening two decades, Ira has left an indelible mark on the industry by helping to shape hundreds of podcasts as well as hundreds of podcasters — including Alex. On this episode, Alex sits down with his mentor and former boss to talk about the early days at This American Life, what Ira taught Alex, and how being a good boss means learning to set people free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nina Jacobson is a force in Hollywood. She’s behind some of the biggest movies of the last 20 years: The Sixth Sense, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hunger Games, and most recently Crazy Rich Asians. She’s had a lot of success. But also some pretty big failures: a public firing, some box office flops. Nina walks Alex through her failure resume and talks about what it takes to make a hit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dapper Dan made a name for himself as one of Harlem’s premier fashion designers in the 1980s, creating unique leather designs covered in counterfeit logos from brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. But when the fashion houses found out, they shut him down. So how, 20 years later, did Dapper Dan make it to the top of the world that put him out of business?  We created a playlist of some of the songs that name-drop Dapper Dan, from artists like LL Cool J, Missy Elliott, and Pusha T... You can find it exclusively on Spotify, at open.spotify.com/playlist/6Gl7MBd1RvVT4ihFVrSaqF?si=H6XBdhYHTTW8aBzbUhLXaQ. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As acquisition talks with Spotify continue, Alex and Matt face their hopes and fears about what might lie ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just days before Thanksgiving, Alex and Matt board a red-eye to Stockholm for a conversation that could change everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the spring of 2018, four years after Alex and Matt launched Gimlet, and things are not going well. Audiences are flat, ad sales are flagging, and the company is burning through cash at an alarming rate. And with all of those pressures, Alex and Matt have started to fight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Five years ago, StartUp began chronicling the life of a fledgling Brooklyn-based podcasting company called Gimlet Media. This year, the streaming giant Spotify bought that company. In the final season of StartUp, what it's really like to sell a business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex introduces an episode of The Journal. about companies monitoring their workers. It's common, it's legal. And it can lead to employers having surprisingly personal information about the people who work for them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jenny Doan and her husband, Ron, lost most of their savings in the 2008 financial crisis. Retirement was just around the corner, and they didn’t know how they would make it through. That’s when the family went all-in on an unlikely business—a quilt shop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a Democrat from a red state, Senator Heidi Heitkamp built a reputation for her willingness to buck party pressure and reach across the aisle. But when Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court, she found herself facing a decision between her principles and her political fate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices