Intelligence Squared: Business

Great ideas often come from a simple spark: A soccer player on the New Zealand national team notices all the unused wool his country produces and figures out a way to turn them into shoes (Allbirds). A former Buddhist monk decides the very best way to spread his mindfulness teachings is by launching an app (Headspace). A sandwich cart vendor finds a way to reuse leftover pita bread and turns it into a multimillion-dollar business (Stacy's Pita Chips). In this week's episode award-winning journalist and NPR host Guy Raz speaks to Carl Miller about uncovering the stories of highly successful entrepreneurs. To find out more about Guy's book click here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Built-This-Unexpected-Entrepreneurs/dp/0358216761  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger released a photo-sharing app called Instagram, with one simple but irresistible feature: it would make anything you captured look more beautiful. The cofounders cultivated a community of photographers and artisans around the app, and it quickly went mainstream. In less than two years, it caught Facebook's attention: Mark Zuckerberg bought the company for a historic $1 billion when Instagram had only thirteen employees. In this week's episode Sarah Frier author of the new book 'No Filter' speaks to Linda Yueh about the inside story of the company, how it's shaping our culture and the future of the company under the ownership of Facebook. The episode was hosted by economist and broadcaster Linda Yueh. To find out more about the book click here: https://amzn.to/372tR4H  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In its earliest days, WeWork promised the impossible: to make the workplace cool. In episode one of Intelligence Squared Business Reeves Wiedeman tells the story of how WeWork attracted billions of dollars from some of the most sought-after investors in the world, to build a global empire. Based on more than two hundred interviews, Wiedeman's book Billion Dollar Loser chronicles the breakneck speed at which WeWork's CEO Adam Neumann built and grew his company. Culminating in a day-by-day account of the five weeks leading up to WeWork's botched IPO and Neumann's dramatic ouster, Reeves Wiedeman exposes the story of the company's desperate attempt to secure the funding it needed in the final moments of a decade defined by excess. The episode was hosted by economist and broadcaster Linda Yueh. To find out more about the book click here: https://amzn.to/36vML3y  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our age of disruption and uncertainty, Covid-19 and climate change, the need to debate our economic future has never been more important. In this new weekly podcast from Intelligence Squared, we'll speak to business leaders, authors and public intellectuals about the future of capitalism and the trends changing the world of business. Guests will include Guy Raz, host of NPR's How I Built This; Anne Boden, CEO and founder of Startling Bank; Zayna Aston, YouTube Head of Communications for Europe, Middle East and Africa; and archive episodes from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, economist Marianna Mazzucato, tech visionary Jaron Lanier and more. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. The producer is Conor Boyle.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices