When you consider the risk of doing business, it doesn’t get much bigger than starting a car company: competition is formidable, startup costs are in the billions, and very few people believe you can pull it off. That’s the massive challenge RJ Scaringe walked into in 2009, when he launched his truck and SUV company, Rivian. To add to the risk, RJ wanted to build fully electric vehicles while attracting drivers who’d never bought them, so he knew his trucks had to be fun and sporty: appealing in their own right. Rivian’s journey has taken RJ from an old warehouse in Florida to a massive Midwestern car manufacturing plant; and from years of stealth planning to months of anticipatory buzz from buyers and the industry. Rivian rolled its first trucks off the line in 2021, and is hustling to fulfill tens of thousands of vehicle reservations from excited customers. There have been pivots, sleepless nights, and, of course, multiple supply chain issues, but today, Rivian is valued at $30 billion and is a major player in the electric vehicle industry.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Tetris Company: Henk Rogers
When AI is your personal tutor with Sal Khan of Khan Academy
MOD Pizza & Seattle Coffee Company: Scott and Ally Svenson
When trucks drive themselves with Chris Urmson of Aurora
Grindr: Joel Simkhai
Delivering the future in drones with Keller Rinaudo Cliffton of Zipline
Mary's Gone Crackers: Mary Waldner
When robots recycle with Matanya Horowitz of AMP Robotics
The Lip Bar (TLB): Melissa Butler (2020)
Reimagining seafood production with Aryé Elfenbein and Justin Kolbeck of Wildtype (2022)
Dutch Bros. Coffee: Travis Boersma
Reinvesting in our cities with renewable energy with Donnel Baird of BlocPower (2022)
Spikeball: Chris Ruder
Saving the f#$%ing rainforests with Shara Ticku of C16 Biosciences
Harry’s Razors: Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider
Tapping the heat beneath your feet with Kathy Hannun of Dandelion Energy
Tory Burch: Tory Burch
Cultivating a creative community with Tina Roth-Eisenberg of CreativeMornings
Chef and Restaurateur: Thomas Keller
HIBT Lab! Google: Sundar Pichai (2022)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Life Kit
Fresh Air
The Tim Ferriss Show
Planet Money
Post Reports