Culture
Inc.
Where to Find Your Next Superstar Freelancer
You can get great freelance help at a great price - if you know the right place to look.
6 min |
February 2016
Inc.
Want to Beat Hackers Once and for All? Hire One Yourself
Want to strengthen your digital security? Pay someone to break into your software - and your systems.
5 min |
February 2016
Inc.
How Even the Smallest Company Can Offer Great Parental Leave
More companies are offering new parents paid time off. With smart planning, a parental leave policy won’t break the bank.
4 min |
March 2016
Inc.
So, You Have This Great Idea...
Hiring a prototype contractor can be a cheaper and easier way to design your product. Use these tips to start building.
3 min |
June 2017
Inc.
Want To Earn More? Sure. Live Somewhere Else? Why Not? The Company That Can't Say No
ANTHONY SALADINO, 26, made more than $100,000 last year—but he doesn’t have a fixed salary. He’s an account manager, helping clients like the fashion brand Alexander Wang get the perfect position in the search results when you Google “fashion” or “designer.” His income reflects how much the clients pay his company. Saladino works for Elite SEM, a digital marketing business based in New York City, whose CEO allows employees to select their compensation: straight salary or a commission-based hybrid. In either case, there are opportunities for addons. Ben Kirshner, the company’s 39-year-old founder and chief executive, doesn’t mince words: “One of my greatest frustrations when I was 21 was that I wasn’t getting paid what people with more experience were being paid,” he says.
2 min |
June 2017
Inc.
The Smartest Money Advice I Ever Got
When to spend it, when to save it, and how to ask for it: Bobbi Brown, Max Levchin, Daymond John, and 19 other founders pass along the financial wisdom that led to their success
3 min |
June 2017
Inc.
Fetishizing Simplicity
PERUSE A RACK OF PROTEIN BARS at any grocery story and they all blend together: claims of what the food does (or does not) contain, promises of protein, and some stamp of approval by the latest fad diet. Rxbar, founded in 2013 by Peter Rahal and Jared Smith, used to be one of them. But 18 months ago, the Chicago-based company gave its protein-bar packaging a radical overhaul, and they soon began landing in retailers including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Target, and Kroger. Rahal talks Inc. through logo shrinkage, packaging noise, and graphic-design enlightenment.
3 min |
June 2017
Inc.
Where Road Trips Are Both Work And A Perk
“It’s a competitive environment, but one where the overall interests of company and team and seeing the customer succeed rank higher than any individual’s success.”
3 min |
June 2017
Inc.
Cynthia Rowley
Though her name is synonymous with fashion design, her work now ranges from developing office supplies to supporting new entrepreneurs
2 min |
October 2017
Inc.
Project Management: Not Just For The Big Guys Anymore
Affordable—even free—technology solutions give smaller businesses access to critical project management advantages.
3 min |
December 2017/January 2018
Inc.
Going Global The Art Of Knowing Where To Launch
Stasis Labs found its first market overseas. What’s its best next move?
4 min |
December 2017/January 2018
Inc.
The Smart Way to Pay Taxes on Retirement Savings
Don’t pay all at once— and use these tips to increase your nest egg BY KATHY KRISTOF
5 min |
April 2017
Inc.
Anthony Casalena
Anthony Casalena In 2016, his company generated more than $200 million in revenue, but the founder of website-building platform Squarespace doesn’t spend a penny he doesn’t have to As told to KRIS FRIESWICK
2 min |
April 2017
Inc.
When Is It Time To Outsource?
Happy customers are repeat customers. But they may be happier if someone else does customer service.
4 min |
December/January 2016
Inc.
Taking On Goliath
In 2013, former co-workers Julie Dacar and Amrita Grewal paired up to build their own staffing firm. Neither imagined that three years later their upstart, Washington, D.C.–based TalEx, would dethrone an industry giant, which also happened to be the parent of their former employer.
3 min |
September 2017
Inc.
Southern Style
Today, Lauren James Enterprises, a Fayetteville, Arkansas–based apparel company that sells preppy dresses and T-shirts with a southern flavor, has more than 100 employees, three retail locations, and $13 million in revenue. In the beginning, it was just Lance and Lauren Stokes, their baby, and the business—and no time to sleep.
3 min |
September 2017
Inc.
The Drive To Thrive
Armir Harris came to the U.S. as a political refugee, but under the wing of his uncle, who immigrated two years later, he acquired the tools to shape his own American dream. Harris is the founder of Shofur, an Atlanta-based platform that books buses for events and tracks their location in real time.
4 min |
September 2017
Inc.
Building A Business On The Move
Cameron Cruse faced a problem common to those who marry into the military: Relocating often, it's hard to find a job, much less build a career. Cruse teamed with fellow military spouse Lisa Bradley to put people like themselves to work making high-end handbags. With R. Riveter, in Southern pines, North Carolina, they've built a network of spouses to make their products.
2 min |
September 2017
Inc.
Making America Great
STARTING A successful business is tough. Even tougher: starting a successful business after emigrating to another country. All of these founders did just that, moving thousands of miles from home to where their talents and drive would be most appreciated. “The spirit of entrepreneurship in America is unparalleled,” says Vinita Negi, the New Delhi–born founder of Trigent Solutions (No. 369 on this year’s Inc. 500), a D.C. area–based business and IT consultancy. “There’s no comparison to what it’s like in India, or even other countries.” They still call it the American dream. These founders show us why.
3 min |
September 2016
Inc.
Get Smart About Social Security
Maximize your retirement income with these tips.
5 min |
November 2017
Inc.
How I Built— And Maintain— A Cult Brand (Even After Selling To Private Equity)
Greg Koch was a wannabe musician who ran a rehearsal studio in Los Angeles for renowned rock bands like Fear Factory, Fishbone, and the Melvins. Then he co-founded Stone Brewing, which quickly became enormously influential in the craft beer world, thanks to its strong brews and even stronger personality. Stone Brewing is a 12-time Inc. 5000 honoree. But forgive Koch for being more excited about a recent collaboration with Metallica.
3 min |
July - August 2019
Inc.
How I Spotted— And Grabbed— The Huge Opportunity That Almost Everyone Else Missed
When Ethan Brown founded the plant-based protein company Beyond Meat in 2009, he knew he was on to something big, even if everyone around him thought he was crazy. Then Whole Foods and other grocery chains came calling. The massively successful IPO that Beyond Meat launched this May gave more proof that he just might have been right all along.
3 min |
July - August 2019
Inc.
How I Joined An Industry Incumbent I'd Set Out To Defeat
After co-founding the wildly successful direct-to-consumer eyewear company Warby Parker, Jeff Raider co-founded DTC shaving brand Harry’s, which Edgewell Personal Care, the parent company of Schick, bought in May for $1.37 billion. In Raider’s view, the deal vaults him and co-founder Andy Katz-Mayfield closer to their goal of reinventing a huge category.
3 min |
July - August 2019
Inc.
How Designer Couple Are Saving Health Ceramics!
Heath Ceramics was strong on cachet, but weak on its balance sheets. Then a designer couple came along to save it.
1 min |
July - August 2019
Inc.
In Your Sandwich and Your Cone
Taylor Ham, a favorite lunch meet in the Garden State, has made the leap from sandwiches to ice cream
1 min |
July/August 2018
Inc.
How I Launched My Company And Learned To Let Go
Thanks to her unruly curly hair, Alli Webb knows how a good blowout can completely change the way a woman feels about herself. In 2010, she persuaded her brother and her husband—both bald—to help her launch Drybar, which focuses exclusively on blowouts. Eight years later, Drybar has more than 100 locations and over $100 million in revenue.
4 min |
July/August 2018
Inc.
How Losing My Mentor Inspired A Business
Selina Tobaccowala co-founded Evite when she was in college, and, after selling it to IAC, took on senior roles at Ticketmaster. But then she met her mentor in Dave Goldberg, the CEO of Survey- Monkey, and she became that firm’s president and CTO. His sudden death in May 2015 prompted her to get more active—and start a company to help others do the same.
3 min |
July/August 2018
Inc.
How I Decided To Take On The U.S. Bail System
Many of the two million prisoners in the U.S. are nonviolent offenders awaiting trial. Oakland, California–based Promise has an audacious solution: Work with cities and counties to release them, and provide an app and support system to keep them current with court appointments and hearings. Promise is operating in Alameda County; co-founder and CEO Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins expects launches in several more counties this year.
3 min |
July/August 2018
Inc.
How I Escaped The Islamist Regime In Iran ...And Started A Winery In America
Moe Momtazi’s Maysara Winery and his Momtazi Vineyard now sprawl across 532 acres of rolling Oregon hills. His pinot noirs get great reviews, and his grapes are coveted by the region’s top wine makers. It all started with some inspiration from his ancestors— and fleeing Islamist Iran.
3 min |
July/August 2018
Inc.
Think You're Too Small For CRM? Think Again
Customer relationship management solutions are essential for—and accessible to—growth-oriented small and midsize businesses.
2 min |