The Power of 2
Inc.|March - April 2022
Conventional wisdom says that starting a fast-growth business with your spouse is too risky, too intense, too fraught with potential drama. But these couples have turned their partnerships into their superpowers.
By Tom Foster. Photograph by Joanna Kulesza
The Power of 2

COMPANY Tiff's Treats

CO-FOUNDERS Tiffany Chen & Leon Chen

The idea for their cookie business hatched after she stood him up for a date. Apparently, there were no hard feelings.

Tiffany

Chen remembers sitting on a plastic bucket turned upside down over a drain that was spewing wastewater into the kitchen of the Austin-based cookie-delivery company she had co-founded. It was 2001, torrential rain was overwhelming the city's drainage and sewer system, and Tiffany was trying to do whatever she could to keep the flood level from reaching the electrical outlets. She and her business partner and now husband, Leon, had begun their company out of an apartment as college kids just two years earlier, and this small kitchen, in a storefront they shared with a potato restaurant called Spudnik, was their first official place of business. The two of them had been working day and night since graduation to meet the surging local demand for their service, but they hadn't managed yet to break out of the cycle of doing almost everything themselves including flood control.

This story is from the March - April 2022 edition of Inc..

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the March - April 2022 edition of Inc..

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM INC.View All
7 Ideas : Sheila Johnson
Inc.

7 Ideas : Sheila Johnson

The iconic founder of BET and Salamander Collection draws inspiration from basketball courts and symphony halls.

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2024
What's Eating Steve Ells? What Steve Ells is Eating
Inc.

What's Eating Steve Ells? What Steve Ells is Eating

The founder of Chipotle wants to shake up the restaurant industry again, this time with robot kitchens and plant-based food.

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 2024
5 Team Player
Inc.

5 Team Player

How Stephen Curry, the NBA’s greatest shooter ever, assembled an all-star business team that wins on social mission as much as money.

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 2024
Regionals BLAZING A TRAIL TO THE INC. 5000
Inc.

Regionals BLAZING A TRAIL TO THE INC. 5000

We're a nation of competitors. Always have been-from the sharp-elbowed scramble for land unleashed by the Homestead Act to the improbable televised spectacle that is the American Cornhole League.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2024
The Cult of the Entrepreneur and How to Avoid It
Inc.

The Cult of the Entrepreneur and How to Avoid It

Imperious, infallible, and fawned over by employees and customers: Don't fall for it. You can succeed without being an asshole.

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 2024
Insta-Worthy RetailEverything, Everywhere, All at Once
Inc.

Insta-Worthy RetailEverything, Everywhere, All at Once

How the designer behind some of today’s buzziest businesses lands in-person experiences that are too good not to gram.

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2024
Sallie Krawcheck
Inc.

Sallie Krawcheck

On battling burnout, insomnia, and the loneliness of being a WFH CEO.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2024
Airbnb Co-Founder Joe Gebbia Is Betting on a New Wave of Design-Led Startups
Inc.

Airbnb Co-Founder Joe Gebbia Is Betting on a New Wave of Design-Led Startups

The former chief product officer of Airbnb helps set the vision for Veeraj Chugh’s high-end webcam startup, Opal Camera.

time-read
7 mins  |
March 2024
Be Cool. Or Not
Inc.

Be Cool. Or Not

How the creators of one of the most influential brands of the past decade learned that cool is in the eye of the beholder.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2024
Yes, You Can Break Free of Your Brand
Inc.

Yes, You Can Break Free of Your Brand

People change. Interests evolve. The Cupcake Queen learned that firsthand.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2024