Field: Entrepreneurs
No, 90% of new businesses don’t fail. Here’s why.
To say that something failed, simply because it stopped or changed, is to dangerously limit our view of the world.
Fighting poverty with direct cash payments
GiveDirectly has delivered over $500 million in cash to impoverished people, letting recipients decide how best to meet their needs.
The 5-hour rule: How to turn a wasted day into a successful one
The 5-hour rule asks us to devote at least one hour a day to learning, experimenting, and reflecting. Here's how to make it work for you.
Massive vertical mushroom farm opens in New York
Alt-meat startup MyForest Food has opened a new vertical mushroom farm in New York.
Digital nomad: why work from home if you can work from anywhere in the world?
Digital nomad visas make it easier than ever for remote workers to live in foreign countries for extended periods of time.
A world map of start-up ambitions
In New Zealand, ambitious Kiwis want to launch a lawn mowing business; in South Africa, it's cooking gas refills. Start-up dreams vary widely.
This company is tackling Kuwait’s ‘tire graveyard’ problem by tire recycling
Kuwait wants to build 25,000 new houses on the site of a former tire graveyard. Here's how they're going to do it.
Denim is a dirty business, but biotech bacteria are cleaning it up
The indigo dye in denim is problematic because it is derived from petroleum. But a new startup is cultivating bacteria that generate the same iconic blue, without the need for hazardous chemicals.
The world will electrify. This technology can power our sustainable future.
In partnership with Turntide
Attacking climate change requires reimagining our buildings and vehicles as intelligent systems. And it all starts with a smart motor.
Resume-bot goes viral. Lands multiple job offers
A marketing professional decided to think creatively and create a resume-bot. It helped him land 14 interviews and 11 job offers.
Series|
Make It Count
Building homes with hemp
In partnership with Million Stories
Cannabis was an ancient building material. Now it’s legal again - and coming to a home near you.
Series|
Challengers
This Gen-Z CEO is taking on the $20 billion tampon industry
Rehab, re-centering, and rebirth: it’s the true story of a Gen Z CEO who wanted to spearhead a movement for better period care.
Series|
Make It Count
How biomaterials could save the planet
In partnership with Million Stories
By 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. But biomaterials may be the solution.
Could Gen Z close the racial wealth gap through entrepreneurship?
In partnership with Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
This American city was ranked one of the worst for the success of black-owned businesses. Can these young entrepreneurs change that?
Soccer fans can enjoy a waste-free edible coffee cup
The English Premier League, the most-watched league in the world, is aiming to become sustainable by offering an edible coffee cup at the Etihad Stadium.
Y Combinator launches a ‘Tinder for entrepreneurs’ to match startup co-founders
Famed accelerator hopes to make it easier for founders to find each other.
Series|
Ramen Profitable
‘Liquid Death’ canned water — a thrilling alternative to plastic
In partnership with Million Stories
Liquid Death is shifting consumer mindsets toward canned water through radically imaginative marketing that is frightening to some, but entertaining to most.
Series|
Ramen Profitable
A new kind of haptic wearable: GPS for the blind
In partnership with Million Stories
A new kind of wristband is about to enter the wearable tech scene — the first haptic GPS for the blind.
Series|
Ramen Profitable
He built an app to send postcards to prison
In partnership with Million Stories
Flikshop is on a mission to make it as easy as possible to send postcards to prison. Founded by a formerly incarcerated individual, the company is keeping families connected to help reduce recidivism.
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Ramen Profitable
This startup is bringing same-day shipping to everyone in the world
In partnership with Million Stories
The tech behind automated drone delivery is still being developed, but with advances like these, next-generation shipping methods are just on the horizon.
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Ramen Profitable
How renegade museum tours became a multimillion dollar business
In partnership with Million Stories
Museum Hack is reimagining museum tours as we know them, by delivering storylines about art, culture, and history in a way that’s interactive — and highly entertaining.
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Ramen Profitable
DIY toothpaste maker’s journey to $12 million in sales
In partnership with Million Stories
A surprising solution to the plastic pandemic is rising in popularity — zero-waste toothpaste tablets.
How this founder built a billion-dollar ethical egg business
In partnership with Conscious Capitalism
Vital Farms has created a company culture that focuses on the welfare of all stakeholders – even the ones laying the eggs.
America’s first funeral home for composting human remains is open for business
After a decade of planning and a successful bid to change Washington state law, Recompose, a funeral home that composts human remains, is finally open.
How to use conscious capitalism to fight for a cause
In partnership with Conscious Capitalism
While many people associate capitalism with hardline profit chasing, building a brand in today's marketplace is often most successful when it's purpose-driven.
Who matters more: Employees or customers?
In partnership with Conscious Capitalism
The old saying goes: the customer is always right. But Matt Altman, CEO of Sportiqe Apparel, thinks that’s just one piece of the puzzle.
A lesson on empathy from a people-first CEO
In partnership with Conscious Capitalism
In an increasingly competitive corporate world that so often prioritizes profits over people, one CEO is flipping the script and calling attention to the importance of empathy in the workplace.
Engineering the impossible: The future of military tech
In partnership with Anduril
Palmer Luckey and his team of outside-the-box thinkers are creating defense technology that the government does not yet believe possible.
Series|
Challengers
Air Jordan designer’s lessons for startups
While there have been an array of challenges for startups during COVID-19, Jason Mayden is preparing for long-term success in a post-pandemic world.
Series|
Challengers
Healthy fast food start up takes on the McDonald’s empire
This LA-based business wants to radically alter the fast food industry by selling healthy fast food at the same low cost as competitors like McDonald’s.
Series|
Catalysts
Business boot camp for low-income entrepreneurs
In partnership with Stand Together
By developing the skills of entrepreneurs in low-income communities, this nonprofit is empowering people to generate sustainable income and become a force for economic growth in their neighborhoods.
Red Bull’s underground pitch competition for young innovators
Red Bull’s pitch competition allows colleges around the world to tap into the limitless potential of young, creative minds to develop new technology for the greater good.
The forgotten parent: How one father is making sure teen dads don’t go overlooked
As the founder of Fathers New Mexico, Barry McIntosh is on a mission to help young fathers understand how important...
How to Start a Coffin Club
How the founders of the "coffin clubs" got started – and their advice for others.
The business fair for children
At this business fair, kids are the entrepreneurs...
From multi-millionaire Bitcoin entrepreneur to inmate and back again
The story of how Charlie Shrem built his business as a Bitcoin pioneer, lost it all, and is now clawing his way back.
Five insights: Ryan Petersen on tackling problems that feel too big to fix
Flexport's founder discusses the personal and business side of building an ambitious startup.
Leslie Dewan on learning from failure
Dr. Leslie Dewan, CEO of nuclear power startup Transatomic, discusses the importance of entrepreneurs' ability to...
Five insights: Scott Phoenix on creating AI and building a company around a crazy idea
Scott Phoenix, founder of Vicarious, shares insights on the development of artificial intelligence and why this is...
An American entrepreneur on the importance of Chinese manufacturing
Greg Shugar, founder of Tie Bar and Thread Experiment, discusses why his businesses wouldn’t have been possible...
This startup wants to make everything you buy cheaper
Flexport's app is built to make global trade easier. If they're successful, it could mean everything you buy will...
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Challengers
Challengers trailer
Fast Company presents a Freethink original series about entrepreneurs building companies that could transform entire industries and change the world.
Meet the entrepreneurs disrupting industries and changing the world
Fast Company and Freethink bring you powerful stories of a new generation of entrepreneurs.