Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today’s innovative company builders.
If you’re like most founders I know, you live and breathe your company. And building it, though stressful, is energizing and even fun. So when an employee seems less than happy at work, you may feel a sense of injury. Why would someone waste their time (and yours) by being checked out? Jevon Gondwe, an executive communications coach and consultant based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, says the majority of CEOs he advises “complain about significant disengagement.” “One common theme I’ve been hearing,” Gondwe continues, “is how many organizations lost their culture during the pandemic and are really trying to figure out how to get it back or embrace a new culture.” In one instance, he cites a client who had 2,500 employees and was undergoing an extensive transition to modernize. “The…
1 Clarissa Cruz Veteran fashion writer Cruz reports on MZ Wallace (page 52) for Inc.’s Summer issue and says she was struck by the brand’s “unwavering” vision and “nimble” approach to growth from the very beginning. She says she was especially struck by the loyalty of boutique owners who have stocked the brand in their stores for years: “Their enthusiasm could not be faked.” 2 Will Tavlin Though Tavlin’s conversation with horror-movie mogul Jason Blum contained no jump scares, Blum’s seven tips for success will still surprise readers (page 44). “Jason Blum’s theatrical success proves that most Hollywood executives are just bad at their jobs,” Tavlin says. He recently explored the impact of Netflix on the film industry in a piece for n+1. 3 Boyce Upholt Upholt has written for…
In college, Sydney Attis and Mikayla Garcia bonded over their shared love for Dirty Shirleys—Shirley Temples spiked with vodka—and their mutual frustration with the reactions they’d get when asking for them at bars or restaurants. “Oftentimes, someone’s like, ‘Did you just turn 21?’ ” Garcia says. With their canned cocktail business, Just Call Me Shirley, Attis, 25, and Garcia, 26, aim to transform the Dirty Shirley into a drink that no one is embarrassed to order. Their commitment to this mission was on full display at the Small Biz Challenge, hosted by Inc. and The UPS Store, where the entrepreneurs won $25,000 to supercharge their Scottsdale, Arizonabased business. It was clear how much work Attis and Garcia put into crafting their Shark Tank-style pitch for the challenge’s judges, according to…
It’s no secret that online scams are rampant, frequently seen on hiring platforms, social media, email phishing, dating apps, and more. In 2024, people in the U.S. lost $1 billion to romance scams alone, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Historically, online identity verification has been ineffective, expensive, or slow for the average person or business. Fuzzy founder Kalie Nitzsche, and Jaqi Saleem, founder and CEO of Fuzzy’s partner agency, Qualified Digital, wanted to change all that. “After being deceived on the dating apps, I started looking around, and I realized there was no quick, affordable way to validate somebody online. And so Fuzzy was born,” Nitzsche said during an Inc. Founders House panel at SXSW 2025 on International Women’s Day. A multipurpose tool for safe connection Powered with…
Earning high marks for company culture is never easy, but it’s particularly challenging when the business world is in a near-constant state of upheaval. In the wake of the pandemic, remote work looked like the way of the future, until it wasn’t. Hiring sprees turned into firing sprees. DEI goals came under attack. Inflation gave way to trade wars. All of it has turned the American workplace into uncertain terrain, with employees left whipsawing between their employers’ ever-shifting priorities. In this environment, with change being the only constant, the companies that stand out are those that refuse to waver in their commitments to their people. For Greg Van Horn and Christine Yaged, co-founders of the digital media firm Launch Potato, navigating that uncertainty meant reassuring employees that their jobs were…
Ben Goodwin always knew he wanted to offer a robust package of benefits to employees at his functional beverage brand, Olipop, but having never worked for a big company with generous benefits himself, the CEO and chief formulator didn’t know what that would look like. It was 2021, and Oakland, California-based Olipop, which Goodwin co-founded in 2018, already offered comprehensive health insurance with lower-than-a verage premiums and a personal development stipend for things like meditation, therapy, and professional development. One of the questions on Goodwin’s mind was: “How do I work together with the team to create a place that is actually, genuinely enriching?” he says. When several employees expressed an interest in fertility and family planning benefits, Goodwin thought he might have his answer, but wanted to know more.…
