Guests

As a teenager, Maguy Le Coze and her brother Gilbert were introduced to the culinary life while helping their parents in their hotel restaurant in Brittany, France. But staying in the French countryside was not for her. Maguy and Gilbert opened Le Bernardin first in Paris, and later in New York City in 1986. Le Bernardin is considered one of the finest restaurants in the world, earning three Michelin stars and four stars from The New York Times since it opened. Celebrity chef Eric Ripert is the restaurant’s co-owner and chef.

Maguy speaks to Jessica Harris about how she and her brother built Le Bernardin, from scratch.

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Casper is a company focused on sleep. Casper’s leading product is its mattress, which can be ordered online and delivered in a box, sometimes within hours if you live in New York City. Casper makes one type of mattress for all consumers, believing that more choice does not mean more comfort.

Philip speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched Casper, from scratch.

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Gary is a serial entrepreneur who launched Match.com, the online dating service, in 1993. A host of other online matchmaking personals companies have hatched as a result of Gary’s innovation. Gary also registered a number of lucrative domain names in the early days of the internet including housing.com, jobs.com, and autos.com. He was also the early owner of sex.com, which was the subject of a legal dispute that was ultimately resolved in Gary’s favor. More recently, Gary has been involved in innovations in the clean tech and financial services industries.

Gary speaks with Jessica Harris about how he used the internet to connect millions of people, from scratch.

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Bridge International Academies is a private network of nursery and primary schools educating the poorest students in developing countries including Kenya, Uganda and India. Bridge charges families roughly six dollars per month for a pupil to attend school and uses economies of scale to keep costs low across its more than 400 academies.

Jay speaks with Jessica Harris about how he and his wife Shannon are building their network of schools, from scratch.

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Casa Dragones is a luxury sipping tequila, made from 100% blue agave. Bob Pittman, founder of MTV, is Bertha’s partner. Madonna, Martha Stewart, Oprah, and Le Bernadin Chef Eric Ripert are among Casa Dragones’ celebrity fans. The first batch of Casa Dragones, about 12,000 bottles, was launched in 2009.

Bertha speaks with Jessica Harris about how she launched Casa Dragones, from scratch.

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Dr. Langer is a chemical engineer who has pioneered the fields of drug delivery and tissue engineering. His lab at MIT receives roughly $10 Million in annual grants and has 100 researchers. Dr. Langer has helped to launch close to 30 start-ups, and his lab’s innovations have been licensed or sublicensed by 250 companies. Dr. Langer is also a father of three children and a magician.

Dr. Langer speaks with Jessica Harris about how he has transformed the bio-materials landscape, from scratch.

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Tanium is a cybersecurity company that focuses on providing internet safety for the US government and Fortune 500 companies. Clients include Amazon, Target, Best Buy and the Department of Defense. Orion started Tanium with his father David.

Orion speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched Tanium, from scratch.

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Kiva Systems is a mobile robotics company that automates the warehouse fulfillment process.  Kiva robots deliver inventory shelves to stationary human operators who then pick and pack the product. Mick started Kiva Systems in 2003, and the company was acquired by Amazon for $775 Million in Spring, 2012. Customers include Diapers.com and Zappos (both owned by Amazon), Saks Fifth Avenue, Staples, Toys ‘R Us, and the Gap, among others.

Mick speaks with Jessica Harris about how he has pioneered the transformation of the traditional warehouse, from scratch.

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Instagram is a photo sharing app that was released through the Apple App Store in October, 2010 and reached one million users in just three months. Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 for one billion dollars. Mike and his partner, Kevin Systrom, are both graduates of Stanford University.

Mike speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched Instagram, from scratch.

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Bolt Threads is a materials innovation company. Using proprietary technology and revolutionary bio-engineering concepts, Bolt Threads seeks to deliver high-performance materials focused on sustainability.

Their first project is spider silk, using the DNA of a spider’s silk to manufacture clothes.

Dan speaks with Jessica Harris about how he is innovating new materials from nature, from scratch.