The Empire Builders Podcast

Reverse engineering the success of established business empires.

Listen to latest episode

The Empire Builders Podcast Cover Art

Follow Our Podcast

Recent Episodes

#015: An interview with a small business that applied the Wrigley formula from episode 4

Posted September 22, 202100:29:42

Meet Rick Showers.  He does not sell gum.  He sells used RVs and he applied the lessons from Wrigley’s and is growing like crazy.  New sales record...

#014: The birth of Play-doh. A cleaning agent becomes a toy.

Posted September 15, 202100:10:43

Play-doh, seriously, it was not a toy.  This is serious stuff.  Learn how observing how your customer is using your products can lead to new product...

#013: Get rid of all the bells and whistles. The Birth of the Sony Walkman

Posted September 8, 202100:09:50

The staff, the critics, and retailers all said it would fail.  It lacked all the things people wanted but gave them one thing they had not thought...

#012: How to marry brick and mortar with online retailing. The Canada Goose way.

Posted September 1, 202100:10:23

Canada Goose is the second fastest growing luxury brand in the world.  They have created an amazing store experience that at the same time makes it...

#011: Retailers Beware!

Posted August 25, 202100:09:58

This is a departure.  In this episode Stephen Semple shares trends that he is seeing that is being embraced by retailers.  Trends that are dangerously...