Stanford Entrepreneurship Videos

Minnie Ingersoll, co-founder and chief operating officer at Shift, describes three stages of product management based on her experiences: defining a vision and identifying market fit, deciding what minimum viable product (MVP) to build and the next versions, and lastly, executing on those plans. She says the different phases often appeal to different types of people.

Shift Co-Founder and COO Minnie Ingersoll discusses how a public company can balance business concerns and ways to make a positive impact in society. She recalls being sent to Cairo at the start of the "Arab Spring" while she was at Google, which sought to increase access to information in the face of government restrictions by live streaming local news coverage on YouTube.

Shift's Minnie Ingersoll explains making the transition from being an employee within a big company to becoming an investor and entrepreneur. She recalls the generous benefits at Google, but also the limitations of working at such a large company. She contrasts that with the high level of energy and engagement at a startup, as well as the fast-paced environment and direct connection with customers.

Minnie Ingersoll, co-founder and COO at Shift Technologies, Inc., tells entrepreneurs they should choose co-founders based on whether they are comfortable being enmeshed in each other's lives, professionally and personally. She cites her startup's family-friendly culture as a strength that arose from shared values between herself, Shift's CEO and others on the team with children.

Entrepreneur Minnie Ingersoll shares advice from others that helped her figure out who to seek startup money from, how much to ask venture capitalists for, and how to determine the value of her company. She says the rules of thumb were practical for someone whose understanding of business was limited to what she learned from being at a big company, and earning an MBA before that.

Federica Marchionni, CEO of Lands' End, explains how a leader who demands perfection only creates a culture of fear within a company. However, embracing a spirit of experimentation empowers employees to take chances and to learn how to respond quickly to failure in the pursuit of excellence.

Federica Marchionni, an experienced leader in luxury-lifestyle brands, describes the dramatic shift from working in the fashion industry to working in the auto industry, at Ferrari. "If you embrace changes, you can grow much more and much faster," says Marchionni, adding that courage is also needed to see the unexpected as an opportunity to learn.

Lands' End CEO Federica Marchionni discusses the importance of recognizing weaknesses as opportunities for growth. She uses the clothing company's push to open a 9,000-square-foot flagship store in New York City in just six weeks as an example of an opportunity for her company to prove that it could be quick and nimble under intense pressure.

Lands' End CEO Federica Marchionni talks about making the environmental stewardship felt by the company's original founder a part of the business's identity today. More broadly, Marchionni emphasizes leading with purpose: "I could not conceive of my career only as a successful business leader. I would like to create something that is also meaningful."

Lands' End CEO Federica Marchionni shares lessons from her career as a leader at some of the most recognizable luxury-lifestyle brands in retail, including Dolce&Gabbana and Ferrari. She emphasizes the importance of excellence over perfection and adopting a "360 degree" mindset that will allow you to embrace change, be adaptable and identify opportunities for personal growth.

James Freeman, the soft-spoken founder and CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee, shares his entrepreneurial journey from the farmers' market where he learned commerce in its purest form, to opening cafes across the country. Freeman explains how customer experience is part of a product and shares the inspiration he draws from philosophy, literature and other cultures.

James Freeman, founder and CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee, recalls how his business was born. Formerly a freelance musician, Freeman says his passion for roasting his own coffee beans drove him to put down the clarinet and learn basic commerce. He began by selling coffee at a local farmers' market and saw an opportunity for differentiation by emphasizing freshness, like other categories of edibles had begun to do.

Blue Bottle Coffee Founder James Freeman discusses the realization that the coffee he started making need not be perfect. While musicians practice till they play perfectly, Freeman says what served him well in the early days were other hallmarks of performing artists: being in service to an audience, imagining sensory outcomes and repeating an activity to improve incrementally.

Blue Bottle Coffee CEO James Freeman explains the importance of focusing on the product and how customers feel about it. In his industry, Freeman says even core business concepts like marketing, branding and logos can serve as mere distractions.

Blue Bottle Coffee's James Freeman describes how the opening of an unconventional cafe boosted his confidence. Despite its odd location, limited menu and longer wait times, Freeman says the cafe was a successful effort to work within constraints. "Fortunately, I didn't even know what market research was," Freeman says. "We just did what we thought was the most delicious thing we could possibly do."