From Scratch with Jessica Harris

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. Listen to the interview

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. Listen to the interview

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. Listen to the interview

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. Listen to the interview

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. Listen to the interview

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. Listen to the interview

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. Listen to the interview

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. Listen to the interview

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. Listen to the interview

Panda Express is an American Chinese food chain with 2,000 restaurants located in airports, malls, universities, military bases, amusement parks, among other locations. Andrew started Panda Express with his wife Peggy in 1983. Panda’s first restaurant was located in a mall in Glendale, California. Andrew speaks with Jessica Harris about how he built Panda Express, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Lyft is a transportation network company with a peer-to-peer mobile app that enables passengers to request rides with their smartphones. Prior to starting Lyft, John co-founded Zimride in 2007, a carpooling ride-share company available predominantly in college communities. Zimride was sold to Enterprise Rent-A-Car in 2013. Lyft is available across the United States and through partnerships with ride-sharing companies throughout Asia. John speaks with Jessica Harris about founding Lyft, from scratch. Listen to the interview

littleBits is a hardware company that aims to put the power of electronics in everyone’s hands. The company sells electronic modules that snap together with magnets, making them accessible to both adults and children. Ayah earned a degree in computer engineering from the American University in Beirut, Lebanon and has a Masters from the MIT Media Lab. She is also an interactive artist. Ayah speaks with Jessica Harris about how she built littleBits, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Waze is a crowd sourced traffic navigation app. Drivers share real-time traffic and road information to help other users on the same route. Uri founded Waze in Israel in 2007 and the company was sold to Google in 2013 for $1.1 Billion. Uri is also the founder of FeeX, which also uses crowd sourced information— this time to uncover hidden fees in people’s financial accounts. Uri speaks with Jessica Harris about how the public is building maps around the world using Waze, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Fresh Direct is an online grocer that disrupted the traditional food supply chain by sourcing food where it’s produced and delivering it to consumers without going through additional retailers. Fresh Direct launched in 2002 from its headquarters in a former paper plant in Long Island City, Queens. Jason speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched Fresh Direct, from scratch. Listen to the interview

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. Listen to the interview