From Scratch with Jessica Harris

One third of the world population does not have access to reliable electricity. D.light sells solar lighting and power to consumers in developing countries. The company’s lamps are healthier, cleaner, and cheaper than the traditional kerosene lamp alternatives. Sam speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched d.light, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Gary Goldberg was a producer and writer for television and film. His TV sitcoms included the 1982 hit show Family Ties, starring Michael Fox, as well as Brooklyn Bridge and Spin City. Gary was the author of the memoir Sit Ubu Sit. Ubu Productions, founded in 1981, was named after his black labrador retriever Ubu. Gary spoke with Jessica Harris about how he launched his writing career, from scratch. He died shortly after this recording in June, 2013. Listen to the interview Interview Transcript Host, Jessica Harris: 00:06 I’m Jessica Harris. This is from scratch. My guest is Gary Goldberg, a producer and writer for television and film. His TV sitcoms include the 1982 show Family Ties starring Michael Fox as well as Brooklyn Bridge and Spin City. Gary has written a memoir called Sit, Ubu, Sit. Ubu was the name of his production company, which he founded in 1981 named after his black Labrador retriever, Ubu. Welcome. Guest, Gary Goldberg: 00:34 Thank you. It is really a pleasure to be here. Jessica Harris: 00:36 You fell into a career in writing accidentally and you didn’t know that you wanted to become a writer until you were in your 30s. How did that discovery happen? Gary Goldberg: 00:47 It really was based on the fact that I had been this giant failure in the eyes of the world from the time I was, I would say 20 to 31 I was actually 31 at the time and I had, so I had never graduated college. I, I had been asked to leave more than one, but less than four, uh, universities. And my wife, who was a super student of all time, was going on to get like a triple master’s degree on the way to her PhD. And I was just tagging along at San Diego state, uh, university and just taking care of the baby and the Labrador, you know, Ubu. So that was really it. So I needed credits everywhere. I needed a thousand credits. And so I took a beginning writing class and it happened that the writer was a gentleman name of Nate Monaster, who was a past president of the Writers Guild. The assignment was to write a television commercial, and I was older and I just hadn’t really no interest in that, but I thought, well, I’m in this class and I, maybe I should try to write something. So I went up to Nate. Uh, I said, you know, I, I’m not trying to get out of the assignment, but I don’t want to do a commercial. Can I just try to write something? And he said, great. So I started to write about when I was a waiter at the village gate in New York during the sixties, late sixties which was kind of a turning point in my life. And it was interesting to me as I sat down to write, I could transport myself back to the village gate, I could hear dialogue, I could hear individual voices, I could hear, you know, silverware, you know, drinks being poured. And it was startling. Gary Goldberg: 02:16 And I wrote, and I had a good time, so I hand in these pages and we were not economically solvent at this point, so we couldn’t afford a telephone. Our phone was in our neighbor’s apartment. So he came over and he said, Hey Gary, there’s a guy from the college wants to talk to you. And I walk across the yard and it’s Nate Monaster. And he said, um,

Gary Goldberg was a producer and writer for television and film. His TV sitcoms included the 1982 hit show Family Ties, starring Michael Fox, as well as Brooklyn Bridge and Spin City. Gary was the author of the memoir Sit Ubu Sit. Ubu Productions, founded in 1981, was named after his black labrador retriever Ubu. Gary spoke with Jessica Harris about how he launched his writing career, from scratch. He died shortly after this recording in June, 2013. Listen to the interview

Fadi Ghandour is one of the leading entrepreneurs of the Middle East. Fadi and his family moved from Lebanon to Jordan where his father eventually became head of Royal Jordanian Airlines. Adopting his father’s business sense and knowledge of the aviation space, Fadi recognized and filled the need for dependable logistics transportation and delivery services in the Arab world. Aramex has been referred to as “the Fedex of the Middle East.” Fadi speaks to Jessica Harris about how he grew Aramex from a scrappy startup to the first company from the Arab world to be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Enigma is a company that uses the internet to make public data available and understandable to users. Enigma links across various databases to uncover relevant facts that a user might not notice by looking at a single data set. The universe of data sources to choose among includes SEC filings, public health records, government spending contracts, sales tax receipts , among several others. Marc speaks with Jessica Harris about how Enigma is making public data more accessible, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Stripe is a financial software company that helps businesses manage their online and mobile transactions. Patrick started Stripe in 2009 when he was 21 years old with his younger brother, John. He is originally from Dromineer, Ireland, which has a population of roughly 70 people. Patrick speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched Stripe, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Beyond Meat makes meat using plant protein instead of animal protein. The goal is to make a healthier product that looks, tastes, feels, and smells like chicken or beef using fewer natural resources. Ethan speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched Beyond Meat, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Shazam is an app that identifies the music or TV show around you simply by holding up your phone to the sound. Shazam was one of the first apps available in the Apple app store in 2008. Now, a hundred million people per month use the service. Chris speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched Shazam, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Since the 1970s, The Children’s Television Workshop—now called the Sesame Workshop—intended to help low-income children become better prepared for school by using television as a tool. The Sesame Workshop’s shows—including Sesame Street, The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact—ended up being much more far reaching, teaching and entertaining children from all backgrounds, internationally. Jessica Harris speaks with television producer Joan Ganz Cooney about the early days of educational programming, and how she helped to revolutionize children’s television, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Biolite is a company that produces clean, portable stoves for cooking off the grid in developing countries as well as for camping. The stove reduces toxic smoke emissions by 90 percent by using its own heat waste to generate energy. Biolite is targeting a global public health challenge of smoke pollution caused by cooking over an open fire. According to the World Health Organization, more than seven million people die annually from smoke originating from open cooking fires. A USB port on the stove can also charge a cell phone or other portable device. Jonathan speaks with Jessica Harris about how he is providing cleaner cooking solutions and electricity access in more than 70 developing countries, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Nolan is considered one of the pioneers of the video game industry.  Nolan developed the first coin operated game (Computer Space), as well as Atari’s popular debut game, Pong.  Nolan also founded Chuck E. Cheese’s, a game centric restaurant chain.  He is the author of Finding the Next Steve Jobs.  He and his partner Al Alcorn gave Steve his first job at Atari before Steve started Apple Inc. in 1976. Nolan speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched Atari, from scratch. Listen to the interview

athenahealth is helping to build the internet architecture for the healthcare industry. It is a cloud based software enabled company that helps physicians manage patients’ electronic medical records, among other services. The company was initially focused on childbirth services in San Diego before transitioning into a digital management company for the healthcare industry. Jonathan speaks with Jessica Harris about how he built athenahealth, from scratch. Listen to the interview

DonorsChoose is an online philanthropic marketplace that connects citizen philanthropists— members of the public– to public school teachers who request supplies for their classroom projects across the United States. Charles started DonorsChoose in 2000 while he was a public school teacher in the Bronx facing his own shortage of supplies for the projects he wanted to create with his students. The organization has raised over $300M, benefiting almost 15 million students. Charles speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched DonorsChoose, from scratch. Listen to the interview

Dollar Shave Club is a membership club for men’s grooming products. The company started delivering razors in 2011 for less than $10 per month. DSC now offers a range of bathroom products from hair gel to body cleanser. Michael speaks with Jessica Harris about how he started DSC, from scratch. Listen to the interview

charity: water provides clean water to communities in developing countries. Scott launched charity: water in 2006 after raising $15,000 from his friends at his 31st birthday party. Prior to launching charity: water, Scott was a night club promoter, of course. Scott speaks with Jessica Harris about how he launched charity: water, from scratch. Listen to the interview