Great Business Stories

Caemin
  • 4.8 (16)
  • Business
  • Updated Weekly

A great business story thoroughly researched and brought to life by Caemin. New episode released every Wednesday .

  1. 10h ago

    Ben & Jerry’s 1978-2026 RIP

    The RIP part, well you’ll see what I’m getting at by the end of the episode. I wanted to dig into this story for a while now because like most of you, I knew the outline -you know, 2 hippy type guys who did things a bit differently, who were never really interested in money or success and yet they built one of the biggest and best known ice cream brands in the world.  But the details of how they did this- through just being totally authentic, following their sense of fun, getting a lucky break, and then when they become successful they do everything they can to spread the wealth, to develop a different type of business but eventually big business catches up with them and while the ending is sad for Ben and Jerry, I just love this story for so many different reasons- enjoy.

  2. Sep 16

    Brian Chesky and Airbnb: The $100 Billion Bad Idea

    Look, I’d be lying if I said I’d always wanted to cover Chesky and Airbnb. I hadn’t really read much about either of them. The business itself sounds pretty humdrum. People renting out apartments, spare rooms. Nothing really new or exciting there. And Chesky himself has always flown under the radar. But each week the story I pick just depends on what catches my fancy and last week, for whatever reason, I thought, you know what, I know absolutely nothing about this guy. I want to dig into it. And what a story. Because Chesky and his co-founders basically took one of the crappiest business ideas — renting out airbeds on apartment floors — and through sheer tenacity and a fantastic understanding of how a product should work, they turned it into a $100 billion company. But it’s really the stories behind the company that make this so good. Making their own cereal to clear their debts. Not knowing what a slide deck or an angel investor was. Coming up against the king of the clones, the dreaded Samwer brothers from Germany, losing 80% of their business when Covid hit. It all makes for a cracking story. Enjoy.

  3. Sep 9

    Peter Thiel: 1967–2002

    As regular listeners will know, I’ve wanted to cover Thiel for some time now. He’s going to warrant a three-parter at least because, love him or loathe him, Thiel is without doubt one of the most interesting, controversial and polarising people in business over the last 30 years. For listeners who don’t know him, Thiel was part of what became known as the PayPal Mafia - this group of supersmart guys who founded and built PayPal. The company survived the dot-com crash, it almost went under because of Russian fraudsters and they eventually cashed out in 2002. And then a lot of the people involved went on to even more success. We’re talking Thiel himself, Elon Musk, David Sacks and Reid Hoffman.  So this episode focuses on Thiel’s early life and brings us right up to the sale of PayPal in 2002. It is a cracking story. Enjoy.

  4. Sep 2

    Enzo Ferrari: The Obsession Behind the Prancing Horse

    Now I’m not a big petrol head, but as some of you might know, I love Formula 1, and I think it's fair to say that Formula 1 wouldn’t be where it is today without Ferrari—so I was really keen to dig into this. And what a story. Enzo Ferrari wasn’t your typical business guy. Most people think of Ferrari as a company that builds expensive road cars and also happens to race. But for Enzo Ferrari, the road car business was really secondary—those beautiful, expensive cars were made for one reason only—it was to fund his obsession with racing. And it was an obsession. He valued his engines more than his drivers. He had little time for his family, but still made time for numerous affairs. He could be a charming, funny and brilliant salesman, but he could also be cold, ruthless and very difficult. And he makes for a cracking story.

  5. Aug 26

    Bernie Ebbers & WorldCom - When The Tide Goes Out…

    The whole WorldCom scandal never really registered with me- because it happened straight after the dotcom bubble burst, so myself and my cofounders were just dusting ourselves off and slowly realising that we weren’t going to suddenly become business tycoons and on top of that whole Enron scandal had exploded just  a bit before so that was the story that consumed me back then - so when WorldCom went bust, I didn’t really give it a lot of time, but I knew in the back of my mind that there was great story here- Bernie Ebbers, this 6 foot 4, honest to goodness church-going  cowboy who kind of came from nowhere to all of a sudden building one of the biggest telecom companies in the USA, until suddenly it all collapsed becoming the biggest bankruptcy in US history, far surpassing Enron and and I’m glad that I finally got round to digging into thai story because it really is a cracking one- enjoy

  6. Aug 19

    The Rise and Ruin of the Barclay Twins

    This is the remarkable story of how David and Frederick Barclay went from painters and decorators to owning the most prestigious hotels in London: the Ritz, Claridge's, the Connaught, the Berkeley. They bought the Telegraph Newspaper Group, they bought an island and built a £100 million castle on it, their fortune was estimated to be £7 billion pounds as late as 2020. But these guys, man, they were secretive, underhand — these guys pulled some very sneaky shit. And then it all came crashing down when the twins turned on each other, culminating in the Ritz Hotel bugging scandal. This is a sensational and cracking story — enjoy.

  7. Aug 12

    Microsoft 1994-2000: How Bill Gates Turned a Browser War Into an Antitrust Disaster

    This is, without doubt, one of my favourite stories ever. And look, I'll be doing a good few episodes on Gates and Microsoft, but why I decided to start off with this one is because it's a fantastic standalone story. You have Bill Gates and Microsoft, in the mid-90s at the height of their power, and then along comes Marc Andreessen and Netscape, who develop a browser that really launches the World Wide Web. And this is an existential threat to Microsoft. They try to bully Netscape into a deal, but Netscape fight back, and this sets in motion an antitrust case that brings out Gates' arrogance, petulance and fear, and it leads to a judgement where Microsoft is ordered to split in two. This is a cracking story, enjoy.

  8. Aug 5

    John Foley and Peloton: What Went Wrong?

    I wanted to dig into this story purely because what I knew of Peloton really was just from the headlines. During the pandemic, stock pickers and the business media crowned Peloton the business of the future. It was called the Apple of fitness. You had the Obamas, Usain Bolt, Leonardo DiCaprio, dozens of high-profile celebrities as customers, and some of Peloton's live classes had bigger audiences than Madison Square Garden. And then, just as quickly, the same press that had lauded him turned on him. Foley and Peloton became the poster child for pandemic-era hubris. A company that reached a $49 billion valuation is now just worth $2.6 billion. Was it all Foley's fault? That's what we'll find out in today's episode. It's a cracking story, enjoy.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
16 Ratings

About

A great business story thoroughly researched and brought to life by Caemin. New episode released every Wednesday .

Information

  • Creator
    Caemin
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    96
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Caemin
  • Show Website
    Great Business Stories