Problem Solvers Entrepreneur Podcasts

One night, Holden Forrest drew a wild idea on the back of his daughter's math homework: What if he could lower a house into the ground, as a way to escape oncoming wildfires? He couldn't shake this idea, so he started researching whether it's possible — and now, years later, he has a company called HiberTec, multiple patents, groundbreaking technology, and is raising money to build his first prototype. On this episode, Holden explains how to turn a big idea into a real business. You can learn more and invest in HiberTec at https://republic.com/hibertec-homes

"Community" has become a buzzword — but when it's done right, it's also an incredibe tool. This is where you find support from others. It's a living, breathing resource. In this episode, Jason Feifer talks with Pat Flynn, cofounder of the community Smart Passive Income, about how to build and foster great relationships. And if you're building a business or audience online, you can now join and interact with them both inside the SPI community! Learn more at https://bit.ly/SPI-Jason

Sometimes, a company creates an amazing solution... but clients don't understand why they need it. What do you do then? Garry Cooper has the answer, because it's exactly what he had to do at his company Rheaply.

Here's the problem, as Rheaply saw it: At large companies, employees often buy things the company already has. They also throw out things the company could still use. That's because there's no way for everyone in the company to know what they have, what they need, and how to get items across that divide. Garry and his team built Rheaply to solve that problem. It helps companies reuse products... if only they could get clients to recognize this as a problem, and realize the value of the solution. Here's how Rheaply did it.

Sponsor: Paper & Packaging Board. Learn more at howlifeunfolds.com/innovation

This may sound counterintuitive, but your business doesn't HAVE to be on social media. In fact, social media might not even be the best tool for your growth. Amelia Hruby, host of the podcast Off the Grid, explains how to leave social media without hurting your business — and the many other marketing tools that you should pour your energy into instead.

People often say they want positive news stories, but they rarely read them. Sean Devlin wanted to know: Why? So he set out to find out — and has since built a newsletter, called Nice News (at nicenews.com), that now has 450,000 subscribers. So how did he do it? And how can you build a strong newsletter for any niche subject? That's what we discuss on this episode of Problem Solvers.

Sponsor: Harvard Business Review.  Access's HBR's unlimited content start at only $10 a month. visit www.hbr.org/subscriptions and enter PROMO CODE: SOLVERS to take advantage of this great offer.

Lots of companies say they put their customers first, but what does it mean to be a truly people-centric organization? According to Rah Mahtani, Alibaba.com's head of marketing for North America, it means changing the way you think about your customers — as well as the products you design for them, and the marketing you create to reach them. Here, he breaks down some great "people-centric" examples of product design, and explains how Alibaba brings people (aka customers!) into their process.