Guy Raz

Guy Raz is the How I Built This host who interviews Justin Gold in Justin’s Nut Butter: Justin Gold. He Was Waiting Tables, Then…He Reinvented Peanut Butter., hosts the Advice Line episode Advice Line with Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation with Jeffrey Hollender, interviews Joey Shamah in e.l.f. Cosmetics: Joey Shamah. The Dollar Store Formula That Built a Cosmetics Giant, hosts Advice Line with Susan Griffin-Black of EO Products with Susan Griffin-Black, hosts Advice Line with Shazi Visram of Happy Family Organics with Shazi Visram, interviews Maxine Clark in Build-A-Bear: Maxine Clark. A Former Shoe Executive Launches a Stuffed Animal Empire, hosts Advice Line with Christina Tosi of Milk Bar with Christina Tosi, interviews Tobias Lütke in Shopify: Tobias Lütke. How a snowboarder built a $150 billion business (2019), hosts Advice Line with Tim Ferriss (August 2025) with Tim Ferriss, interviews Brian Smith in UGG: Brian Smith. How an epiphany, surfers, and $500 launched an iconic sheepskin footwear company., and interviews Stephen Starr in STARR Restaurants: Stephen Starr. How a Non-Foodie Built Thriving Restaurants on Gut Instinct. The Justin’s episode uses his interview format to draw out the founder story behind Justin’s Nut Butter, while the Advice Line episodes show him diagnosing consumer-product positioning, sampling, social content, local market focus, proof reuse, private-label risk, community expansion, gifting loops, channel growth questions, wholesale tests, and made-to-order risk with active founders. The e.l.f., Build-A-Bear, Shopify, UGG, and STARR Restaurants episodes use the same format to surface how retail, hospitality, and platform businesses turned price, participation, customer experience, technical leverage, subculture credibility, location, and channel execution into scale.

In Advice Line with Ronnen Harary of Spin Master/PAW Patrol, Guy hosts Ronnen Harary and helps diagnose Yearly Co.’s material-pricing problem, Island Bee Company’s channel and family-scale decision, and Wandering Soul Beer’s founder-boundary problem.

In Catalina Crunch: Krishna Kaliannan. From Homemade Keto Cocoa Puffs to Breakfast Aisle Breakthrough, Guy interviews Krishna Kaliannan about building Catalina Crunch from dietary constraint, home cereal formulation, DTC demand, co-manufacturing gaps, and Whole Foods Market retail breakout.

In Advice Line with Jeni Britton of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams (2025), Guy hosts Jeni Britton and helps diagnose Jesse and Ben’s’ frozen-fry positioning, Jaju Pierogi’s capital-control tradeoff, and Ube.co’s science-backed pet-treat messaging.

Connections

• How I Built This - show context.
• Justin Gold and Justin’s Nut Butter - interview subject and company in the founder-story episode.
• Jeffrey Hollender, Seventh Generation, 25 & Pine, Red Truck Orchards, and Petaluma - Advice Line guest and caller cases.
• Joey Shamah, Scott Vincent Borba, and e.l.f. Cosmetics - interview subject and company in the e.l.f. episode.
• Susan Griffin-Black, EO Products, Yobi, Culture Wine Company, and Cane Dog Coffee - Advice Line guest, company context, and caller cases.
• Shazi Visram, Happy Family Organics, Healthy Baby, Freit Barefoot, Sprinkle Bites, and Plantamica - Advice Line guest, company context, and caller cases.
• Maxine Clark, Build-A-Bear, Adrienne Weiss, Barney Ebsworth, and Sharon Price John - experiential retail founder-story episode.
• Christina Tosi, Milk Bar, The Beau Collective, Cotton Clara, Vashon Island Coffee Dust, and Christy Clement - Advice Line guest, company context, and caller cases.
• Tobias Lütke, Shopify, Scott Lake, and Snowdevil - e-commerce platform founder-story episode.
• Tim Ferriss, Coyote, Gob, EB&Co, and K Becker - Advice Line guest, side project, and caller cases.
• Brian Smith, UGG, and Deckers - footwear founder-story episode.
• Stephen Starr, STARR Restaurants, The Continental, and Budokan - restaurant and hospitality founder-story episode.
• Ronnen Harary, Spin Master, PAW Patrol, Yearly Co., Island Bee Company, and Wandering Soul Beer - Advice Line guest, company context, franchise context, and caller cases.
• Krishna Kaliannan, Catalina Crunch, Escape My Bubble, and Doug Behrens - low-sugar cereal founder-story episode.
• Jeni Britton, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Jesse and Ben’s, Jaju Pierogi, and Ube.co - Advice Line guest, company context, and caller cases.
• CPG Distribution, Post-Acquisition Founder Identity, Mission Driven Customer Education, and Product Led Willingness To Pay - themes discussed through the episodes.
• Low Price Brand Perception, Retail Incrementality, and Direct To Consumer Cash Flow - value beauty themes added by the e.l.f. episode.
• Relationship-Led Growth and Local Market Proof - channel-focus themes added by the Susan Griffin-Black Advice Line episode.
• Proof Point Reuse, Private Label Brand Risk, AI Discovery SEO, and Fast Product Validation - themes added by the Shazi Visram Advice Line episode.
• Experiential Retail, Customer Co-Creation, Mall Based Retail Expansion, Retail Concept Protection, and Founder Succession - themes added by the Build-A-Bear episode.
• Gift-To-Loyal-Buyer Loop, Pre-Product Selling, and Founder Role Transition - themes added by the Christina Tosi Advice Line episode.
• Internal Tool Productization, Entrepreneurship Infrastructure, and Product Led Willingness To Pay - themes added by the Shopify episode.
• Channel Focus Experiments, Made-To-Order Commerce, and Founder Identity Diversification - themes added by the Tim Ferriss Advice Line episode.
• Subculture Led Marketing, Seasonal Inventory Financing, and Consumer Brand Moat - themes added by the UGG episode.
• Restaurant Experience Design, Concept Led Hospitality, and Restaurant Operational Fragility - hospitality themes added by the STARR Restaurants episode.
• Commodity Price Exposure, Story Led Consumer Branding, Family Business Scaling, and Founder Work Boundaries - themes added by the Ronnen Harary Advice Line episode.
• Dietary Constraint Product Insight, CPG Manufacturing Scale-Up, and Packaging As Product Experience - themes added by the Catalina Crunch episode.
• Repeatable Customer Language, Retail Incrementality, In-Store Demos, Startup Governance, and Sustainable Growth Pace - themes added by the Jeni Britton Advice Line episode.