Bonobos: Andy Dunn

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2019

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Andy Dunn was in business school, his housemate Brian Spaly created a new type of men's pants: stylish, tailored trousers that fit well in both the hips and thighs. Together, they started the men's clothing company Bonobos, which became an instant hit due to the pants' signature flair and innovative e-commerce experience. But within a few years, Andy hit challenging roadblocks, including a struggle with depression and a falling-out with his co-founder and friend. Despite many moments of crisis, Andy steered Bonobos to massive success, and in 2017, it was acquired by Walmart for a reported $310 million. PLUS for our postscript "How You Built That," how Amy and Brady King created an easy-to-assemble portable shelter meant to provide natural disaster relief and help house people experiencing homelessness. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today.
0:09.0	New Year's is here, and with it brings the possibility of change.
0:13.0	As one behavioral scientist put it, first starts are really powerful.
0:17.0	So as you head into 2023, LifeKit is a great resource to help you plan your life and tackle changes, both big and small.
0:24.0	Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR.
0:27.0	How are you able to kind of stay optimistic?
0:32.0	I mean, were you just looking at projections and saying, this is going to be fine?
0:36.0	Stay optimistic. What makes you think that I was optimistic?
0:40.0	I was, I was defiant in the face of a terrifying reality.
0:47.0	Companies don't die because the companies fail. They die because the entrepreneur gives up.
0:52.0	And that was the approach. Just keep the lights on. Keep growing.
0:56.0	And that's what we did.
1:04.0	From NPR is how I built this. A show about innovators, entrepreneurs,
1:09.0	idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.
1:14.0	I'm Guy Ross and on today's show, how Andy Dunn took failure and self-awareness to a new level
1:21.0	to build a multi-million dollar men's fashion brand, Bonobos.
1:33.0	Okay, so before we start the show, I just want to talk about a serious issue in men's fashion.
1:39.0	The cacky diaper butt. You know, you see men all the time with pants that might fit perfectly in the waist,
1:46.0	but they're a, shall we say, a little too baggy in certain other areas.
1:51.0	And this is really common because your other option is wearing pants that are really tight in the waistband.
1:57.0	And you might be thinking, well, if every man is wearing cacky diaper butt pants, what doesn't even matter?
	...

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