NPR's most popular podcast about innovation, entrepreneurship, and what drives the people who create some of the world's best-known companies and brands.
NPR's most popular podcast about innovation, entrepreneurship, and what drives the people who create some of the world's best-known companies and brands.
How I Built This with Guy Raz tells the stories behind the world's best-known companies — from Spanx to Airbnb to Instagram — through intimate conversations with the founders who built them. These episodes reveal the risk, failure, and persistence behind entrepreneurial success, making it essential listening for anyone who dreams of building something.
With so many episodes to choose from, finding the right first episode to listen to can be overwhelming. This page ranks the most popular, most listened to How I Built This with Guy Raz episodes — your gateway episode guide whether you're a new listener looking for the episode that will get you hooked, or a longtime fan searching for episodes you might have missed. Our EpisodeRank algorithm analyzes web sentiment and audience data to surface the episodes that matter most, so you always know where to start. Whether you're searching for How I Built This best episodes, Guy Raz best interviews, or HIBT most popular episodes — this is the episode guide that will get you hooked.
Episodes are ranked by the EpisodeRank algorithm, which combines web sentiment (most discussed, recommended, and culturally impactful episodes) with audience data from public sources including YouTube view counts. Learn more about how we rank episodes.
The Sara Blakely (Spanx), Howard Schultz (Starbucks), and Airbnb episodes are among the most popular. Guy Raz's warm interviewing style helps founders open up about the real struggles behind their success stories.
Start with a company you know and love. Each episode tells the complete origin story, from the founder's earliest struggles to their breakthrough moment. The Spanx and Airbnb episodes are perfect entry points.
Not at all. The show covers everything from Patagonia and Five Guys to Wikipedia and TOMS Shoes. Guy Raz interviews founders across every industry, from food and fashion to tech and retail.