Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today’s innovative company builders.

What Can Be Changed

If You Can Make It There • Forget New York City and San Francisco. The next great startup hub is…

POPPING THE QUESTION. AND A FLASHBULB

The Jargonator • Swatting the buzzwords of business since 2014.

THIS IS NOT YOUR ROUTINE MORNING • Wheaties. Coffee. A workout and a shower. Such morning rituals may work for many. Others require something far more specific or idiosyncratic—like these five entrepreneurs.

Should Co-Founders Be Married—to Each Other? • A recent column in Psychology Today put the U.S. divorce rate between 42 and 45 percent. No wonder investors can be leery of backing a company with married co-founders. They fear a failed relationship will kill the business. Should they? An investor and a co-founder whose perspectives make them uniquely suited weigh the pros and cons.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

Nothing Going On but the Rent • Space for your business never comes cheap, especially if you’re slugging it out in a major city, where rents seem to rise ceaselessly. Or do they? Data from commercial real estate analyst CoStar Group shows serious fluctuations in office and retail rent trends among major U.S. metro areas, and that not every hot region of the moment (hello, Pittsburgh) has rent spikes to match its rep. But if your business is in Charlotte or Seattle and you locked in a long-term lease long ago: Good move. Those cities’ commercial rents have been rising fast, and show no signs of stopping.

The Destination NASHVILLE • The musical city best known for Big Health is finding its voice as an emerging tech and fashion hub.

Delivering Dinner—and Keeping the Profit • Recently, Inc.’s legendary Norm Brodsky visited Michelle Gauthier and Justin Schwartz, founders of the thriving New York City–based fast-casual chain Mulberry & Vine. Mulberry & Vine has carved out a niche in a hotly competitive market with its healthy fare—but like many city-based restaurants, it faces challenges with rising costs and the advent of delivery services like Grubhub. Luckily, Norm was there to lend an ear—and weigh in.

Where Has All Talent the Gone? • You’re competing against deep-pocketed corporations and low unemployment. It’s time to get creative.

WHEN A FULFILLMENT COMPANY NEEDS TO BULK UP STAFF FOR ITS WAREHOUSE

Reaching a New Crowd Trying to hire Harvard MBAs and ex-Googlers is great. Until you discover everyone’s at war over the same talent. • Why aging Boomers, career pivoters, and those in other overlooked talent pools might be the best recruits you ever make.

Hamdi Ulukaya on Bringing Humanity to Leadership • The son of nomadic sheep farmers from the Turkish mountains, Hamdi Ulukaya was an improbable candidate to upend the ruthlessly competitive global dairy industry. After arriving in the U.S. in 1994 to study business and English, he settled in upstate New York—and in 2005 saw a classified ad for an abandoned yogurt-making facility. Two years later, he launched Chobani, which today is an estimated $1.5 billion company and the top-selling brand of Greek yogurt in the country. The company, which also operates the world’s largest yogurt facility, in Twin Falls, Idaho, pays workers, on average, twice the federal minimum wage and gives a portion of its profits to charitable causes.

The Case for Hiring Refugees

Not-So-Human Resources • From sleuthing candidates not actively on the job market to stripping unconscious bias from your search, these new artificial intelligence tools will give your HR department a high-tech upgrade.

Grooming a Made-to-Order Workforce •...