Skip to main content
The Entrepreneur Story logoThe Entrepreneur Story
Stories from founders & operators building in
FINTECHSaaSD2CHealthAIClimateMARKETPLACES

This week

Filed 14 May–29 Oct · Autumn '26View archive →
The Editors
The Editors
Editor's note

The most important act of a founder this decade will not be building. It will be deciding what not to build. Restraint is the unwritten chapter of every great company — and the next four years will reward it more than any cycle in memory.

— From the editors · How we work →

The feed

Latest, by date filedOlder stories →
Conceptual image of a hand on a mouse next to a miniature shopping cart filled with ice cubes, symbolizing online shopping.
Founders & operators·Oct 21, 2026

Tobias Lütke: The Programmer Who Built a Snowboard Shop and Changed Commerce Snowboard Shop

He wasn't trying to reinvent retail. He was trying to sell snowboards online — and the e-commerce software was so bad he wrote his own. That piece of side code became Shopify.

Marcus Vihaan
9min read
Asian woman in black dress posing confidently in a stylish office setting with modern decor.
Founders & operators·Oct 21, 2026

Sara Blakely: The $5,000 Bet That Became a Billion-Dollar Brand $5,000 Bet

She had no MBA, no fashion training and no investors. She had a pair of scissors, a pair of pantyhose, and the stubbornness of a woman who had already spent seven years having her business card ripped up.

Jade Okafor
9min read
An individual using a dating app on a smartphone with a cup of tea nearby on a wooden table.
Founders & operators·Oct 21, 2026

Whitney Wolfe Herd: Building Bumble After Tinder After Tinder

She helped build the app that made swiping a verb. Then she was pushed out. The company she built next worked because of what the first one taught her — not in spite of it.

Marcus Vihaan
9min read
Large fast food restaurant golden arch sign on a modern building facade.
Founders & operators·Oct 21, 2026

Tony Tan Caktiong: How Jollibee Beat McDonald's in the Philippines Beat McDonald's

In 1981 the biggest restaurant brand on earth landed in Manila. A 28-year-old ice cream vendor refused to sell and bet everything on banana-ketchup spaghetti.

Soraya Holm
9min read
Luxurious hotel interior with classic seating, ornate decor, and elegant ambiance, perfect for relaxation.
Founders & operators·Oct 21, 2026

Ritesh Agarwal: The 17-Year-Old Who Checked Into Hundreds of Budget Hotels 17-Year-Old

Before OYO was a brand in thirty countries, it was one teenager with a backpack, a notebook, and a growing list of grievances about torn bedsheets.

Priya Adani
9min read

Founders desk

32 operators profiledAll founders →

By desk

Every story, sorted
№ The Briefing

Read with the people who build the next decade.

Wednesdays at 7am Pacific. One letter, four minutes, and the five stories that actually mattered — chosen by the desk, not by an algorithm.

  • ✓ The week's five most important reads, briefly
  • ✓ One short interview, often unpublished elsewhere
  • ✓ A memo from the editor — three minutes, one idea
  • ✓ No ads, no roundups, no growth tactics
Subscribe — free forever
Written for founders & operators. Avg. read 4 min. Unsubscribe in one click.