As co-founder of Twitter and founder of Blogger and Medium, Evan Williams literally helped change the conversation: he understood that real-time connectivity—being able to write a post and have people read it seconds later—was the future of engagement online. A Nebraska farm boy who dropped out of college, Ev ran into several business failures before starting Blogger, and—after it sold to Google—launching Twitter with Jack Dorsey and others. Ev also came to learn that he understood product better than people, a trait that would contribute to his eventual ouster as Twitter CEO. After that crushing blow, he returned to his first love by starting Medium, a blogging site for posts that are neither too short or too long.

This episode was produced by Kerry Thompson with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. Our audio engineers were Josh Newell and Gilly Moon.

You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.

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Former guest Pete Maldonado, co-founder and co-CEO of Chomps, joins Guy for another “Advice Line” edition of HIBT Lab.

In this episode, we’ll meet Jennifer, a sourdough bagel slinger thinking about taking on 'big cream cheese.' Then Brandi, a tea shop owner hoping to bring her blends to big box retailers. And finally, Jake, an Alaska native trying to bring fresh wild salmon to Utah…even if he has to knock on every door north of Salt Lake.

If you’d like to be featured on a future Advice Line episode, leave us a one minute message that tells us about your business and a specific question you’d like answered. Send a voice memo to hibt@id.wondery.com or call 1-800-433-1298.

And check out how Pete and his partner Rashid scaled the Chomps brand, from his first appearance on the show last year.

This episode was produced by J.C. Howard with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by John Isabella. Our audio engineer was Gilly Moon.

You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Five years before he became a massively successful content creator, Dhar Mann was nearly broke and living in a studio apartment. It’s the kind of story he might tell in one of his videos: bite-sized, live-action morality tales that have earned 60 billion views across YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms. Raised in an Indian Sikh family, Dhar had a strong entrepreneurial drive, which led to early business success, but also a spectacular downfall when he got pulled into a Ponzi scheme. A few years after losing nearly everything, he began making short, dramatic videos that conveyed life lessons. Nobody watched at first and critics called them cheesy, but today, Dhar has a huge production studio in Burbank, where dozens of employees make content for tens of millions of subscribers.

This episode was produced by Alex Cheng and Casey Herman, with music by Ramtin Arablouei.

Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Katherine Sypher.

You can follow HIBT on X & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.