What's the hardest thing about business? Not going out of business. The Distance features stories of private businesses that have been operating for at least 25 years and the people who got them there. Hear business owners share their stories of hard work, survival and building something that lasts. The Distance is a production of Basecamp, the company behind the leading project management app.
84 Available Episodes (84 Total)Average duration: 00:12:54
Aug 15, 2017
Rework - Sell Your By-products
00:31:43
This is the first episode of our brand new podcast called Rework. If you like it you can subscribe to Rework on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome to the first episode of Rework! This podcast is based on Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson's 2010 best-selling business book, which was itself based on years of blogging. So what better way to kick off this show than talking about byproducts? In this episode, Jason explains how Basecamp's ideas have been packaged as blog posts, workshops, and books. We also visit a 145-year-old sawmill in Ontario, Canada to see how this family-owned business sells its physical byproducts.
Aug 01, 2017
Business Model
00:19:04
Lily Liu was 16 years old when a talent scout approached her at a department store. She started her career as a model, but found her true calling behind the scenes, first representing her three daughters and then opening her own talent agency. For Lily, who's spent her career working for opportunities for Asian and Asian-American talent, the issue of representation has taken on a special resonance.
Jul 18, 2017
Going to the Mattresses
00:16:03
Tim Masters describes himself as "just a mattress maker," but that belies the business acumen he's gained over decades of building and selling beds. Tim's store in the Chicago suburbs, Quality Sleep Shop, opened in 1969 and has held its own against the proliferation of private equity-backed mattress corporations and chain stores. As Big Mattress has grown more complex, churning out endless permutations of confusingly named products, Tim has embraced simplicity.
Jul 03, 2017
If It Ain't Baroque, Don't Fix It
00:17:46
Ben and Larry are longtime owners of two different music-related businesses, a payroll service for musicians and an auctioneer of rare classical LPs. They don't know each other, but they have something in common: They're both still running their businesses on custom software written in the 1980s by the same developer. If you miss the sound of a dot matrix printer at work, this is the episode for you.
Jun 20, 2017
Troy Henikoff
00:17:54
Troy Henikoff was a college student in 1984 when he wrote his first program, a piece of software to help his grandfather's steel warehouse manage their inventory. That summer project led Troy to start his own software consulting business a couple years later. This is an atypical Distance story about beginnings, endings and unexpected legacies.
Jun 06, 2017
The Business Cycle, Part 2
00:19:54
In 2010, as Worksman Cycles was emerging from the recession and ready to grow again, the maker of heavy-duty cycles saw an exciting opportunity to supply the bikes for New York City's bike share program. But the city rejected Worksman's proposal, and that disappointment lay the groundwork for the company to relocate to South Carolina, leaving behind the city it had been in since its founding in 1898.
May 23, 2017
The Business Cycle, Part 1
00:19:08
Worksman Cycles is the oldest American bicycle manufacturer that still makes its products in the U.S. Founded in New York in 1898, Worksman has outlasted the demise of American cycle manufacturing by focusing on a niche category: heavy duty tricycles that factory workers use for hauling equipment and getting around industrial plants. And Worksman's president is determined to keep the company in the U.S., even as that commitment has been tested through the years.
May 09, 2017
Steeped in History
00:15:33
Nom Wah Tea Parlor is New York Chinatown's oldest dim sum restaurant. For decades, it served Cantonese dumplings and rolls in the traditional way, from trolleys pushed around the restaurant. When Wilson Tang took over Nom Wah in 2011, he switched from trolleys to menus with pictures and started serving dim sum through dinner. He also opened new locations that broadened Nom Wah's repertoire beyond dim sum. These were big changes for a restaurant that opened in 1920, but Wilson saw them as measures to secure Nom Wah's future for its next century in business.
Apr 25, 2017
Make It Rain
00:14:09
Matt Stock is a business owner who loves marketing and has embraced the unglamorous job of selling a pretty mundane service: basement waterproofing. He's tried everything from Yellow Pages to billboards to Internet advertising at U.S. Waterproofing, his 60-year-old family business. But Matt faced one of his greatest challenges as a business owner and a marketer in 2012, when Illinois was hit with a drought.
Apr 11, 2017
You Butter Believe It!
00:13:55
Every year in the weeks leading up to Easter, the four-person staff at Danish Maid Butter Co. starts counting sheep. The Chicago company has made lamb-shaped butter for more than 50 years, moving from wooden molds dropped in cans of ice water to a more modern process. There are other parts of Danish Maid's business that are larger and growing faster, but the two siblings that run the company remain committed to the butter lambs as an important link to both their family legacy and current generations of customers.
Aug 15 | 00:31:43
Rework - Sell Your By-products
Aug 01 | 00:19:04
Business Model
Jul 18 | 00:16:03
Going to the Mattresses
Jul 03 | 00:17:46
If It Ain't Baroque, Don't Fix It
Jun 20 | 00:17:54
Troy Henikoff
Jun 06 | 00:19:54
The Business Cycle, Part 2
May 23 | 00:19:08
The Business Cycle, Part 1
May 09 | 00:15:33
Steeped in History
Apr 25 | 00:14:09
Make It Rain
Apr 11 | 00:13:55
You Butter Believe It!
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