Rick Steves' Europe: Rick Steves

How I Built This · 8 Mar 2021 · 1h 22m

What this episode covers

Rick Steves, founder of Rick Steves' Europe, explains how he built a $100 million travel business by giving away free content like guidebooks and TV shows to build trust and drive revenue from tours. He details his early days of backpacking on $3 a day, self-publishing his first book out of his car, and the strategic pivot to minibus tours. Steves also discusses the challenges of scaling the company, the toll his work took on his family life, and how he maintained his team during the pandemic by drawing on 30 years of profits.

Mentioned

Companies
Rick Steves' Europe, Small World Productions, Oregon Public Broadcasting, YWCA
Products
Europe Through the Back Door, Travels in Europe with Rick Steves
Also
Arthur Frommer

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • People of Packaging · 34m

    92 - Combining faith and business with Ben Steuart

    Ben Steuart, founder of Stewart Contract Packaging, discusses building a food co-packing business in rural Minnesota, transitioning from his father's production facility to serving brands with blending and filling services. He details operational challenges, including the rapid scaling during the pandemic and the subsequent cancellation of hand sanitizer contracts, which forced a pivot to nutritional powders and stick packs. Steuart emphasizes a company culture rooted in faith and mentorship, focusing on employee development, lean manufacturing, and transparent relationships with packaging suppliers to minimize waste.

  • It's Only a Prototype · 44m

    Bootstrapped to 800,000 Units Sold Worldwide: The Story Behind Rockit

    Matt Dyson, co-founder of Rockit, explains how he and his brother-in-law Nick Webb transformed a gaffer-taped DIY prototype into a global brand selling over 800,000 units. Dyson details the journey from quitting teaching to bootstrapping the business, securing IP protection on a shoestring, and raising £250,000 via CrowdCube. He discusses the strategic decision to use distributors for global expansion, maintaining a lean team of four, and fighting off cheap Chinese copycats through strong branding and IP enforcement.

  • It's Only a Prototype · 1h 08m

    Kickstarter, Copycats, and Comebacks: RiutBag’s Rise

    Sarah Giblin, founder of RiutBag, explains how she launched a secure backwards backpack as a solopreneur with no design background, using Kickstarter to fund production and TikTok for marketing. She details the critical role of customer surveys in defining the product's 15-inch laptop capacity and the importance of hand-checking every unit in her Chinese factory to ensure quality. Giblin also discusses overcoming severe burnout and depression after facing copycats and financial peril, emphasizing the need for frugality and 'extreme ownership' to sustain the business.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 30m

    #179 - Bootstrap Heroes: Hazard's Hop Water, SWAIR, Gourmend Foods

    Host Daniel Scharff interviews Ryan Hansen of Hazard's Hop Water, Carrie Sporer of SWAIR Hair, and Ketan Vakil of Gourmend Foods about bootstrapping their consumer packaged goods brands to six-figure revenues without venture capital. Hansen details scaling a non-alcoholic hop water brand to $500k by targeting golf courses and breweries, while Sporer explains how SWAIR reached $350k in revenue by focusing on fitness enthusiasts and managing co-founder dynamics. Vakil shares how he built Gourmend Foods to nearly $850k in revenue by reformulating low-FODMAP broths and leveraging online sales and dietitian networks.

  • Thoroughly Considered · 48m

    34: Goals and Plans for 2018

    Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt of Studio Neat discuss their 2018 goals, including a new Kickstarter product and structural changes to their workflow. Mike Curley of Relay FM shares his strategy for revenue growth through increased ad rates and new show launches, while explaining his focus on business metrics over download numbers. The hosts compare their operational models, with Studio Neat adopting a 'profit first' financial system and cyclical work schedules to manage product development cycles.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by How I Built This. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.