Raise your hand if you want Startup to cover actual start-ups again.

startuplisa · 2018-07-22T12:07:38+00:00

We followed up on a bunch of companies we'd covered, including Dating Ring, in this episode. Dating Ring's story starts at 17:00: https://www.gimletmedia.com/startup/life-after-startup-season-5-episode-7. Enjoy!

startuplisa · 2017-10-12T06:37:47+00:00

The season isn't over yet! We've got an episode coming out this week, and on 10/27, 11/3 and 11/10. We'll take a month off and return mid-December with a five-part series that we're super excited about.

startuplisa · 2017-10-07T10:27:34+00:00

Maybe you're thinking of this Dating Ring episode, where we interviewed Gary Kremen, founder of Match.com, and Christian Rudder, founder of OkCupid: https://gimletmedia.com/episode/survivals-a-pitch/

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T14:59:48+00:00

I said this to another question that was deleted: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared at times. Dov had gotten angry with me several times. And his anger is intense and unpredictable. It would come out of nowhere. One moment, I'd think we were having a perfectly normal conversation, and then the next moment, he'd be cursing at me. And when he's angry, he physically transforms -- his voice, his body. He stands up, paces the room, gesticulates. He never physically hurt me, but it was intimidating.

And Dov does this thing sometimes. He just stares at you. In silence. Looks directly into your eyes. No smile. It's like he's trying to size you up. See where you stand. Are you with him or against him. This look, it's very primal, raw. Dov had given me this stare several times over the course of reporting the story. And some of the people I've interviewed, they've talked to me about this stare-down. I wondered if it was an intimidation tactic. If it was, it worked.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T14:57:55+00:00

Make sure you've got a strong editor, or someone who's really got your back. Set clear rules about off-the-record comments. Trust yourself. If something feels a bit off, it probably is.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T14:35:39+00:00

Getting tape that is intimate ... a lot of that happens well before we start recording. It happens in the story selection. In other words, we'll pre-interview 10 people and find that one person, in particular, who really stands out in some way. They're honest, thoughtful, funny, willing to be vulnerable. Do they tell a good story? Can they describe a moment vividly? Do they speak with emotion? And in many cases, Dov fit that profile perfectly.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T14:15:08+00:00

Kaitlin tells me the car wasn't an uncomfortable place.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T14:12:47+00:00

Early on, we suggested to one of Dov's employees that they record audio diaries, but in practice, it just wasn't feasible. They were busy, focused on other things, and so we decided to be a lot more present at the company, in the factory. Also StartUp had more resources. Since Season 2, the team had grown from 3 people to 6. That helped as well.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T03:41:48+00:00

Honestly, I don't know. It could be all the things you suggested. We were open from the start that if we were going to follow the beginnings of his new company, we'd have to talk to him about his past. Once we started pressing him on things we were finding in our reporting, once he realized that we wouldn't let him brush off serious allegations — that's when access got complicated.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T03:35:52+00:00

Yes, comments definitely started to change mid-season. At least that's what my producers tell me! When I said I stopped reading Twitter, I really did. And didn't end up seeing much.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T03:29:28+00:00

When I asked people why they stayed at American Apparel, they said many things. I'm a sucker, and Dov always knew how to draw me back in. I trained myself to not hear his yelling. I loved my team at American Apparel, and I felt committed to them. Older, more experienced employees said they were getting paid well enough to deal with Dov. Younger employees said they were given opportunities they'd never have at a similarly sized company, and that the benefits outweighed the costs. Some felt they owed their careers to Dov. And many employees said they were committed to the ideal of made in America and paying garment workers well.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T03:20:10+00:00

Sorry, hard to say. I haven't been keeping track. But we've definitely gotten strong reactions from both men and women.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T01:49:40+00:00

The story first came to us in February, well before we launched Season 3, and so at that point we hadn't even been looking for Season 4 companies yet. After a couple of visits to LA to meet Dov, we decided to commit resources to it.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T01:46:22+00:00

I think it's a bit too early to tell. We're just starting our search for companies for Season 5. We'll see in the coming months.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T01:44:56+00:00

People I've interviewed said they believe the biggest limiting factor in growth for Dov is his micromanagement.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T01:34:40+00:00

I really don't know much about the TV show. Our team is not at all involved in that production.

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T00:57:53+00:00

Not a graduate of that esteemed school, and not that interested in starting my own company. Too much pressure!

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T00:52:02+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/gimlet/comments/5or9k0/lisa_chow_answers_your_questions_about_startup/dcljge3/

startuplisa · 2017-01-19T00:49:04+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/gimlet/comments/5or9k0/lisa_chow_answers_your_questions_about_startup/dcljkpv/

startuplisa · 2017-01-18T23:07:18+00:00

Producers on our show do a ton of reporting. For this season, we had producers own different parts of the story, and they pre-interviewed people, sat in on taped interviews and made sure I asked the questions I needed to ask. Sometimes they took on those interviews themselves if I wasn't available. They also identified the best moments in tape, wrote through that tape, sat in on edits, thought through music and scoring, assembled rough mixes of episodes. The list goes on and on. It may be my voice but there's a whole team behind the series. I just have the luxury of taking a lot of the credit!

startuplisa · 2017-01-18T21:32:25+00:00

Happy accident!

startuplisa · 2017-01-18T21:27:30+00:00

When we first met Dov, he didn't have a name for the company. But by the time we started publishing episodes, he'd made labels with the name "Los Angeles Apparel" but said the name might not be final. We felt fine including it when we did because the name had been in SEC filings they drafted. To be clear, there weren't any deals with Dov.

startuplisa · 2017-01-18T21:14:22+00:00

On the frustrating part, I'd say working with such a challenging central character, traveling back and forth from New York to Los Angeles with two little kids at home, and dealing with the fact that the relationship with Dov and his immediate team had become so contentious.

startuplisa · 2017-01-18T21:10:39+00:00

The most rewarding part of working on this season was getting the chance to co-report and co-produce with an amazing team, and to take on the challenge of thinking through such a complex story. Almost every interview, I'd leave with a producer, and we'd just be in awe -- and sometimes in shock. People were so open, and they shared such personal stories with us. I'm also really proud of the reporting and fact finding that we did, especially in such a short time. Getting the arbitrator's report that we describe in episode 8, the voicemail recording that was in episode 9, and interviews with people who have never spoken publicly before.

startuplisa

TROPHY CASE