Transcript
Guy Raz (0:00)
Wondery subscribers can listen to How I Built this early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Thank you to our sponsor, American Express. Owning a business means you get to chart your own course and create a meaningful life for you and your family. With Amex Business Platinum, you can earn 1.5 times Membership Rewards points on select business purchases. Plus stay refreshed on the go with access to more than 1400 lounges globally through the American Express Global Lounge Collection, including the Centurion Lounge. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Learn more@americanexpress.commxbusiness so here's something pretty cool to think about. Have you ever been lying in bed at night at an Airbnb, maybe scrolling through your phone when you realize, wait a minute, could I do this too? That was the question Giovanni asked about his house in Florence, Italy. And guess what? I got to stay in that magical palazzo for a few nights because it was on Airbnb. Find out how much your place is worth@airbnb.com host if you've shopped online, chances are you bought from a business powered by Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify doesn't just make amazing buying experiences for customers, they're also the experts in helping small businesses grow big. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. Tackle all the important tasks in one place, from inventory to payments to analytics and more. Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com bilt go to shopify.com built shopify.com bilt.com tell me about the about that first batch of inventory because I mean you say that the shirts were terrible, which is shocking. I mean I don't wait it comes off the boat in New York. You open the boxes and what you see right away that they're not good.
Chris Riccobono (2:33)
Well actually when people started wearing them and saying that they now use it for a rag for their car, that's when it really. But you know, it's funny. You know it's funny. I didn't we thought through it and said you know what, we will one day get them back. We'll keep a list of those people and I'm gonna lose X amount of customers. I mean, you didn't have a choice. This is entrepreneurialism. You just have to survive.
Guy Raz (3:01)
Welcome to How I Built this, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built. I'm Guy Raz. And on the show today, how a guy who knew nothing about shirts rolled up his sleeves and started Untuck It, a brand that seemed like a gimmick until it started a trend. Some brand names sound like they could be anything. Uber could be a band, the skincare brand. Jack Black could be a whiskey bull and Branch a law firm. But then there are the brands that wear their purpose on their sleeve. Freshpet, butcherbox, paperless Post. You know exactly what you're getting. And that's the direction Chris Riccobono went with his company, Untuck It. Just hearing the name, you kind of get it. It's a shirt designed to be worn untucked. Simple idea, clever name. Chris has that. It's the best business decision he ever made. But in the early days, it sounded a little gimmicky. Late night comedians rose to it. Chris even starred in the ads himself, earnestly explaining how he just wanted a shirt that looked good untucked. And people laughed. But here's the thing. Chris was right. It was a real problem. So real, in fact, that a few years later, big brands were copying the idea. But naming a company Untuck it was just the start. To get past the gimmick, the shirts had to be good. Chris and his co founder, Aaron San Andres priced them like a premium product, around 80 bucks a pop. And slowly they built a brand. Now, neither of them had any experience in fashion. They made just about every mistake you can imagine, including a disastrous first run of shirts. And for many years, both Chris and Aaron kept their day jobs while running Untuck it on the side. The business was eventually doing so well at one point that it was almost acquired for about three quarters of a billion dollars. That is, until the deal fell apart and almost tanked the entire company. But today, Untuck it is once again thriving. Over 80 stores, a growing wholesale business and a fast growing women's line. And Chris Riccobono, he finally proved that you could build a brand around an untucked button down shirt. Chris grew New Jersey, where his dad was a doctor and his mom was a nurse. He was a standout tennis player in high school. And at Providence College in Rhode island, he studied finance.