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About the Show

Behind the Business is a video show and podcast grounded in the belief that business is in fact personal, providing the backstory of founders, corporate leaders and creators and how they strive to make the most of both work and life each day.

Founded and hosted by award-winning business journalist and CNN alum Michelle Toh, the show gives audiences a chance to get to know the people behind top consumer brands, category creators and emerging disruptors.

The show aims to be journalistically rigorous, thoughtfully produced and visually compelling. Since launching in October 2025, it has reached millions of viewers monthly and ranked as a top business podcast in 18 countries, including the US, UK, China and Germany. It was named a 2025 “Instant Hit Show” by Spotify, featured by Apple US and UK, and became a top 5-20 business podcast in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines and Ireland within weeks of launch.

Guests currently include:

  • Warby Parker co-founder & CEO on breaking the eyewear duopoly to become a poster child of the direct-to-consumer movement

  • Coffee Meets Bagel co-founder & CEO on building the “anti-Tinder'“ and turning down Mark Cuban

  • “Your Rich BFF” co-founder & CEO Vivian Tu on top money tips and making $7M a year by 31

  • LARQ co-founder & CEO Justin Wang on reinventing the water bottle and being acquired by BRITA

  • JetZero co-founder & CEO Tom O’Leary on taking on Airbus & Boeing with a new commercial plane backed by the US Air Force, United and Delta

  • Touchland co-founder & CEO on turning an overlooked essential into an $880M brand and Sephora hit

This is not a fawning interview show. We pair deep reporting with thoughtful, thorough interviews — asking the hard questions and avoiding performative praise, while also keeping it fun! Each episode also connects guests with young founders who send in a question.

Born as an independent project during Toh’s first-ever break between newsrooms, the program launched as a limited series in fall 2025, with new episodes released each Thursday.