How Coach scaled from a single store into a global icon
Masters of Scale
WaitWhat
4.6 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
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Summary
When Lew Frankfort joined Coach half a century ago, it was a small NYC handbag maker without a single storefront. Frankfort reveals how he scaled the brand into a global icon worth more than 20 billion dollars with a signature blend of “magic and logic”.
Lew’s memoir is Bag Man. Find it at: https://lewfrankfort.com/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Every founder knows the idea is not the hard part. It's turning that idea into something a team can |
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| 0:41.9 | Hey folks, Jeff Berman here. |
| 0:44.1 | Exciting news. |
| 0:45.6 | Applications are now open for the Masters of Scale Summit. |
| 0:49.8 | It's happening October 20th through October 22nd in San Francisco, and it is a really special event. |
| 0:58.7 | Please join our curated community of founders, innovators, and leaders shaping the future. |
| 1:04.2 | Expect ideas that challenge your assumptions and connections that move your business and maybe even your life forward. |
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| 1:16.0 | Apply now at masters of scale.com slash apply 26. |
| 1:20.0 | That's masters of scale.com slash apply 26. |
| 1:26.1 | Hey listeners, Bob here. If you listen to rapid response on Masters of Scale, you may be missing |
| 1:32.5 | half the show because every Friday we release a second rapid response exclusively in the |
| 1:39.0 | rapid response feed. The guests and topics are just as compelling and timely, from Ford's CEO to NASA's |
| 1:46.8 | administrator to the lessons from the devil wears Prada. It takes about 10 seconds to find. Just |
| 1:53.2 | search rapid response wherever you listen to podcasts and hit follow to make sure you never |
| 1:58.6 | miss an episode. I hope to see you there. |
| 2:05.6 | He said, well, I have a friend from childhood who has a small pocketbook company called Coach. |
| 2:17.1 | It's $6 million in sales. |
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