Suitsupply: Fokke de Jong

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2023

⏱️ 81 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Fokke de Jong started selling suits out of his dorm room in Amsterdam in the late 90's, he wasn’t planning on becoming the next Tom Ford—he just wanted to supply luxury suits at an affordable price. But he was so successful that around 2000, Suitsupply went from his side hustle to his full-time gig. Fokke sourced the best fabrics and production in Italy, and grew the business by selling his wares online long before that was the norm. Suitsupply thrived on Fokke's unorthodox ideas, like when he opened his first physical shop by the side of a highway, or when he goaded competition into suing him over ads. By 2011, Suitsupply had grown beyond Holland, opening stores in cities like London, Milan, and New York. Today, they have over 150 locations worldwide.

This episode was produced by J.C. Howard, with music by Ramtin Arablouei

Edited by Casey Herman, with research help from Sam Paulson.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today.
0:09.0	What if the greatest tragedy of your life was just covered up?
0:12.0	I have never seen anything like that before or after.
0:15.0	This is the story of the worst marine-on-marine friendly fire in modern history.
0:20.0	A story kept from the public.
0:22.0	It's like, what did y'all have to hide?
0:24.0	Listen to NPR's embedded podcast and its latest series, taking cover.
0:30.0	How I built this is pleased to have Upwork as our presenting sponsor.
0:34.0	Visit Upwork.com to get hiring.
0:36.0	Upwork has a message for you.
0:38.0	Everything you know about business, it was made up by a bunch of guys a hundred years ago.
0:43.0	Don't stay bound to their antiquated rules like the 9-5 Workday, commuting to an empty office building or only hiring full-timers.
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0:53.0	It's a portal to the future of business and it's disguised as a website.
0:57.0	Go to Upwork.com, there you'll see the light and also find talent for projects of any size,
1:03.0	from simple deliverables to complex projects, from short-term help to full-time hires.
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1:20.0	Hey, it's Guy here and before we get to the show, you know that feeling when you think back to some of your early work
1:26.0	and you cringe, well I recently spoke with Tom Hanks and he told me he gets that feeling too.
	...

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