Curated playlist
2017 mergers and acquisitions
- Revolver (magazine)Revolver magazine failed after five issues, then came back as a metal title. The second launch in 2001 sold well.
- PopeyesAl Copeland said he left the apostrophe out of Popeyes because he was "too poor" to afford one. He meant it as a joke, and the joke stuck to a chain that now counts 5,413 restaurants across 51 countries and territories. Popeyes Louisiana…
- YahooIn 2002, Yahoo offered $3 billion to buy Google, and Google's leaders said no. Google reportedly wanted $5 billion.
- Madman EntertainmentMadman Entertainment began as a mail-order catalogue for imported anime.
- MashableMashable began as a blog written by one person in Aberdeen, Scotland. Pete Cashmore started it in July 2004.
- FunimationFunimation was partly funded by the sale of a Texas feed mill. The Cocanougher family sold it to back the anime company.
- Rough GuidesRough Guides put a whole travel guidebook online for free in 1995.
- Whole Foods MarketWhole Foods Market began in 1978 as a vegetarian shop called SaferWay, a spoof of the name Safeway, in Austin, Texas. John Mackey and Renee Lawson paid for it with $45,000 borrowed from family and friends. Soon afterward, the two were…
- VegemiteVegemite is a thick, dark brown spread that Australians put on toast, and it began as something breweries were throwing away. In October 2008 the factory in Port Melbourne produced the billionth jar. Today that single site makes more than…
- Panera BreadPanera Bread Company runs more than 2,000 bakery-cafés across the United States and Canada, yet in Greater St. Louis over 100 of those cafés carry a different sign: Saint Louis Bread Company. The headquarters sit in Fenton, Missouri. The…
- New ScientistNew Scientist magazine first went on sale in 1956 for one shilling.