vertically-integrated
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The Guy Buying Up America's Water Guys
Peter Brooks left the Marines, studied water policy at Harvard, and decided the least glamorous corner of American infrastructure was the best place to build something that lasts. His pitch to the family businesses that keep the water running: sell to us and we will never sell you.
Autonomous Started With a Standing Desk. Now It Wants Your Whole Office to Think.
A New York furniture startup shipped millions of desks and chairs to more than 30 countries, then bet its next act on a stranger idea: hardware that reasons. Here is how a Kickstarter desk turned into an AI hardware workshop.
The Company That Sells You Peace of Mind, One Filter at a Time
AirDoctor and AquaTru turned invisible anxieties - what's in your air, what's in your tap - into a nine-figure consumer business. Here's how a direct-response veteran built it.
The Irvine Shop That Buys Dead-Famous Brands and Sells Them Back to You
How a three-person back office in Irvine turned into the quiet machine that keeps Sharper Image gadgets, FAO Schwarz toys and Vornado fans on the shelf.
The Bitcoin Miner That Decided It Was Really an Energy Company
MARA runs roughly 1.9 gigawatts of computing across four continents, holds more than 50,000 bitcoin, and now wants to sell you the cooling tanks and energy software behind it all.
The Family That Has Been Making Strings Since Before the Guitar
A 300-year-old Italian craft, a Long Island factory, and the strings on a very large share of the world's guitars. Inside how D'Addario turned a family trade into the industry's workhorse.
Lafayette 148 New York
Lafayette 148 New York is a privately held, vertically integrated luxury womenswear house founded in SoHo in 1996. Named for its original address at 148 Lafayette Street, the brand designs, produces, sells and fulfills clothing, footwear and accessories under one roof - from its Brooklyn Navy Yard headquarters to its owned atelier in Shantou, China. Known for intelligent, understated tailoring, luxurious fabrics and inclusive sizing across petite, missy and plus ranges, it serves professional and style-conscious women through its own boutiques, e-commerce site, AtelierDirect styling service and select luxury retailers.
HAVERHILL
HAVERHILL is a fifth-generation, family-owned fine jewelry company based in Warren, Rhode Island that makes personalized 14k gold birthstone jewelry to order. Founded by designer Haverhill Leach in 2013 and run alongside CEO Andrej Strojin, the brand pairs an in-house, waterfront studio with a direct-to-consumer, Shopify-powered storefront, shipping custom rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings in a matter of days. It has landed on the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies three years running.
NUG
NUG is a vertically integrated California cannabis company founded in 2014 that operates the state's highest-volume extraction facility, multiple retail dispensaries, and one of California's largest wholesale distribution networks. Known for their premium flower, vapes, and edibles, NUG has pioneered Oakland's first equity-owned consumption lounge and is deeply committed to social equity programs that support entrepreneurs affected by prior cannabis criminalization.