Podcast appearances and mentions of jake nickell

This week on Bad at Sports, Duncan MacKenzie and Ryan Peter Miller cruise their way into a murder mansion fever dream with Jake Nickell and Lance Curran, two of the minds behind Threadless—the Chicago-based t-shirt empire that helped invent crowdsourced artwear before we'd marketed terms like “creator economy” or “drop ship.” What begins as a nostalgia trip (setting the stage for how the business developed through DIY screenprinting and forum culture) quickly becomes a deep dive into ethics, art careers, AI disruption, licensing chaos, and why having your work sold in Hot Topic definitely still counts as making it. We unpack: The founding of Threadless on a secret art/code forum Shifting from screen printing to digital on-demand Working with artists, bands, and comic book creators Parody vs. IP theft (and WTF the DMCA is) Building safety and anti-hate moderation into a global platform Why Chicago still rules And why Punch Nazis continues to be a top seller Along the way, we also discuss vending machines, Karl Marx, Cheetos, the Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference, and what happens when art school turns into a startup. And, importantly, how capitalism can be leveraged using Foucauldian power for artists—rather than for their subjugation. Jake Nickell is the founder of Threadless, and a pioneer in crowdsourced design and artist-first merchandise models. He started Threadless in 2000 while still in art school. Lance Curran is the VIP Accounts Director at Threadless, a longtime champion of artist partnerships, muralist collaborations, and weird comic book projects. He joined the company in 2005 and once described the warehouse as “the Foot Clan layer from Ninja Turtles.” Names Dropped: Jake Nickell Lance Curran Threadless Tony Moore The Walking Dead Hot Topic Hope for the Day The Trevor Project Redbox Columbia College Chicago Four Seasons Total Landscaping Nathan Fielder Disney Warner Bros. Universal Studios Marvel Harvard Business School Case Study on Threadless Silicon Valley Chicago Art Scene

Threadless - the online artist community and design marketplace - is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Founder and CEO Jake Nickell joins me for char dogs at Poochie’s (a favorite for hot dog fans north of the city) and talks about the company’s history, his leadership role, and why he celebrates the weird designs. Discussed in this episode: Starting Threadless with $1000 and an idea Jake’s comfort in being a leader, and his leadership style Big mistakes (or, more euphemistically, learning opportunities) along the way Why Threadless’s success required marketing legend Seth Godin to be fired The value of remote/hybrid work Jake’s thoughts on AI, relative to the business of Threadless Growth plans for the next 5 years The impact of tariffs on business I say it early on in the interview, but Jake is not your typical CEO. He’s literally a dude you’d want to eat a hot dog with … who just happens to run one of the coolest, most influential, online businesses of the past 25 years. ## Car Con Carne sponsored by Easy Automation: easy-automation.net Transform your living space with cutting-edge home automation. Experience seamless control over audio/video, lighting, climate, security, and more. Embrace the future of smart living – your home, your rules. Get a quote by visiting easy-automation.net, or give Dan a call at 630.730.3728 ## Car Con Carne is also sponsored by Ninety Days in the 90s: A Rock N Roll Time Travel Story. It’s the ultimate novel about the ’90s and Chicago’s music scene, written by Andy Frye. Join record store owner Darby on her trip back to 1990s Chicago as she jumps on the Grey Line to time travel back to her carefree twenties, soaking up all the pop culture and rock n roll nostalgia you could ever imagine. To learn more, go to 90daysinthe90s.com or pick it up on Amazon.com or wherever you buy books. ## On Thursday, May 15, join me for a live recording of Car Con Carne at Legit Dogs and Ice in South Elgin – 322 S. Randall Road. Music from Aaron Williams Band, Karen Shook and Derision Cult. Comedy from Chris Bongat. Craft brewer Carson Souza from Obscurity Brewing. Doors – 6:30 p.m.Showtime – 8:30 pm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jake Nickell is the CEO and founder of Threadless, the nexus of a diverse and expansive artist community that partners with those artists to promote and produce their art. In 2000, Threadless began as a t-shirt design company based in Chicago. Since then, Threadless has grown into a fully remote company with a marketplace of full apparel, accessories, and home decor powered by their artist community. In lifting up the creative expression of their artists, Threadless was an early innovator in the new digital economy, showing the world that business can support art, for the benefit of everyone involved. Today, Threadless hosts over 2 million users and continues to evolve— staying true to their mission of giving the creative minds of the world more opportunities to make and sell great art. Throughout this conversation we discuss flow, simplifying problems to find solutions, stepping back to re-establish your relationship to work, infusing your identity into what you're making, and the differing energies of making and managing. Wherever you're at in your own journey— just starting out, taking a step back, or feeling the growing pains of expansion, there's so much gold here in this conversation and we're stoked to share it with you. Full show notes, downloadables, and links are also available at empoweredhumanacademy.com/35 Keep the conversation going... Table Question: What's something about you that you've clearly infused into your work in the world? In other words, what's a fingerprint of you in your work in the world? Journal Prompt: Write about a reference point in your life where you stepped back to re-evaluate your relationship to something and then returned with a different perspective and/or energy. What did you learn from that experience? Action Step: Identify an activity you enjoy where you experience flow—then find some time this week to do that thing! View the printable worksheet on Google Docs Further exploration: Follow Threadless on Instagram: @threadless Learn more about Jake's work: jakenickell.com Watch Jake's TEDxBoulder: “Never Stop Making” Sell your art via Threadless Explore the Make Time blog This is a production of Lightward, Inc.

After12 is back with Jake Nickell, CEO and founder of Threadless—the multi-million-dollar t-shirt company, built on a multi-million member community of artists. Jake has been living a simple slogan since launching the brand in 2000, that’s more important today than ever: Make Great Together. The post Covid-B-Damned: Making Great Together with Threadless’ Jake Nickell! appeared first on Echelon Design Inc.

This episode is sponsored by the fine folks at Metalab.Links mentioned in this episode:Advencher Supply Co.Jake NickellThreadlessArtist ShopsTwitter thread on skinnyCorp's ideasJeff Howe on crowdsourcingMount Massive in ColoradoLanghorne SlimJames Vincent McMorrowDriving to the moon

From 2010: Threadless.com, the little T-shirt company that could, gambles every day that good kharma will deliver brilliant designs into its hands and that consumers will buy them. Incredibly, it’s a winning bet. Threadless was launched when co-founder Jake Nickell won an online t-shirt design competition in 2000. He thought it was so much fun that he started his own contest and a company grew from it.

  This is the shirt design that caught our eye, and the reason for Nick to break into song.  You will have to wait for it though (it is in the outtake real). Have you heard of Threadless Tees?  It is a hugely popular crowd sourcing website started by our guest today, Jake Nickell.  The most...

Crowdsourcing in ecommerce isn't exactly a new thing, but Jake Nickell of Threadless is credited with starting the trend, a trend that helped his company hit $30 million plus. Jake co-founded Threadless in 2000, a company based out of Chicago that combines an online community of artists and an eCommerce website. He started Threadless with just $1,000 of his own money and has since seen revenues go from $1.5 million in 2004, $6.5 million in 2006, and the most recent estimate puts revenues as high as $30 million in 2011. Each week, about 1,000 designs are submitted online and are put to a public vote. After further review and some additional scoring and feedback, 10 designs are chosen, printed on clothing and other products, and then sold worldwide through the online store, selling about 120,000 t-shirts per month. Jake made “crowdsourcing” an essential part of the business plan (even though he doesn't use the term any more because of the way it is now perceived), building a thriving community that consists of 2.5 million+ members that have helped him build his business from a $1,000 startup to a $30million dollar behemoth. In this episode he’s going to talk to us today about his online path to $30million+. Topics Discussed Throughout This Interview Becoming the "Coolest Dude On Earth"....seriously, Google that phrase. He ranks #1. How the idea of Threadless came about. Using crowdsourcing in ecommerce to hit $30 million+ His focus on partnerships and how it's helping his company. Going 8 years without spending even a penny on advertising. The other ideas that failed while Threadless survived and thrived and what he learned from those experiences. Why Jake is focusing on what Threadless does best and sticking with those. Why he no longer likes or uses the term crowd-sourcing to describe his business model. His take on creating experiences for customers. What Jake would do differently if he started Threadless again today.   Links/Resources: Jake Nickell Threadless   Thank You For Listening & A Simple Request To get more awesome Ecommerce Influence content sent directly to your device and into your ears as they become available, you can subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher! Also, ratings and reviews on iTunes (hopefully 5-stars!) help us tremendously a we’re very grateful for them. We do read all of the reviews and we’ll answer your questions or comments on future episodes. Cheers, Austin & Chad!   Follow on Twitter: Follow @chadvanags Follow @a_brawn

Jake Nickell is the founder & CEO of Threadless, one of the most unique success stories of the internet age. In episode 15, Jake joins Chuck to talk about Threadless' humble beginnings in 2000 as a fun side project to its rapid rise as one of the most well known and most loved communities on the web, the many other projects he has started over the years - successes and failures included, the fun and not-so-fun sides of being in charge of it all, and much more.

Jake Nickell is the founder & CEO of Threadless, one of the most unique success stories of the internet age. In episode 15, Jake joins Chuck to talk about Threadless' humble beginnings in 2000 as a fun side project to its rapid rise as one of the most well known and most loved communities on the web, the many other projects he has started over the years - successes and failures included, the fun and not-so-fun sides of being in charge of it all, and much more.

Jake Nickell is the co-founder of skinnyCorp and Threadless.com, along with a “bunch of other little projects”.

Jake Nickell, Founder and CEO at Threadless. Did you know that Threadless was a hobby then a side project of Jake's website consulting firm? Jake talks about the history and growth of the company, new partnerships, Chicago, and what the future is for Threadless (including sweatpants). This week's music feature is Chicago's own Fort Frances.

Jake is one of those rare individuals that began creating for creativity's sake. His story begins with him joining an online forum where people were submitting artwork, and he began creating TShirts out of the custom pieces. Thus, the foundation for Threadless Tees was born!