Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, high school pals from suburban Detroit, are not exactly the kind of folks you would expect to launch a cleaning products business. They are, for lack of a better word, slobs. When they started Method Home, they lived in what they called one of the dirtiest apartments in San Francisco. [...]

In many ways, Maureen Kelly, the founder of the cheeky cosmetics line Tarte, seemed destined to makeup moguldom. When she was four she performed makeovers on her Holly Hobbie dolls, at six she concocted blush from shaving cream and red cough syrup, and as a teenager she gifted pots of homemade lip gloss for Christmas. [...]

Growing up, Kara Goldin’s house was filled with the most recently released modern foods. But Ho Hos weren’t snacked upon; they were studied. Stouffer’s wasn’t served; its ingredients were examined. A Twinkie sat on a shelf for observation. (It remained there, undecaying, for a year and a half.) Such was life as a daughter of [...]

As a serial entrepreneur, Jean Hoffman negotiated development and manufacturing deals in China, founded a consulting and M&A advisory firm, and developed a complex data system that Thomson Reuters bought for undisclosed millions. Now, she’s pursuing her biggest business endeavor yet — a $100 million opportunity — an idea that was inspired by her cat. [...]