How I Built This with Guy Raz artwork

Jul 27, 2026 · 1h 12m, Episode 856

Sweetwater: Chuck Surack. How a Customer Service Strategy Built a Billion Dollar Online Pro Audio and Music Company.

From How I Built This with Guy Raz

— Player

?t=90 · ?t=1:30 · ?t=1h2m3s

0:00--:--
Timestamp sharing

— Episode notes

Chuck Surack never planned to build one of America's largest online retailers. He just wanted to be a musician. So right after high school, he took his sax and drove off in his old VW van to play gigs around the country. It didn’t work out. But with the audio and mixing skills Chuck learned gigging, he decided to convert his van into a mobile recording studio - and started making money fast by making recordings of local bands, businesses, and schools. The game-changer came as a one-two-three punch: first, he created a new pro...

— Timestamp deep links

Share any moment by clicking "Copy @ timestamp" in the player above. Supported formats: ?t=90 (seconds), ?t=1:30 (mm:ss), ?t=1h2m3s (hms).