The Best of Inc.

1. The Coolest Small Company in America (2003)

Why are high-powered M.B.A.'s getting off the fast track to work for a $13-million food company in Ann Arbor called Zingerman's? Because Ari Weinzweig has found a growth strategy that focuses on developing his people as much as bolstering the bottom line

2. This Man Has Changed Business Forever (1989)

An interview with Apple's Steve Jobs, Inc.'s Entrepreneur of the Decade, on where new product ideas come from

3. This Woman Has Changed Business Forever (1990)

How the Body Shop's Anita Roddick mixed business with a devotion to social causes.

4. Zen and the Art of the Self-Managing Company (2000)

Laura and Pete Wakeman of Great Harvest Bread Co., are building a company that fosters innovation -- and almost runs itself.

5. The Offer: A Series (2006-2007)

Over the course of more than a year, Inc. columnist Norm Brodsky described in real time -- and in painful detail -- the process of selling his business for $110 million.

6. The Turnaround (1986)

How a dying division of International Harvester became one of America's most competitive small companies. This article, the first of many about the open-book pioneer Jack Stack, is especially relevant today given the dire economic situation.

7. Confessions of an Entrepreneur's Wife (2006)

She was proud to support her husband's dream of building a great business. But five years is a long time to watch someone focus on his company at the expense of everything--everything--else.

8. Is Dave Insane?

The branding experts said Dave Hirschkop's company desperately needed help with its image and message. (It did?) They'd do the job for free. (They would?) So here's the big question: Is it crazier to change everything or nothing?

9. Unsentimental Journey (1996)

Mike Mahmoodi came to the U.S. from Iran speaking no English and was, for a time, homeless. Then he somehow found a way to start a business that quickly grew to $40 million. His is a quintessential Horatio Alger success story -- but one its hero has little interest in telling.

10. Why Start-ups Fail (1995)

To help some friends save their flailing business, Norm Brodsky put pen to paper and taught them the art and science of proper business planning.

11. The Customer is the Company (2008)

Threadless churns out dozens of new items a month -- with no advertising, no professional designers, no sales force and no retail distribution. And it's never produced a flop.

12. Hot Product, Cold World (1990)

Many company founders talk about their first failures with a touch of nostalgia. At the time, though, they probably sounded like Rick Duhé does today. "With Cajun Cola, I thought I had the world beat," he says. "What I had was a product from hell."

13. Create Jobs, Eliminate Waste, Preserve Value (2006)

Those six words explain a lot: Why Ken Hendricks is worth $2.6 billion, how he came to be a walking textbook on identifying and exploiting business opportunities, how he manages to make (relatively) few enemies while treating Beloit, Wisconsin, like one vast fixer-upper.

14. The Start-up Factory (1997)

Bill Gross just needed to stop his brain from buzzing with business ideas. His solution, Idealab, may be his best idea yet

15. The Un-Manager (1982)