Seth Goldman - Mission in a Bottle: The Honest Guide to Doing Business Differently--and Succeeding

Copyright 2013 by Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff

All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goldman, Seth.
Mission in a bottle / Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff. First edition.
p. cm

1. Honest Tea (Firm)HistoryComic books, strips, etc. 2. Tea tradeUnited StatesComic books, strips, etc. 3. Soft drink industryUnited StatesComic books, strips, etc. 4. Iced teaUnited StatesComic books, strips, etc. 5. Graphic novels. I. Nalebuff, Barry. II. Title.
HD9198.U54H654 2013
338.7663940973dc23
2013004799

ISBN 978-0-7704-3749-7
eISBN 978-0-7704-3750-3

Book design and illustrations by Sungyoon Choi
Jacket design by Jessie Sayward Bright
Jacket illustration by Sungyoon Choi

The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors and should not be characterized as representing the views or opinions of Honest Tea Inc., The Coca-Cola Company, or any other party. This book is published by Random House and is not a publication of Honest Tea Inc. or The Coca-Cola Company.

Trademarks used within this bookincluding Honest Teaare the property of their respective owners.

To the past and present
employees of Honest Tea
the superheroes who made
our dream come true

Sign at the entrance to Honest Tea world headquarters

We were thirsty. We couldnt find anything we wanted to drink, so we started a company to make bottled iced tea that actually tasted like tea. Given all the beverages out there, you might think this was a recipe for disaster. Youve got a professor and his former student, neither of whom had ever done anything like this. If it was such a good idea, why hadnt someonesomeone who actually knew something about the beverage industryalready done it? The truth is, we stumbled quite a bit but ultimately succeeded because of, and in spite of, our ignorance.

We trusted our gutin more ways than one. Seth started out in the nonprofit and government sectors because he wanted to change the world. Over time, he came to realize that business can be an even more powerful tool for change. And you dont have to sacrifice your ideals to succeed.

Of course, if the business doesnt thrive, you wont have any impact. We wrote this book to help you learn from our mistakes and our successes.

And we want to prepare you for whats to come. We experienced countless rejections, sleepless nights, and close shaves with our life savingsand even Seths life. While this is a story about building a brand, its also a story about life getting in the way. Well share some of the personal struggles any entrepreneur will inevitably face while trying to balance the demands of raising a company and a family simultaneously.

One reason we survived is we had the big picture right. That wasnt an accident. Well take some trips to Barrys MBA classroom at the Yale School of Management to illustrate how economic principles helped guide our decisions.

Another reason we persisted is that we had passion. Its easy to be passionate when you build your company around a mission you believe inespecially one that improves peoples lives. We wanted to create a beverage unlike anything on the market, and we stuck to what we believed in, even when there was a lot of pressure to conform.

This isnt rocket science. Honest Tea didnt require a fancy computer or even a garage, just a kettle and some counter space. While the technical part of the tea business is pretty simple, figuring out how to build and finance a fast-growing company is more complicated.

Does the world need another business book? Well, did it need another beverage? (Can you answer a question with a question?) We wrote this book for much the same reason we founded Honest Tea: we wanted a book that we wish we couldve read before we started out.

Wed like to think this isnt your typical How I Built My Business book. For starters, it looks like a comic book. Seth fell in love with graphic novels while reading them with his three boys. We designed the book this way because we wanted the story to come alive. You get to share in our journey, meet some colorful characters, and not take us too seriously.

Again, we trusted our gut. And we didnt do it alone. We got invaluable help from our fabulous illustrator, Sungyoon Choi, whose artwork in the book American Widow inspired us to collaborate with her.

Honestly yours,