Just Don’t Do It
Mike Repole, who started two beverage companies and sold them to Coca-Cola, generally discourages people from trying to start a business.
Good Morning!
Here are today’s highlights.
How do you market your business when so much of marketing seems broken? Shawn Busse has some suggestions.
In Florida, a real estate agent is trying to sell mansions by mocking the rich. And it seems to be working.
Oddball businesses are harder to sell, but where there’s cash flow, there’s hope.
A growing number of warning signs are pointing toward recession.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
A billionaire who sold two companies to Coca-Cola says he usually tries to talk would-be entrepreneurs out of starting a business: “Mike Repole, the billionaire entrepreneur who co-founded and sold beverage giants Glaceau and BodyArmor to Coca-Cola for a combined $9.7 billion, has an unexpected message for aspiring business owners: Don’t do it. In a recent interview with The School of Hard Knocks, a popular social-media channel known for interviewing wealthy entrepreneurs, Repole shared his contrarian view on entrepreneurship, emphasizing the brutal realities that most success stories gloss over. ‘I spend more time talking people out of being an entrepreneur,’ Repole said. ‘The first five years for an entrepreneur, I call the survival years. Every single day, you could go bankrupt.’”
“The 56-year-old Queens native first made his fortune when he co-founded Glaceau with J. Darius Bikoff in 1999. The company, which produced Smartwater and Vitaminwater, grew from $1 million in first-year sales to over $1 billion in revenue by 2007, when Coca-Cola acquired it for $4.1 billion.”
“Following that success, Repole co-founded BodyArmor, a sports drink company, in 2011. It gained significant attention a few years later in 2014, when NBA legend Kobe Bryant invested $5 million for a 10-percent stake, becoming the brand’s creative director. In November 2021, Coca-Cola purchased the remaining 85 percent of BodyArmor for $5.6 billion, making it the beverage giant’s largest-ever brand acquisition.”
“Unlike the typical success narratives that dominate social media, Repole’s message acknowledges the statistical reality that most startups—over two-thirds of them—fail, and that even successful entrepreneurs face constant uncertainty. True to form for successful entrepreneurs, Repole embraces what others might see as character flaws. When asked if he’s ‘a little crazy’ like other billionaires, Repole responded: ‘I started crazy,’ adding, ‘crazy people change the world.’” READ MORE
THE 21 HATS PODCAST: DASHBOARD
Lessons from a Marketer Who Hates Marketing: This week, Shawn Busse, founder of Kinesis, talks about finding ways to market authentically when so many of the standard tools of marketing are in flux. In Shawn’s case, that means holding an annual event where business owners -- and potential clients -- have the opportunity to come together to learn and interact in person. Of course, throwing such an event costs money. It’s a lot of work. And it’s not always easy to strike the right balance between education and promotion, but Shawn believes more businesses should try it.
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