I Bought A Drink Nobody Wanted (And Sold It For $2 Billion)

TL;DR

The guest, a serial beverage investor with exits including Vitamin Water and Poppy, explains his three-part system for building billion-dollar brands: spotting trends early, building brands through emotional connection and influencer strategy, and executing sales.

Key insights

• Brand is "something that allows a consumer to have an emotional connection with a product"; Robert Woodruff of Coke wanted the product "within arm's reach of desire" – brand creates the desire, distri
• The core philosophy is "one in ten Americans influences the other nine" – the goal is to identify that influential one, which has shifted from radio DJs to digital social media influencers over time.
• The guest's three-part system: spotting stuff early, building brands, and selling them (how to exit). Many brands fail at the last part.