For years, our entrepreneurial spirit animal has been Ben & Jerry… And now we get to sit down with Ben (the Ben) of Ben & Jerry. A guy who got his business start by making up numbers (literally).
This hippie launched the biggest ice cream brand in America with his best friend from a dilapidated gas station in Vermont. And then pulled off the wildest acquisition deal in history, selling to Unilever for $326M (aka “The Double Dip”). Now they’re doing $1B in half-baked revenue.
Along the way, Ben tells us how they invented the collab (hello, Phish), shares his favorite flavor (you’ve never heard it), and why he turned icy weather into hot cone sales with a financial trick shot using a thermometer.
But Ben & Jerry got famous for giving out 1 ingredient every brand avoids: Politics. So today we’re asking Ben the big biz question of our time — Does it pay for a brand to take a stand? Is it a Profit Puppy… or an Ice Cream Headache?
Yet Ben’s biggest bite out of business is happening now: “Save Ben & Jerry.” Ben is battling to buy back his beloved brand — and he share with us his playbook to pull it off, including (spoiler), candy?
CHAPTERS:
Yetis, this interview is truly our best one yet. You’ll hear:
Ben & Jerry’s Vermonters-Only IPO
How Ben suffers from a lack of tasting sense
Why the best entrepreneurs make up the numbers
His Favorite Flavor
The Crazy Thermometer Idea
How they innovated the “Pint” with Pics (and 1 wild photoshoot)
Whether founders should get political
The Double-Dip greatest acquisition deal in history
How Ben & Jerry became a “pimple” on Unilever’s butt
Co-Founder Friendship
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About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.
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