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Here's an incredible "How I Built This" podcast with Stonybrook Farms (yoghurt) founder Gary Hirshberg. He over-promised for years to suppliers, customers, inv
by nwatson 9y ago
Here's an incredible "How I Built This" podcast with Stonybrook Farms (yoghurt) founder Gary Hirshberg. He over-promised for years to suppliers, customers, investors on things he couldn't deliver, but made it work anyway. It's about the grittiest founder story I've heard. They ended up selling to Danone (I think) and did very well, but the company was on precarious footing for around 10 years.
EDIT: clarified industry
- sigil 9y agoThat Stonybrook Farms episode is a wild ride! Pretty much the opposite of my entrepreneurial style, but that’s why I love “How I Built This” so much — you get exposure to a wide variety of strategies that worked, including some you never thought would.
- Allower 9y agoJust because it 'worked' doesn't mean it was a good thing to do
- QAPereo 9y agoMy family was a very early investor in (Stonyfield btw) that venture, and honestly Gary got lucky, not smart.
- nwatson 9y agoYep, sorry about that ... "Stonyfield" not "Stonybrook". Also, I forgot to link to the podcast: https://www.acast.com/howibuiltthis/stonyfield-yogurt-gary-hirshberg https://www.acast.com/howibuiltthis/stonyfield-yogurt-gary-h...
- dublinben 9y agoHere's the direct link to the episode in question: https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=551875796 https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?stor...
- djsumdog 9y agoThe FedEx founder literally got lucky. He gambled the companies capital in Vegas to keep the company going.
- abakker 9y agoYou might like reading "Beyond the Pale" by Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada. Years and years of just barely making it and tons of reinvestment to keep on top of production, but basically no free cash flow for a decade. As a perk, it's really well written.