I inherently do not see this as such a big admirable success story. I doubt anyone, least of all the CEO or his wife, would disagree with you. But their failur

I inherently do not see this as such a big admirable success story. I doubt anyone, least of all the CEO or his wife, would disagree with you. But their failure is instructive, and telling the story of their failure takes courage. sensationalist reporting There was nothing sensationalist about this article. Why doesn't he believe in the strength of his product? If it's good, people will buy. I'm sure he did believe in his product. But to think that you just set a new kind of beverage on a few shelves and then let the product quality take care of all of your sales, marketing, and brand-building for you is incredibly naive. Apple's products get a lot of acclaim, yet Apple still spends a fortune on advertising and on its distribution outlets. He has not created any new knowledge on how to make beverages Whether he has or hasn't is not evident one way or another from the article. growing big fast Economies of scale are present in beverage manufacturing just as they are in online retailing, search engines, and social networking. So all of your objections to his high-growth strategy also apply to Amazon, Google, eBay, Facebook, etc. But this guy is an easier target for you given the outcome. young people He did a great service to young people by replacing all of the crap chemical-laden sodas sold in California schools with his 100% juice alternative. I don't want to ever again create a business plan and pitch to VC's based on the growth curve of the Internet The Internet will remain the best bet for growth in the world economy for generations to come. Choosing not to leverage that will only hurt your future business prospects.