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Interview with Tom First, Co-Founder, CEO & President of O Beverages

BrownHEN interviewed Tom First, Brown '89, Co-Founder, CEO & President of O Beverages, Cambridge, MA.

1. Tom, how important is it to have a detailed plan before your start an enterprise?

I think it is important to have a solid vision for your product. A plan can be helpful in understanding your requirements for reaching that vision, but plans always change. I’m not sure I’ve ever written a plan that actually came to life—you hope to get close. Understanding how to change your plans and having the ability to adjust to the realities of the marketplace is much more important than writing a good plan. I have seen many people who write elaborate, detailed business plans, but have no ability to execute in the light of day. I have also seen a lot of people write wonderful plans for businesses that they never start!

2. On the face of it, Nantucket Nectars seems far removed from your undergraduate concentration. What recommendations do you have for an aspiring entrepreneur about choosing a concentration?

I was an American History major, which would not typically lead you into the juice world. I enjoyed many of my professors at Brown and learned to enjoy learning—whether it was from the faculty or from my friends. In business, with Tom Scott, I learned to love what I do and do what I love. Tommy and I always said that if it stopped being fun, we’d go do something else. We found a way to make our business fun—that’s why we stuck with it and ultimately, that’s why we were successful. I think that Brown was much more about the process of learning than a means to an end. 

3. What is it like to now be leading a company in the same industry as Nantucket Nectars?

I have always enjoyed making and selling things that people can relate to and get excited about. Our products have flavor, color and style. I don’t really think of myself as a beverage person or a consumer products person—I think of myself as a marketer and I’m happy that I market and sell something fun. In many industries, people seem to get caught in the trap of marketing or selling in the same style as other people in their industry. I try very hard to have an outsider’s perspective to my industry because I want to have a fresh approach to product development, marketing and sales. Today, Tom Scott and I are in totally different industries, but we talk all the time and you would be amazed at how similar our challenges are.

4. What are some of the challenges you have faced as co-founder of O Beverages? Who is the CEO and who is the President?

I am the CEO and President. I think my biggest challenge is remembering how tough it was in the beginning at Nantucket Nectars—the first five years were brutal and most people, thankfully, don’t remember what the product was like in the early days. Free rides in the business world are very rare. Instant success may come if you have a new technology or an absolute break-through concept in some industry. Typically, however, success comes by gutting it out, having staying power and being relentless about refining your product, your marketing and your sales. Competition is fierce and mediocrity is not rewarded. With O, we have been working to refine our product and our packaging for two years, and we have made enormous strides. My experience and reputation as “the Juice Guy” has been great, but it doesn’t mean that O can survive without being a top-notch product. When you are 23 years old and you can work seven days a week for 15 hours a day, it’s a bit easier to carry the burden than it is when you have a family.

5. At one time you had a company selling business software—perhaps you still do. What is the big difference between that business and a business selling consumer products?

I’m not a software guy. I’m very visual and I’m pretty impatient. I love the instant feedback that you get in the consumer product world. I enjoy the relationships with our customers (distributors, retailers and consumers). 

6. What advice do you have for an entrepreneur selling the business?

First of all, I think it is hard to build a business with an exit strategy in mind. Tommy and I were blessed with ignorance. We built our company because we loved being on Nantucket and we wanted to find a way to keep our lifestyle. Out of that grew a business that eventually became valuable. Nantucket Nectars was about our product, our people and our passion—not about building to sell.

When the time does come to sell, you should work hard to sell under your ideal circumstances. If one offer comes, it is almost certain that others are out there and patience brings great opportunity. Once you’ve created the value, you hold the cards and offers create anxiety and emotion. The greatest weapon you have in a negotiation is time—if you have more time and more patience, you will often get what you want.

7. What are the top five qualities you would ascribe to an entrepreneur?

• Passion for what you do – product or whatever
• Paranoia – never believe that you or your product is good enough
• Honesty
• Drive
• Communication – the ability to tell your story and communicate it to people

8. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

You have to look at failure as a learning opportunity. Failure is a big part of business and making the same mistake twice is a no-no. People who fear failure are not entrepreneurs. Failure tests the limits as long as you are honest with yourself and you can use your mistakes as a tool for future navigation. Failure is a great teacher.

9. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you picked up and would like to share with BrownHEN?

Business is about people—people create ideas and products and bring them to life. Tommy and I talk all the time—and after a few years apart and some distance from 14 years of day-to-day grind with him, I have really gained perspective on what we had. It was so rare—we became like brothers even within the tense framework of building a business. We built a great product, had a great experience and made money. However, I think my experience with Tommy and the learning that we went through together and the relationship we developed outshines all of the other rewards. It is about people—and I am lucky to have the opportunity to share the ride with him and many others at Nantucket Nectars and at O.

10. You and Tom Scott each had a dog? Do you still have yours?

Pete is still alive; he’s 14 years old. We got him a girlfriend, Izzy. She’s a puppy Portuguese water dog. Tom Scott’s dog, Becky, died a few years ago. Pete always thought Becky was the coolest thing; he worshipped her.

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Copyright 2007 – BrownHEN.org

Interview with Mark Fitzgerald, Co-Founder of Cool Foods, Inc.

BrownHEN interviewed Mark Fitzgerald, Brown '02, Co-Founder of Cool Foods, Inc., Scarborough, New York

1. Mark, please describe how you founded Cool Beans.

The founding of Cool Beans was really a happy accident. Our story is completely true! Our family was snowed in with limited rations, so I threw some cannellini beans and olive oil in the food processor. In so doing, I had unwittingly created the prototype for Cool Beans. Everyone in the family loved the dip, and we started serving it whenever we had company. It was my girlfriend at the time (now fiancée) who said we should bottle and sell it. My brother and I took her quite literally, and the rest is history.

2. What regulatory issues needed to be sorted out because you are in the food business?

Of course, you must be mindful of the FDA. It’s important to understand, however, that the FDA is not a policing body. It is incumbent upon the food producer to do his/her research and know what the labeling and processing requirements are for his product. The FDA usually only scrutinizes a product if a competitor brings it to the FDA’s attention. You will only arouse the attention of a competitor once you achieve a significant sales volume, say around $1 million annually.

3. Please tell us a bit more about Cool Beans.

Cool Beans is an “acidified food”, meaning that it is a low acid food (beans) to which an acid (lemon juice) has been added in order to achieve shelf stability. Acidified foods must be produced at a licenced acidified foods facility and must be registered with the FDA. Acidified foods must also be sanctioned by a “process authority”, such as Cornell University, through a “scheduled process”. Cool Beans is contracted manufactured, or “copacked”, which means that we contract a manufacturing facility to produce Cool Beans according to our specifications. The copacker must also conform to all the relevant regulatory bodies. Our product is also kosher, a distinction which obviously has its own requirements. We work with the rabbi who routinely services our copacker. Our product is not organic, but if it were, there would be another set of requirements for us to follow.

3. Please discuss your marketing strategy. Do you find it more fruitful (excuse the expression) to market to ultimate consumers or to retailers?

We must market to both retailers and the ultimate consumer, but with different strategies. The most important factor for the retailer is pricing. We try to offer the retailer an attractive price that will allow him to make his margin and keep his consumer happy. We also assure the retailer that we will effectively sell our product for the retailer through product demonstrations, promotions, PR, advertising, etc.
When marketing to the ultimate consumer, we try to position ourselves as a small, charming alternative to the major players. We can’t compete on price because of our size, so one way we compete is by offering a superior brand experience. Consumers enjoy hearing our story and knowing that Cool Beans is a product made by two young brothers. We disseminate our story through such inexpensive or free avenues as newspaper articles, our Web site, shelf talkers, product demos, and various online outlets such as MySpace and Facebook. Word-of-mouth is probably our most powerful marketing tool.

We also feel that we offer a high-quality product that offers consumers what they are looking for in food these days: the convergence of health, convenience, and taste. Cool Beans is ready to use in a variety of ways right out of the jar. It is made with natural ingredients and contains no saturated fat, trans fat, or cholesterol. It as also vegan, kosher, allergen-free, and gluten-free. Most important, it tastes great! Cool beans is delicious and creamy, which makes it a wonderful alternative to less healthy products such as mayonnaise, butter, and sour cream.

4. Do use wholesalers at all? If you don't at present, do you think you ever will?

We do not work with wholesale at present simply because we can’t afford to. We need to reduce our costs so we can sell through a distributor while maintaining a stable, reasonable price in the market. We will absolutely sell through distributors in the future. Packaged food is a volume business, and we can’t achieve the necessary volume by selling door-to-door. We need the infrastructure and leverage of large distributors.

5. How do you decide the various flavors?

We arrived at the three flavors largely through our own intuition and informal testing with family and friends. We were trying to capture a range of flavors, from sweet to spicy. So far, I think we have chosen wisely as the three flavors have sold fairly evenly. There’s really something for everyone.

6. How did you find a packer? How closely did you have to work with the packer?

We found a packer by reading the label of a barbecue sauce! We then submitted this packer to a GMP audit through an independent food laboratory. This lab determined that the facility had good manufacturing practices and was compatible with our product. We did look at other packers before settling on the one we use. Our food lab recommended some packers, and we also found a few through the Internet. The Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship at Cornell is a very useful resource. We work extremely closely with our packer. In fact we are always present at the production of our product, and we frequently speak with our packer about improving our process, finding better ingredients, procuring better ingredients. One of the advantages to working with a copacker when you are small is leveraging the copacker’s buying power.

7. Do you get much feedback from users? Is it helpful?

People certainly don’t hold back! Yes, we get a tremendous amount of feedback from consumers at the various demos and festivals that we do. Consumer feedback is invaluable to us since we can’t afford the market research and sensory testing that the major players can. We continually strive to make improvements to our product based on prevailing trends in consumer feedback. My advice is that you should throw out the anomalies, but take the trends very seriously. If people keep saying that your product is too this or too that, you should listen and make adjustments.

8. What are the top five qualities you would ascribe to an entrepreneur?

• Perseverance
• Naiveté
• Adaptability
• Vision
• Energy

9. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

Fear is a huge motivation! I am constantly afraid that we will not effectively communicate our idea to a broad audience. I believe that Cool Beans is an excellent product, and I would love to see it in everyone’s pantry. I am afraid that the big companies will beat us, or that our inexperience or lack of funds will catch up to us. I am also afraid to fail and be in the difficult position of having to start again. I don’t want to be passed by peers who took safer routes. I am also afraid of working for someone else in a job I hate. All of this motivates me to work harder.

10. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

Every misstep is actually a step towards better execution and a better product. How else are you going to learn? How else are you going to improve? You simply won’t get everything perfect right out of the gate, so you had better be prepared to make adjustments.

11. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you picked up and would like to share with BrownHEN?

If you own your own business, you will work harder than ever before, but it won’t feel like work.
The downside about running your own business is that your life can become very unbalanced. It’s important to make time for other interests. You will actually work better and have fresher ideas if you step away from your work from time to time.

12. Who are the three individuals who have influenced your development significantly?

Oh, this is a tough one. There are famous entrepreneurs, athletes, and artists that I admire and seek to emulate, but it’s the people closest to me who have influenced me the most. Can I pick five instead of three?

My parents have created an environment in which we have freedom but also responsibility (kind of like Brown!). My brothers and I were always allowed to choose our own path. We could do anything. We just had to work hard and conduct ourselves in an ethical fashion. We had to figure out how to do whatever it was that we wanted to do. After college, I wanted to try fasion modeling. My parents gave me their blessing, but I had to figure our how to get it done. It was a valuable lesson in becoming an entrepreneur.

My fiancée, Morgan, has a very entrepreneurial spirit and is constantly coming up with great ideas. She always encourages me to do more and believes that anything is possible. For Morgan, where there’s a will, there’s a way. She’s also the hardest worker I know, so when I’m feeling lazy, I think of how hard she works.

My brother and business partner, Matt, truly makes our business go. He’s the logistics man. Our business would collapse without him. That’s the truth. He’s taught me to be a more disciplined and efficient worker. He holds us to a very high standard and sets aggressive goals for our business.

My older brother, Sean, taught me the single most important lesson for the entrepreneur: never give up. He was a salesman, and he always got off the mat and kept hammering away. I think of him on every sales call.

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© BrownHEN.org – 2007

Interview with Jorge Casimiro, Executive Assistant to the President - Latin America Group, The Coca-Cola Company

BrownHEN interviewed Jorge Casimiro, Brown '98, Executive Assistant to the President - Latin America Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Mexico City, Mexico.

1. Jorge, you have a senior position at Coca-Cola. Do you feel you have much opportunity to be entrepreneurial?

Absolutely! There are always opportunities to be entrepreneurial.  Being entrepreneurial is a mindset, a way of being and a way of acting, regardless of the size of the enterprise or the position you occupy. The moment you allow yourself to think a certain situation won’t allow you to be entrepreneurial is the moment you start limiting yourself.

2. Your responsibilities include the entire Latin American region. What are the pitfalls a citizen of the United States faces in working internationally?

My parents were born in Cuba, so I had a pretty international upbringing that has helped me tremendously; and my time at Brown only added to that. In general terms, I wouldn’t say that there are any pitfalls for U.S. citizens working in Latin America. The pitfalls exist when one–regardless of nationality–is unwilling to understand different cultures and different mindsets, thus limiting oneself from working within those contexts to meet goals and objectives. 

3. How do you learn the cultural nuances in the various countries Coca-Cola works?

Obviously language is a big plus. However, the most important thing to do is to listen and engage—whether it’s the taxi driver taking you from the airport to the hotel or the country operations manager walking you through the latest business plan. Keep an open mind, be respectful and ask questions. Allow that natural curiosity we all have to come out, without worrying about what people will think.  This understanding, aside from enriching you personally, will provide you with keen business insights into that market.

4. The U.S. market seems to be moving away from carbonated drinks. Is the same true in Latin America? How do you forecast trends in people's taste?

Sparkling beverages continue to grow and represent a tremendous opportunity for The Coca-Cola Company worldwide. On top of that, the entire nonalcoholic ready-to-drink market is also growing. In fact, The Coca-Cola Company’s worldwide volume grew 6% in each of the first three quarters of 2007, and Latin America volume grew 7%, 9% and 9%, respectively, in those same three quarters.

Forecasting consumer preferences, tastes and trends is at the heart of our commitment to offer consumers the beverages they want, when they want it and how they want it, all in a responsible way. Obviously, a lot of research is involved, but we don’t limit ourselves to just research. We also take time to listen and establish a relationship with consumers; it’s this relationship that has helped us become the world’s largest beverage company that today is #1 in sparkling beverages (with four of the world's top five nonalcoholic sparkling brands, including Diet Coke/Coke Light, Fanta and Sprite), #1 in juice and juice drinks, #1 in coffees, #1 in teas, #2 in sports drinks, and #3 in bottled water.

5. You were a highly respected leader on the Brown campus. Do you feel that experience is valuable to you now?

Highly respected? Wow, thanks! I think the lessons I learned as a campus leader had to do with listening to many different opinions and taking action. And by listening, I don’t mean waiting for people to come talk to me; I mean identifying who you need to talk to and really engaging them. The other part, action, is also critical. You can’t be afraid to make decisions (just make sure they’re smart ones), and you really can’t be afraid to check yourself on past decisions and adjust as necessary. 

6. You seem to be relatively young for the responsibilities you hold. Do you feel your youth is a problem in dealing with other managers?

I’ve been lucky in that The Coca-Cola Company has a firm commitment to developing its employees to their full potential and to removing barriers that get in the way. My current assignment is my fourth since I joined the company in 2001 and my second as part of the Latin America Group. At every step, I’ve had tremendous support, have worked my brains out and have learned a great deal— earning some grey hairs along the way.

7. Is most of the company business conducted in English? Do you recommend that Brown students learn a language in college?

In Latin America, most business is conducted in Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil) and English in that order. However, everyone has a working level of English in order to interact with our headquarters in Atlanta and with colleagues around the world.

I would definitely recommend learning a second (or even third) language in college, but I would also add that it’s not about learning the language per se.  Learning another language opens your mind to another way of thinking, another culture and other experiences. Even though you may not master the language itself, the process will enrich you both personally and professionally. 

8.  What are your tips for coping with air travel?

Try not to work on the flight unless you really have to—read a book or watch a movie. Make sure to get a good night’s sleep the night before and during the trip. Drink vitaminwater and, if vitaminwater is not available, make sure to take your vitamins and keep hydrated with plenty of water. Honestly, exercise is very helpful (the few times I’ve actually exercised on travel). 

Also, make sure not to spend all your time in an office or hotel room. Even if it’s just 30 minutes, go out and explore a bit.

9. What are the top five qualities you would ascribe to an entrepreneur?
• Creativity and an open mind
• Discipline and focus
• Fun
• Responsible
• Not afraid to get your hands dirty

I find many people have some of these qualities.  However, when you find someone that has all of them at once, hire him or her!

10. Would you speak about fear as a motivation or hindrance toward accomplishment? How has that played a factor in your path, if any?

Hindrance. No question. However, I’d be lying if I said it’s never played a factor in my life because we’re all human. I think the key is recognizing fear when it rears its ugly head and then making sure not to make decisions or act based solely on fear.

11. As you know, the entrepreneur’s path is filled with trials and errors, and also failures. What’s a valuable insight for entrepreneurs to keep in mind when they’re experiencing setbacks?

There’s always more than one way.  We all tend to get stuck in certain patterns of thought and action; but when you’re experiencing a setback, I think it’s important to step back, look at the situation from different angles and consider different alternatives and solutions.

12. What is the latest insight (about life, work, play) that you picked up and would like to share with BrownHEN?

I’ve been married for almost two years now and it’s amazing how much my life has changed (for the better). I guess the insight is that, just like marketplace dynamics are always changing and shifting, your life and your priorities are always evolving. In the same way that business should be nimble and responsive to these market forces, so should you. 

Your priorities when you begin your career as a 20-something are different from when you start a family or from when your metabolism starts slowing down or from when you begin thinking about retirement I think most of us tend to get stuck trying to make these transitions from one phase of life to another.

From a business perspective, the need to identify these personal and professional changes is critical because if your priorities aren’t matching your actions (or vice versa), you’re not contributing your full potential.

13. Who are the three individuals who have influenced your development significantly?

My family, definitely. As immigrants who arrived to the US with literally nothing, they instilled in me a strong work ethic, a responsibility to family and community and a sense of self. And they haven’t just influenced (past tense) my development, they continue to do so everyday. 

My wife, Elizabeth, is another. I’ve found that having a partner who offers unconditional support (and puts up with all the other “stuff”) makes all the difference in the world both inside and outside the workplace.

Collectively, I’d also say the Coca-Cola system. Whether it’s the support and advice of my friends and colleagues, the unique perspective of stewarding the world’s favorite brands in more than 200 countries, or the incredible satisfaction of working for an enterprise that is truly committed to the communities it serves, Coca-Cola has definitely influenced who I am as a professional and as a person.

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© BrownHEN.org – 2008