🍦 “Banana Split” — Interview with Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Ben Cohen
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How did Ben Cohen start Ben & Jerry's from a gas station?
It developed a very, very loyal, small loyal following. But the interesting thing about it is that people would say, oh, I love this flavor. They couldn't tell you what flavor it was.
I got to pause the pod for a sec because this almost sounds like a setup to a joke. The Ben and Jerry's co-founder, the CEO of Greenpeace, an ethnobotanist. Come up with a flavor of ice cream inspired by a Woodstock guy who dresses as a clown and molding together a bunch of nuts.
I like the way you think, Nick.
Yetis, grab your spoon, loosen your drawstrings, and meet us in the freezer aisle. Because today's guest turned dessert into descent. That's right. We're interviewing Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry's. The Ben. in Ben & Jerry's. This hippie launched the most successful ice cream brand in history from a dilapidated gas station in Burlington, Vermont. And best of all, he did it all with his best friend from seventh grade. But Ben & Jerry got famous for giving out one ingredient that every brand avoids. Politics. Politics. It's not a Ben & Jerry's flavor unless it's got two scoops of activist double entendre, Jack. I scream, you scream, but nobody screams like this ice cream.
Ha ha!
In 1984, they went from Main Street to Wall Street with the most unique IPO of all time. Then in the year 2000, they sold to Unilever for $326 million in the most unique exit of all time. And now they're doing over a billion bucks in half-baked revenue from Burlington to Bushwick to Bangkok, baby. But today, Ben says that the corporate suits are muzzling the brand that still has his name on it. They're drowning his fish food jack. So Ben is trying to buy back Ben & Jerry's right now, and we will ask him all about it. We'll also ask whether a brand getting political is profitable or painful. As in an ice cream high or an ice cream headache. But first, we'll get into the Ben & Jerry's origin story that helped inspire us to launch our business.
Besties, he's the duke of full-fat dairy, the sultan of democratic socialism. And yet, he's also the king of the capitalist cone. If Ben and Jerry's made a flavor about Ben Cohen right now, we already know the name, don't we, Jack? Rum raisin rebel with a coconut cause. Or maybe, depending on how this interview goes, hostile takeover hot fudge. How does that sound? Besties, Ben Cohen is the co-founder of Ben and Jerry's. And this interview with Ben is absolutely the best one yet. Wow, you guys knocked it out of the park, man. Oh, we're so happy to have you here. Thanks so much, Ben. So Ben, as I shared with you earlier, Nick and I have already done a full 45 minute episode on Ben and Jerry's fish food in our other show, The Best Idea Yet.
Well, we consider that the most viral ice cream flavor of all time. That's why we went deep on it. And Ben, a couple of days before I was going to do that recording with Nick, I mentioned to my mom that I was doing an episode all about Ben & Jerry's. And I said, mom, did you know that Ben & Jerry's had an IPO that was only available to Vermont residents? Wild. And she's like, yeah, Jack, of course I know that. I was like, what do you mean? Ben, she told me that she and my dad participated in the Vermonters only IPO of 1984. Wow. And the $4,000 investment 6X'd over the years. And when they sold that stock, it became the down payment on my house in Brattleboro that I grew up in. That's right. And my parents had never told me that until I was about to do a full podcast episode on Ben & Jerry's.
We're going to bring that stock certificate. Maybe my first question, Ben, why did you and Jerry decide to limit the IPO to just Vermonters? Nick and I cover business and finance all the time. We've never heard of an IPO like that. We've never heard of a regional IPO.
Well, we were trying to make the community the owners of our business. We were at the stage in a business's life when it needs a cash infusion to grow to the next level. And we felt like... The way we want to do it is to sell shares to our neighbors. But the problem was that there was a maximum on a private placement offering of 30 investors, and they had to be so-called qualified.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Ben Cohen start Ben & Jerry's from a gas station?
0:00–4:29
2
What unique approach did Ben & Jerry's take with their IPO?
4:29–8:13
3
How did Ben Cohen's anosmia influence ice cream flavor development?
8:13–13:11
4
What is the story behind the collaboration with the band Phish?
13:11–16:58
5
Why did Ben & Jerry's decide to take a political stand?
16:58–21:33
6
What was the significance of the acquisition by Unilever?
21:33–28:14
7
How is Ben Cohen trying to reclaim control of Ben & Jerry's?
28:14–35:05
8
What are the future plans for Ben & Jerry's beyond ice cream?
35:05–50:39
Speakers
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