Stephen Ellsworth

Co-founder & Advisor, Poppi · 1 appearance on the record.

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Alongside his wife Allison Ellsworth, Stephen co-founded the prebiotic soda brand Poppi, securing an investment on Shark Tank before scaling the business nationwide. He led the brand's early digital-first and e-commerce distribution strategies, culminating in Poppi's acquisition by PepsiCo for nearly $2 billion.

6statements → 6claims → 3claims resolved → 100%fully supported → 3.83/5average certainty → 1.17/5average debate potential → 1said about them ↓

3 supported 0 partly supported 0 contradicted 3 not checkable as stated how the 6 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

6 assertions · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 6 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 3 are resolved, and 3 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Stephen argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported

Ellsworth: Poppi was the first functional drink labeled prebiotic soda

“We were the first ones in the functional, you know, sort of modern soda to actually call ourselves a soda. We call ourselves a prebiotic soda. We were the first ones.”

Stephen Ellsworth Sep 22, 2025 ▶ 55:38 Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1

none yet certainty 2

100% certainty 3

none yet certainty 4

100% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Stephen Ellsworth on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

What they said6 What others said1 Episodes1

Everything Stephen Ellsworth said on How I Built This that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Assertion Supported

Ellsworth: Poppi was the first functional drink labeled prebiotic soda

“We were the first ones in the functional, you know, sort of modern soda to actually call ourselves a soda. We call ourselves a prebiotic soda. We were the first ones.”

Stephen Ellsworth Sep 22, 2025 ▶ 55:38 Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Poppi quadrupled sales from 2022 to 2023 following its Super Bowl ad

“We thought we were going to double the business from 22 to 23. And instead we forex the business. And in large part, it was because of the Superbowl ad.”

Stephen Ellsworth Sep 22, 2025 ▶ 1:00:21 Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Co-packers refused Mother Beverage due to raw acetobacter contamination risks

“Unfiltered, you've got the floaty stuff in there, so it can get in their lines. It could potentially contaminate other products of theirs. The raw factor, it's got acetobacter in there, and so that can cause their beers to sour. That can cause other issues in,…”

Stephen Ellsworth Sep 22, 2025 ▶ 28:06 Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation

Assertion Supported

Mother Beverage reached $500,000 in pre-Shark Tank revenue

“I think when we went into Shark Tank, I think it was, we had done about a half a million dollars in revenue in the previous, I don't know, 12 to 18 months, something like that.”

Stephen Ellsworth Sep 22, 2025 ▶ 35:50 Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation

Assertion Supported

Poppi founders entered Shark Tank seeking $400,000 for 10% equity

“I think we initially went in there asking for 400,000 dollars in exchange for 10% of the business.”

Stephen Ellsworth Sep 22, 2025 ▶ 40:52 Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Poppi paid 40 cents per empty can shipped from China during COVID

“Cans now cost 11 cents. We were paying 40 cents for a can during COVID. We were shipping containers Of essentially air, empty aluminum cans all the way from China, just so we could fulfill the demand.”

Stephen Ellsworth Sep 22, 2025 ▶ 58:13 Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation

The other half of the tape: Stephen Ellsworth's own voice is left out of every number here. 1 statement on the record names them. every mention, with the transcript →

Statements about Stephen Ellsworth, by other people (1)

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Poppi founders launched the beverage brand with $90,000 in personal capital

“Yeah, so I went to my sister, who's always been a really big believer in me, and she ended up giving us 30,000 dollars. My dad gave us 30,000 dollars, and then we put 30,000 dollars in of our own money. So basically a total of 90,000 dollars, which was everyth…”

Allison Ellsworth Sep 22, 2025 ▶ 21:59 Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensation

Appearances (1)

Episode	Date	Speaking time
Poppi: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. From Farmers Market Vinegar Drink to $2B Soda Sensa	Sep 22, 2025	11m

Stephen Ellsworth

The record, in short

Their most notable supported claim

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

How they sound: not measured why? →

Statements about Stephen Ellsworth, by other people (1)

Appearances (1)

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