Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Farm, reflects on how attending the non-traditional Hampshire College inadvertently prepared him to build a startup.
Insight
Hirshberg: Mission drives trial for high-priced, low-margin products
“If you're trying to build loyalty and with a higher priced, lower gross margin item, then mission is your secret to success. That's your way of getting trial, getting reach, and ultimately getting that holy grail of consumer products, which is word of mouth.”
Insight
Hirshberg: VCs want friends-and-family rounds so founders cannot walk away
“Venture capitalists the reason they want what they call F and F money first, friends and family money, is because they know that you might, as an entrepreneur, if things get rough, you might just get up and walk away if it's, you know, some Harvard MBA, you kn…”
Insight
Hirshberg: Repeat purchases in food CPG always come down to taste
“It's always comes down to taste if it's food. I always said, used to say you could ship the yogurt 3000 miles, but it was the last 18 inches that made all the difference. It has to, because you're not going to get a second taste. If it doesn't deliver on the f…”
Insight
Hirshberg: Mission-driven founders fail when ignoring the commercial core
“And, you know, again, this is this sort of, ah, theme, I think, that happens as entrepreneurs with a mission, ah, you know, the brand or the company, sometimes, ah, they forget, right, that that's actually what enables them to get to their platform, so, ah, im…”
Insight
The Organic Revolution Requires Proving Profitability
“But if we're gonna be successful with this revolution, I said to the funders who had gotten us there, then we're gonna have to prove that you can actually make money doing it.”
Insight
Hirshberg: 'The Last 18 Inches' Drive Consumer Food Demand
“I, you know, I always say we can ship the yogurt 3000 miles, it's the last 18 inches that makes all the difference. You get it in people's mouths, and then they're gonna ask for it.”