The Ledger
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Stonyfield Was Funded by 297 Angel Investors After VC Rejections
“What you have to know at the punchline of this story is that I wound up by the end of this period with 297 individual investors. There was no way to find common ground with an institutional investor, right? A venture capitalist. Believe me, I knocked on every …”
Stonyfield's Debt Reached $2.7 Million by Christmas 1989
“Well, by the, by Christmas of 87, you know, running this factory for two months, I can tell you we were already 600,000 dollars in debt. By Christmas of 88, we were 1.9 million dollars in debt. By Christmas of the next year we were 2.7 million dollars in debt.”
Danone Bought 80% of Stonyfield But Left Hirshberg in Control
“The original head of M&A who came to see me said Gary, do you mean to tell me we're going to buy 80% of your company and you'll still be in control? And I said, yes. And the banker and the lawyers and everyone laughed. And, you know, two years later, that's th…”
Hirshberg: Getting food into mouths matters more than shipping it
“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.”
Hirshberg: Stonyfield raised from 297 individuals after VCs passed
“And, you know, what you have to know at the punchline of this story is that I wound up by the end of this period with 297 individual investors. There was no way to find common ground with an institutional investor, right? A venture capitalist. Believe me, I kn…”
Hirshberg: Stonyfield controls roughly 80% of the US organic yogurt market
“And, you know, while we're not the leader in Greek, we are the leader in organic. I mean, I think we're something like 80% of organic yogurt in the U.S., so.”
Hirshberg: Stonyfield cracked retail by having Frisbee teammates demand it
“So in July of 84, I had my 30th birthday at the farm, and my, I had my old Ultimate Frisbee team come up to visit me, most of whom lived in Cambridge, as you might imagine. And I said, look, It's wonderful you've all come. If you want to give me a really good …”
Stonyfield Frequently Had Zero Cash Before Thursday Payrolls
“In this farmhouse, I always had payroll on Thursday mornings, and by this point, it was a half a million dollar business, and I never had cash in the bank that night before payroll. Never.”
Stonyfield Bought $300M of Fruit From an Early Creditor Over 30 Years
“Those guys have sold us in the 30 years since they've sold us probably 250 or three hundred million dollars worth of fruit.”
Desperation Eliminates Shame and Founders Must Ask for Help
“If you don't ask, you don't get. And desperation, you know, breeds this thing where you just have no shame anymore. You have to ask.”
Stonyfield Launched With a $25,000 Grant From Catholic Nuns
“So Samuel was able to get some Catholic nuns to provide a 25,000 dollar grant.”
Stonyfield Reached $100M Revenue Before Negotiating With Danone
“98 we're at seventy-eight million in sales.
99, we're at a hundred million in sales and that's when I began negotiating with Danone to have them come in.”
Stonyfield Needed $100K in Hours to Recover Co-Packer Inventory
“Worse than that, I had to come up with a 100,000 dollars to take my in, get my inventory out of the building. Because again, we owed them co-packing fees. Now the bank's the owner. And so I had to go, call my shareholders and find a 100,000 dollars within hour…”
Stonyfield Was $75,000 in Debt on Hirshberg's First Day
“And by 11 a.m. That morning, my first day, I calculated that we were 75,000 dollars in the red.”
Stonyfield Co-Founders Were Diluted Down to 10% Each
“By then, Samuel and I were down to 10% each in the company.”
Stonyfield Raised $500,000 After Mother-In-Law's $100,000 Loan
“My mother-in-law, excuse me. And I started raising, and I got to about two 75, 300. This is sort of a month or so later, she said, well, I think we can increase, and so she increased to a hundred, and eventually I got across the finish line, got the 500.”
Stonyfield Turned Profitable in 1992 After Heavy Factory Losses
“The business is now doing 3.4 million dollars in sales, but we lost 1.4 million that year.
The next year, we did 6.5 million in sales, and we lost 900,000.
The following year, the second full year in the new factory, we did 10.1 million, and we made 125,000 do…”
Stonyfield Holds Roughly 80% of the US Organic Yogurt Market
“And, you know, while we're not the leader in Greek, we are the leader in organic. I mean, I think we're something like 80% of organic yogurt in the U.S., so.”
Hirshberg: Stonyfield accumulated $2.7M in debt by Christmas 1989
“Well, by the, by Christmas of 87, you know, running this factory for two months, I can tell you we were already 600,000 dollars in debt. By Christmas of 88, we were 1.9 million dollars in debt. By Christmas of the next year we were 2.7 million dollars in debt.”
Hirshberg: Stonyfield started with a $25,000 grant from Catholic nuns
“So Samuel was able to get some Catholic nuns to provide a 25,000 dollar grant.”
Hirshberg: Stonyfield had zero cash before weekly payroll at $500K revenue
“In this farmhouse, I always had payroll on Thursday mornings, and by this point, it was a half a million dollar business, and I never had cash in the bank that night before payroll.”
Hirshberg: Early supplier later sold Stonyfield up to $300M in fruit
“Those guys have sold us in the 30 years since they've sold us probably 250 or three hundred million dollars worth of fruit.”