This article was originally published on SuccessNet.org in 2015.
I’ve known Bob Stiller for over 25 years. During that time, I’ve watched him build a small Vermont business into a gigantic publicly traded company. And earlier this week, that company, Keurig-Green Mountain, was sold to a private-equity firm for $13.9 billion.
Coffee is the number two commodity in the world (right after oil), but that’s still a lot of money for a coffee company founded in little Waterbury, Vermont in 1981.
Bob bought out his original partners within two years for $100,000. But it took four years to turn a profit. Early on, the company embraced an environmental and socially responsible ethos, and I always admired the culture Bob developed and cultivated in his consistently growing concern.
He always invested in helping his employees grow—providing seminars, trainings, personal development tapes and books. In fact, Green Mountain Coffee was the principle sponsor for us bringing Wayne Dyer to Vermont for the first time (20 years ago this fall).
It’s rare that an entrepreneur can successfully navigate the challenges of growing a business from a few hundred thousand in sales to several billion. And I, for one, have great admiration for this man and the company he built. He became a billionaire (one of only two who I know personally). And he also helped a lot of other people become millionaires in the process. All this while making a great product.
Green Mountain Coffee demonstrated to me—and to the marketplace—what an “Authentic Company“ looks like. They weren’t perfect, but they embodied the values and the culture of Authentic Business as well as anyone I’ve seen.
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