Death of Consumers Due to Product

He created a business (a female could do the same thing, of course) but after his food product caused a consumer’s death, he abandoned that business and started a different business

FAMILY BACKGROUND

GS’ mother was a culinary entrepreneur and chef; his father was a civil engineer.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT AS A STUDENT

GS graduated from Stanford University in 1977, majoring in environmental sciences; he hoped to earn a living playing in a jazz band. To support his passion for playing music, he bought a juicer with some friends for $250 in 1980, to squeeze fresh orange juice, which they sold out of the back of his VW van to support his real passion: playing jazz. He delivered juice to restaurants in the morning, attended college classes and studied schoolwork in the afternoon, then played jazz clubs at night. 

FIRST BUSINESS VENTURE WELL INTENTIONED BUT A DEADLY DISASTER

GS began a company called Odwalla (named for a song poem), which became a pioneer in the premium fresh juice sector of the national US economy. Sales climbed to $59,000,000 but freshness – without full sterilization – caused a fatal problem to a toddler and sickened others so sales crashed overnight. GS left the company and was personally devasted by the harm caused. He then spoke with a mentor (Steve Jobs, who created Apple) who advised him to not look at his first effort as a failure but as an opportunity for progressive thinking and innovation based on his experience to date.

SECOND BUSINESS STILL SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE AND NOW SUCCESSFUL

Later GS tasted an energy drink that (in his opinion) was “awful”, so he created a company to make non-dairy products involving cold-brewed coffee in distinctive bottles, now one of the most successful brands in the nearly $20 billion plant-based beverage industry while being socially responsible, promoting wellness and protecting the environment.