Episode 386 - Scaling Poppi: Farmers Market to $2B Pepsi Exit | Stephen Ellsworth

**Stephen Ellsworth** (0:00)
Sitting where we are now, a $2 billion exit from a farmers market stand is just, I mean, it's wild.
We closed, and I was essentially out of the business. There's no meetings, you don't know what to do. You don't have to do anything again for the rest of your life if you don't want to. Your kids are at school, so it's like, what do you do? You can't go up to the random person and be like, I just sold my company for $2 billion, I'm sad. They're like, oh, boo hoo, I feel so bad for you. It was the separation, it was the lack of purpose.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:35)
Bold visionaries, faithful disruptors. Some call them crazy, but they are called to create. Under his power, for his glory. The Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast.
In today's episode, we will be taking a deep dive into the story behind the world's most famous and successful probiotic soda, poppi. We speak with its co-founder, Stephen Ellsworth. He reflects on what anchored him through each high-stake decision, and the hard lessons he learned after successfully selling the brand to Pepsi.

**Stephen Ellsworth** (1:07)
Sitting where we are now, a $2 billion exit from a farmers market stand is just, I mean, it's wild. It's wild.
You look back and you think, oh my gosh, that's so linear, like farmers market and Shark Tank to retail to like investors to Super Bowl. It's like so linear.

**Justin Forman** (1:25)
But it's just a long line.

**Stephen Ellsworth** (1:27)
Yeah, exactly.
It's an inevitable sequence. But no, from the farmers market, I just look back and I was even with a friend the other night, and it's just so funny. He's like, man, 10 years ago, you're at the farmers market and look at where you are now. He's like, nothing really changed for me. I was like, well, let's do something about that. But it's just so crazy to see. We were just so new and I think that that's why I'm so excited to sit here with you today and talk about what this journey has done and some of those doors that were opened and also those doors that were closed that took us from a small mom and pop Dallas farmers market item that we had created because of Allison's health issues in a kitchen in literally in Gillette, Wyoming, this really small town.
But all those doors that were open and closed to ultimately take us from the farmers market where we knew nothing to being sort of leaders in the space with one of the largest exits in beverage in recent history.

**Justin Forman** (2:21)
So when I think about so much of the conversation about health, it's strangely I'm reminded of a conversation I think, probably 15, 20 years ago when there was a lot of, when we're talking about energy efficient lights.
And I remember reading an article maybe it was Fast Company or something like that. And Walmart CEO at the time was talking about the idea of like, hey, we knew that this was better. Like for the environment, this was a better idea, this is a better solution. But when better also met economic viability, it was like, that's when it caught.

**Stephen Ellsworth** (2:55)
That's when the lights went off.

**Justin Forman** (2:56)
That's when the lights went off before they went back on. But like, there's that moment where all of a sudden it's like mutual bottom lines aligned. And I think that oftentimes when we look at so much in the health space, everybody has this idea, it's better for you, it's better for you, it's better for you. And it feels like you need to versus you want to. But when I look at your guys' story, it feels like it was like, hey, actually this just tastes good. And it's when that hits, that people are like, oh, it's also better for you too. And it can be a fight, which one appeals to which buyer.
But the taste thing, it wasn't like you have to drink this. There's something that changed. When did you realize that that was a differentiator?

**Stephen Ellsworth** (3:43)
I, this was, me and my wife have been married for 12 years now. And this has been one of our biggest fights because it was her passion project. It was her solution to her health problems. So when we started it and she had the first idea there was three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in each bottle. And it like, I don't know if you've ever taken a shot of apple cider vinegar or smelled it or drank it. It is really tough. And so if you imagine three tablespoons and 12 ounces of water, it does not taste good.