Seventh Generation: Alan Newman and Jeffrey Hollender. A Partnership that Flourished—until it Failed. (2021)

Guy Raz (0:00)

Building a business means being 10 people at once. The strategist, the spreadsheet person, the one fixing the office sink. US Bank made a card for exactly that kind of hustle. The creditor and issuer of this card is US Bank National Association, pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc. Some restrictions apply.

Hey everyone, so the team is taking a break this week, which gives us an incredible opportunity to replay an episode that we still talk about today. And even though it ran a few years ago, to be exact, in January of 2021, as you are about to hear, it's probably the most dramatic story we've ever told about a business partnership and what happened to it. The good, the bad, and well, we'll get there. So for now, enjoy.

Hey, it's Guy here. And really quick before we start this episode, there are a few bad words that you will hear that we did not bleep out. So if you're listening with kids, just be mindful.

Alan Newman (1:46)

They thought we were absolutely out of our mind.

Guy Raz (1:52)

From NPR, it's How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.

I'm Guy Raz, and on the show today, we'll talk about how two men who probably had no business going into business together, went into business together, and built Seventh Generation, a pioneer in eco-friendly cleaning products.

Back in September of 2020, we received an email from a listener named Chiara. She suggested we consider interviewing her father, Jeffrey Hollender. My dad, she wrote, started Seventh Generation in 1988 He is kind, intelligent, and is as interested in doing good as ever. He would never write an email like this himself, but I think his story and the story of Seventh Generation is important to where we are in the world right now. It's filled with hope and pain, as all the best stories are.

Well, we were intrigued in part because Seventh Generation is one of the iconic brands in the eco-friendly cleaning category, and in part because Chiara said the story is filled with hope and pain. So we started digging, and what we found surprised us. For starters, we discovered that there was another founder. His name is Alan Newman. And back in 1992, just a few years after the company was launched, Alan and Jeffrey had a bitter falling out. Alan was ousted, and since then, the two men have barely spoken. So we called them up and asked if they'd be willing to appear on the show together to tell their story. They thought about it, and to our surprise, they agreed, and even seemed to enjoy themselves during most of the interview. Coming on to the show in this episode is the first time they've come together to talk about the founding of Seventh Generation and their very difficult breakup as business partners. So perhaps more than any other conversation I've ever had with co-founders, this one has an incredible amount of insight into what it takes for two people to build something bigger than themselves. And how the relationship between partners is actually more important than the skills each one brings to the table.

Seventh Generation started out as a mail order catalog. It sold a curated collection of eco-friendly household goods, but eventually it became one of the first companies to mass produce detergents, paper towels and other products that are meant to be better for the planet. By the mid 2000s, the company's products could be found on the shelves of virtually every supermarket in America. And in 2016, Seventh Generation was acquired by the multinational Unilever for between $600 and $700 million.

The small little hippie business Alan and Jeffrey co-founded is now part of a giant company that owns everything from Lipton Tea to Axe Body Spray. And even though Alan and Jeffrey were and are very different personalities, one thing they did share was a restless and even rebellious past. Neither followed the conventional path from college into a steady job. Alan Newman grew up on Long Island in the 50s and 60s, and he didn't care all that much about school. Jeffrey Hollender grew up in Manhattan. His dad was a powerful advertising executive. And like Alan, Jeffrey also remembers struggling in school. And at home, his family life was hardly a happy one.

Jeffrey Hollender (5:51)

It was, you know, my dad was obsessed with working. He was a tense, tightly wound guy who wasn't a lot of fun to be around. My mother was an artist, and my parents didn't get along. They didn't really like each other very much. I also felt fundamentally uncomfortable in the very affluent environment that I grew up in. I mean, I remember, like, I grew up on Park Avenue, which is a very fancy street in Manhattan.