Mission in a Bottle

August 5, 2013
Honest Tea cofounders Goldman and Nalebuff wisely enlist artist Choi (American Widow) to turn their story into an engaging and enlightening work of graphic nonfiction. Important aspects of starting their business—brewing large quantities of tea, choosing bottle and label designs, managing the supply and distribution chain—lend themselves to graphic storytelling. More importantly, Goldman, Nalebuff, and Choi craft a narrative that will reward readers, whether they are budding entrepreneurs themselves or casual readers. The Honest Tea story began when two men with different but complimentary personalities and ideas joined forces to create a company with a simple mission: to make iced tea from natural ingredients with a minimum of sugar. The authors discuss a variety of challenges they faced, from obtaining the right ingredients to finding brewing and bottling facilities, as well as problems posed by growth and success. They had certain advantages, however, having met at the Yale School of Management, where Nalebuff is a professor. The mission-driven nature of the company set it apart from others, although its recent purchase by Coca-Cola may cast a shadow on Goldman and Nalebuff’s early struggle to help their product succeed as a low-sugar alternative. Still, this candid portrait of leveraging resources to build a business from the ground up is a useful and cleverly conceptualized read. Agent: Susan Ginsburg, Writers House.

January 1, 2014

Honest Tea started out as a small mission-driven product line that wound up ten years later as favorites of President Barack Obama and TV personality Oprah Winfrey and then attracted a generous buyout from Coca-Cola. Company cofounders Goldman and Nalebuff here recount their nail-biting ride to success, while making the entertaining story sound like how their products are advertised: honest and a bit sweet. The chronology switchbacks can get confusing, and many anecdotes raise questions. Yet they provide a good picture of the hopes, grueling work, and chaos that come with starting a new business. Among their all-too-typical problems are deadbeat customers, subpar employees, the discovery of strange objects in the bottles, supply/demand imbalances, distributor uncertainties, and financial challenges. Solving one problem could easily create others, while solutions sometimes came from unexpected quarters. Throughout, artist Choi (American Widow) supplies simple and attractive two-color art that works well with the book's message: Goldman and Nalebuff did so well largely because they believe in their products, which do respond to consumer desire for healthier organic beverages made through environmentally sustainable methods. VERDICT Honest Tea's lessons--believe in your dreams, work hard, treat everyone honestly, and respect the environment--will benefit many readers, from business school students to retirees reinventing their future.--M.C.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2013
Nalebuff and his former student, Goldman, founded Honest Teaa beverage company offering organic, freshly brewed, lightly sweetened bottled teawhich survived and succeeded to become an independent unit of Coca-Cola. Their aim was to establish a brand that would capitalize on the movement in the U.S. toward healthier, greener lifestylesa mission-driven business in a highly competitive industry. The story is told in three parts, Start-Up, Growing Pains, and A Brand Emerges, with a thought-provoking set of Lessons Learned after each section. The book is rich in tips and instructions using an engaging graphic-novel format for generations of comic-book enthusiasts among entrepreneurs, would-be entrepreneurs, and customers. This is detailed advice stemming from the authors' 15-year adventure, during which their setbacks could have brought down a similarly situated company. Goldman and Nalebuff explain how we survived our mistakes and bad luck to still be around when the good fortune arose. A timely book for a wide range of library patrons.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)