Mission in a Bottle: The Honest Guide to Doing Business Differently--and… (edició 2013)

This book was just fabulous. The idea of writing a business book as a graphic novel was simply brilliant. I loved the experience of reading this book and following the dreams of Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff as they told the story of creating the company of Honest Tea, building their company, and selling their company. As a part owner of a small business myself, I was intrigued by the mission of these two men and agree with them completely about having a business run on honesty and fairness.

I love that their product ended up becoming USDA Organic certified as well as Fair Trade certified. I was appalled at the end to learn that the international company which bought Honest Tea was none other than Coca Cola! However, after reading what Seth and Barry wrote about how individuals and small companies can influence others, I have faith that Honest Tea can continue to exist under the auspices of Coca-Cola and remain the good product it was created to be. Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca-Cola, said "This deal is not about making Honest Tea more like Coca-Cola; in many ways, we want Coca-Cola to operate more like Honest Tea." I'll be watching...and probably tasting as well. I still am sad, however, that small businesses, to ultimately be "successful", are "owned" by international global business giants. Not all huge corporations are run by men and women of integrity.

Some of the more detailed financial aspects of the Honest Tea business deals were a bit over my head, but I read them very careful to see what I could learn. It was an interesting experience to try to do this. I'm not sure how well I succeeded.

I love that this company was founded in a city (Bethesda, Maryland) local to me. I've always prided myself in supporting small, local businesses and was happy to learn of Honest Tea's success, both financially and in consumer popularity. ( )

Would have much preferred a more traditional text retelling. Another "story behind the brand" book, except this time it's behind Honest Tea, a drink you may have seen in your local store, convenience shop, etc. But this is different! Why? Because it's in graphic novel form!
 
Eh. I have absolutely nothing against graphic novels (not a buyer but I've read various DC, Marvel ones, etc. Even read 'The Walking Dead', although I was then afraid to sleep that night). But with stories like this, I think I would have just preferred something where it is a traditional retelling with text for the ability to go into detail. Unless these pictures are actual recreations of the scenes and conversations, I'm not that interested.
 
It wasn't something that really held my interest, although I'd skim here and there. There are occasional breaks where it's mostly text about various lessons they've learned, tips they want to share, summaries of the story so far, etc. Again, could have been done in a text format.
 
Some might like the style of this, but for me I just wasn't interested. Perhaps because it's a non-fiction story I just felt the comic form just wasn't appropriate. It also ends with the sale to Coca-Cola. I understand the reasons for the sale, but I still found it depressing that this is where their stories end, although in its own way that does make sense. ( )

Chronological, not particularly insightful. Not my favorite read. ( )

When one of the authors contacted me about a review, I naturally assumed it would be a straightforward business book, which is an everyday thing for me. When I got it and it turned out to be nearly 300 pages of comic – or graphic format as it’s now called - I immediately thought much less of it.

Reading it however, converted me. From a starting point below the line, I came to appreciate Mission In A Bottle as being effective, affective and unforgettable. Three things the typical business tome is not.

It is the story of the first ten years of Honest Tea, from backing into the idea, to leveraging its future with Coca-Cola – while working very hard to live up to Honest. There are innumerable lessons along the way, and unlike so much in the business press, they are very real, very possible and very human. The partners’ decisions had real implications and often, real consequences. This really could be you. Their thought processes are a revelation. They put themselves on the line every day. All that comes through clearly, possibly even because of the graphic format. They were very lucky at a number of critical junctures, so they stayed corporately alive. (I don’t think I’ve read a business book or biography where luck wasn’t acknowledged. This one more than most.)

Among the inevitable aphorisms to live by, two stuck with me:
The problem with most great business ideas is they are a great idea for someone else, not you. (Others call it Stick To Your Knitting. I like this better.)
And
Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the people doing it. (Chinese proverb, proving there is nothing new under the sun.)

The corporate eras are all comic book style stories, followed by a few pages of mostly text collecting the lessons learned from each. Anyone contemplating entrepreneurship would be well rewarded in reading the Honest Tea story. And that’s not something I would say about most such books. ( )