1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Global business news twenty four hours a day at Bloomberg 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 1: dot com, the Radio plus Mobile Act and on your radio. 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: This is a Bloomberg Business Flash from Bloomberg World Handquarters. 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: I'm Charlie Pelt. A mixed picture for stocks, the down 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: turning higher. This update brought to you by Sage Summit, 6 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: the world's largest gathering of small and medium businesses, featuring 7 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: Sir Richard Branson, July twenty to twenty eight in Chicago. 8 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: Register with promo code business at Stage Summit dot com 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: for just ninety nine dollars. Stocks slipping from a record 10 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: following a mix of corporate earnings reports. We've got the 11 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: SMP five hundred index down five at one to drop 12 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: of three tenths of one percent down. Industrials up three 13 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: to eighteen thousand, five hundred thirty six, little change there, 14 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: Nez stack down twenty two points to five thousand thirty three, 15 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: A dropped there of four tenths of one percent, Gold 16 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: up three seventy the third teen three, a gain of 17 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,399 Speaker 1: three tenths of one percent. And crude oil is down 18 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,199 Speaker 1: one point four percent, down sixty three cents of arrel 19 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: West Texas Intermediate crude forty four sixty two. I'm Charlie Pellett. 20 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,759 Speaker 1: That's a Bloomberg business flash. You're listening to taking Stock 21 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: with Kathleen Hay and Pim Box on Bloomberg Radio. Would 22 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: you like to build a great business? Well, one of 23 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: the things you might want to think about before you 24 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: go on that trail is to read a new book 25 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: written by Mark Rampola. He is the co founder and 26 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: the managing partner of power Plant Ventures, but he may 27 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,199 Speaker 1: be more widely known as the founder and the former 28 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: chief executive of Zico Coconut Water that was eventually sold 29 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: to Coca Cola. Here to tell us more in studio 30 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: is Mark Rampola. Mark, thanks very much for coming in 31 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: and congratulations on the new book. Thanks. It's great to 32 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: be here, all right. The title of the book is 33 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: called High Hanging Fruit. Build something great by going where 34 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: no one else will. You looked up at a certain 35 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: point in your career, and not only did you see 36 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: that you needed to fill a void in it, but 37 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 1: you also saw something tangible and real which gave you 38 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,959 Speaker 1: an idea. Tell us the story. Sure phim So I 39 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,239 Speaker 1: was originally a Peace Corps volunteer in Central America. Soon 40 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: after college, and some years later I was back again 41 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: in Latin America running a multinational operations for international paper 42 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: with my wife, married, with a couple of kids, and 43 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: was just kind of bored and not too thrilled with 44 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: where my career was going and what it looked like 45 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 1: to be a corporate executive at a big corporation. So 46 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 1: I was looked around for ideas, what could I start, 47 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: what's unique? What could I contribute to the world, And somehow, 48 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:39,239 Speaker 1: another week came across coconut water. Well, when you say 49 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: somehow you came across coconut water, you are actually consuming 50 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: coconut water. Your family was consuming it where you lived 51 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: in Latin America. That's right, that's right. Most of the 52 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: locals all across Latin America, in fact parts of Asia 53 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,359 Speaker 1: and in Africa that are tropical, all drink coconut water. 54 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: So we drank it like everyone else had it. At 55 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: the beach. It was known as a safe source of 56 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: clean water, high and a your lights. In fact, you know, 57 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: the time that really hit hard for me was when 58 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: my wife was pregnant with our second baby. She was 59 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: having morning sickness. It's really the only thing she could 60 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: hold down. Now, as far as the business plan, imagine 61 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: that people would say to you, coconut water. Who would 62 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: want to drink coconut water? There's no there's no market 63 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: for coconut water in the United States. Did you get that? Along? 64 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: My god? Everyone, I think, without a doubt, most people 65 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: thought I was I was at least a little crazy, 66 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: if not completely crazy. First of all, to try to 67 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: launch any new beverage business in this in this day 68 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: and age, even even fifteen years ago. It's incredibly capital 69 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: intensive and very tough. But the idea that we're going 70 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: to convince American consumers to drink coconut water, that nobody 71 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: had a clue about building a whole new category. It's 72 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: it's it's it's a tough task. And yeah, a lot 73 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: of people thought I was crazy. All right, So we're 74 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: gonna hold the crazy for just a moment because there 75 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: might be another crazy part of this, which is doing 76 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: good or contributing not just to the bottom line, but 77 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: to something large or tell us about that. Yeah, well, look, 78 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: this started out for me personally, um as well as 79 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: my wife, both of us believing, hey, if we're going 80 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,839 Speaker 1: to dedicate the five, ten, fifteen years that it may 81 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: and very often does take to get a new business 82 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: off the ground. It better fulfill us more than just 83 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: on the bottom line, right, It better be more than 84 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 1: just about money, because we're going to dedicate time, talent, treasure, 85 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: a lot of effort, a lot of stress, and a 86 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: lot of risk to go after something. What does it 87 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: really mean to us? So fortunately we got on the 88 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: same page and in fact, you know, really start to 89 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: set the bar higher. How are we going to build 90 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: a business that not only makes money but makes a 91 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: positive impact in the world. In this case, it was 92 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,359 Speaker 1: bringing a healthy beverage to market, it was making a 93 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: positive impact in the communities that sourced it, and it 94 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: was making a positive impact on all the people that 95 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: were associated with our business. Part of the information that 96 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: I got from High Hanging Fruit is that your program 97 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: or your desire to create a business needs to be 98 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,279 Speaker 1: consistent with who you are and what you want for 99 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: your personal life. Yeah. I think that's true, Phim and 100 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 1: I do get into that in quite some detail in 101 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 1: the book, and it worked for me. But what's also 102 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: true is I've seen this happen again and again and 103 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: again with entrepreneurs, and I think in today's obscenely competitive marketplace. 104 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: That is actually a way to differentiate because when you 105 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: think about investors and employees and partners and consumers, everybody 106 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: wants to be part of something more than just a business. 107 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: They want to be part of a mission to the 108 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: to the extent that they know the founder or founders 109 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: are really committed to this at their heart of hearts, 110 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: I think it is more likely that a business is 111 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: going to be successful, and if not, almost a requirement 112 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: for success today. Tell us about what you're doing at 113 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: power Plant Ventures, because I think that definitely connects with 114 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: what you're just described. It does. It does. So we 115 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,160 Speaker 1: believe my partners and I and are investors believe that 116 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: we have a two trillion dollar global food system that's 117 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: fundamentally broken. It's not delivering health and wellness and nutrition 118 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,840 Speaker 1: and certainly not doing it in a sustainable way. So 119 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: we think there's gonna be In fact, already are thousands 120 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: of entrepreneurs that are trying to remake that system, and 121 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: what we want to do is find fund them and 122 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: help them scale and win. The reality is that big 123 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: food and beverage companies are losing ten billion a year 124 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: off their top line because consumers are looking for something 125 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: healthy or something more sustainable, something that's good for them 126 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:26,840 Speaker 1: and good for the planet. And we believe that there's 127 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,599 Speaker 1: a huge opportunity that businesses entrepreneurs are gonna capitalize on. Now, 128 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: if someone out there listening to you can check at 129 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: least half of these boxes, they should somehow get in 130 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: touch with you. Yeah, we're welcome, welcome to talk to them. 131 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,480 Speaker 1: Market power Plant VC dot com is the way to 132 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: is the way to reach me. Um. Yeah, we're looking 133 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: for those breakthrough entrepreneurs, those that both believe and are 134 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: committed and have a passion for what they're doing, but 135 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: are also smart, effective business people, and that combination is 136 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: the sort of visionaries that are going to break through. 137 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: You're still drinking coconut water day, every day, all right, 138 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 1: Thanks very much for coming in and spending time. Mark 139 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: Rampola is the co founder and managing partner of power 140 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: Plant Ventures, and we're celebrating the release of his new 141 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: book entitled High Hanging Fruit. Build something Great by going 142 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: where no one else will. Thank you very much, Thank you. 143 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: This is taking stock. I'm pim Fox taking a look 144 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: at the SMP five right now, down about a quarter 145 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: of a percent lower by about six points at six. 146 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: Coming up on taking stock will be taking stock of 147 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: the Department of Justice. They may be looking to block 148 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: some major healthcare deals. This is Bloomberg coming up on 149 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: taking stock. We're gonna take stock of online travel. We've 150 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: got Steve Hafner. He is the chief executive and the 151 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: co founder of Kayak. We're gonna tell you how they're 152 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: using artificial intelligence to provide better travel services.