Join host Justin Forman for a candid conversation with Stephen Ellsworth, co-founder of Poppi, the prebiotic soda brand that went from a Dallas farmers market stand to one of the largest exits in beverage history when PepsiCo acquired it for $2 billion. Stephen walks through the pivotal decisions that shaped Poppi's rise — rewriting the formula a week before Shark Tank, the branding fight that determined whether Poppi would be sold as a health product or a soda, and the negotiating table where his team turned down a $1 billion offer because it “didn't feel right.”
But the most striking part of Stephen's story isn't the exit — it's what came after. He opens up about the identity crisis, isolation, and unexpected grief that followed closing the deal, and how wrestling with purpose in the months afterward reshaped his understanding of calling, generosity, and what he calls this next season: not retirement, but “preferment.”
Throughout, Stephen traces how his faith — dormant since he was a teenager — was reawakened through the entrepreneurial journey itself, from a providential tax refund that arrived the week his mortgage was due, to the conviction that let him walk away from billion-dollar offers that didn't align with what he and his team believed was right.
Key Topics:
• From a Wyoming kitchen to Shark Tank to a $2 billion PepsiCo acquisition
• The branding pivot that turned an apple cider vinegar tonic into a prebiotic soda
• Why Stephen's team walked away from a $1 billion Pepsi offer and a $1.65 billion Keurig Dr Pepper offer
• The unexpected identity crisis and isolation that followed the exit
• Moving from a Mormon upbringing to a faith renewed through entrepreneurship
• Setting up a Donor Advised Fund and learning to give with the same rigor used to build a business
Notable Quotes:
“Sitting where we are now, a $2 billion exit from a farmers market stand is just wild.” - Stephen Ellsworth
“Pepsi is a huge system. If you're gonna buy us, buy us.” - Stephen Ellsworth
“The idea of coming to know God more fully through [the entrepreneurial journey] is one of the greatest side benefits of the whole equation.” - Justin Forman
