绿色先锋的八大特征

    这就有一个问题了：如果大公司模仿或（以Honest Tea的案例）收购我们，我们仍能被认为是“先锋”吗？是的，只要我们保持创新。Honest Tea作为第一个有机瓶装茶品牌上市后，几年来其他大公司也开始在饮品中添加有机成分。我们没有束手无策，开始拓展产品内容，增加了“公平贸易”（Fair Trade）成分。今年，我们将大力宣传“tulsi”（印度语，即圣罗勒）等新成分，它们能泡出不错的茶。

    我们总是能看到大公司涉足我们的业务，但一遇到困难就退缩了……先锋不会这么容易就退缩，某种程度上是因为我们没有传统业务可依赖，但主要还是因为我们有激情——我们不只是想抓住一个市场机会，事实上我们相信，我们是在以自己的绵薄之力（或不那么绵薄之力）改变世界。我们每个人都曾直面破产（与个人破产紧密相连），但我们不愿让自己的梦想就这样破灭，努力搜罗足够的资金，继续保留希望。

    最后，先锋的头脑（几乎是）尽一切可能促成事情，我们的创业情结很深。此次会议的举行地是能俯瞰拉古那海滩冲浪者、环境优美的丽兹卡尔顿饭店（每晚347美元），我选择同一条路上的Econo Lodge（每晚83美元）。Honest Tea可能是可口可乐（Coca-Cola）的一部分，但我仍经营着这家公司，这就像是花我自己的钱。

    塞思•戈德曼是Honest Tea的总裁兼TeaEO，1998年他共同创立了这家公司。

    译者：老榆木

    So that raises the question, if the larger companies copy or (in Honest Tea's case) acquire us, can we still be considered insurgents? Yes, as long as we keep innovating. A few years after Honest Tea became the first brand to launch an organic bottled tea, other large companies started including organic ingredients in their drinks. Rather than wring our hands, we were expanding our portfolio to include Fair Trade ingredients. This year we are raising the profile of new ingredients, such as tulsi, known as India as holy basil, which makes an amazing tea.

    We often see large companies dip a toe in the water to explore what we're doing, but they often give up when the going gets tough… insurgents don't bow out so easily, partially because we don't have a conventional business to fall back on, but mostly because we share a passion – we're not just out to capture a market opportunity, we actually believe that we are changing the world in our own modest (or not so modest) way. Each of us has stared business bankruptcy (closely tied to personal bankruptcy) in the face, but were unwilling to let our dream die, and managed to scrounge up enough capital to keep the lights on.

    Finally, insurgents still bring a by (almost) any means necessary mindset to make things happen, and our entrepreneurial roots run deep. Although the conference was held at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton overlooking the surfers on Laguna Beach ($347 per night), I opted for the Econo Lodge down the road ($83 per night). Honest Tea may be part of Coca-Cola (KO), but I still run the enterprise like I'm spending my own money.

    Seth Goldman is President and TeaEO of Honest Tea, the company he co-founded in 1998.