Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield | The Partnership — Transcript

When Ben and I go anywhere without the other guy, the first question we get is, "Where's Ben? Where's Jerry?" And then the second question is, "Did you bring ice cream?" [Laughter] [Music] You know, the early days of setting up Ben and Jerry's were so chaotic and such an adventure. Every day, we had no idea what was going to happen, and we were working so hard, putting your all into something. It's very satisfying knowing you're doing the absolute most you can do. One of the real reasons, I think, for the success of the partnership is that our roles were very defined. You know, Jerry was in charge of production, and I was in charge of sales and marketing. And, you know, he had his hands full with production. I had my hands full with sales and marketing. And right, Ben makes it sound like we were careful not to dabble in each other's areas of expertise, whereas neither one of us wanted to get close to what the other guy was doing. You know, personality-wise, Ben is very comfortable taking on new things and making mistakes, and, you know, very entrepreneurial, doing things that he doesn't know how to do. You know, it's important to have one person like that, and I think it's also important to have another person who will come along and do the crap that the visionary may not want to do. You know, there was a stage during the growth of Ben and Jerry's when I would walk around the company and say, "Oh, this is wrong. That sucks. That's messed up. Don't do that." And he'd be walking behind me saying, "Well, what Ben really meant to say was, you know, do this and that." And it was, he could say it in a way that people could hear it. The other thing about Ben is, and this is a beautiful, beautiful thing about Ben, he doesn't put any limits on where he's going to go with something. He's a person with no boundaries. You got to be all in, all in, and full court press, you know, if you want to make it happen. I mean, how do you think we made Ben and Jerry's happen? We were both all in. We were all [Laughter] in. We are friends before we're partners. You know, the thing that's always been foremost and the thing that's always been the highest priority has been our friendship. Jerry has always been not only a great sounding board but also, you know, I mean, he'll come up with ideas on his own, or he'll come up with critiques or suggestions, you know, completely unprompted, that are really, really, really good, and I take them and use them. Ben is just a doer, and Ben doesn't like to sit around and talk about things, and he doesn't like to process. He likes to do things and learn by doing. And, you know, I'm much more measured, and, you know, so I think together that's a really good combination. So we see the world the same way. We would like to have the world be different in the same way, and we're both committed to that. Any sort of project that Ben does, who knows where it's going to go? And it's kind of like life. It's kind of like life. But some of us are not that comfortable not knowing where things are going to take us. Some people are more comfortable than others living under the illusion that you can control your life. It's an adventure. Life is an [Music] adventure.

setting up Ben and Jerry's were so chaotic and such an adventure and every day we had no idea what was going to happen and we were working so hard putting your all into something it it's very satisfying knowing you're doing the

absolute most you can do one of the real reasons I think for the success of the partnership is that our roles were very defined and you know uh Jerry was in charge of production and I was in charge of sales and marketing

and you know he had his hands full with production I had my hands full with sales and marketing and right Ben makes it sound like uh we we were careful not to dabble in each other's areas of expertise whereas neither one of us

wanted to get close to what the other guy was doing you know personality wise Ben is very comfortable uh taking on new things and uh making mistakes and you know very entrepreneurial doing things that he doesn't know how to do you know it's

important to have one person like that and I think it's also important to have another person who will come along and do the crap that the Visionary may not want to do you know there was there was a there was a stage

during uh the growth of Ben and& Jerry's when you know I would walk around the company and say oh this is wrong that sucks that's [ __ ] up don't do that and he'd be walking behind me saying

well what Ben really meant to say was you know do this and that and it was you he could say it in a way that people could hear it the other thing about Ben is uh and this is a beautiful beautiful

thing about Ben he doesn't put any limits on on where he's going to go with something he's a person with No Boundaries you got to be all in all in and full court press you know if you want to make it happen I mean how do you

think we made Ben and Jerry's happen we were both all in we were all [Laughter] in we are friends before we're Partners you know the thing that's always been foremost and the thing that's always been the highest priority has been our

friendship Jerry has always been not only a great sounding board but also you know I mean he'll come up with ideas on his own or he'll come up with uh you know critiques or suggestions uh you know completely

unprompted that are really really really good and I take them and use them Ben is just ureer and Ben doesn't like to sit around and talk about things and he doesn't like to process he likes to do things and learn by doing and you know

I'm I'm much more measured and you know so I I think together that that's a really good uh combination so we see the world the same way we would like to have the world be different in the same way

and we're both committed to that any sort of project that Ben does who knows where it's going to go and it's kind of like life it's kind of like life uh but some of us are not that comfortable not knowing where things are

going to take us some people are more comtable than others live under the illusion that you can control your life it's an adventure life is an [Music] adventure