
Red Bull's Billionaire Maniac - forcer
http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/11_22/b4230064852768.htm
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atgm
It really bothers me how, over the last 10-15 years, caffeine has gone from
something people use to jump-start their day to some kind of... fad drug.
People brag about how many cups of coffee they inhale every day, how many
liters of soda they can drink in one sitting, how many bottles of bawls they
have on a shelf, or how many cans of red bull they need to chug to stay awake
after their all-nighters, but even worse than that is how many people just
acknowledge this as a normal thing. Especially among geeks and gamers.

Edit: For example, quotes like this: "It's an efficiency product. I'm talking
about improving endurance, concentration, reaction time, speed, vigilance, and
emotional status. Taste is of no importance whatsoever."

He makes it very clear that he doesn't think of it as a soft drink, but as a
performance-enhancing drug. Yet people are out there pounding it because it's
"cool."

~~~
dchest
Really? I noticed a different trend -- The Green Tea Fad. More and more people
talking about how they no longer drink coffee, because it contains the most
dangerous drug in the history of mankind -- caffeine!

~~~
hristov
Green tea has a lot of caffeine too.

~~~
networkjester
For reference:

<http://www.stashtea.com/caffeine+and+tea.aspx>

Not that much really.

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ohashi
He doesn't come off as a maniac at all. I rather enjoyed his philosophy and
his success speaks for itself. He sold a crappy tasting drink for more money
than anyone would have imagined possible. The guy is brilliant.

~~~
hugh3
My favourite passage from a James Bond book:

 _Doctor No said, in the same soft resonant voice, "You are right. Mister
Bond. That is just what I am, a maniac. All the greatest men are maniacs. They
are possessed by a mania which drives them forward towards their goal. The
great scientists, the philosophers, the religious leaders - all maniacs. What
else but a blind singleness of purpose could have given focus to their genius,
would have kept them in the groove of their purpose? Mania, my dear Mister
Bond, is as priceless as genius. Dissipation of energy, fragmentation of
vision, loss of momentum, the lack of follow-through - these are the vices of
the herd." Doctor No sat slightly back in his chair. "I do not possess these
vices. I am, as you correctly say, a maniac"_

~~~
sayemm
Awesome passage, thanks for sharing it. Maniacs exemplify "the anatomy of
determination" - <http://paulgraham.com/determination.html>

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jonknee
"It wouldn't be Red Bull if it didn't start harmless and end up as a
catastrophe,"

Heh. Here's a photo of the Threesixty bar:

[http://v2.lscache7.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panorami...](http://v2.lscache7.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/43859516.jpg)

~~~
zwieback
I like the next sentence even better: "And architects are really only paid
discussion partners anyway."

Applies to SW development too.

~~~
jonknee
I'm friends with too many architects to enjoy that one. There are certainly
architects out there that serve as paid discussion partners (and I don't doubt
that Red Bull uses them), but by and large it's an artform.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
It is an art form, but the work is commissioned. When I commission a
sculpture, I get to give a lot of input about what I want, but I want the
artist to make it beautiful.

Just like in software, if both sides don't respect the other, the output will
be atrocious (which appears to be ok with Red Bull).

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petercooper
_The success of Red Bull defies logic in one important regard: It doesn't
taste very good._

That's like saying beer, oysters, caviar, or Coca Cola don't taste very good -
it's entirely subjective. I like the taste of Red Bull a great deal and I'm
fussy.

~~~
waqf
Now a followup question, and it shouldn't be taken as a hostile one because I
agree with you entirely:

Would you like the taste more or less if it didn't cost $2 a can?

~~~
petercooper
There's an element of brand in there, for sure. But.. I'm a bit of an energy
drink junkie and I've tried almost all of them over the years.

Red Bull is a bit like the Coca Cola of energy drinks to me. It might not be
the absolute best tasting one _but_ it's the best to fit almost any situation.
That is, a specialty cola can taste better than Coca Cola for a once-off, but
you'd find it too sickly on a long-term basis. That's where I stand with Red
Bull. It's not the best but it's the most consistent and most palatable I've
found.

I can't put my finger as to how much the brand plays into that but acknowledge
I'm as human as anyone else and that it undoubtedly reinforces my preference.

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pclark
I try not to care too much about what I do and do not consume, but even _I_
avoid Red Bull.

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e40
Agreed. I'm proud to say I've never consumed a single "energy drink."

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helipad
The beauty of Red Bull's marketing is its focus.

One product, a few versions. Original, sugar free, small shots - that's about
all I know of.

How many other companies make billions with essentially just one product?

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chopsueyar
Coca-cola?

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mkuhn
Taking a look at this Wikipedia Article listing Coca Cola Brands
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Coca-Cola_brands> you will realize that
Coca Cola, the company, is much more than just Coca Cola, the drink.

~~~
chopsueyar
So, are you saying Coca Cola makes less than a billion dollars per year from
Coca Cola alone?

PS <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_GmbH#Sport_ownership>

PPS The Red Bull product page has 4 different drinks, unless you believe Coke
and Diet Coke are the same product, why would Red Bull Energy Drink and Red
Bull Energy Drink Sugarfree be the same product?

PPPS My open source hair-splitting machine written in Python is almost
complete.

~~~
rfrey
You're probably just having some fun with semantics, but I'm sure helipad
meant to say, "how many companies with essentially one product make billions?"

~~~
chopsueyar
Red Bull makes 4 products.

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antonp
> Mateschitz, 67, has been a patron saint for more than two decades to late-
> night partiers, exam-week undergrads, long-haul truckers, and, above all,
> extreme-sports athletes everywhere.

I would think that the overwhelming presence of the brand on extreme-sports
events has more to do with demographics of the tv-audience than with
'athletes' liking the drink.

~~~
mkuhn
I think the remark in the article was more about how Red Bull helps finance a
lot of these extreme sports and the athletes that compete within. Without Red
Bull a lot of these things would not see any sponsorship.

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JabavuAdams
I use it occasionally if I need to stay up late, or _crunch_ , but it
typically takes me half a week to recover.

OTOH, I'm not sure whether the "recovery" is from the Red Bull, or the after-
effects of sleep deprivation.

In general, I recognize the insidious and far-reaching effects of sleep
deprivation, but I still do it sometimes. :\\.

