The (Improbable) Story of Savannah Bananas' Rise to a $1B Empire
About This Episode
Jesse Cole, founder of the Savannah Bananas, shares his journey from a nearly bankrupt minor league manager to building a sports entertainment empire with a multi-million-person waitlist. He explains how he revolutionized baseball by prioritizing 'Fans First' entertainment over traditional rules, leveraging lessons from legends like Walt Disney and PT Barnum. The episode explores Cole's specific creative systems, such as his 10-ideas-a-day habit and his SNL-style production process for every live game.
Episode Description
Show Notes
- 0:00200 fans, $260 in the bank
- 3:00The team no one ever heard about
- 9:01How to become an idea machine
- 13:30Lessons from PT Barnum, Bill Veeck, Walt Disney
- 15:55Surviving embarrassment
- 19:16Rock bottom
- 23:34Inside Jesse's creative process
- 27:00Stealing from MrBeast
- (28:39( Jesse opens his idea book
- 32:00Meeting Bob Iger
- 33:28Identifying the chip on Jesse's shoulder
- 38:5811 principles
- 48:14The 12-star experience
- 53:12The sacrifice of extreme hard mode
- 58:08Attracting vs recruiting
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Key Takeaways
Practice 'friction fighting' by identifying every point of frustration in the customer journeyâsuch as long lines or hidden feesâand ruthlessly eliminating them to build fan loyalty.
Adopt the 'Whatever's Normal, Do the Opposite' framework to generate attention and ensure your brand is remarkable enough to be talked about.
Maintain control over your entire ecosystem, including ticketing, merchandise, and broadcasting, to ensure you can iterate quickly and preserve the core competency of the fan experience.