“When I first tried Impossible Foods, I was blown away. I thought I had been given the wrong order. I thought it was beef. ”
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Why Listen:
When Carlson’s School of Management came to us with an offer for financial sponsorship, Steve and I were like kids in a candy store. We had the resources to do any interview we’d like… that’s like a dream come true. As I was thinking through who I wanted to reach out to, I started thinking about purpose - purpose is something that comes up time and time again in my interviews. So, I wanted to find a company that is purpose driven. A company that is doing something pretty different. And that is how I view Impossible Foods. They are re-envisioning how we eat and driven by a deep desire to help us take better care of our planet. Not only that, but they have become a massive sensation - according to LinkedIn there are now over 500 employees at Impossible, and according to Crunchbase they have raised over $1.2B… that’s right - $1.2B… the amount of money a villain in a James Bond movie would demand to avoid destroying the world.
Here’s what I love about today’s interview. First of all, I’m joined by TWO incredible Veterans with TWO incredible career paths. We talk about innovation and sales, two very different career paths, and their perspectives on what it’s like to work at Impossible. While we do talk a lot about Impossible, we cover a lot of ground about general career advice.
If you enjoy this episode, check out the show notes for this episode, where I link to a few interviews I’ve done in the Cyrpto space - that seems to share the same purpose-driven culture that I felt in this interview.
And, of course, this interview was only made possible due to the financial support of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, and I want to share a little bit more about them, whether you're transitioning to a civilian career or continuing military service, an MBA from Carlson, at the University at the University of Minnesota prepares you for a high impact career in business. Carlson is committed to the veteran community and provides the benefits experiential learning and network to accelerate your career. In addition to a resident tuition waiver all admitted full time MBA military candidates receive generous scholarships and stipends to cover expenses that may not be eligible for the GI Bill. To learn more, you can visit the show notes at beyondtheuniform.org for this episode, or you can email MBA@UMN.edu.
About Ryan & Dan:
Dan Greene is a SVP of US Sales and Growth. He started out at the Naval Academy and served over 10 years as a Navy fighter pilot and director of operations for multiple aviation units. Dan served as Chief Revenue Officer for a conversational artificial intelligence startup, and served as an executive consultant with other early-stage software companies. Prior to that, Dan spent 11 years overseeing large teams and revenue-generating business units at Google and Twitter.
Ryan Fisher is the Director of New Product Introduction. He served in the US Army for over four years as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Officer. He has worked in global supply at both Apple and Uber. He holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
Our Sponsor:
This episode is sponsored by the Carlson School of Management. Whether you're transitioning to a civilian career or continuing military service, an MBA from Carlson at the University of Minnesota prepares you for a high-impact career in business. Carlson is committed to the veteran community and provides the benefits, experiential learning, and network to accelerate your career. In addition to a resident tuition waiver, all admitted full-time MBA military candidates receive generous scholarships and stipends to cover expenses that may not be eligible for the GI Bill.
E-mail mba@umn.edu to learn more. That's mba@umn.edu.
Selected Resources:
Transcript & Time Stamps:
4:15
Joining me today from Halfmoon Bay, CA and San Diego, CA are Ryan Fisher and Dan Greene.
What was your transition out of the military like?
Ryan: I was on terminal leave when I started my MBA program at the University of Virginia. So I went straight from the military into grad school. As an undergraduate, I studied engineering. As I considered my post-military career, opportunities in business were more interesting to me than opportunities in engineering.
Dan: My last tour in the military was a shore tour. I started my MBA at UCLA during that time. Once I had left the military, I took a job with an aviation company. The company did a lot of work with the government. Eventually I left the company to start my own aviation company. That company still exists but I left after a few years to take a job with Google.
9:15
What is Impossible Foods?
Dan: We make meat from plants. We want to replace animals in the food chain by 2035. The impact that animal food production has had on the environment is extremely detrimental. Veggie burgers have been out for a while but nobody beyond vegetarians really wants to eat them. Impossible Foods was launched to create food from plants. It tastes incredibly good. When you’re eating it, you feel like you’re eating ground beef. Except it’s better for you and better for the environment.
12:55
What is the environmental impact of eating meat?
Dan: Roughly 40% of arable land is devoted to animal agriculture. When you do that, you need to clear forest land to create pastures for raising animals. There’s a significant negative impact on biodiversity. If you just simply reclaimed that land, you would reverse the effects of global warming.
The biomass of all cows on the planet is greater than the biomass of any other animal. That’s a significant problem for the biodiversity of the planet. Additionally, just 1% of farmland rightnow is devoted to soy. But in just that 1% soy production, you can feed the population of the planet.
15:40
What is the culture like at the company?
Ryan: Impossible Foods wants to appeal to meat eaters. The Impossible burger has fans that are both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Amongst employees at the company, most people have plant-based diets.
17:24
Ryan - what do you do as the Director of New Product Introduction?
Ryan: My role is focused on program management in terms of executing the launch of new products. On a day to day basis, the team that I lead partners with everyone from scientists to product developers and operations managers. We discuss the product and launch with each of these teams in order to make that launch as effective as possible. I really enjoy the cross-functional aspect of the job. I think it’s a skill that a lot of military veterans bring to corporate America. We’re used to working across many teams in order to achieve a common goal.
19:42
Dan - what about your role as Senior Vice President of Sales and Growth?
Dan: In order for Impossible Foods to accomplish our mission of creating great tasting plant-based meat, we need money to enable continued innovation. That money comes from sales. That’s what my team focuses on. We sell our product to companies such as Burger King and Starbucks. We also work with many smaller chains like Cheesecake Factory and Red Robin. Back in September, we also launched a direct to consumer channel through Wegmans a few other stores. We’re currently in 5,000 supermarkets across the country.
22:30
What led Impossible Foods to launch first in restaurants and then go direct to consumers later?
Dan: Our original products worked really well in restaurant kitchens where chefs knew how to cook the product. That’s why we initially went into high-end restaurants. At the start of 2019, we introduced a newer version of our product which cooks more like ground beef. That product is good for restaurants but is also a great product for consumers to buy in grocery stores as well. We’re constantly innovating and growing the products that we offer. We just recently launched a pork product and are planning for additional launches as time goes on.
25:05
What drew you to Impossible Foods?
Ryan: I was drawn to the company based on the mission. The people that work here have a passion for replacing animals in our food chain. I appreciated that mission-driven approach. I also loved the product. When I first tried the Impossible burger, I truly thought it was beef. That really caught my attention.
I believe that food technology will be incredibly important going forward. The food supply chain has a detrimental impact on our environment in many ways. Increasingly, companies will be developed to address these issues.
The opportunity to come to Impossible Foods was focused on helping the company grow. It offered some new challenges that I hadn’t faced in the past.
Dan: We’re a technology company that makes food. We’re not selling software so in some ways we’re different from a classic technology company but in terms of innovation and growth, we’re very similar.
I had prior experience in the startup industry. I came off of those experiences with a desire to find a company that I found to be truly compelling and interesting. There are very few corporations that are trying to save the planet while also offering a great product. I really liked that and found it inspiring. The last time I had felt that sense of purpose in a job was when I was in the military.
Our CEO is very open to hearing new and innovative ideas from anyone in the company. Everyone is involved in creating a great product. He really doesn’t care that much about the money aspect. He really cares more about having a profound impact on the planet.
33:30
Do you feel like getting an MBA has been advantageous in your career?
Ryan: I think it’s a personal decision. For me, I found the two years I spent at the University of Virginia to be extremely valuable in giving me a foundation in business. I went to grad school thinking that I was going to pursue a career in finance.
My first job after grad school was with Apple. There was another veteran I knew that Apple went straight from the military into business and that worked out really well for him. So I think there’s definitely different paths you can take to reach success
Dan: I agree. I think the MBA can give you a great foundation in business. One of the difficult things is that you have infinite options available to you. There isn’t one right path. There’s not one surefire playbook.
Ryan: I think the MBA can be a really good transition if you’re not exactly sure what you want to do after the military. There’s three things you get with an MBA - an education, a network, and a stamp on your resume. Right or wrong, the stamp can open doors for you. Maybe that’s not right but the reality is that it gives you some credibility to have that on your resume.
38:45
Dan - what advice do you have for people that are interested in sales?
What people don’t understand is that all businesses do the same thing. You make stuff and then you sell it. That means that the vast majority of people working within a company are either makers of things or sellers of things. If you think about opportunities and business careers, your ability to bring value to either making or selling things is extremely important.
41:00
Ryan - what advice do you have for people interested in innovation?
Ryan: I think what it goes back to is what we were talking about earlier regarding bringing together and working across different functional roles. In a role like mine, you need to be able to align different groups that stakeholders have in order to create a positive end result.
Think about the experience you had in the military. Whether you were enlisted or an officer, you probably got a lot of leadership experience. Being able to translate that and share that with recruiters on the civilian side is critical. The military experience you have is greatly needed in corporate America but you have to think about how you can best translate and present your experience during the interview process.
44:00
How do you pitch the Impossible Foods product to people that may be skeptical about plant based meat?
Dan: I tell them that we’re really doing the same thing a cow does. A cow eats grass and plants and then eventually we kill and process the cow. We do the same thing. We use plants to create meat. We just take the animal out of the equation to make the process more sustainable.
Ryan: One of the most interesting ways to convince people of how good our product is to serve them an Impossible burger without them knowing it’s an Impossible burger. Most people are shocked when they find out it’s not animal meat.
I think the challenges that exist in our food supply chain are huge. We need to come up to solutions for these problems. I really love working for a company that is helping thing about those issues and solutions in a new way.
48:10
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Dan: There are plenty of transferable skills that we all develop in the military. It won’t always translate directly or immediately. You’ve developed abilities to solve problems. You’ve gained direct leadership experience. All of that experience is incredibly value. You need to translate it a little bit when you’re talking to a civilian recruiter but don’t doubt the value you can bring to any company.
I also highly recommend that transitioning military members use LinkedIn to their advantage. Reach out to veterans that are working at companies or in functional roles that you’re interested in. The more people you talk to, the more you’ll figure out what the right position is for you.
Ryan: I definitely agree with everything Dan was saying about networking. The military veteran community is incredibly strong. Veterans want to help you so don’t be afraid to reach out.
Silicon Valley has become quite a hub for veterans networks. There are a lot of veterans working in technology and startups. So go out and leverage that network to help you learn about what career path might be right for you.