Vermont Voices: Bob Stiller

STORY BY DR. JOSHUA SHERMAN 

Bob Stiller is a visionary entrepreneur, best known for founding Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and growing it into an international success. Stiller began his business career in 1971 by founding E-Z Wider cigarette rolling papers. He sold that business in 1981, and he used part of his earnings to purchase a small coffee shop near his Vermont ski condo. From there, Stiller shifted his focus to manufacturing and roasting coffee on a large scale, ultimately pioneering the success of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Under his leadership, the company went public, partnered with Keurig, and became a trailblazer in both business growth and corporate social responsibility. Stiller felt strongly that having a social and environmental focus is one of the key factors that drives financial performance, becoming a leading voice in both business and corporate cultural transformation. In his new book, Better and Better: Creating a Culture of Purpose, Excellence, and Transformative Human Engagement, Stiller outlines the innovative approaches that helped Green Mountain Coffee thrive, ranging from fostering an engaged workforce to prioritizing environmental and social impact. He delves into key lessons on using optimism, self-awareness, and kindness to build a company in which employees feel valued and empowered to make a difference. Stiller sat down with VERMONT Magazine to discuss his journey, the philosophy behind Better and Better, and the vital connection between business development, self-awareness, and personal growth. 

Photo by Joshua Sherman

JS: Thank you so much for joining us, Bob! I’ve genuinely enjoyed reading your amazing new book, Better and Better. First, can you walk me through the steps you took in growing Green Mountain Coffee from the beginning? How did the company evolve, and what were the key areas you focused on first?

BS: As any company grows, you focus on different things. Our primary focus was getting consumer awareness and having customers sell our coffee. You need distribution, so we had to convince stores that we had enough consumers. We focused on production, roasting, and packaging to make sure we had the best product. We wanted to be wherever coffee was consumed, whether that was offices, restaurants, or trains.

JS: In the book, you specifically say, “The benefits of an engaged workforce are legion, and the enthusiasm of our workforce was unequaled. I believe it was a key ingredient in the secret sauce that enabled us to prosper where so many others failed.” I agree, based on my own experience, that an engaged workforce is critical. Do you remember a moment when you said to yourself, “I need to make sure that everyone in this company cares about this as much as I do?”

BS: Well, I guess my first aha moment was when we formed the environmental committee in ‘89. One of the employees wanted to get a few people together to see how they could improve the environment. The engagement of those people, like one of them redesigning one of our distribution boxes, helped reduce environmental impact, but it also saved us money. People started coming up with ideas to make the world a better place. There was a time—for many years—where we weren’t making any money, and the motivation was just to stay in business. But then, after we were making money, it became, “Why do we need to make more money?” Well, the more money we make, the more good we can do in the world. So, it gave meaning to a lot of people. I think them being engaged in developing the strategies and implementing those strategies gave them buy-in to the success of the company. I was always careful to co-create with them. I used to think I had great ideas, but anytime I shared them, others always came up with a better solution. The more people involved in figuring something out, the better the solution. 

I would say it was the late ‘90s, around 1999 or 2000, when we started working with Appreciative Inquiry, which almost forced the engagement of people. One of the first things we did was interview about 20 people, and we asked them, “How can we be more profitable?” We taught them interviewing techniques, and questions were crafted to create a bond with the person. For example, “Why did you join Green Mountain Coffee?” or “Think back to a high point in your work experience. What made that a high point?” That dialoguing creates a sense of community. Those people would then go out and interview others, and it became a cascading effect. Are you familiar with Appreciative Inquiry?

JS: Because of your book, I am.

BS: Okay, because it’s a very powerful tool in many ways. You can apply it to customer service. You think of all your customer service experiences: What was the best one? Why, where, and what happened? If it could have been better, what would have happened? You get some very insightful things, and it can be used anywhere. Even when going on vacation with your kids, you can ask, “What was the best vacation we had, and what did you like about it?” Just by asking a question, you create an impression. We would do summits, where we’d invite frontline people, senior people, stockholders, investors, and even our vendors. It was many stakeholders, getting in the same room and figuring out solutions, but at the same time, we were building community. I mentioned in the book, it was amazing to me that some of these people were coming, thinking, “Why did they invite me? I’m not going to say anything.” And when you started getting them going, they had plenty to say. I was shocked that people were so engaged that they wanted to share.

JS: How did you encourage that kind of thinking, and how did you navigate it as a leader? 

BS: I I would say personal development of employees is key. We used to teach meditation. We were always into mindfulness and observing what works from a positive point of view. We were always looking at making the positive so overwhelming that the negative becomes immaterial. You have deadlines, yes, but there’s the overarching passion to realize the vision, whether it’s for the company or yourself. 

I don’t know if you’re familiar with David Allen’s work—but everyone in the company had David Allen’s training. He’s wonderful. We had our own trainers within the organization. Some would call him a time management guy, but he was really a productivity guru. His first book, Making It Happen, gets into the fact that the brain can’t keep track of everything, so you need a system to track your goals, projects, and tasks. There are little tricks to organize things, and what you have to do next. For example, if you have to bring your car in for repair, the next action isn’t “bring the car in for repair.” It’s “make a call for an appointment.” When you have time, you can pick up the phone and make calls. You can organize categories of tasks for when you don’t feel like doing anything. These don’t require mental energy but get you back on track to have the energy to do something you might not want to do. Personal development is about building good habits. Willpower is like a muscle—you expend it, and then you don’t have any left. If you don’t have good habits, you use a lot of willpower to figure out what to do. Having tricks like organizing your day or doing something you dread first frees you to enjoy the rest of your day. It’s personal development that helps with doing something or not doing something. 

Another point we learned through surveying our team is that people wanted to know what was coming down the pike, and they wanted to be involved. One of our project leaders spent a lot of time in the beginning making sure everyone had a clear vision of what we wanted to do, why it was important, and engaged people in making the project successful. When that happened, communication wasn’t an issue. If you give people the skills to manage themselves, they understand what they need and want to do.

JS: In the book’s introduction, you outline the Better and Better blueprint and the seven components of that. And you mention the fact that you wish you had had these when you were starting out in business, and that you developed them over time. Now, it’s sort of a handbook for the next person. If you had had these seven lessons back when you started your first company, EZ Wider, what would you have done differently? 

BS: I would have involved the employees much more by asking questions like, “What’s working? This is what we want to do—how are we going to do it?” For example, with customer service, “Where do you experience good service? Where do you feel most engaged?” We also had production problems—so I’d ask, “When you’ve solved problems in the past, what worked well?” Part of our methodology was the after-action reviews. So, when you finish something, you reflect on what worked and what didn’t.

This mindfulness during the process allows people to share their insights later. I think I would have engaged the employees better, and we would have executed much better.

Courtesy Bob Stiller

Communication, too, was an issue. I didn’t get along with my partner. I could have had better communication skills, and we might have worked through those issues and stayed together. But, you know, things happen for reasons we don’t realize at the time. I might never have started Green Mountain Coffee. Although I did recently speak to Forbes, and they did an article on Don Levin. He was one of our distributors for the papers back then. He went on to acquire all the cigarette papers, and now, he’s a multi-billionaire. 

JS: You bring up a point in the book about EZ Wider and Green Mountain Coffee, that both products are consumed, and therefore there’s always a need for them. With EZ Wider, it had its own niche, and it solved a problem within the industry. After you sold EZ Wider, you were up in Vermont and discovered Green Mountain Coffee. One of the things that hooked you was that papers get consumed from smoking, coffee gets consumed from drinking, and the customer will always buy more. Do you feel consumption is critical to every business?

BS: I would say it’s not true of every business. If you’re building an appliance, for example, you don’t want it to go bad. You want it to last as long as possible, and have customers share their experiences, create a quality image, brand reliability, and do a lot of other things to build your business. But I do like the consumable model. We did have a niche when we started with wider papers, but that didn’t last long. Others copied us. Coffee was a quality product, and that was a bit of a differentiator, but it was still a commodity. We tried to differentiate ourselves with the best quality, the best service, and by getting into corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives—things like sourcing and doing things the right way, which became another product differentiator. We educated the customer about what we were doing, so they could appreciate the coffee more. We were trying to be different because coffee is a commodity. But when the Keurig machine came along, that was a monopoly. Other roasters had licenses, but when we acquired Keurig and then all the other roasters, we were able to have both the product used in the machine and the machine itself. That allowed us to really market the product, equipment, and experience.

Courtesy Bob Stiller

JS: You mention in the introduction of the book, that Vermont was a small, mostly rural state with a population of slightly over half a million people when you first came here in the early ‘80s. It was an unlikely place to launch a national consumer packaged goods company. I was hoping you could talk about Vermont. It has changed a lot in the last 40 years, and on the other hand, it hasn’t changed much. The thing you talk about in the book is that Vermonters were hardworking, with strong value systems and good neighbors, and because of that, you were able to build the company and the team. What were some of the challenges you faced starting a business in Vermont?

BS: Those values were certainly great to have in an organization, because those people supported the organization. On the other hand, there were challenges. One guy disappeared for a week, and we tracked him down—he was painting a house somewhere. And then there’s deer season—everyone disappears for that. It’s hard to find talent in Vermont, and we certainly had trouble with banking. 

JS: You’ve been in Vermont for a long time now. What do you love about Vermont?

BS: I feel there’s a certain spiritual energy here. There’s a peacefulness I don’t experience in other New England states. I’ve always loved being near water, and Vermont has that, plus a great community. There’s a real sense of togetherness. Even if you don’t know someone personally, there’s a common love for Vermont.

JS: You talk about sustaining an “opportunity mindset” as being the first principle in the Better and Better blueprint. I was curious, is there anything at this point in your life that you look back on—not necessarily with regret, but something you wonder “what would have happened if I had done this differently?” Or do you feel you’ve achieved enough success that you have, for lack of a better term, tranquility?

BS: What What is success? Deepak Chopra says it’s the ability to manifest what you want. Financial success is one thing, but health, enthusiasm for life, relationships—those are also key. So, what do you really want in life? There’s a lot more to it than just financial success. Personal development, communication skills, meditation, mindfulness—if you develop those, you can be successful anywhere. People often underestimate how valuable those skills are and what they can bring to your life. If I had developed better skills, I might have run Green Mountain longer or done a better job, especially with succession planning. It’s very sad that the company lost its way because we had a pipeline of fabulous projects and products. I believe business is the most effective change agent in the world. Everybody needs a pathway to financial success for their families.

Courtesy Bob Stiller

JS: How did you communicate your dream and vision to your team? You were a Manhattan guy who sold rolling papers, moved up to Vermont, and decided to get into coffee. You had the vision, you did the research, but how did you actually get community buy-in?

BS: Well, I guess, in those early years—maybe the first 15 or even longer—we were just trying to be a successful company. There were some hard years, and it was always like, “We’ve got to be more profitable.” The vision was in the doing. We divided things up into processes rather than silos, so people in different areas would work together. For example, we had a team called “Order to Cash,” which focused on the entire process from when a customer places an order until we get paid. There are a lot of touchpoints with the customer, but many companies don’t focus on that—they just have accounting call to collect the payment. But for us, we were all part of the process to deliver and support the customer in the most effective way. I don’t know if that’s a little off-topic, but as we became more sophisticated, we started having visions of being a $500 million company. I had a vision of reaching a billion dollars, and I know several people who thought I had totally lost it. But we worked more on continuous improvement than on the big dream. It was always there, but the focus was on the small steps. 

JS: How did you encourage movement within the company as it grew?

BS: Well, I would say I never specifically encouraged movement within the company. What we encouraged was for people to develop their skills. A lot of people joined just to get into the company, and then when jobs came up, they could move within the company. We had goals to hire from within, so that encouraged us to train people so they could apply for those jobs. But a lot of people were happy where they were. I thought it was important for people to understand how the company functions and how it makes money and to appreciate others’ jobs. So, we had people go and spend time in other departments. For example, someone working on a production line might spend an hour or two in customer service or with service reps, just to meet people and see what their work is like. We also had a compulsory course where everyone had to understand how the company makes a profit. We’d take a case of coffee and explain the costs—like, two packs of coffee might represent the cost of the raw coffee beans. Another would represent the loss that happens during roasting. Then we’d look at sales, distribution, etc. At the end of the day, there’d be only three or four packs left, which represented the profit. And we had people from different areas explain their roles in that process so that everyone could appreciate each other’s jobs and see how small improvements can add up.

JS: On page 158, you talk about “building trust patiently.” How do you relate to patience? Are you naturally patient, or is impatience what drives your success?

BS: I definitely want things to happen faster than they do, but all you can do is focus on what you’re doing now. Sometimes, I feel like I haven’t worked as efficiently as I could have, but I’ve always worked at it. I’m happiest when I follow my plan for the day. It’s about being in that flow. And sometimes, when you desire something too much, it doesn’t happen. But if you let it go, it often comes into your life. It’s about intention and being in the flow. When you focus on mindfulness, spirituality, and meditation, things manifest more automatically, like being “in the zone” in sports. 

JS: At the end of the succession chapter, you say, “Plan for succession now. Don’t go it alone.” You also say, “If you stay, back off.” What’s your relationship now to Green Mountain Coffee and Keurig—not professionally or stock-wise, but emotionally? Are you happy with what you built, or are you saddened by how it ended?

BS: I’m sad that it ended the way it did. We had such a powerful team. The people there loved it. So many of them have gone on to be successful elsewhere, and they all say it was the best time of their life when they were there. If I had stayed around, I would have wanted to keep the engagement of the employees, and I would’ve done a few things differently. For example, we had a better K-cup—one with more coffee and better quality. But for simplicity’s sake, we stayed with the current K-cup, focusing more on making money rather than being of service to the customer. The patent on the better cup would’ve lasted longer, and the company would’ve prospered more. I’m also disappointed the cold machine never made it. It was fabulous. People said it couldn’t be done, but we figured it out. We created carbonation in the K-cup, better than anything on the market. We could’ve sold it for less, and it was more environmentally friendly. 

JS: I recently interviewed Judy Collins, who turned 85 this year. We talked about her career and her reflections on life. I’m curious—what would YOUR 21-year-old self say if he saw you now, and what would you say to him?

BS: My 21-year-old self would never have imagined achieving what I have achieved, nor would anyone who knew me at that time. We don’t realize the power we have. Looking back, you understand more. When I was in military school, I got into a lot of trouble. I was very destructive. They told me they were calling my father and kicking me out of school. At the time, if you’d asked me what was going on, I wouldn’t have understood it. But now I can see that it was the year my father remarried, and my behavior was a reaction to that. It makes sense in hindsight, but at the time, I wasn’t aware of the influences on my life.

Bob Stiller enjoying Lake Champlain, summer 2024

Life is richer when you can be mindful and tap into personal development. It’s like learning to drive a car—at first, it requires effort, but eventually, it becomes second nature. The same goes for mindfulness, meditation, and other skills. Once you have them, you use them to navigate life. It’s like your mind is the car, and once you learn to drive it—through mindfulness, meditation, and other techniques—you can manifest things without effort.

JS: I always end my interviews by asking, is there anything else you’d like to share about your life, your experiences, or what you learned from your decades of successful business leadership?

BS: When you’re unsure what to do, you should always fall back on doing the right thing. You usually know what that is. Personal development is key. Helping people grow is crucial. If you don’t care about others, why should they care about you? When you’re in it together, it’s more effective, and I think that’s something a lot of people don’t get. They try to cut corners, but it’s not as effective. It’s important to create a community around growth.

better-and-better.com