Entrepreneur of the Week - how does an entrepreneur think?

Top of the Pops
As told to Darren Dahl

Dale and Thomas Popcorn Co-founder, Warren Struhl

www.daleandthomas.com

rosie.gurock@daleandthomas.com

Business Type:Food and Beverage
2005 Revenue:$20 million
No. of Employees:250


Four years ago, Warren Struhl turned his daily passion for eating popcorn into a business. Struhl and his partner, Richard Demb, opened up their first retail shop on Manhattan's Upper West Side, which lured in window shoppers with the heavenly smells of fresh popped corn, caramel and chocolate toppings optional. Originally named Popcorn, Indiana, Struhl changed the name of his business two years ago when he brought aboard a new partner, Isaiah Thomas, president and head coach of the New York Knicks.

"My story started in 1989, when I was the vice president of a real estate company in Chicago. That's when I noticed the explosion of desktop publishing and laser printers. Since everyone was just using regular old copy paper to print things on, I saw an opportunity to offer paper specifically designed for these new printers. By 1993, when I sold the business, I had more than 1,000 different kinds of products and more than 1 million customers.

"After that, I started investing in several businesses that were in large industries and focused on underserved or overlooked niches. I was always on the lookout for my next opportunity.

"I've always had a passion for popcorn and I eat it every day. But it wasn't until I met Howard Shultz, the CEO of Starbucks, that I recognized that there was an opportunity to create the first national brand of popcorn in the country. Sure, there's Orville Redenbacher for microwave popcorn, but I wanted to invent something new built around freshly popped corn.

"My partner, Richard Demb, and I learned about this place that claims to be the site of the origin of popcorn -- a town 20 miles southwest of Bloomington, Ind., called Popcorn, with a population of 48. We flew there and met Dale Humphrey, the town's largest landowner and a fourth-generation popcorn grower. He was an inspiration for the history and techniques on how popcorn should be cooked.

"In December 2002, we opened our first Popcorn, Indiana store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to test it out. Almost immediately, it became a rage in New York City. We had all kinds of people asking if we could ship it somewhere or if they could resell it.

"Two years later I got a call from a guy saying that Isaiah Thomas wanted to meet with me. So I show up at this meeting thinking it could be a joke and Isaiah tells me that he's just as passionate about popcorn as he is about basketball. For him, popcorn is about laughing, smiling, and watching The Green Hornet with his family every week. He asked if he could become a partner and an investor. I said yes. That's when we changed the name to Dale and Thomas to celebrate the names of the world's two most passionate popcorn lovers.

"Today, we're a multi-channel business with more than 250 employees, including two gourmet popcorn chefs and the most advanced popping facility in the country. We have 11 stores around the country and many of them are taking a page out of the Starbucks playbook with a café atmosphere. You can buy a bowl of popcorn, drink some lemonade, talk, and play with a cool deck of cards you can buy at the counter. We also have party facilities so people can have kids' parties.

"At the core, while coffee is a social phenomenon, popcorn is never eaten alone. Our tagline, 'Share some,' reflects that popcorn is the most shareable social food we know of."

Conclusion : the reason why I copied this is to remind myself what makes an entrepreneur think differently as compared to normal people. But in most cases, these people work really hard and passionately for their business. So the main attitudes are ; Passion, hard work, good at what they are doing, enjoy doing it, luck and single minded in wanting to see the business doing well.