I was pleasantly surprised that that this is NOT another true story of the vile greed ethic of Stanford & Silicon Valley. What the documentary shows is a well-paced and fair, straightforward depiction of what became competing interests around Juul. The product did - does - what the founders wanted it to do: provide an alternative to get people away the known toxic issues of burning tobacco and inhaling the smoke.
It was a startup, and they chose (handed off responsibility for) a marketing campaign that was 'successful' for the marketing guys, but off-message for the company. But, because of the success of Juul in the new industry of vaping (non-conbustion delivery of nicotine), the company had a target on its back.
The founders needed help for managing a company of this size and trajectory. Again, a good Board would have - should have - helped in this, but they were more focused on quick return for their investment.
This is a great story, told well, about political opportunists (San Fran AG, several States'AGs, FDA, Congress) and shallow mainstream media that prefers the hit pieces instead of facts and analyses is the truth that was only a little more complicated to tell. Juul gets painted with blame for illegal activity & consequences of other parties, but media & politics didn't want to give up the momentum of the false narrative that kept people's attention.
This is well done, which is not a surprise. This is not a story of bad guys greedily doing nefarious things to join the three comma club. They actually succeeded in helping millions of adults quit cigarettes.
It was a startup, and they chose (handed off responsibility for) a marketing campaign that was 'successful' for the marketing guys, but off-message for the company. But, because of the success of Juul in the new industry of vaping (non-conbustion delivery of nicotine), the company had a target on its back.
The founders needed help for managing a company of this size and trajectory. Again, a good Board would have - should have - helped in this, but they were more focused on quick return for their investment.
This is a great story, told well, about political opportunists (San Fran AG, several States'AGs, FDA, Congress) and shallow mainstream media that prefers the hit pieces instead of facts and analyses is the truth that was only a little more complicated to tell. Juul gets painted with blame for illegal activity & consequences of other parties, but media & politics didn't want to give up the momentum of the false narrative that kept people's attention.
This is well done, which is not a surprise. This is not a story of bad guys greedily doing nefarious things to join the three comma club. They actually succeeded in helping millions of adults quit cigarettes.