He had the drink and thought it was great! He thought he could sell it too – this served as a life-changing experience for the founder.Ī quick glance at the drink’s ingredients – and there he was! That eureka moment happened right there for him. What caught his immediate attention was a booth selling a 16-ounce concoction claiming an hours-long productivity boost. Bhargava was attending a natural products trade show in Anaheim, California. The idea of the 5-Hour Energy Drink emerged in the spring of 2003. In 1990, he started his first firm, a plastics company, which was later sold to a private equity firm. After dropping out of Princeton in his first year, he lived as a monk for 12 years in India. Manoj Bhargava was born in India and moved to the United States when he was 14 years old. Like most of our bootstrapped heroes stories, the tale of how 5-Hour Energy started is also quite unique. And Manoj Bhargava offered the market just that! A great quality product launched with a creative and smart distribution/marketing model for a target audience that needed it the most – that’s the story of 5-Hour Energy Drink for you. The Magnetic Effect of a 5-Hour Energy DrinkĪ drink that can help you stay alert and attentive – that’s exactly what the then generation was looking for.

The 5-Hour Energy Drink was ideated in 2003, put out on the shelves in 2004, and is going steady (and upwards) to date, with the mystery man Manoj Bhargava’s managerial and entrepreneurial skill set. The 5-Hour Energy Drink’s parent company is Living Essentials LLC, whose parent firm is Innovation Ventures. Making the naive 5-Hour Energy Drink formula the most popular and favorite energy-shot drink for a quick boost-up, Bhargava’s path-breaking entrepreneurial journey is worth digging deeper into.

Lying on a single product and some brilliant marketing strategies has made 5-Hour Energy Drink one of the most successful FMCG startups in the United States and globally. The initial coverage across 1,200 GNC (General Nutrition Center) stores in 2004 has grown to a humongous 90% share of the energy shot market.Ī $3 bottle of an energy drink, often referred to as an energy shot, has made a humble startup guy – Manoj – a billion-dollar company in just eight years. Starting on the shelves of mom-and-pop convenience stores, the 5-Hour Energy Drink is today counted among the greatest success stories ever. In this month’s Bootstrapped Heroes Stories edition, we bring to you the story of 5-Hour Energy Drink and its founder Manoj Bhargava.

Owner of 5 hour energy