Shares of
Jones Soda (NASDAQ:
JSDA) rallied more than 7% Wednesday and continue to rally another 1.8% today after its
CEO Peter Van Stolk stepped down. In the press release, Jones Soda said,
Jones Soda Co. today announced that Peter van Stolk will step down from his position as chairman of the board of directors and as chief executive officer at the end of the year. He will remain on as a member of the board of directors. Board members Scott Bedbury and Steve Jones will take on the interim positions of chairman and CEO respectively while the company conducts a search for a new CEO.
The move comes after a tough year for Jones Soda complete with a huge decline in share price and outrage and a short-lived SEC investigation of insider trading by members of the company's board of directors. Before investors get too excited about van Stolk's departure, they should read what the company said about him in its 10-K filed on March 14th:
We are dependent upon the creative skills and leadership of our founder, Peter M. van Stolk, who serves as President and Chief Executive Officer. We have in place with Mr. van Stolk a two-year employment agreement that expires on November 30, 2007. The loss of Mr. van Stolk's services could have a material adverse affect on our business and operations, including our ability to develop and execute on a long-term, profitable business plan. In addition, our management team consists of several key production, distribution, sales and financial personnel who have been recruited within the past several years. The loss of any of these key personnel could delay or negatively impact our operations, profitability and employee morale.
Interestingly, the PR announcing his departure was absent of any mention of "our founder" -- Jones Soda doesn't want investors thinking about this: the company is losing the services (I know, he's staying on the board, but still...) of the visionary who built the company. Here's what the company says about Van Stolk on its own website:
Marketing maverick Peter van Stolk has a unique, interactive approach to grounding his products, an intense connection to his consumers and an uncanny ability to predict trends. He entered the highly competitive beverage industry, learned the rules and then promptly rejected them. Peter has been able to attract attention by setting his products apart from the rest and developing an emotional bond with his customers....
Maybe Jones Soda won't be able to grow successful with van Stolk at the top -- But I think it's a huge mistake to think that the company will be able to move on to bigger and better things absent the man responsible for the company's success.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-28-2008 @ 11:13PM
hesh said...
as a former and early distributor of jones soda - i can say that jones abandoned its mantra -" run with the little guy " ; now loosing its founder is just another nail in the coffin
12-07-2007 @ 2:02PM
Gale said...
Jones Soda is exhibiting just the growing pains consistent with the fact that a business often outgrows its visionary leader who had the idea, but didn't execute the hard business strategy necessary to move the business to the next level. I think it's a healthy move to keep his ideas in play but get a sophisticated business plan and pr/marketing effort going forward. I wouldn't be surprised to see the company acquired and then really ramped by private or public owners. Is Coke or Pepsi listening? Or one of the food conglomerates? What about P&G? It needs an infusion of funds to handle all these areas simultaneously to blanket the populace and ramp up the awareness as it builds the brand.