Mike Repole, the billionaire entrepreneur who cofounded and sold beverage giants Glaceau and BodyArmor to Coca-Cola for a combined $9.7 billion, has an unexpected message for aspiring business owners: Don’t do it.
In an interview with the School of Hard Knocks, a popular social-media channel known for interviewing wealthy entrepreneurs, Repole shared his contrarian view on entrepreneurship, emphasizing the brutal realities that most success stories gloss over.
“I spend more time talking people out of being an entrepreneur,” Repole said. “The first five years for an entrepreneur, I call the survival years. Every single day, you could go bankrupt.”
Repole’s cautionary advice carries significant weight given his…

