Matt Damon's Coconut Deal

Jesse Itzler shares how he used Matt Damon to help secure a deal with Coca-Cola for his coconut water business.

"I was at Matt Damon's house - he was a customer of Marquis Jet. He asked me if I wanted to spend the night as they were going out. I said I couldn't because I was going to Brazil in a day or two. He asked what I was doing there, and I said I'm starting a coconut water business. He said 'You gotta be kidding me, I love coconut! I have a coconut tree in my backyard. If anything happens with this company, let me know - I may want to get involved.'

A month later, I'm in a meeting at Coke and it's going badly. I'm showing them this powerpoint, and out of nowhere I just turned to the president and said 'You know my partner Matt Damon and I...' The guy went 'Matt Damon is your partner?'

I leave and call Matt: 'Matt, I need a favor.' I asked if I could come over with a camera, climb up his tree, get a coconut, chop it open, put a straw in it, and have him say to the CEO of Coke 'There's gotta be a better way than this.' He agreed and filmed this award-winning 35-second short film of him getting a coconut, chopping it open and saying there's gotta be a better way.

We got the deal, and Coke bought it 2 years later - 100%."