My First Million – The (Improbable) Story of Savannah Bananas' Rise to a $1B Empire

Podcast: My First Million
Host: HubSpot Media
Date: December 5, 2025
Episode Theme:
This episode explores the extraordinary journey of Jesse Cole and the Savannah Bananas—a baseball team that transformed minor league summer ball into a billion-dollar entertainment empire. Sam Parr and Tyler (filling in for Shaan Puri) sit down with Jesse to uncover his origin story, relentless creativity, commitment to showmanship, and the principles fueling the Bananas’ unexpected success.

Main Theme & Purpose

Main Theme:
How a young, broke baseball GM reimagined America's pastime through relentless attention-getting, entertainment innovation, and “fans first” thinking—creating a cultural phenomenon and a business juggernaut.

Purpose of the Episode:
To extract actionable entrepreneurial lessons from Jesse Cole's approach to creativity, world-building, customer obsession, and scaling “remarkable” ideas—providing a playbook for founders and innovators beyond just baseball.

Episode Breakdown

1. Jesse Cole's Origin Story: From Obscurity to Attention

• Early Career and Personal Background (03:02)

  • Started at 23 as GM of the Gastonia Grizzlies (college summer baseball, 200 fans, $268 in the bank).
  • Played baseball, dreamed of going pro, injury led him to the front office—but quickly found pure baseball was “boring to watch.”
  • Inspiration: “First time I really... put myself in the customer's shoes...I was bored.” (Jesse Cole, 04:37)

• Experimentation in Obscurity (07:15)

  • Tried wild promotions: grandma beauty pageants, "garbage can nachos," Dig to China (one-way ticket), firing mascots, outlandish publicity stunts.

  • “Whatever's normal, do the exact opposite. No one gets excited about normal...you get excited about remarkable, unforgettable.” (Jesse Cole, 09:10 & 11:11)

• Building the Muscle of Creativity (09:10)

  • Adopted an "idea box" from legendary baseball promoter Bill Veeck: “Ideas are more valuable than anything.”
  • Salute to Underwear Night, Flatulence Fun Night—many failed, but learned through volume and testing.

Key Quote:
“It was literally eight years of doing that... When people think about the title of the show, ‘My First Million’—we never made a million dollars in Gastonia...It wasn’t until Savannah...”
— Jesse Cole (11:00)

2. Transition to Savannah: Zero to One, and One to a Billion

• The Move to Savannah (17:07)

  • After 90 years of professional baseball failed in Savannah, Jesse and team bring in their model.
  • Initially, NO one believed in them: “We sold two tickets in our first three months...my wife would be told to get out of shops...It was brutal.”

• Rock Bottom and All-In Commitment (19:32)

  • “4:45 pm, January 15, 2016...we completely ran out of money...Emily turned to me and said, we have to sell our house. So we sold our house.” (Jesse Cole, 19:32)

  • Lived in an old garage, on $30/week groceries, maxed credit cards. “Our first year of marriage, we have nothing left.”

  • “Emily’s the one who kept me going: ‘Get to the first game, get to the first game.’” (20:47)

• Breakthrough: The “Bananas” Brand (21:00)

  • Name-the-team contest—locals wanted “Ports, Anchors, Braves.” One person suggests "Bananas."

  • Decided to fully embrace fun: “Banana Nanas” (senior dance), “Banana Baby,” all-in showmanship.

  • Local outrage (“insulting the city”), booed at parades; but national attention: “Logo of the year” (ESPN).

  • “I believe attention beats marketing 1000% of the time. You gotta create attention first. If people don't know who you are, good luck trying to create something.” (22:19)

3. Creativity, Inspiration, and the Daily Idea Machine

• Sources of Inspiration (13:32, 15:58, 24:27)

  • Studied P.T Barnum (“Showmanship. Without promotion, something terrible happens: nothing.”), Bill Veeck (fan-first, in-stadium), and Walt Disney (world-building, ‘fun for all’).
  • Emulated entertainment more than traditional baseball: “WWE, Cirque du Soleil, SNL...”

• Daily Practice of Ideas and Parallel Thinking (28:36)

  • Writes 10 ideas every morning; keeps annual "idea books."
  • Hyper-curious, “reads everything” and does deep dives—thousands of earmarked pages, structured book reports.
  • “You gotta create before you consume... If I've come up with good ideas...I'm fired up the rest of the day.” (Jesse Cole, 30:16)

• Creative Processes Modeled After SNL (54:40)

  • Weekly idea sessions: “Over the Top Tuesday”—everyone pitches, then table read, then rehearsal and feedback from a “VIP” fan group.
  • “Let's just do that (like SNL). And so we started, we built it.”

4. Principles & World-Building for “Fans First”

• Fans First Principles (38:39)

  • Named company "Fans First Entertainment"—guiding North Star.

  • Core beliefs: always be caring, different, enthusiastic, fun, growing, and hungry.

  • Fans First principles (inspired by Amazon’s leadership principles): 11 rules, reflecting the centrality of “11” (K = Potassium = Banana).

  • “Put yourself in the guest’s shoes. Whatever’s normal, do the exact opposite. Fewer things done better. Always plus the experience.”

  • “When you give up control, you lose more fans than you realize...We do all the merchandise in house, the broadcast, logistics, entertainment.” (Jesse Cole, 43:01)

• Operating Philosophy:

  • Relentless learning and control: “Control is such a big part of this...You afford yourself the opportunity to learn and to fail, but also to connect closer with your fans.”

5. Scaling: From Viral Moments to a $1B Enterprise

• Metrics That Matter (46:38)

  • Focus not on typical business metrics, but on speed of serving fans, trick plays per game, wait times on merch and food.
  • “Focus on the metrics that matter most to your customers.”

• Social Media Superpowers (52:44)

  • Relied on young, unproven staff: “Just post every single day—make baseball fun. If it fits the brand, do it.”
  • Party Animals (their secondary team) + Bananas: More TikTok followers than any MLB team.
  • “Everything is just...you can't be afraid of failing.”

• Merchandise & Experience Control (57:15)

  • Logistics: all trucks, gear, and personnel for simultaneous shows across the country is a “military level” operation.
  • “Every show has to be brand new...the logistics are impossible. We hired someone from the military that helped us.”

• Leadership and Talent (59:22)

  • Attracting > Recruiting: "12,700 on our waitlist to work with us."
  • Sourcing talent from waitlist, young staff, and now from Cirque du Soleil and WWE for next-level shows.

6. Moments, Mission, and Mindset

• Purpose Beyond Profit (33:43, 36:24)

  • “I chase moments.” First game at Fenway, an 81,000 crowd halftime show, planning “Banana Land” as a theme park.
  • “It’s moments that fire me up. Money...that doesn't interest me.”

• Handling Criticism and Doubt (33:41)

  • “We are completely misunderstood...People think we are the Harlem Globetrotters. We’re building a sport.”
  • Has a “folder” of all the “It’s just a fad” criticisms—“Thanks for the inspiration.”

• Focus on World-Building

  • Inspired by Disney, intends to build entire “Banana Lands,” controlling all aspects for maximum experience and learning.

7. Storytelling, Motivation, and Culture

• Molding the Team: The Fans First Pep Talk (66:26)

  • Routine speeches to cast and team before every city, built on stories and always changing.
  • “I could speak in front of a Fortune 50 company...I’m more nervous speaking to our 150 people because I know my words mean so much.”
  • Roots in “friction fighting”—spotting pain points—and in finding the story in everything.

• Key Anecdote: Russell Wilson in Gastonia (68:12)

  • Wilson went out of his way at 22 to high-five every kid before the game—a lesson in going above expectations for the fan.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Ideas are more valuable than anything. Whatever’s normal, do the exact opposite.” (Jesse Cole, 00:11 & 09:10)
• “I believe attention beats marketing 1000% of the time. You gotta create attention first.” (Jesse Cole, 22:19)
• “When you give up control, you lose more fans than you realize.” (Jesse Cole, 43:01)
• “You can’t be afraid of failing. Every night, we do 10 to 15 promotions we’ve never done in front of a live crowd.” (Jesse Cole, 53:24)
• “I chase moments...You get to feel alive.” (Jesse Cole, 33:41)
• “Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.” (John Wesley, cited by Sam Parr, 69:23)
• “Just post every day...Make baseball fun.” (Jesse Cole, 53:00)

Structurally Important Segments & Timestamps

• Jesse’s journey from Gastonia, early ideas (03:02 – 11:00)
• Savannah Bananas launch, rock bottom, breakthrough (17:00 – 22:30)
• Principles, process, idea generation (24:27 – 31:04)
• World-building and controlling the experience (38:39 – 45:28)
• Handling growth metrics and operational headaches (46:38 – 57:15)
• Culture, talent, internal processes (59:22 – 62:47)
• Fans First speeches, storytelling, legacy (66:26 – end)

Final Reflections

This episode is a masterclass in how entertainment, radical differentiation, and unwavering focus on the customer can transform even the most unlikely venture into a cultural and financial powerhouse. Jesse Cole’s willingness to “do the opposite," his obsession with experience design and fan delight, and his methodical creativity offer a playbook for any founder. His story proves that attention is the ultimate currency—and that the best business empires, even in baseball, are built on joy, risk, and bold world-building.

Listen if you want:

• Proven frameworks for innovation in boring markets
• How to turn setbacks into advantage
• The power of storytelling and culture in building brands
• Entrepreneurial endurance: weathering rock bottom to reach "escape velocity"

Want More?

See the Bananas in action, or learn “banana ball” rules:
Check their social media or wait for tickets (if you can get one!)
For business lessons, Jesse’s books, documentaries, and speaking gigs are referenced throughout.