Why Ben Kander of Welly Bottles is the Nicest Founder I've Ever Met

With Welly, we came for how great the water bottle is, but we stayed because of how great the team is.  Ben (the founder) is the type of person that immediately makes you feel like you've known him for 10 years. He feels like the kind of guy that invites strangers to Thanksgiving or fosters two-legged dogs, just a really nice person.

Ben named the brand after his mom, Elly, and she lives on through Welly's mission.  They're a small team just trying to piece it together like the rest of us in what will certainly be remembered as the weirdest time of our lives. They also clearly understand that access to things like clean water is the basis for the type of dignity that actual equity is built on.  Most product brands toss on this type of thing because they don't really understand it, but feel like it's something they should do.  It was clear to me from the first 10 minutes of my first conversation with Ben that the Welly team started with the mission, and then figured out how to deliver a really amazing, functional, sustainable, beautifully-designed product around it.

So, with that in mind....this thing keeps my coffee HOT, which is clutch for a dad with one year-old and "2020 COVID work-from-home means I'm kind of working from 6am to 9pm but also doom scrolling Twitter every 20 minutes". It's great looking, and it fits well in my bag, of course. At this point, we're a little biased, but I highly reccommend.

I love interviewing founders about why they started their companies and where they're headed, but I really loved getting to know Ben.  I hope they're Pocket Partners for a long, long time. Check out my interview with Ben Kander below.