A Day in the Life of Manoj Bhargava by Silvanie Gilbert
What would you say if I told you about a man worth over 4 billion dollars? What would you think he does with his money? What would you say if I told you he gives 99% of it away? Manoj Bhargava is the founder and owner of Innovations Ventures LLC, The company that produces the 5-hour Energy drink. Although the success of this product on its own is amazing, the man behind it is himself remarkable. A day in the life of this particular billionaire is certainly a day worth witnessing.
Living Essentials LLC, 5 Hour Energy, is located on 25 acres of land in Farmington Hills, Michigan. There are 10 buildings that make up the company, but one building (10%) is dedicated to something else. This is where the wealth of a billionaire is put to use through the heart of its servant leader. Stage Two, as it’s called, is the building dedicated solely to the business of invention. This “invention shop” is tasked with a simple goal, to “deliver innovations which can directly impact humanity”. They focus on solutions to problems facing 50% of the world’s population, the poorest among us. The focus areas are electrical power, clean water, and health solutions.
So who are the inventors in the shop? You would think they’d be top experts in engineering, or top graduates at MIT. But instead, Manoj has filled his invention shop with those he calls “Tinkerer’s”; regular people who are always building things. One such engineer was hired because he built a nail gun-powered pogo stick. The job at hand, according to Manoj, is too big for “experts”. Experts only know about things that have already been done, he says. He needs people with the vision to do the things that still need to be done. Manoj tells his people, “If it doesn’t make us money, but it changes the lives of others, we’re still going to do it”. His only requirement is “if it’s not going to make a big impact, don’t build it”. The challenge to his employees is simply, “If you want to do something to make a difference in the lives of the poor half of this world, then be here”.
One of those life-changing inventions is called The Free Electric. This hybrid cycle, when peddled for 1 hour a day, produces 24 hours of pollution-free electrical power. That’s right, zero CO2 emissions, leaving the only side effect to be improved strength and wellness for the one-hour rider each day.
There are other inventions too, like “The Rainmaker” which turns ocean water or dirty water into clean water for drinking, agriculture, or industrial applications. It does not require any operational support, has no consumable parts that go bad, recycles its energy, and reuses it to produce a thousand gallons of near pharmaceutical-grade clean water per hour.
In an effort to impact health, The ECP Project, called “Renew”, is a portable device that helps people avoid illness, namely vascular and heart problems. It offers a solution to health by treating not just the sick, but even people still in good health. Simply put, it improves circulation in a revolutionary way. It treats wellness in hopes of avoiding illness long term. This simple approach ( pumping blood through the body through compression) is a proven solution for the poor by helping to avoid the need for expensive medical care, surgery, and recovery in the future.
When asked the question, what is an entrepreneur? Manoj Bhargava responds, “entrepreneurship is common sense and a sense of urgency”. He is just one man but with enough heart for millions. At the core of his motivation is a familiar challenge; To whom much is given, much will be required (Luke 12:48). A day in the life of Manoj Bhargava potentially serves billions. What a day worth living!
