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Factor: Entrepreneurship
Gary Erickson was a very outdoorsy person. He loved bikes, worked in a bike shop, running, and rock climbing. One day in 1990, after going on an 175 mile bike ride up a mountain with 6 Power Bars (the only energy bar at the time), he decided he could make something much better.

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Factor: Land
After his bike ride, he went home and asked his mom to help him make a bar similar to her cookies, without butter, sugar, or oil. With his grandma and mom's baking experience, they were able to make samples of lots of different bars. They used whole oats, real fruit, sweetener made from rice.

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Factor: Labor
Gary Erickson came up with the idea to produce a new energy bar. His mom and grandma helped create the recipe with their baking experience. Doug Gilmore, a friend from racing who he helped with some advertising, helped create the logo on the front of the bar and box. He had his friends secretly try his sample bars to get the recipe right. Later in the company, he hired a partner who he had a 50-50 split with. He also hired an investment banker to help sell the company.

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Factor: Capital
The early production of Clif Bar took place in his kitchen and his grandma's bakery, Callie's Sweets and Savories. After his levels of production outgrew the small bakery, he moved to a bakery down the street that he leveraged paying only bit by bit. His father also gave him a loan for $20,000.

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With Power Bar being the only energy on the market, and not very good, people had negative reactions when asked to try Clif Bar. Gary Erickson would go bike races and running races and just start handing them out. Many people didn't want to try but realized it was actually good. They ran one add challenging Power Bar in a bicycling magazine, "It's your body, you decide" and showing the ingredients comparing the two. They got sued immediately but their insurance picked up the costs.

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Gary Erickson admitted he got caught up in a handshake deal with a distributor in the early 90's, wanting to avoid corporate council due to the high costs. When they weren't performing how they agreed to, Erickson cancelled their quote contract. They came back and sued Clif Bar for ownership. They went to court, settled, it cost a lot of money, and he almost lost the company.

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In 2008, about 8 years into the company, there have been many companies entering the market and Clif Bar is getting approached by many businesses. They got an offer from Quaker Oats for $120 million with Clif Bar only having $40 million in sales. Accepting the offer would leave Gary and his partner with $60 million each. They had the deal pretty much done and with his partner on the phone with their investment banker, a rep from Quaker Oats, and their lawyers, Gary said he needed a walk around the block. For the last few months he hasn't been himself; and the thought of selling the company he made, making the bars with his family, and naming it after his dad; made him sick. He decided last minute he wasn't going to sell and told his partner. She wanted out and after 7 months of negotiations, they decided to pay her off the $60 million. It took 9 years to pay off the debt and many people thought we wouldn't make it, but he did.