How a summer job grew into an ice cream empire, with CEO Ben Van Leeuwen

In this episode of Masters of Scale, host Jeff Berman interviews Ben Van Leeuwen, the CEO and co-founder of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, about his journey building the company. Van Leeuwen discusses his early entrepreneurial drive, inspired by his father and a formative summer job driving an ice cream truck. He recounts his decision to travel instead of pursuing a traditional career path, which led to a passion for high-quality ingredients. Van Leeuwen shares the challenges of starting the business with limited capital, the importance of saying yes to opportunities, and the unexpected success of collaborations like the Kraft Mac and Cheese ice cream. He also touches on maintaining a strong co-founder relationship with his ex-wife and the company's plans for future growth and innovation, including international expansion and the launch of a Flavor Lab.