In the summer of 1982, thirty-six-year-old Austrian toothpaste salesman Dietrich Mateschitz boarded a plane for a routine business trip to Thailand. There was nothing about Mateschitz at the moment that would have tipped you off that he was about to make a discovery that would make him one of the world’s wealthiest men and create a new kind of company that conveys its story in a new way — through actions and experiences.

The odd fact is that if Mateschitz hadn’t arrived in Thailand suffering from terrible jet lag, he might still be a toothpaste salesman today. But as luck would have it, Mateschitz did arrive jet-lagged. Some locals took pity on him and directed him to a store where he was told to ask for an exotic-sounding tonic called Krating Daeng. Mateschitz learned that in addition to being an excellent remedy for jet lag, Krating Daeng was also prized by locals for its ability to increase physical endurance and mental concentration.

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