3 Brilliant Lessons About Entrepreneurship I Learned by Attending a Savannah Bananas Baseball Game

The viral TikTok sensation took the field in my hometown, and I was there to see one of sports’ most innovative entrepreneurs in action.

Aaron Dinin, PhD
6 min readJul 20, 2023

--

The author, Aaron Dinin, snaps a selfie with Savanah Bananas owner Jesse Cole.

If you’ve spent even a few hours on social media in the past couple of years, you’ve surely encountered the Savannah Bananas. They’re the minor league baseball team that wears blindingly yellow uniforms and does coordinated TikTok dances during games. While I’m sure the ghost of Abner Doubleday is rolling over in his imaginary Cooperstown grave, I’d argue the Bananas have infused baseball with some much-needed levity.

In case you haven’t heard the Bananas’ origin story, it’s worth a Google. Owner/operator Jesse Cole and his wife, Emily, foolishly decided that buying a minor league baseball team in Savannah, Georgia was going to be their ticket to wealth and happiness. To be fair, I suppose it ultimately was their ticket to wealth and happiness, but only after mortgaging their house, going into debt for a million dollars, and having to sleep on air mattresses.

Despite those struggles, the Coles eventually realized that success as a minor league baseball franchise didn’t have to mean desperately suckling at…

--

--

Aaron Dinin, PhD

I teach entrepreneurship at Duke. Software Engineer. PhD in English. I write about the mistakes entrepreneurs make since I’ve made plenty. More @ aarondinin.com