And there are many more deals to be done: Arnold likes to remind potential partners that 21 billion large fountain drinks will be sold in the U.S. this year.

FORBES: Pop Music

Consumers, too, need to become more confident about their own likes and dislikes in order to push bartenders to make better-tasting drinks.

FORBES: Spirits

Carter once requested that a video made by his son be removed from the site. (Denton, who likes to be perceived as unswayable, briefly de-listed the post from search engines.) Denton occasionally has drinks with Andersen, who is now a novelist and radio host, and once personally invited him to become a Gawker commenter under his own name.

NEWYORKER: Search and Destroy