While beer is one of those things you think of when you think of startups (at least I do), very few people put brewery startup and tech startup in the same bucket. However, a former techie himself, Erik has ripped several pages out of the tech startup playbook to get Mystery off the ground and into reality.
His Kickstarter campaign, one of the very first big money raisers and, at the time, the largest-ever raise for a brewery, was executed perfectly, hitting the goal with days to spare. Along with that, he sought out an additional $250K in private seed money to get into the building and into bars across the state.
His web and social media presence are spot on, and he uses them to sell the beer and the brand like any tech company might use them to sell an app. And his marketing is nothing short of genius, from the ornately carved tap handles to his blogging and constant presence in the beer and startup ecosystems.
But the reason I’m behind him isn’t because he’s my friend. Believe me, I’ve got plenty of friends who have started shitty businesses. It’s because he’s very, very good at what he does, which is make beer.
And that’s not the only thing. I know a lot of entrepreneurs with a great product, a lot more who are marketing geniuses, plenty who can execute, a bunch who can sell, and even more who think nothing of taking big risks like quitting a job to go out on their own.
It’s when you put all of these together that you get a truly great entrepreneur, and that’s why I’ve always backed Erik.
Watch the show and you’ll see what I see.
