Jim Koch was a successful consultant, but he wasn’t happy. He wanted to start his own business. Koch’s father and grandfather were brew-masters. So Koch quit his job and decided to start a brewery back in the early 1980s. Everyone told Koch he was crazy and would fail. Koch ignored all this negative advice and built a craft beer called Sam Adams. And now, decades later, Koch owns a billion dollar company. I found Jim Koch’s story moving and inspiring. The details of Koch building his business and dealing with problems hold lessons for those who want to start their own businesses. I’m going to use Quench Your Own Thirst in my ENTREPRENEURSHIP class this Fall Semester. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction
PART I: Mashing
1. Blow It Up
2. Turn Your Receiver On
3. Open Yourself to “Holy Shit”
4. Make It Better or Cheaper
5. Do the Math
6. Avoid “Smart” Investors
7. Look Hard for Talent. Then Look Again
8. The Best Marketing Plan Ever
9. Find Your Yoda
10. Sacred Cod Boston Lager?
11. The Difference Between Sex and Masturbation
PART II: Boiling And Cooling
12. String Theory
13. “I Make My Money When I Buy the Goods”
14. The Strength of the Weak
15. The Golden Rule of Selling
16. My Best Sales Call of All Time
17. You Can’t Hear with Someone Else’s Ears
18. You Don’t Climb a Mountain to Get to the Middle
19. Give Them Something to Talk About
20. When You’re Right, Push It
21. Take the Giant Turds in Stride
PART III: Fermenting
22. Grow Skinny
23. If You’re Not the Lead Dog, the Scenery Never Changes
24. Launch Your Long Shots
25. There’s No Pretending About Quality
26. The Most Expensive Education You’ll Ever Get
27. We Take Beer Seriously, but Not Ourselves
28. The CEO Flies Coach
29. The “Fuck You” Rule
30. Always Raise the Average
31. Make Your Public Offering Public
32. Learn to Take a Punch
PART IV: Maturation
33. Grow When You’re Not Growing
34. Endure the Endings
35. Mind Your Protection
36. If the Sun Is Shining, Look Out for an Avalanche
37. The Recall: Our Best Crisis Ever
38. Let Helga Do the Talking
PART V: Packaging
39. Practice Fingerspitzengefu¨hl
40. Stop Painting and Start Partnering
41. Welcome the Dude with the Gold-Painted Toenails
42. Quench Your Own Thirst
Acknowledgments
Jim’s Bookshelf
Notes
Index
Well, Sam Adams has certainly done well. I’ve had it a number of times and it is pretty good, certainly miles above Bud.
Jeff, you touched on why Jim Koch started his own brewery. Koch couldn’t stand the American beers and considered the imported beers sub-standard and expensive. QUENCH YOUR OWN THIRST is a terrific story of a guy who overcame the odds to produce a great product and build a great business. I’m sure this book will resonate with my students this Fall Semester.
Am I wrong or was Samuel Adams purchased by one of the big breweries? I thought there was some brew-ha-ha (see what I did there?) a few years back about what qualifies as “artisanal beer” but not a beer drinker, so I could be misremembering.
Deb, I’m pretty sure Samuel Adams is still an independent brewery. Like you, I’m not a beer drinker so the difference between “craft beer” and “artisanal beer” escapes me. I’m a sweet red wine guy.
I’m not a beer drinker, but I’ve heard good things about Sam Adams. Here in San Diego, we’ve got lots of micro breweries. Once a year, one of the free local newsmagazines does a beer issue. One of them, Stone I believe, has even opened up in Germany. It’s a big business here and I’m guessing all over. But it’s all lost on me.
I don’t remember hearing that S. Adams was bought by a big brewery, but by the time I saw their ads, I wondered if they weren’t (at least in size) a big one. There was an article someplace that I skimmed about how the small places need to sell but not sell out.
Maggie, I have plenty of friends who are fond of Samuel Adams beer. It’s pricey, but worth it according to them.
I believe they are still independent, in fact have bought some smaller companies.
Maggie, craft beers are very big here too. They have annual festivals and things. Brooklyn was the home of many breweries in the old day, started by German immigrants, and there are a lot of new start-ups here these days too (like the Brooklyn Brewery). Schaefer was here before it was bought by Stroh’s, and in turn Pabst, and moved to Milwaukee. Rheingold was another (remember Miss Theingold?). So was Piels.
Before Prohibition there were 70 breweries in New York. Afterwards there were 23, including 12 in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. The last closed in 1970.
Jeff, we have a couple of bars here that feature over a 100 different beers. Microbrewing is very popular. The only beer I like is root beer. Occasionally, I’ll try a birch beer.
I’m with you George, i like root beer albertsons has a great diet one Teddy’s. it says on the label handcrafted, and is from everett wash. and it’s caffeine free!! I’ve had birch beer, but rarely see it. Since I’m cutting back on caffeine, I’m always searching for diet caffeine free drinks. Sadly a lot of the sparkling ones have tea extract.
Maggie, it’s hard to find birch beer around here. I’ll have to track down the root beer you recommended. Our stores carry Stewart’s Root Beer which good, but not great.
To my taste buds, Samuel Adams is a little heavy and bitter, but I know people who like it. But then most IPAs are a bit bitter.
There are hundreds of craft breweries here in Portland, there are festivals galore. Beer brewing and craft beer drinking is a huge thing here. When I was a drinker, (I still have a couple of beers in the hottest days of Summer) it was usually beer, usually Mexican beer, such as Pacifica. The most important thing for me, is that the beer be ice cold.
Rick, Western NY has plenty of “craft” beers, too. I’m not a beer drinker so it’s wasted on me. But the growing number shows there is a market for “exclusive” beers.
I’ve yet to find a craft beer I like, and there are a million small brewers in this area! They’re all too bitter! I don’t drink beer much but when I do I like MGD or Coors!
Bob, I found “regular” beer bitter (when I drank it as a college student). I can’t imagine the bitterness of these “craft” beers. Yuck!
Craft beers are on every block here. No more of the swill I grew up on. Not that I was ever a beer drinker.
Patti, a friend of mine ordered a “strawberry” beer in a local restaurant. That just seems wrong to me.