Feb 27, 2018
In my travels, I meet a lot of entrepreneurs that claim to have an idea that is going to totally disrupt their category. Sadly, it's rarely the case — sorry, but it's true. But then I met Henry Schwartz, one of the Founders of MobCraft Beer. Their entire business model is disruptive. He popped by Inside LaunchStreet to talk about how putting the customer in the driver seat has been the secret sauce to their success and how to transform experimentation from something you fear to a part of your business model.
Key Takeaways:
[1:56] You may be surprised to learn that Henry once had dreadlocks and backpacked to 37 countries before he graduated college. Listen in as Henry talks about pairing his passion to skateboarding. He opened his first store at age 15.
[5:29] Henry lives by the tagline, we turn ideas into beer. People submit flavor ideas, an election is held, and then the flavor winner comes and helps to produce the winning beer. The entire process is crowdsourced. Each beer is crowdfunded.
[8:15] Listen in to find out what lessons Henry has learned along his journey.
[9:42] MobCraft’s unique distribution model has helped to contribute to their success. They have learned to market the product in many different ways. MobCraft is celebrating their 50th month of crowdsourced beers!
[11:48] Find out how the king of fruit, that tastes like heaven but smells like hell, became durian beer, a sweet mango, custard beer.
[13:46] How does Henry view experimentation, failure, and risk? MobCraft scales down their recipe until they ensure that it’s the perfect batch. Tamara advises LaunchStreeters to batch out your innovation and test small experimentations.
[16:53] Disruptive innovation requires that you pivot. It’s really easy to get comfortable. Agility, and thinking inside the box helps you to make decisions. Tamara likes to think of it as rearranging the box.
[18:37] Henry took the Innovation Quotient Edge Assessment and his innovator archetype is imaginative futuristic. The imaginative edge helps Henry to see innovation in blank spaces and to create new novel approaches. The Futuristic edge enables him to pivot, be adaptable and see into the future.
[21:17] MobCraft’s success in disrupting innovation is due to the fact that Henry is always thinking about the next thing. Tamara talks about the importance of the team. It helps you to balance and determine what sequence to follow. She cautions about following your competitor and the importance of owning your own space.
[23:26] Henry talks about swimming with the sharks in the Shark Tank! Find out what he took away from this experience.
[26:57] Tamara loves that MobCraft is an experience from start to finish. Henry shares a story about a phone call from a fan in Florida.
[29:12] How does having excited, wide-eyed customers visit the brewery help your team to stay motivated? The consumer is in the driver’s seat experiencing direct emotional connections.
[31:19] Henry looks for feedback for both personal preference and quality issues. He cautions to dig deeper and get accurate feedback for your product.
[32:53] Connect with Henry on Twitter, Instagram, and henry@mobcraftbeer.com. Vote on the next flavor of beer at MobCraft Beer.
[33:48] Henry tells Launchstreeters the way to disrupt innovation is to do the thing that makes you afraid.
[34:25] Tamara asks listeners how they can rise above the noise. You must be in a space that is defendable and ownable. Check out the Innovation on Demand Courses and Packages to help get you on the right track.
If you are ready to:
get buy-in from key decision makers on your next big idea
be a high-impact, high-value member that ignites change
foster a culture of innovation where everyone on your team is bringing innovative ideas that tackle challenges and seize opportunities...
Join us on LaunchStreet — gotolaunchstreet.com
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