Bill Shufelt was a hedge fund analyst who didn't drink, couldn't find a non-alcoholic beer worth ordering, and one night his wife spun him around on a sidewalk and told him to do something about it. Eight years later, Athletic Brewing has 300 employees, four breweries, over a million barrels of capacity, and has almost single-handedly turned non-alcoholic beer from a stigmatized afterthought into 20% of all beer at Whole Foods.

In this conversation, Bill walks through the full journey: the two years of research before he quit his job, the valley of darkness where no brewery, distributor, or investor would take his calls, finding his co-founder John Walker through a brewing forum post (with the words "non-alcoholic" deliberately removed), and the grassroots field marketing strategy that built the brand one race, one taproom, and one six-pack at a time. He also gets into the competitive explosion that followed, why he views 200 brands entering his category as a positive, and what it's like to redefine success once the business reaches cruising altitude.

If you've ever looked at a category and thought "why hasn't anyone fixed this yet", this is the episode that shows you what happens when someone actually does.

Show Notes:

Popfly For Brands

Popfly For Creators

Bill Shufelt on LinkedIn

Athletic Brewing

John Walker on LinkedIn

1000 True Fans (Article)

Do Things That Don't Scale (Article)

Two For The Trails

What It Takes (Book)

The Obstacle Is The Way (Book)

BPC - Brand, Product, Content:

Dirt - Ireland

Gramicci

Hopa Hopa Climbing Wall

Kawa

Raide Research - LF 5L Vest

The Modern Substitute

Kids Ride Shotgun

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