发信人: confi(皓)
整理人: fredrink(2001-02-07 19:28:39), 站内信件
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The Brewer's Son
How a highly successful entrepreneur found his destiny
By Jim Koch
When I was a teenager, my dad did everything he could to dissuade=
me from becoming a brewer. He'd spent his life brewing beer for=
local breweries, barely making a living, as had his father and=
grandfather before him. He didn't want me anywhere near a vat of=
beer.
So I did as he asked. I got good grades,went to Harvard and in=
1971 was accepted into a graduate program there that allowed me=
to study law and business simultaneously.
In my second year of grad school, I had something of an epiphany=
I've never done anything but go to school, I thought, and I'm=
getting pressured to make a career choice fo rthe rest of my=
life. That's stupid. The future was closing in on me a lot=
earlier than I wanted.
So, at 24, I decided to rop out. Obviously, my parents didn't=
think this was a great idea. But I felt strongly that you can't=
wait till you're 65 to do what you want in life. You have to go=
for it.
I packed my stuff into a U-Haul and headed to Colorado to become=
an instructor at Outward Bound (outdoors activities), the=
wilderness-education program. The job was a good fit for me.=
Heavily into mountaineering and rock climbing, I lived and=
climbed everywhere ,from crags outside Seattle to volcanoes in=
Mexico.
I never regretted taking time to "find myself". I think we'd all=
be a lot better off if we could take off five years in our 20s=
to decide what we want to do for the rest of our lives. Othewise=
we're going to be making other people's choices, not our own.
After 3-1/2 years with Outward Bound, I was ready to go back to=
school. I finished Harvard and got a highly paid job at the=
Boston Consulting Group, a think tank and business-consulting=
firm. Still, after working there five years, I was haunted by=
doubt. Is this what I want to be doing when I'm 50?
I remembered that some time before, my dad had been cleaning out=
the attic and came across some old beer recipes on scraps of=
yellow paper. "Today's beer is basically water that can hold a=
head," he'd told me.
I agreed. If you didn't like the mass-produce American stuff, the=
other choices were imports that were often stale. Americans pay=
good money for inferior beer, I thought. Why not make good beer=
for Americans right here in America?
I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. When I told Dad, I=
was hoping he'd put his arm around me and get misty about=
reviving tradition. Instead he said,"Jim, that is the dumbest=
thing I've ever hear!"
As much as Dad objected, in the end he supported me: he became my=
new company's first investor, coughing up $40,000 when I opened=
the Boston Beer Company in 1984. I plunked down $100,000 of my=
savings and raised another $100,000 from friends and relatives.=
Going from my fancy office to being a brewer was like mountain=
climbing: exhilarating, liberating and frightening. All my=
safety nets were gone.
Once the beer was made, I faced my biggest hurdle yet: getting it=
into beer drinkers' hands. Distributors all said the same=
thing:"Your beer is too expensive; no one has ever heard of=
you." So I figured I had to create a recognizable and elegant,=
so I called my beer Samuel Adams, after the brewer and patriot=
who helped to instigate the Boston Tea Party.
The only way to get the word out, I realized, was to sell direct.=
I filled my leather briefcase with beer and cold packs, put on=
my best power suit and hit the bars.
Most bartendders thought I was from the IRS. But once I opened=
the briefcase, they paid attention. After I told the first guy=
my story -- how I wanted to start this little brewery in Boston=
with my dad's family recipe -- he said, "Kid, I liked your=
story. But I didn't think the beer would be this good." What a=
great moment.
Six weeks later, at the Great American Beer Festival, Sam Adams=
Boston Lager won the top prize for American beer. The rest is=
history. It wasn't supposed to work out this way -- what ever=
does? -- but in the end I was destined to be a brewer.
My advice to all young entrepreneurs is simple: life is very=
long, so don't rush to make decisions. Life doesn't let you=
plan.
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