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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Business Wars ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. It's January 2, 2017. At the offices of the investment firm Point72 in Stamford, Connecticut, Bill Shufelt pulls up a chair in a glass-walled meeting room.
Shufelt has the broad frame of a former college football star and is seen as confident and outgoing, the kind of guy who winds up the center of attention at corporate events and parties. But today, he's full of nervous energy. He has a big announcement to make, and he's not sure how it will go down.
Shufelt's boss stands at the front of the room to kick off the team's first meeting of the new year. All right, everyone, welcome back. Hope you all had some good time off, didn't hit the eggnog too hard. Anyone have any major epiphanies over the break?
The room chuckles, and for a second, Shufelt considers letting the moment pass because once he says what he's about to say, there's no taking it back. But then he raises his hand. Actually, I do. Everyone turns to face him. Shufelt takes a deep breath, then says the most important words of his career. I didn't want you to all hear this from HR, but I gave my notice this morning.
I'm leaving the company. What?
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Chapter 2: What motivated Bill Shufelt to leave his finance career?
What's this about? You're kidding me. Shufelt is leaving? Shufelt has been with Point72 for six years, focusing on healthcare stocks and doing well. His boss tries to keep his composure. Well, we'll be sorry to lose you, Bill. Mind if I ask where you're heading? Those cowboys at Citadel aren't stealing you, are they?
Shufelt shakes his head, then steals his nerves and finally shares the idea that's been burning inside him. No, I'm going out on my own. I'm going to start a brewery that makes non-alcoholic beer.
What's that about?
You've got to be kidding me. It takes a moment for the other traders to realize this isn't some kind of post-Christmas joke. One of Shufelt's colleagues leans across the table. Wait, you're serious? I mean, it's great that you don't drink at all, but do you really think there's a market for no-alcohol beer? Most of that stuff tastes awful. Yes, exactly.
I've been researching it, and I think that's the problem. Most non-alcoholic beer is undrinkable. I'm going to change that. The colleague nods, still unconvinced. Well, have you talked to Jackie about this? Shufelt smiles. He understands the implication. He's about to walk away from a very healthy paycheck to sell a product that, as far as anyone in the room can tell, nobody really wants.
His colleagues asking him if his wife is truly okay with this decision. Shufelt looks his friend right in the eye, suddenly feeling much more certain. Jackie's the one who's making me do it. At the moment, Schufelt's plan sounds almost ridiculous. Because in 2017, non-alcoholic beer isn't a booming new category. It's a punchline.
The company that Schufelt's about to start will be called Athletic Brewing. And he's betting everything on his belief that millions of people want great beer without the buzz. But brewers have been chasing that idea for decades. So the real question is, What makes Shufelt think he's the one who can crack it?
Volkswagen.
From Audible Originals, I'm David Brown, and this is Business Wars. When Bill Shufelt walked away from a high-flying finance career to start brewing non-alcoholic beer, it sounded like madness. A business plan built around removing a product's main selling point?
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Bill face when starting Athletic Brewing?
The guy who asked for more wine catches this and looks over. Oh, no wine for you? Huh, what's the matter? You crashed your car or something? The joke lands with a dull thud. Despite himself, Shufelt feels his face flush with irritation. Nah, I just have a busy day tomorrow. Besides, too much alcohol affects my ultramarathon times.
The slight awkwardness of the moment is smoothed over when the waiter returns with a bottle of Barolo and Shufelt's soda. But Shufelt can't shake his annoyance. Not only has he been singled out for not drinking, but as he looks down at the $200 tomahawk steak in front of him… He suddenly feels foolish for having to pair it with a Diet Coke.
This is his second soda of the evening and the artificial sweetness is beginning to taste sickly in his mouth. Ordering soft drinks in a nice restaurant always makes him feel like a six-year-old sitting at the grown-ups table. Still, he doesn't want to let his irritation show, so he keeps his expression neutral, takes a bite of steak, and returns to the conversation buzzing around him.
But that frustration lingers in the back of his mind. It's 2014, and Shufelt and his wife Jackie are walking along a Caribbean beach as the sun sets. They've had the perfect vacation day, swimming in the sea and relaxing on the white sand. And now they're looking forward to dinner.
So, what do you think? Shall we head back to the hotel, or we could try the Crab Shock? It's supposed to have the best seafood on the bay.
Shufelt doesn't answer. Instead, he stares out over the waves, clearly somewhere else in his head.
Bill, you there?
Huh? Oh, sorry. Yeah, let's go for the seafood, I guess.
You okay? What's going on?
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Chapter 4: How did Bill's personal experiences influence his business vision?
As he stares at the data on his laptop screen, Shufelt feels a wave of excitement wash over him. Because for the first time... The idea that began as a casual complaint on a beach vacation is starting to look like something bigger. Maybe even a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It's New Year's Day, 2017, more than two years after Shufelt and Jackie's Caribbean vacation.
Since then, Shufelt has become a man possessed. Every spare moment has been devoted to investigating what it will take to make a high quality non-alcoholic beer and how it might transform the entire sector so that not drinking is no longer a source of stigma, but instead a healthy, positive lifestyle choice.
That evening, he sits down with his wife and makes his pitch, outlining the huge gap he sees in the market that's just waiting to be filled. Jackie listens carefully and then gives him the same answer she gave him on the beach. Go for it. But Shufelt wants to be clear with her about what that really means. This is not a side hustle.
It'll mean quitting his job, walking away from his Wall Street salary, and risking everything they have. And there's another complication. He's never brewed beer before, not even with a home brewing kit. Now he's talking about setting up a commercial brewery to make a product that for all he knows might not even be possible to make. Once again, Jackie tells him to go for it.
She doesn't want to be sitting here in 20 years listening to how he never followed his dreams and wondering what would have happened if he tried. For a moment, Shufelt feels almost overwhelmed by the depth of his wife's unconditional support and belief in him.
He embraces her, knowing that the next day he's going to walk into work, quit his job, and throw everything at a new adventure that could make or break his family's future.
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I'm Leon Nafok, best known as the host and co-creator of podcasts Slow Burn, Fiasco, and Think Twice, Michael Jackson. I'm here to tell you about my show, Final Thoughts, Jerry Springer, whose name is synonymous with outrageous guests, taboo confessions, and vicious onstage fights.
But before The Jerry Springer Show became a symbol of cultural decline, its namesake was a popular Midwestern politician and a serious-minded idealist with lofty ambitions. Through dozens of intimate and revealing interviews with those who knew Springer best, I examined Springer's lifelong struggle to reconcile his TV persona with his political dreams and aspirations.
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Chapter 5: What market research did Bill conduct for non-alcoholic beer?
One thing experienced founders learn is that you don't always need to dominate a market to build a huge business. Non-alcoholic beer barely registers in the current market, but Shufelt isn't pitching that market. He's pitching the whole U.S. beer industry. You capture even 1% of that, and you've got a massive company.
It's Sunday, two days later, and Shufelt is still at his computer, having worked through the weekend. A new email flashes up on his screen. It's from John Walker. Shufelt steadies himself, because it feels like everything is riding on what comes next. He clicks it open. Hi Bill, I was gonna say no, but I see it.
It sounds like such a fun, innovative challenge, and it seems like a wide open area with positive impact. Shufeld jumps up from his chair and shouts in triumph. For the first time since quitting his job, something has finally gone his way. Several months later, Shufelt stands inside the makeshift brewing facility that Walker has set up in his parents' garage in Connecticut.
The smell of hops fills the air. After their call, Walker moved his entire family from New Mexico to Connecticut, where Shufelt lives. The two of them have been experimenting with no alcohol brews ever since. From the start, Shufelt and Walker made one absolute commitment to themselves. They would never, ever compromise on taste or quality.
Instead of boiling or filtering out the alcohol from standard beer, they would find a way to brew beer without alcohol. They started from scratch, methodically tweaking each element of grains, sugars, temperature, and acidity levels until they figured out what worked. But that commitment has meant a long, slow process and a lot of disappointments along the way.
Walker stands in front of a five-gallon Gatorade jug that contains his latest experiment. He pours a glass for Shufelt and himself. The two clink glasses, and each take a swig. And then they grimace. The brew is sour, tangy, and vile. It's an improvement on some of their past disasters, but it's nowhere near the quality they're both aiming for.
Shufelt forces a smile as he dumps the rest of his glass into the sink. He jokes that it still needs a little work. But beneath his forced humor, Shufelt feels a rising panic. When Walker moved across the country to join him, he had set out to raise $3 million in initial funding for this project. Compared to the sums he used to deal with trading healthcare stocks, it's a tiny amount.
But so far, investors have reacted in the exact same way as the contract breweries did. They take one look at the tiny size of the alcohol-free beer market and walk away. The pitches are made even harder by the fact that Shufelt doesn't have a sample product for them to taste. He and Walker believe it's possible to create a great zero alcohol craft beer. The thing is, they can't prove it yet.
Meanwhile, Shufelt is burning through his family's savings. If they don't get a breakthrough soon, he's going to be in real trouble. Later that year, Shufelt is sitting at his kitchen table with his head in his hands. Jackie watches quietly as her husband explains just how badly the business is going.
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Chapter 6: How did Bill convince investors to support his brewery?
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