I spent a fascinating week learning about two of the hottest investment and business opportunity spaces right now. The block chain, crypto and initial coin offerings (ICOs), and the cannabis industry are literally on fire. Given this, I wanted to get an understanding of what’s really happening. I’ve been following the development of the block chain/coin movement along with the emergence of the legal cannabis business as these both are displaying signs of developments that may cause massive disruption (and therefore potentially big opportunities). Venture capitalist Tim Draper has been an outspoken proponent of the block chain and crypto offerings (see Exclusive: Billionaire investor Draper to participate in blockchain token sale for first time), while Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase has been dismissive (see CNBC).
Constellation Brands (STZ-B) announced recently that it had agreed to take a 9.9% minority stake in the $2 billion Canadian medical marijuana company Canopy Growth. The stake is worth about $191 million, though Constellation will have the option of purchasing additional stakes in the future. This aggressive move marks a significant milestone with the first publicly traded US company making a material investment in the cannabis space. For the industry in which I have spent much of my business career — beverage alcohol (beer, spirits and wine), it’s also a taboo shattering wake up call. The financial community apparently agrees with the financial analysts, giving high marks for Constellation’s vision and the market supported it with a gain of over $1 billion in STZ’s market cap (essentially more than paying for the investment). Visiting Colorado frequently, I’ve seen how quickly the legal use of medical and recreational marijuana has ramped up with the state of CO taking in over $550 million in tax revenue as of July 2017.
To learn more about each of these rapidly developing industries and to test my hypothesis of potential disruption, I attended the StartEngine ICO 2.0 Summitin Santa Monica followed by the MJBizCon in Las Vegas which together gave me an interesting perspective. Here I will share some of my observations.
General Observations
First, I met a number of really smart people pursuing these industries with a wide range of business and investment strategies. I had the good fortune to join up at YPO meeting-in-meetings at both events and, as usual, learned a great deal from these informal gatherings and met some of the people leading the way in both industries. I cannot say enough good things about the YPO network and the ability to quickly get to the movers and shakers in any industry or geography, globally.
The hype around these industries surpasses the craft alcohol craze and matches Dot.com in 1997–2000. I know both of these booms well having participated by investing and starting my own DOT.Com eSkye.com raising over $55 million (Tim Draper’s Dad, Bill Draper, invested see Forbes) and my multiple ventures in the craft beverage space. The bright light inevitably attracts all kinds of people and as in both of these examples, there are a ton of people who have limited or no business skills coupled with business ideas/plans/ventures with little to no chance of scaling to success. The cannabis side has more similarities to craft beverages in that it appears that 95% of businesses currently in or entering the space are really “mom and pop†operations that are more lifestyle businesses than scalable enterprises. However, what is absolutely clear to me is that, this is changing rapidly with the addition of serious investors and business operators.
Block Chain — ICO What is it?
The technology of the block chain is real and big. I’m convinced over time, it will fundamentally change the financial side of all industries. This MIT Sloan article does a pretty good job of discussing the potential. Its potential is hard to overestimate but not without controversy. See John Battelle’s discussion of it here Alien, Dismissible, Dangerous, Greedy, True and the fights going on inside Venture Capital firms here CRYPTOCURRENCY MANIA FUELS HYPE AND FEAR AT VENTURE FIRMS .
For my non-technical friends, I’ll try to define it here in my own way. For my expert friends, let me know what I get wrong as I’m still learning. The best simple explanation I’ve found so far is A Blockchain Explanation Your Parents Could Understand. Essentially, instead of a central party (think a bank) keeping track of everyone’s money and transactions with each other, the record keeping takes place in public (without revealing names) with 1,000s or more independent operators verifying the information and agreeing on its accuracy before securing it. While banking and financial transactions are the first use, there are many other uses being worked on and many more to come.
The ICO “Initial Coin Offering†market is booming with new business ideas for the application of this technology. Over $2.8 billion has been raised using ICOs thus far in 2017. These have been unregulated and range from real businesses to potential frauds. The ICO 2.0 Summit put on by StartEngine was really about bringing the ICO market into the regulated security market in the US. It is clear to me, from the many presentations, that an offering for a coin to fund a venture is an offer for a security, and therefore falls under the SEC. There are many in the crypto world who dislike this and will fight it, but governments are not going to simply sit back and allow investments outside their mandated oversight just because they are called “coinsâ€. Given that, I agree with StartEngine’s CEO Howard Marks that the crowd funding Regulation A and also traditional Regulation D exemptions are the proper way to issue an ICO in the US.
He followed this with a very interesting fireside chat with Michael Jones CEO of Science who is serious about the space and currently has an ICO in the works.
We heard from 17 companies planning to do ICOs of some kind. Again, I can’t help but compare this to DOT.Com days as there were clearly real business ideas and teams and others that are simply slapping the ICO label on something that is really not well thought out. What was true back in 1997–2000 in DOT.Com is true today — there are and will be billions of dollars invested in the block chain space, some of it will go into real business ventures and some of it will go into not-so-serious business ventures. Sorting these out will not guarantee your investment is the next Google or Amazon, but is absolutely the key to avoiding almost certain failure.
Cannabis — Marijuana Industry — Where is it now and where is it going?
From a story in Fortune Magazine regarding Constellation’s investment — “The wines and spirits conglomerate has no intention of selling cannabis products in the U.S. until it is legal nationwide. But the company is betting that legalization is just a matter of time, according to the Journal. However, Constellation may soon sell the marijuana drink product in Canada, where legalization of edible and drinkable cannabis products is expected by 2019.
The move comes amid signs that suggest some consumers are reducing alcohol usage in favor of cannabis. “We believe alcohol could be under pressure for the next decade,†Cowen analysts led by Viven Azer wrote in an April note. “Consumer survey work suggests [about] 80% of consumers reduce their alcohol consumption with cannabis in the mix.â€â€™
Given the above, what is the current state of the legal cannabis industry and where is it going?
The legal industry today is estimated at $5–6 billion and expected to grow to $12–17 billion by 2021. While this is only a fraction of the US alcohol market which stands at $200+ billion today, it could take some of that business (especially in beer in my opinion). So it’s big already and its going to get much bigger quickly. State legalization started with medical use and they are rapidly adding recreational. Cassandra Farrington, CEO and Co-founder of Marijuana Business Daily who put on the conference gave a great presentation on the history of the industry. Basically, the timeline she presented is as follows:
· 1996 California passes first medical marijuana law
· 1998–2008 other states follow
· 2012 Colorado, Washington pass recreational cannabis laws
· 2014 OR, AK add recreational. Canada liberalization takes root.
· 2016 11 legalization ‘wins’ in the US — 4 medical and 4 recreational via ballots and 3 medical via legislative action. Importantly, CA adds recreational in January 2018
Here is a map showing the current state status:
Over ½ the US population lives in states with legal marijuana use — with 30 states + Washington DC allowing legal medical use and 8 states plus Washington DC allowing recreational use. That being said, it is still 100% illegal at the US federal level. This means there are significant risks and hurdles for investors and businesses who enter the space. Banking is very difficult as the national banks cannot conduct business in the space. Anyone contemplating investing in the space needs to be aware of these issues. In spite of these challenges and an uncertain regulatory environment, many investors and business owners are jumping in with both feet.
One of the best presentations I heard was by Patrick Rea, the managing director of Canopy, an early stage fund that has made more than 100 investments in the space. He breaks the business down into four investment buckets:
Public Stocks — these are the Canadian companies like the one Constellation invested in.
2. Real Estate — this is the buildings for dispensaries and the land for farms
3. Touch the Plant — these are the actual growing, processing and selling businesses
4. Ancillary Products & Services — these are all the things around the business from software to equipment to banking to marketing.
Canopy is focused on #4 exclusively but there are certainly opportunities in all of these.
From a branding and stage of industry development perspective this is literally a “green fieldâ€. I saw some interesting but nascent offerings given the time businesses have had to think about and try to develop brands. With new entrants, this will of course change, but right now I can’t help but think it is like the days when Sam Bronfman and Lewis Rosenteil were at the cusp of the repeal of Prohibition ready to launch Seagram’s and Shenley’s whiskies into the US respectively.
Where is this headed? It’s hard not to believe there will be continued legalization on a state by state basis. With the overwhelming majority of American’s viewing legal cannabis favorably, and importantly with the amount of tax revenue legal markets are bringing, other states will certainly follow to not get left out. Federally it will likely take longer, but like alcohol and the repeal of Prohibition, it will probably only happen if it is left up to the states to decide how their citizens want to allow cannabis regulation.
What’s clear to me is that there are huge opportunities in both these new industries. What is unclear is who will emerge as the big winners. I know from personal experience what being ahead of the market is like. The next few years will be like settling the wild west and a lot of entrepreneurial ventures will be created to try out different ideas in both cannabis and blockchain. I will come back to these topics as I learn more on both and please share any thoughts you may have. Cheers!
I had the opportunity to participate in Entrepreneurship @ Cornell last week. Besides it being enjoyable to get back to campus after a 15-year hiatus, I left feeling inspired by the people I met. This included my fellow speakers, attendees, the faculty and most importantly the Cornell students. Anyone worried about the state of America today and the next generation of leaders need only spend a week like mine to gain a renewed sense of optimism. More than anything, the drive to create new enterprises to solve new and old problems with innovative approaches and the sense that “no one can stop me†I got from so many individuals was gratifying. Cornell seems to be doing a better job than most university systems in coordinating across the various schools to support and encourage entrepreneurship. As Director of Entrepreneurship @ Cornell, Zach Shulman said, “I have 13 bosses. I report to all 13 Deans and they all support our activities.†The ability to cut across schools as diverse as Agricultural, Business, Hotel, Engineering, Industrial & Labor Relations, Law and support would be entrepreneurs regardless of their chosen field is powerful.
Jay Walker ‘77, a keynote and founder of Priceline.com and Walker Digital put the entrepreneurial bug in perspective by calling it a “diseaseâ€. Do you have it? If you do, you can’t get rid of it. He also made a great point that you don’t build a company with a group of people who ALL have the disease. That would not be successful. You need a team that can build processes, and get things done. That certainly fits my experience. As I said to some of the classes, we are glorifying the entrepreneur this week and it is a great thing. However, one does not build a business with all entrepreneurs. One builds a business with a team of people with complimentary skills and ability to execute. Every visionary who can articulate the future and see what no one else sees, needs someone pulling back asking the questions: that sounds great, but how do we DO that? What needs to be in place to make it work? What about these problems?  One must have a balance and the how do you actually do what is being proposed way of thinking is critical.
Jay went on to identify 10 ‘superforces’ – Jay Walker shares 10 ‘superforces’ of the business future. At the opening night banquet, the superstar Mayor of Ithaca, Svante Myrick addressed the group. Mayor Myrick is truly a remarkable leader. He called all entrepreneurs the “annoying†people without whom, nothing would change. When I commented to Jay Walker that I’d like to see Mayor Myrick in higher office, he said something with which I immediately agreed… “We need fresh leadership doing good things at the local level. Let him do that now.†In the excitement for how good I think he is and his potential on a larger stage, its easy to forget that we need a whole bunch of Svante Myricks doing exactly what he is doing locally in this country. The Mayor and I got into a little twitter exchange after his talk above.
Leading into the celebration, I had the privilege of participating on the CHR Technology Entrepreneurship Roundtable at the Cornell Hotel School. This roundtable was of the highest caliber and I really enjoyed learning from and debating the latest developments in hospitality and how technology is affecting everyone’s businesses.  There are several people I met through the roundtable with whom I will remain friends far into the future. I presented the case for why today is better than any other time for new brands to reach their audience, which led the group to a discussion of the asynchronistic nature of startup/new brands vs large established brands. This applies to hotels and to beverage brands. The bottom line is using today’s technology, a new brand can communicate with its core following or “Tribe†directly, something that in the past was nearly impossible or cost prohibitive to do. Larger established brands have a much harder time competing at that level and by their very definition, cannot micro market as easily.
Jamey and Carl both brought great perspectives as we took turns telling stories and engaging with the audience.
The Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship hosted two panel/socials that promoted a group of entrepreneurs interacting with students. Both of these were a lot of fun as I enjoyed the panels and students!
Finally, I’ve had a half dozen follow up calls and discussions with student entrepreneurs since last week. These folks are pushing ahead with their various new ventures and represent the future of our country. I am pleased that I can play a small role in giving them input/guidance on their respective journeys.
I’m really looking forward to next week’s Entrepreneurship @ Cornell University! The energy building up to this is incredible as I’ve begun to interact with my fellow speakers and attendees.
Right now I’m thinking about my topics and the most important take home value I can deliver to the students, entrepreneurs and attendees.
Before I get to Ithaca, I’m attending the 72nd Annual Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) convention in Orlando, FL. Since I’m launching a new brand project, it will give me an opportunity to further discuss packaging, branding, sourcing and overall strategy with some of the brightest leaders in the industry. Last year at WSWA I kicked off the pre-launch of Sugar Skull Rum.
This is a cool brand that unfortunately got stopped in its tracks by certain partners before we could get beyond kickoff in a few markets. Time will tell where it ends up, but the early response was terrific! There are lessons in this one I will certainly share at Cornell.
Finally, although I rooted for Wisconsin at the Final NCAA game last week, I am looking forward to hearing Mike Krzyzewski- better known as “Coach K“- head of the legendary Duke University Blue Devils basketball squad, address our group on Monday morning. Not a Duke fan generally, but definitely hold Coach K in high regard and interested in his message on leadership and winning.
Here’s an outline of my upcoming Cornell visit:
Tuesday/Wednesday – participate in and speak at the Pillsbury Institute’s
Technology Entrepreneurship Roundtable, Chaired by: Mona Anita Olsen, Ph.D. Assistant Academic Director of The Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship, Visiting Assistant Professor of Management & Organizational Behavior, Cornell University
I’m looking forward to my session with Cornell classmate Joe Tagliente, President, Lenrock and a fellow YPO’r. Our panel is called “Brand Activation Through Social & Mobile Apps and Development of A Social Mobile Company” The full program is here.
It will be catching up with fraternity brother (Sigma Nu) Zach Shulman, who I found out after committing to my visit is Director of Entrepreneurship @Cornell! Very cool!
Thursday/Friday are jam packed with the Entrepreneurship @Cornell Celebration.
In this I’m joining more than 1,000 alumni, students, faculty, and staff for two days of on-campus events including:
Symposia on a wide range of topics including family business, social entrepreneurship, health administration and more!
eLab Demo Day
New Business & Emerging Technologies Showcase
BIG Idea Competition and Cornell Venture Challenge finals
Recognition of the Student Business of the Year
Networking opportunities …and more!
I have the opportunity to speak with Dr. Olsen’s class called:
The the rest of the day includes a keynote by Jay Walker (one of America’s best-known business inventors and entrepreneurs, has founded multiple successful startup companies that today serve more than 75 million customers in 15 different industries) and the banquet with special guest Svante Myrick ’09, Ithaca Mayor
On Friday I’m joining two other entrepreneurs in a celebration talk:
In between all this I’m visiting the Viticulture and Oenology department, with Prof. Gavin Sacks to learn about what Cornell is up to in the wine world and also to see what we can do to tie them into our 11th Annual Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS) in Napa in June.
Finally, I’m paying a visit to the Friedman Wrestling center and Coach Rob Koll, 4 X NCAA champion Kyle Dake and first time champion Gabe Dean… and later meeting up with my old wrestling coach and Athletic Director, Andy Noel... this will entail its own post after we meet up!
I look forward to writing about my experiences and all the interaction with new and old friends! Cheers!
I’m very pleased to announce the initial keynote lineup at this Summer’s WITS and BITS – please see below and registration is now open for the combined event here – Smoke
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10th Annual Wine & Beer Industry Technology Symposium to Unite Thought Leaders at Strategic Summit for Wine and Beer Brands
Hot Tech Topics to include Innovation, Breakthrough Marketing,
Keg Supply Chain Evolution, Data Security Breach, Internet Impact
(NAPA, Calif.) — Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS) in collaboration with Beer Industry Technology Symposium (BITS) has announced the Keynote Speakers for the 10th annual event set for June 30 – July 1, 2014 in Napa, California. An action packed series of keynotes will cover a wide range of topics affecting the wine and craft beer industries including: mobile e-commerce, data breach and security, breakthrough marketing, supply chain innovation, leading edge hospitality systems, new on-premise kegs and product tracking. Panels of leading restaurant and grocery operators will also provide valuable insight as they discuss their first-hand experience with wine and beer consumers.
“Every year we have worked hard to up the ante in terms of the quality of keynote speakers and breakout sessions. This year, our board has truly taken the program to a new level for the 10th annual WITS event,†said J. Smoke Wallin, founder and co-chairman of WITS and BITS. “Our new high-impact, rapid fire keynote addresses allow us to pack significantly more content into the event with the sole purpose of creating thought-provoking discussions that will deliver immediate take home value to all of our winery and craft brewery attendees.â€
“Upon reflection over the past ten years, and considering the vast evolution of technology in the wine, and now beer, industries, I am very pleased with the dynamic program we have set for 2014. I look forward to welcoming both wine and beer industry leaders, as well as many of today’s leading technology innovators, to our 10th Annual event,†added Lesley Berglund, co-chairman of WITS & BITS and co-founder and chairman of the Wine Industry Sales Education (WISE) Academy.
The Initial Keynote Lineup Includes:
“Ben Franklin: America’s 1st CMO Would Still Be A Pro in 2014â€
o  Drew Neisser, CEO and Founder of Renegade
“ROI of Digital Marketing: Myths, Facts & Measurement”
Karena Breslin, Vice President of Digital Marketing at Constellation Brands Inc.
“Engaging The Connected Consumers In The Era of Mobile + Digital”
o  Tim Schulz, Google Strategic Partnership Lead
“Confronting the Inevitable? Data Breach Offense, Defense and Playbook†– Panel
o  John Nicholson, Strategic Negotiator – Strategic Global Sourcing, INFOSYS
o  Gal Shpantzer, Contributing Analyst, Securosis
o  Tom Resau, VP W2 Communications
“Breakthrough Marketing – Case Studies on Digital Marketingâ€
o  Terry Wheatley, Founder, Canopy Management & Wine Sisterhood
“Trending Now: Progressive Tech Trends for Enterprising Businessesâ€
o  Sandy Tungare, Founder & CEO Vistaar
“If Digital Marketing had a Crystal Ballâ€
o  Aliza Sherman, MediaEgg
“Tech Trends: Predicting Future Technology and ROI by distinguishing between Fads and Trendsâ€
o  Rob Grimes, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Constratech
“The Internet of Things and the Nexus of Forcesâ€
o  Joseph Farrugia, Domain Lead, Partner, Oracle Enterprise Applications and BI, Gartner Group
“Applying Technology Innovation to Revolutionize Old School Industriesâ€
o  Steve Hershberger, CEO, SteadyServ Technologies, Brewery Founder, Social Media Founder
“Grocery And On-Premise Innovators On Technological Transformationsâ€
o  Randall Friedman, Restaurant & Food Group Publisher
o  Eduardo Dingler, Corporate Beverage Director, Morimoto Restaurants
The Wine Industry Technology Symposium® (WITS) is the focal point for thought leadership in the strategic and tactical use of technology in the global wine industry. WITS was created in 2005 by a group of wine industry and technology professionals to advance innovation and to address the unique information technology and services needs of the wine industry. The 10th annual WITS is June 30 & July 1 in Napa, CA. This year, the newly formed Beer Industry Technology Symposium (BITS) will be held in conjunction with WITS. To learn more, join WITS on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
About BITS:
The Beer Industry Technology Symposium™ (BITS™) was created to address the unique information technology and services needs of the Beer industry. BITS is dedicated to bringing the world’s leading breweries, distributors and retailers together with the leading technology experts to foster learning and discussion. Expert panels and keynotes discuss leading edge case studies involving consumer direct marketing and sales, operations, financial management, trade sales and distribution, brewing and input management. Join BITS on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
For more information, contact Kathy Archer of the Wine Industry Symposium Group at 707-261-8719 or kathy@winesymposium.com. For sponsorship and registration, contact Waunice Orchid of the Wine Industry Symposium Group at 707-261-8716 or waunice@winesymposium.com.
This weeks release of the full 2013 numbers on craft beer by the Craft Brewers Association confirms something many of us already knew: this movement is accelerating. I’d go a step further and say the best is yet to come. Here is the info-graphic the CBA published this week:
Pretty incredible numbers – going from 4.4% volume share in 2009 to 7.8% in 2013. On a dollar basis, even more impressive with a 20% increase over 2012 to $14.3 billion, giving craft beer a 14.3% share of the $100 billion US beer market. The number of breweries grew at a slightly slower pace (15%), giving slightly more sales per brewery.
This is a booming market and with that there are multiple new entrants and there will be inevitably, winners and losers. That said, a growing market makes up for a lot of mistakes and there are a lot more winners right now than not. The key is matching investment to real potential in any particular INDIVIDUAL business.  A growing market is good for everyone, but it does an individual aspiring brewery little good if they spend too much on their building, don’t brew great beer that people enjoy, don’t create a brand that resonates with consumers and market place, take too long to get up and running, hire the wrong time, don’t know what their numbers are or what the right things to measure are, run out of money, etc. I could continue, but there are a ton of ways to be unsuccessful in this space, no matter what the growth is.
Yes, technology is in the name and there will be a bunch of things at the 2 day event that revolve around technology, but that is NOT the main point. The main point is what I am talking about above. There are so many challenges with running any new business and craft beer is no different. With all the new players and the many existing players who are experience growth beyond their wildest expectations, these businesses need sound strategic thinking around what matters.  Technology is not “What Matters”, but it is the great enabler that in 2014, done right, can create the conditions for a successful business venture. Thinking through the myriad of options and what exactly one is trying to do is critical before you even start your brewery. If you already have one, and skipped this part of the planning, it is never to early to get on it and address these issues.
I really enjoyed the new Siemens commercial (that seems to be running on TV on every show I watch – which is not very many) profiling the Schlafly Brewery and American manufacturing. Here it is:
What a terrific message and a boost to the craft brewing industry at the same time. I reached out to the Siemens team and they jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the first BITS. How cool!   This is also true of the California Craft Brewers Association who joined us recently as a GOLD sponsor and are marketing the BITS event to their 200+ members in CA.
BITS will be announcing these and many other great contributors in the form of keynote speakers and panels who are lining up to be a part of what we hope will become a must attend event for everyone in the industry who wants to be smart about running their business. Please reach out to me directly if you’d like to get involved. Registration will open up in mid April.
The craft brewing industry is in its preteen days… there is much growth in front of us and a lot of learning and growing up. This is an opportunity for collaboration with fellow breweries and professionals and leading edge thinkers in technology on how to grow up and be successful in your beer business. The best is yet to come!
Excited to announce the first Beer Industry Technology Symposium in collaboration with our 10th Annual Wine Industry Technology Symposium… it will be a technology extravaganza!
New Beer Industry Technology Symposiumâ„¢ “BITSâ„¢â€
Set For June 30 & July 1 in Napa, California
Craft Brewing Industry Leaders to Collaborate on Best Practices and Strategies BITS to partner with the 10th Annual Wine Industry Technology Symposium® “WITS®†for First Event
For Immediate Release
February 20, 2014
(NAPA, Calif.) – Leaders of the brewing, distribution and technology industries have formed the new Beer Industry Technology Symposium, BITS, to create a dedicated industry forum where technology and strategy intersect. The first BITS will be held in Napa, California in conjunction with the Wine Industry Technology Symposium® – WITS® June 30 & July 1, 2014 at the Napa Valley Marriott.
The purpose of BITS is to address the unique information technology, and service needs, of the beer industry. BITS is dedicated to bringing the world’s leading beer industry professionals together with the world’s leading technology experts, to foster learning and discussion. Panels of experts will discuss specific examples and case studies that will deliver tangible take-home value and create relationships.
SteadyServ Technologies®, has built technology to help bars and restaurants, distributors and craft brewers — even patrons — keep track of the beer remaining in a keg and more effectively manage their beer inventories. SteadyServ’s Founder and CEO Steve Hershberger said, “Given the massive changes occurring in the beer industry, BITS is the right gathering at the right time. Getting the craft beer industry together, to discuss technology solutions and the strategies needed to ensure continued growth and success, is difficult due to both the high number of beer producers and the vast geographic differences in their physical locations. BITS will provide an important venue for the industry’s thought leaders to collaborate for the greater good of the industry. SteadyServ will be there in full force.â€
The growth and importance of craft beer is widely documented. According to the Brewers Association, the number of craft breweries in the US has risen from a low of > 100 1977 to > 3,500 in 2013. Over the next 5 years, the growth in craft beer volume is expected to be greater than over the past 25 years combined. Given this explosion in consumer demand, and the number of new operations that have been formed, there is a specific need to understand best practices and strategies within the industry. Many new brewery owners are attempting to reinvent the wheel in terms of processes and systems to run their businesses. BITS aims to be the industry-wide resource to help educate beer industry members and unite them with best-of-class technology providers.
“After owning a rapidly-growing craft brewery from 2010 – 2013, and then working with a number of others to help build their beer businesses, I spent a lot of time networking with other breweries and observed their efforts to manage growth and establish systems that are vital to run an efficient and effective business,†said J. Smoke Wallin, BITS Chairman and Founder. “While there are many beer industry events such as NBWA and GABF, there has never been a forum focused on the technology needs of craft brew operators. BITS will fill that void.â€
Expected attendees include craft breweries, distributors, retailers and on-premise and technology providers. There will be content for everyone from the Owner/GM/President to the Information Technology Manager or CFO to the Brewers to the Sales Managers. Building on the successful model of WITS, with cross-functional workshops and keynote speakers, BITS will draw from industry leaders to present tangible take-home value as a result of a focused gathering.
The agenda includes sessions on: Technology Leadership – Best-of-Class Tools, Consumer Direct Sales – Managing the Tap Room and Online Presence, Trade Sales & Marketing – Craft Beer Route To Market – Gaining & Managing Distribution, Brewery Operations – Hops to Kettle to Keg or Can
Interested sponsors and speakers can contact Waunice Orchid (Tradeshow Coordinator) Waunice@swgnapa.com (707) 261-8716 today. Registration will open March 1, 2014. Space is limited and BITS is expected to sell out, so register early.
www.beertechnologysymposium.com
ABOUT BITS:
The Beer Industry Technology Symposium (BITS) was created to address the unique information technology and services needs of the Beer industry. BITS is dedicated to bringing the world’s leading breweries, distributors and retailers together with the leading technology experts to foster learning and discussion. Expert panels and keynotes discuss leading edge case studies involving consumer direct marketing and sales, operations, financial management, trade sales and distribution, brewing and input management
We are in full planning mode for the 10th Annual WITS… hard to believe that a few of us sat around brain storming ideas for a “technology extravaganza for the wine industry” almost 11 years ago. Â Please plan on joining us this year in Napa, CA as we celebrate a decade of WITS, for what promises to be our most exciting and well attended event. Â Here is the link to the press release and posted below as well.
10th Annual Wine Industry Technology Symposium to Unite Wine Business Leaders, Technology Experts on June 30 & July 1, 2014
(NAPA, Calif.)  —The 10th Annual Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS)®, the premier event showcasing the strategic use of information technology and services for the wine industry, has been set for June 30 – July 1, 2014 at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel. www.wineindustrytechnologysymposium.com
Executives from wineries, distributors and retailers gather annually at WITS, the only annual conference designed exclusively to foster education and debate around the application of technology solutions for the wine industry. The 2014 WITS program includes:
Educational Tracks – Sessions on Technology Leadership, Small Business, Consumer Direct, Trade Sales & Marketing and Vineyard & Winery Operations
Speed Dating – To celebrate the 10th technology extravaganza, WITS has introduced “speed dating†for winery CIOs and technology companies. This will provide opportunities for quality one-on-one time with key decision makers and thought leaders.
Plus Beer, with BITS – WITS has united leaders in the craft brewing industry to add the first Beer Industry Technology Symposium (BITS™) that will run concurrent with WITS this year.
“In today’s rapidly changing business environment, where consumers are driving massive change throughout the industry, it is vital to get it right when it comes to your route to market, as well as the strategic and tactical use of enabling technology,†said J. Smoke Wallin, WITS Co-Chair. “WITS is the only place where winery owners and GMs can sit side by side for a day of learning and discussion with CIOs and other technology leaders from across the three tiers,†he added.
The WITS Steering Committee, comprised of technology and business leaders across the wine industry, is currently finalizing panel topics and keynote speakers. Past speakers have included the CEOs, CIOs and leaders from Amazon, Facebook, Groupon, garyvaynerchuk.com, FedEx Office, Nielsen and 1800-Flowers, as well as experts from IBM, Oracle, Cornell University, UC Davis, Sonoma State University and many others.
Attendees and sponsors are encouraged to register early, as space is limited and expected to sell out quickly. Registration will open March 1, 2014. For more information visit www.wineindustrytechnologysymposium.com.
About The Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS)
The Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS) was created to address the unique information technology and services needs of the wine industry. WITS is dedicated to bringing the world’s leading wineries, distributors and retailers together with the leading technology experts to foster learning and discussion. Expert panels and keynotes discuss leading edge case studies involving consumer direct marketing and sales, operations, financial management, trade sales and distribution, winemaking and vineyard management. www.wineindustrytechnologysymposium.com
 
 
