On January 17th, HYPE invited Onyx Spirits co-founders; Pete Kowalczyk and Adam von Gootkin to sit down with HYPE members and chat about their company and product. The pair did not disappoint as they arrived with samples for everyone in attendance and a great story of success.
The night began as Nick Bereza, the vice-chair of HYPE’s Entrepreneurship Committee, introduced Pete and Adam. He started things off by asking them what started this very successful process. Adam recalled that it was when he realized that college life wasn’t for him. He was doing poorly in school and seeing much more success running a recording studio on the side with Pete. Adam decided to concentrate on the recording business which allowed him to meet the necessary investors to build a distillery and eventually create Onyx Spirits. Pete responded that his approach was “doing things different than the normal path.” He credits the unique flavor of their moonshine product, as well as the Onyx brand they are carefully crafting, as being instrumental in their growing success.
Following Pete’s “different path” philosophy, the co-founders took an ingenious approach to contacting investors. Rather than asking individuals for money and explaining the reasons why, they created an “advisory board” with a group of possible investors and well connected individuals. The board was intended to help them determine sources for funding. Using this approach allowed them to make their presentation more of a conversation than a sales pitch, and helped them gain the start up capitol they needed; by the end of the presentation they had an investor from the board.
The pair recalled a few events that seemed disappointing at the time they occurred, but ended up being a key component in their success. They had originally intended to produce and market their limoncello product first, followed by the vodka and lastly the moonshine. As they approached the launch date they learned another distillery in Connecticut had actually unveiled a limoncello about 6 months before Onyx intended to release their product. Rather than playing 2nd fiddle to another Connecticut based company, Pete and Adam threw caution to the wind and went all in on moonshine, which quickly became a state-wide hit.
Pete and Adam also credit a mistake with the launch date as helping them to build anticipation. They had originally intended to begin selling the moonshine in April of 2011 and created the necessary press releases and excitement for the product launch. Unfortunately the release was delayed until October and the pair assumed all their hard work getting the word out was wasted. Adam approached his uncle, an executive at Dell, for advice. His uncle explained that Microsoft was one company famous for waiting six months after announcing a product before releasing it. Sure enough anticipation and curiosity built in the ensuing months, and by October the demand to try Connecticut moonshine had gone through the roof.
Pete and Adam were happy to field HYPE member questions ranging from “what is moonshine?,” (see the Onyx website for the answer to that one), to plans for national and international expansion. Nick Bereza ended the night by asking the entrepreneurs for one piece of advice for starting your own business in Connecticut. Pete told the group that you should do what you’re passionate about. He also explained that with this state you need to “do something different.” He wants entrepreneurs to make Connecticut different, interesting and proud. Adam said that it is important to have good planning. “You need to have a solid business plan, even though once you launch the whole plan will go out the window.” He explained that investors want to know numbers; cost, how much their return is projected to be, and how soon it will come in. A well organized business plan should explain these points to an investor’s satisfaction.
We’d like to thank both Pete and Adam for taking the time out of their busy schedules to meet with HYPEsters! Their story is not only interesting, but truly inspiring. To learn more about Onyx moonshine, future products, and where Onyx products can be purchased, please visit www.onyxspirits.com.