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How could a 2-week-old whiskey from Cleveland Ohio beat out 10, 15+ years aged brand names in a blind taste test?
In the spirit of World Whisky Day this past weekend, we wanted to introduce the person who revolutionized the incredibly regulated Whiskey industry.
Meet Tom Lix…
A serial entrepreneur, Tom Lix, developed the disruptive technology and distilling process that cut the amount of time it takes to make whiskey from 10 years to 24 hours.
There are high barriers to entry including the regulated oak barrels, the amount of time to wait for whiskey to mature, and heavy competition from existing large brand names.
Tom wanted to not only penetrate the Whiskey industry, but to make a profit in a fraction of the time than the typical 10-year long wait it took most new distilleries to see any semblance of a return on investment. And he accomplished that!
― Tom Lix, Whiskey Entrepreneur
So, How Did He Do It?
1. He Challenged the Conventional Wisdom
Instead of creating a traditional Whiskey distillery, Tom formed a small laboratory and experimentation LLC in 2009. There, he applied a technique called Lateral Thinking where he listed all of the basic truths behind Whiskey. Some of which included:
- Whiskey is made for drinking.
- Whiskey must be aged inside only oak barrels
- Alcohol evaporates as it matures
- Good Whiskey takes years to make
From there, it made him think about why these truths are conventional. Which led him to the next phase:
2. He Questioned the Traditional Industry Norms
He challenged all the conventional wisdoms with “What If” questions to turn them on their heads. Eventually, he took the basic truth “Whiskey must be aged inside only oak barrels” and provocated:
What if we put the Barrels inside the Whiskey?
3. He Experimented and Iterated
This question led to Tom developing a process where he added cut barrel pieces to the spirits inside a stainless-steel drum which mechanically applied variations of pressure to speed the aging process. He’s now fine-tuned his method to turn a decade(s) long wait into a days or weeks long process.
In less than a year, he achieved his goal of a ROI. In three years after shipping their first bourbon, Cleveland Whiskey was named “Whiskey Distillery Innovator of the Year” at the 2016 Berlin International Spirits Competition.
How We Replicate Tom’s Success?
Many of you may work in highly regulated industries yourselves. Here’s our takeaways from applying lateral thinking to your problem:
- Challenge Conventional Wisdom
- Provocate Traditional Industry Norms
- Always Keep Questioning
Cleveland Whiskey’s mantra is “Whiskey. Without Limits.” We would challenge you to think what could you do without limitations?
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