We’re a bit late reviewing Jim Koch‘s autobiography, Quench Your Own Thirst. That’s because unlike a lot of reviewers, I actually read every word before I write a review.
My assessment of Koch’s book: It’s a 1-in-a-million. It should be required reading in college business schools, and especially entrepreneurship courses, because it tells Koch’s story and actually provides guidance that anyone can profit from. At least that’s what I’d do if I taught business rather than communications at the college level.
There is lots of really practical wisdom, such as this from Koch’s father: “Make a good beer, and don’t worry about the marketing. People drink the beer, they don’t drink the marketing. Don’t get distracted. Just worry about the beer.”
(Sure, I know, companies like Anheuser-Busch and Brown-Forman grew into giant enterprises by worrying about the marketing. But they also had to make good beer (or, in B-F’s case, whiskey). The marketing can invite people to try the product. It can reinforce the brand in someone’s mind. But that’s true only if the liquid inside is good. Budweiser did not become the King of Beers because it was a poor product; it met the expectations of its customers.)
Or this: “Every problem has a solution.” Maybe our politicians should read this book, because so many of them act as if nothing can be done about our problems. (On that point, be sure to read Max Boot’s “Review” piece in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, “After Orlando, a Long War.” Boot argues that to stop future terrorist attacks, we need solutions from all sides: better security and surveillance at home, a vigorous fight abroad and the support of Muslim moderates everywhere. In essence, he says the Republicans are right, and the Democrats are right.)
Or this: “You shouldn’t settle when it comes to work and career. If you’re going to work hard, you should find it satisfying and meaningful. The right career for you is out there, and it’s worth a lot of searching — years, even — to find it. Take some risks; blow it all up if you have to. And start anew.”
Other wisdom from Koch:
“Business ideas are like radio signals. They’re out there, and in fact they surround us. The trick is to turn your receiver on so you’re tuned in.”
“Most of the value in an industry is created by people who venture outside of conventional wisdom.”
“A new business is built on a different and better approach than those already out there. It’s okay to enter a field you know only a little about, because the little bit you know can be key.”
Don’t pay too much attention to what your friends say. “Friends aren’t the same as real life customers who are being asked to fork over their hard-earned money.”
“Harvard Business Review published an article on a two-decade-long study of thousands of businesses. The research revealed there were precisely two rules of successful companies. The first rule: You succeed by adding value rather than reducing costs. The second: There are no other rules. I would add a third: If you can do both, you have a home run.”
“It is far more attractive for a company to offer better quality than a lower price. Price is important, but if that’s all you have to offer customers, then eventually you’re just a commodity and you hit a dead end in the market.”
Koch’s partner in the early years was Rhonda Kallman, who was a secretary at Boston Consulting Group when Koch worked there. “Many companies, beholden to what is essentially an education-based caste system, would never consider Rhonda, who had an associate’s degree in secretarial science, for the same job as a Stanford MBA. That’s a shame. We owe much of Boston Beer’s success over the years to Rhonda’s energy, drive and general smarts. Time and again she proved it. She really was the best candidate.”
There’s much, much more of really great value in this book. An unqualified recommendation: Buy it. Read it. Study it. Profit from it.