136: Wine from a Keg??? How Jordan Kivelstadt (of Free Flow Wines) Transformed the Wine Industry…

Background on Jordan Kivelstadt of Free Flow Wine:

Jordan Kivelstadt founded Free Flow Wines with Dan Donahoe in 2009 and has been leading the growth of the business since the beginning. Jordan was trained as an engineer at Tufts University before moving on to management consulting for over two years. In 2006, Jordan began his career in the wine industry as a production manager for The Donum Estate. Since then he has made wine in four countries, founded his own bottle brand, Kivelstadt Cellars, manages his family’s organic 10-acre Sonoma County, California vineyard and continues to innovate in the industry he loves.

Free Flow has more than 250 wine brands in keg, from wineries throughout North America, South America, New Zealand, Australia and Europe. Premium wines in Free Flow kegs and cans are available at restaurants, hotels, retail stores, sports and entertainment venues across the US. Free Flow Wines currently has locations in Sonoma, California and Bayonne, New Jersey.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[3:04] Jordan Kivelstadt is the founder of Free Flow Wines, which is changing the way people are drinking wine for the last ten years.
[3:53] Jordan doesn’t describe himself as a wine connoisseur but he did fell in love with wines when he was still in college.
[5:45] Jordan encourages people to visit trywineontap.com which can help consumers find more information about wine on tap.
[7:08] Two years ago, they’ve lost 5 acres of wine vineyard in the California fire. Jordan talks about the impact of the fire on their business and the community.
[11:37] Because of the fire incident, Jordan learned that it is important to have a good top quality insurance company and insurance broker.
[15:07] During his college days, Jordan helped a friend grow a small DJ business into a large event production company that is still running today.
[19:32] After moving back to the West Coast, Jordan was thinking of his next career move and what he wanted to do. Things fell into place and he started his career in the wine industry.
[22:26] From working at an office based job into doing manual labor in the winery, he never had any problems with it because Jordan fell in love with everything in the wine industry.
[26:24] Jordan tells the story of how he got the idea of selling wines in kegs.
[29:49] Moving to Argentina to work in a winery with his girlfriend was an amazing experience for Jordan.
[32:46] In 2009, Jordan decided to start his wine on tap business and convinced his friend to join him in building the company.
[36:44] The Company concentrated more on the packaging and logistics for other wineries, which eventually became the Free Flow Wine.
[44:06] Jordan provides some useful tips on how to run a business.
[49:16] There are things that you would eventually give up when you are an entrepreneur. Jordan gives a valuable explanation regarding this topic.
[55:38] According to Jordan, starting a business is one of the most rewarding things that you can do, but you have to dive into it with open eyes.

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Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖 📚 Favorite Book(s)? Hitchhikers Guide by Douglas Adams, Most quick readying spy novels
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Anything, I live in a retail dead zone, so everything comes in a box
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Netsuite, Tableau, Trello
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? More taps getting installed in more restaurants…hope a listener is the CEO of Darden.

Key Point from the Interview:

“I don’t know an entrepreneur that hasn’t taken a substantive pay cut for an extended period of time.”

Resources Mentioned:

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