Startup Lessons from the Valley (Sonoma)

Todd Earwood — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:39:09 +0000

After my Bay Area visit, we headed north to the valleys of Sonoma and Napa (we preferred Sonoma). We enjoyed many wine tastings (those small amounts add up) and brought back too much wine. Although the trip was for pleasure and not business (hotel without wireless!), my experiences at various vineyards left me with a nice feeling (buzz) and a few tips for startups.

Hire the right people – The first place we stopped was Ledson Vineyards. After two days of wine tasting, we all agreed it was the best. Was the wine that much better? Maybe, but the staff truly made the difference. We actually went back to Ledson and bought more wine and the staff gave us free tastings. They suggested places to eat and other wineries they personally visit. With a mediocre product and a great staff, you have a fighting chance. Build a great product and a great staff and you’re set.
Know your USP – Every business has its unique selling proposition and wineries and startups are actually pretty similar. When tasting wine (especially lots of it) the differences become less obvious, the same can be true for startups. Most wine servers talk about the ingredients and the taste (as they see it), but taste is subjective. The good servers talked about the process it took to make such great wine and its scarcity. When a visitor comes to your site/business, quickly explain why your service/product is worth their time. As a startup, your USP should be objective (faster, bigger, etc) and avoid the speculative pitch (better design or great management team).
Know when to ask for the business – We quickly found the serving staff’s goal is to get you to buy wine or join their wine club (neither is cheap). Unfortunately, most servers pushed the wine club brochure in your face too early. Just because you have a captive audience doesn’t mean you put contracts on the table. The best servers and salespeople know when to ask for the signature. I don’t know a shortcut on when to ask, but as a customer we all know when it feels wrong.
Don’t focus on competition – Everyone has competition. If you don’t think you have any, you’re in trouble. And if you focus too much on it, you’re wasting your time. The best wineries talked about themselves and left out the competition during our visits. They talked about their labor intensive production, high quality and disregarded what others were doing. It’s healthy to keep abreast of what the “enemy” is doing, but by focusing internally you’ll see more gains than looking outside.

Must travel, can’t blog

Todd Earwood — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:02:47 +0000

I’m traveling through wine country and can’t post today. Plus, I have 7 hours of video to edit! Keep track of me with Twitter and Flickr for now.

Todd Earwood » wine country

Startup Lessons from the Valley (Sonoma)

Must travel, can’t blog