Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer on Bloomberg Radio. Well,
Speaker 1: you are listening to Bloomberg Business Week Carol Master along
Speaker 1: with Paul Sweeney. Um. When I got this pitch from
Speaker 1: their PR team about being a collection of millennials thinking
Speaker 1: about the next generation of drinkers and the brands that
Speaker 1: that will be in demand, I was definitely hooked Paul
Speaker 1: to say, it's like count me in, UM, so let's
Speaker 1: bring in Amy Steedman. She's founder in chief operating officer
Speaker 1: at future Proof Beetbox Beverages. Their companies based in Austin, Texas,
Speaker 1: but we find Amy on the phone in Pittsburgh on
Speaker 1: this Tuesday. Amy, great to have you here with us.
Speaker 1: How are you I'm doing great, Thanks for having me, Caroline, Paul,
Speaker 1: how are y'all doing? Okay? Doing okay? Um? I want
Speaker 1: to talk to you about, you know, your business and
Speaker 1: the impact of the virus. But before we do that,
Speaker 1: can we take a step back and just talk to
Speaker 1: us a little bit about the origins because you and
Speaker 1: your partners actually met at the University of Texas Business School,
Speaker 1: Is that right? And this is where you came up
Speaker 1: with your company? Absolutely? Uh, you know, at the time
Speaker 1: I was in my mid twenties, we were seeing boxed
Speaker 1: wine at every party, every tailgate, river float trip, but
Speaker 1: no one really loved the wine that were they were drinking,
Speaker 1: and the brands did not appeal to the millennial generation.
Speaker 1: So my business partners, Justin Brad, Jason and Dan came
Speaker 1: up with the idea to make boxed wine less boring.
Speaker 1: So they recruited me to joined the team, and we
Speaker 1: sought to create a brand that would resonate with millennials
Speaker 1: and be centered around music, which is the center of
Speaker 1: our socialized at the time. So us Beatbox Beverages was
Speaker 1: born our first product line. All right, so talk to
Speaker 1: us about your product lines here. What are some of
Speaker 1: the products that are kind of driving your growth? Are
Speaker 1: reseeing the most uptake from your consumers? Yeah, So Beatbox
Speaker 1: Saverages is a product that we launched the first time
Speaker 1: back in two thousand thirteen. So we first launched it
Speaker 1: as a boxed wine and then as we grew with
Speaker 1: the company and we're on Shark Tank in two thousand fourteen. Uh,
Speaker 1: we really found that it was resonating with millennials in
Speaker 1: terms of the eco friendly, portable, great flavors, and so
Speaker 1: we've been really growing with that brand. Uh. This past year,
Speaker 1: our company has actually transitioned from Beatbox Beverages to future
Speaker 1: Proof brands, and we're piloting to new brands and fast
Speaker 1: growing categories and alcohol as well, corkless and alternative packaging
Speaker 1: wine and brizzy in the Seltzer space. All Right, wait, bait, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're going way too fast. You gotta go back to
Speaker 1: Shark Tank, because I mean, we all know that brand.
Speaker 1: We well, I you know, every once in a while,
Speaker 1: I go down a rabbit hole and I watched a
Speaker 1: couple of you know, one after another, because it's just
Speaker 1: fascinating to see to me entrepreneurs, you know, pitching their
Speaker 1: business to you know, this panel of individuals who've got
Speaker 1: money to spend and who understand what it takes to
Speaker 1: make a good business. What was that experience like, because
Speaker 1: you actually got Mark Cuban too, I think pitching about
Speaker 1: a million dollars or so, absolutely, which was one of
Speaker 1: the biggest deals on the show of all time back then.
Speaker 1: But um, you know, we we started the company very
Speaker 1: bare bones. You know, we made it ourselves, distributed ourselves.
Speaker 1: We were doing you know, probably six to nine hours
Speaker 1: of in store samplings the weekend, and we would always
Speaker 1: get that common you should be on Sharp Tink, you
Speaker 1: should be on Shark Pink when people saw the products.
Speaker 1: If that's something you can just go do, right. But
Speaker 1: fortunately in Austin we have south By Southwest and the
Speaker 1: Sharp Pink producers came to do casting there, so we
Speaker 1: got to pitch then and then ended up filming that
Speaker 1: summer of two thousand fourteen and we're part of the
Speaker 1: season six. So um, it's definitely a surreal experience and
Speaker 1: you know, I still can't really believe that it happened.
Speaker 1: But you know, one thing that people always ask me
Speaker 1: about getting on the show, I said, hey, it's a
Speaker 1: TV show. You got to give them great TV. So
Speaker 1: bring the energy and passion for your product and you know,
Speaker 1: hopefully good things happen. Well I agree with that, and
Speaker 1: Mark Cuban knows certainly how to you know, kind of
Speaker 1: become you know, entertaining and a little bit of a spectacle.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's really kind of fascinating to to listen,
Speaker 1: whether he's in an interview or other setting. But you know,
Speaker 1: what did Mark Cubans and allment it wasn't just about money,
Speaker 1: was it. No. So Mark has actually been incredibly helpful. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, after he made a million dollar investment on
Speaker 1: the show, he came in and met with us. You know,
Speaker 1: he's over there in Dallas that we were in Austin,
Speaker 1: so we got together in person several times. He's also
Speaker 1: signed beatboxes for us in a liquor store for hours.
Speaker 1: We've posted events together on Rita and Austin during uh,
Speaker 1: you know St. Patrick's Day, and he's gone above and
Speaker 1: beyond and provided things like inventory financing and put his
Speaker 1: brother Jeff Cuban on our board. So it's been incredible
Speaker 1: to work with Mark and you know, dreams come true
Speaker 1: as a young entrepreneurs to be able to learn from
Speaker 1: the best. So Amy talked to us about the trends
Speaker 1: that you've seen um during the pandemic in terms of
Speaker 1: customer buying and and uh, whether or not those trends
Speaker 1: were you have they changed as we've gotten from March
Speaker 1: to today. Yeah, when all this started, we were nervous,
Speaker 1: just as everybody was. That are imry distributions and channels
Speaker 1: such as grocery, liquor store and convenience stores and what
Speaker 1: you did see was all of the dollars being spends
Speaker 1: on alcohol shifting from restaurants and bars into those channels.
Speaker 1: And so we've actually been experiencing record sales once every
Speaker 1: month of the pandemic, and that's been able to, you know,
Speaker 1: fortunately turn it around and raise money for Small Business
Speaker 1: Relief Fund and a c l U and other groups
Speaker 1: as well. So it's been the silver lining of all that.
Speaker 1: So amy. When I walk into a liquor store these days,
Speaker 1: I'm just overwhelmed by the number of products, you know,
Speaker 1: really competing for shelf space. It's just so many new products.
Speaker 1: It's not just beer, wine, and and spirits. There's everything
Speaker 1: hard seltzer and I guess that's kind of the some
Speaker 1: of the newer products. How do you get mind share
Speaker 1: market share in such a crowded market. What's your marketing strategy?
Speaker 1: Absolutely so, I mean, what you're seeing is the results
Speaker 1: of huge trans and consumer drain. Right. Millennials are shifting
Speaker 1: away from traditional beer to wine and flavored items like Beatbox,
Speaker 1: and the bigger brands are scrambling trying to find things
Speaker 1: that are going to work. But what they're missing is
Speaker 1: that key authenticity that millennials and Gen z are also
Speaker 1: looking for you know, the big brands will try and
Speaker 1: slap a new label on an outdated idea, trying to
Speaker 1: make it cool to these demographics. But you know, with
Speaker 1: our brand, we sought to create the most authentic experience possible,
Speaker 1: which is you know, really connecting with our listeners and constantly,
Speaker 1: whether it's flavor development, packaging, designs, events, we choose the sponsors.
Speaker 1: You know, we use social media, brand ambassadors and other
Speaker 1: listening tools to stay extremely connected to our consumers. And
Speaker 1: I think that's really what's made us stand out among
Speaker 1: all of those different new entrants, like you've mentioned. Okay,
Speaker 1: one thing I want to ask you because your background
Speaker 1: is really fascinating to me. Um. First of all, it's
Speaker 1: a woman who's got two male business partners and you know,
Speaker 1: creating a company. I'm curious about that experience. I'm also experience.
Speaker 1: It's you're a first generation US citizen that you know,
Speaker 1: you moved here from Syria when you were about ten
Speaker 1: years old. So I'm just curious about, you know, being
Speaker 1: an immigrant in this country creating a company and what
Speaker 1: the experience has been for you. Yeah. So my parents
Speaker 1: had corporate jobs when we lived in the Middle East.
Speaker 1: My dad's from the UK and my mom's from Syria,
Speaker 1: and they actually quit their jobs when I was ten
Speaker 1: years old to pursue entrepreneurship in this country. And so
Speaker 1: we came over and I watched them grow their businesses
Speaker 1: through high school and college. It was a vending machine
Speaker 1: business with those bubbles and stuff, the animals and things
Speaker 1: like that, and so that was their business. And then
Speaker 1: when it came time for me to go to business
Speaker 1: school and start my company, I was incredibly flattered that,
Speaker 1: you know, my business partners decided they were not going
Speaker 1: to start a next generation alcohol beverage company without including
Speaker 1: a female founder and having diversity on their ownership. So
Speaker 1: I really appreciated them recruiting to me to join the team.
Speaker 1: And um, you know, certainly being a female founder in
Speaker 1: that alcohol beverage industry is at its rocky moments. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm often mistaken for, you know, a promotional model. When
Speaker 1: I'm saying no, I'm actually the owner of the company,
Speaker 1: people you know have a reaction. But my reaction to
Speaker 1: that is, you know, the more that I can be
Speaker 1: on things like this and show up the panels and
Speaker 1: be mentors to other female entrepreneurs that you know, we
Speaker 1: can make a change in our generation and you know
Speaker 1: the next group of female founders and there have been
Speaker 1: many many new women founders of alcohol beverages and alcohol
Speaker 1: beverage companies recently. Um, you know, if I see that
Speaker 1: as a great change, and I hope that we can
Speaker 1: continue to be the change that we want to see
Speaker 1: in this industry and encourage more diversity of ownership as well. Well,
Speaker 1: it's super grateful to be an American citizen. It's a
Speaker 1: wonderful place to be. I know, we have our issues,
Speaker 1: but this has been an incredible country. Well it's great
Speaker 1: to hear that. And and you know, it's interesting, you know,
Speaker 1: because I do think it sounds like whether it's diversity
Speaker 1: and inclusion or sustainability, these are things that are important
Speaker 1: to you guys. And also the brand absolutely. I also
Speaker 1: wanted to include my stories being featured in a book
Speaker 1: called Immigrant Hustle, which I love the name for that,
Speaker 1: So that's coming out later this year, Um, if anybody
Speaker 1: is interested in learning more about my story. But you know,
Speaker 1: on that note mentioned, we definitely want to be this
Speaker 1: next generation and alcohol beverage company. So that includes the
Speaker 1: responsible business model we wanted to be more inclusive and
Speaker 1: regenerative for the planet. So you know, my role as
Speaker 1: chief operating officer, I take sustainability very seriously in our company,
Speaker 1: and we're actually working on and becoming a b corpse
Speaker 1: this year so that we can be fully transparent with
Speaker 1: all of our efforts that we've been kind of doing
Speaker 1: behind the scenes and now really baked into our business
Speaker 1: model for future growth. Amy, how are you guys funding
Speaker 1: your growth? It seems like you talked about the sales,
Speaker 1: very strong sales growth. How are you funding that? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so you know, consumer brands are expensive to get growing,
Speaker 1: So we've done several fundraising grounds were actually, you know,
Speaker 1: after Shark Tank, we had two based fundraising rounds with
Speaker 1: lots of private investors that came into supported are so grateful,
Speaker 1: and we're actually partnering with wet funder to be able
Speaker 1: to annow anybody that's a fan of Beatbox or future
Speaker 1: Proof to become part of the brand, and that's going
Speaker 1: to be announced very soon. So if anyone's interested in that,
Speaker 1: it's Beatbox Beverages dot com to sign up for the
Speaker 1: newsletter and get that announcement once it's public, and I
Speaker 1: gotta ask you go ahead, no, please finish. I was
Speaker 1: gonna say it such a unique opportunity because you know,
Speaker 1: most people can't just invest in a startup. You know,
Speaker 1: these crowdfunding platforms that are kind of becoming the next
Speaker 1: generation of fundraising, really cool opportunity that democratize who can
Speaker 1: be part of these fast growing companies. Yeah, we're seeing
Speaker 1: more and more of that. I think it's really interesting.
Speaker 1: So it's also happening in real estate where you know,
Speaker 1: the average investor right can't get involved, but there are
Speaker 1: ways now where you can, you know, be part of
Speaker 1: a group in terms of being much more involved in
Speaker 1: in some of kind of what normally is for institutional investors. Amy,
Speaker 1: what's next for you guys? I mean, we are of
Speaker 1: launching We're launching a new flavor of Beatbox this month,
Speaker 1: Peach Punch. So we're really excited about that. It seems
Speaker 1: like my most favorite delicious road trip snacks, peach rings.
Speaker 1: And we're continuing to innovate in this industry. You know,
Speaker 1: we've got two brands of Brizzian Corklift, which you know
Speaker 1: twenty is a very hard year to launch innovation of
Speaker 1: the sale, so we're very excited about expanding those brands
Speaker 1: next year, as we can do things like events and
Speaker 1: samplings and other ways to introduce some new products to
Speaker 1: customers again