The secret to brewing up a $3 billion business idea: a beloved family recipe, a bootstrapped business plan, and a briefcase full of beer.
Those are just some of the ingredients Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch used to launch his Boston-based beer brand in 1984. The then-34-year-old aspiring entrepreneur had just quit his six-figure gig at Boston Consulting Group—a decision his brewmaster father referred to as one of the “stupidest” things he had ever done—with a dream of launching a great American beer company.
