How journalist Steve Hindy started Brooklyn Brewery

We’re heading back to the archives, this time revisiting my 2006 interview with Steve Hindy, co-founder of Brooklyn Brewery. Steve’s career journey, both as a foreign correspondent before he took the entrepreneurial leap, and as a brewery owner, is the stuff of blockbuster movie fare. After all, being robbed at gunpoint and being threatened by the mob are not problems the average entrepreneur encounters (thankfully!). Steve and his co-founder Tom Potter forged ahead through the ups and downs of the early years, even staring down bankruptcy at one point. But as Steve told me, building a business is like climbing a mountain. You put one foot in front of the other, you do the work everyday, and eventually you get there. In 2003, Steve and Tom sold their beer distributorship for $10 million to focus on the brewery. Since we spoke, Brooklyn Brewery has grown from $12 million to over $50 million in revenue, and it’s become a local institution, committed to investing in and giving back to the community. At the end of 2020, 36 years after convincing his neighbor and homebrew partner to quit his steady job at a bank and join him in starting a brewery, Steve announced his retirement. His story is proof that with grit, determination and a bit of fearlessness, you can turn your passion into a thriving — and thrilling — venture. *** If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and helps us continue to attract the entrepreneurs you want to hear and learn from. For show notes, past guests and transcripts, visit venturevoice.com Sign up for the Venture Voice email newsletter at venturevoice.substack.com/welcome Follow and connect on social: On Twitter: twitter.com/gregory On Instagram: instagram.com/gregory On YouTube: youtube.com/c/GregoryGalant On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/galant/ Learn more about Muck Rack at muckrack.com and The Shorty Awards at shortyawards.com