In 2015, on my golden birthday, I turned 28 on the 28th of February. I remember thinking after all my friends left the house and after a few too many beers..."why hasn't anyone made a candle that fits on beer". So the next day I got to googling and when I found out there was nothing, started tinkering with some bendy straws, tape and a candle. Would ya look at that, the first version of what I was to call BIRTHDAY BEER® was born!
At that time, I was working in corporate America but constantly reading business books because I knew one day I wanted to run my own business (pictured is Chris Guillebeau's $100 startup). I wrote down all of my business ideas, rated them, brainstormed around them, tinkered in my garage with some...but this one stuck with me. I ended up starting my #2 business idea but Birthday Beer® sat in the back of my mind.
Later that year I told my friend Winslow about the idea and he explained he's a designer and can "do stuff like that"...so he whipped up some of his CAD magic on the computer and we started prototyping. Over the next 3-4 years, him and I developed 20+ versions but always wanted to change and improve things because we weren't quite satisfied with each version.
That was until 2019 when we wanted to shift away from plastic and figured out how to make our lids reusable + universal (so they would fit on any type of glassware). This was our biggest hold up! All glasses are shaped/angled differently. We got our first silicone prototype made (right before my wedding) and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Finally! Something we were proud of. Something that is going to work! That same year we created the can version as well and started the conversation with our lawyers, who got to work securing our IP (intellectual property).
We all know what happed in 2020...so we had to hit pause for a moment. During this timeline, Winslow grew his family by 2, I got busy trying to keep my other business afloat (also growing my family by 2) and our idea just sat there marinating. But don't worry, it was thought about and dreamt of on the daily.
Today we bring you a much more refined version and very thought out business plan that's ready to bring Birthday Beer to life! Please stay tuned for the ride.