Justin Robinson, like many of us, pondered the age-old college question: “why can’t I get beer delivered?” However, his mission to get beer delivered initially seemed impossible due to Massachusetts’ strict legal restrictions.  Undeterred, Justin and two friends started to research and eventually discovered that alcohol delivery is legal if they use a three-tier compliant strategy. 

Without much money to get the company off the ground, the trio decided to run social events for the Boston College community, which later would become Drizly’s seed funding.

Despite having some cash on hand, the team was unable to acquire a liquor license due to the inflated costs (close to $500k in MA), so they pivoted and sought out partnerships instead, their first being Gordon’s Fine Wines and Liquors in Watertown, MA. At the heart of Drizly’s brilliant strategy was their team’s decision to personally immerse themselves in liquor stores. Recognizing the importance of understanding their customers on a profound level, Drizly’s team willingly rolled up their sleeves and volunteered to work hands-on in these businesses. By doing so, they gained invaluable insights into the preferences, habits, and pain points of their target audience. Not only did this knowledge differentiate Drizly, but with his experience, Justin was able to give credibility to investors (raising $2.25 million in seed capital – $120 million in total) and even getting approval from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts – a notoriously difficult feat.

Justin’s tenacity and willingness to adapt and learn from industry professionals helped lead Drizly to its meteoric rise and eventual acquisition for $1.1 billion. In his Fireside Chat with our founders, he laid down some tips and tricks. Three stood out: equity trading, validating user experience, and the idea of a kicking/screaming level product/service. 

(1) EQUITY TRADING: Whilst building Drizly, Justin and his co-founders were not able to pay for legal advice, but instead exchanged equity for these professionals’ time. With it, Drizly was able to get high quality information at a minimum without having to pay for part-time or full-time employees. 

(2) USER EXPERIENCE: To build a business, you have to value your customers and learn what they like and dislike. Always structure your questions similarly so that you can have consistent data and truly understand what your customers are telling you. Bring together a diverse set of customers and prospects and “you’ll realize that they think about what you’re selling them in a totally different way than you ever would have expected.” 

(3) KICKING/SCREAMING TEST: A test of customer relevancy and to access a true pain point is the kicking and screaming test. With this, Justin notes that if your product/service crashes for a day, would your customers be indifferent or would they be kicking and screaming like they truly need the product/service and can’t function without it. Answering this question could be how one realizes if they truly have found product-market fit.

Thanks to Justin’s insights, founders in the SSC Summer Accelerator have begun to analyze how they can integrate these tips into their company’s daily operations to determine if they are realizing pain points for their customers, making sure they are responding to consumer feedback and are making the most out of their cash flow.