Sammy Verghese - Degen Distillery

How did Sammy Verghese go from nightclub promoter to CEO of Degen Distillery – a brand-new player in the premium drinks market, driven by his passion for technology and backed by Google?

In this episode, we discuss the significance of developing a growing community, creating exclusivity using blockchain systems, and entering the industry as a disruptor partnered with the biggest craft brewer in Europe, BrewDog.

00:00 Introduction and background
03:54 Underpinning the values and concept of Degen Distillery
09:34 Entering the market with BrewDog
11:52 Introducing the premium drinks industry to the tech world
24:46 Creating an original brand identity
38:20 Taking Degen Distillery to the next level. What’s next?

Listen to the audio version

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Transcript

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Well, welcome to Sammy.

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We are delighted that you’re joining us.

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No stranger to the distillery world has
worked in this area or has been submerged

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into this area quite recently.

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Sammy, warm welcome.

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Let’s start with something pretty easy to
kick things off.

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Who are you?

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And what is it that you do?

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Yeah, so I’m Sammy obviously.

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Sammy Verghese the co-founder and
CEO of Degen labs, the company behind the distillery

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Yeah, I pretty much oversee everything
from the tech side to the physical side

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that the logistics, fundraising, financing,
everything

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Right.

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So a true entrepreneur getting stuck into
multiple different areas of running a

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business.

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So basically you’re busy, Sammy.

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Would I be safe to assume that?

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Yeah, it’s pretty crazy at the moment.

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So we’ve decided to, because we don’t like
our social lives essentially, we’ve

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decided to not only launch a distillery,
but a global distillery and a tech

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decided to not only launch a distillery,
but a global distillery and a tech

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platform and tech business at the same
time.

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So let’s see if it’s achievable.

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Well, that’s actually quite leading into
my next question that I was really quite

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keen on unpacking was, you know, you and I
have not known each other long.

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keen on unpacking was, you know, you and I
have not known each other long.

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I think it’s safe to say, but from what I
have been reading about you, you’re a bit

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of a go-getter.

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So I think you’ve just alluded to it
there, Sammy, but you know, you started

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So I think you’ve just alluded to it
there, Sammy, but you know, you started

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off as a nightclub.

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promoter, you founded several companies
alongside your co-founder, some major

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festivals that you’ve got stuck into.

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Of course, you’ve just mentioned a tech
company that you founded.

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Where does all of that come from?

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Where does that attitude, that mentality,
that gusto come from?

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Most definitely my parents.

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My parents both came from relatively poor
backgrounds.

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My mother came from a really poor
background in Morocco, really didn’t have

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My mother came from a really poor
background in Morocco, really didn’t have

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any education either.

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Came to the UK and England relatively young

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Through actually

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long story short, through an arranged marrage

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which she was not a fan of.

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So she actually ended up leaving her
husband, but she was in England, couldn’t

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speak the language, had no education, no
nothing.

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But she managed to get on her own feet
independently, find jobs, find incomes,

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learn the language completely alone and
isolated in a different country.

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My father did speak the language, but he
was raised in a poor background in India.

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came, sort of fled India, came to the UK,
joined the merchant Navy, the UK Merchant

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Navy when he was really young, and became
one of the youngest ever captains and in

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the Merchant Navy, went on to found
relatively successful company.

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Yeah, all the drive really comes from my
upbringing and my parents just solving

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problems and managing to somehow raise us.

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I love that.

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Managing to somehow fit in, raising us and
doing a really good job of it as well.

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Well, let’s just use this opportunity to
give them a bit of a shout out.

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So, mama and papa, Sammy, thanks for what
you’ve done and how you’ve got to this

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place.

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So, that mentality and attitude, I mean,
that I think comes through into the

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business that you’ve just set up.

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I think it’s…

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from what I’ve been reading really
underpins the values of Degen Distillery.

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It’s a game-changing company.

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I liked something that you shared on the
website, which is rather than seeking the

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next big thing, you’re all about making
the next thing and owning that.

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Can you tell us a little bit about the
thinking and the concept behind Degen

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Distillery?

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Yeah, I mean, really, it does come from my
and my co-founders.

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I’ve touched on it a little bit there, but
I’ll just do a very quick summary on it.

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So I sort of co-founded my first business
at 18 and I was studying for a law degree

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and realized I just hated law.

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So ended up scaling that business to do
about $30 million worth of revenue.

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But learned a lot of lessons because it
ended up collapsing.

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But learned a lot of lessons because it
ended up collapsing.

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But after that, I moved into tech.

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and launched a, we call it Web2, but we
live in the Web3 world, but just a

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traditional tech company.

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Scaled that pretty quickly and then had
some successful exits and finance.

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At that point I was like, well, in my
mid-20s, early 20s, I had some decent

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capital, you know.

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So I just wanted to have a little bit of
fun.

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I almost fell into hospitality and events.

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I was just partying a lot, truth be told.

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And then I was approached.

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by a successful club at the time who said,
well, you always say you just want to

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throw some events.

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And then I ended up scaling that into the
UK’s fastest growing events business.

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And as you mentioned, I bought a
nightclub, turned it around to be top five

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music venues in the UK, took over some
festivals, pubs, restaurants, et cetera.

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And always, it was very obvious at the
time that everything that we really did

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And the reason we were able to scale
businesses really quickly and turn around

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And the reason we were able to scale
businesses really quickly and turn around

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businesses is because we built a community
of people who sort of followed us into

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whatever we were doing and who trusted us.

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So me and my co-founder, we’d spend a lot
of time in tech and blockchain and crypto

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and sort of futuristic tech, shall I say.

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And we noticed a lot of problems with that
tech.

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And I won’t go into the technology side of
that.

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business too much, but the whole ethos
was, right, we’ve created communities

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before.

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And it’s the communities really that are
the driving force behind the brands that

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we’ve created.

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So can we co-create the next big
international spirits brand by finding a

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community first and then allowing that
community to co-create the entire brand

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community first and then allowing that
community to co-create the entire brand

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with us?

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So we essentially, we essentially…

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build a community.

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We have a community of around two and a
half thousand people at the moment.

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We’re looking to expand that.

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We’re looking to expand that into about
30,000 by April.

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We’re looking to expand that into about
30,000 by April.

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We’re going through a campaign.

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The idea is we allow our community to get
involved in the process of setting up a

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distillery.

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So you can get involved from co-creation
of branding of labeling of recipe designs,

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all the way to distribution to sales, to

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partnerships, marketing, etc.

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And we essentially incentivize those
community members to, long story short,

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own part of the value that they create.

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So, you bring something to the table, our
tech allows them to tokenize and own that

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revenue.

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And that’s when we start to talk about
things like, is it, Orogo NFT, that’s the

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sort of key and entry point into this
community, is that right?

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Yeah, so initially we did 655 Origo NFTs.

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So they went on the market in November.

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So community members had to buy the NFT to
be able to be in with, well, not in with a

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So community members had to buy the NFT to
be able to be in with, well, not in with a

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chance to be able to essentially join the
club.

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The NFT also allows additional utilities
and benefits.

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For example, if you are an artist or
creator or you own other bits of NFTs and

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digital art, you can license that to us
and we essentially incorporate that into

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our bottle designs and distribute them
around the world and then pay the NFT

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holder a licensing fee for that.

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So the whole premise is can we find a
community that can co-create a brand from

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design to distribution from…

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from seed idea to execution, and
essentially really leverage that community

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to become the fastest growing Spirit Spoon
in the world.

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Absolutely.

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And I think when I first heard of this
concept, it drew me immediately to the

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concept and membership idea of that
underpins BrewDog.

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I think if you see that a company like
that started very much a beer of the

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people, very craft, independent, and has
over the last 10 years grown into

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experiences.

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You know, you’ve got a chain of bars and
experiential bars, if you will.

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across the globe, but very much their fans
and their advocates and loyal drinkers are

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across the globe, but very much their fans
and their advocates and loyal drinkers are

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members.

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They have a stake in the business and they
have a stake in that and how things play.

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And that was, it was funny having that
recollection because actually BrewDog is

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an important part of your story as well.

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Yes, they are.

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So we were actually going to work when we
were coming up with the concept we were

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actually going to build our own distillery
or buy a distillery off the market or

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whatever it was and thank God we didn’t
because hats off to people that do it but

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The real value in what we do the value
prop really is the tech that the business

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model and the idea so we ended up
approaching BrewDog and asking

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uh…

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BrewDog whether they would be keen on
partnering and uh…

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luckily it went incredibly smoothly
they’re amazing people to work with and

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they’re very open-minded to as they are
such a disruptive brands they’re very

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open-minded to futuristic tech and
futuristic ways of thinking about how

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companies conform and how those companies
aggregate around communities yes uh…

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long and short of it we are actually fully
partnered with BrewDog they do

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all of our liquid production manufacturing
distilling.

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They help us with supply chain logistics
distribution.

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They help us get into key retail accounts
in the UK across the world.

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They sell us in all 130 of their
international bars.

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They’ll sell us on Brewdog.com.

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They help us with, again, international
marketing and PR support.

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So it’s an amazing partnership and we’re
really lucky to have them as part of the

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brand.

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Well, it sounds like the co-founder and
CEO of BrewDog feels the same way.

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James Watt was in some articles that have
been distributed tail end of 2023.

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He says that Degen Distillery stood out
from the very start as a shiny example of

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disruptive organization looking to
democratize a business model and use

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groundbreaking new technologies to reach
its community.

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I think that’s a really important word,
democratize.

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It’s not really done before.

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And to be honest, I don’t think it’s done
in a major way in this industry.

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So you are a game changing brand that’s
coming into this industry to build

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something quite different.

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NFTs in a certain extent is something that
we’ve dabbled with, particularly in the

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luxury market.

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But for those, let’s go back a couple of
steps for those who aren’t really sure

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what we mean by NFT.

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Is there a really dumbed down version for
our audience?

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Is there a really dumbed down version for
our audience?

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of understanding what that actually means.

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Yeah, of course.

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So the classic example of an NFT at the
moment for anyone who may have just come

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across the abbreviation is some type of
monkey picture or artwork and that just

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exists on the internet and an individual
can own that.

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And that is one part of one part of a
very, very multi layered technology.

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The idea of an NFT in the purest and
simplest form is the ability to own

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something digitally.

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If you think about the physical world and
think about the surroundings around you,

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from what I can see you’ve got a
microphone, you’ve got a chair, you’ve got

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a headset, etc.

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Those are all physical, non-fungible items
that exist in the real world and you own

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them.

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Now when you go into the internet, it’s an
open forum.

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You don’t really own anything other than
perhaps a copyright to something.

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What blockchain allows and what NFTs allow
is digital ownership over a good or an

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item.

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And the underlying blockchain technology,
without getting too technical, supports a

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type of distributed digital ledger, which
shows who owns what, and it’s a proof of

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type of distributed digital ledger, which
shows who owns what, and it’s a proof of

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ownership.

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So essentially the NFT for us and how that
works in our model is…

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00:13:28,708 –> 00:13:31,750
a proof of the fact that you are a member.

214
00:13:31,750 –> 00:13:33,416
You don’t have to have a physical account.

215
00:13:33,416 –> 00:13:36,916
You don’t have to have email addresses,
whatever it is, and you own that as an

216
00:13:36,916 –> 00:13:37,291
asset.

217
00:13:37,291 –> 00:13:40,000
So the NFT becomes, the membership becomes
an asset.

218
00:13:40,000 –> 00:13:44,875
Now within our ecosystem, I’m sure we
might get there, but just to fully drill

219
00:13:44,875 –> 00:13:49,583
down on why NFT, so all the value that an
individual creates within our ecosystem,

220
00:13:49,583 –> 00:13:51,041
we attach it to their NFT.

221
00:13:51,041 –> 00:13:55,083
So their NFT starts having value.

222
00:13:55,375 –> 00:13:57,666
So once you are,

223
00:13:57,791 –> 00:14:01,000
once you if you want to leave the
ecosystem if you want to just relax from

224
00:14:01,000 –> 00:14:05,333
the ecosystem you can digitally own that
value forever so It opens up it opens up

225
00:14:05,333 –> 00:14:07,625
the ecosystem you can digitally own that
value forever so It opens up it opens up

226
00:14:07,625 –> 00:14:13,750
it opens up sort of borderless digital
formats of Ownership for us over and above

227
00:14:13,750 –> 00:14:17,750
a little bit of artwork and something that
you can just show to people so I won’t

228
00:14:17,750 –> 00:14:23,125
like I said I won’t dive too deep into the
tech but To go back to the real world

229
00:14:23,125 –> 00:14:25,375
the real world synergy I was trying to
pull up there.

230
00:14:25,375 –> 00:14:29,916
So an NFT is anything you can own
digitally.

231
00:14:29,916 –> 00:14:35,125
So imagine the physical world goes to the
digital world, the candlestick in front of

232
00:14:35,125 –> 00:14:37,500
you, the microphone, the chair, et cetera.

233
00:14:37,500 –> 00:14:39,500
All of those would be NFTs.

234
00:14:39,500 –> 00:14:41,625
They’re just digital items essentially.

235
00:14:41,625 –> 00:14:43,208
Absolutely.

236
00:14:43,208 –> 00:14:48,125
And it’s almost like an investment as well
because that value can increase over time

237
00:14:48,125 –> 00:14:54,041
or just like you would have as a
shareholder and a dividend that pays out

238
00:14:54,041 –> 00:14:55,000
kind of thing.

239
00:14:55,166 –> 00:14:56,375
Is that how it works?

240
00:14:56,583 –> 00:14:57,958
I mean, yes and no.

241
00:14:57,958 –> 00:15:02,541
So partly, yes, so it is, it’s definitely
not a share.

242
00:15:02,833 –> 00:15:07,000
It is not a security is not anything that
pays out a dividend.

243
00:15:07,458 –> 00:15:09,791
But it is something that you can own and
be part of an ecosystem.

244
00:15:09,791 –> 00:15:12,708
But it is something that you can own and
be part of an ecosystem.

245
00:15:14,041 –> 00:15:21,125
Yeah, we have to, I think a lot of people
equate crypto and NFTs to stocks and

246
00:15:21,125 –> 00:15:24,583
shares on a listed exchange.

247
00:15:24,708 –> 00:15:26,333
It’s not really like that.

248
00:15:27,125 –> 00:15:30,000
It’s only like that because of the
financial element to it.

249
00:15:30,000 –> 00:15:36,791
But the one thing that I haven’t touched
on blockchain is the reason why blockchain

250
00:15:36,791 –> 00:15:44,291
and the reason why NFTs is blockchain as a
sort of operating system is the first time

251
00:15:44,291 –> 00:15:48,583
ever on the internet that you can have
digital scarcity.

252
00:15:48,583 –> 00:15:53,583
So for example, there are only, I don’t
know, a thousand Ferraris.

253
00:15:53,583 –> 00:15:56,625
ever produced of a certain range in the
real world.

254
00:15:56,625 –> 00:16:02,000
Well, if you go on the internet and you
saw a picture, everybody could copy and

255
00:16:02,000 –> 00:16:05,416
paste it, save it, whatever, but you
wouldn’t own it.

256
00:16:05,458 –> 00:16:09,000
Now, with blockchain, you could say, okay,
there’s only gonna be a thousand pieces of

257
00:16:09,000 –> 00:16:12,375
this, and you can prove that a thousand
people own that.

258
00:16:13,375 –> 00:16:17,916
It’s just trying to bring a lot of the
physical format into the digital world.

259
00:16:18,083 –> 00:16:19,041
Yeah, 100%.

260
00:16:19,208 –> 00:16:23,458
And I think we’re moving into that space
where more and more people are

261
00:16:23,458 –> 00:16:29,750
understanding this world and the internet,
things are bringing this about.

262
00:16:29,750 –> 00:16:33,041
And you can see some premium brands,
particularly in this area, talking about

263
00:16:33,041 –> 00:16:39,375
NFTs and releasing maybe limited edition
drinks, premium whiskeys.

264
00:16:39,375 –> 00:16:44,000
Johnny Walker was one example in a
collaboration with CC Friends.

265
00:16:44,000 –> 00:16:47,458
And almost that bottle became an invite
to…

266
00:16:48,125 –> 00:16:49,541
an experience or a membership, et cetera.

267
00:16:49,541 –> 00:16:51,708
an experience or a membership, et cetera.

268
00:16:51,708 –> 00:16:57,833
So this is, we’ve been dabbling and Sammy,
Degen Distillery are actually actively

269
00:16:57,833 –> 00:17:07,666
taking that into a next stage where this
ownership is allowing consumers to feel

270
00:17:07,666 –> 00:17:10,083
part of your journey at Signet.

271
00:17:10,083 –> 00:17:16,291
So, I mean, the first release that the
distillery has created has just hit the.

272
00:17:16,833 –> 00:17:17,541
hit the market.

273
00:17:17,541 –> 00:17:17,625
So we’re talking about 721 vodka.

274
00:17:17,625 –> 00:17:21,375
So we’re talking about 721 vodka.

275
00:17:22,083 –> 00:17:24,541
Tell me how, how did that even come about?

276
00:17:24,541 –> 00:17:25,666
Why vodka?

277
00:17:25,750 –> 00:17:27,500
Yeah, so why vodka?

278
00:17:27,500 –> 00:17:29,125
So it is a good question.

279
00:17:29,125 –> 00:17:34,041
So when you’re setting up in the
international community, we have community

280
00:17:34,041 –> 00:17:37,541
members based in Canada, China, Chile,
Australia, the four corners of the world.

281
00:17:37,541 –> 00:17:42,958
So when you’re setting up an international
community, you really have to think about

282
00:17:42,958 –> 00:17:44,375
international tastes.

283
00:17:44,375 –> 00:17:50,250
So we wanted to have the ability to have
as much of a mainstream product as

284
00:17:50,250 –> 00:17:53,666
possible that works across different
categories, geographies, demographics,

285
00:17:53,666 –> 00:17:54,625
etc.

286
00:17:54,666 –> 00:17:55,333
Now,

287
00:17:56,250 –> 00:18:00,166
I’m sure again this may be a question
you’re about to ask like what’s next.

288
00:18:00,791 –> 00:18:06,375
The whole idea was just to be able to
provide a premium initial product.

289
00:18:06,833 –> 00:18:11,583
What comes next, whether that’s flavored
vodka, gin, rums, tequilas, whiskies, what

290
00:18:11,583 –> 00:18:14,833
comes next is completely down to the
community.

291
00:18:14,875 –> 00:18:19,500
We didn’t want to come up with something
that was relatively niche, that only

292
00:18:19,500 –> 00:18:22,583
attracted a certain demographic.

293
00:18:22,583 –> 00:18:25,250
I think the vodka is a fairly open format.

294
00:18:25,833 –> 00:18:26,666
Yeah.

295
00:18:26,666 –> 00:18:29,625
And I mean, releasing your first release
is a big deal.

296
00:18:29,625 –> 00:18:30,625
It’s a huge risk.

297
00:18:30,625 –> 00:18:34,958
It’s it’s you’re not only, yes, capturing
that audience and delivering for that

298
00:18:34,958 –> 00:18:37,250
community that has multiple different
tastes.

299
00:18:37,250 –> 00:18:40,041
You’ve also got to set the tone of your
brand.

300
00:18:40,041 –> 00:18:41,750
And as you said, you’re reaching a premium
position in the market.

301
00:18:41,750 –> 00:18:45,958
And as you said, you’re reaching a premium
position in the market.

302
00:18:45,958 –> 00:18:51,583
But before we dabble into like how that
went into the design, if you picture your

303
00:18:51,750 –> 00:18:54,708
target audience, like who would that be?

304
00:18:55,083 –> 00:19:00,458
The target audience for us
really, we have a few different segments.

305
00:19:00,458 –> 00:19:05,333
So for the members, for the members
themselves, for the origo holders, the

306
00:19:05,333 –> 00:19:10,041
NFTs, we really target creators,
innovators, disruptors, futurists, people

307
00:19:10,041 –> 00:19:16,833
who have the ability to question why and
question how and question why things

308
00:19:16,833 –> 00:19:18,541
aren’t done in a better way.

309
00:19:18,541 –> 00:19:22,708
You know, we know and people in the
alcohol industry know that.

310
00:19:23,458 –> 00:19:28,125
It’s an industry that just hasn’t had any
real innovation in a very, very long time.

311
00:19:28,125 –> 00:19:31,125
It’s an industry that really focuses on
heritage of a thousand year old recipes

312
00:19:31,125 –> 00:19:32,958
It’s an industry that really focuses on
heritage of a thousand year old recipes

313
00:19:32,958 –> 00:19:36,625
and processes, which listen, there’s a lot
of value to that.

314
00:19:36,625 –> 00:19:42,208
Definitely on the distilling side, I fully
agree, but it is 2024 now, and we need to

315
00:19:42,208 –> 00:19:48,000
question how technology comes and disrupts
every single industry across the world,

316
00:19:48,208 –> 00:19:51,875
and how SMEs and startup distilleries

317
00:19:51,875 –> 00:19:59,000
which we do also help with our technology,
how they can access very gatekeep

318
00:19:59,000 –> 00:20:02,666
distribution processes and how they can
grow their brand.

319
00:20:02,666 –> 00:20:05,500
So that’s definitely on the community
side.

320
00:20:05,500 –> 00:20:10,000
On the product side, we’re a little bit
more open.

321
00:20:10,125 –> 00:20:14,458
As I said, it is the whole premise of the
initial product, product one, Gen Zero

322
00:20:14,458 –> 00:20:18,916
product, is that it is open to a wider
audience, but we definitely, on the

323
00:20:18,916 –> 00:20:20,125
marketing side,

324
00:20:22,041 –> 00:20:27,375
tech savvy individuals again a little bit
futuristic uh…

325
00:20:27,375 –> 00:20:28,958
people uh…

326
00:20:30,708 –> 00:20:37,541
more likely people who spend time on
devices laptops on the actual internet in

327
00:20:37,541 –> 00:20:42,625
meme culture in understanding Twitter
social media ect.

328
00:20:42,875 –> 00:20:47,708
that would probably be our initial target
like that the google type uh…

329
00:20:47,708 –> 00:20:51,208
exacts the techies the tech

330
00:20:51,791 –> 00:20:55,333
That’s really interesting because actually
there’s a lot of conversations going on

331
00:20:55,333 –> 00:21:02,416
amongst other things in this industry
around the new luxury.

332
00:21:02,416 –> 00:21:03,833
The new luxury market isn’t what we expect
is the millennials that are now making a

333
00:21:03,833 –> 00:21:08,708
The new luxury market isn’t what we expect
is the millennials that are now making a

334
00:21:08,708 –> 00:21:12,880
considerable disposable income that have
90s, 00’s influences

335
00:21:12,880 –> 00:21:16,960
perhaps not as digital savvy

336
00:21:16,960 –> 00:21:19,960
yet very

337
00:21:21,291 –> 00:21:24,041
very interested in quality over quantity
and have the money to pay for that luxury.

338
00:21:24,041 –> 00:21:26,250
very interested in quality over quantity
and have the money to pay for that luxury.

339
00:21:26,250 –> 00:21:31,375
But now, especially around COVID, you’re
starting to see a new generation of people

340
00:21:31,375 –> 00:21:36,875
coming through, a younger audience that
has the disposable incomes at such younger

341
00:21:36,875 –> 00:21:37,791
ages.

342
00:21:38,583 –> 00:21:42,666
And that feels like it really aligns with
where your brand is heading because they

343
00:21:42,666 –> 00:21:45,875
do understand this area and they
understand tech and they’re very

344
00:21:45,875 –> 00:21:48,666
interested in future and what that holds.

345
00:21:49,041 –> 00:21:50,333
And perhaps a bit.

346
00:21:50,333 –> 00:21:52,083
game-changing themselves.

347
00:21:52,416 –> 00:21:58,125
Yeah, I don’t I don’t think people quite
know how quickly certain amounts of tech

348
00:21:58,125 –> 00:22:00,125
are coming like the Apple.

349
00:22:00,125 –> 00:22:03,375
What is it called the Apple vision thing
where the headset

350
00:22:03,375 –> 00:22:05,291
Oh the vision goggles, yep

351
00:22:05,541 –> 00:22:08,583
that is again that’s Gen Z or that’s product one
imagine.

352
00:22:08,583 –> 00:22:14,833
Can you remember how awful that the first
iPod was in the first iPhone was To be

353
00:22:14,833 –> 00:22:19,541
able to have a brand now perhaps giving
away a little bit a few surprises that we

354
00:22:19,541 –> 00:22:20,666
have a possibly but

355
00:22:20,666 –> 00:22:24,916
To be able to have a brand which we can
have multiple AR activations, which would

356
00:22:24,916 –> 00:22:31,458
have multiple RFID chip activations
embedded into the bottle, into the actual

357
00:22:31,458 –> 00:22:32,375
design.

358
00:22:33,375 –> 00:22:40,208
We’re looking five years, 10 years ahead
in terms of what the, and that allows, and

359
00:22:40,208 –> 00:22:44,291
being a tech company at our heart allows
us to really leverage that.

360
00:22:44,291 –> 00:22:50,000
So, we’re looking at things that the big
players won’t look at for another decade.

361
00:22:50,625 –> 00:22:51,166
100%.

362
00:22:51,208 –> 00:22:56,000
And it’s, I mean, I guess it feels right
that Apple is used as a good reference

363
00:22:56,000 –> 00:22:56,958
point here.

364
00:22:56,958 –> 00:23:00,708
But what’s really interesting is I was
recently reading a book around, you know,

365
00:23:00,708 –> 00:23:02,541
good strategy, bad strategy.

366
00:23:02,541 –> 00:23:03,125
And, and Apple obviously went through a
real predicament many years ago when

367
00:23:03,125 –> 00:23:08,541
And, and Apple obviously went through a
real predicament many years ago when

368
00:23:08,541 –> 00:23:10,750
Microsoft was really stepping up its game.

369
00:23:10,750 –> 00:23:16,041
It was becoming the Intel processor that
all were using.

370
00:23:16,500 –> 00:23:19,833
And Apple were really suffering with its
multiple different products.

371
00:23:19,833 –> 00:23:25,500
And what they were talking about was Steve
Jobs actually taking over and reducing

372
00:23:25,500 –> 00:23:26,666
streamlining.

373
00:23:26,666 –> 00:23:29,083
And then they asked the question of what’s
next then?

374
00:23:29,083 –> 00:23:31,625
So you’ve streamlined, you’ve cut down
your products.

375
00:23:31,625 –> 00:23:33,708
And he’s like, I’m just waiting.

376
00:23:34,083 –> 00:23:36,083
I’m waiting for the next big thing.

377
00:23:36,375 –> 00:23:40,958
Or I’m waiting to create the opportunity
to create something pretty special.

378
00:23:40,958 –> 00:23:46,208
And that game changing thinking is
something I’m seeing through our

379
00:23:46,208 –> 00:23:47,375
conversations here, Sammy.

380
00:23:47,375 –> 00:23:48,666
So it’s…

381
00:23:48,833 –> 00:23:49,791
I’m buzzing.

382
00:23:49,791 –> 00:23:52,375
I’m really buzzing for where this is
going.

383
00:23:52,375 –> 00:23:52,583
I’m really buzzing for where this is
going.

384
00:23:52,666 –> 00:23:53,416
Yeah, I love it.

385
00:23:53,416 –> 00:23:54,583
We’ve been just on that.

386
00:23:54,583 –> 00:23:55,583
We’ve been waiting as well.

387
00:23:55,583 –> 00:24:00,625
So we’re in a lucky position that we’ve
had other businesses and revenue streams

388
00:24:00,625 –> 00:24:01,208
and whatever.

389
00:24:01,208 –> 00:24:05,500
And not a lot of spirit brands can do
this, but we’ve been building since early

390
00:24:05,500 –> 00:24:06,291
2022.

391
00:24:06,416 –> 00:24:07,958
So it’s been nearly two years.

392
00:24:07,958 –> 00:24:09,916
We haven’t fully, fully launched yet.

393
00:24:09,916 –> 00:24:12,833
So we’ve been making sure that.

394
00:24:12,833 –> 00:24:15,875
So again, I’ve launched what seven
businesses.

395
00:24:15,875 –> 00:24:19,791
My co-founder has got a hundred million
pound plus business.

396
00:24:19,791 –> 00:24:21,875
So we’ve been through this before.

397
00:24:21,875 –> 00:24:22,708
So we’ve been through this before.

398
00:24:23,416 –> 00:24:28,958
We know that timing is everything and we
feel that this year the timing is

399
00:24:28,958 –> 00:24:31,791
completely opportune, which is why we’re
starting to go pedal to the metal right

400
00:24:31,791 –> 00:24:32,333
now.

401
00:24:32,750 –> 00:24:34,083
Yeah, absolutely.

402
00:24:34,083 –> 00:24:38,750
And we haven’t mentioned Tom, so a bit of
a shout out to Tom and we’ll ask a bit

403
00:24:38,750 –> 00:24:42,333
more about him later on in terms of your
partnership and moving forward because it

404
00:24:42,333 –> 00:24:46,541
sounds like you’ve got a really good
balance as two founders of the distillery.

405
00:24:46,541 –> 00:24:47,541
But let’s talk brand.

406
00:24:47,541 –> 00:24:51,250
It’s something we really are particularly
passionate about at Signet.

407
00:24:51,833 –> 00:24:57,250
Knowing these audiences, knowing who
you’re trying to capture, knowing what you

408
00:24:57,250 –> 00:24:58,666
wanted to achieve.

409
00:24:59,250 –> 00:25:02,666
Tell us a little bit about the design of
the 721 vodka.

410
00:25:02,666 –> 00:25:09,083
I mean, anyone who’s interested, please do
visit Degen Distillery’s website and you

411
00:25:09,083 –> 00:25:14,125
will see, and you’ll be immediately hit by
this quite different looking bottle.

412
00:25:14,916 –> 00:25:16,833
Tell me about the design process.

413
00:25:16,833 –> 00:25:19,625
What was the thinking behind creating this
look?

414
00:25:20,000 –> 00:25:21,791
Yeah, it’s a good question.

415
00:25:21,791 –> 00:25:24,083
And let’s just touch upon the name as
well.

416
00:25:24,083 –> 00:25:30,750
So people understand where the concepts
have been birthed from.

417
00:25:30,750 –> 00:25:33,916
So 721, just as a heads up.

418
00:25:33,916 –> 00:25:38,791
Now, this is a little bit tech geeky, so
we don’t expect people to ever know this.

419
00:25:38,791 –> 00:25:43,125
But there is an NFT standard.

420
00:25:43,125 –> 00:25:44,000
It’s an open protocol in the blockchain
world.

421
00:25:44,000 –> 00:25:46,583
It’s an open protocol in the blockchain
world.

422
00:25:46,583 –> 00:25:48,833
that allows NFTs to actually exist.

423
00:25:48,833 –> 00:25:50,958
And that standard is called the ERC 721.

424
00:25:51,625 –> 00:25:56,166
So that’s a little bit of a nod just to
our roots and where we came from and how

425
00:25:56,166 –> 00:25:58,166
our community really interact with us.

426
00:25:58,166 –> 00:26:00,250
They all interact with us through 721
NFTs.

427
00:26:00,250 –> 00:26:00,833
They all interact with us through 721
NFTs.

428
00:26:00,833 –> 00:26:06,458
So 721 Vodka, 721 Vodka just made complete
sense.

429
00:26:07,125 –> 00:26:13,916
In terms of like where we are and where we
started seeing a lot of traction and

430
00:26:13,916 –> 00:26:16,041
interest from the community,

431
00:26:16,041 –> 00:26:19,208
So we build with community, as I
mentioned.

432
00:26:19,583 –> 00:26:23,291
There’s a lot of people, when you have
thousands of people in the community,

433
00:26:23,291 –> 00:26:28,458
there are a lot of different opinions and
preferences and venues to be able to drink

434
00:26:28,458 –> 00:26:32,583
and party or just actually do things.

435
00:26:32,583 –> 00:26:38,000
You have the nighttime night owls, there’s
et cetera, party people, which I used to

436
00:26:38,000 –> 00:26:43,708
be, which are now more moving to the
daytime drinkers and the…

437
00:26:43,708 –> 00:26:45,750
They’re sitting out in the sun going to
festivals.

438
00:26:45,750 –> 00:26:50,166
It’s a good place to be, Sammy, it’s a good place to be

439
00:26:50,166 –> 00:26:53,541
So we noticed that in the way our
community was slowly forming.

440
00:26:53,541 –> 00:27:00,208
So the whole brand design was, can we
actually, within one product, just create

441
00:27:00,208 –> 00:27:01,458
two different types of brands?

442
00:27:01,458 –> 00:27:03,458
Which, again, hasn’t really been done
before.

443
00:27:03,458 –> 00:27:04,375
It’s the same product.

444
00:27:04,375 –> 00:27:06,791
So we’ve got a day version and a night
version.

445
00:27:06,791 –> 00:27:12,280
The night version is the black bottle, and
the day version is the, we call it vault.

446
00:27:12,280 –> 00:27:14,760
it’s the colour that

447
00:27:14,791 –> 00:27:18,958
we’ve sort of branded ourselves, but it’s
like a limey type, a yellowy green type

448
00:27:18,958 –> 00:27:19,750
colour.

449
00:27:21,041 –> 00:27:25,291
So we actually segment a lot of our
strategies and our community acquisition

450
00:27:25,291 –> 00:27:30,125
into like a night-time focused marketing
and daytime focus.

451
00:27:30,500 –> 00:27:32,916
So the bottle follows that itself.

452
00:27:34,375 –> 00:27:36,291
I didn’t even think that was happening.

453
00:27:36,291 –> 00:27:37,083
So you’re right.

454
00:27:37,083 –> 00:27:40,041
Like that’s an incredible thought process.

455
00:27:40,041 –> 00:27:45,875
Was that an idea that came from you and
Tom or was that, did you seek some support

456
00:27:45,875 –> 00:27:48,583
with the design or did it come from the
community?

457
00:27:50,041 –> 00:27:51,333
It came from the community, but it took us
a little while to realize.

458
00:27:51,333 –> 00:27:53,541
It came from the community, but it took us
a little while to realize.

459
00:27:53,541 –> 00:27:59,000
So we did work with a fantastic branding
agency, I’ll give them a little shout out

460
00:27:59,000 –> 00:28:00,375
at Power Studios.

461
00:28:01,250 –> 00:28:04,958
And they really sort of sucked it out of
us.

462
00:28:04,958 –> 00:28:10,333
And we did, I tell you now, we did hours
and hours and weeks and weeks of workshops

463
00:28:10,333 –> 00:28:15,333
and figuring out what the brand is and
where the target audience is and what the

464
00:28:15,333 –> 00:28:16,708
look and feel should be.

465
00:28:16,916 –> 00:28:21,791
It just sort of came out eventually around
like a boardroom type conversation.

466
00:28:22,166 –> 00:28:25,166
And we were talking about narratives and
things that we picked up from the

467
00:28:25,166 –> 00:28:26,083
community.

468
00:28:26,083 –> 00:28:27,666
It just became really obvious.

469
00:28:27,708 –> 00:28:30,916
And that’s also where the initial brand
colors come from.

470
00:28:30,916 –> 00:28:37,166
So if anyone sees our website, it’s black
and bold really, and everything day and

471
00:28:37,166 –> 00:28:37,875
night.

472
00:28:38,500 –> 00:28:41,166
I love how you’ve come up with your own
taxonomy, Valt.

473
00:28:41,166 –> 00:28:43,166
It’s the new color of the year.

474
00:28:44,208 –> 00:28:45,208
It’s brilliant.

475
00:28:45,208 –> 00:28:48,000
And then it’s already starting to some
branding there.

476
00:28:48,000 –> 00:28:55,291
So, I mean, with the dynamic of it being a
membership organization, if you will, and

477
00:28:56,375 –> 00:29:02,375
the community members having a stake and a
say in how the design, not just the

478
00:29:02,375 –> 00:29:05,833
design, of course, the full operations of
the distillery.

479
00:29:05,958 –> 00:29:07,416
How do you anticipate managing that in
terms of creating this coherence and this

480
00:29:07,416 –> 00:29:11,375
How do you anticipate managing that in
terms of creating this coherence and this

481
00:29:11,375 –> 00:29:19,291
consistency, but still being able to
enable those members to have a sway in

482
00:29:19,291 –> 00:29:20,041
design?

483
00:29:20,125 –> 00:29:20,791
Yeah, of course.

484
00:29:20,791 –> 00:29:27,041
So it’s again, working with thousands of
people across the world, it will always

485
00:29:27,041 –> 00:29:27,791
have its challenges.

486
00:29:27,791 –> 00:29:29,416
And we know that.

487
00:29:30,291 –> 00:29:37,041
However, I think there is there’s a real
disconnect when you look at traditional

488
00:29:37,041 –> 00:29:43,000
brands, and especially like, name any
mainstream large scale traditional brand

489
00:29:43,000 –> 00:29:44,916
alcohol spirit brand across the world.

490
00:29:44,916 –> 00:29:48,333
There is a huge disconnect between
boardroom and the people that actually

491
00:29:48,333 –> 00:29:49,541
drink this, right?

492
00:29:50,750 –> 00:29:57,291
So what we do in our approach is we try
and break down those barriers.

493
00:29:57,291 –> 00:30:03,208
Now the community will never have full say
and full direction over everything.

494
00:30:03,208 –> 00:30:05,833
We’re extremely transparent about that.

495
00:30:05,833 –> 00:30:10,833
But what we want to do is involve that
community in all of our decision making.

496
00:30:11,333 –> 00:30:15,166
So to be able to be transparent with that
community, with that private members

497
00:30:15,166 –> 00:30:18,500
group, and to be able to have clear lines
of communication.

498
00:30:19,416 –> 00:30:25,083
weekly calls we are constantly in a
private discord chatting with them all day

499
00:30:25,083 –> 00:30:32,458
all night to be able to have that sort of
ebb and flow between exec decisions and

500
00:30:32,458 –> 00:30:37,166
community allows us to find product market
fit much quicker allows us to find out

501
00:30:38,083 –> 00:30:43,000
what products may work what products might
not work what the general idea of

502
00:30:43,000 –> 00:30:46,625
thousands of people across the world are
across different geographies because you

503
00:30:46,625 –> 00:30:48,250
know you always have inherent buy it

504
00:30:48,250 –> 00:30:53,083
biases as a founder, as an executive, or
as any type of manager in an organization.

505
00:30:53,083 –> 00:30:56,750
You have the biases that you’re brought up
with, your gender biases, your religious

506
00:30:56,750 –> 00:30:59,375
biases, your geography biases.

507
00:30:59,375 –> 00:31:05,125
Now, being able to have constant and 24-7
contact with that allows us to break down

508
00:31:05,125 –> 00:31:09,875
what we believe will work to what we have
some data that thousands of people across

509
00:31:09,875 –> 00:31:10,750
the world have.

510
00:31:11,791 –> 00:31:12,750
That’s really interesting.

511
00:31:12,750 –> 00:31:15,125
And in fact, you’re quite right.

512
00:31:15,250 –> 00:31:20,083
It’s not necessarily that you don’t get
that insight in our distillers and

513
00:31:20,166 –> 00:31:24,041
international brand groups, of course, put
a lot of money into that research, but

514
00:31:24,041 –> 00:31:25,666
it’s not in real time.

515
00:31:25,666 –> 00:31:26,833
It’s a fixed amount.

516
00:31:26,833 –> 00:31:28,375
Like it’s a fixed piece of work.

517
00:31:28,375 –> 00:31:33,375
You get that intelligence, you act on it,
but you have direct real time access to

518
00:31:33,375 –> 00:31:37,958
the people that most love your brand and
they are your audience.

519
00:31:38,375 –> 00:31:41,666
So gauging that insight in real time and
being able to

520
00:31:41,833 –> 00:31:46,250
almost uptick those things that are, you
know, those patterns that are coming up

521
00:31:46,250 –> 00:31:51,250
quite often and to act on that is a really
empowered position to be in, I think, when

522
00:31:51,250 –> 00:31:52,375
it comes to your brand.

523
00:31:52,541 –> 00:31:56,916
There’s a huge difference, I think,
between paying for a focus group and doing

524
00:31:56,916 –> 00:31:57,625
some market research with a clipboard on
the side of the street.

525
00:31:57,625 –> 00:32:00,041
some market research with a clipboard on
the side of the street.

526
00:32:00,291 –> 00:32:05,333
I think there’s a huge difference to that
type of research versus having those

527
00:32:05,333 –> 00:32:09,208
thousands of people in a private server
and a private discord who know your brand,

528
00:32:09,208 –> 00:32:13,583
who know you as a founder, who can pull
you up on decisions.

529
00:32:13,625 –> 00:32:15,958
You’re not getting that from a focus
group.

530
00:32:16,208 –> 00:32:21,833
You’re not getting that from external
groups who don’t know anything about

531
00:32:21,833 –> 00:32:22,416
the…

532
00:32:22,625 –> 00:32:27,125
team the execs so we have a very open
relationship with our community and

533
00:32:27,125 –> 00:32:30,916
sometimes they tell us that we’re doing
things wrong and we fix that sometimes

534
00:32:30,916 –> 00:32:37,416
they tell us we’re doing things amazingly
and we sort of go with it so yeah the

535
00:32:37,416 –> 00:32:42,541
real-time communication really trumps
anything that marketing research or

536
00:32:42,541 –> 00:32:45,500
marketing research and provide you with

537
00:32:45,500 –> 00:32:45,625
marketing research and provide you with

538
00:32:46,125 –> 00:32:47,208
Yeah, 100%.

539
00:32:48,166 –> 00:32:53,541
So in this industry, they talk a lot about
how your bottle stands out.

540
00:32:53,541 –> 00:32:59,291
Like you’ve got this one moment now as a
new brand to really set the tone, to

541
00:32:59,291 –> 00:33:01,875
attract that audience, to attract that
interest.

542
00:33:01,875 –> 00:33:04,083
We talk a lot about shelf appeal.

543
00:33:04,083 –> 00:33:07,208
So if it’s sitting on the shelf, or
whether it’s an online shelf, whether it’s

544
00:33:07,208 –> 00:33:12,750
in block bar, whether it’s on a
supermarket Waitrose shelf.

545
00:33:12,750 –> 00:33:19,000
How is it, what importance do you think
that the look and feel actually has on

546
00:33:19,000 –> 00:33:21,208
making a difference in that regard?

547
00:33:21,208 –> 00:33:23,208
Or does it for this type of brand?

548
00:33:23,375 –> 00:33:27,916
I mean, I 100% does it 100% does,
especially when you’re talking about

549
00:33:27,916 –> 00:33:28,041
I mean, I 100% does it 100% does,
especially when you’re talking about

550
00:33:28,041 –> 00:33:31,875
retails type types of segments and clients
and.

551
00:33:31,875 –> 00:33:34,541
Like any major supermarket etc.

552
00:33:34,541 –> 00:33:38,333
There will be when you’re talking about
footfall across those aisles, we’ve all

553
00:33:38,333 –> 00:33:39,083
seen them before.

554
00:33:39,083 –> 00:33:44,250
They are incredibly cluttered days and I
really, I really remained.

555
00:33:44,250 –> 00:33:48,166
I really remain completely shocked that
most.

556
00:33:48,583 –> 00:33:52,416
alcohol brands still haven’t picked up on
the fact that they just need to stand out

557
00:33:52,416 –> 00:33:53,166
a little bit better.

558
00:33:53,166 –> 00:33:58,541
A lot of these are, and I take nothing
away from it because I guess a lot of

559
00:33:58,541 –> 00:34:00,500
these have huge market shares, so why
change?

560
00:34:00,500 –> 00:34:06,833
But a lot of these are just clear sort of
soulless, lifeless bottles that don’t

561
00:34:06,833 –> 00:34:12,750
really give you as an individual a feeling
that when you’re actually holding it and

562
00:34:12,750 –> 00:34:17,750
buying it, it gives you the feeling of,
yes, what might happen when I drink this.

563
00:34:17,875 –> 00:34:19,625
doesn’t give you any brand affinity.

564
00:34:19,625 –> 00:34:23,541
I’m not going to name any names at all,
but you could go to you could go to

565
00:34:23,541 –> 00:34:26,500
Waitrose as you mentioned, and you can
walk down the aisle, you can pick up most

566
00:34:26,500 –> 00:34:27,583
of those bottles.

567
00:34:27,583 –> 00:34:33,708
And it’s not really going to give you
much, much of an identity much of a I am

568
00:34:33,708 –> 00:34:39,250
part of this tribe, I am part of I am this
person I identify as this person.

569
00:34:39,250 –> 00:34:45,083
So if you look at like Apple products,
nobody buys it, by the way, nobody buys a

570
00:34:45,166 –> 00:34:46,958
laptop, because they

571
00:34:47,083 –> 00:34:50,750
functionality otherwise if it’s the
functionality you go to Windows it’s not

572
00:34:50,750 –> 00:34:53,625
the best product the best product is
Windows.

573
00:34:54,666 –> 00:34:55,291
People buy

574
00:34:55,291 –> 00:35:00,333
I love how we didn’t mention any of the
industry brands and distilleries, but when

575
00:35:00,333 –> 00:35:03,583
it comes to tech, let’s just call it as it
is.

576
00:35:03,583 –> 00:35:07,666
Yeah, I mean, because this is obviously a
little bit more of a

577
00:35:08,208 –> 00:35:09,041
Niche.

578
00:35:09,625 –> 00:35:11,083
various industry focused podcast.

579
00:35:11,083 –> 00:35:15,583
So I’m not gonna call out anybody there,
but you buy Apple products because of who

580
00:35:15,583 –> 00:35:17,375
you think you are, right?

581
00:35:17,541 –> 00:35:19,458
You identify as that person.

582
00:35:19,458 –> 00:35:23,916
I’m a clean creator, futuristic type of
person.

583
00:35:23,916 –> 00:35:26,666
You buy Nike tracksuit because you
identify as that, right?

584
00:35:26,666 –> 00:35:29,083
You buy Nike tracksuit because you
identify as that, right?

585
00:35:29,083 –> 00:35:34,166
I don’t think you walk down a spirit aisle
at the moment and you go, I am a X type

586
00:35:34,166 –> 00:35:34,958
person.

587
00:35:34,958 –> 00:35:38,875
BrewDog probably are the only ones I think
on the beer side of things.

588
00:35:38,875 –> 00:35:40,875
Definitely I’ve nailed that.

589
00:35:40,875 –> 00:35:41,541
Definitely I’ve nailed that.

590
00:35:42,250 –> 00:35:44,166
Yeah, I agree.

591
00:35:44,166 –> 00:35:50,625
And I think with BrewDog, their CEO, is
quite vocal, he’s a really good

592
00:35:50,625 –> 00:35:55,666
spokesperson, is a really good, almost
thought leader in that regard.

593
00:35:57,166 –> 00:36:01,625
Going back to Degen, do you think that
influence is something important in terms

594
00:36:01,625 –> 00:36:02,875
of your growth?

595
00:36:02,875 –> 00:36:08,125
You know, are you tapping into influencers
or being almost influencers yourselves as

596
00:36:08,125 –> 00:36:09,000
founders?

597
00:36:09,250 –> 00:36:10,708
Yeah, so a bit of both.

598
00:36:10,708 –> 00:36:17,083
So we definitely have a fairly substantial
influencer campaign, which is about to be

599
00:36:17,083 –> 00:36:18,125
rolled out.

600
00:36:18,250 –> 00:36:26,041
But that’s made in the tech world for
people to for people to really join the

601
00:36:26,041 –> 00:36:26,875
community.

602
00:36:27,125 –> 00:36:32,083
As I mentioned, we’re looking to really
expand that community from the 2000 people

603
00:36:32,083 –> 00:36:34,333
in Discord at the moment, like 30,000.

604
00:36:35,166 –> 00:36:38,416
So we have an influencer campaign going
live.

605
00:36:38,750 –> 00:36:45,083
We definitely will start pushing ourselves
to the forefront of the brand a little

606
00:36:45,083 –> 00:36:45,750
bit.

607
00:36:45,750 –> 00:36:53,000
We don’t necessarily want the brand to be
us, but we’re incredibly experienced.

608
00:36:53,000 –> 00:36:58,708
We should almost show people what we’ve
done for Europe.

609
00:36:58,708 –> 00:36:59,125
We should almost show people what we’ve
done for Europe.

610
00:36:59,583 –> 00:37:00,208
Yeah, 100%.

611
00:37:00,208 –> 00:37:06,250
And I liked what you said earlier about
it’s, we’re going beyond what just stands

612
00:37:06,250 –> 00:37:06,416
out.

613
00:37:06,416 –> 00:37:09,666
And I think particularly at Signet, we
totally agree with you.

614
00:37:09,666 –> 00:37:11,500
It’s not just about the looks.

615
00:37:11,708 –> 00:37:14,833
You need to go further because if everyone
starts going with the same look, then you

616
00:37:14,833 –> 00:37:16,291
all become the same.

617
00:37:16,666 –> 00:37:20,250
It’s about what’s unique about your brand.

618
00:37:20,666 –> 00:37:24,791
How do we create those micro experiences
that really resonate, but going beyond,

619
00:37:24,791 –> 00:37:28,083
and you touched it on there, is how do I
identify with this brand?

620
00:37:28,083 –> 00:37:28,333
Because…

621
00:37:28,333 –> 00:37:29,083
Because…

622
00:37:29,208 –> 00:37:33,083
That’s where we’re at, is what this vodka
says about me.

623
00:37:33,083 –> 00:37:37,708
And I think that’s a really interesting
dynamic and I think the aesthetic and look

624
00:37:37,708 –> 00:37:39,250
all plays a part, the touch.

625
00:37:39,250 –> 00:37:42,833
We talk about like sensory overload of how
we’re creating that.

626
00:37:42,833 –> 00:37:48,083
And I’m really interested to see how
you’re gonna do that with VR, with

627
00:37:48,083 –> 00:37:50,000
augmented reality, et cetera.

628
00:37:50,541 –> 00:37:55,833
As we look to the future, of course, being
part of the program with BrewDog, being…

629
00:37:56,458 –> 00:38:02,166
the first startup that they are, as part
of their accelerator program as well, it’s

630
00:38:02,166 –> 00:38:02,708
the first startup that they are, as part
of their accelerator program as well, it’s

631
00:38:02,708 –> 00:38:06,541
really great and you’ve touched on that,
how you’re almost being launched into a

632
00:38:06,541 –> 00:38:12,208
really good position due to their networks
and their distribution support.

633
00:38:12,333 –> 00:38:18,833
It’s given you a good starting point and
you’re about to really accelerate 30,000

634
00:38:18,833 –> 00:38:20,000
in your community.

635
00:38:20,000 –> 00:38:24,000
What is the ambition ultimately for
Distillery?

636
00:38:24,000 –> 00:38:24,625
What?

637
00:38:24,750 –> 00:38:27,541
I mean, of course this is going to change
you at the beginning of the journey, but

638
00:38:27,541 –> 00:38:29,208
like, what are you setting out to do?

639
00:38:30,125 –> 00:38:34,500
It sounds crazy, we’re in the startup
phase, but we’re setting out to be the

640
00:38:34,500 –> 00:38:38,041
fastest growing distillery brand in the
world.

641
00:38:39,000 –> 00:38:43,458
We can do that because we have designed
some of our own technology which allows us

642
00:38:43,458 –> 00:38:46,125
We can do that because we have designed
some of our own technology which allows us

643
00:38:46,125 –> 00:38:50,833
to distribute our products across the
world without having a large sales team.

644
00:38:50,833 –> 00:38:57,291
So we can incentivize through ownership of
revenues, through tokenization of

645
00:38:57,291 –> 00:38:58,333
revenues, etc.

646
00:38:59,541 –> 00:39:05,083
dive too deep into the tech side, but that
tech is fully supported by Google as well,

647
00:39:05,083 –> 00:39:06,875
so we partnered on the Google side.

648
00:39:06,875 –> 00:39:12,500
So hopefully that allows people to
understand the potential nature of the

649
00:39:12,500 –> 00:39:13,583
tech that we built.

650
00:39:13,583 –> 00:39:17,708
That’s also why we were able to partner
with BrewDog, because they love the

651
00:39:17,708 –> 00:39:23,166
business model and the brand itself, what
the brand stands for, but the underlying

652
00:39:23,166 –> 00:39:29,416
technology, I think we can disrupt the
entire global $780 billion algorithm.

653
00:39:30,416 –> 00:39:34,458
So of all the guests we’ve asked this
question to, I don’t think that’s been one

654
00:39:34,458 –> 00:39:35,291
of them.

655
00:39:35,291 –> 00:39:35,375
of them.

656
00:39:35,416 –> 00:39:40,625
So that ambition is absolutely coming
through and I think there’s some exciting

657
00:39:40,625 –> 00:39:42,166
stuff coming your way.

658
00:39:42,666 –> 00:39:45,125
Going back to, we’re building a community
here.

659
00:39:45,125 –> 00:39:47,625
How can people join your community?

660
00:39:47,625 –> 00:39:49,291
How can people get involved?

661
00:39:49,916 –> 00:39:56,916
So the easiest way, so if you are Web3
savvy, the easiest way is to jump on

662
00:39:56,916 –> 00:39:59,291
OpenSea, it’s a marketplace, buy an NFT,
and join the Discord.

663
00:39:59,291 –> 00:40:01,500
OpenSea, it’s a marketplace, buy an NFT,
and join the Discord.

664
00:40:01,500 –> 00:40:08,541
Now, that might be complete alien to some
listeners, so the best way for

665
00:40:08,708 –> 00:40:15,041
non-Web3-enabled individuals is to head to
degendistillery.com, that’s D-E-G-E-N,

666
00:40:15,041 –> 00:40:18,400
distillery.com, and there’s a whole host
of links there.

667
00:40:18,400 –> 00:40:19,921
Twitter

668
00:40:19,916 –> 00:40:21,583
Discord etc.

669
00:40:21,583 –> 00:40:23,208
You can follow those links.

670
00:40:24,125 –> 00:40:30,541
You can join the Discord server, which
essentially has a public side, a public

671
00:40:30,541 –> 00:40:32,375
facing side and a private facing side.

672
00:40:32,375 –> 00:40:37,708
So if you join the Discord server, the
public facing side, we have a team of

673
00:40:37,708 –> 00:40:40,583
moderators, of community managers etc.

674
00:40:40,583 –> 00:40:46,625
who can really educate you on what you
need to do, answer any questions.

675
00:40:46,916 –> 00:40:47,708
I love it.

676
00:40:47,708 –> 00:40:51,083
And I think to a certain extent, you’ve
actually already accommodated for those

677
00:40:51,083 –> 00:40:57,208
who are really intimidated perhaps by this
world.

678
00:40:57,625 –> 00:41:01,833
They’re being supported just as much as
the advocates who know this technology

679
00:41:01,833 –> 00:41:02,916
through and through.

680
00:41:02,916 –> 00:41:10,625
And in a sense, having a little bit of an
unintended consequence of educating an

681
00:41:10,625 –> 00:41:14,583
older generation potentially into what it
means.

682
00:41:15,041 –> 00:41:18,333
to employ blockchain technology in
business models.

683
00:41:18,333 –> 00:41:21,916
And particularly, we’re intrigued in how
that’s happening in the premium spirits

684
00:41:21,916 –> 00:41:22,375
industry.

685
00:41:22,375 –> 00:41:26,416
So I’m gonna ask you one more question
before we go.

686
00:41:26,958 –> 00:41:33,958
And it is, if you were to encompass Degen
distillery into one word or phrase, what

687
00:41:33,958 –> 00:41:34,500
And it is, if you were to encompass Degen
distillery into one word or phrase, what

688
00:41:34,500 –> 00:41:35,291
would it be?

689
00:41:35,625 –> 00:41:36,625
Innovation.

690
00:41:38,625 –> 00:41:42,375
Okay, I didn’t think you were gonna go
with innovation, but I think it’s

691
00:41:42,375 –> 00:41:48,708
important also that we follow up with,
Degen is short for degenerate, which is

692
00:41:48,708 –> 00:41:55,208
someone who is very ambitious, who is not
afraid of risk, who is going to take the

693
00:41:55,208 –> 00:41:57,083
plunge and throw themselves into it.

694
00:41:57,083 –> 00:42:04,291
And I feel like your brand, yourself,
Sammy, really embody that sentiment really

695
00:42:04,291 –> 00:42:04,916
well.

696
00:42:04,916 –> 00:42:06,125
I think it would be fair.

697
00:42:07,083 –> 00:42:08,208
degenerate side of things.

698
00:42:08,208 –> 00:42:14,666
So it’s almost like a lot of language,
like colloquial language, right?

699
00:42:14,666 –> 00:42:18,208
In so far as, I can’t think of any
examples off my head.

700
00:42:18,208 –> 00:42:20,791
Stick, stick now means great.

701
00:42:20,791 –> 00:42:22,875
Bad means good.

702
00:42:23,083 –> 00:42:28,750
So degenerate actually means, yeah, which
means amazing, all of these things.

703
00:42:29,250 –> 00:42:33,916
In our world, there’s like the fintech-y,

704
00:42:34,208 –> 00:42:34,458
uh…

705
00:42:34,458 –> 00:42:40,833
stock trader except for and the crypto
sort of world degen is actually a term of

706
00:42:40,833 –> 00:42:45,708
endearment it means that you are a forward
thinker you’re a rule breaker you are

707
00:42:45,791 –> 00:42:46,333
uh…

708
00:42:46,333 –> 00:42:46,666
risk taker so that really is the
embodiment of uh…

709
00:42:46,666 –> 00:42:50,208
risk taker so that really is the
embodiment of uh…

710
00:42:50,208 –> 00:42:55,708
of the distillery itself so we call all of
our community members the degeneration

711
00:42:55,708 –> 00:43:00,875
because they are the generation that
hopefully will not only change the spirit

712
00:43:00,875 –> 00:43:01,958
game but

713
00:43:02,250 –> 00:43:06,166
The long-term strategy is to allow any
other business around the world including

714
00:43:06,166 –> 00:43:09,916
multiple different spirit startups to
really leverage our technology and change

715
00:43:09,916 –> 00:43:10,833
the whole world

716
00:43:11,958 –> 00:43:12,708
That’s fab.

717
00:43:12,708 –> 00:43:15,083
And thanks for clarifying that.

718
00:43:15,291 –> 00:43:19,208
I wasn’t just calling you a degenerate in
colloquial terms.

719
00:43:19,916 –> 00:43:21,875
Sammy, thank you so much for your time.

720
00:43:21,875 –> 00:43:22,958
We’ve already run over.

721
00:43:22,958 –> 00:43:27,708
I know you are a busy man, but thank you
also for what you’re doing.

722
00:43:27,708 –> 00:43:31,541
Thank you for the contribution you’re
making to this industry, because I think

723
00:43:31,833 –> 00:43:36,375
we’re only seeing the start, of course, of
what’s to come and what’s really gonna

724
00:43:36,375 –> 00:43:39,041
change our thinking across the…

725
00:43:39,083 –> 00:43:43,791
across the industry and perhaps challenge
our assumptions of what could work moving

726
00:43:43,791 –> 00:43:50,500
forward in accessing similar audiences or
tapping into similar interests.

727
00:43:50,500 –> 00:43:56,375
So I appreciate you taking your time at
such a busy stage in your development and

728
00:43:56,375 –> 00:44:01,375
we wish you all the best and all the luck
and if we can help you we will also be

729
00:44:01,375 –> 00:44:02,250
that too.

730
00:44:02,958 –> 00:44:04,750
Amazing, very much appreciated.

731
00:44:04,750 –> 00:44:08,166
Thanks for your time, it’s been a lot of
fun.

732
00:44:08,166 –> 00:44:11,416
Maybe we’ll do it again in a few months or
six months or a year.

733
00:44:11,416 –> 00:44:14,875
We’ll do a little bit of a catch up and
see how we’re going on our journey.

734
00:44:15,333 –> 00:44:17,458
You know what, that is an absolute date.

735
00:44:17,458 –> 00:44:22,958
Let’s check in because we are very keen to
see how you fend.

736
00:44:22,958 –> 00:44:24,208
Thank you again, Sami.

737
00:44:24,333 –> 00:44:26,041
Love it, much appreciated, thanks.

738
00:44:26,041 –> 00:44:26,125
Love it, much appreciated, thanks.