Dogfish Bewery-Lesson Learned

I just finish reading about Sam Calgione with Dogfish Brewery out of Inc. Magazine.

What I extracted out of this article is:


Owner: Sam Calgione
Business: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Vision: Exposing his customer's palate to something other that pale lagers made by Big industrial breweries.
Niche: Eccentric/different beer such as Aprihop (apricot tasting beer).
Date of startup: 1995
2008 Revenue: $28 million

1) How humble he is: He never sits at the head of the table at meetings due to respect/knowledgement that others are putting alot of hard work/time into making the business great. On the same note, his cubicle is same size as others. How humbling that is when the CEO is on same plane and cubicle as his employees. This demonstrates how accessible and down-to-earth he really is. Quite a leader to view his company as one body and or sum of parts that equal to a great team dynamic.
2) Practice what you preach: He leaves his computer inbox open so he demonstrates accessibility and openness.
3) Work motto: Make work fun and enjoyable. Also, he is not trying to run a company where people aren't working for me. . He states 'The people who do the best at our company are working for themselves'.
4) Use social media: Twitter, Facebook, and such to post his latest event/happenings as to stay in touch with his fans/clients, distributors,and patrons.
5) Invite people who can promote for you: At a promotional dinner which paired beer with each course of the meals, hard core beer 'geeks' whom were invited had posted their feedback on Ratebeer.com and Beeradvocate.com before the dessert came.
6) Make your wife/significant other a member of your team (if qualified/other factors): When you partner with your life partner in a stake in your business, the outcome should be positive (as long as your partner has the the same vision/goals as the CEO/founder). They have a better understanding of you and work you put in the business. His wife is the Vice President and head of marketing, she ensures that the pictures/events are updated on various social media.
7) Keep a notebook by your bedside: He jotts down inspirational ideals and reads magazines through prism of his company. This keeps new ideals flowing and giving birth to new and innovative ideals.

I really respect his humility, humbleness, and maintaining his sense of sanity with work/life balance. My hats off to you if you are reading this.