Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryan Goodwin.
Bryan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My career started in insurance after four years at Bentley University in 2005. I realized that wasn’t my calling and joined FlipKey.com as their 1st employee earning $10/hour in 2007. There was no offer letter. I received a “social contract” from one of the founders. It read: “you could lose your job at any time, if you do, I’ll do my best to help you land on your feet”. That was the beginning of early stage startup life.
I never did lose my job. My FlipKey run lasted 6.5 years. During that time we built a massive vacation rental network with an amazing team of people. TripAdvisor acquired FlipKey in 2012 and I spent 2 years leading the N.A. sales org. before leaving to join Drizly.
Drizly represented going back to the very early seed stage. An amazing idea with massive upside opportunity and a need that fit with my skill set. I joined as a founding executive to help build out the supply side of Drizly’s business. Amazingly, vacation rental supply and alcohol supply look eerily similar! That was four years ago, and today we find ourselves operating in 70 markets across the US and Western Canada.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My mom always says: “difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations”. It 100% has not always been a smooth road. My teams would all tell you they have heard me say these two things:
1.) “we are building the plane while we’re flying it.” Early stage requires openness to change. By definition, early stage companies can be unpredictable. It requires a specific personality to be able to manage the turbulence and iterate on the fly.
2.) “the highs are never as high as they seem and the lows are never as low as they seem”. To me this is critical. You almost have to expect the road to not be smooth. When it is smooth – if you get too excited, your setting yourself up for a correction.
Luckily there hasn’t been a struggle that my teams or the companies I’ve been a part of haven’t overcome. That doesn’t mean it’s always been easy!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Drizly story. Tell us more about the business.
Drizly is an online e-commerce Marketplace for Alcohol. We created a technology platform empowering local retailers to sell their inventory online. Consumers use the technology to shop for their favorite beer, wine or spirits from their cell phone, computer or tablet.
I’m most proud of two things at Drizly.
1.) Empowering local retailers to leverage technology they would not have created on their own.
2.) Changing the way people shop for beer, wine, and spirits.
Drizly’s difference is that we focus specifically on beer, wine, and spirits and have the largest retail network in the country.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
People have always said I have great luck. I don’t disagree. But I do believe good luck is earned. Hard work puts you in the place to get lucky. I’ve also had some bad luck, and those are the things you battle through and that makes you stronger.
Pricing:
- Customers on Drizly pay the same prices they would pay in the retail liquor stores, with a delivery fee added, typically $5
Contact Info:
- Website: https://drizly.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drizlyinc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrizlyInc?fref=nf
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drizly
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