When I first met the good-looking, tattooed gentleman pictured above, he was standing in roughly the same spot asking me to see some ID. It was 2009 and I was spending the summer in San Diego "working on my master's thesis" and sleeping on the living room floor of what would eventually be my home for 2 years. But I didn't know that back then, nor did I know how many hours I would log in that bar, or how I would meet some of my best friends there, or that I would move next door to it three years later. All I knew was that I wanted a Coors Light, because at that point, I don't think I had ever had craft beer.
Chad commented on my Connecticut ID and told me that he was from the east coast as well. Over the course of the night, we chatted about the neighborhood and ourselves and I learned that he was working on patenting a product he'd invented with his business partner. He told me all about the products, which were bar tools, and explained how they would be used and how he imagined them finding a place in the market. It was the first time I had ever met someone doing something like that, inventing a product and taking it through the patent stage to market, and all I could think was how it sounded like too much work for too high a risk. I wished him luck, completely unaware how many more times I would order drinks from him and talk to him about the business over the coming years.
Which is why I could not be more excited that last night Ryan and I had the chance to head downtown to La Puerta and finally celebrate the launch of Tin Play, the products that Chad had co-invented way back when. I have to say: I am so proud of him. Chad's a really great guy and he worked so hard to take something from concept to finished product. He took a huge risk in investing so much in his idea and it has come back to reward him in a big way. More importantly, even though it took a long time, years even, he stuck with it. Very few people have that type of perseverance and it always inspires me when I see it.
So the next time you go to a bar that uses Tin Play flair products to make your drink, you'll know where they came from! And soon enough, you will see them everywhere. Because that is the result of Chad and Jeremy's hard work. The question is: what ideas or goals do you have that you've put off because of a fear of failure or because of how intimidating they seemed? A year from now, will you wish you'd started them today?
