Half Full Brewery http://halffullbrewery.com Look forward to more... Thu, 16 May 2013 18:57:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Craft Over Craft Session 2 “The Initial Stage of Crafting a Business”, 4/24 from 6-8pm at the brewery http://halffullbrewery.com/http:/halffullbrewery.com/craft-over-craft-session-2-the-initial-stage-of-crafting-a-business-424-from-6-8pm-at-the-brewery http://halffullbrewery.com/http:/halffullbrewery.com/craft-over-craft-session-2-the-initial-stage-of-crafting-a-business-424-from-6-8pm-at-the-brewery#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 02:44:12 +0000 Conor http://halffullbrewery.com/?p=2089 Being sandwiched on the calendar between Chris’ Passion Project that paired music with beer and Jennifer’s Passion Project that will pair different foods with rare beers that we are brewing weekly on our nanobrewing system, I am feeling a bit worried that my Passion Project is going to be completely overshadowed!  So, the only thing . . . → Read More: Craft Over Craft Session 2 “The Initial Stage of Crafting a Business”, 4/24 from 6-8pm at the brewery]]> Being sandwiched on the calendar between Chris’ Passion Project that paired music with beer and Jennifer’s Passion Project that will pair different foods with rare beers that we are brewing weekly on our nanobrewing system, I am feeling a bit worried that my Passion Project is going to be completely overshadowed!  So, the only thing I could think of to do to entice people to come is to resort to the oldest trick in the book — offer free beer!

Like last time, each person who attends my passion project this Wednesday, 4/24, from 6-8pm at the brewery will get a complimentary pint of craft beer.  Unlike the last session in which we batted around some entrepreneurial ideas, this session is designed to be a bit more structured.  In this Craft Over Craft session, my goal is to give anyone thinking about crafting their own business a little push by showing how I started.

When I started Half Full, I simply did not know what I didn’t know.  As it turned out, I really didn’t know anything.  I didn’t know the first step to take in order to move one step past the idea creation stage.  What eventually ensued was a process where I took an idea from that idea stage to an idea that was attached to a registered, funded corporation.  In between, I jumped over the emotional and financial hurdles needed to put money in a bank account, established an LLC, dissolved that LLC and reincorporated as a C-corp, became engaged in a trademark negotiation, wrote an extensive business plan, and drafted and filed fund raising documents with the SEC as well as half dozen state banking authorities.  All before I had raised $1 of outside money.  And I did all of this without having any knowledge of how to do any of this before I had started.

So, this Craft Over Craft session is designed to demystify as much as possible the initial stages of starting a business by sharing my experiences  – trust me, it can be done!  So, aspiring crafters interested in seeing what lies ahead or actual crafters who are looking share their own stories, please come join us!

Cheers and see you Wednesday!

-Conor & Crew

 

]]> http://halffullbrewery.com/http:/halffullbrewery.com/craft-over-craft-session-2-the-initial-stage-of-crafting-a-business-424-from-6-8pm-at-the-brewery/feed 0 Chris’s Passion Project: The Sweet Symphony created by mixing local handcrafted beer with local handcrafted music http://halffullbrewery.com/http:/halffullbrewery.com/chriss-passion-project-the-sweet-symphony-created-by-mixing-local-handcrafted-beer-with-local-handcrafted-music http://halffullbrewery.com/http:/halffullbrewery.com/chriss-passion-project-the-sweet-symphony-created-by-mixing-local-handcrafted-beer-with-local-handcrafted-music#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:27:40 +0000 Conor http://halffullbrewery.com/?p=2073 At Half Full, we talk about what it means to “Live in your moment.”  Live in the moment” is too generic to us.  We prefer to make it more personal by giving you ownership.  What is your moment?  Your moment can be anything you want it to be, from a promotion at work, to a . . . → Read More: Chris’s Passion Project: The Sweet Symphony created by mixing local handcrafted beer with local handcrafted music]]> At Half Full, we talk about what it means to “Live in your moment.”  Live in the moment” is too generic to us.  We prefer to make it more personal by giving you ownership.  What is your moment?  Your moment can be anything you want it to be, from a promotion at work, to a new job, to gaining acceptance into a school or program, to raising money for an important cause, to travel, to your dream date, to a great night out with an old friend; the possibilities are endless.  The key is that your moment is something that you’ve passionately pursued and matters more to you than it would to anyone else.  Case in point:  my moment is launching this brewery.

With that in mind, I launched the Passion Projects idea.  Simply put, every crew member that has joined us or will join us in the future oozes passion for something.  Not surprisingly, beer is often involved.  So, we challenge our crew members to find the time during this crazy time to make sure they pursue side projects that allow them to share their passion with others.  Our Beer Artist Protege Chris responded, and below is his passion project in his own words.

Cheers and look forward to more….

Conor

“Just like beer, live music not only brings people together but creates great experiences. Whether it’s in the rain on Governor’s Island or at a packed house in a dive bar, they’re always fun. And since it’s something that I’ve always loved doing I wanted to bring those experiences to the brewery, because what’s better than live music? Live music with great craft beer! And at Half Full we like to work creatively on our craft, so we want to focus on artists’ original music and help serve as a medium to display theirs. So come by Saturday to hear some great tunes and drink some Stamford local beer.” – Chris

We are holding a concert this Saturday evening with the Brotherhood of Thieves. The band will be set up right on the brewery floor, you don’t want to miss this! Details: http://tinyurl.com/c4chngr

]]> http://halffullbrewery.com/http:/halffullbrewery.com/chriss-passion-project-the-sweet-symphony-created-by-mixing-local-handcrafted-beer-with-local-handcrafted-music/feed 0 Conor’s Passion Project: Ever thought to yourself, “I need to start my own business now”? Four years ago, I did… http://halffullbrewery.com/http:/halffullbrewery.com/ever-thought-to-yourself-i-need-to-start-my-own-business-now-four-years-ago-i-did http://halffullbrewery.com/http:/halffullbrewery.com/ever-thought-to-yourself-i-need-to-start-my-own-business-now-four-years-ago-i-did#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2012 22:10:25 +0000 Conor http://halffullbrewery.com/?p=1706  

Halloween in 2008, I woke up in Prague and by time I fell asleep that night, I had made the decision to start my own business.  A few days later, that business had a name and nearly four years later, what was an idea became a reality with a location, people, a product, and . . . → Read More: Conor’s Passion Project: Ever thought to yourself, “I need to start my own business now”? Four years ago, I did…]]>  

Halloween in 2008, I woke up in Prague and by time I fell asleep that night, I had made the decision to start my own business.  A few days later, that business had a name and nearly four years later, what was an idea became a reality with a location, people, a product, and a purpose.  Over the past four years, I learned a countless number of things about myself and this business that I did not know I didn’t know.  My knowledge and business was built through thousands of conversations with people from all walks of life.  Four years, thousands of conversations…sounds pretty daunting.  It’s not if you are a passionate person.  Mix an idea with passion and watch how much your life opens up.

Not only am I passionate about Half Full, but I am passionate about “craftership” in general (“craftership” is a gender-neutral, non-buzzword synonym for entrepreneurship that I made up…I refer to entrepreneurs as “crafters”…see my previous “I am a ‘Crafter’…” post here).  I love having conversations with anyone anytime about an idea they have that they want to craft into a business – the energy and enthusiasm is contagious!  I always hope that when those conversations end, that that person’s idea has converted from a thought into action.  While I was building Half Full during my time pursuing my MBA at UConn, I took the lead in revamping our entrepreneurship club.  The most exciting activity of this club was what we called our “Notes on a Napkin” series.  One night a month, we would gather with MBAs, undergraduate business students, engineering students, and law students over pizzas and one by one, we would share our ideas.  By the end of the night, we would have law students giving IP advice to budding undergraduate crafters and MBAs collaborating on new product ideas with MBA students.  Simply put, it was awesome.

I truly believe that startup businesses are unique economic and personal growth engines.  At Half Full, we all have our own “Passion Projects” – projects which delve into something that we care deeply about and involve getting others involved.  My “Passion Project” for the brewery is going to be called “Craft Over Craft” – once a month, people who are interested in crafting businesses out of ideas and are looking for information on how to get started or feedback on their idea can do so at the brewery over complementary Half Full craft beer.  Our first “Craft over Craft” session will be Wednesday, November 28th, from 6:30-8:30, give or take a half hour in either direction. I will start the session by telling the Half Full story and how I crafted a business out of a simple idea and then the idea-sharing and networking will carry on from there!  We look forward to seeing you and your open minds on November 28th!

Look forward to more…
Conor, Chief Beer Philosopher

]]> http://halffullbrewery.com/http:/halffullbrewery.com/ever-thought-to-yourself-i-need-to-start-my-own-business-now-four-years-ago-i-did/feed 0