Be Your Brand’s First Salesman, Then Fire Yourself | with Paul Hletko | Few Spirits | Bottom-Up Cut #006

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Paul Hletko is Founder & Distiller at Few Spirits

“You will always be the best salesman for your product,” says Hletko. “Your job is to be so good at it that you have to hire three people to replace you.”

00:00 Why does a founder have to be the brand’s first salesman?

00:41 What makes a founder more credible than any brand ambassador?

02:50 How do you create demand before your team can even capture it?

03:16 Why do things that don’t scale still matter?

05:24 What does it mean to fire yourself when you hire someone?

07:35 How is a brand built bottom up while the business runs top down?

08:38 How do you segment the trade between Italian restaurants and college bars?

11:12 Why do you lose a customer the moment you forget your own occasion?

12:43 What does a distributor actually need before saying yes?