The Godfather of Fort Collins brewing

In 1989 Doug Odell established Odell Brewing Co., the first independent microbrewery in Fort Collins. Today OBC employs 45 people and is one of the most respected companies in the area.

Odell’s beer is currently distributed in eight states: Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico. For a short time in the late 1970s, Odell worked at Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, where he had held one of the worst jobs in the brewery, cleaning out the mash tubs and brew kettles. And prior to OBC, Doug ran a landscaping business in Seattle.

Doug was first active in the local homebrew club, but when he decided to open the brewery, a couple others took notice and opened their own breweries – the still thriving New Belgium Brewing and the now defunct H.C. Berger – shortly thereafter. Fort Collins has since become one of the hottest spots in the country for microbrewers.

Odell Brewing has been on a hot streak lately, too. In October, the recently completed expansion of the brewery on East Lincoln Avenue took top honors in Colorado Biz magazine’s Sustainable Design Awards in the commercial category, and in November the publication named the company its Top Company in the consumer category. That award came with a trip to the Napa Valley of Wine.

We had some questions about being an entrepreneur for Doug, and he had some answers.

Q: What was the genesis of the idea?

A: My wife, Wynne, and I had decided early on that we wanted to be self-employed. Our thought was that we could either take the landscaping company I already had and build it up or we could take a closer look at this new “craft brewing” movement that was beginning to form in the Pacific Northwest. I was already a home brewer and noticed the powerful impact these new microbreweries were having on people. Initially, we wanted to open a brewery in western Washington, but the area was already fairly saturated with breweries. We looked at Flagstaff, Ariz., and Northern Colorado. My wife’s sister lived in Northern Colorado and Fort Collins seemed to make the most sense.

Q: What was your initial startup cost and source of funding?

A: $135,000 which was the proceeds from the sale of our home in Seattle and some angel funding from family and friends. About a year after we opened, we went back and bought out the investors.

Q: How long until there was a positive cash flow?

A: 18 months. Wynne maintained a corporate job to cover my lack of a paycheck during those first 18 months.

Q: Did you use a business plan?

A: Yes, and looking back, it shows how ignorant we were at the time, but it was useful to provide direction and maintain focus.

Q: Looking back now, is there anything you wish you had done differently?

A: The importance of delegating responsibility and doing it as soon as you can was a bit challenging. It’s something that was very hard for me. For the first four years, I didn’t take more than three business days off. In hindsight, I should have handed over more responsibility to others sooner.

Q: Are there one or two things you can attribute your success to? Was it luck, timing, someone who helped you?

A: Greg Bujak, a homebrew shop owner in Seattle, helped to convince me that I could start a brewery. I remember spending hours with him at his shop talking about brewing. Shortly after I opened the brewery, I invited Greg out to Fort Collins and he brewed a few batches with me. We didn’t hire our first employee until May of 1990, and not having a salary to pay helped at the start when money was tight. I don’t get very concerned about risk and have plenty of self-confidence in my abilities. We went through a significant shift about five years ago after we realized we had hit a plateau in our business. We hired a sales and marketing manager who knew what to do, and it has made a big difference.

Q: What is your slogan to live by or what it might say on your tombstone?

A: “If you have a dream, take a chance on it.” Dreams don’t come true by thinking about them, you have to get out there and do it.

Q: Do you have any other wise advice for an aspiring entrepreneur?

A: Be patient. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Be self-disciplined enough to do the things that need to get done, even if they aren’t the things you want to do. I don’t tend to think much about the long term, but I realize that having a five-year plan is important and something we need to do. Also, it is important to recognize when you’ve reached the limit of your own ability and need to acquire new talent that can take you to the next level.

Brian Schwartz is the author of “50 Interviews: Entrepreneurs Thriving in Uncertain Times,” and can be reached at www.50interviews.com. Watch videos of his interviews with other Northern Colorado entrepreneurs at www.ncbr.com.

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