When I was in college at the University of Kentucky, I would go into bars and challenge the bartenders to fill a shot glass with anything that they wanted. I would then lie down on the floor, balance the shot glass on my forehead, and bet the bartender that I could stand up with the shot glass balanced on my forehead - all without touching the shot glass with my hands. The bet was that if I could do this, the bartender would have to buy everyone I was with a round of drinks. I would do this over and over again and NEVER spilled any liquid from the shot glass. After doing this at lots of college bars, the bartenders started telling each other about the bet. The bartenders caught on to my skills and stopped betting me, but not before I got lots of free drinks for lots of people. It pays to have amazing balance - Josh Konowe, 2016.
Josh Konowe is a serial entrepreneur. Throughout his career he has headed up multiple businesses in various leadership roles. He has founded businesses, built businesses, and successfully exited from businesses. Josh's most recent role was CEO of a company by the name of folr (pronounced Follower). He was with the company until recently when it was acquired by a larger U.S.-based company by the name of Rhodes Edge. Josh came to the D.C. area by way of Manhattan about 12 years ago. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur and business leader Josh worked on Madison Avenue in sales and marketing. His first foray into entrepreneurship was when he started E-Agent, which was a lead generator for realtors. After Josh sold E-Agent, he founded a company by the name of BrandClick, which was eventually sold to Traffic Engine. Josh then founded an SMS backup company by the name of Uppidy. He came up with the idea behind Uppidy, which included backing up phone contents, after he dropped his iPhone into a toilet at an airport. Uppidy was eventually acquired by Gryphn/ArmorText. In addition to his cool background, Josh also shared some exciting news with me. In early August Josh will be conducting a TedTalk in New Zealand. He wasn't able to disclose what the TedTalk would be about, but after meeting Josh and drinking beers with him, I can all but guarantee that it's going to be a captivating talk. Josh is pretty athletic and played several sports competitively in high school. He recently picked up swimming as his latest athletic challenge. You can find him on Twitter by searching for #aquajew.
The Bar:
Josh and I headed to Black Restaurant Group's Republic, a relatively new addition to the Black's lineup (BlackSalt, Pearl Dive, BlackJack, etc.) located in Takoma Park, Maryland. The ambiance is pretty upscale for an area that's known for its farmer's markets, nuclear free zone status, and longtime concerns about saving the whales. The restaurant itself is relatively dark, the furniture is heavily accented with wood, and the decor is nostalgic but high-end. Like other restaurants that are part of the Black Restaurant Group, Republic sells a lot of local foods including local oysters and beers from breweries that are based in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia. Josh and I sat at the bar and after chatting with the bartenders for just a few minutes. we noticed that they had a solid understanding of the beers that they were serving. I liked the beer menu as it contained beers from lots of up and coming nearby breweries including Denizens, 7 Locks Brewing, and The Brewer's Art. Republic also had a solid happy hour menu complete with different types of apps and oysters on the half-shell. I had already eaten before our #BLIB, but it was still difficult to refrain from ordering some of the intriguing items (homemade empanadas!!!) that they had on their menu. Josh told me that he has a few favorite restaurants and bars in the area. He likes Dacha when it's time to drink beer, he recommends Dakaya for their ramen, and suggested others try dumpling soup at Bob's Shanghai 66 which is in Rockville. Josh revealed that his favorite brewery tour of all times was the Heineken brewery in Amsterdam. He said that the tour was fascinating and that at the end of it you pay the equivalent of $1 for the ability to drink as much Heineken as you can in one hour. He described this hour as "go time" and recalls putting back much more beer than one dollar's worth.
The Beer:
When I first asked Josh if he drank beer, he asked me "How can you be an entrepreneur and NOT drink?" I loved this comment. Josh started off by ordering a Brewer's Art D'Accord and I went with RAR Brewing's Habanero Nectar. Both of our beers hailed from Maryland breweries. Brewers Art is a brewery/brewpub located in Baltimore, Maryland and it also happens to be be Baltimore's largest brewery. RAR is a brewery in Cambridge, Maryland - close to Easton, but further south - that's known for a beer called Nanticoke Nectar (86). The Habanero Nectar uses the Nanticoke Nectar as a base, but adds habanero to the beer for an added kick. Brewers Art is infamous in the D.C./Maryland area for two of their beers: 1) a beer called the 'Ozzy' whose name the brewery had to change to the 'Beazly' after they received a cease and desist letter from singer Ozzy Ozbourne, and 2) a beer called Resurrection Ale which is popular among many Baltimore/Mid-Atlantic beer
Josh and I had a long and productive chat over two rounds. I've decided to leave out a hilarious story that Josh told me. It was about a woman he went on a dinner date with who asked Josh to sire her unborn children. He and the woman are still friends and laugh about the incident, but if you ever have the opportunity to meet Josh and drink a beer with him, well, you know what story to ask to hear. Josh and I did have a second round together, but this time Josh grabbed a sauvignon blanc and I rolled the dice with a 7 Locks Brewing Cherry Blossom Saison (NR). As far as saison's go, I thought the Cherry Blossom was pretty good. Not too sweet and the cherry wasn't too powerful. It definitely isn't a session beer, but it's worth trying. The Cherry Blossom Saison is a joint brewing collaboration between 7 Locks Brewing and The Urban Winery of Silver Spring.
The Business Leader:
As someone who has built and run several businesses from scratch, I could tell that Josh would have some invaluable advice for our #BLIB readers. When I asked Josh to fill me in on the challenges he usually has, he explained to me that he often faces two major challenges as a business leader. The first challenge is trust and trusting others, and the second is execution, or more specifically, letting go of things and letting others execute those things. Josh did say that the two challenges take care of each other, and that the more you can trust others and let them execute, the better off you'll be as a business leader. Josh explained that you cannot grow as a person, and your company cannot grow as an organization, unless the leadership is willing to let go. And he finds that the beauty of letting go is culpability. If you can let go and trust others to do what they are supposed to be doing, then things are no longer your fault. When it comes to what Josh is looking for from the universe, he mentioned that he would like continued goodwill and also to meet a really nice woman. Josh's favorite book that he read recently was Ben Horowitz's The Hard Thing About Hard Things because it reminded him of everything that he has had to go through, just on a smaller level. Josh's advice to business leaders is to hedge against yourself. He believes that we all have preconceived ideas about how we think business should be done. People who assume this are often wrong. Josh says that business leaders should always plan for a complete 180 or shift, and that they shouldn't be afraid when it happens. Ultimately, business leaders need to keep an open mind.
For more information about Josh you can click here. Stop by next week to read about Tony Cappaert's perspective on bars, beers, and business leadership.
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