Many people don't know this about me, but I'm an award winning beer brewer. While I was living in California several years ago, I became friendly with guys who started a nanobrewery by the name of Clandestine Brewing. As a birthday present, the guys at the brewery gave me the ability to create my own beer recipe. I decided on a Bacon Bourbon Stout. It ended up winning a Blue Ribbon at the San Mateo County Fair in 2011! - Niv Shah, 2016
Niv Shah is the CEO and Founder of Ottoneu. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio by way of San Antonio, Texas, Niv has been working at (and on) Ottoneu for the past five and a half years. A year and a half of that time has been spent working on the company in a full-time capacity. Ottoneu is a statistical-driven fantasy sports game for fantasy sports fans. The game is named after Otto Neu a major-league baseball player who only played in one major league baseball game his entire career. In that game, Mr. Neu did not have any pitches, catches, at bats, etc. In short, he was a major league ballplayer who had zero statistics to his name. Niv originally named the game after Mr. Neu because he thought it would be fun and ironic to see people playing a statistics-driven fantasy baseball game named after someone who was a statistically insignificant professional baseball player. Niv describes Ottoneu as a dynasty form of fantasy sports, meaning that players keep playing the game year after year and work on building their teams out over many seasons. Players do this by finding new athletes to sign as well as trading and signing existing athletes to their team. The game has a strong element of market dynamics associated with it and Niv describes it as being a market-driven game. Ottoneu has a core group of loyal and engaged fans/players who Niv often taps to get ideas from.
The Bar:
For our bar of choice Niv and I decided to head to City Tap House in Penn Quarter, D.C. City Tap House has around 40 beers on tap and about 100 different bottles. We both liked the ambiance and setup of the bar, and noted the large number of solid beers and unique breweries on tap. Finding a good beer here wasn't going to be a challenge for either one of us. When I asked Niv about which bar(s) he likes the best he told me that he's currently in between favorite bars. He explained that he's really selective of beer and has been called a beer snob on many occasions. Because of this, it's important to Niv that he is able to go to a bar where he can find great beer and have conversations with friends. He already has great beers at his house (see below) and he has friends over all the time, so bars need to offer something unique and interesting to the mix if he's going to visit them. According to Niv, "in order for a bar to get my business they need to have some creativity and personality." Niv loves The Red Derby which is located in Columbia Heights, D.C. While Red Derby only has cans of beer, they they have some interesting IPAs and tend to do some great drink specials as well as some weird 'shot and beer' combinations and extensive can list. Niv also likes the Smoke and Barrel in Adams Morgan - which happens to be a location where we'll be BLIB'ing from in the near future. Niv's favorite brewery right now is Ocelot Brewing Company because they have a great mix of IPAs and great tasting options where you can figure out what you like. However, Niv's all-time favorite brewery is Russian River and he said he could hang out there all day drinking beer.
The Beer:
When I walked into the bar, Niv greeted me with an already ordered Firestone Walker Doublejack (95) in his hand. As Niv polished off his first round, we looked over the beer list and noted some of the unique beers and breweries that were on the menu. One beer that stood out to both of us was Ninkasi's Tricerahops (88). Niv generally enjoys Big IPA's and big stouts, however, he is open minded when it comes to trying new beers beers. Right now in his fridge he has a bottle of Lagunitas Waldo (95), a six pack of Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion (91), and a Lagunitas Cappucino Stout (88). Firestone Walker is his favorite brewery for beer and Firestone Walker's Parabola (100) is his #1 all-time favorite beer. Niv was reluctant to call out overrated breweries, but he did mention that Dogfish Head and Flying Dog are breweries that can be a bit gimmicky. When it was time to order beers, Niv got the Ninkasi Tricerahops (90) and I ordered the Ninkasi Vanilla Oatis (86). The Oatis is an oatmeal stout complete with roasted malts as well as vanilla added during the final conditioning phase. I thought it was a fantastic beer and I'd highly recommend it. Niv seemed to enjoy his Tricerahops as well. When beer drinkers think of great West Coast breweries, they often bring up the California "classics" (Russian River, Ballast Point, etc.) but many forget that Oregon has a ton of great West Coast breweries. Ninkasi is a fantastic microbrewery in Eugene, Oregon. Some other great Oregon breweries you may be familiar with include Deschutes, Full Sail, and Boneyard Beer Company. Plus how can you ever go wrong in the land of the Goonies?
The Business Leader:
Niv is what we call a solopreneur. As an individual founder, he has built a product, brought it to market, acquired users, and generated revenue. He now wants to figure out how he can grow his company while making sure that the ethos of Ottoneu does not become diluted or diverted through growth and fundraising. Niv's current challenge is that he is entering into his first week of fundraising and he has never raised funds before. He does have a concern in that he doesn't want any money that he raises to change the relationship that he has with his users and the fans of his business. He also wants to make sure that he meets the right investors who believe in the company and who won't require drastic changes to the soul of the organization. If there are any craft beer drinking VC's or Angels out there who are looking to get into fantasy sports, well ... you know who to call. When I asked Niv what he needs from the universe right now he told me that he wishes there were more hours in the day and cheaper coffee. As a solo entrepreneur he has a list of to do's that is constantly growing. In terms of advice for other entrepreneurs, he tells them to be open-minded. Niv has found that some of his best and most important ideas have come from hearing something that he didn't like at first. He would then think about those ideas, refine them, and come up with a solution that he was comfortable with. One other piece of advice that Niv has for other business leaders is that there are people out there who will consummate your vision in ways that you can't imagine ... so don't be stubborn. Current books that Niv is reading include the Master Switch, Don Quixote, and The Prints.
For more information on Ottoneu, you can visit their website at https://ottoneu.fangraphs.com. For more information on the beers featured in this post you can visit your local bar or craft brew shop. See you next week with a BLIB from David Shedd, VP and Co-Founder of Mindseye Solutions.
No comments:
Post a Comment