329: Bryan Sperber on Differentiating Yourself as an Athlete-Owned Alcohol Brand

Joe welcomes Bryan Sperber, CEO of Michael Waltrip Brewing, to discuss his decades of work building brands, primarily in the NASCAR space, and how it led to him to taking his first entrepreneurial leap and starting a beer brand with racing legend Michael Waltrip. He shares the challenges of starting a company during the pandemic and what he ad his business partners learned as they built the business. Bryan explains how Michael Waltrip Brewing is different from other athlete-endorsed alcohol brands, including Michael’s involvement in starting the company and product development. The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. The CUSP Show is hosted by Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR). The show is produced by Matt Hornick ‘23 (@MNHornick), LJ Holmgren (@LJ_Holmgren), and Danny Hagenlocher (@DhColumbiaSPS), with Pablo Aycart ‘24 (@pablo_aycart) and Hernan Gonzalez Ramirez ‘24 (@hdgonzalezr28)​​ managing social media efforts.Links:Website: https://michaelwaltripbrewing.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/WaltripBrewingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/waltripbrewing/?hl=en This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecuspshow.substack.com