#040 - Beer as you don’t know it - a startup bringing you the freshest craft beer possible, with Jong-Wook Shin of HOPii, USA

The Hardware Entrepreneur

My guest is Jong-Wook Shin from the US, founder and CEO of HOPii, which is a company for beer-lovers.

For you who wants to know how to get to the source where it’s the beer is freshest. You’ll also learn why beer on the shelves is actually far from being fresh.

Jong is not simply an avid beer drinker. He was formerly Vice President of Innovations, with over 21 years of experience in high tech innovations. You’ll hear in this interview quite well, I believe how excited Jong is to bring the HOPii’s vision to life and introduce brand new craft beer experiences to fellow craft beer lovers. He talks also about their business model’s attractiveness, so not only the hardware itself. Project management topic will come up, as well, so execution, what he thinks about it since an idea without execution is like a child without growing up.

I met him at IFA Berlin in September this year at the HAX stand, as they're a graduate of this Nr 1 hardware accelerator's program. I liked their product very much, their really unique business model and their story.

Enjoy this episode and make sure you check out their (currently running) Kickstarter campaign.

Show highlights can be seen below:

• Craft beer and the world’s biggest hardware accelerator – [2:33]
• How was HOPii born? - [4:03]
• What happens when you combine professional background and passion - [7:58]
• “If the content is not there, that device is not really useful” - a business model that brings the freshest craft beer to your local town - [11:16]
• Who is the brewmaster and why is he so important? - [15:17]
• What kinds of technological innovations does HOPii introduce? - [17:25]
• Mistakes the founders did while developing the company - [22:10]
• Important insights when you’re doing project management for startups – [24:57]
• If you could time travel and go back in time, what notes would you give yourself? – [28:18]
• Which book had the biggest impact on his career? – [29:22]
• Jong’s interesting prioritizing habit – [30:27]
• Some cultural differences that Jong observed throughout his career – [32:58]
• How can you help bring HOPii to life? - [34:44]
• What is the best way to reach Jong? – [35:33]