Beersourcing: E Pluribus Cerevisia, Unum Consortio

Here's a new way to figure out what your next business might be:

• Step 1: Send an email to a subsection of the smartest technologists you know offering to open a tab at a local brew pub for a few hours of their time.
• Step 2: Start the conversation at the event by talking about a few business themes you're focused on.
• Step 3: Dive into a few specific concepts around those themes.
• Step 4: Drink lots of beer and brainstorm about those ideas and themes.

The result, well... so far so good.

This past Wednesday, I starting something I'm calling "beersourcing."

I got about 7 of the smartest folks I know to come to DBA in the East Village, I then opened a tab, and got them to chat about some specific ideas and themes I've been thinking about for my next venture while the beers were flowing.

Total bill: $70 (I had offered to take it to $100)

Result: an amazing debate from which everyone took something, and I got some important early feedback on specific concepts I'm playing with. How awesome is that!?

The surprising thing, though, is that by making it "about me," I think the little event became more worthwhile for others. Not, of course, because it was specifically about me, but because it was: a) a brainstorming/trendcasting session with guidance; and b) a handpicked combination of folks.

Next time I do this event (in a few weeks, perhaps) it will be another handpicked group of people, again picked to complement each other, still talking about the themes and ideas from last session, only with them a little more vetted and developed.

Each time, the ideas narrow, and develop more.

In the end: "E Pluribus Cerevisia, Unum Consortio"

Our of many beers, one company.

Or at least a bunch of expanded minds, new friends, and a sharper knack for examining business ideas on the fly. I look forward to it.