What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Would You Pay $1000 for Free Beer for Life? (1 Viewer)

Would you pay $1000 for free beer for life at your local pub?

  • Yes

    Votes: 115 75.7%

  • No

    Votes: 37 24.3%
  • Total voters
    152
Jeff Vader

Jeff Vader

Footballguy
I'm thinking this poll won't even be close.

Some people in the Twin Cities did this to raise capital to open their own brewpub. Instead of seeking investors for tens of thousands of dollars, they offered free beer for life to anyone who invested $1000. It worked spectacularly well.

There is a price tag for unlimited beer for the rest of your life. It's $1,000.

In reality, the cost for that much beer is a lot more. But for a few dozen people, free beer for life is their reward for investing in a small restaurant called Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub in a quiet southern corner of Minneapolis.

Amy Johnson and her two business partners needed to raise $220,000 to secure a bank loan and fulfill their dream of opening a restaurant that served beer brewed right there at the pub. They went to investors who offered to give heavily for a voting share in the restaurant. But since the potential investors had no experience in the restaurant industry, the owners backed away.

And then came the idea from some friends and family who wanted to help out. "They were, like, 'I've got a few grand, but I don't have too much money,' " Johnson recalls. "And people kept saying this over and over, and we latched onto the idea. Why not just take a couple grand from everybody and then we'd have all the money we'd need?"

So, that's what they did. People who invested $1,000 receive free in-house beer for the rest of their lives, or as long as the place stays open. People could also receive 0.1 percent nonvoting equity in the company for every $1,000 invested. Or for $5,000, investors get 0.5 percent equity and free in-house beer for life. The brewpub, now a registered LLC, hit its goal of $220,000 through the 46 people who chose the first option, 42 who picked the second, and 30 who took the third, all finding out about the opportunity by word of mouth.

Northbound has now been open for almost two years and is thriving. The investors didn't drink them dry. The restaurant is giving away some 17 beers a day, and the cost is low, at just 40 cents a beer. Plus, investors aren't just going to the brewpub for a beer by themselves—they order food, bring people, or maybe order a scotch after dinner. For the investors, it's also about the sense of ownership. Or, as Johnson explains, "We have an army of over 100 people who are our cheerleaders."
Click to expand...
Link

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Say you know the proprietors, so you know what kind of pub this will be when it opens. Nice place. Somewhere that can be your Cheers.

Pints are $5. You're going there after work an average of three days a week for 2 pints before home. That's $30 a week or $120 a month. Throw in 4 weekends a month where you drink at least 6 pints (hey, this is your neighborhood joint and you get free beer - you're like a landed noble there). That's 24 weekend pints for another $120 a month. That's $240 a month in beer, or $2880 a year.

It's a gamble on whether you'll end up loving the place as much as that, but even if you don't frequent it that much, you're easily earning your money back in less than a year.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Seems like it's working well for everyone involved there. The equity doesn't seem like it would return much, but I have no idea what sort of business the place is doing.

And for a $5 beer, you make it back drinking 4 beers a week for a year.

 
Jeff Vader said:
Say you know the proprietors, so you know what kind of pub this will be when it opens. Nice place. Somewhere that can be your Cheers.

Pints are $5. You're going there after work an average of three days a week for 2 pints before home. That's $30 a week or $120 a month. Throw in 4 weekends a month where you drink at least 6 pints (hey, this is your neighborhood joint and you get free beer - you're like a landed noble there). That's 24 weekend pints for another $120 a month. That's $240 a month in beer, or $2880 a year.

It's a gamble on whether you'll end up loving the place as much as that, but even if you don't frequent it that much, you're easily earning your money back in less than a year.
Click to expand...
Consider AA?

 
Maybe if I was single and went to bars a lot. But it would take me a pretty long time to break even at my current beer consumption. I can't think of any single bar where I've ever had 200+ beers

 
Zow said:
Should I begin the discussion over whether the beer is technically free?
Click to expand...
I want to know if the beer for life rights are transferable. Sure you get a lot more than 1k for the rights in an auction to the highest bidder of new to the game 21 year olds if you ever stop drinking/move.

 
mquinnjr said:
$5000 for free beer AND equity.

:sharkmove:
Click to expand...
:goodposting:

I would have chosen this option. Assumes a million dollar valuation, which may be high, I'm not really sure, but at 5 bucks a beer, if I drink a thousand beers I break even anyway even if the place burns down. I could drink 1000 beers in less than a year even if I only popped by on Fridays and Saturdays.

 
This is pretty smart. How often are you going to go out for dinner elsewhere? They have these people locked in. Any time they buy food, the place probably makes money even with the free beer.

 
I could drink 1,000 beers in a single weekend, but I only drink Sioux Romanian style ale made from glacial ion-free water and 18th century hops via Krausening. I wouldn't touch whatever swill they have there if they paid me.

 
eoMMan said:
Jeff Vader said:
Say you know the proprietors, so you know what kind of pub this will be when it opens. Nice place. Somewhere that can be your Cheers.

Pints are $5. You're going there after work an average of three days a week for 2 pints before home. That's $30 a week or $120 a month. Throw in 4 weekends a month where you drink at least 6 pints (hey, this is your neighborhood joint and you get free beer - you're like a landed noble there). That's 24 weekend pints for another $120 a month. That's $240 a month in beer, or $2880 a year.

It's a gamble on whether you'll end up loving the place as much as that, but even if you don't frequent it that much, you're easily earning your money back in less than a year.
Click to expand...
Consider AA?
Click to expand...
Hush you.

 
Brony said:
I could drink 1,000 beers in a single weekend, but I only drink Sioux Romanian style ale made from glacial ion-free water and 18th century hops via Krausening. I wouldn't touch whatever swill they have there if they paid me.
Click to expand...
Krausening? You cad!

 
This is, at root, not really about buying lifetime beer. That plays a role, certainly. It's about community, a cool factor, having a vested interest on a biz, in a big way IMO.

And not all crowdfunded ideas will succeed. People will learn to recognize that fact and often already recognize that risk. In whatever payout methodology, there's risk and reward. That's the nature of investment.

 
If my local brewpub offered this deal I'd do it in a second. And I don't drink anywhere near the amount of beer I used to when single and childless.

A growler a week would make it worth it, I bet.

Let's see - $16 a growler of Flower Power IPA. 1 growler a week (or 4 pints a week), X 52 = $832.

I'd drink my money's worth in a little over a year. Hells yes.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
If ( err... WHEN) Tipsy crowdfunds his next endeavor, you wouldn't be interested?

Seriously.

 
Koya said:
This is, at root, not really about buying lifetime beer. That plays a role, certainly. It's about community, a cool factor, having a vested interest on a biz, in a big way IMO.

And not all crowdfunded ideas will succeed. People will learn to recognize that fact and often already recognize that risk. In whatever payout methodology, there's risk and reward. That's the nature of investment.
Click to expand...
FREE BEER! :banned:

 
Jeff Vader said:
If my local brewpub offered this deal I'd do it in a second. And I don't drink anywhere near the amount of beer I used to when single and childless.

A growler a week would make it worth it, I bet.

Let's see - $16 a growler of Flower Power IPA. 1 growler a week (or 4 pints a week), X 52 = $832.

I'd drink my money's worth in a little over a year. Hells yes.
Click to expand...
Fellow Ithacan?

That place makes a mean burger, too. If you're going to be paying for food, it helps that they have good food.

 
gianmarco said:
I like to go to this local Chinese restaurant and get free lunch for $10.
Click to expand...
You've made your point. It's linguistic and we all immediately got it long before you decided to blow you horn. I hope you feel smart though.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm assuming I have to give my $1,000.00 up front.......I voted no.......It would be my luck I would step out in front of a bus leaving the bar after the 1st night.

 
Ditka Butkus said:
I'm assuming I have to give my $1,000.00 up front.......I voted no.......It would be my luck I would step out in front of a bus leaving the bar after the 1st night.
Click to expand...
Why would you care? You'd be dead.

 
I wouldn't do it, there's too many options to keep going to the same place.

That said, its a great idea for the owners.

 
Ditka Butkus said:
Norman Paperman said:
Ditka Butkus said:
I'm assuming I have to give my $1,000.00 up front.......I voted no.......It would be my luck I would step out in front of a bus leaving the bar after the 1st night.
Click to expand...
Why would you care? You'd be dead.
Click to expand...
Because even in death, I'd like to get my monies worth....Now if I can will it to somebody then I would be back in.
Click to expand...
What if they agree to pour a beer on your grave very week?

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Deranged Hermit
Things you'll pay more for if it's quality.
2 3 4
Replies
168
Views
4K
Fat Nick
Fat Nick
Joe Bryant
  • Poll
Are You In Favor Of Not Allowing Social Media For Young People?
4 5 6
Replies
255
Views
4K
Rich Conway
R
BobbyLayne
Veterans Day
Replies
6
Views
346
rustycolts
rustycolts

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Top