Products Of The Mind: A Conversation About The Intersection Of Business + Creativity

Episode 3: Jacob McKean of Modern Times Beer on Running a Rapidly Growing Startup, Creating a Utopia, and What Budweiser is Really Selling Welcome to Episode 3 of Products of the Mind. I’m excited to bring you the first full-length interview. On this episode, I speak with Jacob McKean, founder of Modern Times Beer. An Extremely Brief History of Craft Beer According to the Brewers Association, in 1978 there were 89 breweries operating in the United States. Today we’re at about 4,000, and that number is growing by about 500 per year. Basically, every day in America, a new brewery opens. Almost all of these are referred to as craft breweries, which has a complicated definition, but it basically means everything other than the big brands: Budweiser, Miller-Coors, you get the idea. Modern Times In 2013 Jacob founded Modern Times Beer and it’s been wildly successful from day 1. They keep doubling their capacity over and over again, but they still can’t make enough product to meet the demand. In the very crowded fie