Mikey Bortone Of Watertown Whiskey On 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand

An Interview With Martita Mestey

Surround yourself with people that are smart and supportive. You’ll want to have that community or partnership to keep things moving in the right direction. Lean on experts as you navigate bringing your idea to life.

As a part of our series called “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Bortone.

Mikey Bortone, a dynamic whiskey business owner, has a diverse background that extends beyond the realm of spirits. With prior success in the ATM industry, he embarked on a unique adventure, traversing the U.S. in an RV during the Vans Warped Tour years, ensuring the crowd had access to cash. This decade-long endeavor not only showcased Mikey’s resourcefulness but also ignited his passion for creating memorable experiences. Beyond business, Mikey’s artistic spirit shines through his involvement in the entertainment industry, as he has written, produced, and acted in numerous short films, while also featuring in various commercials and print jobs. Today, as a whiskey enthusiast, Mikey warmly welcomes individuals to escape the ordinary and indulge in the extraordinary with Watertown Whiskey, a coconut whiskey.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I grew up in Watertown Massachusetts, 7 miles from the city center of Boston. With that came family, friends, sports, and fighting. Much like the movie “Good Will Hunting,” trouble was always around the corner. Watertown was headline news back in my freshman year of high school with a nationwide hazing scandal where the entire football senior class and coaching staff got suspended for some of the horrific hazing incidents that were revealed. Lucky for me, my family had a reputation of being tough and I was a tough kid myself so I didn’t get bullied, but I’d defend friends that were and usually got into some sort of trouble with it all. I wasn’t a saint either so I don’t want to come off as a hero but it was just the world I grew up in and the circles I kept. I was a good enough athlete to be voted captain in three sports but I managed to mess it all up one way or another. I learned a lot of hard lessons and became what people call “street smart,” which has helped me tremendously in my personal and business life. I lost both of my parents in my 20s so I learned early on that life isn’t fair and you have to create your own story and nobody gives a shit about any excuses you have.

Can you share with us the story of the “ah ha” moment that led to the creation of the food or beverage brand you are leading?

I’m a whiskey drinker and a hydrator. On a long Sunday of watching football and drinking whiskey, I realized I was extremely dehydrated. I always have coconut water stocked in my house so with my whiskey in one hand, I began to chug the coconut water in the other. With the last sip, I randomly decided to pour it into my whiskey and the ‘ah ha’ moment was born. It was delicious and refreshing. I knew the combination of whiskey and coconut worked and always had the thought of bottling it in my mind ever since.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Too many to name but trying to get to market before we were ready will make me shake my head every time I think of it.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a food or beverage line? What can be done to avoid those errors?

There are so many logistics that go into bottling and distribution for a crafted liquor brand. I can’t express how thrilled I was to finally launch our brand and share our passion for crafting exceptional whiskey with the world– so we rushed to get these bottles on shelves! However, in the midst of all the excitement, I admit that we overlooked some crucial details along the way that we had to have finalized for state approvals. Through a series of back-and-forth communication, changing font sizes and making certain phrases bold on a label, playing by the rules– we finally nailed it and got our product on shelves. It takes time to go through the tedious process to make sure it’s right before a state will approve– so don’t rush. If you’re launching a beverage brand: ask lots of questions, and make sure it’s good to go before jumping the gun. You’re going to learn so much.

Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to produce. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

1. Find out if there is an audience for it. Is this something your buddies just like because it’s a local thing, or is this something that can be enjoyed and sought after by the masses?
2. Think about your goals and what you’re willing to sacrifice. Why do you want to launch this brand? How will it affect your life? 5+ years from now, will you still be passionate about it, even if it’s challenging? Understanding your commitment level will help you decide if it’s worth it– because it’s not the easiest path.
3. Surround yourself with people that are smart and supportive. You’ll want to have that community or partnership to keep things moving in the right direction. Lean on experts as you navigate bringing your idea to life.
4. If all checks out with the above– get after it! Don’t sit around waiting for things to happen to you. You’ll always wonder “what if” when you think of this idea. No time for excuses. Start now to make this a reality sooner rather than later.

Many people have good ideas all the time. But some people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How would you encourage someone to overcome this hurdle?

Talk to experts in the field. Learn about their experiences and recommendations. From there, you’ll know if you want to pursue it. Endeavors like this don’t come easy, so you gotta dig deep and take that big risk. If you’re not willing to put in the work, go home.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

Start small first to test the water with market research to ensure your audience exists and that it’s an actual viable business or product that people want. When you get some traction and are serious enough to spend money on it, investing in consulting help is not a bad idea. Especially if you really don’t know what you’re doing. Be selective about who you’re hiring– ask friends and family for recommendations so that you don’t end up wasting money on a fake expert. You need someone that has been there and done that, with proof and case studies to back it up.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

Bootstrapping is great as you build a brand because it’s your hard-earned money and you learn on the job– you own everything you’re pouring your blood, sweat, and tears into. You can also get more creative and have more grassroots ventures along the way that a venture capital investor may monitor and regulate more. That’s the route I’m going with in the beginning to retain my ownership and build up the valuation.

Can you share thoughts from your experience about how to file a patent, how to source good raw ingredients, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer or distributor?

In our case, we’re happy to have partnered with a distillery that is excited about our product. They’ve really stepped in and taken an interest, which is something I’d recommend looking for when selecting any partnership. Whether it’s a retailer, distributor, or manufacturer, make sure they’re going to be a positive asset for your business and not a hassle. No one is going to love your product quite as much as you, but at least knowing you have a trustworthy relationship with any business that has hands in your business is going to be helpful in the long run and will save you a lot of headaches. Do your research and ask around before signing on.

Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Creativity. Contacts. Capital. Time. Guts.

Can you share your ideas about how to create a product that people really love and are ‘crazy about’?

GRIND, GRIND, and keep GRINDING. Put in the work to make sure it is premium quality! Having a quality product will set you apart from the competition that simply threw it together on a whim. Instead, if you take the time to refine, refine, refine, and test, test, test– you’ll come out on top with a product people can’t get enough of. Those were some fun days in the lab.

Once that’s locked in, market the heck out of it so people experience this product you brought to life! Increasing brand awareness for your product is the only way people will learn about you– so invest in strategizing your branding and marketing efforts to spread the word so that people have the opportunity to become fans of your brand–and pretty soon they’ll practically do the marketing for you when they share it with their friends. All of this I hope will be the case with Watertown Whiskey. So far, so good.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

My love language is tipping hard-working people when they do their job well. Sometimes just if they do their job well enough. I’m grateful for my success and share it as often as I can, especially when I won’t even realize that cash is not in my wallet anymore.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Do favors without anyone knowing it was you. And do it as often as you can.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.