Jim Koch
Founder / Brewmaster
Samuel Adams
Boston, MA USA
“The big risk would have been staying at a job that wasn't fulfilling and wasting my life. That's a risk. Quitting it to do something that I really loved and believed in, that's not a risk.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationJim Koch
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
After a year of law school and a year of business school, he realized that at 24, he hadn't done anything but go to school.
Dropped out; joined Outward Bound as an instructor; spent three-and-a-half years traveling, mountaineering, kayaking, etc.
After his "prolonged adolescence" ended, he went back to school, got his J.D. and MBA, graduated at age 29.
Joined a consulting firm in Boston; was making a lot of money, being flown around the country in first-class.
Knew he didn't want to be at that job for more than 10 or 15 years; started thinking about what he really wanted.
Loved the city of Boston, but realized that they were missing a key factor: a world-class beer.
Calls Samuel Adams and Boston Beer Company "the one little tile that [he] added to the mosaic of Boston."
Although he knew little about brewing, selling beer, says his "cultures and values" acted as fair substitutes for "hard resources."
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Bachelor
Harvard University
Harvard University
Career
Founder / Brewmaster
I quit a safe job to start brewing and selling my own beer, Samuel Adams.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Entrepreneurship
Food
Accomplishing Goals
Interviewed By
Boston - Washington, D.C.
In Boston, the Northern route team interview Jim Koch, founder of Samuel Adams and take a tour of the brewery. En route to Washington, DC, the Southern route team meets with Ann Tenales, Pulitzer Prize- winning political cartoonist. In DC, the Central route team sits down with Gabriel Garcia, independent filmmaker.
