Dr. Tom Lutz of Repour: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A Founder
Failure is a part of success. Part of succeeding as an entrepreneur is failure. How you deal with failure will determine whether you achieve success or not.
As part of my series about the leadership lessons of accomplished business leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Lutz, Ph.D.
With a doctorate in chemistry and a career in product development, Tom is no stranger to innovation and bringing new products to market. His experience extends across a variety of consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industries — from laundry detergents to aquarium and pet products.
After pouring yet another bottle of oxidized wine down the drain five years ago, he knew there had to be a better way of preserving wine. So, he got to work. Eighteen months later, the result is Repour — the first wine preservation product on the market using oxygen absorption to eliminate all the oxygen in a bottle of wine, completely stopping the degradation process. With Repour’s patented technology, keeping an open bottle of wine fresh is as easy as putting a stopper in a bottle.
Since Repour’s launch in late 2017, wine professionals and consumers around the world have adopted Repour as their wine-saving tool of choice.
Outside of developing innovative new products, Tom’s passions are his family and triathlons — he’s completed fourteen Ironman competitions since 2003!
Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve always enjoyed problem solving. More specifically, I love using science to address real world problems with real world solutions. Six years ago, I was keeping an eye on our two-week-old newborn son in the middle of the night while my wife was sleeping. On the couch at 2:00 a.m., I started thinking about that leftover half bottle of wine we had just poured down the drain. My wife was starting to enjoy wine again after our son’s birth, but we didn’t have the chance to finish that bottle before it became oxidized and undrinkable.
As someone who has always enjoyed wine, I knew that oxygen causes wine to go bad. I also knew that the only way to keep an opened bottle of wine fresh was to get rid of all of the oxygen in the bottle. At the time, there was no solution currently on the market that effectively accomplished this.
As a chemist and problem solver, that’s when I had my aha moment. I realized I could use an oxygen scavenging technology that had never been applied to wine preservation before. Using my professional experience bringing consumer products to market and business skills developed through the years, I set off on my journey into wine preservation and entrepreneurship.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
I’ve found that success in being a founder and leader of a company comes not from being good at something, but from being aware of the things I’m not good at. Then, quickly finding advice or help from people who are.
We had this great technology that was actually saving open bottles of wine. I didn’t trust my own palate enough. So, after a year of testing we solicited a local sommelier group who conducted a blind taste study using what is now Repour against alternative preservation options. Quite humbly, the technology overdelivered and we quickly knew it was time to bring the product to market. The only problem, we didn’t have a brand or name for it yet.
As the inventor and founder, I wanted to put my own touch on the brand name. My wife (also a scientist) and I racked our brains for weeks trying to come up with a name. The best we came to was “Echo” to represent the wine returning to you as you had it when you first opened it. Realizing there had to be a better name out there, we turned to a local entrepreneur support group and branding agency. We quickly settled on Repour.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
I’ve always had a very high internal drive and motivation to succeed. In my personal life, I’ve enjoyed taking on the challenge of long-distance triathlons (the Ironman distance). In races of ten or more hours, something will always go wrong and at some point, you won’t feel the best. Yet triathlons have taught me that strong preparation and an attitude of adjustment to adversity can get you through an awful lot.
I take that same approach to the challenges we face in our business. Yes, things will go wrong, but how you respond to those challenges will chart the next steps for your business. It’s also important to realize that the course will change. You have to be able to accept intermediate failure and setbacks. Then, move forward without dwelling on them.
So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?
COVID and the world today couldn’t be a stronger example of taking things as they come and making the most of what you have available. In the beginning, our business philosophy was to target wine industry experts (high end restaurants, top Sommeliers around the world, etc.), followed by layering in a focus for home wine preservation needs years later.
Our go to market strategy was building wonderfully, then COVID hit. In March 2020, 90% or more of our customers literally shut down overnight. Rather than lick our wounds, we immediately scaled back our overhead and asked ourselves what we could do in this current market environment. We quickly accepted that our existing customer base of restaurants, bars and resorts were going to be idle for a long time. So, we pivoted our energy, focus, and business strategy.
The audience of at home use was completely different from our core customer base before COVID. We had to build marketing initiatives and structure around sharing our message to this audience. The grit to scale back our business, challenge everything we were doing, and ask everyone to wear multiple hats, has led to an amazing transition with a rapidly growing successful new customer base for Repour use at home.
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?
We ran a Kickstarter campaign as part of our launch. In the campaign, we called our product the “Repour Smart Stopper.” The campaign was going well, but we kept getting questions around the “smart stopper” name. We (and the branding agency we partnered with) thought it was a clever way of calling out how easy to use and effective our product was.
In reality, we couldn’t have been more wrong. Everyone was looking for the electronics (of which there are none) and how that was supposed to save their wine. In the end, this made us realize that clarity over being clever is the way to go for our brand, which is now the Repour Wine Saver.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Before Repour, two thoughts came to mind regarding wine preservation: gimmick or expensive. Previous products either didn’t work at all and were perceived as gimmicks OR to be effective they had to be expensive and often hard to use.
Nearly every day we hear a story of a customer that looks at Repour and says, “How can that little stopper keep my wine fresh?” Then, they come back after a week or two of using Repour in awe of how well it works and that it’s really as easy as putting a stopper in a bottle.
Repour stands out because it truly under promises and over delivers in wine preservation.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
There is always going to be more to do than time in the day. Make sure to take time for yourself and your family. It’s the hardest thing to do and something of which I personally need to keep reminding myself.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I live in Cedar Rapids, IA, which has a robust entrepreneur environment and a community truly built on helping one’s neighbor. The success we’ve had comes on the backs and generosity of so many people who have lent their time and talents, not the least of which are my parents. At 70 years old, they’ve spent countless hours helping. They’ve done it all, from packing Repour stoppers into their retail boxes to picking up packing materials from a factory 200 miles away and driving through the night to make sure we hit a deadline early in our business. Their support has been invaluable to our early success.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
We work with other local startup businesses to help mentor and support them in their journey, as so many had done for us. We also work to support up and coming sommeliers and students studying wine with programs that help them in their wine education endeavors.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- To start a new business takes twice as much time and twice as much money as you expect under your most honest forecast. I’ve been around and involved in a number of startup businesses. In all cases, even using the most conversative sales and growth plans, every single one has taken at least twice as much start-up money and twice as long to hit their original business plans (if they make it that far).
- Overnight success comes after years of hard work. Most people look at a successful business and think the success happens overnight. Very few, if any, success stories follow this trajectory. The trigger of high sales that appears outwardly as an overnight success has been built on years of foundation, sometimes within that business and sometimes from failures of others along the way.
- Recognize your weaknesses and don’t be afraid to accept help and advice. As an entrepreneur, we’re often driven into working for ourselves for the independence and autonomy it brings. Ironically, I’ve found the best way to succeed as a startup, was to realize that I don’t know everything and to turn to subject matter experts to guide me to the right answers. My business is so much stronger and better as a result.
- Be vulnerable and don’t fear mistakes. Fail Fast! In any new business, certain things work well and others don’t. You won’t know if something will resonate with your target audience and customers until you try it. Don’t be afraid to try something new, but also don’t feel so committed that you can’t pull the plug when it’s not working.
- Failure is a part of success. Part of succeeding as an entrepreneur is failure. How you deal with failure will determine whether you achieve success or not.
For each of us failure will look different. For me, it was a failed first entrepreneur business venture and lots of life lessons that came from it.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start 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. 🙂
The world around us is such an amazing thing. Through the world of wine, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to some amazing places and meet incredible people. It’s an industry of passion, food and beauty. I’d inspire a movement that would help others see the beauty of nature, from around the world to our own back door. A movement that would make us pause from our crazy day to day and take a minute to just enjoy.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Instagram: @repourwinesaver
https://www.instagram.com/repourwinesaver/
Facebook: @repourwinesaver
https://www.facebook.com/repourwinesaver
Twitter: @repourwinesaver
https://twitter.com/repourwinesaver
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-lutz-ph-d-12484910/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Dr Tom Lutz of Repour: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A Founder was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.