Wow Fewer Customers Instead of Trying to Please Them All

When Greg Koch and Steve Wagner founded Stone Brewing, they could have ended up like thousands of start-up failures. They could have launched a me-too product and tried to compete head to head with the industry leaders.

Instead, they decided to stick it to the man.

Their beer was unapologetically different. It was bold and irreverent. The company named one of their first brews Arrogant Bastard Ale, which carried a challenging warning on the label: “This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t...