Ep. 67 — Kierran Folliard: Building Irish Pubs, Selling Them to Your Team, and Launching 2 Gingers Whiskey

5 min read

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Episode Summary

You build a concept rooted in who you are. The pubs work. The team works. Then you have a new idea, and the rules of your country say you can’t own a bar and a liquor brand at the same time. That’s the moment Kierran Folliard found himself in. I sat down with Kierran (the Irishman behind Kieran’s, The Local, The Liffey, and Cooper, and the founder of 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey) to walk through how he built a multi-pub group in Minneapolis, sold the pubs to the management team in four months on a fair number both sides agreed on, and then took 2 Gingers on the road only to have Beam come knocking 15 months later. We got into how Sweat Equity already inside the team made the internal transition fast and cheap, why an outside firm putting a number on the business felt like a win-win instead of a fight, how the same relationships (banker, accountant, lawyer, insurance) for nearly 30 years made the deal smooth, and how a strategic buyer valued 2 Gingers on potential, not just current cash flow. He also gets into what he’s building now at Food Building in Northeast Minneapolis.

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## Top 10 Takeaways
  1. The best entrepreneurial ideas come from solving your own problem, and your own taste is a real signal.
  2. Hire people who don’t just model your culture but embody it. Hire slow. Fire fast.
  3. Your strength as the founder is getting resources, taking risk, and casting vision. Partner for the operating skills.
  4. Sweat Equity inside your team is the cheapest, fastest internal transition you’ll ever structure.
  5. When you sell to your management team, an outside firm putting a fair number on the business beats a long negotiation.
  6. Working with the same banker, accountant, lawyer, and insurance agent for 30 years removes friction from every deal.
  7. A strategic buyer values your business on potential and distribution fit, not just trailing financials.
  8. Big corporations run startup incubators separately because climbing the corporate ladder punishes the mistakes a new brand requires.
  9. You can’t own a bar and a liquor brand in the U.S., so plan the trade-off transparently or don’t start the brand.
  10. Work with people who share your values. Everything else is a distant second.

Sound Bites

“The best entrepreneurial ideas come from solving your own problem, and my problem after being here a couple of years in the Twin Cities was there were no Irish pubs.” (@TBD) — Kierran Folliard

“I do believe in that old maxim as well, hire slow and fire fast, if there isn’t a strong cultural fit.” (@TBD) — Kierran Folliard

“It was not a difficult or time-consuming or expensive process. Everybody looked and said, right, that seems fair, it’s kind of a win-win, okay, let’s do it.” (@TBD) — Kierran Folliard

“How do you value anything? You value based on what’s the current performance, but a lot of it has to do with what’s the potential, where do we see this going.” (@TBD) — Kierran Folliard

“If you’re starting a business, you’re an entrepreneur, you better not be too afraid of risk. Making mistakes, you’re going to have them.” (@TBD) — Kierran Folliard

About This Episode

Kierran Folliard is the Irish-born founder of Kieran’s Irish Pub, The Local, The Liffey, and Cooper in the Twin Cities, and the founder of 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey. He grew up in County Mayo, helped launch the Almarai dairy brand in Saudi Arabia in his twenties, and built his Minneapolis pub group into the largest on-premise Jameson account in the world before selling the pubs to his management team and taking 2 Gingers nationwide. Beam acquired 2 Gingers 15 months after launch. He’s now building Food Building in Northeast Minneapolis, home to Red Table Meat Co. and Baker’s Field Flour & Bread.

Resources Mentioned

  • 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey — Kierran’s whiskey brand, now part of the Beam Suntory portfolio. — 2gingerswhiskey.com
  • The Local, Kieran’s, The Liffey, Cooper — Kierran’s Minneapolis pub group, now owned by the former management team.
  • Food Building (Northeast Minneapolis) — Home to Red Table Meat Co. and Baker’s Field Flour & Bread.
  • Red Table Meat Co. — Mike Phillips’ whole-hog salumi production, the only one in the country at that scale.
  • Baker’s Field Flour & Bread — Steve Horton’s stone-milled flour and bread operation using organic Minnesota grain.
  • Phillips Distilling Company — Kierran’s original Minnesota distributor partner.
  • Cooley / Kilbeggan Distillery (Ireland) — Where 2 Gingers was originally distilled, later acquired by Beam.
  • Venture Bank — Kierran’s banking relationship through the pubs and 2 Gingers.

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