Be True to Your Values: Interview with Yoav Gilat, Founder and CEO of Share a Splash Wine
My conversation with Yoav Gilat, founder and CEO of Share a Splash Wine.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Yoav: I was practically born with a glass of wine in my hand! Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, I was raised with a bottle of wine on the dinner table. I traveled from a young age and lived in the UK in the early 90’s. I was exposed to food & wine and the hospitality world from childhood. After a few years of practicing law and consulting the largest food brands and hospitality, I realized while I could make a career in the field, I didn’t feel passionate about it. I would much rather be a client than a lawyer or a consultant advising these food and hospitality firms. I could no longer ignore my calling to the food and beverage industry, so I changed course and landed a job as VP of Business Development at Tymco Beer, an importer of brands like Planeta, Masi, Fonseca Beringer, Rosemount, and Corona Beer.
After a few years in the business, it became clear to me that I wanted to start something of my own in this space. The stars aligned for me – my passion for food and wine, the excitement of seeing how brands are developed and growing, and the realization that my legal and consulting skills could be instrumental in leading the business - the path to my vision was being paved. I moved to the U.S. and pursued my MBA in the hopes of becoming an entrepreneur in this industry post-graduation.
Today, 20 years after that moment, I still wake up every morning with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. It has not been easy growing our wine company organically over the years, but I love what I do, and I consider myself very fortunate to be producing the kind of wines that people enjoy drinking and sharing.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?
Yoav: Living in Northern California, I studied in a joint program of the UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and the Columbia Business School. The benefit of two different business schools gave me a strong foundation for my toolbox - on the Berkeley side there was an emphasis on entrepreneurship, CSR and marketing and Columbia’s Business School focused on Economics, Finance, and Global Markets. I quickly connected to the Bay Area food and wine scene and began to meet people in the industry and explore the Wine Country.
An avid wine consumer, I realized very few wineries were making high-quality California Cabernets in the $20 or less price category. Other varieties (Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Merlot, Pinot Noir) already delivered on that price-to-quality ratio, and I felt that the Cabernet territory had yet to be claimed. I made it my mission to create the best sub $20 California Cabernet possible, using a creative business model that does not require a brick & mortar facility and a huge upfront investment.
My advice to others looking for their big idea is to listen to their inner passion and experience and have those drive what you are most drawn to; it takes an incredible amount of hard work, resilience, and luck to realize a big idea; and if you are driven only by making money it will make it that much harder.
Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?
Yoav: I leaned on my friends and networks through business school in the Bay area mostly who were either in the wine business or had an interest and passion for it. Many had the underlying business skills and connections to introduce me to people who could provide further insight and I just finally took a leap and went for it.
We were very lucky with our timing, founded in 2006, just before the great recession was fortuitous. From the start we grew quickly, achieving on average 15% - 20% volume growth from our founding year. When the great recession hit, we were initially very worried - unable to predict how consumers will behave and whether wine will become a privilege many choose to cut out of their spending. While many businesses struggled in 2008-2009, that time period happened to be a catalyst of growth for us. Prices for grapes, especially Cabernet Sauvignon, which is the most expensive grape in California, dropped significantly, grower contracts were dropped by some wineries, and we were able to swoop in and secure high-quality grapes at lower prices. Consumers were also trading down during this period – still drinking wine but at lower price points – and we were there in the $15 - $16 price bracket with a fun, joyful label that was unpretentious, giving people something happy and easy to relate to. This was a great point of validation for us.
My advice to others is to seek out relationships with others in the industry you plan on building a business in, pursue introductions and get feedback from people who could be future mentors, business partners, or employees. Get their industry insight, then align that with the macro-economic and social landscape and stress test your idea based on a few scenarios. Eventually, you’ll have to just go for it, but if you have a risk analysis done in advance, it will help give you confidence and agility to adapt to unexpected situations, which I can guarantee will occur.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Yoav: Have a clear vision, but don’t be too married to it to be blinded to growth opportunities. My founding vision was laser-focused on producing the best Cabernet Sauvignon in California under $20 and making wine fun, accessible and inclusive. Our flagship icon brand, Cannonball, is a symbol of your inner child, a time when life was carefree and all about having fun, that uninhibited spirit remains the soul of our company today and in many ways, it is that that makes us unique in our category. It is critical to have a real goal with actionable steps for how to get there, otherwise your goals will just stay a dream…. That single-mindedness was very useful to get off the ground and explain clearly the idea to people for maximum buy-in. With our initial success, our volume needs were ballooning, what would happen when Cabernet grape prices went up? I was initially reluctant to launch another brand before hitting 100,000 cases. This would take away from our singular vision, our brand identity and focus. My business partner, Lawrence Seeff, convinced me; he saw an opportunity to diversify our portfolio and develop a new brand, Angels & Cowboys with two SKUs, Rosé (Grenache-based) and a Red Blend (Zinfandel-based). These two wines are our second and third biggest SKUs in our portfolio. I have since changed my perspective and invested in many other areas of the wine business to increase diversity and develop more brands.
While at the beginning we were laser-focused, and that was the right thing for us, I’m very happy we kept an open mind, remained agile, and were open to other opportunities when they knocked on our door.
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Yoav: When we first started in 2006, I went market to market, telling the story, sampling the wines, getting all the pushback, some quite helpful, some not. Looking back, I realize I never would have understood the marketplace and opportunities for the brand in the same way if it weren’t for that. Without actually doing the day-to-day ‘on the street’ work you miss the small details of why your vision or story may not be working, understanding what people want, and what can be tweaked to improve your product. It also helps keep you exposed to new ideas and new people. The smallest thing you never would have thought of from a macro standpoint, may be the most critical thing to the success of your product over the long term.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Yoav: Resilience - I think first and foremost a successful leader must have grit, conviction in your mission, and a vision you want to materialize. Over the past 16 years, we’ve certainly had our ups and downs. In the early days, I've had to use my credit card to pay bills, take a 2nd mortgage on my house, personally guarantee our loans from the bank, I had to separate from partners and buy partners out, deal with ongoing fires & droughts causing grape shortages and spikes in grape prices, distributors who don’t pay, high-interest rates, inflation, increase of cost of goods, issues with supply chain and many other small and large problems that many businesses go through. But throughout all these challenges, I remained focused on my long-term vision for Share a Splash - building a wine portfolio that over-delivers on value and doesn't take itself too seriously. I believed in that vision and continue to believe in that vision today. Even when things look like they are going sideways, I remain focused on that and find ways to win, every single day. The problems of a small wine company that sells 5,000 cases are very different from the problems of a wine company that sells 200,000 cases, but the attitude I come to work with and bring to our challenges has not changed.
Thoughtfully forward-looking - One thing I do really well is think to the future and connect the dots on how to get there. Over the years, we have been able to expand from one brand that sought to win on one varietal - Cabernet, to four varieties (Cabernet plus Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc). Plus, the addition of two more brands, Angels and Cowboys and High Dive, as well as partnerships with two international wineries we fell in love with and now represent in the US, Astrolabe from New Zealand, and Jose Maria De Fonseca from Portugal. We didn’t do this overnight, but today we look back and love each and every one of the products we have on our portfolio, so taking our time to build this portfolio out thoughtfully, saying ‘yes’ to the right opportunities, but also a lot of ‘no’ to opportunities that could have been amazing but were poorly timed for us, has paid dividends.
Be true to your values - I’m a big believer in bringing your values to work and building a company based on those. People I work with will tell you that I’m super committed and super passionate and those things are the most important thing for me other than my family. Just like I believe in work hard to play hard, I believe that family comes first. My team have all been to my home many times, they all know my wife and my kids. They know that I don’t travel if it means I miss a kid’s birthday or special occasions and I encourage them to make the same choice when they are in this position. I am a big believer in equal opportunities for women - my wife and the mother of our four kids works in tech and we juggle a lot of things every day. I see her challenges firsthand, and so I’m not only committed to bringing women on our team, but I am also committed to helping them thrive at work and create the right work-life balance, if such a thing exists, for them. Lastly, I believe our company is only as strong as my team, and so I do my best to invest in our people, creating the support system they need, setting the kind of culture where they all know they can come to me with anything - from their kids or parents falling ill, to a challenge with a distributor. I try to always be there for my team and make them feel like this is not just a job, it is a safe place where they can bring their whole selves.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Yoav: I think your attitude is super important. It is the undertone of everything that we do. If you radiate fear and hardship, your team won’t come to you with problems, and won’t trust you to navigate through challenges. When you demonstrate a positive attitude, not to say that you are invincible, but to send the message that you have the confidence we, as a team, can overcome whatever challenges the universe sends our way, one way or another, through hard teamwork, then that’s the right building block for both your company and your relationships with your partners. Early in the pandemic, some of our distributors came to us explaining the cashflow crunch they found themselves in, and asking for more flexible terms, and I was willing to do that, to help them at this hard point in time. It was the right thing to do for our relationships, many of which go back years, and it was also the right signal to send to my team - we are here for the long term, and if we can afford it, we want to help lift everyone else so they too can survive these challenging periods.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Yoav: Build relationships, and nurture them over the long term. Put the time and effort into maintaining relationships in your industry and that will establish you and your company in leadership positions. I prioritized this from the beginning, even before investing in social media and public relations - which can also be valuable tools to enhance credibility and leadership. For example, a close relationship from business school led us to acquire importing rights for a new brand, in a new category for us that will allow us entry into a fast-growing segment of the business and increase our price diversification. If I had not had my relationships and the personal brand in the industry as a trustworthy business leader, this would never have happened.
You are only as strong as your team. The team should always come first, and people need to come to work feeling unleashed and able to not only bring their whole selves to work but also live up to their full potential. Over the years I’ve had team members deal with health issues, divorce or marital issues, a sick spouse or sick kids, parents passing away, personal financial issues, and many more. I’ve made it a priority to be there in whichever way I can for my people, hold space for them, show compassion, and offer support where I can. My team has been in the trenches with me at work, and I want each of them to know I am offering to hold their hand as they navigate the trenches in their personal lives.
Be part of a community. This gives you strength, knowledge, and happiness in many ways. I am a part of the global wine community, the Sonoma County community where our headquarters are based, and the Silicon Valley community where I live. When wildfires hit Sonoma in the fall of 2017, I was overcome with despair - the Kincaid fire closed in on our winemaking facilities where our recently harvested grapes were being fermented, and many of our team had lost power in rolling blackouts with several needing to be evacuated. The outpouring of concern for our team from our national and global partners really helped me see the bigger picture. This too would pass; we would possibly lose some of our vintage – but I felt the strength and resilience of the Sonoma community and couldn’t have been prouder to be a part of it. I knew it was only a matter of time before we would be back on our feet – and the best part is that miraculously no one lost their lives.
This also extends to giving back - Being able to give back to those less fortunate than you immediately gives you a sense of belonging, of realizing that the world is bigger than what’s going on in your life. This perspective helps pull you out of any emotional low, see things in a new way, and often can lead to insights to see your way out of a business or even all-consuming personal issue. I admire Jose Andreas and his foundation World Central Kitchen, and we are collaborating with them on regional and national programs. We are very lucky to be in a position where we can do that.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Yoav: Always be ready for the unexpected and preserve extra cash for tough days.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Yoav: Stay positive even in the darkest of moments and surround yourself with good and smart people who are aligned with you on their values.
Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.
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