Kevin Wong is the cofounder of Lunar, an award-winner hard seltzer brand inspired by Asian flavors. But Kevin’s path to becoming the founder of an alcohol brand wasn’t linear. Kevin studied computer science at University of Virginia and went on to work in investment banking at J.P. Morgan for a year. Kevin then spent six years at Yext and worked his way up the ranks from a Senior Analyst to Director of Corporate Strategy. Kevin started Lunar in 2020 and quit his job at Yext in 2021 to focus on building the no.1 hard seltzer brand.
Blaine & Ramon are thrilled to have Kevin Wong as a guest on DTC Pod and dive into building the first Asian American craft hard seltzer alcohol brand - Lunar. Kevin talks about the early days of home brewing, perfecting the formula, and learning from failed batches and supply chain. He also gets into the business side and talks about selling to restaurants and becoming one of the most in-demand items at Trader Joe's.
2:14 - 5:42 Life before Lunar
9:56 - 13:52 Creating Lunar
14:56 - 17:57 Early days of Lunar
18:21 - 20:22 Navigating regulation in the alcohol industry
20:48 - 30:06 Learning to make hard seltzer
30:57 - 32:37 The first failed batch
34:42 - 42:00 Got to market strategy
47:36 - 50:01 Getting into Trader Joe’s
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Kevin Wong - Co-Founder of Lunar
Ramon Berrios - CEO of Trend.io
Blaine Bolus - COO of OmniPanel