What a Whiskey Maker Taught Me About Rapid Innovation

Bill Samuels' family distillery was declining. The old family recipe was losing to competitors in the market. He had to do something.

The first thing he did was take the only paper copy of the family whiskey recipe and throw it into the fire.

Then, he started baking bread. It turns out that bread can be made with wheat and rye, two key flavoring ingredients of whiskey.

Bill experimented with different mixes until he found the best flavor. Then he distilled a batch of whiskey and put it in oak barrels. It would be 4 long years before he knew the outcome.

Bill understood there was no time to try a new recipe, wait 4 to 9 years to see how it aged, and then try again. So he found a way to rapid prototype, right there in his kitchen. The result is Maker's Mark, one of the best-loved brands of Kentucky Whiskey.

IndieHackers: what are some out-of-the-box strategies you've used to prototype rapidly and innovate faster?