Q&A with Vino Everywhere Co-Founders Michael Greenwood and Ryan Houx
Vino Everywhere is a startup that revolutionizes the wine consumption experience. Whether it’s used for a wine night, a bachelorette party or a day at the beach, the company’s “Wine Straw” product is already grabbing the attention of investors. Michael Greenwood is a junior at the Daniels College of Business and is pursuing a degree in sales and marketing operations. Ryan Houx is also a junior at Daniels, and is studying real estate with a minor in sustainability. Entrepreneurship@DU asked the two co-founders a few questions about their venture.
Q: What are each of your roles with Vino Everywhere?
Greenwood: I do a lot of the manufacturing of our product, and a lot of our outreach as well.
Houx: I’m more on the content and creative side of everything—but, this early on, we’re at the stage where both of us are doing a little bit of everything. A lot of our work overlaps.
Q: What was the inspiration to start Vino Everywhere?
Greenwood: We tried to start over a year ago—last winter, before COVID. We were actually trying to start another business. It was a storage business, but it didn’t really pan out. Around that time, we were having a bottle of wine, and we thought of the wine straw. We started making prototypes with the 3D printers at DU, then the pandemic hit, which slowed everything down. We really started going for it in October 2020.
Q: Your idea is patent pending. What does that process look like?
Houx: We’ve been talking with professors to work through it all; it is a lengthy process. Not only that—it’s an expensive one, too. It has to be finalized by lawyers to make sure it gets approved and follows patent law. That has added a different stress beyond just the business itself.
Q: Right now, Vino Everywhere only offers the Wine Straw. What other products are in the works?
Greenwood: We’ve been talking to a few different professors about this, kind of spitballing ideas and seeing if we want to expand right now. It’s been a pretty mixed bag on advice, honestly. Some people really think we should expand our products and offer something like a wine koozie, or even other offshoots of the straw. At this point though, we’re focusing on the straw because it’s unique. We’re the only company that’s doing it, and there are lots of other companies making things like wine koozies.
Q: Did either of you have entrepreneurship experience before Vino Everywhere?
Houx: I actually started a company in high school, called “6-0-Tree,” which was a New Hampshire-based clothing company. I did that for three or four years, but when I moved out to Denver it wasn’t practical for me to keep it going. I couldn’t be fully invested in it being all the way out here. It was a great experience and I definitely learned a lot, so I’ve been able to use that experience with Vino Everywhere.
Greenwood: This is my first venture. In fact, I’d never taken an entrepreneurship class before this. A lot of people hear about this and ask, “what class is this for?” But for us, it’s just something we really enjoy doing. We’ve gotten a lot out of it already.
Q: Your website mentions that some proceeds will be redirected to charity. What prompted you to make that decision?
Greenwood: Our product is more focused toward women—of course, anyone can drink wine out of a straw, but a lot of our branding has been geared toward women attending bachelorette parties, things like that. So, on a rotating schedule, we pick a new charity dedicated to supporting women and we donate 10% of all profits. It’s 2021, we’re a small business, so it makes sense to have a philanthropic side and give back to the community.
Learn more at vinoeverywhere.com or @vinoeverywhere on Instagram.