Founder Story: Ned Lavelle
From the Army to Craft BrewPub
You never know who you’re going to meet when you go to a networking event.
Actually, it doesn’t even need to be a networking event.
At the end of the college football season, the West Point Alumni Society in Austin hosted a watch party for the Army-Tulane conference championship. The venue? Pinthouse Brewing—an Austin favorite that’s carved out a loyal following for two things: incredible pizza and Electric Jellyfish, the city’s first and most famous hazy IPA.
During halftime, we were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour led by the founder himself, fellow West Point grad Ned Lavelle. As we walked the brewery floor, I asked what led him from the military to beer and pizza.
That casual question turned into a great conversation about an unusal path to entrepreneurship.
Ned’s story is a lesson in doing the work, embracing chaos, building something from scratch—and knowing when to let go. He left the Army, worked at Dell, got his MBA from UT, and started running Jimmy John’s franchises with a classmate. But eventually, they wanted to build something original—something they could own, shape, and grow.
That something became Pinthouse.
After that conversation, I knew I had to bring Ned in as a guest lecturer for my class. I try to bring in two founders each semester—people who took different paths into entrepreneurship. Ned’s story is anything but linear, and that’s exactly what made it powerful. Luckily, he immediately said yes.
Here’s some of the lessons my students and I took away from the lecture:
Evolving as a Founder
In the early days of Pinthouse, Ned wore every hat. He made the dough (which now he is a bit of a dough connoisseur). He brewed the beer. He mopped the floors. He learned the tech. And he made pizzas until 3 a.m.
But over time, he realized that holding on to everything was holding the business back.
So he started handing off hats—first operations, then HR, then the kitchen. The last one to go was tech. Their systems had grown too complex to be managed part-time. They needed someone who woke up thinking about infrastructure. That wasn’t Ned anymore.
The result? He transitioned from day-to-day operator to board chair.
This is one of the hardest shifts in entrepreneurship: moving from doing everything to empowering others to do it better than you can.
The Power of the 80% Solution
Ned talked about his approach to building products and solving problems. He doesn’t wait for 100% perfection—he pushes to 80%, launches, and iterates.
Perfection is the enemy of progress.
One of my favorite General Patton quote is:
"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week".
This mindset showed up everywhere: from rethinking how they delivered food when guests couldn’t hear order numbers, to how they quickly adapted to online ordering during COVID. Even their famous queso. It started as a call to a friend at Taco Deli for advice.
Launch at 80%. Learn fast. Iterate often. That’s the game.
Growth vs. Culture
Pinthouse now has multiple locations, a loyal customer base, and a fast-growing distribution business. But Ned warned about the hidden cost of growth: culture.
Scaling is exciting—but if you grow too fast, you risk losing the vibe, the values, and the experience that made your business special in the first place.
His advice? Build systems early. Train leaders. Hire from within when possible. Make sure the people pouring your beer care about the brand as much as you do.
Culture doesn’t scale by accident. It has to be protected.
Risk Tolerance Changes With Time
When Ned opened his first Jimmy John’s, he wasn’t married, had no kids, and could afford to swing big. He signed personal leases, borrowed money, and took on risk.
Now, as a father with college on the horizon, that same level of risk wouldn’t make sense.
His point? Risk tolerance isn’t just about personality—it’s about timing. Take big swings when you have room to fall. Be smart about risk when others depend on you.
When you are young, you may not have a lot of capital or knowledge, but you do have a great resource in time and risk tolerance.
Brew-Market Fit
Electric Jellyfish didn’t become a hit by accident. It was the right product at the right time—with the right branding.
Hazy IPAs were exploding in New England, but there wasn’t anything like it in Austin. Ned’s team brewed their version differently—with hops instead of yeast—and created a bright, juicy, low-bitter beer that was both delicious and approachable. The name Electric Jellyfish and the pink-and-purple can design helped it stand out. They also picked the right distribution strategy—getting into Alamo Drafthouse and other key spots early.
Within a few years, Electric Jellyfish became a local favorite.
Great taste, smart branding, and perfect timing—the key to a successful product-market fit.
Your Network Is Your Safety Net
Ned’s business partners, investors, vendors, even his dough and queso recipe—all came from relationships he built over time. Some were classmates. Some were friends-of-friends. Some were even competitors in the same local market.
He doesn’t go into situations trying to “network”—he shows up, adds value, stays curious, and builds relationships over time.
And when he needs something—a chef’s tip, a connection to a POS system, feedback on a product—he knows exactly who to call.
Use Data for Operating the Business
Ned isn’t obsessed with fancy dashboards—he wants actionable data. His focus is on building tools that operators can use on the floor to make fast, smart decisions.
“So if we're running high on chicken, I want my managers to know and not have to pull reports, download it in a csv, dig in there and do a bunch of stuff on it. I want it like a notification. Hey, go look at your chicken.”
It’s a great reminder: in fast-moving businesses, insights are only as good as the action it enables. Data should serve decisions, not just documentation.
Test Early and Often
Ned is a relentless tester—from pizza concepts (BANH MI Pizza) to nachos. His approach:
Start with a scrappy prototype
Get real customer feedback
Iterate fast
And kill what doesn’t work (RIP nachos)
This bias toward action is central to any entrepreneurial process: “get it out there, test, tweak, or trash it.”
Plotters vs. Pantsers
Ned shared a writing metaphor for his planning style. There are two types of writers:
Plotters, who plan everything before they start.
Pantsers, who write by the seat of their pants—step by step, figuring it out as they go.
Some founders are plotters. Some are pantsers. Ned and I? We’re pantsers. We take a step forward, evaluate, and adapt. Step. Evaluate. Adapt. Again and again.
Have faith in your ability and intuition. Even if you make the wrong move, you’ll learn from it.
Final Takeaway: Know your Mission and Values
Toward the end of his talk, Ned dropped a simple but powerful framework. As a business owner, you need to know your mission, core values, and key business drivers. What where Pinthouse’s:
Mission (Why you exist): Make every guest experience great.
Core Values (How your team behaves): Safety, fun, collaboration.
Key Business Drivers (What defines success): Time to table, quality, accuracy.
Any big decision—capital investments, menu changes, or expansions—gets filtered through this lens.
“Does it serve the mission? Does it fit our values? Will it move our key metrics?”
That kind of operational clarity turns good restaurants into great companies—and it applies far beyond food and beverage.
My Lesson? Show Up
There were so many valuable takeaways from Ned’s talk, but my biggest?
Say yes to the event. Show up. Start the conversation. You never know which connection could lead to a new opportunity, a new insight, or a world-class guest lecture that changes how your students think about entrepreneurship.
Connect with Zach
Website • Twitter • LinkedIn • Youtube